Sarah sees VR as a powerful tool for patients and her work at the XR Health Alliance (https://www.xrhealthuk.org/) looks to grow this impact from one-off apps an initiatives into a framework of national standards and policy that fosters an era of XR innovation in the healthcare space. Beyond the novelty of just gaming, Sarah looks forward to a future where VR “helps us understand wellness and our bodies better;” even using XR for preventative care.
This episode takes a bit of a personal sidebar when Nathan C has a physical reaction to a comment and shares how augmented reality, somewhat accidentally, helped them better understand their body and gender identity. Teaching about the power of AR filters had Nathan testing all the trending effects. This exploration gave Nathan tools to see beyond their experiences and experiment with new looks and personas—and helped them find an identity that fit.
And while clinicians and policymakers love the quantifiable statistics that prove the power of AR and VR—there are countless stories like Nathan’s where XR has delivered hard to measure, yet completely transformational results. This real, personal impact, might just be why so many early adopters continue to work with metaverse technologies, despite the range of challenges faced.
For Ticho, the future of XR is embodied and playful and always includes the patient (user) at the center.
At Awesome Future, we’re thankful that someone this inspired and indefatigable is asking the tough, yet crucial questions. “What’s the financial model that will make this successful long-term? How do we include funding for all voices like philosophers and artists?” And most importantly, “ How do we come together around a unified mission and sustain a healthy debate about XR, rather than falling into fragmented tools and platforms?”