[From NextGov (“Technology And The Business Of Government”)] Defense readies system to treat PTSD, brain injuries remotely By Bob Brewin 03/22/2010 Thousands of miles and a lack of facilities have kept the Army from providing treatment to soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. But the Defense Department plans to deploy a solution soon that relies on a transportable telehealth system that will virtually bring doctors to patients.…

[From New Scientist; a :30 video is here] HDTV reveals brainy octopus has no personality 12 March 2010 by Shanta Barley Octopuses make for discerning TV viewers: it seems they prefer high-definition to traditional cathode ray images (CRT). What’s more, the first study using video to trick octopuses, finds that they may be the Jekyll and Hydes of the oceans: aggressive one day, shrinking violets the next. “People have been trying for over a decade to get proper behavioural responses from octopuses and other cephalopods using videos,” says Roger Hanlon, an octopus researcher at the Marine Resources Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts,…

[From Gizmag] Power Gig game uses real guitar controller By Paul Ridden March 11, 2010 There’s a Battle of the Bands scenario brewing now that a new contender has arrived on the “play along to your favorite tunes with a game controller instrument” scene. Seven45 Studios has just released details of its new gaming system called PowerGig where the buttoned and plunger interface of the familiar Guitar Hero and Rock Band gaming interface has been tossed out in favor of a real six-string guitar. Seven45 Studios has taken a more hands-on approach to its game and interface development than most…

[From The New York Review of Books] Volume 57, Number 5 · March 25, 2010 The Wizard By Daniel Mendelsohn Avatar a film directed by James Cameron [snip] What’s striking is that so many critiques of Avatar ‘s political shortcomings often go out of their way to elide or belittle the movie’s overwhelming successes as a work of cinema—its enormous visual power, the thrilling imaginative originality, the excitingly effective use of the 3-D technology that seems bound to change permanently the nature of cinematic experience henceforth—as if to acknowledge how dazzling it is would be an admission of critical weakness.[2]…

[From the News Center of the University of Texas at Dallas] Game Trains Soldiers in a Virtual Iraq or Afghanistan ATEC Wins National Modeling and Simulation Award for 3D Interactive Program Feb. 23, 2010 A training tool being developed by a research team from the Arts and Technology (ATEC) program may soon make it easier for military service men and women to perform their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The work we’re doing has to do with the facilitation of cultural training,” said Dr. Marjorie Zielke, an assistant professor in the ATEC program and the principal investigator on the project.…

[From www.army.mil (“The Official Homepage of the United States Army”); more information about the finalists is available here] Image: VADER Island, a virtual world where developers submitted entries to the competition Army announces virtual worlds challenge finalists Mar 9, 2010 By Michelle Milliner ORLANDO, Fla. – This week, the U.S. Army announced finalists in a competition designed to uncover new potentials in virtual worlds. The Research, Development and Engineering Command’s simulation and training center launched the Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge in August 2009 to reach a global development community and explore innovative, interactive training and analysis solutions in virtual worlds.…