[From The Future of Things] Electronic Fingertips to Allow Virtual Sensations Monday, October 22, 2012 – Iddo Genuth Researchers created an artificial second skin which includes flexible sensors and circuits that can be put on fingertips and artificially create touch and texture using electrical stimulation opening the door to super thin virtual reality gloves and a host of other applications.…

[From CNN, where the post includes additional infographics and related links] Smartphone of the future will be in your brain By Stewart Scott-Curran and Tim Lampe, Special to CNN Mon October 8, 2012 Editor’s note: Stewart Scott-Curran is an art director and Tim Lampe is a graphic designer at CNN.com. (CNN) — In the past 10 years we’ve seen cell phones transform into electronic Swiss army knives with a wild variety of functions and features. They are replacing the watch, the camera, the standalone GPS, the alarm clock, and many other tools. But what will the smartphones of the future…

[From the Road to Virtual Reality blog] WizDish Could Be the First Virtual Reality Locomotion Device Suitable for Your Living Room Posted on 10 October 2012 By Ben Lang After head mounted displays, one of the obvious next steps for virtual reality immersion is to find a way to physically walk around a VR environment without walking into objects in the real world. A myriad of solutions (falling under the category of ‘locomotion device’ ) have been put forth. Take, for instance, omni-directional treadmills (ODT); the majority of which are big, expensive, and impractical for home use. The first person…

[From Discovery News, where the story includes a 1:46 minute video] Stoneage Artists Created Prehistoric Movies Analysis by Rossella Lorenzi Jun 8, 2012 Stone Age artists used cartoon-like techniques to give the impression that wild beasts were trotting or running across cave walls, a new study has suggested. Reporting in  the June issue of Antiquity, archaeologist Marc Azéma of the University of Toulouse–Le Mirail in France and independent French artist Florent Rivère argued that by about 30,000 years ago Paleolithic artists used “animation effects” in their paintings. To render the movement, they deconstructed it in successive images. According to the…

[From The Independent Florida Alligator; more information and a 4:17 minute video is available on YouTube] UF class lets students connect Posted: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 Michael Scott Davidson, Alligator Writer Angelos Barmpoutis doesn’t want distance to keep students from sharing a classroom. That’s why the UF Digital Worlds Institute research and technology coordinator is developing the Virtual Distance Learning Classroom, a digital system that will allow students to congregate online in virtual reality classrooms from the comfort of their couches. Unveiled in November at SC11, a supercomputing conference in Seattle, the system creates 3-D avatars using the infrared depth…

[From BBC News; a 2:13 minute video is available here; much more information is available at the Random International site] Exhibition gives visitors power to control the rain By Sabrina Sweeney Entertainment reporter, BBC News 4 October 2012 Most of us have been caught in a torrential downpour and wished we could make it stop, but how would it feel to have the power to control the weather? Rain Room, a new 3D exhibition at London’s Barbican Centre marries art, science and technology to do just that. Despite standing in a space filled with drops of falling water, visitors remain…

[From Campus Technology] [Image: From “4 Ways to Use Video Conferencing Technology in the Classroom,” available at SecurEdge Network] Maximizing the Instructional Impact of Videoconferencing The spread of cheap and powerful videoconferencing tools had led to widespread adoption of the technology in an effort to lower costs and put resources to better use. But Education Consultant and Executive Director of Academic Programs and Faculty at Daymar Colleges Group Ruth Reynard argues that it can improve teaching and learning as well. By Ruth Reynard 10/04/12 As videoconferencing technology has improved and become ubiquitous, the financial and technological barriers to using it…

For a change of pace today, links to three short videos that relate in at least a peripheral way to presence: 1. Aimee Mann’s video for “Charmer” (4:06) featuring actress Laura Linney as a robot doppelganger (for more see NPR’s All Songs Considered blog). 2. Actress Kristin Bell featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live in a mock ad for MoMi on the iPhone 5 (2:10). 3. The well-known Simpsons theme recreated with ‘real life’ actors (1:00).…

[From The Guardian’s Architecture and Design blog] Like-A-Hug? The Facebook vest that gives you a hug from your friends MIT students have designed a ‘wearable social media vest’ that translates every virtual Facebook ‘like’ into a real hug Posted by Oliver Wainwright 9 October 2012 Ever wanted more from your social media? Is all that clicking and typing not quite hitting the spot? When the momentary excitement from that vibrating alert in your pocket fades, are you left empty, hollow, wanting more? No, probably not. But if you did, then fret no longer, because some crafty MIT students have developed…

[From Ben Lang’s Road to Virtual Reality blog] YEI Creates First Person Virtual Reality Demo With Full Body Tracking in Unreal Engine Posted on 07 October 2012 By Ben Lang The ultimate goal of virtual reality gaming is to convince players that they are actually the inhabitants of another world. A number of components are needed to make this a reality. While head mounted displays like the Oculus Rift bring us one step closer to feeling like we’re inside another world, there are yet more pieces to the puzzle; being able to naturally control the player-character — also referred to as body…

[Halloween approaches! From The Daily Mail, where the article includes many more pictures; more information and a 2:52 minute video is available on the artist’s blog] Invasion of the giant spiders – Seattle ‘under attack’ from creatures painted on to buildings By Kerry Mcqueeney 14 September 2012 It’s the stuff of nightmares for arachnophobes: Giant eight-legged creatures, crawling over the rooftop of a building, seemingly waiting to pounce on their next victim. But this is no arachnid invasion. It’s an optical illusion so realistic it’s enough to make the bravest soul’s skin crawl. These images painted on top of a…

[From The WCF Courier, where the story includes images] After-school program exposes local students to virtual reality October 7, 2012 By Emily Christensen CEDAR FALLS — The teeth of a John Deere combine poke out into a dark theater. Students raise their arms and try to touch the behemoth as it floats what seems like inches from their faces. But their efforts are futile. Their hands can’t grasp the 3-D image on the screen in front of them. But their imaginations can. Nearly 50 Cedar Falls elementary and junior high students recently traveled to Iowa State University in Ames to…