IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - October 2020 - 3

Editorial

by Saeid Nahavandi

nder the COVID-19 global pandemic, many of us are subjected to stay-at-home directives
and are working from home for a
period of time to reduce the risk of
virus spread in society. One major
impact of COVID-19 on our everyday lives that occurs to me is that,
as human beings, we are spending a
large portion of our time sitting down
somewhere, be that a sofa, a dinner
table, behind an office desk, or as we
travel in some mode of transportation. In European research involving
28,000 respondents, it was revealed
that the median sitting time was 7.5 h
per day. In this issue of IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Magazine, "Smart Cushion-Based Activity
Recognition" sheds new light on this
topic. This brought back memories
of 1992 when I was engaged in the
design and development of a prototype gadget that would remind computer users to rest periodically from
sitting in front of a computer and
working for hours on end, thus giving
their eyes and seated posture a break.
In recent years, with the arrival
of virtual reality (VR), we have seen
many useful tool applications where
humans can be immersed in and gain
experience from a plethora of training
and rehabilitation environments. In
2019, the VR market was valued at just
over US$11 billion; it is anticipated to
grow to nearly US$90 billion by 2026.
Last year, we witnessed annual con-

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSMC.2020.3016935
Date of current version: 21 October 2020

Virtual Reality in the
Time of COVID-19

been waiting for quite some time. Several tech companies are delivering
very innovative products that can not
only be used for VR applications but
also as enablers for other innovative
uses, such as the one included in the
article "HTC Vive Tracker," which is
in this month's issue of IEEE Systems,
Man, and Cybernetics Magazine.

Saeid Nahavandi

In all possibility, it
seems that VR is about
to deliver what we
have been waiting for
quite some time.

sumer VR software sales reach US$1
billion. In all possibility, it seems that
VR is about to deliver what we have

O c tob e r 2020

About the Author
Saeid Nahavandi (saeid.nahavandi@
deakin.edu.au) earned his Ph.D. degree from Durham University, United
Kingdom, in 1991. He is an Alfred Deakin professor, pro-vice-chancellor,
chair of engineering, and the founding
director for the Institute for Intelligent
Systems Research and Innovation at
Deakin University, Australia. His research interests include the modeling
of complex systems, robotics, and haptics. He has published more than 900
scientific papers in various international journals and conferences. He is a
leading authority on haptically enabled
robotics. He is a Fellow of IEEE, the
Australian Academy of Technological
Sciences and Engineering, Engineers
Australia, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

IEEE SYSTEMS, MAN, & CYBERNETICS MAGAZINE

IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - October 2020

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