[From news@Northeastern; much more information is available from PublicVR] [Image: Two Northeastern University digital media students have made crucial contributions to an interactive virtual reality experience called “The Egyptian Oracle,” in which avatars, live actors and audience members reenact an authentic Egyptian ceremony.] A virtual-reality history lesson July 11, 2012 by Jason Kornwitz Two Northeastern University digital media students have made crucial contributions to an interactive virtual-reality experience called “The Egyptian Oracle,” in which avatars, live actors and audience members reenact an authentic Egyptian ceremony. The show will be performed in the Raytheon Amphithe­ater on Friday at 7 p.m.…

[From PC Magazine] Scientists Demo Thought-Controlled Robots By Adario Strange July 9, 2012 In the 2009 film Surrogates, based on the popular graphic novel, Bruce Willis is shown struggling in a world dominated by realistic robot avatars controlled by humans sitting comfortably in their homes. Often injured or somehow disfigured, opting to interact with the world from a distance, the people are shown seamlessly operating their metal doppelgangers via a brain link apparatus that goes mostly unexplained in the film. Now, a team of researchers based in laboratories around the globe, have developed a system similar to the one depicted…

[From BostInno] MIT’s Media Lab Brings Watching Movies at Home to a Whole New, Immersive Level [Video] June 24th, 2012 by Lauren Landry People run to the theater to see 3-D movies, why? Sure, because Avatar looks cool, but also because they want to be immersed in the experience, making their way through Pandora and helping protect the world alongside long-legged, blue-bellied supernatural creatures. Yet, what if you could achieve a similar experience at home without ever having to throw on a pair of cardboard glasses? Over at the MIT Media Lab, in the Object-Based Media research group, V. Michael…

[From The Plano Star-Courier, where the story includes more images] Bridging the gap between reality and the virtual world By Bill Conrad Published: Thursday, June 21, 2012 VIRTSIM, the next innovation in tactical police and military training, was unveiled Friday morning in an east Plano warehouse owned by Raytheon. To date, the technology has been sold to the FBI, and has also been used by U.S. armed forces, U.S. Marshals and police departments in cities such as Plano and Frisco. Eight members of the McKinney Police Department’s S.W.A.T. team donned special goggles, firearms and motion-capture equipment prior to beginning their…

[From Psychology Today’s The Storytelling Animal blog] The Power of Fake Gay (and Black) Friends How fiction changes the world. by Jonathan Gottschall, Ph.D. Published on June 20, 2012 by Jonathan Gottschall, Ph.D. in The Storytelling Animal The “evolution” of President Obama’s views on same-sex marriage match the rapidly liberalizing attitudes of the country as a whole.  The swift pace of change has flummoxed social scientists, who expect much slower erosion of entrenched cultural biases. On the May 6th episode of Meet the Press, Joe Biden surprised viewers not only by endorsing gay marriage himself, but by attributing historic changes…

[From 3D Focus; James Iliff’s web site features an extensive two part post titled The Conquest of Presence in First-Person Shooters] The rise of consumer-facing smartphone 3D virtual reality US based virtual reality expert James Iliff reports on the rise of smartphone virtual reality applications and why VR will be the next frontier in gaming. Jun 18, 2012 Beyond 3D camera rigs, blockbuster movies, and anaglyph glasses, the 3D scene in Los Angeles has a bustling underground, and a revolution is on the horizon.  The small but tight-knit virtual reality hardware community is striking out against corporate monoliths like Sony…