[From The Cornell Chronicle; much more information including sample sounds are available via the links at the end]

[Image: Rapid movement of heated gases generates high-frequency sounds that are an important part of the sound of fire, but computer-generated images don’t simulate those details. Cornell researchers synthesize low-frequency sounds to match the graphics, then map in the highs based on the sounds of real fire. Provided by Doug James]

Computers synthesize sounds — from fire to frictional contact — to go with graphics

Aug. 8, 2011
By Bill Steele

Computer-generated imagery usually relies on recorded sound to complete the illusion. Recordings can, however, limit the range of sounds you can produce, especially in future virtual reality environments where you can’t always know ahead of time what the action will be.

Doug James, associate professor of computer science, develops computer algorithms to synthesize sound “on the fly” based on simulated physics models.… read more. “Computers synthesize more realistic sounds — from fire to frictional contact — to go with graphics”

[From AP via The Houston Chronicle; a 1:08 minute video of the wedding is available here]

[Image: Miguel Hanson, right, kisses his fiancee Diana Wesley by the computer Thursday, July 28, 2011, in Humble, Texas. (David J. Phillip – AP)]

Computer to serve as minister at Houston wedding

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press
July 29, 2011

HOUSTON — You could call it “My Big Fat Computer Geek Wedding.”

When Miguel Hanson and Diana Wesley get married Saturday, they won’t stand before a gray haired minister holding a Bible. Instead, they’ll be looking at a 30-inch monitor. On one half of the screen, they’ll see a virtual minister with an animated, square face with blue eyes and thin, oval glasses. His voice will be heard over a sound system while the text of what he’s saying will show up on the other half of the screen.… read more. “Computer serves as minister at Houston wedding”

[From BBC News]

[Image from Citylife]

Virtual people to get ID checks

28 July 2011

The faces and behaviour of online avatars could help identify the people controlling them, scientists believe.

Using both characteristics, researchers hope to develop techniques for checking whether the digital characters are who they claim to be.

Such information could be used in situations where login details are not visible or for law enforcement.

Impersonation of avatars is expected to become a growing problem as real life and cyberspace increasingly merge.… read more. “Virtual people to get ID checks”

[From PSFK]

The Aeon Project: AR & Virtual Reality In Vehicles

By Emma Hutchings on August 3, 2011

Designers Michaël Harboun, Fabien Chancel and Akki Reddy Challa have been working in collaboration with Dassault Systems to explore augmented reality inside vehicles. In the future, when our cars are autonomous and can drive themselves, Harboun and his colleagues have been questioning what we’ll be doing while travelling along. The Aeon Project features three levels the user can select from the heads up display (HUD): augmented reality, mixed reality and virtual reality. So they can choose from text information, 3D integration and complete virtual immersion. … read more. “The Aeon Project: AR & virtual reality in vehicles”

[From Popular Science]

Video: ‘Unlimited Detail’ Graphics Tech Surfaces Again With Tantalizing New Demo

Using point-cloud construction rather than polygons, the software promises digital environments that are 100,000 times more detailed than the current state of the art

By Clay Dillow Posted 08.02.2011

A little more than a year ago, we wrote about an Australian hobbyist named Bruce Dell who was claiming–with video evidence to back it up–that he’d created a new graphics technology that could deliver unlimited power. That is, rather than working with a limited number of polygon shapes (restricted, of course, by computing power), a graphic environment could be built from an infinite number of 3-D virtual atoms, much like the physical world. It was a cool idea. Then Dell and his Unlimited Detail graphics system disappeared.

Now Dell is back with a company called Euclideon and a new [7:43 minute] video describing the progress he’s made on his software over the last year.… read more. “New ‘Unlimited Detail’ graphics tech promises digital environments 100,000 times current resolution”