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New Caucus Will Bridge VR Knowledge Gap Among Lawmakers

The Congressional Caucus on Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality Technologies aims to ensure that lawmakers have the most current information.

On May 3, Congress formed a new caucus to help bridge the virtual reality (VR) knowledge gap present in federal government. The Congressional Caucus on Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality Technologies resulted from a call to educate lawmakers on this rapidly progressing technology.

The caucus will be co-chaired by its bipartisan group of creators: Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Bill Flores (R-Texas), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.).

"This is an opportunity to educate our colleagues and others to ensure Congress is doing all it can to encourage — rather than hinder — these enterprising fields," the representatives said in a joint statement.

The creation of this caucus echoes efforts of earlier expert groups, such as the IoT Caucus, in its mission to ensure that lawmakers have the most current information.

Ramsey Cox, a spokesperson for DelBene, told CNNTech that lawmakers can be quick to draft a bill, "but with technology evolving at such a rapid pace, we need to be thoughtful and make sure we're not updating 30-plus-year-old laws by writing a bill … that will be out of date tomorrow.”

This caucus is still in its beginning stages, but in conjunction with Trump’s newly established American Technology Council, the message is clear: The federal government under Trump is getting serious about IT and tech policy.

"As these technologies continue to advance and grow, this ‘Reality Caucus’ will work to foster information sharing between Congress and our nation’s world-leading technology industry," the representatives said in the joint statement, noting that the technologies have shown tremendous potential for innovation in various fields, and as they develop, questions will inevitably rise in privacy, intellectual property and other areas. "We look forward to working with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help support innovation and address the challenges posed by this emerging sector.”