[From Salon] [Image: Scene still from “A.I.”] Why artificial intelligence is the future of religion Robotics and Christianity have a longer history than you’d expect, and they’re only growing more entangled Michael Schulson, Religion Dispatches Sunday, Sep 14, 2014 This article originally appeared on Religion Dispatches. There are places you never expect to be in life. For me, this was certainly one of them: in a conference room in suburban Charlotte on the campus of Southern Evangelical Seminary, with an enormous old Bible on a side table, shelves of Great Books lining the walls, and, on the conference table itself,…

[From Wired, where the story includes many more images and a 0:25 minute video of the Teleporter experience] [Image: The two Teleporters standing in New York City. Starting September 18, one will be near City Hall, the other will be at the Marriott Marquis. Courtesy of Marriott Hotels/Framestore] The Future of Travel Has Arrived: Virtual-Reality Beach Vacations By Peter Rubin 09.18.14 I’m the only person in the hotel lounge. It’s night, and darkness lingers beyond the windows. Despite the room’s emptiness, there’s a feeling of warmth; a fireplace crackles, and music mixes with the hum of subdued conversation and clinking…

[From The Verge, where the story includes many images and a 1:19 minute video] You can now attach your iPad directly to your face to experience virtual reality AirVR wants to turn your iPad Mini and iPhone 6 Plus into portable virtual reality goggles By Carl Franzen September 16, 2014 It was only a matter of time. The iPad has been adapted for all sorts of intriguing and surprising purposes over the years (including, recently, a sex toy). Meanwhile, a number of enterprising organizations and individuals have sought to create makeshift virtual reality goggles out of people’s readily available mobile…

[From The Hollywood Reporter, where the story includes a 6:34 minute video] [Image: Douglas Trumbull at Toronto International Film Festival’s Future of Cinema conference, September 11, 2014; image from Mike Edgell] Future of Film: VFX Legend Douglas Trumbull’s Plan to Save the Movies The 72-year-old, who’s best known for his work on ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ says he’s figured out how to win the battle against big TVs and smartphones — from a studio on his farm in the Berkshires 9/2/2014 by Scott Feinberg A version of this story appeared in the Sept. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.…

[From The Washington Post, where the story includes three videos] ‘What is reality?’: A Q&A with the artist who used social media and Photoshop to fake an epic trip even her parents fell for By Caitlin Dewey September 12 Zilla van der Born is not a spy, but for five weeks last year, she acted like one: hiding out in her apartment, wearing disguises when she went outside, and telling everyone she knew — even her parents — that she was jetting around Southeast Asia. She was not. What the 25-year-old Netherlander was undertaking was an epic feat of performance…

[From The Creators Project blog, where the post includes other images and a 2:09 minute video] Catch 3D Holographic Fish At Seaside Projection Mapping Exhibition By Beckett Mufson — Sep 8 2014 Digital art studio teamLab—known for their interactive, often smartpone-enabled installations—have turned their projection mapping prowess towards Japan’s Kagawa Water Front Festival, transforming a boat and seaside into a 3D holographic fishing hole. Using their smartphones as a fishing pole, enthusiastic festival-goers could cast a line into the Inland Sea and race to “capture” giant digital fish project not on a screen, but on water and mist. The 3D…