Digital world

Computers have transformed our lives! What started out as a computing tool used by scientists and in business is now a must-have personal tool for all.

The biggest boost that computers received was the internet. The idea of different geographically-located users connected by one link found instant success. It opened a whole new vista of possibilities!

The virtual world is affecting our lives more than ever before. How? Read on.

The digital 'Vietnam Wall'

Millions in the US have been directly or indirectly affected by the Vietnam War. A website launched in March 2008 is a digital tribute to all the soldiers who lost their lives in the war. The digitised Vietnam War Memorial Wall — go.footnote.com — is a virtual wall for Vietnam War veterans. Users can search it for details on soldiers who died.

The full size of the wall is about 460 feet wide; there are 58,320 names inscribed on it. The actual image was assembled from 6,301 photographs. The military data used is based on information from the US National Archives.

The site links names to casualty reports, historical documents and digital photographs, and allows users to leave online tributes.

Virtual therapy for patients

Doctors at Loyola University Hospital, US have devised an ingenious way to help burn patients recover. They are using SnowWorld, an interactive, virtual-reality video game, to manage pain felt by burn patients during wound care and physical therapy.

Treatment of burn injuries can be painful. It involves daily bandage changes, the cleaning of wounds and removal of dead tissue, and stretching of the patient's skin. The virtual-reality system can ease pain by immersing patients in a wintry, computer-generated environment. Its interactive, multi-sensory features take patients into a state where they are less receptive to pain signals.

"Young people frequently anticipate the pain of therapy and cry and yell even before they're touched," said Melissa Drews, occupational therapist at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Loyola. "Since this system blocks all outside sights and sounds, it takes them completely out of what is to them an anxiety-inducing setting and transports them to a fun place with fun things to do."

Virtual fight against crime

A team of young people from across London has produced a lifelike computer game to spread awareness about street crime. The game, Soul Control, was created as part of a youth-led project by multimedia education company RollingSound. It was set up to harness the creativity of young people at risk of social exclusion.

Most of the people taking part in the project were categorised as NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) and trained to use computer game design software. They used these skills to design and build their own game. Soul Control is available as a free download for other young people.

The idea behind the game is to convey the long-term effects of criminal behaviour in a realistic way. The project has been helped by the fact that some of its creators have first-hand experience of such issues.

Instant communication in the virtual world

IBM and US-based Forterra Systems are collaborating to overcome communication hitches in a virtual world. Security agencies are often hampered in their efforts to collaborate because of the use of different communications systems. Forterra plans to develop a solution that would result in instant communication.

The planned system will give those collaborating instant information through the parallel display and discussion of multiple data forms. This would help in situations that require cooperation between multiple security agencies, such as targeting a terrorist group.

Using the new system, agencies will be able to recreate the location of the terrorists and rehearse their mission. The system will inform the team instantly about the experts available and where they're located. This will help them gain the necessary approvals for any changes even as the rehearsal takes place. New information from field operatives, such as streaming video and audio files, can also be shared and integrated into the training.

Thus, any meeting that requires experts available can be initiated at the click of a mouse.

The writer is a guru of tech who runs a trading company in Dubai

We ask: Is the internet making the world a better place?

"The internet does makes the world a better place! It makes the world a small village as everything is accessible so fast and easily."
— Ebtisam Ali, medicine, Universal Empire Institute of Medical Sciences

"The internet helps us in so many ways and makes communication so much faster. But some people do misuse it."
— Munazza Ajmal, information technology, SZABIST

"Of course! Only through the internet can you get lots of information in such a short time and it makes work faster and better."
— Nabeel Shaukat, business administration, SZABIST

Disclaimer: The opinion and ideas expressed here are purely of the author and in no way reflect the views of Notes on any technology.