[From Gizmag, where the story includes additional images; note the ‘bonus’ demonstration in the last 20 seconds of the Kickstarter video] Skype-based telepresence robot is “Botiful” to behold By Ben Coxworth July 24, 2012 Telepresence robots are definitely a neat idea – they allow users not only to interact with people in remote locations, but they also (in some cases) let those users wander around those locations from “within” the robot, its camera and microphone acting as their eyes and ears. While such robots have so far been relatively expensive, California-based inventor Claire Delaunay wants to change that. She hopes…

[From MIT’s Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 series, which features an additional image and a 3:24 minute video] Leila Takayama, 31 Applying the tools of social science to make robots easier to live and work with Jessica Leber August 2012 People often find robots baffling and even frightening. Leila Takayama, a social scientist, has found ways to smooth out their rough edges. Through numerous studies and experiments that look at how people react to every aspect of robots, from their height to their posture, Takayama has come up with key insights into how robots should look and act to…

[From Phys.Org, where the story includes an additional image] [Image: Actual experimental results demonstrate the promise of a glasses-free 3-D theater experience. Two cars, one red and one blue, are projected onto a screen through a parallax barrier. As the light shines back through the polarizer, two offset images are created, which creates the visual cues that the brain interprets as depth. Credit: Optics Express] Next generation 3-D theater: Optical science makes glasses a thing of the past Even with current digital technology, the latest Hollywood blockbusters still rely on clunky glasses to achieve a convincing 3-D effect. New optics…

[From CarAdvice; the ad (in HD) is available on YouTube] Toyota 86 gets a reality check By David Zalstein | August 17th, 2012 A new multi-million dollar Toyota 86 ‘Real Deal’ advertising campaign launches today in the UK. The Toyota 86 (GT86 in the UK) Real Deal campaign focuses on a 60-second TV spot, and 90-second internet version, that depicts the life of a virtual man stuck in a virtual world, whose hunger for something real sees him end up in Toyota’s latest sports car. Styled in the vein of a computer game, the clip’s animated main character breaks the…

[From The New York Times’ Arts Beat blog] That’s a Big Boulder, Indy: Steven Spielberg on the Imax Rerelease of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ By Dave Itzkoff August 14, 2012, It’s the kind of revelation that would melt the face of any die-hard Indiana Jones fan (this time, with joy): “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the 1981 adventure film that introduced that globe-trotting archaeologist, will receive a one-week Imax release next month, Lucasfilm said on Tuesday. “For me, it’s always been the bigger the screen, the better,” Steven Spielberg, who directed “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the three…

[From Gizmag, where the story includes additional images and a 4:50 minute video; a second, shorter video is available on YouTube] [Image: Face cloning: Steps in modeling the digital face and the final result in silicone (Image: Disney)] Disney develops “face cloning” technique for animatronics By David Szondy August 15, 2012 Facial cloning sounds rather alarming, but its purpose is very straightforward. Basically, it’s a way of scanning a person’s face in 3D and then using that information to design and fabricate an artificial skin that will move much more realistically – not just in general, but as a close…

[From Time’s Techland] Double Robotics Lets You Turn Your iPad into a Telepresence Robot By Keith Wagstaff | August 14, 2012 Tired of having to go places? Do you secretly wish you were a robot? Then a telepresence robot might just be the thing for you. Previously, telepresence robots were fairly expensive and mostly aimed at wealthy tech entrepreneurs and people with disabilities who couldn’t leave their homes. Double is different. At $1,999 for pre-orders and $2,499 after that, it’s expensive but not completely out of reach and it works with a piece of technology that’s fairly popular right now…

[From The Sydney Morning Herald, where the story includes additional images] [Image: Freddie Mercury … a video of the singer is seen on the screen during the closing ceremony of the London Games. Photo: Reuters] Life after death … the high tech way to interact August 15, 2012 Glenda Kwek Twenty six years ago, Freddie Mercury electrified thousands of spectators at a concert in London’s Wembley Stadium. On Sunday – 20 years after his death – the late Queen frontman did the same again – with the same performance – belting out “d-ey-o, d-ey-o” from a giant screen to an…

[From The Associated Press via The Las Vegas Sun; a 1:55 minute video report is available from KTNV in Las Vegas] Billboard with dummy on noose shocks Las Vegas drivers Michelle Rindels, Associated Press Published Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012 Even by Las Vegas standards, it was a shocking billboard: A mannequin dangling on a hangman’s noose below a black sign with the ominous words “Dying for Work.” Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Jeremie Elliott says the 911 calls started coming in as the sun came up early Wednesday, with drivers worried the stiff, black-suited dummy swaying at the end of a rope…

[From Gizmag, where the story includes more images and a 3:52 minute video] Disney Research’s gloveless REVEL system adds virtual textures to physical objects By Brian Dodson August 13, 2012 Having long been successful with “talkies,” Disney has developed technology that could allow the creation of “feelies.” While designed more for touchscreens than the silver screen, the REVEL system developed at Disney Research uses reverse electrovibration to bring computerized control over the sense of touch, thereby allowing programmers to change the feel of real-world surfaces and objects without requiring users to wear special gloves or use force-feedback devices.…

[From The Huffington Post, where the story includes images and a video] ‘You, Robot’: Personal Robots For The Masses Lucas Kavner Posted: 07/09/2012 Updated: 07/18/2012 Along a winding dirt road, just west of the Lincoln Gap in Bristol, Vt., sit two big yellow houses on a sprawling property featuring ten solar panels, a dock overlooking a sunlit, trout-filled pond, and porches adorned with rocking chairs. In the smaller of the two houses lives Bina-48, one of the most renowned and highly sought after humanoid robots in America. She (or “it,” depending on your preference) is truly a sight to behold.…

[From TechNewsDaily; more information is available in an article in USA Today] Mars Rover Curiosity Tells Her Story on Twitter by Leslie Meredith, Senior Writer, TechNewsDaily 03 August 2012 “I’m in good health & on course for landing. Countdown to Mars: 3 days!,” said NASA’s Curiosity Rover on Twitter. Okay, so the rover is not really tweeting from space. The voice of Curiosity is the combined effort of three women, led by NASA’s social media manager Veronica McGregor, who told TechNewsDaily that they work as a “hivemind” to communicate on behalf of the rover. All three refer to Curiosity as…