May 12 – RIA Tomsk. A team of Tomsk specialists plans to develop an application for a VR headset, which will increase the speed of rehabilitation of paralyzed patients, including those after spinal injuries, said the founder of the project Nikolay Muraviov, a Tomsk State University (TSU) graduate. According to the press service of the Tomsk State University the project was presented at the “Cyber Sibir” hackathon. Its founders clarified that doctors recommend people with musculoskeletal disorders to perform certain exercises during rehabilitation, which make the brain transmit impulses to the muscles and create micro contractions. But often patients don’t have the discipline or imagination to do that.
“VR-helper application will immerse a person into virtual reality with the help of a special headset, creating conditions for the necessary training,” said Muraviov, explaining that the idea came up a few years ago when the author himself suffered a serious spinal injury and started rehabilitation courses.
We were able to assemble a team of like-minded people thanks to the hackathon. “I participated in the hackathon, and a team was assembled there. We created a basic prototype in 2 days. <...> There are now plans to perform medical research, work on the prototype and launch the product, so it’s not just another project, but so it helps people like me recover faster,” said the founder of the project. According to TSU, Muraviov’s team became the winner of the hackathon in the nomination “Jury Choice”, after which it was invited to become a resident of innovation and technological business incubator of the university. By the end of 2017, the young people plan to develop a working prototype of the application and start distributing it. In the future, they plan to create an app for smartphones to use with cheaper versions of VR headsets.
The first federal mixed and virtual reality hackathon took place in Moscow and Tomsk in April 2017. The participants had the opportunity to create a product prototype in 48 hours and give a presentation to experts. In Tomsk, the hackathon brought together participants from eight cities, whose works were evaluated by representatives of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), The Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF), Mail.ru, J’son & Partners, Microsoft, VRQuest, VR Tech, and Larnabel VC funds.
