newsroom - News Releases
 Apr 01, 2017 Canadian Government Backs Canada-based Hardware Developer with Mental Health for Pets Virtual Reality Initiative (MHPVR) Contact: Amanda Karttunen 613-656-7971 akarttunen@eurocom.com April 1, 2017 – Eurocom Corporation announced today they are developing a virtual reality (VR) kit for pets. The kit includes a portable VR-ready mini-laptop powered by the newest AMD VR Gemini GPU. VR technology is failing humans. The under-performing VR market is causing major technology vendors like Nvidia, AMD, Google, and HTC to rethink their strategies regarding VR to focus on new markets, like your pets. The mental health of animals has been an ethical issue for years. VR offers concrete solutions where others have failed. This shift to household animals is an exciting leap for emerging technology. AMD is developing new “VR Pet Ready” GPUs for future pet VR headgear to reduce burdens on pets wearing VR gear. This is one market VR can expand into immediately. Pet owners have been complaining for years about walking their pets in the cold and leaving their animals alone during the day, often resorting to expensive modifications to their houses or costly fixes for destruction left behind by energetic animals. This VR technology improves the lives of pets and boosts their mental health. No longer must a pet owner face the brutal winter to walk their dog, their pet can simply pop on a VR helmet and stay indoors for some exercise – if there’s a litter box, fully outfitted with sensors for smell, sight, and sound. The litter box can be programmatically mapped to show up in the VR world as a tree or a bush. This industry has tremendous growth potential. According to Consumer Corner: Canadian Pet Market Outlook, 2014, “Fifty-seven percent of Canadian Households own pets.” In 2013, the Globe and Mail reported that pet owners “represent a $6.5-billion a year business opportunity.” The VR kit can help pets meet virtual friends and walk themselves through a beautiful landscape with built-in sensory experiences. The VR pet helmet includes special considerations for scents, including a sniff tray that pumps up to eight different canned smells into the helmet; a refresh rate animals can process for sight because animals see differently than humans, with extra testing for focal points and an animal’s color palette; and an audiophile-grade audio system to create a truly immersive environment since animals have greater hearing abilities than humans. The Canadian government has decided to subsidize the innovation and development of virtual reality for pets. The mental health of pets is a concern, with dog attack rates on the rise and veterinary clinic charges increasing. Eurocom realizes the market space available for VR and started development with AMD without financial assistance, but later won acknowledgement and funding from the National Animal Health Program and the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council of Canada. Minister of Health, the Honourable Jane Philpott, MP for Markham-Stouffville, is responsible for maintaining and improving the health of Canadians. Recently, she remarked, “Canadian families include pets. We can’t forget about their role in our lives and need to care for their health.” With backing from the government, the economic impact of this announcement has huge potential for Canada. It will help create jobs in education, training, and will develop new opportunities. “Configuring VR systems for pets has some challenges, chief amongst them being loading the scent canisters, which are fully customizable. Pet owners can choose from recommended scents, such as ‘My owner’, ‘Cat nip’, ‘Litter box’, ‘My behind’, and ‘The dog down the road’ or create their own,” stated Eurocom President Mark Bialic. Testing has yielded extremely positive results, with animals displaying fewer worrisome behaviours, such as chewing, biting, and scratching. When pets are enabled to enter a virtual reality world on their own rather than sitting around the house feeling anxious, bored, or lonely, they exhibited positive adoption of VR. The helmets slip on easily – the pet can walk into it – and they are light enough to present few obstacles in terms of mobility. Early criticism includes ethical considerations, problems with movement in the simulation, and questions about sensory inputs for animals. While these issues are being ironed out, the physical technology is being fine-tuned to adjust to different pet head sizes. Mark Bialic commented, “We are grateful to Canadian political leaders, specifically ?the Right Honorable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for expanding the definition of mental health and allowing all Canadian pets to enjoy "VR Mental Health" with national coverage. Pets are an integral part of peoples’ lives, so mentally healthy pets have a major impact on the economy, which is critical for the long-term growth of the Canadian economy.” Finally, the power of VR is coming to those you love the most: your pets. Eurocom is looking for volunteers for the first phase of the pilot project. About Eurocom Since 1989, Eurocom, a privately-held company, is a leading developer of fully-customizable, CPU- and GPU-upgradeable, heavy-duty, long-lifespan laptops. A pioneer of computing technological standards, Eurocom pushes technology to new limits, including their desktop-replacement laptops: Mobile Workstations, Mobile Servers, and Mobile Supercomputers. Eurocom’s leadership and guidance around technology development drives innovation in major technology players, including Intel, NVIDIA, and Micron. Eurocom has released numerous World Firsts, including the Eurocom 2100 in 1989, which exceeded the speed and functionality of top personal computers at the time, and incorporated the first and only 3.5” hard drive. Currently, Eurocom offers the unique 15.6” GTX 1080 Tornado 5 laptop, Xeon-based Mobile Servers, and module (MXM) GPU laptops. Eurocom is also credited with releasing products associated with laptop technology, such as the external 780 Watt AC/DC Adapter/Power Supply, released in January 2017, and prides itself on providing solutions for engineering deployment. Eurocom’s specifications include your choice of NVIDIA Quadro-based MXM and GTX GeForce 1080 SLI GPUs, choice of 15.6” and 17.3” 4K UltraHD, QHD, and FHD with up to four active displays housed in a heavy-duty mechanical design (designed for unintentional abuse). With fast delivery and friendly, personal support, Eurocom offers the ultimate amount of choice for clients with a number of product categories available. For more information about Eurocom, visit: www.eurocom.com |