[From Fast Company’s Co.Exist blog, where the post includes more pictures and a 7:36 minute video] Power-Ups, Virtual Balls, And Quantum Engines: Watch The Future Of Sports Check out the first iteration of this new virtual reality version of sports, where the ball is generated by a computer and you can earn special powers, just like a video game. Jessica Leber October 11, 2013 Basketball, soccer, baseball–these are all fine sports. But wouldn’t they be even more fun if they could be released from the boring, been-there-done-that laws of physics? This is what human-computer interaction researchers in Germany were wondering…

[From CBS DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth), where you can watch the 2:53 minute video version of the story] UTD Combats Bullying With Virtual Reality Project October 10, 2013 DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Inside a dark room at The University of Dallas’ Center for BrainHealth Evan Harris gets to play a video game. It’s a virtual video game starring him. Evan has an Avatar which mimics his facial expressions. “He astoundingly looks a lot like me,” says Harris from Grand Prairie with a slight smile. There is a camera on the computer screen which captures Evan’s emotions. While he’s in one room, clinician…

[From International Business Times, where the story includes a another image and a 1:01 video] The Remote Control Tourists Who Check Out The City Before You Book Your Trip By Mark Johanson on October 10 2013 Ever wish you could truly see a city through someone else’s eyes, explore its streets, and check out its sights and senses before you visited? That’s the aim of Melbourne’s new “Remote Control Tourists,” who will roam Australia’s capital of culture between Oct. 9 and Oct. 13 as slaves to your Facebook and Twitter demands (hashtag #MelbourneRCT). You tell the proxies what to eat,…

[From Road to VR, where the story includes a 2:23 minute video; see also a BBC News report with one of the PIANO creators and the related Synthesia app] Mixed Reality Piano Trainer Makes Learning the Piano Easy (and maybe even fun) October 8, 2013 by Ben Lang Back in December of last year, after seeing few compelling consumer augmented reality applications, I wrote a short article about one that I would actually use, an AR piano trainer. I’m thrilled today to see that something very similar has popped up, and can’t wait to get my hands on it!…

[From NBC News, where the story includes additional images] [Image: Sixense’s new motion-tracking system makes virtual reality seem like it’s finally within our grasp. Sixense/YouTube] Virtual reality gaming is nearly here — we just need the right controller Yannick LeJacq NBC News October 7, 2013 Video games have long promised to offer their players “immersive experiences,” but full-blown virtual reality — the holodeck or the matrix — was still a fantasy. Now with the Oculus Rift headset on the horizon, that’s no longer the case: soon gamers will be able to slip on a pair of high-tech goggles and truly…

[From Ani.me, where the story includes a 6:59 minute video; information and another video about a related app that lets the user shake hands with Hatsune Miku is available from Kotaku] [News] Oculurs VR Allows Fans to ‘Sleep With’ Hatsune Miku By Scott Larsen October 5, 2013 I have friends who are absolutely obsessed with characters. They pride themselves on owning anything and everything which feature’s their obsession’s image: posters, wallets, and of course the coveted hug-pillows. To these individuals, I now simply laugh at their obviously meager efforts. Why? Because with the new Oculus Rift VR, you can take…