[From The Design Blog] NatoStation lets you experience the life inside womb, virtually Naresh Chauhan | Nov 23 2010 Designed by Colombian designer Nelson Ayala, the “NatoStation” (NS) is a virtual reality simulator wherein the user experiences visual, acoustic and sensory sensations similar to the prenatal environment, i.e. life inside the womb. Featuring an ergonomic and dynamic egg shape, the NS lets the user assume a position comparable to the fetal position, so he/she could virtually escape the atmosphere for a moment and relax in comfort. To experience the calm seclusion, you need to wear a helmet that includes a…

[A press release from amNewYork via PR Newswire; a pdf of the paper is available here] Manhattan’s Most Widely Read and Distributed Newspaper Comes to Life on November 24th amNewYork innovates again, digitally enhancing paper with metaio’s augmented reality NEW YORK, Nov. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — amNewYork, Manhattan’s most distributed daily newspaper innovates again, becoming the first U.S. newspaper to present its readers with an augmented reality feature that will breathe life into its Thanksgiving eve paper. Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloons float from the pages of the paper, check out who’s invading Gotham and get answers to the…

[From Tech2] Miss London? See It In A Record Breaking 80 Gigapixels By: Padmini Harchandrai   |   Nov 20, 2010 Talk about being an avid photographer! Whew! Here is a record breaking 360 degree panoramic view of London made from 7886 individual stills, compiled into an 80 Gigapixel photo. The entire image is 400,000 x 200,000 pixels. This panoramic photo was stitched on a Fujitsu CELSIUS workstation comprising dual 6-core CPUs, 192GB of RAM, and a 4GB graphics card. The camera was a digital SLR that used a 400 mm lens and was mounted on a robotic camera mount that seamlessly…

[From Switched] Kinect’s Second Life: 5 Awesome Hacks, from Puppets to KinectBots by Terrence O’Brien on November 20, 2010 The Kinect hasn’t exactly wowed gamers, and reviews of the add-on have been tepid at best. Still, the rather elaborate motion-controller for the Xbox 360 has found fans among the hacking community, thanks to its impressive array of cameras and sensors. Resourceful modders have hooked the device up to computers, created elaborate shadow puppets and mapped 3-D models of rooms. Read on to check out a few of our favorite Kinect hacks floating around the Web.…

[From APCMag.com; a 3:12 minute video is available here] [Image: Part of the calibration test from MyEars. Shapes headphone sound to match your ears.] Dramatic surround sound improvement for gamers blows Dolby away Software that generates an audio profile of your ears and improves gaming surround sound piped to your headphones is now available for subscription. Get set for amazing sound. Bennett Ring 19 November 2010 While graphics in games show what’s immediately in front of players, it’s the soundscape that envelops and surrounds them, instilling a sense of place. Unfortunately many gamers use headphones, and this is a major…

[From just-style; a 1:18 minute video is here] [Image: Dassault’s 3D tool at online retailer Espacemax.com] 3D technology takes online shopping to new heights By: Leonie Barrie | 9 November 2010 One of the leading suppliers of PLM software is hoping its expertise in 3D virtual reality tools will provide another option for the fashion industry to stay competitive. Dassault Systèmes, perhaps best known in the apparel industry for its Enovia global product lifecycle management (PLM) system, is also ramping up applications for its 3DVIA software to offer a new interactive environment for brands, products and consumers.…