We come across dozens of design breakthroughs and technological innovations daily--so many that it's easy to miss important trends emerging in the chaos all around us and not connect the dots to see the BIG picture. Here at The Institute for Customer Experience (ICE), we understand the business and design value of capturing the right trend insights at the right moment. We observe and analyse trends in design, technology, and business, and keep our fingers on the pulse of the global zeitgeist. In this series of trendbriefs, we bring you alerts on what's trending in our world and their possible impact on our future. Subscription to ICE Breakers - http://eepurl.com/S1ZFL View Archived ICE Breakers - http://ice.humanfactors.com/ice_breakers.html

1. ICE Breakers by
Surreal
Assist
Virtual Reality - An Empathy Machine
Therapists are using Virtual Reality systems in conjunction with a form of talk therapy
to treat War Veterans with symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress. Disorder (PTSD). A
common problem of PTSD is ‘Emotional Avoidance’ or being unwilling to think about
a particular traumatic event or unable to feel the emotions related to it.
IMPACT ON UX
•
Virtual Reality (VR) is an immersive
technology that can simulate a physical
presence in real places or imagined
worlds. Today, we primarily talk about
Virtual Reality in gaming.
However, soon it is going to impact our
other experiences as well.
Head Mounted Displays allow you to look
around and walk through computer-simu-lated
environments. This provides an
immersive environment for entertainment.
This can also assist in experiencing
emotions one is unable to express in
real life.
How will one be able to personalize the immersive environments?
• Will there be new interface and input mechansims to make the imemrsive
experience compelling?
• Will the virtual worlds, one is immersed in also need access control to
create security and privacy?
• Designers will need to think about how different cultures and different
segments of people within cultures use virtual reality systems.
• What sort of qualifications will be required to use a virtual reality system?
Will there be an age limit or other restrictions? Will one need a fitness
test of any kind before operating a virtual relaity system?
• What if someone commits a crime in the virtual world? What sort of
punishments will be given – virtual or real?
5
Real Help for War Veterans
Racial Equality
Virtual Reality is also helping people deal with the issue of racism. To help people
empathize with other races, scientists have found that racial bias is reduced when
participants are immersed in the virtual body of a person from a different race.