[From The Creators Project, where the post includes several more pictures and two videos]

Enter An Alternate Sensory Reality With Max Cooper’s 4D Sound Show

By DJ Pangburn — Jun 5 2014

When people talk about alternate reality, the typically describes a psychedelic experience or a science fictional world—an experience that produces something outside normal reality. The conceptualization is usually visual, perhaps because humans process visual cues much more quickly and accurately than sounds. But, a new 4D sound system is letting electronic music producer Max Cooper bring the concept of alternate reality to the world of audio, which for too long has played second fiddle to alternate visual worlds.… read more. “Enter an alternate sensory reality with Max Cooper’s 4D sound show”

[From PC World, where the story includes other pictures; much more information is available from SoftBank; a 0:46 minute video is available on YouTube]

Meet Pepper, the ‘love-powered’ humanoid robot that knows how you’re feeling

Tim Hornyak
Jun 5, 2014

If the thought of a humanoid robot in your home makes your skin crawl, meet the friendly Pepper.

Pepper is a cute, wisecracking personal robot designed to bring joy to everyone, and Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank wants people to start buying it next year for the price of a high-end PC.

The phone giant unveiled the autonomous, sophisticated machine on Thursday along with partners Aldebaran Robotics of France and China’s Foxconn, the world’s largest manufacturer of electronics.… read more. “SoftBank’s personal, emotional robot Pepper debuts, soon available to consumers”

[From MIT Technology Review, where the story includes two images; see also Tape Op’s March 2014 article “The Future of Audio Engineering”]

[Image: Tape Op]

Microsoft’s “3-D Audio” Gives Virtual Objects a Voice

Headphones that make sounds seem to come from specific points in space could be the perfect counterpoint to virtual reality goggles.

By Tom Simonite on June 4, 2014

Just as a new generation of virtual reality goggles for video games are about to hit the market, researchers at Microsoft have come up with what could be the perfect accompaniment—a way for ordinary headphones to create a realistic illusion of sound coming from specific locations in space.

In combination with a virtual reality device like the Oculus Rift, the new system could be used to make objects or characters in a virtual world sound as well as look like they are at a specific point in space, even if that is outside a person’s field of view.… read more. “Microsoft’s “3-D Audio” gives virtual objects a voice”

[This story from I Programmer isn’t technically news, but as someone with a medical condition that requires regular phlebotomies, I found it particularly thought-provoking.

–Matthew ]

A Robot With A Hypodermic Needle

Written by Lucy Black
27 July 2013

Would you let a robot take your blood? The answer to this question illuminates our real relationship to machines that aspire to rise above the robot vac. Is there another sort of uncanny valley?

Veebot is a very clever use of some basic image processing plus some very accurate positioning mechanisms. It first locates a good vein using infrared. Once it has a target it switches to ultrasound to make sure that there is enough blood flow to make it worth inserting the needle.… read more. “Would you let a robot take your blood?”

[From Hypergrid Business, where the column includes a 0:32 minute promotional video for Chuck E. Cheese’ “Virtual Ticket Blaster”]

[Image: Belarus-based Amusement & Edutainment Technologies pairs an Oculus Rift with moving seats to create its 3D entertainment attraction. (Image courtesy AET.)]

Virtual reality could find its first home outside the home

by Kevin Williams · May 29, 2014

The arcade industry was decimated back in the mid-90’s by the advancements in consumer console games as well as a failure to adapt to changing player demographics.

Virtual reality could bring it back.

As a side benefit, virtual reality arcades could help drive the development of the technology, whet public appetite for virtual reality games, and allow people to get used to wearing head-mounted displays.

In addition, since these kinds of applications are typically very short — a few minutes, at most — they sidestep the concerns of long exposure inducing simulation-sickness with some players.… read more. “Virtual reality could find its first home outside the home”