SAE Creative Media Institute has announced it is teaming up with Australian-based virtual reality (VR) company, Liminal VR to develop applications that help to treat mental health.
The collaboration will see 12 SAE Institute students studying videogame development in Sydney to play a lead role in developing technologies that offer tangible health benefits to people of all ages. VR is already being used for a number of medical applications but the aim here is to target mental health, such as anxiety and depression, and provide solutions to help treat them.
Liminal VR was co-founded by CEO Damian Moratti in 2015 on the the idea that VR technology could play a significant role in improving emotional and cognitive states. SAE Institute partnered with the company in 2017 as an education partner to help support this goal and, in turn, lead to this new venture today.
“It’s our hope that this technology can ultimately be integrated into everyday health management routines,” Moratti said. “We have been impressed by the preliminary prototypes produced by the students. They have really understood the brief and I have every confidence in the students’ ability to produce high quality content aligned to our vision.”
The venture between SAE Creative Media Institute and Liminal VR is planned to continue as they aim to expand the project to improve focus and cognitive function. By allowing students to explore the application of VR across diverse industries, and to see the possibilities for application are near limitless, they are becoming inspired to break boundaries and create new content.
General Manager of SAE Australia, Lee Aitken, said the partnership reflected SAE’s commitment to provide all of its creative media students with real-world learning opportunities: “By working with companies such as Liminal VR, our students can develop their technical skills, enhance soft skills such as teamwork and learn directly from industry professionals. The ultimate aim is to enhance their employability skills and help students carve successful careers.”
As part of the venture, examples of student work will be on display on 19th April at SAE Sydney in Chippendale to inspire aspiring videogame developers, filmmakers, audio engineers, animators, designers and other creatives. More information on the display can be found at the SAE website.
VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on this partnership in the future, so keeping read for more.
via Mint VR