We are often told by people, especially parents, about the dangers of playing video games without even thinking about the positive effects of playing such games. “You’ll go blind” and “It’s unhealthy for you” are two out of a thousand reasons people use to discourage us from committing to our romantic relationships with video games. With the introduction of the Oculus Rift and many other consoles of its type, however, things might change for the better for the average gamer and the people in the medical field.
The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality head-mounted display that allows people to see the world in first person. Once inside the game, a person feels they are breathing, running, living in the virtual world. It’s that immersive! While the main purpose of this technological concept was specifically for entertainment purposes, this headset can make treatments for psychological, physical, and other disorders much more feasible and impactful for patients. It can also help new medical students experience real-life surgical procedures with minimal distractions. Therapy Virtual reality consoles can help patients get the best treatment for their respective disorders. In exposure therapy, patients with phobias can turn to the oculus rift in helping them overcome their fears such as flying and claustrophobia because virtual reality is a controlled environment which can help patients practice coping mechanisms and break avoidance patterns. If the patient is overwhelmed, the session can be stopped immediately by taking off the headset. Virtual reality consoles are also being used with soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder by allowing soldiers to become exposed to simulations of war to help veterans cope with such traumatic experiences. Patients with Phantom Limb Syndrome using virtual reality can help them come to terms with the loss of their limb by seeing a virtual recreation of their limb and patients with prosthetics can use this console to train themselves on how to use their prosthetics effectively. Virtual reality is not just something for entertainment but a controlled and safe environment for those with physical and mental problems. Autism “Children with autism generally interact well with technology, specifically virtual reality” says Jussine Cassel, director of Northwestern University's Center for Technology and Social Behaviour. Virtual reality helps autistic children learn social cues, motor skills, and overall help children with autism cope with real-world situations such as interacting with others, cooking meals, and learning when to cross the street. Generalization is KEY for patients with autism and if such patients learn skills and lessons in a virtual situation, these skills and lessons may be applied to real-world situations because both real-world and virtual reality experiences are so similar that patients are likely to do the same things they did in the virtual world in the real-world. Surgical Training Although this usage is far from being the most effective method of training new surgeons, because there are various, effective methods and simulations used specifically for training, it is the best method for allowing medical students to see how a surgical procedure is in first-person rather than seeing it on a screen. With virtual reality headsets, distractions in the real-world are minimal if not existent and can help medical students focus on the surgical video in front of them while allowing them to lean forward for a closer look or look to their sides to see what the nurses are doing. Besides minimizing distractions, it allows medical students to see exactly what the operating surgeon was seeing during surgical procedures. Video games can be more than what they are perceived to be. They entertain us at home while, at the other side of the world, someone might be using virtual reality technology to help their friend get over their fear of spiders. It’s important to understand that anything developed by modern society, whether it be for entertainment purposes or not, can be used to better the world and the Oculus Rift and its sister technologies remains a strong representative of this way of thinking. What is Art & Design?
It’s hard to define things that aren’t concrete. Art isn’t a thing. Art is an idea. So how do we define something so abstract (haha, see what I did there)? One widely accepted definition is “...the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power…” It is my belief that Art is anything that is done with love. No exceptions. Is STEAM actually a popular thing? Just stop right there with that question. YES, IT’S A THING. The following is a map that depicts the spread of STEM to STEAM across North America. http://map.stemtosteam.org/ I’m actually organizing a mural at a college in my area for my local impact project. When I began pitching my idea with the college Dean, he lit right up. He’s actually incredibly avid about incorporating a STEAM curriculum into his campuses and it was his excitement over STEAM awareness that got him to wholeheartedly agree to my mural idea. Say it with me-- STEAM IS A THING. What does Art have to do with the rest of STEAM? Don’t even get me started. The number of times I’ve heard the infamous “Why did you guys add art to STEM?” is maddening. We did not add Art to STEAM. It always belonged there. While invention remains tightly coupled with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – the STEM subjects, people are often incapable of seeing things from the artsy point of view. STEAM is a movement championed by Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and widely adopted by institutions, corporations and individuals. Integration of Art + Design into K–20 education is important to encourage the innovation and creation needed to drive the world through the 21st century the same way science and tech drove us through the last one.. Art & Design is no less important than Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics. Allow me to explain. The arts are a great learning tool. They can function as a familiar and relatable link to STEM for underrepresented students. Engaging students’ strengths using art activities acts as a smooth medium and increases STEM success. What better way to introduce something to students through a medium they understand like Art? Art & Design is simply more diverse learning opportunity that helps solidify access to education for a diverse spectrum of learners. Art also provides new opportunities for communication and expression. In our STEM world, we have a responsibility to educate the whole child to become a global citizen in his or her community. Go ahead and give STEAM a chance. We don’t bite. ;^) All of us love to go on vacation, and where better than the wonderful Disneyland in California.
However, I don’t think anyone would have wanted to be there in the beginning of 2015. As of February 2015, measles is no longer eliminated in the US, in part to one major outbreak of measles originating from Disneyland in California. As well, during 2014, there were 23 outbreaks of measles in the USA and over 600 individual cases, which is the highest seen in decades. While there has been a decrease from last year to this year, there has been over 188 individual measles cases so far in 2015. One of the major reasons outbreaks, or even individual cases happen, is because of a term named Herd Immunity. The illustration to the right, taken from the US Department of Health, shows how herd immunity works: the top box depicts a community in which no one is immunized and an outbreak occurs. In the middle box, some of the population is immunized but not enough to confer community immunity. In the bottom box, a critical portion of the population is immunized, protecting most community members. The principle of herd immunity applies to control of a variety of contagious diseases, not just measles, including influenza, mumps, rotavirus, and pneumococcal. Many of you have heard of these disease, but one disease not included in the list is Polio, or poliomyelitis, which is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person's brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis. However, this disease is almost globally eradicated due to vaccines and a global herd immunity; there are less than five hundred cases per year in the past few years, down from what used to be tens of thousands. While vaccines never prevent one hundred percent of any disease, they provide the protection that most people need. Even though herd immunity is extremely important in our global society today, some people are not able to take certain vaccines. Many people’s opinions on vaccines take one of two extremes, either everyone has to take vaccines or no one should take vaccines because of certain reasons; the truth is, not all people can even take vaccines. When we are young, everyone is taken to the doctor for a check-up and for their booster shots. As you grow older, you keep going back to get more vaccines and even a yearly flu shot. However, according to US Department of Health, there are many cases when someone should not take vaccines. For example, you shouldn’t get the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella) vaccine if you have had cancer before. By clicking this link, you will be redirected to a site that explains when you should not have a certain type of vaccine. Finally, just like any medicine, vaccines can cause side effects which you may want to be aware of. “For the most part these are minor (for example, a sore arm or low-grade fever) and go away within a few days,” states the US Department of Health, “…however, a decision not to immunize a child also involves risk and could put the child and others who come into contact with him or her at risk of contracting a potentially deadly disease.” This data is also repeated from multiple different reliable sources, such as the Center of Disease Control. By clicking this link, you will be redirected to a potential list of side effects for vaccines. While everyone has the freedom to make their own decisions, data has proven time and time again that unless we have a herd immunity against a disease, it will repeatedly return and do more and more damage; vaccines can prevent dangerous disease, ranging from polio to smallpox to meningitis and help our communities stay safe. |
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