[From VentureBeat, where the story includes additional images] How Google is melding our real and virtual worlds with games, apps … and Glass May 1, 2013 John Koetsier “The world around you is not what it seems,” says Ingress, the virtual game that uses the real world as its gamespace. And, perhaps, when Google’s semi-independent division Niantic Labs is finished with its mission, we humans won’t be, either. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and usable. Note carefully that Google says nothing about the Internet in that statement. In the last few eye-blinks…

[From Singularity Hub; for more information, see “Bringing back the brainwaves: NeuroGaming 2013 Conference in retrospect” at Neurogadget.com] The Future of Gaming – It May All Be in Your Head Written By: Aaron Frank Posted: 05/12/13 Gaming as a hobby evokes images of lethargic teenagers huddled over their controllers, submerged in their couch surrounded by candy bar wrappers. This image should soon hit the reset button since a more exciting version of gaming is coming. It’s called neurogaming, and it’s riding on the heels of some exponential technologies that are converging on each other. Many of these were on display…

[From CNET] [Image: The arrays use some 8,000 touch-sensitive transistors. Credit: Georgia Institute of Technology] New ‘smart skin’ so sensitive it rivals the real thing Researchers say their experimental arrays sense pressure in the same range as the human fingertip, which could result in better bots and prosthetics. By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore April 26, 2013 Using what they are calling “mechanical agitation,” researchers out of the Georgia Institute of Technology say they’ve developed arrays that can sense touch with the same level of sensitivity as the human fingertip, which could result in better bots and prosthetics.…

[From Penn State] [Image: Game avatar with a backpack. Credit: S. Shyam Sundar, Penn State] Bonding with your virtual self may alter your actual perceptions By Matthew Swayne May 2, 2013 PARIS — When people create and modify their virtual reality avatars, the hardships faced by their alter egos can influence how they perceive virtual environments, according to researchers. A group of students who saw that a backpack was attached to an avatar that they had created overestimated the heights of virtual hills, just as people in real life tend to overestimate heights and distances while carrying extra weight, according…

[From Mashable] Oculus Rift Used to Simulate Decapitation by Guillotine By Stan Schroeder May 7, 2013 We’ve seen the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift take a 90-year old grandmother on a charming tour through Tuscany, but the device can also be used for other, much less pleasant experiences. In one very blatant example, users are going through the experience of being decapitated by a guillotine, a device used for executions, most famously in the 18th century during the French Revolution. This Oculus Rift experience, created during the Exile Game Jam by Erkki Trummal, André Berlemont and Morten Brunbjerg, is dubbed…

[From The Philadelphia Inquirer, where the story includes additional images] [Image: Rolling Game Station, a 32-foot trailer loaded with video games, went to Zachary Jordan’s house in Douglassville for his eighth-birthday party. It is one of at least five games on wheels operations in the area. (MICHAEL S. WIRTZ / Staff Photographer)] Parties favoring video games By Kristin E. Holmes, Inquirer Staff Writer May 05, 2013 It was Zachary Jordan’s eighth-birthday party, but cake and ice cream couldn’t compete. There was something much more delectable outside: Super Mario Bros. in the dark. Parked in front of Zachary’s Douglassville home was…