[From E&T (Engineering & Technology), where the story includes a large photo gallery; the original press release is available from PRWeb and the App’s description in the iTunes store is here] Arachnophobia app given NHS seal of approval 26 November 2013 By Edd Gent An app that helps people overcome arachnophobia has been approved by NHS England to feature on its app library. Phobia Free, designed by Virtually Free, helps to tackle people’s fear of spiders by exposing them to more and more realistic spiders over time, progressing from cartoon spiders all the way up to an augmented reality tarantula…

[From Dezeen, where the story includes additional images] Robot surgeons to operate on beating human hearts 18 November 2013 By Marcus Fairs Robots could soon be operating on beating human hearts while a surgeon based in a different part of the world directs the procedure remotely, according to a designer working on a new generation of medical equipment. The surgeon would see a static heart on a 3D screen and the robots would attune themselves to the heart’s movement, overcoming many of the risks of existing heart surgery techniques. “Our ultimate ambition is robot-supported surgery on the beating heart,” said…

[From The Telegraph, where the story includes a 2:07 minute video] [Image: A prototype of the Digital Taste Interface] Electronic taste could allow television viewers to sample cookery show creations Television viewers could soon taste the food produced by celebrity chefs on cookery programmes thanks to new technology that recreates taste electronically By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent 21 Nov 2013 Watching celebrity chefs like Nigella Lawson or Gordon Ramsay whip up a culinary creation on television can set viewers’ taste buds tingling. But now television viewers could soon be able to sample the food for themselves with the help of…

[Put another way, it’s hard to not misperceive the role of technology while viewing these images. The story is from Wired, where it includes a photo gallery of 11 paintings] [Image: Page 222 – Yigal Ozeri. Untitled; Aquabella. 2011. Oil on paper, 42 x 60″. Courtesy Abrams. These Photos Are Actually Paintings By Jakob Schiller 11.21.13 Louis K. Meisel likes to let you know that he doesn’t care for famous graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s paintings — which sell for millions of dollars — because he thinks they don’t show much skill. “People don’t buy Basquiat’s work because they like what…

[From DigInfo TV, where the post includes a 2:07 minute video; animated gifs of the system are available from Oddly_Even] Interact with virtual characters in the real world November 7, 2013 This mixed reality interface [called MARIO: Mid-air Augmented Reality Interaction with Objects] places virtual characters in the real world. It was developed by the Naemura Lab at the University of Tokyo. Users can have an animated character jump onto their hand, as well as guide the character onto blocks, creating a novel interactive experience. “Recently, devices have been developed that can form images in mid-air. We’ve utilized one of those,…

[From C1, the Condition One blog; view a 3:57 minute interactive video demo and download ‘showcase’ apps here] Announcing Zero Point: The first 3D 360 movie for virtual reality November 13, 2013 We’re excited to announce that we are in development with Zero Point, the first movie shot in 3D, 360 degree video optimized for the Oculus Rift head mounted display. In the film, we follow the pioneers of virtual reality; the researchers and developers creating an entirely new digital dimension. From combat training simulations at the Department of Defense, to research labs at Stanford, to indie game developers and…