[From The Times of Malta; more information including a 0:31 minute promotional video is available at http://www.malta5d.com/ and a 5:31 minute video on the making of the 5D film is available on YouTube] Experiencing Malta in virtual reality Kim Dalli Friday, September 28, 2012 A new attraction in Valletta offers an innovative and exciting way to experience the island’s history. Malta 5D combines 3D with new generation 5D cinema effects, allowing the audience full immersion into the world portrayed on screen. The 5D motion chairs have features such as water spray, vibration and leg sweeping while the auditorium has equipment…

[From NBC News] Camera-equipped ‘high dynamic range’ helmet gives you superhuman vision Devin Coldewey September 26, 2012 If you think of high dynamic range imaging, or HDR, you probably think of crazy panoramic cityscapes or lighthouses where everything pops with impossible clarity — imagine seeing the whole world that way. These goggles let you look at everything in real-time 3-D HDR — and it’s more useful than you might think.…

[From Wolters Kluwer Health; short demonstration videos can be found on YouTube here and here] Virtual Reality Simulator Helps Teach Surgery for Brain Cancer, Reports Neurosurgery ‘NeuroTouch’ System Provides 3-D Graphics and Tactile Feedback During Simulated Brain Surgery  Philadelphia, Pa. (September 20, 2012) – A new virtual reality simulator—including sophisticated 3-D graphics and tactile feedback—provides neurosurgery trainees with valuable opportunities to practice essential skills and techniques for brain cancer surgery, according to a paper in the September issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of…

[From PC World, where the story includes additional pictures] Virtual reality: More virtual than real By Julie Sartain, NetworkWorld Sep 24, 2012 Remember virtual reality? The idea that science could create a virtual world of sight, sound, smell and touch was hot two decades ago, then completely fizzled out. “VR made a huge splash in the 90s, but collapsed into near obscurity a few years later. The term VR even became a dirty word for some time, giving way to the less-hyped term immersion,” says Paul Mlyniec, president of California-based Digital ArtForms. “There’s not much new happening in virtual reality,”…

[From The University of Bristol] Virtual reality cow simulator goes global Press release issued 24 September 2012 A virtual reality cow, invented by a University of Bristol graduate, will soon be used to educate future vets around the world. Professor Sarah Baillie (BVSc 1986 and BSc 1984), who has recently returned to the University as Chair in Veterinary Education at the School of Veterinary Sciences, combined her veterinary knowledge with computer science to create the Haptic Cow while studying for a PhD at Glasgow University. The revolutionary Haptic Cow allows students to carry out virtual examinations of the cow using…

[From Kotaku] I’ve Seen the Future of Virtual Reality, and It Is Terrifying Toshi Nakamura Sep 21, 2012 Experience the big-screen in private. That’s the sales pitch for head-mounted displays. One would think that the only real areas for technological advancement would be in the screen resolution and the actual weight of the device. Introducing the Prototype-SR (Substitutional Reality), a new take on the head-mounted display. Based on Sony’s HMZ personal 3D viewer head-mounted display, the Prototype-SR mixes real-time video with prerecorded video to create what Sony hopes is a unique new entertainment experience. The Prototype-SR is currently on display…

[From AP via The Huffington Post; a related 1:07 minute video is available on YouTube] In ‘Kinect Sesame Street TV’ On Xbox, The TV Talks Back To Kids AP  |  By Barbara Ortutay Posted: 09/18/2012 NEW YORK (AP) — Elmo, Big Bird and the rest of the “Sesame Street” crew have always talked to kids. Now, they’ll try to have a two-way conversation with their pint-sized audience using Kinect, the motion and voice-sensing controller created by Microsoft. “Kinect Sesame Street TV,” out Tuesday, is not exactly a video game, though it runs on the Xbox 360 video game system.…

[From redOrbit, where the story includes a video] Researchers Aim To Boost Accuracy of Augmented Reality Technology September 17, 2012 Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online The same technology used to produce that first down line on television at an NFL football game is also being used to help future surgeons perform operations. Augmented reality, or “AR,” is the computer-generated virtual objects that sports fans have grown to both love and hate over the years. While there have been AR successes like the yellow line in football, there have also been failures like that seen in the NHL…

[From CBC, where the story includes a 1:43 video report; for more information about uGenius is available in an article in Fortune] [Image: FirstOntario Credit Union in Ancaster is a bank with no tellers. (Kate Adach)] Video banking makes robbery impossible By Kate Adach, CBC News Posted: Aug 27, 2012 How do you rob a bank that has no tellers? “Oh, we have tellers,” says Mary De Sousa, marketing leader of an innovative banking system that provides virtual bankers through a computer screen. She points to a machine. “That’s our teller.” The machine looks like any ATM, but once activated,…

[From Defense News] [Image: The Augmented Immersive Team Training system superimposes objects, such as vehicles or munitions, on the real-life terrain that is viewed through a head-mounted display. (Office of Naval Research)] Marines Get Virtual Explosions in the Real World Sep. 13, 2012 By Michael Peck The U.S. Marine Corps has unveiled a prototype training system that uses augmented reality to digitally superimpose objects upon a real landscape. This differs from the virtual reality used by programs such as the Army’s freshly fielded Dismounted Soldier Training System, which transports the user into a fake world. The Marines recently demonstrated the…

[From The University of Western Ontario’s Western News, where the story includes an additional image] Collaboration leads to ‘something special’ Article and photos by Paul Mayne September 13, 2012 Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences professor Mandor Jog, director of the National Parkinson Foundation Centre of Excellence at London Health Sciences Centre, runs through the augmented immersion virtual reality project which helps researchers understand how patients with neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson’s, navigate their environments. In a non-descript room of an eerily quiet wing of South Street Hospital, Mandor Jog’s work may look like a game to some. But the outcome…

[From Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance] Lake Forest Graduate School of Management Introduces the Next Generation of Online Learning Avatars as Business-School Collaborators Press Release: Lake Forest Graduate School of Management – Mon, Sep 10, 2012 LAKE FOREST, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Move over, gamers — avatars aren’t just for entertainment anymore. While most graduate business schools prepare their MBA students for the world of business that awaits them after graduation, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management (LFGSM) is changing the game by immersing a new cohort of students into that world of business through an innovative approach to learning. In LFGSM’s…