[From International Business Times, where the story includes more images and a 0:55 minute video] [Image: Brand Killer blocks ads in real time from the wearer’s point of view using a DIY augmented reality headset] Brand Killer: Augmented reality goggles create real-world AdBlock By Anthony Cuthbertson January 23, 2015 A new use for augmented reality headsets has been developed by students in the US using software that blocks brand’s logos in the real world. Brand Killer was designed and built by undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania and uses similar technology to other virtual reality and augmented reality headsets, such…

[From The New York Times, where the story includes an additional image] [Image: A scene from the Millions March protest. Credit VICE] Vice Uses Virtual Reality to Immerse Viewers in News By Emily Steel January 23, 2015 A young woman stands in the middle of a crowd of protesters marching up a New York City street, shouting that she is fed up with police brutality, fed up with people saying that black lives don’t matter, fed up with people telling her not to be angry. “My people don’t deserve this,” she yells, inches away from your face. “We have right…

[From PSFK, where the story includes more images] Virtual Reality May Enable Us to Eat Anything Without Regret Project Nourished aims to reduce obesity and food related illnesses with substitute foods and virtual tricks of the mind By Kiran Umapathy on January 22, 2015 In a creative new use of technology, Los Angeles-based Kokiri Lab is in the development stages of what it calls a gastronomical virtual reality experience. The idea, called Project Nourished, would replicate foods high in calories with substitutes, while the eater experiences a virtual reality where they consume the originally desired food items. Interestingly, the idea…

[Coverage of Microsoft’s demonstration of its new Hololens technology is all over the web today; this detailed description is from The Verge, where the story includes more pictures, a 3:56 minute video report, and Microsoft’s 2:12 minute concept video] Up close with the HoloLens, Microsoft’s most intriguing product in years Welcome to the age of holographs By Dieter Bohn and Tom Warren on January 21, 2015 We just finished a heavily scripted, carefully managed, and completely amazing demonstration of Microsoft’s HoloLens technology. Four demos, actually, each designed to show off a different use case for a headset that projects holograms…

[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,…