[From NBC News’ Cosmic Blog, where the post includes additional images] [Image: NASA / GSFC. An artist’s concept shows how a crew aboard an orbiting station could control robotic operations on Mars, ranging from real-time rover trips to rocket launches bringing shipments to the station.] Is there a virtual Mars in our future? By Alan Boyle Follow @b0yle August 1, 2012 Imagine a day when virtual reality gets so good that you could take a computer-generated walk on the Martian surface, right here on Earth. Or imagine having a space station in Martian orbit that can control robots down on…

[From AP via The Huffington Post, where the story includes a photo gallery] Artist Brings 3-D Pavement Art To Grand Canyon By Felicia Fonseca  07/16/12 FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Uninspired by modern art, Kurt Wenner set out to learn how European masters made architecture soar and figures float in ceiling frescoes. What started off as two-dimensional chalk and pastel art on the streets of Rome decades ago, mimicking what Wenner saw in Renaissance classicism, morphed into an art form of his own – one that makes objects appear to rise from or fall into the ground in three-dimensional pieces. His latest…

[From FierceHealthIT] [Image: From Telementoring and Telesurgery: Future or Fiction? by da Silva, McGregor, Rayman and Luke (2010).] Pittsburgh specialists mentor international surgeons remotely Telepresence technology allows them to walk colleagues through new procedures July 30, 2012 | By Susan D. Hall A University of Pittsburgh Medical Center uses telepresence technology to provide live support for surgeons in other countries who have difficulty replicating complex new procedures. Since 2005, its cranial base surgical team of three neurosurgeons and two otolaryngologists have trained more than 500 surgeons from more than 30 countries on treatment tumors and other conditions affecting the base…

[From The University of Barcelona] Using virtual reality an arm up to three or even four times the length of a real arm can be felt as if it was the person’s own arm July 20, 2012 Recerca A study shows that using virtual reality an arm up to three or possibly even four times the length of a person’s real arm can be felt as if it was the person’s own arm, even if it incorporates strong asymmetries in the body shape. It is explained in the article “Extending body space in immersive virtual reality: a very long arm…

[From IEEE Spectrum; for more information, see Canon’s press release] [Image: Reality Mixed: The author checks out a computer generated car through Canon’s mixed reality system. Photo: John Boyd] Trying Out Canon’s Mixed-Reality Tech Meant for design work, it goes well beyond consumer-oriented augmented reality By John Boyd 26 July 2012—Canon begins selling a next-generation form of virtual reality technology known as mixed reality (MR) this month. The company suggests its version of MR is an enhanced, more grown-up version of the augmented reality provided by some smartphone apps and things like Google’s Project Glass. In contrast to augmented reality,…

[From DesignTAXI, where the story includes additional images and a 1:26 minute video] Virtual Shoe Stores Use Augmented Reality To Find Your Perfect Footwear 25 Jul 2012 To reach out to more consumers, German shoe retailer, Goertz, has gone virtual with their augmented reality ‘pop-up’ shoe stores. They installed virtual stores at crowded public places such as train stations and invited customers to ‘try on’ a pair of shoes. Using three Microsoft Kinect cameras and a large screen, they would scan and render 3D shoes onto the customer’s feet—allowing customers to see the shoes like they were actually wearing them.…

[From Wired;  more information is available at Patently Apple] [Image: An illustration showing a combined system using target tracking and a touchscreen. Image: Free Patents Online.] Apple Granted Patent for High-Concept Input Techniques By Christina Bonnington July 24, 2012 Apple was granted a sweeping, multipronged patent today by the United States Patent and Trademark Office — but you may need a degree in theoretical physics to divine exactly which technologies the patent is protecting. The patent, “Method for providing human input to a computer,” addresses both new and existing ways we interact with touchscreen devices, and covers everything from computer…

[From Eurogamer.net, where the story includes a 2:08 minute video] Project Holodeck aims to make Star Trek gaming a reality Uses Oculus Rift, PlayStation Move and the Razer Hyrdra By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 23 July, 2012 A team at the University of Southern California is trying to make the Holodeck from Star Trek a virtual reality. Project Holodeck aims to create full 360 degree, full body virtual reality in an accessible consumer gaming platform. It fuses head tracking, body tracking and button inputs with vehicular locomotion and in-place locomotion (jogging on the spot to run). This, the team said, means…

[From MIT News, where the story includes a 3:23 minute video] [Image: A new glasses-free 3-D video system uses three layered LCD panels displaying bizarre patterns (first three images) that collectively produce a coherent, high-resolution, multiperspective 3-D image. The bottom-right image illustrates, roughly, the composite image that would reach one eye at one viewing angle. Images courtesy of the Camera Culture group.] Glasses-free 3-D TV looks nearer A new method for producing multiple-perspective 3-D images could prove more practical in the short term than holography. Larry Hardesty, MIT News Office July 12, 2012 As striking as it is, the illusion…

[From MIT’s Technology Review, where the story includes an additional image] The Avatar Economy Are remote workers the brains inside tomorrow’s robots? Matt Beane Wednesday, July 18, 2012 In our economy, many of the jobs most resistant to automation are those with the least economic value. Just consider the diversity of tasks, unpredictable terrains, and specialized tools that a landscaper confronts in a single day. No robot is intelligent enough to perform this $8-an-hour work. But what about a robot remotely controlled by a low-wage foreign worker? Hollywood has been imagining the technologies we would need. Jake Sully, the wheelchair-bound…

[From MIT’s Technology Review] Siri’s New Cousin Works as a Bank Teller Spanish bank BBVA taps the team that invented the iPhone assistant to build technology that can converse with bank customers. Tom Simonite Friday, July 13, 2012 The research group that invented Siri, the virtual assistant built into Apple’s iPhone, has built her a smarter relative that could help banks cut staffing costs. Known as Lola, the new assistant can carry on more complex conversations than Siri and help with tasks that involve multiple back-and-forth steps with customers, such as opening a bank account. Lola is going to be…

[From io9; for more on this topic see this article (pdf) in PsychNology Journal] Choosing the virtual reality experience that’s right for you George Dvorsky Jul 11, 2012 We’re still several decades away from developing completely immersive computer simulations, but it’s not too early to dream about the ways we’ll be able to use them. Today we’re exploring the tremendous potential with new gadgets like Glass, Google’s computer glasses. But that’s just the beginning. So, in preparation, given all the different options soon to be available, what kind of virtual reality experience will you choose? Will it be a partial soft…