That is a nice money. Did you eventually thought of making the project opensource, so less fortunate people can use it too?

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If you want to experiment with something - I would look at software for loneliness and isolation. Scenery, locations in VR that could be brought to home for elderly to give them an experience and vacation to an exotic and exciting place. I think this would be well received and be a topic for discussion among the elderly that tries said experience.

Hello! This may be a bit of an odd question, but: I'm currently 30 years old and looking for a career change. I'd love to so something to help other people, my dream was to create some VR software for elderly people so that they can visit various places, either fantastical or real world. I'm also super curious about building special wheelchairs or prophetic limbs and doing research in those fields. I have no idea how to get started. Studying may not be possible since I also need an income, but with no futher knowledge I can't offer much help, but I'm super willing to learn. Any tips what I could do to get starting? Either way keep being awsome, I'm happy to see people doing good things in this world :)

Game design in general takes a lot from psychological concepts, and even some neuroscience in the way we design for accessibility. We don't specifically deep dive into it - but build our software based on feedback from our patients through workshops and our game design knowledge.

I don't think I've been stuck on a game design problem - it usually leads to trying different approaches that are more creative, or work arounds. If there is a will there is a way - it is just a question of how much smoke and mirrors you want to use. :)

I think that the most important aspect of any product or game design is where possible reducing user friction. Make it as easy and intuitive to pick up as if it was walking. Drop in and play/use. (That does not mean it cannot be challenging! Dark Souls is amazing, minus accessibility!).

Our world is built up around reducing distracting colours, not having a cluttered -but easily readable world. We try to not overwhelm the senses of our users despite being in VR. So on the software side there is "tech" - but not anything specific on the hardware side.

We generally limit sessions to 15 to 20min or so, but we some patients may prefer longer sessions depending on their abilities.

We are looking for commercialization partners for the project currently - currently it is available at Sunnaas Hospital and for home use with their patients. But it is not publicly available other places yet. More widespread trials would be a logical next step.

Is this software available for private use? Would you say that a physical therapist's presence is required to get full use out of it? Will there be more widespread trials at any point? (My brother suffered a stroke some years ago, he has an oculus rift, but we're a long way from Norway)

Currently working on a new project. I own the company, so my salary varies.
I try to not take a salary that is bigger than the rest of the team.

Depending on where you live you can earn from 65K to 150K USD per year with my skills. Sometimes more. (Unreal Engine generalist, game designer with 5-10 years' experience).

what is your salary?

Do you apply neuroscience or psychological concepts at all when designing games for rehabilitation or games in general? How much is there a difference? What's your opinion on what makes good game design? Have you ever been stuck on a design problem? Did you or did you not solve it? How or why not?

Thank you for the kind words. If I inspire one person -that is mission complete for me. <3

It can be daunting to start projects like these. We didn't have extensive medical knowledge outside a keen interest in the topics - but that is why we allied ourselves with a good hospital - to weigh up for our own limitations.

If you feel limited in anything you do - find people that compliment you! :)

I really appreciate your transparency with the limits of what the games do, and the extent of your medical knowledge. I bet that a lot of people in tech are interested in helping in the medical field, but don't feel they have the right expertise for that. I feel that way, at least.

I hope your AMA inspires other people to reconsider how their skillsets could help in other fields; it has certainly inspired me!

Cool, thanks again!

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>I was inspired after a friend of mine suffered a brain stroke in his 40s. He was rather severely afflicted and sits in a wheelchair now - but he never gave up. Always thought. He even bought a belted wheelchair and mounted his gun on it - still goes moose hunting.
>
>I spent a lot of time with him talking about rehab and he told me how extremely boring some of the stuff was, and how Wii games were cool but some were very hard for him. And that kinda started it all.

I was inspired after a friend of mine suffered a brain stroke in his 40s. He was rather severely afflicted and sits in a wheelchair now - but he never gave up. Always thought. He even bought a belted wheelchair and mounted his gun on it - still goes moose hunting.

I spent a lot of time with him talking about rehab and he told me how extremely boring some of the stuff was, and how Wii games were cool but some were very hard for him. And that kinda started it all.

From before I was in the games industry as an indie/hobbyist using Unreal Engine.

Several people I know have had to severely limit their screen time during brain injury recovery. How do you make sure that rehabilitation that uses screens does not cause problems for these types of people? Is there any tech being created expressly to help those with visual processing issues post TBI?

Thanks for being here :)

We have a few studios working with VR I believe. And within digital twins, training I believe the market will grow rapidly.

Fantastic. Thank you!

We don't specifically track this - but we make sure to avoid things that may be disconcerting to the users. (Loud noises, tinnitus like sounds and other distracting things).

There are research papers on music and therapy however that could be interesting to read.

What inspired you to start working on this? Is this something you've wanted to do for a long time, and what's it been like to transition from (I'm assuming) traditional game development?

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Thanks for the response! I also have a question that's a bit off topic, but do you how the VR industry is in Norway? I currently live in America but I want to move to a different country and currently Norway is my top choice, but I don't know much about the industries there.

Hello. I am always curious about music in the use of the brain's functions. Are sounds / music incorporated into your work? What have you learned so far about how music interacts with the brain in terms of the healing process?