[From The Guardian] [Image: Jamaica’s Usain Bolt wins the men’s 100m final in a world record time in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian] BBC plans to use 3D and ‘super hi-vision’ for London Olympics Executive in charge of 2012 coverage has spoken about the proposed experiment at the Edinburgh televison festival Mark Sweney Sunday 28 August 2011 The BBC is considering plans to broadcast the 100 metres final of the London Olympics in 3D, as well as trying out a new technology that delivers picture quality said to be 16 times better than HDTV. Roger…

[From Military & Aerospace Electronics] SRI International to develop prototype virtual-reality training system for Marine Corps infantry Aug 28, 2011 Posted by John Keller ARLINGTON, Va. – Simulation, training, and mission rehearsal experts at SRI International in Menlo Park, Calif., are designing a prototype virtual-reality training system for the U.S. Marine Corps that is able to insert virtual actors and objects into computer-generated scenes that each trainee views. SRI International will build the virtual reality training system under terms of a $5.4 million contract awarded Friday by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va. The ONR project…

[From Cornell Chronicle] Chatty robots go viral on YouTube By Bill Steele Aug. 31, 2011 An online chat between two robots set up by Cornell students is entertaining the nation. “It was just an afternoon hack,” said Hod Lipson, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. “It went viral in 24 hours and took us completely by surprise.” Lipson asked Ph.D. students Igor Labutov and Jason Yosinski to set up the conversation as a demo for his class on artificial intelligence. They chose a Web-based chatbot (a computer program designed to simulate human conversation) called Cleverbot. Anyone can go to…