[From Southern Methodist University] Teen girls report less sexual victimization after virtual reality assertiveness training Study participants in the “My Voice, My Choice” program practiced saying “no” to unwanted sexual advances in an immersive virtual environment Posted on January 20, 2015 By Margaret Allen Teen girls were less likely to report being sexually victimized after learning to assertively resist unwanted sexual overtures and practicing resistance in a realistic virtual environment, finds a new study. The effects persisted over a three-month period following the training, said clinical psychologist Lorelei Simpson Rowe, lead author on the pilot study from Southern Methodist University,…

[From VentureBeat, where the story includes an additional image; for more coverage see the San Francisco Business Times] Oculus Rift gets more virtual reality porn with Red Light Center January 15, 2015 Dean Takahashi Adult entertainment and technology have gone hand in hand throughout history. That’s why Utherverse Digital is announcing today that its 3D animated virtual world, RedLightCenter.com, will soon run on the Oculus Rift virtual reality platform. RedLightCenter.com is an X-rated world where players can engage in virtual sex and all sorts of other adult fun. It has been around for more than a decade, but with version 2.0,…

[From Fast Company, where the story includes another picture] Inside The NBA’s Plan To Give Every Fan A (Virtual Reality) Courtside Seat In February, the league will begin serving up 360-degree video on Samsung’s Milk VR. But it’s already thinking much bigger. By Jason Feifer January 5, 2015 The NBA has a problem of its own making: It has spent years and many millions of dollars fostering international basketball fandom, and now has large and enthusiastic bases in places like China and India. But most far-flung viewers only know the NBA as a television show. They will never be inside…

[From Toyota, where the press release includes another photo and a 1:15 minute video] New Driving Simulator from Toyota TeenDrive365 Uses Oculus Rift to Bring Dangers of Distracted Driving To Life Marks the First Time Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Technology Is Being Used to Educate The Public about Safe Driving January 14, 2015 DETROIT – Today at the Detroit Auto Show, Toyota launched its new TeenDrive365 distracted driving simulator with Oculus Rift, marking the first time the virtual reality technology is being used to educate the public – teens and parents alike – about the dangers of distracted driving. A…

[From Road to VR, where the story includes more pictures and a 5:50 minute video] Visionary VR is Reinventing Filmmaking’s Most Fundamental Concept to Tell Stories in Virtual Reality January 5, 2015 by Ben Lang Several of the founders of the VRLA Meetup are today launching Visionary VR, a technology and content development studio which is reinventing the language of filmmaking for effective storytelling in virtual reality. The frame. It’s a simple, but incredibly powerful concept within the world of filmmaking, one that has endured for film’s history of more than 100 years. The frame is the edge of the screen,…

[From The Creators Project blog, where the post includes more images] Giant Billboards Paint a Discordant Portrait of Mongolian Desertification By Emerson Rosenthal — Jan 13 2015 A large-scale museum diorama popped up in the Mongolian plains, challenging the unending ebb and flow of history by making apparent the borders between the actual and the ideal. Created by Paris-based Korean photographer Daesung Lee, the giant billboard that anchors his Futuristic archaeology project is adorned with images of desertification in Mongolia—that is, the places where, due to environmental and human factors, the drying landscape is threatening centuries-old traditions. “Environmental changes directly…