[Whether they’re actors or not, a great example of presence; this is from TVPredictions.com with links to some of the other coverage added] LG: Ultra 4K TV Can Be Scary Good By Swanni Washington, D.C. (September 8, 2013) – LG is ready to do anything to sell the new 4K TVs even if it means almost scaring people to death. The Los Angeles Times reports that LG recently replaced the window of a high-rise office building in Chile with an 84-inch 4K set and then invited people to come in to interview for mythical jobs. During the interviews, which [were]…

[From CoolestGadgets.com; for more information see the Perfect Polly web site. And don’t miss the hilarious 4:54 minute segment about the product from the Colbert Report] Perfect Polly want a Cracker? Didn’t Think So… by Julie – on August 28th, 2013 I love having a pet, as far as I’m concerned the positives far outweigh the negatives. Sure, having a pet requires some work and expense, then there’s boarding your pet when your on vacation, vet bills, walks in the rain… but all the love and loyalty is almost always worth it. But what about those of us with lifestyles…

[From the South China Morning Post] That’s glow business: How pop stars to politicians are using holograms Public figures from pop stars to politicians are increasingly using holograms to reach more people. Jenni Marsh finds out where the technology is taking us Sunday, 01 September, 2013 Jenni Marsh [email protected] At a small hall in Gyeonggi province, South Korea, K-pop megastar Psy has been giving 16 performances a day, every day, since mid-July. In his first week at Everland Park, 30,000 fans came to see him. The concerts are for intimate audiences of 100 people, 30 minutes long, and feature all…

[From psfk] Virtual Reality Sandbox Shows the Movement of Natural Terrain [Video] Real-time topography gives children and adults an interactive way to learn about landscape Ross Brooks on September 3, 2013. Researchers at UC Davis have come up with an idea that fuses the physical and virtual in a way that will allow children to experience the world from a unique perspective – as opposed to immersing themselves in a screen of some sort. While it may look like an ordinary sandbox, this particular play area comes to life once children have had their turn molding it’s contents into an…

[From the Ohio State University; for details about the first international Google Glass surgery, in June 2013, see Clinica Cemtro; for a report about early reactions from those testing Glass see NPR] [Image: Dr. Christopher Kaeding, an orthopedic surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is shown wearing Google Glass.] Ohio State Doctor Shows Promise of Google Glass in Live Surgery Posted: 8/27/2013 COLUMBUS, Ohio – A surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is the first in the United States to consult with a distant colleague using live, point-of-view video from the operating room via…

[From the Association of Virtual Worlds Forum] Just What Virtual Worlds Need: A New Paradigm – Live Video Avatars Posted by Craig McAllister on June 26, 2013 To many people, today’s avatars represent elaborate animations. Recently, however, much fanfare has been made about new technologies enabling animated avatars to mimic a wide range of users’ facial expressions. If you smile, your avatar smiles with you. If you frown, your avatar frowns. This development allegedly translates into greater realism. But is this realism “real” enough? If the objective is to make an avatar truly “real”, why not have it actually be…

[From ETH Zurich] [Image: Innovative software rotates the face of the person on screen during video conferences in order to make eye contact. (Photo: Computer Graphics Laboratory / ETH Zurich)] Skype eye contact finally possible Those separated from family and friends by long distances often use video conferencing services such as Skype in order to see each other when talking. But who hasn’t experienced the frustration of your counterpart not making direct eye contact during the conversation? A software prototype from the Computer Graphics Laboratory ETH Zurich may be able to help. Angelika Jacobs Published: 27.08.13 “We want to make…