[From the Kitsap Sun, where the story includes a photo gallery] [Image: Visitors to the Space Needle in Seattle walk past a circle on the floor that produces an animated image of the Space Needle when viewed with the new Space Needle app, at left. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)] High-tech additions to Space Needle make for enhanced experience Donna Gordon Blankinship Dec 27, 2014 SEATTLE — Visitors to Seattle’s Space Needle are treated to a gorgeous view of this waterfront city when skies are clear and the sun is shining. But on a recent beautiful day, many in the crowd…

[From The Huffington Post, where the story includes another image and a 1:02 minute video] When White People See Themselves With Black Skin, Something Interesting Happens The Huffington Post | By Anna Almendrala & Macrina Cooper-White Posted: 12/15/2014 The antidote to racism partly lies in empathy, or the willingness to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes,” as the saying goes. But scientists from universities across Europe are taking the maxim one step further, providing people an opportunity to experience life in someone else’s skin by experimenting with virtual reality as a means of helping people shed racial stereotypes.…

[From IEEE Spectrum, where the story includes another image and a 2:38 minute video] [Image: The salespeople are robots in this downtown Palo Alto store. Credit: Tekla Perry.] Suitable Technologies Opens Store Staffed Only by Robots By Tekla Perry Posted 10 Dec 2014 Most of us have gone into a store or restaurant in which the nametags worn by employees identified their hometowns. It’s a friendly touch. But this week, for the first time, I went into a store in which the members of the sales staff weren’t only identified by their hometowns, they were actually working from their hometowns,…

[From Deadline; for lots of related material online see: a detailed list of places to find the Yule Log and variations at the Channel Guide Magazine blog information about the new Outlander themed Yule Log (which features two dogs) at AV Club a compilation and mini-reviews of a large variety of Yule Log videos at Mental Floss and an interesting first person account of spending 45 minutes watching the Yule Log in “14 Profound Truths You Learn While Watching the Yule Log, As Told In GIFs” at Bustle] Virtual Menorah Debuts Next Week, Joining Yule Log by The Deadline Team…

[From Bustle, where the story includes more pictures and a 2:34 minute video] I Experienced Michael Brown’s Death in Virtual Reality, and It Was Incredibly Unsettling Alicia Lu December 18, 2014 Though the precise events of August 9 in Ferguson will never be known, we’ve all formed an idea through numerous testimonies and eyewitness accounts. Each account can differ quite drastically, however, depending on who’s relaying it. Trying to offer an interactive account of what happened that day, graphic journalist Dan Archer created for Fusion a virtual reality experience of the Michael Brown shooting from every perspective. Yes, really. Through…

[From The Creators Project, where the post includes several animated gifs and a 4:24 minute video] Zero-G Simulator Lets You Float Through an Oculus Rift Space Station By Beckett Mufson — Dec 16 2014 Even as space tourism becomes a reality, escaping Earth’s atmosphere is still well outside the average person’s price range. Virtual reality designer Martin Schubert has what might be a viable substitute in Weightless, a space station simulator that lets you nudge floating objects around with your hands. The current demo version is a submission to the Leap Motion 3D Jam game design competition, taking full advantage…

[From Disvcover’s Inkfish blog] Illusion Makes People Speak with the Voice of Their Avatar By Elizabeth Preston | November 26, 2014 Think you’re in control of your own body? A simple virtual-reality session could not only make you feel like an avatar’s body is your own, but make you speak more like the digital character.…

[From Autoblog, where the post includes more images, a 2:08 minute video and Jaguar’s press release] Jaguar Land Rover develops ‘transparent’ A-pillar and ghost car [w/video] By Noah Joseph Posted Dec 15th 2014 Jaguar and Land Rover are known for making highly covetable luxury, performance and off-road vehicles, but the British automakers are on a bit of a technology bent lately. Keen to show that it can not only keep up but lead the way when it comes to safety and convenience features, JLR has come out with two more systems to show the way forward. JLR’s new 360 Virtual…

[From The New York Times] [Image: “Wild — The Experience” puts viewers in the wilderness with Reese Witherspoon. Credit Felix & Paul Studios] Virtual Reality ‘Wild’ Trek, With Reese Witherspoon By Michael Cieply DEC. 14, 2014 LOS ANGELES — They read the book. They saw the movie. Now, a few admirers of “Wild,” Cheryl Strayed’s tale of her lonely trek along the Pacific Crest Trail, can spend several bone-weary, fully immersive minutes in the deep wilderness with Reese Witherspoon, who plays Ms. Strayed in the Fox Searchlight Pictures film about the adventure. On a smartphone. Fox Searchlight and its partners…

[From the Wall Street Journal’s Japan Real Time blog, where the post includes a different image] Virtual Christmas Dinner Planned for Long-Distance Couples By Jun Hongo Dec 11, 2014 In Japan, Christmas Eve is an occasion for couples to go out on a romantic date–even, it turns out, if they’re 400 kilometers apart. Mobile carrier KDDI Corp. is organizing a virtual Christmas dinner event for couples in a long-distance relationship, with one person in Tokyo and the other in Osaka. “The dinner will make it feel like the other person is actually there with you at the table,” Ayumi Tsujishita,…

[From Venture Beat, where the story includes more images] [Image: MediaSpike’s 3D blimp ad and its outdoor movie screen] MediaSpike creates cool in-game native ads for virtual reality December 8, 2014 Dean Takahashi MediaSpike specializes in doing product-placement ads that look like they’re part of a game world. Now it’s doing the same thing for virtual reality, so that the emerging platform isn’t plagued by banner ads and other intrusive advertising. The in-game virtual reality ads are part of the “native advertising” movement to make ads more welcome and less intrusive. As the brands start to get excited about virtual reality…

[From Gizmag, where the story includes an image gallery] [Image: Learn Immersive generates scene descriptions and text translations from scans of real-world environments that you experience in virtual reality, all of which they hope will help immerse you in a new language (Credit: Panoptic Group)] Learn Immersive teaches languages in virtual reality By Richard Moss December 9, 2014 The trouble with learning a foreign language is that to become fluent – or even just to be passably coherent in a reasonable timeframe – you need to be immersed in it. You need to live in a country where that language…