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Unplug, reset, and recharge. You’ll benefit in the long run.

Unplug, reset, and recharge. You’ll benefit in the long run.

Benefits in taking a break

Humans have a hard time concentrating for long periods of time. Studies have shown that the majority of employees are only productive for three out of eight working hours of the day. When people say they’re taking a “break” for a lot of us this just means moving from one screen to another. Whether it’s from your computer screen to your phone screen, TV, or gaming console. It’s important for your eye health, as well as your mental focus, to take breaks from staring at screens for long periods of time. 

Some think that working through your breaks will keep you focused, and retain your productivity but your performance actually steadily decreases the longer you have to focus on one particular task for an extended time. 

Check out these tips on how you can take effective breaks during your work day, to become less stressed and more productive.

How to take effective breaks at home

Bond with your pet

After the events of 2020 there’s an unprecedented amount of people working remotely or from home. This means that you get to spend much more time with your pet.

Take them for a walk, feed your fish, play with your cat, give all of your furry friends a cuddle and trust me, they’ll appreciate it. You will also feel better relaxing and taking a break from the computer.

Make sure you schedule your breaks in advance. Knowing when you are due for a break is an excellent way to ensure you don’t forget to give yourself that much needed time.

Make a healthy snack

In office settings, many employees grab quick and easy snack options that may not be very healthy. Working from home provides a perfect opportunity to snack more responsibly.Make sure you plan what you’re going to eat in advance so you can have something that’s much better for your body and mind than grabbing a cupcake or unhealthy muffin.

Snacks improve your energy levels and are shown to increase effectiveness if we are feeling lethargic. Take time on your break to prepare or snag healthier options that will keep you fueled until the end of your work day.

How to take effective breaks away from home 

Prioritize the Outdoors

We all need sunshine and fresh air, and that’s especially true in current times when we’re constantly inside in front of our computers.The sun provides essential vitamins and nutrients for our bodies like Vitamin D. Not giving yourself enough time to step away for fresh air and sunshine could be hindering your productivity and your overall health. 

Fantastic ways to take advantage of your breaks and the outdoors could be going on short walks, spending time at your local park, or even taking time to hangout in your yard. Any way you can get outside is a win!

Create a break project

If you’ve ever wanted to complete a jigsaw, build something but weren’t ever able to find the time, or maybe even knit a scarf, consider making that a break project.

If you take just 10-20 minutes out of your day, that is plenty of time to make consistent progress on a variety of different projects; it’s productive and a fun effective use of your time.

You can also take time to get involved with your community, whether this means helping with an event or helping out with a sports team you’ll feel great disconnecting from work and help your health along the way.

Congrats, you have the tools you need to take effective breaks!

Now get back to work and prioritize your breaks accordingly.

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XP SPORTS TO SPONSOR THE GT ESPORTS TEAM FOR CAMPUS ACTIVATION

XP SPORTSTM TO SPONSOR THE GT ESPORTS TEAM FOR CAMPUS ACTIVATION

The GT Esports team will be integrating and promoting the gaming supplement brand on live streams and social media as part of the sponsorship

Oakville, ON (April 9, 2021) – XP SportsTM (www.xpsports.com), a gaming energy supplement brand scientifically developed for gamers, has announced the launch of their sponsorship of GT Esports which is comprised of students from The Georgia Institute of Technology. As part of the sponsorship, players on the GT Esports team received XP SportsTM products in specialized boxes that are designed for social media virality, which they will be integrating into live streams and also promoting on social media. This campus activation marks one of the first ventures into college marketing for the XP SportsTM brand.

As part of the agreement, the top members of the GT Esports team will be wearing XP SportsTM gear as they live stream with custom XP SportsTM branded overlays at https://www.twitch.tv/gt_esports on April 10th (TIME: TBD) and April 11th (TIME: TBD). In addition, members will be posting on their social media. There will also be posts featuring XP SportsTM products on the organization’s social platforms – https://twitter.com/GatechEsports and https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaTechEsports/.

This XP SportsTM sponsorship with GT Esports ties one of the most competitive programs in the country with the made to play supplement brand engineered to enhance the gaming experience. GT Esports has grown steadily to become one of the largest student organizations on campus. The organization is competitive in 8 titles and has performed exceedingly well. Their most success comes from Hearthstone and League of Legends winning the CSL league and the uLoL tournament. GT Esports hosts one of the largest esports events in the Southeast, GameFest.

Collegiate esports has seen consistent growth over the past decade, with a major uptick in the last five years. Today, more than 170 U.S. colleges have varsity esports programs and there are over 5,000 student-athletes, according to the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE). College esports programs offer around $16 million per year in scholarships and aid with the average esports scholarship student receiving $4,800 in tuition awards a year, according to NACE. College teams usually practice together for three to four hours a day, with many players choosing to continue working on their skills after practice. Competitive players often practice between three and ten hours per day.

XP SportsTM was launched in the summer of 2020 after seeing a need in the gaming community for custom-tailored products formulated specifically for gamers. The gaming energy supplements are engineered to enhance the gaming experience and offer specific benefits such as supporting mental focus, boosting alertness, and amplifying energy for better performance. With products scientifically developed for gamers like Boost Energy Drinks, Zero-Lag Supplements, Gummies, and Boost Pre-Game Powders, XP SportsTM is thrilled to bring their unique product assortment to the gaming and esports space. By delivering specific benefits sought after by today’s gamers, XP SportsTM is confident it’ll be a staple of any serious gamer’s routine.

For more information on XP SportsTM products, visit www.xpsports.com. Also follow us at www.facebook.com/XPSports and @XPSports on Twitter and Instagram for product information, news and updates, special promotions, and more. XP SportsTM supplements are available for purchase on xpsports.com, Amazon.com, and at select retailers.

About XP SportsTM:

XP SportsTM is a gaming and esports supplement brand based in Oakville, Canada. Launched in 2020, the brand saw a need in the gaming community for custom-tailored products formulated specifically for the unique needs that arise in the gaming arena.

About Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. 

Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. (“Iovate”) is a dynamic, leading-edge active sports nutrition company that delivers some of the highest quality, most innovative and effective active nutrition products in the world. With brand innovations such as XP SportsTM, Iovate is committed to being the number one active nutrition company in the world. XP SportsTM was born out of an obsession to redefine the limits of science and human potential. 

Due to its commitment to research, development and innovation, Iovate has  been globally recognized as one of the leading sports nutrition brands in the industry, and continue to be one of the elite brands redefining performance through cutting-edge products and high-quality ingredients.

Headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Iovate is a family of more than 300 employees, six leading nutritional brands and growing, with effective products that can be found across the globe.

Contact:
Raenah Hawkins
Consumer Communications Specialist
Raenah.Hawkins@iovate.com
905-678-3119

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XP SPORTS TO SPONSOR ESPORTS ASSOCIATION FOR SUN DEVILS ESPORTS CAMPUS ACTIVATION

XP SPORTS TO SPONSOR ESPORTS ASSOCIATION FOR SUN DEVILS ESPORTS CAMPUS ACTIVATION

The Sun Devils Esports Association will be integrating and promoting the gaming supplement brand on live streams and social media as part of the sponsorship.

Oakville, ON (March 19, 2021) – XP SportsTM (www.xpsports.com), a gaming energy supplement brand scientifically developed for gamers, has announced the launch of a new campus activation with the Sun Devils Esports Association which is comprised of students attending the Arizona State University. As part of the sponsorship, members of the Sun Devils Esports Association will received XP SportsTM products in specialized boxes that are designed for social media virality, which they will be integrating into live streams and also promoting on social media. This on-campus activation marks one of the first ventures into college marketing for the XP SportsTM brand.

As part of the agreement, the top members of the Sun Devils Esports Association will be wearing XP SportsTM gear as they live stream with custom XP SportsTM branded overlays at https://www.twitch.tv/asuesportsofficial on Saturday, March 20th (start time TBD) and Sunday, March 21st (start time TBD). In addition, the members will be posting on their social media. There will also be posts featuring XP SportsTM products on the organization’s social platforms – Facebook and Twitter.

This XP SportsTM sponsorship with Sun Devils Esports Association ties one of the most competitive programs in the country with the made to play supplement brand engineered to enhance the gaming experience. The Sun Devils Esports Association is one of the largest programs in the country and is the largest student-run organization at the university. The organization has won the 2016 Heroes of the Dorm national championship, the CEA (Collegiate Esports Association) Fall League 2019 Invite Division Championship for Rainbow Six Siege, and they are also defending Smite national champions. ESPN® ranked the Sun Devils Esports Association as the No. 8 College League of Legends team in the country in 2020. The program strives to continue its legacy of excellence and dominance as one of the strongest student-run organizations in the country.

Collegiate esports has seen consistent growth over the past decade, with a major uptick in the last five years. Today, more than 170 U.S. colleges have varsity esports programs and there are over 5,000 student-athletes, according to the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE). College esports programs offer around $16 million per year in scholarships and aid with the average esports scholarship student receiving $4,800 in tuition awards a year, according to NACE. College teams usually practice together for three to four hours a day, with many players choosing to continue working on their skills after practice. Competitive players often practice between three and ten hours per day.

XP SportsTM was launched in the summer of 2020 after seeing a need in the gaming community for custom-tailored products formulated specifically for gamers. The gaming energy supplements are engineered to enhance the gaming experience and offer specific benefits such as supporting mental focus, boosting alertness, and amplifying energy for better performance. With products scientifically developed for gamers like Boost Energy Drinks, Zero-Lag Supplements, Gummies, and Boost Pre-Game Powders, XP SportsTM is thrilled to bring their unique product assortment to the gaming and esports space. By delivering specific benefits sought after by today’s gamers, XP SportsTM is confident it’ll be a staple of any serious gamer’s routine.

For more information on XP SportsTM products, visit www.xpsports.com. Also follow us at www.facebook.com/XPSports and @XPSports on Twitter and Instagram for product information, news and updates, special promotions, and more. XP SportsTM supplements are available for purchase on xpsports.com, Amazon.com, and at select retailers.

About XP SportsTM:

XP SportsTM is a gaming and esports supplement brand based in Oakville, Canada. Launched in 2020, the brand saw a need in the gaming community for custom-tailored products formulated specifically for the unique needs that arise in the gaming arena.

About Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. 

Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. (“Iovate”) is a dynamic, leading-edge nutritional company that delivers some of the highest quality, most innovative and effective active nutrition products in the world. With brand innovations such as XP SportsTM, Iovate is committed to being the number one active nutrition company in the world. XP Sports was born out of an obsession to redefine the limits of science and human potential. 

Due to our commitment to research, development and innovation, we’ve been globally recognized as one of the leading sports nutrition brands in the industry, and continue to be one of the elite brands redefining performance through cutting-edge products and high-quality ingredients. Headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Iovate is a family of more than 300 employees, six leading nutritional brands and growing, with effective products that can be found across the globe.

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XP SPORTS TO SPONSOR THE COOG ESPORTS TEAM FOR CAMPUS ACTIVATION

XP SPORTS TO SPONSOR THE COOG ESPORTS TEAM FOR CAMPUS ACTIVATION

The COOG esports team will be integrating and promoting the gaming supplement brand on live streams and social media as part of the sponsorship.

Oakville, ON (March 19, 2021) – XP SportsTM (www.xpsports.com), a gaming energy supplement brand scientifically developed for gamers, has announced the launch of their sponsorship of the Coog Esports team which is comprised of students from the University of Houston. As part of the sponsorship, players on the Coog Esports team received XP SportsTM products in specialized boxes that are designed for social media virality, which they will be integrating into live streams and also promoting on social media. This campus activation marks one of the first ventures into college marketing for the XP SportsTM brand.

As part of the agreement, the top members of the Coog Esports team will be wearing XP SportsTM gear as they live stream with custom XP SportsTM branded overlays at https://twitch.tv/coogesports on March 23rd at 8:00 PM CST. In addition, members will be posting on their social media accounts. There will also be posts featuring XP Sports products on the organization’s social platforms – https://twitter.com/coogesports, and https://instagram.com/coogesports/.

This XP SportsTM sponsorship with Coog Esports team ties one of the most competitive programs in the country with the made to play supplement brand engineered to enhance the gaming experience. The Coog Esports team was mostly “for fun” until the organization became the Rainbow 6 Siege collegiate champions in 2019. Today, the Coog Esports team currently has competitive rosters for several games. Their League of Legends® team is currently ranked #1 in the south andtheir VALORANT® Premiere team is regarded as one of the top collegiate teams in the US. The program continues to strive towards a legacy of excellence and dominance as one of the strongest student-run organizations in the country.

Collegiate esports has seen consistent growth over the past decade, with a major uptick in the last five years. Today, more than 170 U.S. colleges have varsity esports programs and there are over 5,000 student-athletes, according to the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE). College esports programs offer around $16 million per year in scholarships and aid with the average esports scholarship student receiving $4,800 in tuition awards a year, according to NACE. College teams usually practice together for three to four hours a day, with many players choosing to continue working on their skills after practice. Competitive players often practice between three and ten hours per day.

XP SportsTM was launched in the summer of 2020 after seeing a need in the gaming community for custom-tailored products formulated specifically for gamers. The gaming energy supplements are engineered to enhance the gaming experience and offer specific benefits such as supporting mental focus, boosting alertness, and amplifying energy for better performance. With products scientifically developed for gamers like Boost Energy Drinks, Zero-Lag Supplements, Gummies, and Boost Pre-Game Powders, XP SportsTM is thrilled to bring their unique product assortment to the gaming and esports space. By delivering specific benefits sought after by today’s gamers, XP SportsTM is confident it’ll be a staple of any serious gamer’s routine.

For more information on XP SportsTM products, visit www.xpsports.com. Also follow us on facebook, Twitter and Instagram for product information, news and updates, special promotions, and more. XP SportsTM supplements are available for purchase on xpsports.com, Amazon.com, and at select retailers.

About XP SportsTM:

XP SportsTM is a gaming and esports supplement brand based in Oakville, Canada. Launched in 2020, the brand saw a need in the gaming community for custom-tailored products formulated specifically for the unique needs that arise in the gaming arena.

About Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. 

Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. (“Iovate”) is a dynamic, leading-edge nutritional company that delivers some of the highest quality, most innovative and effective active nutrition products in the world. With brand innovations such as XP SportsTM, Iovate is committed to being the number one active nutrition company in the world. XP SportsTM was born out of an obsession to redefine the limits of science and human potential. 

Due to our commitment to research, development and innovation, we’ve been globally recognized as one of the leading sports nutrition brands in the industry, and continue to be one of the elite brands redefining performance through cutting-edge products and high-quality ingredients.

Headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Iovate is a family of more than 300 employees, six leading nutritional brands and growing, with effective products that can be found across the globe.

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VR Gaming: Past, Present, And Future

VR Gaming: Past, Present, And Future

Virtual Reality or VR has been considered the next big thing since at least 2014, but tech companies are still trying to figure out how to make VR the kind of technology that people can’t live without. While the gaming industry continues to think up exciting ways to incorporate VR into games, clunky headsets, a lack of content, and not as much consumer interest as anticipated has caused VR progress to stall. 

That’s not to say that all is lost though. The gaming industry remains committed to making positive strides when it comes to VR, even if there are still several things holding VR gaming back today. 

“The good news is that, in technical terms, today’s V.R. systems are miles ahead of their predecessors. Many newer systems feature realistic graphics and motion capture, and there are some genuinely great games and entertainment apps out there,” according to The New York Times. “The bad news is that V.R. is still not what sci-fi movies taught us to hope for – a fully immersive experience that transports us to another dimension and gives us all kinds of virtual superpowers. Even the leading systems still lack some basic features and, outside of gaming, there isn’t much you can do on a V.R. headset that you can’t do more easily on another device.” 

To better understand how we have gotten to where we’re at now with VR gaming, let’s take a closer look at VR’s past, as well as what we should expect to see in the future when it comes to VR gaming. 

VR’S PAST

Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist, researcher, and author, coined the term virtual reality in the 1980s. VR is defined as “the use of computer modeling and simulation that enables a person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3-D) visual or other sensory environment,” according to Britannica. As the founder of the first company to sell VR products, Lanier brought VR into the grasp of the general public. He also led teams that originated VR applications for medicine, design, and many other fields. 

While Lanier was the first to come up with the term virtual reality, he wasn’t the first to come up with VR as a concept. In 1935, Stanley Weinbaum wrote a science fiction story, Pygmalion’s Spectacles, in which the story’s main character wears a pair of goggles that transport him to a fictional world, which stimulates his senses and features holographic recordings. This is considered to be the origin of VR as a concept since the story was a good prediction of the aims and achievements of the future. 

However, the first VR technical developments date back to the 1830s when Sir Charles Wheatstone described stereopsis in 1838. Stereopsis is a term that’s used to refer to the perception of depth and 3-dimensional structure obtained on the basis of visual information deriving from two eyes by people with normally developed binocular vision, which is a type of vision in which an animal has two eyes capable of facing the same direction to perceive a single three-dimensional image of its surroundings. Wheatstone’s research led him to create the earliest type of stereoscope, which used a pair of mirrors at 45-degree angles to the user’s eye, each reflecting a picture that was located off to the side. 

In 1939, Fred Waller and Ralph Walker invented the Cinerama (originally called the Vitarama) widescreen film format for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The Vitarama process used multiple cameras and projectors and an arc-shaped screen to create the illusion of immersion in the space perceived by a viewer. The Vitarama didn’t become a commercial success until the mid-1950s, when it was called Cinerama. The Army Air Corps used the system for anti-aircraft training during World War II under the name Waller Flexible Gunnery Trainer.  

After the release of the promotional film This Is Cinerama in 1952, cinematographer Morton Heilig became fascinated with Cinerama and 3D movies. In 1956, Heilig created the Sensorama, which is credited as the first VR machine. The Sensorama was a large booth that combined multiple technologies to stimulate all of the senses – there was a combined full color 3D video, audio, vibrations, smell, and atmospheric effects like wind. The large booth could fit up to four people at a time. Heilig patented the Sensorama in 1962, and also patented the Telesphere Mask in 1960, which was the first head-mounted display (HMD). The Telesphere Mask provided 3D images with wide vision and stereo sound. 

The first motion tracking HMD was created in 1961 by Comeau and Bryan and called Headsight. It had built-in video screens for each eye and a head-tracking system. Headsight wasn’t used for virtual reality at the time, but rather it was developed to allow the military to remotely look at hazardous situations. A remote camera was used to imitate the head movements so the users could look around the setting. 

Technical developments that would lay the groundwork for VR continued in 1965 with Ivan Sutherland’s vision of the Ultimate Display, which was a virtual world viewed through a HMD that replicated reality so well that the user was unable to differentiate it from actual reality. In 1966, military engineer Thomas Furness created the first flight simulator for the Air Force. Sutherland and his student Bob Sproull created the first virtual reality HMD in 1968, which they called The Sword of Damocles. It featured a head-mount connected to a computer rather than a camera. Then in 1969, computer artist Myron Krueger developed ‘artificial reality’ experiences using computers and video systems. 

The 1970s also saw more technical developments with General Electric Corporation building a computerized flight simulator that featured a 180-degree field of vision using three screens surrounding the cockpit (1972), Kruger’s VIDEOPLACE, the first interactive VR platform, which was displayed at the Milwaukee Art Center (1975), and MIT created the Aspen Movie Map in 1977, which was a program that allowed users to virtually wander through Aspen, Colorado. The VITAL helmet from the McDonnell-Douglas Corporation integrated VR into its HMD for military use in 1979. A head tracker in the HMD followed the pilot’s eye movements to match computer generated-images. 

In the 1980s, stereo vision glasses were created by StereoGraphics (1980), Sayre gloves, which were the first wired gloves, were invented (1982), and Jaron Lanier and Thomas Zimmerman founded VPL Research, Inc. (1985), which was the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves. Furness developed a flight simulator between 1986-1989 that featured computer-generated 3D maps and advanced infrared and radar imagery that allowed the pilot to see and hear in real-time, Lanier popularized the term virtual reality while at VPL Research in 1987, and Scott Foster founded Crystal River Engineering (1989), which was able to develop real-time binaural 3D processing for a VR training simulator for astronauts. Mattel, Inc. also released the Power Glove, which was a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. 

A VR arcade machine, Virtuality, exhibited at the Computer Graphics exhibition in London in 1990, and was launched in 1991 allowing gamers to play in a 3D gaming world. Also in 1991, a Virtuality pod featured VR headsets and real-time stereoscopic 3D images, and Sega announced that they were working on the SEGA VR headset, even though it was never released. In 1994, Sega did release a motion simulator arcade machine, and Nintendo launched the Virtual Boy console in 1995, which was the first portable console to display 3D graphics. Georgia Tech and Emory University researchers used VR to create war zone scenarios for veterans who were receiving exposure therapy for PTSD. 

In the 2000s, SAS Cube became the first PC based cubic room (2001), Google introduced Street View (2007) and a stereoscopic 3D mode for Street View (2010), and Luckey launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Oculus Rift (2012), which raised over two million dollars. 

VR TODAY

VR gained a lot of momentum after Facebook bought the Oculus VR company in 2014 for two billion dollars. Then in 2015, more VR possibilities started to become available to the general public. By 2016, hundreds of companies were developing VR products with lots of improvements and gains in 2017 and 2018. 

A 2019 Forbes article, “2019: The Year Virtual Reality Gets Real” declared, “Virtual reality has come a long way in a short time, and it’s advancing at a rapid rate.” However, the article also did mention that 2018 was a challenging year for VR with its growth slowed substantially compared to 2017. 

In 2020, a WBUR article “A Strange New World: Has Virtual Reality Gaming Lived Up To Its Promise?” questioned whether VR gaming has accomplished what it set out to achieve. “2020 is once again being declared to be VR’s make-or-break year,” says Robert Morgan, a VR games and experiences creator, in the WBUR article. “Now, people have been saying that since roughly 2014.” 

So, where does that put VR today in 2021? 

“VR may not have completely revolutionized the gaming industry, or forever changed the way we interact with each other, watch movies and TV, conduct meetings, do our jobs, or any of the other over-the-top predictions that arrived when VR tried to go mainstream in the early-to-mid 2010s,” according to a PC Gamer “The State of VR in 2021” article. “The hype, as often happens with hype, didn’t match reality (virtual or otherwise). If anything, we’re still probably a decade away from VR being truly affordable and convenient enough to be a mass-market item rather than a fairly niche interest.” 

Now, the question is: What should we expect from VR gaming in the future? 

VR’S FUTURE

Some of the most impressive VR games ever made were released in 2020. So, the future of VR gaming appears bright, even if it’s going to take a little longer for VR to reach its golden age.

“We’re still waiting for the big breakthrough that will convince the majority of gamers to get a VR headset,” according to PC Gamer. “And that breakthrough most likely isn’t going to come in 2021, or 2022, or even in the next several years. It’s not just the hunt for a killer app: cost, comfort, and convenience are the biggest hurdles for VR that keep it out of the mainstream, and while the technology is making steps in that direction, it hasn’t yet made that one giant leap.” While there are many non-gaming-related applications of VR technology, analysts predict that gaming will be the biggest driver of revenue growth, with recent estimates of global gaming-related VR revenue projecting totals of nearly $50 billion or more by 2026 or 2027.

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