[From Phys.Org, where the story includes an additional image] [Image: Actual experimental results demonstrate the promise of a glasses-free 3-D theater experience. Two cars, one red and one blue, are projected onto a screen through a parallax barrier. As the light shines back through the polarizer, two offset images are created, which creates the visual cues that the brain interprets as depth. Credit: Optics Express] Next generation 3-D theater: Optical science makes glasses a thing of the past Even with current digital technology, the latest Hollywood blockbusters still rely on clunky glasses to achieve a convincing 3-D effect. New optics…

[From CarAdvice; the ad (in HD) is available on YouTube] Toyota 86 gets a reality check By David Zalstein | August 17th, 2012 A new multi-million dollar Toyota 86 ‘Real Deal’ advertising campaign launches today in the UK. The Toyota 86 (GT86 in the UK) Real Deal campaign focuses on a 60-second TV spot, and 90-second internet version, that depicts the life of a virtual man stuck in a virtual world, whose hunger for something real sees him end up in Toyota’s latest sports car. Styled in the vein of a computer game, the clip’s animated main character breaks the…

[From The New York Times’ Arts Beat blog] That’s a Big Boulder, Indy: Steven Spielberg on the Imax Rerelease of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ By Dave Itzkoff August 14, 2012, It’s the kind of revelation that would melt the face of any die-hard Indiana Jones fan (this time, with joy): “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the 1981 adventure film that introduced that globe-trotting archaeologist, will receive a one-week Imax release next month, Lucasfilm said on Tuesday. “For me, it’s always been the bigger the screen, the better,” Steven Spielberg, who directed “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the three…

[From Gizmag, where the story includes additional images and a 4:50 minute video; a second, shorter video is available on YouTube] [Image: Face cloning: Steps in modeling the digital face and the final result in silicone (Image: Disney)] Disney develops “face cloning” technique for animatronics By David Szondy August 15, 2012 Facial cloning sounds rather alarming, but its purpose is very straightforward. Basically, it’s a way of scanning a person’s face in 3D and then using that information to design and fabricate an artificial skin that will move much more realistically – not just in general, but as a close…

[From Time’s Techland] Double Robotics Lets You Turn Your iPad into a Telepresence Robot By Keith Wagstaff | August 14, 2012 Tired of having to go places? Do you secretly wish you were a robot? Then a telepresence robot might just be the thing for you. Previously, telepresence robots were fairly expensive and mostly aimed at wealthy tech entrepreneurs and people with disabilities who couldn’t leave their homes. Double is different. At $1,999 for pre-orders and $2,499 after that, it’s expensive but not completely out of reach and it works with a piece of technology that’s fairly popular right now…

[From The Sydney Morning Herald, where the story includes additional images] [Image: Freddie Mercury … a video of the singer is seen on the screen during the closing ceremony of the London Games. Photo: Reuters] Life after death … the high tech way to interact August 15, 2012 Glenda Kwek Twenty six years ago, Freddie Mercury electrified thousands of spectators at a concert in London’s Wembley Stadium. On Sunday – 20 years after his death – the late Queen frontman did the same again – with the same performance – belting out “d-ey-o, d-ey-o” from a giant screen to an…