[From BBC News, where the story includes additional images] Viewpoint: The small business of 2063 By Alastair Reynolds Author 3 January 2013 Our world is changing faster than ever and, in recent years, a number of transformative technologies have moved from science fiction and the research and development R&D laboratory into the realm of practical application. These new technologies, combined with demographic shifts and globalisation, will have a profound impact on the future of SMEs. Who would have thought that advanced machinery and electronics such as GPS navigation tools, which only a decade ago would have seemed completely science fictional,…

[From Reuters, where the story includes an additional image] Disney joins JAKKS, LA billionaire to bring toys to life By Ronald Grover LOS ANGELES | Tue Jan 8, 2013 (Reuters) – Walt Disney toys are sold around the world. Now, children can find them in the cloud as well. The media giant is teaming up with toy company JAKKS Pacific and Patrick Soon-Shiong, Los Angeles’ wealthiest person, on a new line of toys – with a nifty technological twist designed to link the goodies that kids lug home from the store with Disney’s stable of well-known animated characters. “DreamPlay”, developed…

[From Gant Daily] [Image: Realistic 3-D computer generated environments enable the athlete to feel fully immersed in cyber-imagery] Penn State Pioneers Virtual Reality to help Athletes after Concussions January 14, 2013 By Heather Herzog and Joe Weeks, Penn State UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State may be the first institution to use virtual reality to protect student athletes from the very real consequences of concussions. University researchers in kinesiology, information technology and sports medicine are using the technology to investigate cognitive changes beyond the limits of typical diagnostic tests. Sam Slobounov, director of Sport Concussion Research Services, and Elena Slobounov, lead…

[From The Verge, where the story includes a 3:22 minute video] Sculpting in virtual reality: meet Leonar3Do (hands-on) By Ellis Hamburger on January 7, 2013 @hamburger Hungarian startup Leonar3Do (pronounced “Leonardo”) today demoed its mind-boggling virtual reality software for PC and Mac that lets you manipulate 3D objects as if they were right in front of you. Using a combination of triangulation (using sensors latched on to your computer) and 3D goggles, Leonar3Do creates an environment for interacting with 3D objects for work or for play. The company’s pro software costs around $2000, and the sensors and “bird,” a N64-esque…

[From GeekWire] [Image: Credit: Carnegie Mellon research paper, 2003] Microsoft patents long-distance virtual handshakes, hugs December 22, 2012 by Todd Bishop It can be tough to stay connected over long distances. Yes, there’s phone calls, texting, Facebook, Twitter, IM, video chatting and everything else. But what if you could give virtual hugs to each other using battery-powered, Internet-enabled pillows? Microsoft just patented that … and more. The company has been awarded a patent on “Force-feedback within telepresence” — the idea of using interactive, connected devices to bring physical interactions to long-distance communications. For example, the patent says, “Hugs, hand-shakes, grabbing…

[From ScienceDaily] [Image: Animated environment for the simulation. (Credit: Image courtesy of Bournemouth University)] Investigating the Bystander Effect Using Virtual Reality Jan. 11, 2013 — The bystander effect is well-known in behavioural psychology and suggests that the more people who witnessing a violent emergency the less likely it is that someone will intervene. It was first identified in the 1960s, but conducting research on the phenomenon has been difficult. Most experiments rely upon staging fake emergencies or violent encounters using actors, but it is tricky to gauge how genuine a response is. Dr Southern and his colleagues have turned to…

[From Lost At E Minor, where the post includes additional images; more information and images are on the artist’s web site] Remarkable 3D graffiti by Jimmy Cochran December 11, 2012 | by  Kiron Heriot-Darragh Australian-born graffiti artist Jimmy Cochran has painted walls from the Bronx to Berlin and is recognized equally in fine art galleries as graffiti street tours in London. Last month, Cochran unveiled his latest project, pushing the boundaries of his pointillist-inspired art style with 3D graffiti techniques. Living in London, Cochran has been working on developing 3D graffiti for years now. He explains: ‘This is something that…

[From Gameranx] IllumiRoom Projects Images Past Your TV, Looks Stunning Microsoft’s research labs have just released a trailer for IllumiRoom, which projects images beyond your TV! You need to watch it to believe it. by Alex Co on 9th Jan, 2013 During Samsung’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) keynote, Microsoft demonstrated one of the projects they’re working on and this one has a gaming slant to it. Microsoft’s Research lab calls it “IllumiRoom,” and it projects images outside of your TV while you’re playing games. According to the official site, IllumiRoom ” is a proof-of-concept system from Microsoft Research. It augments the…

[From Greg Kumparak’s GK blog, where the post includes additional images] My Lil’ TARDIS: It’s Bigger On The Inside. No, Really. By Greg Kumparak December 21, 2012 As I used roughly a zillion words to explain yesterday, I’ve spent the last few months tinkering with all sorts of little projects in an effort to learn to build awesome things. Most of the projects were intended to be scrapped from the get-go, meant primarily to help me wrap my head around some concept – brain fodder, if you will. With others, I was testing the water with ideas I might want…

[From iMediaEthics; a 1:02 minute video of Rep. Pelosi defending the altered photo is available on YouTube] [Image: See the original group of politicians (left) compared with the doctored version released by Pelosi’s office. In red circle, see the added politicians. (Credit: WizbangBlog, Nancy Pelosi’s Flickr, screenshots)] NPPA, White House Photographers Criticize Doctored Photo by Nancy Pelosi’s office By: Sydney Smith January 07, 2013 Nancy Pelosi’s office doctored a photograph picturing the Democratic women in Congress but argues it’s OK because it shows all of the women, even if they weren’t all there for the photo. A comparison of Pelosi’s…

[From Ars Technica] How fast does “virtual reality” have to be to look like “actual reality”? Low latency is important to an effective VR display but might not be everything. by Kyle Orland – Jan 3 2013 For decades now, virtual reality has been a pipe dream concept, well ahead of the technology needed to realize it. Generating a convincing 3D world that precisely and instantly matches the head-tracked position of a player’s gaze was well beyond the headsets that proliferated in research centers and on the market up through the ’90s. It has only been recently that products like…