Nonprofit VR Initiative Set to Brighten Lives of Kids with Illnesses

The Managing Member and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Twin Capital Management, LLC, David Simon established the New York City-based firm in 1988. Since then, he and his team have focused on alternative investment strategies to serve a wide range of clients. A committed and recognized philanthropist, David Simon also oversees his own charitable foundation.
Mr. Simon and his nonprofit co-founded the Starlight Children’s Foundation annual Westchester golf outing. Starlight Children’s Foundation, which has devoted 35 years to bringing happiness and fun to children hospitalized with major illnesses and injuries. The organization serves hundreds of hospitals nationwide.
A Starlight Children’s Foundation initiative designed to bring the wonders of technology to young patients through virtual reality (“VR”), the Starlight VR program is set to offer immersive, imaginative experiences that children could discover in no other way, all part of a collaboration with private sector players such as The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm.
VR experts say the program provides unique opportunities not only to play games, but also to explore new, positive ways of thinking and feeling. Although the brain understands that the experiences are not real, it responds as if they are. This holds immense promise for patients who have experienced any type of crisis, including those recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
For children with physical disabilities, VR can be especially meaningful, as an increasing amount of evidence suggests that it can have a multitude of benefits for such individuals.
