MediSim VR, a part of the Johnson & Johnson innovation labs, Boston and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras Research Park, Chennai, has announced its association with a global industry expert, Dr Gianluca De Novi, to lead the penetration of virtual reality (VR)-based education at a global level.

Dr Gianluca De Novi is known as an expert who turned down Ferrari to contribute to the medical field.  A lover of luxury and sports car, Dr Gianluca De Novi was supposed to work on the simulation of the Ferrari car, instead, he went into the medical field after witnessing a surgical operation on a five-year-old girl.

He is an expert in High-Performance Computing and a pioneer in artificial intelligence (AI), virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), computer vision, and blockchain. With a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering, followed by a PhD from the University of Boston, in Robotics and Control Systems, he joined Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as a visiting researcher for a year before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Simulation at Harvard Medical School.

By the mid-'90s, Dr Gianluca De Novi developed a keen interest in simulated computed-based surgeries. This led him to develop state-of-the-art technologies and AR/VR frameworks for ultimate Surgery Simulation including Task Recognition and Gesture Analysis. Today Novi is on the Board of Directors of many leading technology & med-tech companies.