HEALTHCARE INNOVATIONS
MyndVR is a Dallas-based health and wellness
company founded by Chris Bickler and Shawn Wiora
that provides virtual reality solutions for seniors in
continuum of care retirement communities, 55+
living communities and home-health care providers.
The company is curating a vast library of VR content,
creating a portfolio of recreational, prescriptive and
on-demand therapies that offer a promising future into
cognitive health and wellness for our dynamic and
aging population.
Ryan McMahan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer
Science at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), has
teamed with the innovators at MyndVR to provide VR
content aimed at senior citizens — a largely neglected
audience within the primarily youth-targeted medium.
“There are three ideas behind what VR experiences
allow these users,” Dr. McMahan said. “Either they’ll
see something they’ve experienced before, which
could bring about memories; experience a place
they’ve never seen before, which engages the brain; or
experience something that’s completely impossible —
the unique domain of virtual reality.”
McMahan first partnered with MyndVR in 2016 and
recently joined its advisory board. Students in his
graduate virtual reality course created three distinct
virtual environment prototypes for MyndVR’s target
audience. They include a nightclub complete with a
spectrum, quality-of-life approach across a network of
more than 50 long-term care and retirement facilities.
“Our product road map envisions three tiers of content,”
Brickler said. “The first layer is recreational content —
going to the Great Wall, swimming with dolphins and
the like. Next would be therapeutic content — music,
nature and brain exercises. The top level, the uncharted
water, is prescriptive digital therapy. MyndVR’s goal is
to provide virtual reality content customized to a user’s
diagnosis. That’s why we’re so excited about working
with UTD on not only the development of the VR, but
also the cognitive implications.”
In conducting MyndVR’s trials in Kansas, Florida,
California and Texas — working with more than 250
seniors from ages 70 to 100 — the team has seen the
extreme emotions that these programs can evoke.
Brian Barnes, CFO/COO of The Legacy Senior
Communities, observed these effects during a trial the
team conducted at Willow Bend, a continuing care
retirement community in Plano.
“The MyndVR trial demonstrated a variety of benefits,”
Barnes said. “In one case, a resident living with
Alzheimer’s exhibited personality traits she had prior
to the diagnosis, including dancing, smiling and
singing. Another resident felt relief from symptoms
of Parkinson’s. The overall response has impressed
everyone involved.”
they went somewhere,” Ariel Comstock, the student-
turned-employee who worked with the seniors, said.
“For people who are not as agile as they once were, it
can give them a sense of confidence, of agency — they
choose where they want to go and then go there.”
For residents of senior living communities, a glance at
a universe of experiences beyond their own walls can
make a world of difference. For North Texas, unique
corporate-academic partnerships will continue to
leverage the best of brains and business to make a
difference for people across the world.
North Texas Genome
Center to Provide Insight
for Precision Care
The ability to rapidly sequence genomes, DNA
and RNA is providing doctors, scientists and
engineers critical new tools that are changing
the way doctors treat patients. Whole genome
sequencing is becoming the foundation for
precision health, a rapidly growing field that
examines differences in people’s genetic
makeup to provide more personalized and
effective healthcare solutions.
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), in
partnership with the University of North Texas Health
Science Center (UNTHSC), is bringing massive genome
sequencing capabilities to North Texas through the
launch of the North Texas Genome Center, housed on
the UTA campus.
“The opening of this new center is wonderful news
for Tarrant County and will bring a real boost to our
local economy,” Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams said at
the center’s launch. “By bringing together the science,
engineering and nursing expertise of UTA with the
biomedical research experience of UNTHSC, this new
center will be able to produce innovative healthcare
solutions with a real positive impact on patients.”
live singer, an immersive sudoku game set above a koi
pond, and a set of serene day and night environments,
ranging from mountains, lakes and beaches to the
Taj Mahal. MyndVR has not only broadened the horizons for senior
citizens, but also students involved in the project, one
of whom was hired by MyndVR to coordinate trials at
facilities across the country. The North Texas Genome Center offers academic
and corporate researchers lower costs and faster
service for human whole genome sequencing as
compared to other genomics labs. The center will
be critical for research in drug development, disease
prevention, cancer treatments and fundamental
aspects of genetics.
Chris Brickler, co-founder and CEO of MyndVR, said his
company’s initial intention was to focus on a broad- “MyndVR transports a viewer mentally away for the
duration of the experience, and they finish feeling like The North Texas Genome Center features five
NovaSeq6000 gene sequencing systems, which
VR offers Alzheimer’s patients an opportunity to experience familiar places and memories
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WWW.NTC-DFW.ORG
SUMMER 2018
HEALTH CARE IS IN OUR DNA.
Our graduates are changing things for good .
A legacy of leadership in health care, TWU has developed
talented, caring professionals committed to excellence.
Occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language
pathologists, nurses and nutritionists are just some of our alumni
who are leading the charge in North Texas. If you’re looking to
help make a positive impact, look no further than TWU.
Boldly Go.
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