[From The Gilroy Dispatch]

Telepresence could unite world at expo

Sep 22, 2010
By Martin Cheek

At the Shanghai World Expo this month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the Bay Area’s bid to make Moffett Field the site of the 2020 World Expo. If we do get the go-ahead to put on this massive fair showcasing science, technology and industry, I say let’s do it Silicon Valley style. Let’s connect the world using the telepresence technology developed at the very location where the Silicon Valley World Expo might take place in a decade.

NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field does some of the world’s most advanced research in virtual reality. With this science fiction-like technology, you strap on peripheral equipment and step into a computer-generated world limited only by a designer’s imagination. Beyond videogames and entertainment, virtual reality provides a far more practical application called telepresence.… read more. “Telepresence could unite the world at 2020 Expo”

[From Broadcasting & Cable]

Beyond the Hologram

New virtual technologies and enhanced displays are only the start of CNN’s midterm election coverage

By George Winslow — Broadcasting & Cable, 9/20/2010

It’s odd to think of hologram technology as old-school, but for its midterm 2010 election coverage, CNN probably won’t be bringing back those images that seemed so dramatic during the last presidential election. Instead, the cable news network is looking to stay ahead of the news pack with a number of virtual-technology advances.

“I think we were way ahead in 2006 and 2008 with our display technology and the Magic Wall,” says David Bohrman, senior VP and the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for CNN. And while the Wall—a large touch-screen display technology from Perceptive Pixel that allowed CNN anchors to add detailed graphics and data to coverage—worked wonders, Bohrman points out that “all of our colleagues are catching up.… read more. “Beyond the hologram: CNN readying new virtual technologies and enhanced displays”

[From Avaya’s Connected blog]

Collaboration | By Michael Killian | 9 Sep 2010

Virtual Conferencing And Collaboration – Where It Fits

A few weeks back I had a chance to try out Avaya web.alive™ with a friend from Active Port and some Avaya colleagues. In short, it’s a web-based application that provides a good “3D” virtual representation of people via avatars, the meeting place/room, and displayed materials.

Does virtual collaboration have a place in the collaboration communication landscape or is it just another interesting technology and communication mode to further complicate our communication choices?

The major choices for real time collaboration include audio conferencing (with or without web conferencing), video conferencing, physical presence in the conference room and now virtual conferencing. There are differences in the capabilities and experiences that give each a place in the collaboration toolkit. The benefits of physical presence, whenever that’s possible, are generally accepted so my focus here will be on the multi-location /remote real time situations.… read more. “Virtual conferencing and collaboration – where it fits”

[From Electrolux Design Lab; a 0:29 minute video is available here]

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: Daniel Dobrogorsky

Published 2010-08-24

Daniel Dobrogorsky, a design student studying in Australia, is the creator of the Kitchen Hideaway. Here we provide a synopsis of his submission to the 2010 Electrolux Design Lab final and ask him a few questions about his concept.

Background:

The Kitchen Hideaway is a virtual reality concept that allows the inhabitants of a communal building to imagine being in a kitchen, preparing a particular meal rather than having to actually do this for themselves. The thoughts of the user are then transmitted to robotic chefs within the building who then prepare the visualised meal in a real kitchen and with real ingredients. In effect, the headset replaces the need for kitchen appliances in individual dwellings, saving space through creative thinking.… read more. “2050 VR kitchen is finalist in Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Competition”

[From Kotaku]

Play Frogger, On The Street, For Real

By Luke Plunkett   Sep 14, 2010

Tellart have built a version of Frogger that you don’t play with a controller in front of a TV. You play with your feet, on the street, as it should be played.

Of course, for safety reasons it should probably be played on the footpath, not somewhere with cars, but hey, this is still awesome.

A game screen is projected onto the street while the player wears a helmet encrusted with LEDs.

In a neat gesture, the team behind the game have released the software and some instructions for download, so if you’re on a campus with access to the stuff required – or you’re just feeling particularly industrious – read on below.

Tellart Hacks Frogger for Maker Faire RI [Tellart]… read more. “An Augmented Reality Frogger”