[From Stuff; follow the link within the story for much more information, including images and videos] [Image: Melanie Langlotz, left, from Auckland company Augview, and Jo Russell, of Otorohanga Zoological Society, in Rotary Park where the virtual moa is being brought to life. Mark Taylor / Fairfax NZ] Virtual park bringing moa to life Rachel Thomas Waikato Times July 29, 2014 It’s proving difficult to get a photo of the moa. The towering bird crosses Rotary Park, carelessly bowling through a triceratops, stands still under a tree dotted with pigeons, stares down at us for a while, then lopes off…

[An interesting example of ‘telepresence after death’ (Lombard & Selverian) from Polygon] Son races deceased father’s ghost in Xbox racer, makes internet cry By Danielle Riendeau on Jul 23, 2014 This is the most heart-warming video game ghost story I’ve ever heard. According to a post on Motoramic, a YouTube commenter that goes by 00WARTHERAPY00 shared a supernaturally touching story about racing their father’s ghost in Xbox racer RalliSport Challenge, 10 years after he had passed. On a spooky note — The Besties actually conceived of this very scenario years before this happened — check out their total pre-cog moment starting…

[From Recombu; the Engadget report mentioned features an animated gif and 1:02 minute video; a 7:33 minute video report and a trailer for the film are available from PC Magazine; the press release is available from Philips] [Image: Slashgear] Sharknado and SyFy Sync take a bite out of Philips Hue’s smart lights By Editorial Team Tuesday, 29th July 2014 Syfy Sync and Philips Hue are working together to give you a more immersive movie experience while watching the sure-to-be-masterpiece Sharknado 2: The Second One. When viewing the B-movie sequel the Syfy Sync iPad app will communicate with your Philips Hue…

[From The Vancouver Sun] [Image: Nicole Lynch visits Tuscany in virtual reality at the launch of Vancouver’s new virtual reality studio, The Sawmill.] Vancouver tech specialists bring virtual reality to the masses At the Sawmill studio in Vancouver, anyone can rent state-of-the-art motion capture equipment By Gillian Shaw, Vancouver Sun July 23, 2014 VANCOUVER — If you can trace your way through blind alleys and dead ends to an old sawmill tucked away at the foot of Vancouver’s Shaughnessy Street, you’ll find yourself in a different world. A virtual world, and one that is realizing the dream of some Vancouver…

[From The Daily Edge, where the story includes a screenshot and the 1:34 video from the project’s FundIt page; a 12 minute interview program with Eoghan Kidney titled “The Oculus Rift and Ethics of Virtual Reality” is available on SoundCloud] You will soon be able to walk around inside James Joyce’s Ulysses* *If this Dubliner’s virtual reality videogame reaches its fundraising target. June 27, 2014 Most of us haven’t read Ulysses, with a lot of us too intimidated to even give it a go. Now a Dublin filmmaker and animator is creating an immersive virtual reality videogame designed to accompany…

[From The Press of Atlantic City, where the story includes a photo gallery and a 1:49 minute video] [Image: Human Factors Manager Kenneth Allendoerfer, of Collingswood, discusses research they do on air traffic controllers, Wednesday May 14, 2014, at the Human Factors Lab at the FAA Hughes Tech Center in EggHarbor Twp. Credit: Michael Ein] FAA lab using virtual reality to improve aviation safety By Donald Wittkowski, Staff Writer Sunday, June 8, 2014 EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Kenneth Allendoerfer donned a silly looking skullcap that had a bunch of electrodes and wires sticking out of it. While the cap might…

[From Kill Screen, where the story includes another picture; more information, images and Vines are available from Kevin Cancienne on Twitter and more about No Quarter is available from NYU’s Game Center] Play with the carefree heart of a dog in Dog Park by Alexander Saeedy 07.17.14 Dogs are no strangers to games. Man’s best friend was a protagonist in Okami, a musician in Animal Crossing, and a prize-winning competitor in Nintendogs. But only in Okami can you virtually inhabit the body of a dog—to be running on all fours, pester some humans, and eat a bone.…

[From The New York Times] [Image: by Souther Salazar] The Future of Robot Caregivers By Louise Aronson July 19, 2014 Each time I make a house call, I stay much longer than I should. I can’t leave because my patient is holding my hand, or because she’s telling me, not for the first time, about when Aunt Mabel cut off all her hair and they called her a boy at school, or how her daddy lost his job and the lights went out and her mother lit pine cones and danced and made everyone laugh. Sometimes I can’t leave because…

[From IMT (Industry Market Trends), where the post includes additional images, including a diagram of the RAVE CAVE setup; note the non-profit institution’s goal to of “providing access to higher education research”] Virtual-Reality ‘Proto-Holodeck’ Enlivens Engineering Simulation The RAVE CAVE, about the size of a large cubicle and outfitted with cutting-edge vision technologies, is allowing engineers to see and interact with their design simulations as they would experience in real life. Located in the metro Detroit area, the simulator is also open to the public to promote engineering education. by Shawn Wasserman | July 17th, 2014 The Holodeck was one…

[From The New York Times, where the story includes two videos; more information is available from Magic Leap] [Image: The start-up Magic Leap, using a different approach called a digital light field, could seamlessly place a swimming shark in an office setting.] Real-Life Illness in a Virtual World By John Markoff July 14, 2014 FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — A 3-D animated creature, affectionately named Gerald, appears to walk in circles while floating in front of an elaborate viewer that resembles something from an optometrist’s office. Though only half a foot high, and with four arms, he looks remarkably lifelike through…

[From Mashable, where the story includes more images and two videos] Jibo Wants to Be the World’s First Family Robot Lance Ulanoff July 15, 2014 Social robots. That’s pretty much all Dr. Cynthia Breazeal has thought about for the past 20 years. Not so much how to build a better robot, but how to build one that could work and live alongside humans. It sounds like a simple concept, but it’s not; perhaps that is why it has taken her all these years to finally deliver a consumer product: Jibo, the world’s first family robot. Jibo is a desktop robot…

[From Polygon, where the story includes the 5:58 minute demonstration video mentioned at the end along with a 3:45 minute video review of the “South Park: The Stick of Truth” game] Oculus Rift experiment lets you become a citizen of South Park By Jenna Pitcher on Jul 03, 2014 Oculus Rift users can now walk around as a citizen in a recreation of animation series South Park thanks to a virtual reality project developed by production company Tool. “We started with three goals in mind for the experiment,” Tool’s explanation reads. “One, from a tech point of view, to sharpen…