[From Autonet; for more information see the press release “3M Debuts Interactive Virtual Presenter at South by Southwest Interactive; Digital Interactive Avatar Helps Conference Attendees Find Panels & More” at BusinessWire]

Virtual reality: at a dealership near you

Known as a “Virtual Presenter,” she was developed by a company called ELEAD in order to generate leads for dealerships.

Part iRobot, part salesperson, expect to see this lady at your local dealership in the very near future.

March 12th, 2013- Jack Kazmierski

The next time you stop by your local dealership, don’t be surprised if this attractive woman greets you and starts asking you questions. What will surprise you, however, is that she is not real. She is a projection (notice the projector over her left shoulder).

Known as a “Virtual Presenter,” she was developed by a company called ELEAD in order to generate leads for dealerships.… read more. “Virtual presenters to appear at a dealership near you”

[From PCGamesN]

The strange case of the Valve economist and the Virtual Reality contact lenses

12 March 2013 • Story by: Tim Edwards

Valve’s resident economist Yanis Varoufakis has told a very strange story. It involves an underground lab, virtual reality technology which is far beyond anything currently on the market, and aliens. And we can’t tell if he’s making it all up or not.

Writing in Greek paper Lifo, a paper not known for publishing fiction, Varoufakis writes of visiting an underground lab, the location of which he is forbidden from revealing, where he was able to wear a pair of virtual reality contact lenses. Read that again. Virtual reality contact lenses. Not a VR headset like the Oculus Rift.

We’ve got a translation of the original article and I’ve copied in some extracts below.… read more. “The strange case of the Valve economist and the Virtual Reality contact lenses”

[From Linus Edwards’ VintageZen blog, where the post includes images for each proposed set exhibit]

The Movie Set Museum

by Linus Edwards
March 11, 2013

I’ve had this idea percolating in my brain for awhile now – a museum that consists entirely of sets from famous movies. Each room in the museum would be a different movie set, made to replicate the actual feeling of being in that movie. Patrons would walk from room to room, at one moment being in The Godfather, and the next in Star Wars.

I think the genesis of the idea came from when I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art and they had numerous ‘period rooms’, which were actual historical rooms they had acquired which were set up to look exactly as they did during their respective time periods. So you could visit a French grand salon, medieval cloister, or even an ancient Japanese ceremonial teahouse.… read more. “The movie set museum”

[From The University of Buffalo News Center; a 2:01 minute video is available on YouTube]

First-of-its-kind forklift simulator could reduce injuries, deaths

By Cory Nealon
Release Date: March 8, 2013

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tactus Technologies has developed a first-of-its-kind virtual reality training program for forklift operators, a product that company officials expect will reduce work-related injuries and deaths.

The program, called the 3D Forklift Trainer, allows operators to practice with a video game-like system that features a steering wheel, joystick, pedals and simulated environments such as warehouses, elevators and railroad tracks.

The simulator arose from a need to improve operator readiness, said Jim Mayrose, chief executive officer and co-founder of Tactus, which is a spinoff company from the University at Buffalo.

According to Occupational Safety and Health and Administration (OSHA) standards, improper forklift operations cause roughly 100 fatalities and more than 100,000 injuries annually in the United States.… read more. “First-of-its-kind forklift simulator could reduce injuries, deaths”

[From Fast Company’s Co.Design, where the story includes additional images and reader comments]

Why The Human Body Will Be The Next Computer Interface

Fjord charts the major innovations of the past, and predicts a future of totally intuitive “micro gestures and expressions” that will control our devices.

By Andy Goodman and Marco Righetto (of Fjord)
March 5, 2013

By now you’ve probably heard a lot about wearables, living services, the Internet of Things, and smart materials. As designers working in these realms, we’ve begun to think about even weirder and wilder things, envisioning a future where evolved technology is embedded inside our digestive tracts, sense organs, blood vessels, and even our cells.

As a service design consultancy we focus on how the systems and services work, rather than on static products. We investigate hypothetical futures through scenarios that involve production/distribution chains and how people will use advanced technology.… read more. “Why the human body will be the next computer interface”