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Northampton virtual reality event showcases new opportunities

Ollie Conopo/BBC Three people wearing white VR headsets. The one on the right is laughing and appears to be raising her hand to touch something that is not there.Ollie Conopo/BBC
Visitors got the chance to try virtual reality headsets for themselves

An event has been held to show there is a lot more to virtual reality (VR) than just gaming.

The Future of Virtual Reality is Now experience day took place at Northampton library on Thursday.

The applications being demonstrated included a virtual tour of a church and another designed for helping children with autism cope with new experiences.

One organiser said they hoped the event would "grow our digital economy and put us on the map for digital innovation".

The day was arranged by Digital Northampton, which was set up five years ago by West and North Northamptonshire Councils and the University of Northampton.

Jaisant Patel, from Northamptonshire Libraries, said: "VR is big in health and wellbeing, it's big in education, it's big in the preservation of artefacts in museums, and it's getting bigger in training staff in businesses."

Ollie Conopo/BBC Woman with short black hair wearing lanyard in a wood-panelled meeting roomOllie Conopo/BBC
Nicola Holland is from Billing Brook Special School, where VR is being used to help children with autism

One of the organisations represented at the event was Billing Brook Special School in Northampton. Teachers have been working on a pilot project using VR to prepare children with autism for travelling independently.

Nicola Holland, the assistant head, said they looked at the idea of VR helping with memory building, problem solving and, for example, getting onto their school bus.

The school plans to be part of a hub for special schools in the county where they could all take advantage of VR.

"I think it [VR] could be amazing and really open up our world," she added.

Ollie Conopo/BBC Young man with short hair in a black t-shirt with the "Flight Beyond Sight" logoOllie Conopo/BBC
Jamie Anderson from Flight Beyond Sight is using VR to train paramedics

Jamie Anderson, from VR training company Flight Beyond Sight, is working with Thames Valley Air Ambulance on a project using VR headsets to train paramedics.

"Replicating some of the injuries and the experiences that they're going to see is very challenging, and medical equipment and dummies are really expensive, so to be able to have a headset with all this on is a huge training benefit to them," he said.

Rebecca Gill, founder of the Northampton company VR Therapies, has used VR to calm people down with a virtual swim with dolphins.

"It is a brilliant antidote to the stress of life," she added.

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