[From SportTechie, where the story includes a 3:17 minute video] EON Sports Launches Virtual Reality Experiences for Football Players November 4, 2014 By Freddy Lopez In the gridiron, every inch matters. There’s a ton of reads for a player to digest once the football is snapped. Time is of the utmost essence–literally and figuratively. “This generation is so easily distracted, because of all the access to the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter. When we were kids, you had to think about stuff.” These remarks were made by UCLA Coach Jim Mora last week ahead of their matchup against Arizona, per The…

[From the University of Montreal; an extended interview with Massil Benbouriche from 2013 (in French) is available (along with the image below) from Radio Canada] Virtual reality promises new applications for sexual offending 03 November 2014 Virtual reality may be the key to predicting both the behaviour of sex offenders and the effectiveness of the therapies they have undergone, according to a study undertaken by Massil Benbouriche of the University of Montreal’s School of Criminology. “It is currently impossible to define the circumstances in which patients will – or will not – contain their aggressive impulses following therapy or treatment…

[From TIME LightBox, where the story includes more pictures and a 2:08 minute video] Here’s What It’s Like Inside the First Virtual Reality Documentary October 28, 2014 | By Josh Raab Putting on a virtual reality headset feels a little like wearing the gaudiest pair of sunglasses ever: they’re awkward, unflattering — but they somehow manage to be kind of fun. Earlier this month, I was given the opportunity to try an Oculus Rift in one of TIME’s meeting rooms, sampling some imagery from Zero Point, the first movie ever shot in 3D, 360 degree video specifically for virtual reality.…

[From Advertising Age, where the story includes a 2:30 minute video] Meet Lowe’s Newest Sales Associate — OSHbot, the Robot Retailer’s Innovation Lab Seeks Answers to Shopper Problems By Ashley Rodriguez. Published on October 28, 2014 Lowe’s is set to unleash a retail-ready, multilingual robot. The project is designed to help shoppers navigate stores quickly and easily. “People want to come in and find exactly where they want to go,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs. “And they want to have a conversation instead of trying to find a map.” Customers can talk to the robot, OSHbot,…

[From The Daily Beast] [Image: Elena Scotti/The Daily Beast] ‘Real’ Sex Welcome to Oculus XXX: In-Your-Face 3D is the Future of Porn Aurora Snow10.18.14 In 2015, experts claim that consumers will be able to use Oculus Rift’s virtual reality technology to have simulated sex. The future of porn will be a lot more personal. In the last few years, a new generation of consumer-friendly virtual reality (VR) tech has emerged, bringing childhood fantasies and science fiction to life, and offering experiences so incredible that users have reported confusion and disappointment upon returning to the real world. A recent Alien video…

[From Gizmodo UK, where the story includes a 2:26 minute video] The First Feature-Length Oculus Rift Film is Perfect Poop-Your-Pants Halloween Viewing By Gerald Lynch on 27 Oct 2014 The focus with Oculus Rift may currently be on virtual reality gaming but, as we learnt at last week’s Interstellar VR experience, there’s room for the headset in Hollywood too. Now Oculus Rift has its first ever feature-length movie, The Banshee Chapter, a horror movie just in time for an immersive Halloween scare. A modernised Lovecraftian tale, The Banshee Chapter (produced by Star Trek‘s Zachary Quinto) was first given a standard…

[From BBC News, where the story includes more pictures and a 1:09 minute video of the Podrift being set up and tested; for more information see the Podrift web site] Podrift: Is podcasting ripe for virtual reality? By Dougal Shaw Technology reporter 20 October 2014 The key to podcasting’s success is, arguably, its simplicity. A new technology called Podrift wants to revolutionise the genre by giving it the virtual reality treatment – but is it just a gimmick? Imagine if instead of just listening to the Ricky Gervais Show podcast, you could step into a virtual 3D world created by…

[From BBC News; an impressive 1:36 minute video is available on YouTube] [Image: Daniel Shafrir hopes Andy can transform education about space] Robot will beam live Moon pictures to Oculus users By Jane Wakefield, Technology reporter 21 October 2014 Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a robot which they plan to land on the Moon to act as eyes for Earth-bound space enthusiasts. The project is part of a $30m prize from Google offered to a team that can send video back from the moon. The robot has already been shown to potential investors, including Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty…

[From Bright Side of News, where the story includes more pictures and a 2:48 minute video] Dexmo Exoskeletons Bring Sensation of Touch to VR With the advent of hand-fitted exoskeletons, Dexta Robotics wants to bring the sensation of touch to virtual reality. Derek Strickland – October 1, 2014 Consumers will soon be able to actually feel digital objects in virtual reality. A tech firm known as Dexta Robotics is crafting the Dexmo F2, a specially-made exoskeleton that folds over a users hand to simulate the sensation of touch in VR environments. The device will apparently be compatible with the Oculus…

[From The New York Times, where the story includes more drawings] [Image: By Louie Chin] To Siri, With Love How One Boy With Autism Became BFF With Apple’s Siri By Judith Newman October 17, 2014 Just how bad a mother am I? I wondered, as I watched my 13-year-old son deep in conversation with Siri. Gus has autism, and Siri, Apple’s “intelligent personal assistant” on the iPhone, is currently his BFF. Obsessed with weather formations, Gus had spent the hour parsing the difference between isolated and scattered thunderstorms — an hour in which, thank God, I didn’t have to discuss…

[A press release from Dartmouth College via EurekAlert!] Houston: We have a problem…but no worries, our virtual therapist is on it Dartmouth researchers adding new virtual reality to mental health treatment for astronauts October 14, 2014 Hiking in the mountains or lying on the beach are good ways to relieve stress on Earth, but on spaceflights there’s no way to get back to nature. Astronauts feeling stressed on long-duration flights, however, may soon find computerized solace in the form of a virtual reality-based relaxation system being developed by Dartmouth researchers and their colleagues. Since 2001, Dartmouth, Harvard, UCLA and The…

[From MIT’s Technology Review, where the story includes a different image. Bina was featured in a (satirical) segment of the The Colbert Report on June 10, 2014. The 1989 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation titled Measure of a Man highlighted many of these issues; a key scene is available on YouTube] [Image: Source] Q&A with Futurist Martine Rothblatt If computers think for themselves, should they have human rights? By Antonio Regalado on October 20, 2014 Bina48 is a robotic head that looks and speaks like a person—it moves its lips and runs conversational software. Although the robot isn’t…