[From VentureBeat] Utherverse nabs a patent on scalable virtual worlds that can host unlimited users October 25, 2012 Dean Takahashi Utherverse is announcing today that it has won a patent to build a “scalable” virtual world, or one that can support an unlimited number of players in a single region of an online place. That could allow virtual worlds to achieve a critical mass for events like a convention or a concert. In the past, you couldn’t do something like hold a concert in a 3D simulated world. A band like U2 could put on a “live” concert inside the world…

[From The Orlando Sentinel] [Image: Recently-completed fake body parts wait in bins at Simetri, Inc. in Winter Park on Wednesday, September 26, 2012. Simetri creates “vitrual wounds” used in training combat medics in war games. (Stephen M. Dowell, Orlando Sentinel] Simulated ‘wounds’ prepare combat medics for real thing By Richard Burnett, Orlando Sentinel October 4, 2012 Torn from a soldier’s body by an improvised explosive device, the bloody, severed leg lay on the floor — a sight far too familiar for many of the Americans who have fought in wars during the past decade in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this…

[From The Free Press] [Image: Students in Jean Humphries’ nursing research class are virtually in two places at once, connected through life-size and life-like high-definition video and audio technology.] MSU connects classrooms with cutting-edge technology By Amanda Dyslin Free Press Staff Writer September 23, 2012 MANKATO – When adjunct nursing professor Jean Humphries shows up to her Friday morning class in Edina, 11 of her students are there and waiting. The other 29 show up a moment later, all at the same time, when Humphries touches a screen and connects over the new Cisco TelePresence TX9200 system with a classroom…

[From The Future of Things] Electronic Fingertips to Allow Virtual Sensations Monday, October 22, 2012 – Iddo Genuth Researchers created an artificial second skin which includes flexible sensors and circuits that can be put on fingertips and artificially create touch and texture using electrical stimulation opening the door to super thin virtual reality gloves and a host of other applications.…

[From CNN, where the post includes additional infographics and related links] Smartphone of the future will be in your brain By Stewart Scott-Curran and Tim Lampe, Special to CNN Mon October 8, 2012 Editor’s note: Stewart Scott-Curran is an art director and Tim Lampe is a graphic designer at CNN.com. (CNN) — In the past 10 years we’ve seen cell phones transform into electronic Swiss army knives with a wild variety of functions and features. They are replacing the watch, the camera, the standalone GPS, the alarm clock, and many other tools. But what will the smartphones of the future…

[From the Road to Virtual Reality blog] WizDish Could Be the First Virtual Reality Locomotion Device Suitable for Your Living Room Posted on 10 October 2012 By Ben Lang After head mounted displays, one of the obvious next steps for virtual reality immersion is to find a way to physically walk around a VR environment without walking into objects in the real world. A myriad of solutions (falling under the category of ‘locomotion device’ ) have been put forth. Take, for instance, omni-directional treadmills (ODT); the majority of which are big, expensive, and impractical for home use. The first person…