[From CNET, where the story includes many images and a video] [Image: It’s been a long road bringing digital eyewear and other wearable technologies out of the shadows, but they are poised to take off at warp speed within the next decade. (Credit: Dan Farber/Augmented Reality Expo)] The next big thing in tech: Augmented reality The wearable revolution is heading beyond Google Glass, fitness tracking and health monitoring. The future is wearables that conjure up a digital layer in real space to “augment” reality. by Dan Farber June 7, 2013 SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Reality isn’t what is used to…

[Satire from The Onion] New, Improved Google Maps Lets User Launch Missile At Any Location On Globe ISSUE 49•22 • May 29, 2013 MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—Tech giant Google announced Wednesday that their newest version of Maps will enable users to fire a missile at any location on the planet. “Simply zoom in on any point on the map, set the crosshairs, and tap the ‘Launch’ button, and a Google satellite will immediately send an ASM cruise missile accurate within 5 feet,” said Maps product manager Jason Murawski, adding that the feature is available on both iPhone iOS and Android operating…

[From Home Theater Magazine] Ultra-Big-Screen Movie Magic Comes Home with IMAX Private Theatre By HT Staff • Posted: May 31, 2013 If you’ve got some extra dough laying around, IMAX just announced the IMAX Private Theatre. Calling it “the world’s most immersive cinema experience,” the company says it has taken the best of its commercial theater experience and customized it to create a state-of-the-art home cinema experience. The design concept originated from the company’s state-of-the-art screening room in Santa Monica, Calif. System highlights include:…

[Satire from The Onion; for more on Frances Ha see IMDb. Are the stereotypes about presence and IMAX accurate? Let us know what you think in the comments.] You Haven’t Seen ‘Frances Ha’ Until You’ve Seen It In IMAX ISSUE 49•22 • May 30, 2013 By Noah Baumbach As a director, I have always strived to present my work to the audience in such a way that it accurately reflects my artistic vision in its purest form, so that what is displayed on the screen is as close as possible to my original conception of the film. This has never…

[From Tech.pinions] The Dividing Line Between Human and Replicant Already Happened by Brian S Hall  |  May 27th, 2013 In the film, Iron Man 3, the good guys encase themselves in tech. The bad guys put the tech inside their bodies. This is telling. Hollywood – and most of America – remains oddly uncomfortable with the notion of technology which “alters” our self – even as it alters everything we see, hear and touch. No surprise, then, that Tony Stark, the man inside the Iron Man suit, fires off witty bombs in the vain hope it will ease his mental…

[From Motivate. Play.] Presence and Games – An interview with Paul Skalski, Ph.D. Posted by Jim Cummings on Dec 5, 2012 Back in October I gave a talk at the 2012 conference for the International Society for Presence Researchers.  While there I sat in on a number of fascinating presentations, including several by Dr. Paul Skalski, professor and researcher in the School of Communication at Cleveland State University.  Amongst other topics, Paul discussed the potential relationship between gameplay motivation and a player “need for presence.”  I recently followed up with him to hear more about his research, as well as…

[Note: For more on the topic of presence and sexuality, see the new article “Telepresence and Sexuality: A Review and a Call to Scholars” by Lombard and Jones in the current issue of Human Technology: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Humans in ICT Environments, available free here (sorry for the self-promotion!).  –Matthew ] [From Pocket-lint, where you can watch the 1:31 minute Durex video; a 1:34 minute CNN video story is here; the Durex video followed by a panel discussion can be found in a segment of The Common Room on YouTube here] Revealed: The future of foreplay is in Fundawear…

[From Human Productivity Lab via PRWeb] Human Productivity Lab Releases New Publication, “Planning a Video Conferencing or Telepresence Project” Detailed guide outlines end-to-end planning of a telepresence or video conferencing project Ashburn, VA (PRWEB) May 31, 2013 The visual collaboration consultancy Human Productivity Lab (HPL) announces the release of the publication Planning a Video Conferencing or Telepresence Project. Written by HPL Consultant Richard Tucker, this guide is based on the experiences and lessons learned by end user organizations that have implemented telepresence projects, from personal systems to immersive room systems. The detailed guide provides information for end-to-end planning of a…

[From Hypergrid Business, where the commentary includes two images] [Image: From 3D Your PC on NVIDIA’s blog] Can 3D save the PC industry? By Maria Korolov Thu, Apr 11 2013 Yes, it can. I really think it can. So here’s the deal. Personal computer sales are going down the toilet. According to IDC, total sales are down 14 percent for the first quarter of this year compared to last year. There were more than 88 million computers sold in the first quarter of last year, and just over 76 million this year. That’s twice as steep a drop as IDC originally…

[From The Guardian] The future of virtual reality: want to conquer vertigo or have a go at surgery? Now you can with the next level of 3D technology – which defies gravity and lets you come squeamishly close to death Posted by Oliver Wainwright Friday 24 May 2013 Ever wondered what it would be like to tightrope walk above the city, dissect a human heart, and jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet – all in one afternoon? These are just some of the experiences on offer in a basement in east London, as part of the Digital Shoreditch…

[From Businessweek’s Getting In blog] A Serious Second Life for B-Schools—No ‘Big Bird’ Avatars Allowed By Francesca Di Meglio May 17, 2013 Will there ever come a day when students and teachers interact in a virtual world? Avaya is betting on it. The Santa Clara (Calif.) company creates a virtual space, similar to Second Life, that allows people to interact as they would in the real world. The MIT Sloan School of Management has already held one executive education course using the technology, and a second is planned for October. Avaya says it’s in talks with other business schools to…

[From England’s The Northern Echo; much more information, including videos, is available on the group’s development blog] Deep sea world is brought to life by virtual reality students 27th May 2013 in News By Barry Nelson, Health Editor A team of final year students from Teesside University are making waves around the world after they developed a deep sea exploration game for a cutting-edge gaming device. The students, who are studying courses in the School of Computing, pooled together their varied expertise to create UnderCurrent for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.…