CHICAGO (January 20, 2015)—Georama, a company that helps people virtually experience a destination in real time via a guide, joined Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital today in a partnership that will create virtual adventures to be broadcast throughout the hospital.
“Our technology has the potential to make a big social impact by providing experiences for those who are physically or financially unable to be somewhere,” said Nihal Advani, Founder and CEO of Georama. “Lurie Children’s is known for being an innovative organization that already has a dedicated Children’s Services team that creates programming for patients and their families, and this enhances those opportunities.”
Georama began working with Lurie Children’s last month when they produced a live virtual tour of Christkindlmarket Chicago. Working with Christkindlmarket organizers and their market mascot, Christkind, Georama facilitated a full tour of the market that featured Christkind showing the children each area of the market and interacting with vendors from toy shops, food stalls, sweets stores and souvenir shops. Christkindlmarket Chicago donated crowns and “passport” activity books for the children to use during the event.
“Since many of our patients cannot leave their hospital rooms, we were able to broadcast the tour ‘live’ via our in-house TV station, Skylight TV, so everyone could participate,” said Susan Ruohonen, Director of Children’s Services. “We also see this as an educational tool for our patients and their families, and look forward to hosting several of these events throughout the year.”
Georama is a member of 1871, an entrepreneurial incubator for digital startups. “Members throughout 1871 are committed not only to creating financially successful companies, but also to creating companies that make a difference in the community,” said 1871 CEO Howard A. Tullman. “We look forward to seeing the ongoing opportunities for local children that Georama will create with their technology.”
About Georama
Georama’s Vicarious Experiences technology allows people to virtually explore a destination in real-time via a guide. A guide using Georama’s technology (which is packaged into a light backpack) can live stream their point of view from a wearable camera to viewers around the world in a highly stable HD stream, while moving around freely even in poor network conditions. Viewers can watch the stream live and interact with the guide in real-time to ask questions and make suggestions, thereby controlling the experience to create a personalized tour. Georama currently licenses its technology to tourism organizations, hotels, venues and educational institutions.
