Dr. Michael Barnett-Cowan, Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Director of the Multisensory Brain and Cognition lab, discussed the progression of virtual and augmented reality (VR, AR) technology and their real world application in an article in the Globe and Mail. Writer Peter Nowak quoted Barnett-Cowan on the use of VR/AR in a workplace for training purposes, such as surgical training:
The biggest thing holding this back is the content creation […] The recognition is starting to emerge that the industry needs to create development tools that enable people to create their content much more easily.
- Dr. Michael Barnett-Cowan, from Virtual reality slowly making inroads as a workplace training tool
Barnett-Cowan’s research largely focuses on the brain's ability to interact with and receive information from its environment as well as how the brain integrates multisensory information. His lab uses VR as a research tool because it supports further discovery of brain responses.
Barnett-Cowan will be continuing to develop this research in part through the GI's VR Storytelling Lab, which is a multidisciplinary lab focused on exploring the intersections of VR and narrative research.