A Life Regained Through VR
Bob Jester is an unlikely ambassador for VR technology, eager to tell his story wherever he can if it helps someone else like him regain control of their life.
Meet Bob Jester
Bob Jester is a truly beloved citizen of his community in Greenport, New York. A science teacher for 39 years as well as a volunteer firefighter, his local ties are strong. Needless to say, after a fall from a ladder in August 2016 that left him with 19 broken bones, a partly severed spinal cord and no control of his body from the waist down, he was never far from his friends’ and neighbors’ thoughts. One particular friend even rallied the community together to raised money in an effort to buy Bob a new wheelchair van.
Since the fall, Bob’s recovery has been long and painful, including intense physical therapy, prescription opioid use, and understandable despondency. It wasn’t until the father of one of his students introduced him to Applied VR that he truly felt hopeful for the future. He found that the more he used this virtual reality tool to enter a new world away from the pain, the less medication he needed.
Today, Bob’s regained his joy and is determined to live his best life. For someone who was told he’d never walk again, he’s well on the path to proving everyone wrong, and he has his entire community backing him as he goes.
Virtual Healing Powers
With around 1.5 billion people around the world living with chronic pain, Arm-powered Applied VR is a tech-centric method of helping patients not just cope but to recover and thrive. The world’s first VR platform designed specifically for healthcare, it provides patients with an escape from their everyday, as well as the tools that help them build skills for managing their pain.
Bob is just one of the potential millions of people who could benefit from this technology, which is why he was so eager to share his story… and why we’re so happy to be part of it.
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Gamifying Empathy to Foster Equality
With a master’s degree in Interaction Design and a lifetime of navigating the world as a woman of color, Clorama Dorvilias combined her experiences to create a virtual reality teaching tool with the aim of giving every student the equal opportunity to be seen and to succeed.