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February 12, 2024
Mizzou Engineering’s Shane McKelvey and his team won first prize in MIT’s Reality Hack competition in January for developing a novel treatment that uses virtual reality to help young patients receive electrical stimulation treatments.
McKelvey, a junior computer science major, and program participants from across the country won the Creative Input/Output Award in the Hardware category.
“The biggest reward is the friends we make along the way,” McKelvey said. “The thing that stands out to me has to be the other people who are there and the connections we make. Who you know is just as important as what you know, and Mizzou helps us do both. What the courses and research can teach you, and These types of travel and networking opportunities can help you meet new people.”
McKelvey is one of four current students and two Missouri School of Engineering alumni participating in the MIT Reality Hacks event, which since its inception seven years ago has become one of the largest extended reality (XR) hackathons in the United States. one. Wang Fang, associate professor of information technology, provided guidance to the participants, who all participated in undergraduate research in Wang’s VR lab. This experience prepared them for success at the hackathon.
Wang also consults for MU Virtual Reality (MUVR), a student organization focused on XR. All six participants were active or former military officers.
While these projects allowed them to use industry-grade technology on real-world projects, attendees agreed that meeting others was the highlight of the event.
“For me, the main takeaway is that you get to meet a lot of like-minded people from different places, different backgrounds, and different experiences,” said Livia Fiebelkorn, a junior in Information Technology (IT). “It was a great experience talking to people and hearing different perspectives.”
In addition to meeting students from schools across the country, including some from the Intercollegiate XR Association, the event also attracted professionals from the XR community, including leaders in the field, said Erika Zhou, who holds degrees in computer science and a minor By. IT Major in December,
“Hacking events and projects are cool, but community is an important part of Reality Hack,” she said. “It’s a great networking opportunity.”
Mike Sturm, a junior studying IT, volunteered at the event, helping organizers move equipment and mentoring other participants. The experience gave him the opportunity to see a variety of different projects.
“I saw how the skills and knowledge we learn in school are applied in the real world,” he said. “You might be told to make a program for a class and you thought it was a one-off, but now you can relate it to a real project. It’s a summary of what you’ve learned.”
project
McKelvey’s team created FlexVR Wellness, a complete ecosystem that allows therapists to use augmented reality (AR) glasses to interact with patients remotely while the patient is fully immersed in the VR environment. The team uses the Unity game engine, Normcore multiplayer framework, and Snapdragon Spaces to connect various devices. Eventually, the system will allow therapists to provide interactive teletherapy.
“Therapists will be able to place objects in VR customized spaces to instantly make patients feel calmer,” he said. “Using AR glasses, the therapist can see the patient’s VR environment as if it were on a desktop and be able to pick up and move objects such as game pieces.”
The goal is to provide electrical stimulation therapy (which may be uncomfortable) to children in a relaxing environment. Ultimately, McKelvey hopes the system will gamify therapy, allowing patients to “play” during treatment.
Zhou and her team developed WEDGE, a multifaceted XR controller that includes two buttons and LEDs that allow people outside the VR environment to receive information about what is happening in the simulation.
“One of the cool things about it is that the person using it can use buttons to interact with the VR experience, and people outside of VR can see the LED flash, which provides another way to interact,” Zhou said. “One example is an educational setting. A facilitator can use LEDs to understand how the person is performing in a VR environment. A facilitator can use a regular VR handheld controller to alter the VR experience through LED feedback.”
Albert Zhou, a senior majoring in IT, and his team created EmpoweredAR, which uses the power of XREAL glasses to generate a mesh of the physical environment, combined with distance tracking, to provide the wearer with an auditory map. The idea is to allow those with visual impairments to perceive their environment better than traditional canes.
Mizzou Engineering alumnus Weiyu Feng also participated in a project Collage MR. Mixed reality applications allow users to click on an object to create an associated experience. The idea is to connect photos, videos and 3D scenes so users can essentially “access” their memories.
McKelvey thanks the University of Missouri Organization Research Group (ORG) for funding the trip.
“Meeting people is very valuable to me,” he said. “We are building connections and I now understand why the University of Missouri offers these opportunities – I understand how it benefits everyone involved. It’s so cool to see what I can do for the university when they invest in me ”
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