[From The Human Productivity Lab’s Telepresence Options web site] The Intercompany Telepresence and Videoconferencing Handbook “The Inter-Company Telepresence and Video Conferencing Handbook” educates CIOs, executives, managers, telepresence and video conferencing professionals about the opportunities, challenges and solutions for inter-company telepresence and video conferencing with partners, vendors, and customers.  Written by Howard S. Lichtman, President of the telepresence consultancy Human Productivity Lab and Peter Brockmann, President of Brockmann & Company – The Customer Insight Firm, the Handbook is a guide to reducing costs, improving individual and organizational productivity, improving time-to-market advantage, and leveraging your investment in telepresence and videoconferencing as part of…

[From Eye Weekly (“a publication of Eye Communications, a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited”)] Avatar fashion For those seeking aesthetic perfection, digital alter-egos may represent the final frontier BY Sarah Nicole Prickett   January 20, 2010 13:01 It’s strange that fashion has been long acknowledged to be fantasy, yet has taken just as long in turning to virtual reality. Cher Horowitz played computerized dress-up, like, 15 years ago. Why only now are there apps for that nothing-to-wear feeling? There’s iWeardrobe, which has you photograph the contents of your closet, then mix-and-match on screen. Cute, but virtual dressing shouldn’t involve…

[From This Is Bristol (“At the Heart of All Things Local”)] Bristol historians give the old world a Second Life Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Back in 1854, the life-sized replica of a Pompeian villa was one of the highlights for visitors to the newly-reopened Crystal Palace. Victorian thrill-seekers gazed in awe at the interactivity of the exhibit – though of course, they probably didn’t use the word “interactivity”. Four years after the Crystal Palace had attracted crowds for The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, it was rebuilt as an ultra-modern museum in Sydenham, south London, with a series of life-sized…

[From The Daily Mail] The 3D TV? It’s quite a spectacle, but how do they work – and are they worth the £1,000 price tag? By Robert Hardman Last updated at 10:28 AM on 18th January 2010 You’re walking past a pub and a mighty roar erupts. A crucial goal has obviously gone in, so you pop your head inside to catch the replay on television. But it’s not the sporting action that catches your eye. You suddenly wonder if you have wandered into a bad dream. The entire pub appears to be full of sun-worshippers and Bono clones. Just…

[From The Guardian] Virtual reality is coming of age If you want evidence of how virtual worlds are breaking into the mainstream, look at how commerce is taking hold within them Alexander Walters, guardian.co.uk, Thursday 31 December 2009 I’m standing outside a branch of Diesel and a colourfully dressed man is dancing the robot in front of me like Peter Crouch on steroids. Browsing through the items on offer in the window, I spot a pair of jeans that I like the look of. The price tag says £1.59. A licensed, authorised, branded pair of Diesel jeans for £1.59. The…

[From BBC News; a 1:39 video is here] Welsh ‘super-needle’ to aid pin-hole surgery training Hywel Griffiths BBC Wales health correspondent Wednesday, 30 December 2009 Virtual 3D patients could be used to train staff in pin-hole surgery, thanks to work at Bangor University. The ImaGINe-S simulator uses similar technology as computer games to recreate the feeling of guiding a surgical needle into the body. The device has already been awarded an European prize for the use of computer graphics in medicine. The team hope to see it introduced as a training tool within the health service over the next few…