BBC PRESENTER HELPED TO OVERCOME FEAR OF HEIGHTS WITH IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGY

Oxford VR’s immersive virtual reality technology has helped a BBC Two presenter ovecome his crippling fear of heights.

Dr Alain Gregoire from Trust Me

I’m a Doctor invited Professor Daniel Freeman, co-founder of Oxford VR, to demonstrate the technology on the programme. After just two hours of treatment, viewers could see firsthand how Dr Gregoire had overcome his fears.

The VR therapy builds on Professor Daniel Freeman’s pioneering research at the Department of Psychiatry, Oxford University. The company is developing evidence-based automated psychological treatments using immersive virtual reality.

Oxford VR treats patients with a variety of mental health conditions – like fear of heights or psychosis – by creating virtual scenarios in which psychological difficulties occur.

Daniel launched Oxford VR as a University of Oxford spin-out, with funding and support from Oxford University Innovation and Oxford Sciences Innovation. They raised seed funding in 2017 with a further funding round in August 2018.

Katie Bedborough, Oxford VR’s Chief Operating and Financial Officer, said: “VR allows the patient to experience situations they find troubling in a safe, controlled environment.”

Oxford VR has two main projects under way – one on acrophobia (fear of heights) and the other called GameChange. Its VR-enabled cognitive behavioural therapy for acrophobia is available through NHS clinicians in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Bristol (Oasis Talking Therapies), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The £4 million GameChange project is being run in partnership with the University of

Oxford and the UK National Institute of Health Research. It is a multi-site trial of the VR programme to help those with psychosis overcome the anxieties such as doing the shopping, speaking to other people and getting on the bus.

Katie added: “Oxford VR’s vision is to transform mental health treatment for millions. We have high quality, evidencebased psychological treatments for many mental health problems but we don’t have enough skilled clinicians to deliver them. Oxford VR’s tech-enabled solutions improve access for patients.”

OrganOx receives £4.6 million investment from BGF

OrganOx Ltd, based at the Oxford Science Park, has received a £4.6 million investment from UK investor BGF.

The investment will fund commercial expansion of its first product, the metra, in the US – building on commercial traction it has gained in Europe, Canada and Australia.

OrganOx metra is the world’s first fully automated system for keeping a human donor liver functioning for up to 24 hours outside the body. The invention doubles the time that donor organs can be preserved.

The device mimics the environment of the human body with warm, oxygenated blood and nutrients supplied to the donor liver in the crucial time between donation and transplantation. Through developing the metra, OrganOx has enabled transplant teams to objectively assess the function of a donor liver before a transplant, something which is impossible with ice storage.

So far, more than 600 patients have received a liver preserved with the OrganOx metra. It is commercially available in Europe and has been used clinically in North America and Australia. The underpinning technology was developed at the University of Oxford, and OrganOx Ltd was spun out from the university in 2008.

Craig Marshall, CEO of OrganOx, said: “The funding will allow us to execute our commercial plans in the US and having BGF at the board table will ensure we leverage its impressive track record of successfully guiding growing businesses to achieve their full potential.”

Harwell Campus launches technical living lab to tackle climate crisis

Harwell Campus is calling for UK energy innovators to help mitigate climate change with next-generation energy solutions. The invitation is open to organisations with an interest in creating global-impact energy solutions.

They will work with Harwell Campus, the major UK science and technology hub based in Oxfordshire, to establish a Technical Living Laboratory which will allow new technologies to be piloted in a realworking environment.

With new challenges such as the rise in increasingly energy-hungry technology and a growing global population, the energy challenge is growing in severity, but investment into clean tech is falling, according to the World Economic Forum. At Harwell, major corporates and emerging energy companies can test new technologies using world-leading research and technical facilities, such as the UK’s only synchrotron, the Diamond Light Source, based on the site.

Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Director at Harwell Campus Business Development and Clusters, STFC-UKRI, said: “With its Technical Living Lab status, worldleading facilities and diverse knowledge and skills base, Harwell can be a driving force in helping the UK realise its national carbon targets and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero by 2050.”

Of the more than 200 organisations at Harwell, 59 form the Harwell EnergyTec Cluster and are working on clean and green energy solutions. One company working to reduce national carbon emissions is Qdot, which is exploring ways to lessen the charging time of electric vehicles. Dr Jack Nicholas, Director at Qdot Technology, says: “One of the fundamental challenges holding back the mass uptake of electric vehicles is their long recharge times. Qdot is collaborating with AMTE Power to develop technology with the aim of reducing recharge times by a factor of five.”