[From Road to VR, where the story includes a 2:23 minute video; see also a BBC News report with one of the PIANO creators and the related Synthesia app] Mixed Reality Piano Trainer Makes Learning the Piano Easy (and maybe even fun) October 8, 2013 by Ben Lang Back in December of last year, after seeing few compelling consumer augmented reality applications, I wrote a short article about one that I would actually use, an AR piano trainer. I’m thrilled today to see that something very similar has popped up, and can’t wait to get my hands on it!…

[From NBC News, where the story includes additional images] [Image: Sixense’s new motion-tracking system makes virtual reality seem like it’s finally within our grasp. Sixense/YouTube] Virtual reality gaming is nearly here — we just need the right controller Yannick LeJacq NBC News October 7, 2013 Video games have long promised to offer their players “immersive experiences,” but full-blown virtual reality — the holodeck or the matrix — was still a fantasy. Now with the Oculus Rift headset on the horizon, that’s no longer the case: soon gamers will be able to slip on a pair of high-tech goggles and truly…

[From Ani.me, where the story includes a 6:59 minute video; information and another video about a related app that lets the user shake hands with Hatsune Miku is available from Kotaku] [News] Oculurs VR Allows Fans to ‘Sleep With’ Hatsune Miku By Scott Larsen October 5, 2013 I have friends who are absolutely obsessed with characters. They pride themselves on owning anything and everything which feature’s their obsession’s image: posters, wallets, and of course the coveted hug-pillows. To these individuals, I now simply laugh at their obviously meager efforts. Why? Because with the new Oculus Rift VR, you can take…

[From Gizmodo Australia, where the story includes several more images] Exploring The Prehistoric World, By Way Of Virtual Reality Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan 27 September 2013 For most history students, “exploring the past” means sifting through mountains of data. But digital archaeologist Marcus Abbott wants to make early human civilisation — or its digital simulacra — freely accessible to anyone who wants to explore it. His first prehistoric VR environment? A 3000-year-old spiritual site in the East Anglian fens.…

[From the Georgia Tech News Center, where the story includes additional images] [Image: Akanksha Prakash, a graduate student in the School of Psychology, found that people assign emotions to robots, based on their face.] Putting a Face on a Robot What does the assistive robot of the future look like? It depends. Posted October 1, 2013 | Atlanta, GA A new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology finds that older and younger people have varying preferences about what they would want a personal robot to look like. And they change their minds based on what the robot is supposed…

[From The Construction Index, where the story includes additional images] Keeping it real Virtual reality has come out of the games console and onto site. David Taylor looks at a new approach to training. With any kind of training, there’s nothing quite like first-hand experience to make all that theory come alive. But on the other hand if you drop a complete rookie in at the deep end there’s always the danger they will sink instead of swim. Some trainees simply cannot be allowed to make big mistakes – think of trainee airline or fighter pilots. But on the other…