- Oh, now we're on the moon.

I think.

- [Don] I think if you look right behind you, it's supposed to be the moon.

So this.

- Oh my gosh.

Okay.

So obviously I'm not actually on the moon.

It's all in my head set.

I'm at Cross Com a software development company in Durham, North Carolina, where they're using virtual and augmented reality to create everything from giant fake spiders to replicas of beating human hearts.

- Virtual reality is the kind of experience that would put you in a virtual space outside of, or different from your perception of the real world around you.

You're experiencing and perceiving a world that's entirely different from the room that you're in or the home that you're in or the office.

You're almost magically transported into a different kind of experience or a different kind of place.

- Like this virtual meeting space where I interviewed developer Mike Harris that's his avatar on the right while he was hundreds of miles away in Louisiana.

Recognize the gal on the left?

They made me a virtual version of myself to.

- There's still so much to be discovered in this space.

I mean, obviously being able to have these interactions, the ability to like maintain eye contact and gesture and physically point out objects that you're, that are in your space and sort of create them in real time is amazing.

There's something really powerful about that ability for us to interact like this.

- [Michelle] Even without a high-tech headset to immerse yourself in virtual reality, you can still experience its cousin augmented reality.

In fact, you probably already are if you're using things like Instagram filters or Google Maps.

- Were augmented reality is different is that it's the idea that instead of taking an individual out of their current space or experience to basically add on top of, or augment on top of one's perception of the world around them.

This office is pretty bare bones, but with augmented reality, we could potentially interact with virtual effects, similes of real-world objects.

And so here I have a virtual engine kind of sitting on top of this physical desk.

And if I wanted to kind of observe this engine, I can kind of lean into it and see a little bit closer.

I could even tap on it to expand it and see inside and see all the workings.

And so I'm interacting with this virtual engine as if it was physically here rooted in the space.

Of course, I can make a close up with a top and I can make it disappear and then pull up another object for observation interaction.

- You are physically able to move around the space.

This is kind of your portal into this virtual world.

- Yes, that's exactly right.

There's going to be a lot of applications for this kind of technology.

- [Michelle] From engines to arachnids.

If you're afraid of spiders, this next part might give you the heebee-jeebees, but Don and his team are working with a researcher to develop an app to help treat exactly that kind of phobia.

- If someone is terrified of spiders, I can sit here and talk with them for over about how spiders are safe.

I mean, they already logically know that they say, I know it is illogical, or sometimes they say, I know it's stupid, but I'm afraid of spiders.

Only through exposure to the feared object, gradual exposure that the associative learning of safety happens in the brain and the person feels comfortable with those objects.

It is treatment that works well.

It works with different kinds of phobias, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder.

But the problem is that we do not have feared objects in the office.

And what the app does is, a software on my computer, which is connected via wi-fi to the HoloLens device or the AR device, and on this app, I see map of the surfaces, which is created by the HoloLens.

And then I also see where the, my patient is positioned, where the head is and where they're looking at.

I can choose the type of spider, whether it's jumping or wolf or black widow, I can choose a color.

I can choose how big they are, which direction they're looking at and place them anywhere in the environment.

And then I can have the spiders move in any direction at any speed I want.

We just recently finished a clinical trial towards the end of the therapy basically you're surrounded by more than 10, huge, like crabs size spiders, all the 14 people that we have treated in this clinical trial responded in less than a one hour average response time, 38 minutes, which is a big advantage over conventional ways of therapy or even VR studies that have looked at.

- I didn't think I was afraid of spiders until we built this app.

And then I realized maybe I do have arachnophobia.

Especially when we were able to create these giant spiders sitting on top of the coffee table, because that's the other thing about virtual and augmented reality is that you could actually create circumstances and situations that actually would be practical if not impossible, to replicate in the real world.

- [Michelle] During the COVID-19 pandemic Cross Com used virtual and augmented reality to help an immersive STEM learning program in Detroit stay connected with high school students.

- So what they would've seen on the tours like the lab and things like that, they got to experience in virtual reality.

- A virtually simulated operating room, a virtually simulated ICU, and we even built in interactive exercises that you would perform if they were to actually physically visit, but even went a step further, to be able to do some things that they wouldn't have been able to do.

Like there was a mock patient on the operating room.

Someone could actually pick up a scalpel and then virtually cut this virtual patient and blood would come out.

- You like physically jumped back.

You're like, oh my God, it's so realistic.

- I always run this module where there's just a lot of input.

So in, in healthcare and medicine, sometimes there's like 20,000 people talking to you.

You're having to pay attention to this.

And your pager goes off and the overhead page goes off and your phone, the kids were stressed.

They were like, you know, one of them said, I have never been this stressed in my life because I was making the environment very stressful.

If we were just here on Zoom, it wouldn't have carried.

They would've seen it like a movie.

It would have been like a TV show would have been Grey's Anatomy.

And it would have been like, okay, they're running that.

But they were in it.

They were immersed.

They heard the sounds.

- [Michelle] Now, instead of being limited to students with VR headsets, even more students can participate through their smartphones using augmented reality.

- [Dr. Heath] I challenged Don and I said, we have to come up with a technology that, you know, doesn't require great wi-fi, which by the way we found out, you know, for many kids, is a struggle.

With AR everyone has a smartphone.

So 95% of the students who want to participate, but don't have the funds let's say for VR, AR is a great substitute.

And it gives you that sense of immersion and participation without all the cost.

I think getting it to a broader audience is important.

All of that leads to really just, you know, helping the next generation succeed.

- [Michelle] You might worry that all of this technology will cause humans to become isolated.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that virtual interaction can help keep us connected.

- [Mike] I remember there was a time early during the pandemic that I had one of these headsets and my father had one as well, and I set it up like a little environment for us to hop in together.

It was just like a little old timey saloon to like have a beer together.

And I remember the feeling of being in his presence was really meaningful to me at that moment, exploring the ways that this technology helps us connect with each other, especially with like families living so distanced from each other and workers working remotely.

I think we've just sort of scratched the surface of how this allows us to actually be more in contact with each other when we can't be physically.

And that's what I'm most excited about.