[From BostonInno; more information is available here]

Proving History Isn’t Static, Giza 3D Premieres With a Virtual Reality Tour of the Pyramids

May 8th, 2012 by Lisa DeCanio

The Pyramids at Giza are familiar to most of us – we’ve seen photos of them on the pages of our history books and watched recreations of them in movies – but very few of us have actually experienced them in person. Now, though, you’ll be able to travel to Giza right from the comfort of your own computer.

Today marks the premiere of Giza 3D, an interactive 3D recreation of the Giza Plateau, engineered by Waltham-based software design firm Dassault Systèmes in collaboration with Harvard and the Museum of Fine Arts. The web app has digitized approximately 100 years of research by the Giza Archives project at Harvard, taking real archeological data to reconstruct the Giza necropolis, from its temples to its underground burial chambers.… read more. “Giza 3D premieres with a virtual reality tour of the pyramids”

[From The Daily News of Newburyport, Massachusetts; more about the UMass Lowell SLICE program is available here and the detailed proposal for the sensory room is in a Word file here]

A sense of reality

New projects bring beach, ballpark to those with disabilities

By Bruno Matarazzo Jr., Staff writer
May 21, 2012

AMESBURY — The noise inside Coastal Connections’ Lower Millyard facility can be loud at times with all the activities happening at once.

The open space at the nonprofit school in Amesbury bustles with energy as students with an array of disabilities work together with staff on different exercises and games.

Sometimes, the students just need a quiet space.

Enter the sensory room.

Thanks to a group of soon-to-be engineering graduates from UMass Lowell, an empty room furnished with only a chair and bare walls can now be a beach, a forest, an aquarium, a coffee shop, a boat or even McDonald’s.… read more. “Students create sensory room to bring beach, ballpark to those with disabilities”

[From The Hollywood Reporter, where the story includes additional images and links to related stories]

Peter Jackson Responds to ‘Hobbit’ Footage Critics, Explains 48-Frames Strategy

Because the film clips shown at Cinemacon were not finished, he adds, “People haven’t experienced it yet in the way it should be experienced.”

4/28/2012 by Carolyn Giardina

Shrugging off the mixed reaction that greeted ten minutes of unfinished footage from The Hobbit, which screened earlier this week at the Cinemacon exhibitors convention in Las Vegas, director Peter Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter, “It wasn’t particularly surprising because it is something new.”

The Oscar-winning director is filming The Hobbit, his two-part 3D prequel to The Lord of the Rings at the higher frame rate of 48 frames per second. Movies have been shot and projected at a standard rate of 24 frames per second since the arrival of talkies, and the new technique results in a dramatically different aesthetic look.… read more. “Peter Jackson on the benefits of 48-frames-per-second films including The Hobbit”

[From DigitalAnalog; a 2:07 minute video is available here and more information is available from Mumbrella]

Lynx Anarchy Promoted with ‘Invisible’ Videos

May 9, 2012

Lynx, also known as Axe in many countries, comes up with campaigns that are risky and innovative. It’s hard to ignore them because of their sex appeal and the creative way in which the campaigns are executed. The campaign for Lynx Anarchy scored in both categories. ‘Invisible’ videos were used in Sydney to promote the brand.

The windows of a building in Sydney were replaced with LCD screens. The visuals projected on these LCD screens were not visible to the naked eye. Special polarised sunglasses were distributed to onlookers and passers-by (men got the blue-framed sunglasses and the women received the pink ones). With these polarized sunglasses, the viewers could see videos on the blank screens.… read more. “Lynx Anarchy uses Sydney house, LCD screens and polarized glasses to create first ‘invisible ad’”

[From Design TAXI, where the story includes additional images a 3:51 minute video]

Japanese Developer Creates Robotic Butt That Expresses Emotions

16 May 2012

Tokyo-based interactive developer Nobuhiro Takahashi has created a robotic butt that represents emotions in the form of visual and tactile responses.

Called ‘SHIRI’, the human-like robotic butt expresses various emotions through organic movements of artificial muscles.

SHIRI can twitch, protrude, and be tense—as reactions to a user’s touch, stroke, or slap.… read more. “Japanese developer creates robotic butt that expresses emotions”