“Entrepreneur Arianna Huffington took a trip inside virtual reality and learned how the immersive tech can help ease physical pain. Howard Rose, CEO of DeepStream VR, had Huffington place her left hand into an ice bucket; the minute-long bath proved a painful experience. But when she dipped her hand again in the chilly water, this time donning a VR headset and playing a game, she barely felt any discomfort. “That was amazing,” Huffington said. —” Fortune Magazine: Report from Brainstorm Health Conference Hey, Howard here. It’s not every day that I get the chance to inflict pain on celebrities in the name of science, especially not ones as charming and affable as Arianna Huffington. Thanks to Fortune Magazine, I got this rare chance to do just that, on stage in front of a room full of top thought leaders from accross the healthcare arena. The Fortune Brainstorm Health conference was an exceptional gathering that illuminated the huge challenges and the fantastic opportunites we face to keep this planet alive and healthy.

But you don’t want to hear about that, you want to hear about the ice bucket.

It was cold. Very cold.

Arianna toughed it out for 60- seconds…and rated her pain a SIX on a scale of ZERO to TEN.

While warming up her hand for round two, we chatted about Arianna’s new company, Thrive Global. Arianna also offered to take our VR show on the road. We are definitely following up with her on that, so stay tuned.

For Round 2, Arianna put on the VR helmet and dove into our VR game, COOL!

She was off and running before I could get the helmet all the way on her.

Then the hand back in the ice water. My part was painless giving the play by play to the audience.

After leaving her to chill for a good minute, Huffington emerged saying “That was amazing,” Her pain went from a SIX in round 1 down to a TWO. Two-thirds less pain with VR than without. And she really looked like she could have stayed in COOL! chasing otters all day. So there you have it. That was my day at work last week. But the story isn’t over…

Thank you so much, Arianna, for playing along, and braving the cold in the name of health and wellness.

Virtually Yours,

Howard