{
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    "title" : "The Data Briefing: Federal Government Pioneers in Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Training |Digital.gov",
    "description": "The Data Briefing: Federal Government Pioneers in Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Training",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2017/08/09/the-data-briefing-federal-government-pioneers-in-virtual-realityaugmented-reality-training/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"The Data Briefing: Federal Government Pioneers in Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Training","summary" : "When I was in the private sector, around the year 2000, I worked for an information technology (IT) consulting company as a project manager and developer. On one project, I provided support for early mobile devices given to medical students. I worked in a small office around the corner from the cardio-respiratory simulator (CRS). The","date" : "2017-08-09T05:59:54-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"bbrantley" : "Bill Brantley"},"topics" : {
        
            "design" : "Design",
            "emerging-tech" : "Emerging tech",
            "multimedia" : "Multimedia",
            "user-experience" : "User experience"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2017-08-09-the-data-briefing-federal-government-pioneers-in-virtual-realityaugmented-reality-training.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2017/08/2017-08-09-the-data-briefing-federal-government-pioneers-in-virtual-realityaugmented-reality-training.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2017/08/2017-08-09-the-data-briefing-federal-government-pioneers-in-virtual-realityaugmented-reality-training.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2017/08/2017-08-09-the-data-briefing-federal-government-pioneers-in-virtual-realityaugmented-reality-training.md","slug" : "the-data-briefing-federal-government-pioneers-in-virtual-realityaugmented-reality-training","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2017/08/09/the-data-briefing-federal-government-pioneers-in-virtual-realityaugmented-reality-training/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eWhen I was in the private sector, around the year 2000, I worked for an information technology (IT) consulting company as a project manager and developer. On one project, I provided support for early mobile devices given to medical students. I worked in a small office around the corner from the cardio-respiratory simulator (CRS).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe CRS was a life-sized human dummy that could simulate several conditions including a heart attack, a collapsed lung, and other heart and lung issues. Medical students were brought in to practice diagnosing and treating emergencies while a technician in the separate control room would operate the simulator. It was fun to watch, and I could see that the students learned much from the simulations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeventeen years later, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) has revolutionized training thanks to the support of the federal government. For example:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262874671_How_Can_Virtual_Reality_Interventions_Help_Reduce_Prescription_Opioid_Drug_Misuse\"\u003eOpioid Drug Misuse Prevention\u003c/a\u003e – Research funded by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.drugabuse.gov/\"\u003eNational Institute on Drug Abuse\u003c/a\u003e (NIDA) has shown promise in using VR to help patients better manage their pain without drugs.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/enhanced-dynamic-geo-social-environment-edge\"\u003eEnhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment (EDGE)\u003c/a\u003e – Funded by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/\"\u003eDepartment of Homeland Security\u003c/a\u003e (DHS) and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.arl.army.mil/\"\u003eU.S. Army Research Laboratory\u003c/a\u003e, EDGE is a virtual training platform for first-responders. Available to all response agencies nationwide, it allows responders of all disciplines to assume discipline-based avatars and simultaneously role-play complex response scenarios.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.research.va.gov/currents/0715-6.cfm\"\u003eHelping Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Improve Job Interviewing Skills\u003c/a\u003e – A VR job interviewer, “Molly Porter,” from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.va.gov/\"\u003eVeterans Administration\u003c/a\u003e (VA) helps veterans practice good job interviewing skills while learning how to control their PTSD symptoms during the stress of a job interview.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://vavmc.com/\"\u003eThe Veterans Affairs (VA) Virtual Medical Center\u003c/a\u003e – This is an immersive three-dimensional virtual world in which veterans and VA staff can attend virtual presentations, conferences, and therapy sessions from anywhere in the world. There is also a Virtual Education Training Assistant (VETA) and a Patient Cybrary for patients while VA healthcare professionals have the Healthcare Cybrary.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2017/08/600-x-360-Veterans-Affairs-VA-Virtual-Medical-Center-portalWebImage.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screen capture of the Main Lobby in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Virtual Medical Center.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2017/08/600-x-338-Veterans-Affairs-VA-Virtual-Medical-Center-ScanEcho_01.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screen capture of the Scan-Echo desk in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Virtual Medical Center.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs VR and AR become more mainstream, I have seen \u003ca href=\"http://www.clomedia.com/2017/08/03/virtual-reality-in-training-slowly-becoming-a-reality/\"\u003eincreasing usage of VR/AR training applications\u003c/a\u003e—like those for \u003ca href=\"https://cals.ncsu.edu/news/food-safety-in-virtual-reality/\"\u003efood safety\u003c/a\u003e in restaurants and factories, and helping patients \u003ca href=\"http://www.techtimes.com/articles/137321/20160229/virtual-reality-may-help-fight-obesity-epidemic.htm\"\u003etreat obesity\u003c/a\u003e. Many advances are because of government research and support. Several agencies, such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/\"\u003eNational Aeronautics and Space Administration\u003c/a\u003e (NASA) and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.darpa.mil/\"\u003eDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u003c/a\u003e (DARPA), are pioneers in VR and AR applications which have become commercialized. One can only imagine what future VR/AR advances the federal government agencies will create for the American public.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEach week, \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/topics/emerging-tech/\"\u003eThe Data Briefing\u003c/a\u003e showcases the latest federal data news and trends. Visit this blog every week to learn how data is transforming government and improving government services for the American people. If you have ideas for a topic or have questions about government data, please contact me via \u003ca href=\"mailto:william.brantley@uspto.gov?subject=The%20Data%20Briefing\"\u003eemail\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/authors/bbrantley/\"\u003eDr. William Brantley\u003c/a\u003e is the Training Administrator for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Global Intellectual Property Academy. All opinions are his own and do not reflect the opinions of the USPTO or GSA.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
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