We had the pleasure of hosting Professor Naser Ahmadi from UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior to test and integrate immersive technologies into his clinical research.
Dr. Ahmadi's Stress Resilience and Computation Psychiatry Lab is researching on methods on identifying and reversing trauma at an epigenetic level. They are exploring novel ways on how to map this as an experience vs. just modulation on screen for the patient.
This becomes important because in order to trigger a response, the simulation has to be as superlative as possible, and the Varjo #XR4 was the device of choice as it boast's the most advanced visual fidelity, making it perfect both for running data-heavy immersive experiences only a PC (RAVE Computer) can power and being able to project this on the real world with enhanced autofocus passthrough. This enables real-time feeds from multiple sources (e.g., body movement, muscle tension + advanced built-in eye tracking) to play in aggregate smoothly.
One interesting story Dr. Ahmadi shared was how someone that had never had any physical exposure to the Armenian Genocide (they were a grandchild of someone that did), would experience a somatic response when being exposed to words or material related to it. This means that trauma passes on generationally at an epigenetic level and it might actually be possible to reverse it a gene level with creative technology-enhanced techniques that their research is spearheading.
Dr. Ahmadi, I might have been overly illustrative in my description of your work, please correct me where I might have oversimplified or jumped to conclusions 🤗
In conclusion: if your lab needs an XR/Spatial strategy or an excited post by me, ping me. Or else, enjoy the amazing work by Dr. Ahmadi's lab.
Special thanks to our friends from RAVE Computer for the #RenderBeast, the tiniest and industry-grade XR ready PC and Cleanbox Technology for making sure the headsets are always healthcare-grade decontaminated.
