[From The Daily News of Newburyport, Massachusetts; more about the UMass Lowell SLICE program is available here and the detailed proposal for the sensory room is in a Word file here] A sense of reality New projects bring beach, ballpark to those with disabilities By Bruno Matarazzo Jr., Staff writer May 21, 2012 AMESBURY — The noise inside Coastal Connections’ Lower Millyard facility can be loud at times with all the activities happening at once. The open space at the nonprofit school in Amesbury bustles with energy as students with an array of disabilities work together with staff on different…

[From The Hollywood Reporter, where the story includes additional images and links to related stories] Peter Jackson Responds to ‘Hobbit’ Footage Critics, Explains 48-Frames Strategy Because the film clips shown at Cinemacon were not finished, he adds, “People haven’t experienced it yet in the way it should be experienced.” 4/28/2012 by Carolyn Giardina Shrugging off the mixed reaction that greeted ten minutes of unfinished footage from The Hobbit, which screened earlier this week at the Cinemacon exhibitors convention in Las Vegas, director Peter Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter, “It wasn’t particularly surprising because it is something new.” The Oscar-winning director…

[From DigitalAnalog; a 2:07 minute video is available here and more information is available from Mumbrella] Lynx Anarchy Promoted with ‘Invisible’ Videos May 9, 2012 Lynx, also known as Axe in many countries, comes up with campaigns that are risky and innovative. It’s hard to ignore them because of their sex appeal and the creative way in which the campaigns are executed. The campaign for Lynx Anarchy scored in both categories. ‘Invisible’ videos were used in Sydney to promote the brand. The windows of a building in Sydney were replaced with LCD screens. The visuals projected on these LCD screens were…

[From Design TAXI, where the story includes additional images a 3:51 minute video] Japanese Developer Creates Robotic Butt That Expresses Emotions 16 May 2012 Tokyo-based interactive developer Nobuhiro Takahashi has created a robotic butt that represents emotions in the form of visual and tactile responses. Called ‘SHIRI’, the human-like robotic butt expresses various emotions through organic movements of artificial muscles. SHIRI can twitch, protrude, and be tense—as reactions to a user’s touch, stroke, or slap.…

[From DigInfo TV, where the story includes many more images and a 3:39 minute video] Cocorobo intelligent vacuum cleaner robot communicates with its owner 8 May 2012 Sharp has developed a vacuum cleaning robot called Cocorobo, which uses the Cocoro Engine artificial intelligence capability. This product is the first in a planned series of robot appliances which can communicate with people. Cocorobo features a speech recognition engine developed by Raytron, so it can be controlled by voice, as well as using its buttons or the remote control. It has also been given the ability to say simple greetings, with the…

[From Fast Co.CREATE] Make Any Web Page 3-D With 3-D It! Developer Edan Kwan created a program that, when bookmarked, uses CSS to convert any website to glorious 3-D. Glasses optional. By Joe Berkowitz May 9, 2012 It started as a fun little experiment, in three dimensions. Edan Kwan, a developer at New York-based digital agency, Firstborn, had the thought that others might share his fascination with what websites would look like with a 3-D makeover. Lo and behold, pretty soon he’d created a program that uses CSS to do just that, turning 3-D into a verb in the process.…

[From Wired’s Gadget Lab blog; see also the related story at GigaOM] Beyond Smart TV: ‘Surfaces’ Prototype Reveals the Television of Tomorrow By Christina Bonnington May 8, 2012 We’ve seen the future of television, and we want it now. NDS, a company that develops DRM security and DVR technology for pay-TV providers like Cox and DirecTV, has developed a proof-of-concept called Surfaces that shows how television could become the center of a much more compelling, immersive living room experience. The prototype jettisons the single, static screen that’s been a hardware mainstay since the golden age of television. In its place…

[From Gintime; more information about the first film to be featured is available here] This Sunday Bombay Sapphire Presents the Edible Cinema Posted on May 11, 2012 Wow! we’ve had Secret Cinema, scratch and sniff cinema, film scores re-imagined by DJs and musicians. But as yet, no-one has truly enhanced a cinematic experience with food… until now! On Sunday 13 May, the Electric Cinema in Portobello Road and Bombay Sapphire Gin are proud to present ‘Edible Cinema’; a collaboration between the team at Soho House, renowned experience organiser Polly Betton, experimental food designer Andrew Stellitano and Bombay Sapphire’s brand ambassador…

[From CNET, where the story includes a 1:15 minute video] [Image: A new look combining the depth camera of Kinect gaming console and a video from a digital SLR. Credit: Screen capture by Martin LaMonica/CNET] ‘Point cloud portraits’ bring ghostly 3D images to movies by Martin LaMonica May 2, 201 Carnegie Mellon University’s Studio for Creative Inquiry creates distinctive 3D video effect by hacking together the depth camera of the Kinect gaming console with video from digital SLRs. In yet another example of the amazing things possible with the Kinect gaming console, filmmakers have combined the depth camera of Kinect…

[From Fast Co.CREATE] Assemble a Holographic GE Jet Engine—No Engineering Experience Required As part of Creative Week, agency BBDO New York has collaborated with special FX, sound, and gaming technology companies to create Throttle Up, an immersive experience that lets you see, hear, and feel what it’s like to build and launch a GE jet engine. By: KC Ifeanyi May 8, 2012 The same holographic technology that’s sending departed music stars on tour is allowing civilians to assemble a jet engine in Dumbo. GE’s expansive array of innovative technologies have made the company a pioneer across numerous sectors of everyday…

[From MIT’s Technology Review; a 2:45 minute video is available here] [Image: Sound waving: SoundWave uses the Doppler effect and the microphone and speakers in your computer to sense and interpret gestures. Microsoft Research.] Gesture Control System Uses Sound Alone SoundWave lets an ordinary laptop function like a Kinect sensor. Monday, May 7, 2012 By Rachel Metz When you learned about the Doppler Effect in high school physics class—the wave frequency shift that occurs when the source of the wave is moving, easily illustrated by a passing ambulance—you probably didn’t envision it helping control your computer one day. But that’s…

[From Capital Public Radio, where the story includes audio and a 4:33 minute video] Virtual Reality Sheds Light on Learning with Autism UC Davis is using virtual reality to learn how autistic adolescents manage to think, talk and interact at the same time. They hope the study will help the estimated 740,000 autistic kids in public schools get more from the classroom. By Pauline Bartolone (Sacramento, CA) Monday, April 30, 2012 Sixteen year-old Matthew Nystrom describes himself as someone who likes to learn everything he can about the world. “My personal passion is animals, the natural world and how our……