[From Neurogadget, where you can watch the 4:56 minute video] Mind-controlled virtual reality system combines the forces of Emotiv EPOC, Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra By Neurogadget; November 7, 2013 This awesome VR project combines the forces of three sophisticated gadgets to take mind-controlled virtual reality to the next level. Use your mind to move around with the Emotiv EPOC brain-interface, look around with the Oculus Rift 3D headset, and move your hands to interact with virtual objects holding the Razer Hydra gaming controller.…

[From Motherboard, where the story features a 10:21 minute video; the discussion at the end in particular refers to presence, even though the term itself isn’t used] How to Use Virtual Reality to Replicate Psychosis By Alejandro Tauber November 5, 2013 In 2005, artist Jennifer Kanary’s sister-in-law committed suicide while suffering from a psychotic episode. This event led Kanary to develop Labyrinth Psychotica, an experience designed to give people more insight into how it feels to suffer through psychosis. Users are strapped into virtual reality gear and transported into the mind of a psychotic girl named Jamie. The whole experience…

[From Syracuse University News] Art Meets Technology in Newhouse M.I.N.D. Lab Friday, November 1, 2013   By SU News Art meets technology in pioneering ways in a new facility opening Monday, Nov. 4, in the AXA Equitable Tower, located in downtown Syracuse on the Connective Corridor. Newhouse M.I.N.D. Lab is debuting its new world-class research and design center, featuring large-format new media technology and visualization space, augmented reality, 3D computer graphics and human computer interaction. SU Arts Engage is opening co-located new community performance space, combining physical expression, such as dance and theater, with the world of 3D projection and virtual…

[This is terrible news, both personally and professionally. From the Stanford Daily] [Image: Courtesy of Linda A. Cicero] Clifford Nass, communication professor, dies at 55 By Ileana Najarro November 4, 2013 Clifford Nass, professor of communication and director of the Communication Between Humans & Interactive Media (CHIMe) Lab, died of a heart attack this weekend at age 55. James Fishkin, chair of the Communication Department, said Nass was attending the Stanford Faculty and Staff Program of the Stanford Sierra Camp when the fatal heart attack occurred. Fishkin added that the news came as a shock. “He was a force of…

[From Gamasutra, where the post includes a picture] [Image: Wikipedia] Do We Need 4K Resolution For Immersive Virtual Reality? by Ivan Blaustein on 10/29/13 The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company. Oculus HD and Beyond Shortly after shipping 10,000 developer kits, the folks at Oculus announced that they had made an HD Prototype of the Rift that has a 5? screen and a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Oculus set up a booth at the…

[It’s all about social realism and the suspension of disbelief! From the Nerdist blog; watch the trailer here] HELL NO: The Sensible Horror Film by Kyle Anderson on October 17, 2013 It’s being hailed as “the most realistic horror movie ever.” Why? Because the characters in it aren’t stupid and don’t put themselves in dumb situations. This hilarious short/faux movie trailer from director Joe Nicolosi shows us every single scenario we’ve ever seen in scary movies, and then it shows the people involved actually doing the things we’ve been yelling at the screens since there have been movies that are…

[From Fast Company’s Co.CREATE blog, where the story includes more pictures] Your Halloween Is Sorted With These Gory, iPhone-Enabled Costumes From An Ex-NASA Engineer If you’ve got a smartphone and 30 bucks, you no longer have an excuse for not having a killer Halloween costume. By Dan Solomon October 9, 2013 Mark Rober was just your average mechanical engineer for NASA, working for seven years helping to build the Mars Rover, when he finally found his true passion: Halloween costumes. In 2011, Rober figured out that, with FaceTime, he could create one of the grislier costumes the human mind had…

[From NYU-Poly, where the press release includes a 0:52 minute video; the Kickstarter campaign details are here] Still Wearing a Real Mask This Halloween? NYU-Poly Team Suggests Latest in Augmented Reality Posted October 28th, 2013 Brooklyn, New York—Halloween costumes can be so…analog. Until this season. Artist and Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) augmented-reality researcher Mark Skwarek has teamed with one of his grad students to create 3D digital masks more appropriate to the year 2013. Skwarek, an NYU-Poly instructor of integrated digital media, and Animesh Anad, a computer science graduate student, developed the virtual masks to launch an…

[From Springer via ScienceDaily] Virtually Numbed: Immersive Video Gaming Alters Real-Life Experience Role-playing video games can alter our experience of reality and numb us to important real-life experiences, a new study finds. Oct. 28, 2013 — Spending time immersed as a virtual character or avatar in a role-playing video game can numb you to realizing important body signals in real life. This message comes from Ulrich Weger of the University of Witten/Herdecke in Germany and Stephen Loughnan of Melbourne University in Australia, in an article in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, published by Springer.…

[From Tnooz, where the story includes a 2:01 minute video] Japan tourist attraction uses digital penguins to increase visits Karthick Prabu Oct 16.2013 Sunshine Aquarium, a 35-year old Japan tourist attraction, wanted people to easily locate it amongst other point of interests and activities in Tokyo. The aquarium is located in an extremely dense part of the city and is nearly a kilometer from the nearest station. So, what did officials do to put it on the map? The aquarium went down the augmented reality route.…

[From Australian Ageing Agenda, where the story includes two more images] Virtual dementia experience for aged care workers By Natasha Egan on October 24, 2013 Aged care workers can now experience what it feels like to live with dementia at an Australian-first dementia learning centre that uses light, sound, colour, visual content and serious gaming technology to create a virtual reality. The Perc Walkley Dementia Learning Centre is a key feature of Alzheimer’s Australia Vic’s new facility in Parkville, Melbourne, which was opened by Alzheimer’s Australia National President Ita Buttrose on Wednesday. The training centre features doughnut shaped mood lighting,…

[From Polygon, where the story includes more pictures and a 4:54 minute video] How the holographic gaming rig Valve didn’t want aims to conquer the virtual world By Colin Campbell on Oct 22, 2013 When Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson parted ways with Valve last February, they took away the thingamajig they’d spent the previous year developing. And now it’s got a Kickstarter. CastAR is a 3D holograph-style game display that runs through a pair of glasses. In the shorthand blurb of the gadget’s Kickstarter, it’s basically like that “let the Wookie win” scene in which R2-D2 and Chewbacca play…