[From Wired, where the story includes more images and two videos. Key quote: “Are our actions in a virtual world tantamount to imagining those things we could do in real life but never would? Or are we merely behaving as we would in real life if there were no consequences for our actions?”] [Image: Screenshot from Rust by Cat-Slaeder via Steam Community] Why Online Games Turn Players Into Psychopaths By Ryan Rigney 05.26.14 Three men stand on a deserted street, their hands in the air. One wears a green T-shirt and a motorcycle helmet. The others wear bright yellow down…

[From Gigaom, where the story includes several more images and a 1:52 minute video] [Image: Osmo’s camera mirror allows the iPad to recognize objects placed in front of it, extending game play into the real world.] The iPad’s next killer app: Osmo connects iOS kids’ games with the real world Summary: Osmo is combining simple but elegant hardware with clever computer vision technology to turn Tangram shapes, letter cards and everyday objects into iPad game controllers. By Janko Roettgers May 22, 2014 “Everything we are doing here is magic.” I’m not usually someone who embraces Silicon Valley’s tendency to paint…

[From The Verge, where the story includes an additional image] Inside High Fidelity, the virtual reality successor to ‘Second Life’ A crude hint of how physical connection could invade the online world By Adi Robertson on May 19, 2014 As virtual reality gains steam, the question of virtual worlds is never far behind. Philip Rosedale is best known for online community Second Life. But since last year, we’ve been watching for news on High Fidelity, a new project meant to blend his previous work with cutting-edge telepresence technology. The system, announced in 2013, was compared to the OASIS of Ready…

[From MIT Technology Review; see today’s second post for an update on and analysis of the Second Life founder’s High Fidelity project. –Matthew ] Why Virtual Reality Will Compete with the Real World Hardware like the headset made by Oculus VR will allow virtual worlds to offer person-to-person interactions that compete with real life. Philip Rosedale May 5, 2014 Recent weeks have been good ones for people interested in virtual reality. The Facebook acquisition of Oculus has galvanized the idea that “something wonderful” will happen if we put on these strange headsets and visually enter other worlds. Of course, most…

[From CNN, where the story includes a 1 minute video report and screenshots of several tweets; see the full performance on YouTube; more notable coverage includes: “Sorry everyone, but Michael Jackson is dead” (Technology Tell) “Lionel Richie: Michael Jackson hologram was ‘freaky’ (Xpose) “Holograms: How to give your brand the Michael Jackson effect” (MediaWeek) “Decoding Holograms: 100 Narendra Modis, 1 Michael Jackson Alive on Stage in 2014” (a collection of videos/links for other posthumous hologram creations) (iDIVA) –Matthew ] Michael Jackson’s hologram: Creepy or cool? By Lisa Respers France, CNN Mon May 19, 2014 (CNN) — The King of Pop…

[From Fast Company’s Co.Design, where the story includes a photo gallery and a 1:03 minute video] MIT iPhone App Makes You Intimate With A Stranger Over 20 days, MIT’s new app gives you a peek into someone’s life. Caveat: You never speak. Mark Wilson May 8, 2014 20 Day Stranger, an iPhone app by MIT Media Lab’s Playful Systems group, wants to burst the sociographic bubble of our “friend” network. Our social media world, after all, is highly curated–it’s filled with people just like us. This app, very thoughtfully, hopes to change that. For 20 days, the app pairs you…

[From The New York Times] [Image: Tim Lahan] Psst. Look Over Here. By Kate Murphy   May 16, 2014 Look inside your kitchen cabinet and odds are you have a collection of old friends gazing back at you — the Quaker Oats man, the Sun-Maid girl, Aunt Jemima and maybe a Keebler elf or two. The reason they are there may have more do with your subconscious craving for eye contact than the taste of the products. In a study published last month in the journal Environment and Behavior, researchers at Cornell University manipulated the gaze of the cartoon rabbit on…