[From the web site of the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin] Avatars Can Surreptitiously and Negatively Affect User in Video Games, Virtual Worlds, Research Shows AUSTIN, Texas-Nov. 10, 2009-Although often seen as an inconsequential feature of digital technologies, one’s self-representation, or avatar, in a virtual environment can affect the user’s thoughts, according to research by a University of Texas at Austin communication professor. In the first study to use avatars to prime negative responses in a desktop virtual setting, Jorge Peña, assistant professor in the College of Communication, demonstrated that the subtext of an…

[From The Birmingham (Alabama) News] UAB virtual enterprise turns 3-D simulations into teaching, rehabilitation tools By Anna Velasco — The Birmingham News November 30, 2009, 11:50AM Virtual reality has gotten a lot more real. It has, at least, at the UAB department of mechanical en­gineering, where faculty and students are working on a three-dimensional lab that will allow simulation of everything from surgery to skiing snow­covered slopes. The University of Alabama at Birmingham got the hardware — known as VisCube — for the lab earlier this fall, and engineers are writing software for use in many disciplines, including medicine, dentistry,…

[From the New York Times blog The Moment; a 2:12 minute video is available here] Food July 20, 2009, 2:12 pm Now Online | Air Yakiniku, Food for Thought By ROCKY CASALE When the virtual restaurant Air Yakiniku appeared online last January, it became both an instant success in Japan (where else?) and one of the more curious signs of these globally lean times. The “restaurant,” a Korean barbecue, works like this: once you´re on the site, you´re given an apron to print out and wear to keep “grease” from splattering on your computer. I´m not joking. Then you´re asked…

[From Engadget HD; the web story includes photos and video; a story about last year’s display follows below] Comcast Center HD Video Wall gets a dose of 3D for the holidays by Richard Lawler Nov 26th 2009 @ 3:01PM Probably hoping to avoid our prediction of possibly getting old over time, Comcast is introducing a new wrinkle for the 2009 Holiday spectacular on its $22 million 2,000 sq ft high-definition video wall — 3D. It’s the first time this has played on the wall, with a 19 minute video complete with scenes of rural PA and downtown Philadelphia. Stop by…

[From The MIT Technology Review Editors blog] Monday, November 16, 2009 A Long-Distance Robot Relationship Telepresence robots could soon be available for remote workers. By Kristina Grifantini Last week, as I tapped a laptop keyboard in Massachusetts, a humanoid robot whirled around a lab in California. I tapped more slowly and the robot turned until I saw Trevor Blackwell, CEO and founder of telepresence company Anybots, which manufactures the robot, in the laptop window. “There’s a mirror over there,” Blackwell said, pointing, and I tapped the keys again until I was facing it. I saw a slender, wheeled robot with…