Monthly Archives: January 2022

31 January 2022
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The Quantum Computer – Will it still break the internet?

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Ever since quantum computing has been theorized, many questions have been asked among scientists on what it could potentially do. With the high development speed of new technologies, will it still have a significant impact today and on future generations?

The origin up to today

Back in the 1980s, Yuri Manin and Richard Feynman came up with the idea that such a computer was scientifically possible to build. If you are unfamiliar with quantum physics, I recommend you look up “Schrodinger’s cat”. 

The reason there are so few quantum computers available today (in 2018, there were only 11 of them) is mainly linked to the fact that high computational resources are required. In quantum computers, one of the requirements is to reach the phenomenon of “superposition”. Essentially, this means that the computer must be able to “superpose” all the different available paths. Equivalently, a traditional computer will use bits, also known as “binary digits”, whereas quantum computers will use qubits or quantum bits that allow the phenomenon of superposition.

Another reason why quantum computers are incredibly rare is also since they can become dangerous in the wrong hands. As for today, it is extremely hard to purchase one of these technologies, as it will cost you a few million dollars. Even if you were able to purchase one, there is such a scarce amount of them in circulation, that it is easy for the government to regulate the use.

With the arrival of quantum machine learning, it is easier to have access to quantum computers. The first solution is to use the cloud. 

Big companies such as IBM give access to quantum computers through the cloud, the problem is that there is a limited number of slots available. On the other hand, Google gives you access but you need to be on the approved list to be able to use it. Finally, Amazon provides quantum computers, but the issue is that you must pay for every execution you do, making it very expensive to use.

Other solutions are cloud simulators and local simulators. They do not give you the same processing power as that usual quantum computer, but they can help you work with it and see the potential of machine learning.

If it happens that you are interested in the subject, I suggest that you watched the video with the link below:

The uses of quantum computers

As mentioned above quantum computers can be used for artificial intelligence and machine learning. With the recent rise of deep learning, quantum computers are very useful for this industry, as high processing power is needed. 

This technology could also be used in computational chemistry. Its capacity of superposition makes it easy to map molecules and therefore build new drugs. In other words, quantum computers can also the healthcare industry. 

It is clear that for any analytical subjects these computers have incredible potential. If you take the example of financial modeling, you could be able to understand many different trends on wall streets making it also a very profitable technology. Yet, there is one industry that scares many researchers: cyber security and cryptography. 

You may or may not know that to hack someone’s accounts the most known technique is to use a library of names with different combinations of numbers and characters. Then you let the program run until it finds the right password. Now imagine that with the same program you would use one of the quantum computers, breaking passwords would become extremely easy, making it an incredibly dangerous weapon.

To protect users from such threats engineers are using quantum machine learning in cybersecurity to protect any potential attack on a user with such a technology.

Time is running out

One of the main factors of accessibility of this technology is obviously the price. Yet recently a startup based in Shenzhen, SpinQ has proved that they could make computers that would cost less than $5000. If these sorts of start-ups start multiplying and becoming more popular, soon we’ll all be able to have a quantum computer, which would completely change the industry of computer science. 

Every company would have to work on their cyber security as they would be vulnerable. To prevent that, it is important to create restrictions institutions that leave time to programmers and computer engineers to limits the drawbacks of quantum computers. Of course, SpinQ’s technology is nowhere as close as one of the 11 quantum computers that exist today.

But as the co-founder of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, Michele Mosca said: 

“Cryptography is a foundational piece in today’s digital infrastructures and security. Not all cryptography will be vulnerable to quantum computing, but many current forms will. Public key encryption could be decimated by it. Past communications, for example, such as those via video calls or through VPNs that have been recorded and stored could be hacked into through quantum. That ship has sailed.”

Now is the time to act

if we don’t want the next generation or even the present generation to be harmed by the dangers of quantum computing, institutions must be put into place today. I believe that it is important to teach the younger generations and the older about the potential threats of quantum computing.

If quantum computing is taught at school at the youngest age, consequently the probability that students would be interested in this in this industry should potentially be higher. It is important to train as many Cybersecurity talents as possible today, in order to fight against cybercrimes and potential cyber wars.

Sources used:

–      https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/quantum/concepts-overview#:~:text=Quantum%20computers%20were%20proposed%20in,to%20model%20even%20simple%20systems

–      https://www.britannica.com/technology/quantum-computer 

–      https://www.quora.com/How-many-quantum-computers-exist-as-of-2018 

–      https://towardsdatascience.com/what-if-i-cant-afford-a-quantum-computer-51ce96cd7b9c#:~:text=So%2C%20even%20they%20do%20exist,learning%20today%20rather%20than%20tomorrow.

–      https://analyticsindiamag.com/top-applications-of-quantum-computing-everyone-should-know-about/

–      https://futurism.com/the-byte/quantum-desktop-computer-5000 

–      https://home.kpmg/uk/en/blogs/home/posts/2021/10/calculating-the-quantum-computing-threats-and-opportunities-in-tmt.html#:~:text=The%20quantum%20cyber%20threat&text=Not%20all%20cryptography%20will%20be,be%20hacked%20into%20through%20quantum. 

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31 January 2022
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Thermonuclear energy – is it the future of our energy mix?

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Introduction

With unsustainability of our energy production it is becoming clear that our civilization is at place when there’s no choice but to reconsider the sources of energy we use. Fossil fuels need to be rid of, as search for more effective, low-emission sources continue. Altough, in few decades a significant chunk of energy will be produced thanks to renewables, other solutions like nuclear energy will also have a share in the so-called ‘energy-mix’. Nuclear energy has many adavantages, however it has many oponents not without a reason. Not only the fuel for the reactors is not renewable, but the nuclear waste has very strict requirements in order to minimize the amount of inevitable harm to the environment it causes. It doesn’t sound like a great path to follow long-term. There is another technology, which may help us achieve more sustainable energy, though. It is called the thermonuclear energy.

The difference

Nuclear, thermonuclear – those adjectives seem pretty similar. Both processes involve very high temperatures and release of huge amounts of energy. Essential difference between the two is that thermonuclear energy comes from fusion of elements into heavier ones, not from the decay of more massive, mostly radioactive elements like uranium.

China’s EAST Tokamak

There are much more elements on Earth theoretically available to the reaction, however I won’t mention any others besides Hydrogen and Helium, as fusing heavier elements require even higher pressure and temperature. The main advantage is lack of waste problems, as Helium, a product of the reaction alongside energy is not toxic by any means. The fusion itself has been found to release many times more energy than the nuclear fission (decay of elements like uranium). Hydrogen and Helium are also two most common elements in the Universe, while elements heavier than Iron like Uranium or Plutonium can be considered a rarity.

The obstacles

Thermonuclear fusion is not a theoretic concept, we can consider it as common in the Universe, because it is the main source of stellar power. Our Sun radiates energy due to constant fusion of helium in its core. However fusion power is still being developed, as most of the trials and experiments fail to produce more energy than they were provided with. The main cause of that is inability to recreate pressure comparable to the one in Sun’s core, which means that we need to achieve even higher temperatures.

How to sustain higher temperatures?

As of now, there are two approaches towards tackling this challenge: magnetic and inertial confinement. The latter of two utilizes lasers hitting a can of gold with great amount of energy, which vaporizes due to heat radiates extensively. Radiation hits and compresses atoms of hydrogen which are due to that fused into helium giving off the energy. The main problem is the lasers using way more energy than it is produced. The former one is centered at initiating fusion through use of magnetic fields to confine the fuel and hitting it with particles and radiation to heat it. The common place to do this are reactors in shape of donut, which are called tokamaks. Unfortunately, since 1950’s most of the experiments with nuclear fusion failed.

On the other hand, reports from Chinese EAST facility give promising results. The so-called ‘Artifical Sun’[1] has set another record, it sustained temperature of 70 million degrees Celsius for 17 minutes. The reactor achieved also shocking short-term results with reaching 120 million degrees Celsius for 100 seconds and 160 Million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds last May. The chinese experiments are not over yet, as China alongside USA, Russia and many other countries participates in joint project called International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor which will include research in France.

Considering the presented shortcomings, it may seem that nuclear fusion is very far away from becoming a viable replacement to other sources of energy, however taking recent developments into account such point of view should be considered a bit overpessimistic. There are plans for much more extensive exploring of the technology, and every year the World takes this opportunity more seriously. In my opinion, adapting nuclear fusion to common industrial use is a matter of few decades, because it’s destined to happen.

sources:

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3161780/chinas-artificial-sun-hits-new-high-clean-energy-boost

https://www.vox.com/2014/4/16/5580192/the-comprehensive-guide-to-fusion-power

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/chinas-artificial-sun-reactor-broke-record-for-nuclear-fusion-180979336/

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31 January 2022
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Replace simple computer commands with hand gestures

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How Hand gestures are replacing other computer input systems

Computers have gone through big changes since their release to the public. They have gone from a cubed-shaped box to a simple folding laptop. They started heavy and ugly and through innovation became light and elegant. Their usage became much more simple and nowadays most of the population is using a computer. Each year new features are being added or updated to our devices and one of them could soon be “Typealike”.

Typealike is a new technology that uses your computer camera to sense your hand movement and carry out commands based on what symbol you are showing with your hand. For example, when the user shows the webcam their thumb pointing upwards, the volume will change to higher. The technology was built by machine learning techniques and is able to understand a variety of different hand movements. Each user could set their own hand gestures to specific commands based on their liking. The point of this is to make the user experience faster and smoother.

The question is whether this system will actually make it easier to use the computer. You can change the volume of your device with a press of a button anyway so making a hand gesture to do it might not make such a big difference in accessibility. Perhaps Typalike could be implemented in different fields such as replacing the need for controllers for gaming consoles.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220105094430.htm

31 January 2022
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The future of hand-held consoles is here!

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Those of you who are aware of the news in the video games work have probably heard of the newest piece of hardware from Valve. An exciting, new platform that mixes the convenience of a console and the range of a PC, the steam-deck.

What makes this console stand out from the rest is its software. While most hand-held consoles were run on tailor-made software and required specific compatibility patches and separate releases from most games to run on them, a steam-deck is using Windows, the same operating system as most personal Computers. This allows it to play almost any game that would be playable on PCs. Additionally, if emulating on this console will be possible (and it probably will be, due to its operating system), it would mean that this single device could run virtually any type of games one could ask for, making consoles like Nintendo Switch practically redundant.
              

Originally set to release in late December of 2021, the Steam deck has been pushed back to make sure that it could deliver on all the things promised to us. It’s not the first time Valve pushed a deadline back, just to make sure that a product was up to standards, so it didn’t come as a surprise. However, recently there has been an update on the situation. A couple of days ago people received confirmation e-mails stating that their orders have been processed and the shipping process will begin on 28th of February.
              

The current price for a Steam-deck is 399$ for the 64gb version, 529$ for the 256GB version, and 649$ for the 516GB version. This puts it on the more pricey side of console-gaming, but in my opinion, it will be well worth it in the end.  I’m excited to see what ideas Valve brought to the table with this one, since the company has yet to disappoint us in regards to any of their products.

31 January 2022
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Flying Cars: Welcome to the future

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We’ve all seen this classic scene from sci-fi movies. An intense car chase through the crowded streets of a futuristic city. The weirdly shaped cars take sharp corners as police get closer and closer. Soon, it seems like the authorities have the escapee cornered, when suddenly their car grows wings and flies into the air, far out of the reach of the law.

Most of us associate that kind of thing with just that, scenes from outlandish movies. However, a company called AirCar decided to make it more than pixels on our screens. Capable at moving at 160km/h and flying over 2km in the air, their newest creation just got licensed as air-worthy after completing a 35-minute flight from Nitra to Bratislava.

This revolutionary feat of engineering is a road-legal car that has a pair of wings folding backward and a modified, powerful BMW engine. With a 3 minute setup and a pilot’s license, this beautiful car can turn into a flying machine.

At the moment there is still a lot of skepticism for the car and it is not even close to a commercial release. A pilot’s license is also needed to operate the vehicle while in the air, so for most of us, this toy is far, far out of our reach.

This is, however a step in a good direction and I will not be surprised if, in the near future, we’ll see a couple of flying cars standing in the garages of some businessmen.

31 January 2022
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Robots in the front lines

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The concept of machines being used in warfare is nothing new. Ever since the first siege tower was created, humanity has used its ingenuity to fuel its need for mutual destruction. From siege towers, through ballista’s and tanks all the way to unmanned drones, everything was a machine created to help them win battles. Now, with the introduction of AI and robots, it’s taking on a new face.

The British Army has recently launched what’s called “Project Thesus”, which aims to identify the best robot for the needs of the logistics team of the United Kingdom armed forces. Its main objective is to swiftly deliver any needed supplies without the need to risk any human lives. While this project is also looking into the usage of robots in direct combat, it’s main, more realistic goal is to create a machine capable of carrying large amounts of equipment quickly and undetected.

There are a couple of companies that put their projects forwards, with Horiba Mira UK, Marlborough Comms Ltd UK, and Rafael Israel winning the contracts to go through for further testing. It isn’t a wild assumption to think that in the near-by future we’ll see robots eagerly running across the battlefield to deliver ammunition to those, who need it the most.

31 January 2022
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A triple power blackout

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Since many Asian countries banned cryptocurrencies people decided to move their businesses of crypto-mining mainly into USA.

You could capture an incredible increase of crypto-miners in US since July 2021 – nearly 80%. The rest of China’s previous mining percentage (25% globally) went mainly to the closest places possible: Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and mostly Kazakhstan – due to its mild tax law.

Bitcoin, was globally mined in nearly 36% by USA and 19% by Kazakhstan (2021 – according to data from the University of Cambridge Center of Alternative Finance) – it’s incredible due to the comparison of population, area or power consumption in those countries.

A few days ago (25th of January, 2022) a power blackout hit all 3 above mentioned countries – Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. They are all connected to one main for the region power supplier, which capacity wasn’t enough as for the usage of crypto-miners.

The blackout caused chaos across the region for several hours, with subway trains stuck in tunnels and skiers on lifts, airports closing, district heating and tap water pumps going idle and traffic lights switching off.

Kazakhstan, which has previously experienced power shortages due to the influx of cryptocurrency miners, has started routinely cutting off their power supply and did so from Jan. 24 until the end of the month, according to a document published online by one of the local miners.

We are waiting, and wondering if Kazakh is going to be another banned for crypto-miners country, or what is going to happen in Asia, and previously mentioned Kazakhstan’s North-South power line region if it comes to cryptocurrency-mining laws.

31 January 2022
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NFTs – What are the market prospects? Should you invest in them?

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When did NFTs start?

As a reminder, NFTs or Non-fungible tokens, or at least the meaning of “non-fungible” means: 

“That it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin is fungible — trade one for another bitcoin, and you’ll have the same thing. A one-of-a-kind trading card, however, is non-fungible. If you traded it for a different card, you’d have something completely different.”

“NFTs can really be anything digital (such as drawings, music, your brain downloaded and turned into an AI), but a lot of the current excitement is around using the tech to sell digital art.”

(theverge.com)

Now that we have an understanding of what NFTs are, we can start focusing on the origin of this technology. On the 7th of August 2015, the first NFT was born. Its name was “Terra Nullius”, and it was part of the Ethereum blockchain. It turns out that the NFT had one particularity, it made users able to “claim a stake”. Essentially this means that you were able to insert a short message to personalize the NFT.

Then, a few months later, Etheria v1.1 also named Blockplots was created. Other than being one of the first NFTs to be introduced to the world, Etheria had a specific trait, the buyers were able to buy “tiles” from a 457-piece map. This concept please many NFT creators, and similar concepts were created.

One of them was named “PixelMap”, created at the end of 2016, it allowed users to purchase one or more images from a blockchain with 3,970 pieces available. PixelMap was some sort of combination of Etheria and Terra Nullius, as it not only had a limited number of buys but was also individually customizable. 

The idea of owning individual digital pieces was approved by other creators and therefore decided to diversify the asset. In 2017, Ethereum Name Service was invented, and granted the possibility to users to purchase one of their decentralized domain names. As time went by, you were able to own collectible cards thanks to Curio Cards, or even one of 400 plots on the moon with Lunar Token.

All in all, NFTs have existed since 2015 and have diversified in terms of the content of the purchased asset. Thanks to the graph below, you can visualize that NFTs have just recently become a trend.

Yet as you know now, NFTs have been around for 7 years now, so why is it now so popular?

NFT and its on-growing popularity.

As no media seem to understand the proper reason for its popularity, economic and technological factors, that made sense for NFTs to have such a prosperous run. NFTs’ ability to be purchased by cryptocurrencies is therefore greatly interlinked with Bitcoin’s recent bull run. As you may or may not know, at the end of 2020, reached a record-breaking all-time high of $68,0000. One can think that bitcoins’ popularity has therefore led to crypto-purchasable assets such as NFTs. 

One of the historically notorious NFTs back in late 2017 was CryptoKitties. It turns out that they made a comeback today with the “NBA Top Shot”. The American basketball league and CryptoKitties created NFTs of the best moments of the season. As a result, the duo became the number one source of volume on the NFT market. NBA being having such popularity; one can imagine that the cooperation became a catalyzer for the technology.

Finally, the pandemic has had a major influence on the international market, particularly on the collectibles market. The collectibles market value grew to $522b (irei.com, 2021), explaining one of the reasons why NFTs became so popular.

The different sorts of NFTs

To understand if NFTs are investable today, it is important to understand the different types that exist today.

Today the main types of NFTS on the market are: 

– Music: Allowing musicians to create a smaller audience of their biggest fans.

– Art: This allows digital art lovers to have their unique pieces.

– Access: Tickets that allow you to have access to digital content.

– Redeemable: A token that authorizes you to claim a physical good.

– Game objects: Think of skins for example (the color of your character in a video game), when purchased by the player, the company still has ownership. With NFTs, the player would have full ownership of the object and be able to benefit from its interoperability. 

– Identity: Users will have the possibility to benefit from NFTs interoperability and the blockchain’s secured system.

– Web 2.0 Databases: Keeping personal or even professional information decentralized will benefit the user in the way that they will be able to secure them, but also transfer their data to a decentralized system to a centralized one.

Should you invest in NFTs today?

It depends on the sort of investor that you are. If you are a risk-taking capitalist, in that case, trending cryptos such as the BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club) NFTs. This company has created many digital arts selling for millions of dollars. One of them, the “Bored Ape #3749”, sold for 740 ETH, the equivalent of around $2.9 million. Many celebrities are contentiously investing in them today, making the prices reach extremely high summits. If you are a specialist in the Art market, in that case, Art NFTs might be for you.

Of course, if you are purchasing the NFTs to support creators, or just because you want to have your “hands” on one, then sure, go for it!

On the other hand, the more “practicable” aspect of NFTs can become a great way to protect your data but also interoperate your credentials to different devices. This feature is becoming an interest for more and more companies, thus you might want to hold on to your wallet, as future competition in the industry will probably rise the buyers’ bargaining power.

Sources used:

–      https://bernardmarr.com/the-10-best-examples-of-nfts/#:~:text=2%20January%202022,lining%20up%20to%20buy%20them

–      https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq 

–      https://www.one37pm.com/nft/tech/the-definitive-timeline-of-early-nfts-on-ethereum#:~:text=1.,’claim’%20on%20the%20blockchain

–      https://nftevening.com/terra-nullius-nft-project-is-the-newest-oldest-nft-in-existence/ 

–      https://medium.com/momentum6/nfts-have-a-future-beyond-investment-the-seven-types-of-nfts-you-can-get-today-674195d78087

–      https://influencermarketinghub.com/nfts-statistics/  

–      https://medium.com/geekculture/how-did-nfts-become-so-popular-f894eea22f90 

–      https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-record-high-price/ 

–      https://irei.com/news/collectibles-market-value-grow-522b/ 

–      https://www.nftsstreet.com/top-10-most-expensive-bored-ape-yacht-club-nfts/ 

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31 January 2022
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playing the internet misogyny

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The internet as we know reflects really well the misogynistic tendencies of society. On all popular social media women and girls have to deal with so much hate, based purely on their looks or hobbies.



Brooklynne Webb is a TikTok personality who got to over 10 million followers being only 17. Yet despite her popularity, for many she became no more than a “cringy” joke. Most of her comments were filled with people telling her to stop singing and trying to “cancel” her. She released the song that even though became popular got more hate than acceptance.

Now, Brooklynne has released an entire album of just different remixes of just one song as she revealed that her entire social media persona was a satire. All of material that she published was designed to attract the haters to show how many people were willing to make fun of a teenage girl who were never proved to be actually problematic. The hate she receive only hyped her profile and got her more followers. Every person who tried to bully her only contributed to the success of her project.

The entirety of Brooklynne’s personality was a performance and the results were exactly as she expected. However, she mimicked a situation that does happen to a lot of creators, leaving many young girls’ esteems damaged.

***obviously hate on the internet does not only apply to girls, this does not change the fact that misogyny on the internet is a problem

Brooklynne Webb is in control




31 January 2022
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VR for mental health – How beneficial is it? Should you use it today?

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A brief story about VR

To understand when VR started, it is important to define the term. VR or Virtual Reality is:

“The use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds. By simulating as many senses as possible, such as vision, hearing, touch, even smell, the computer is transformed into a gatekeeper to this artificial world. The only limits to near-real VR experiences are the availability of content and cheap computing power.” (marxentlabs.com)

Some argue that the idea of virtual reality was born in the 19th century with panoramic paintings, such as the battle of Racławice exposed in Wrocław since 1947, which aimed to immerse the spectator in the setting. Yet, the true VR concept was born in the 1930s thanks to the writer Stanley G. Weinbaum in Pygmalion’s Spectacles. In his science fiction novel, he mentions the use of glasses that would make the wearer perceive a fictional world (with sight but also smell, taste, and touch).

VR as we know it will have to wait for the 1960s and the help of Ivan Sutherland, an American IT engineer. Sutherland will create what he calls the “Ultimate Display”, which according to him, is as follows:

“The ultimate display would, of course, be a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate programming, such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked.” 

Ivan Sutherland will become one of the VR pioneers in history, and thanks to his game “Sword of Damocles”, the world will consider his work as the archetype of modern VR.

The name VR will have to wait until 1987, when the founder of the virtual programming lab (VPL), came up with the term “Virtual Reality”.

25 years later, co-founder of the “Oculus rift” Palmer Lucky would take the contraption to a whole new level. His invention had so much potential that Facebook would eventually purchase the Oculus, 2 years later. Google would try to retaliate by making VR accessible to all thanks to its “Google Cardboard”. Unfortunately for them, this will only become a fad and would never reach the same success as the Oculus.

VR and Therapy

Even though the origins of VR were mostly focused on science fiction and video games, the technology had a serious impact on the medical industry. The first treatments ever began in the 1990s with the help of computer scientist Larry Hodges and psychologist Barbara Rothbaum. It turned out that the result of their research proved to be beneficial in treating phobias, especially: acrophobia (the fear of heights). With such a breakthrough in psychological science, Albert Carlin and Hunter Hoffman, both psychologists, theorized VR as being a potential cure against arachnophobia (the fear of spiders).

Studies have continuously been made in the field of VR healthcare, and many conclusions have been made that the technology could be used for PTSD, anxiety-related disorders, and phobias in general. Emmy-nominated journalist, Hannah Kuchler says: “People on opiates could be given a VR tour of what their body would look like after years of addiction”, suggesting that VR could play a major role against addictive disorders.

According to statista.com: “As of 2018, the North American healthcare AR and VR industry was valued at 477 million U.S. dollars. By 2025, that is expected to increase dramatically to 4.64 billion U.S. dollars.” The business perspective for such technology is underlyingly huge. With all the studies, all the positive feedback from the doctors and the patients, what could be the challenges for the technology?

Challenges to VR

With respect to Dr. Kalpana Srivastava, side effects to VR are: “dizziness, nausea, headache, eye strain, reduced limb control, reduced postural control, decreased sense of presence, and the development of responses inappropriate to the real world”. In other words, to be optimal and ready to be used efficiently, engineers still need to find a way to better VR.

With the exponential growth of VR in healthcare, one can hope that companies will make the technology side-effectless and hopefully financially accessible to most people.

Should you use VR?

VR has proved through history to be beneficial for mental health, there is even a word for it: VR exposure therapy (VRET). Its scalability is incontestable, and anxiety disorders being the most common of mental disorders “affecting nearly 18.1% of adults” (frontiersin.org, 2019), the potential is more than just promising.

In my humble opinion, if I had to recommend VR for health issues, I would definitely do so. For the skeptics, alternatives still exist today such as traditional therapy, or on the more unconventional spectrum, hypnosis. Yet, with all the studies and practices that have been done, it is clear that if you suffer from mental health disorders, VR is a solution today.

Sources used:

History Of Virtual Reality
What is Virtual Reality? [Definition and Examples]

https://careersinpsychology.org/why-virtual-reality-transform-mental-health-treatment/#:~:text=Therapists%20began%20to%20use%20virtual,therapy%20in%20mental%20health%20treatment

https://www.ft.com/content/1a9a4cac-83cb-11e8-96dd-fa565ec55929

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1033162/healthcare-ar-and-vr-market-forecast-worldwide-by-region/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4361984/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00773/full#:~:text=Incorporating%20VR%20in%20therapy%20can,in%20vivo%20or%20imaginal%20exposure.

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