[From Co.Design, where the post includes additional images] A Mirrored Installation Lets You Crawl Up Walls Like Spider-Man “Bâtiment (Building)” uses simple mirrors instead of digital trickery to create a vertigo-inducing illusion. By John Pavlus Augmented reality! Kinect hacks! Enormous video projections! We’ve seen all kinds of wacky digital ways of making immersive, arty illusions. Here’s what we love about Bâtiment (Building) by Leandro Erlich: It just uses mirrors. To do what? How about float in midair, scale a building like Spider-Man, or defy gravity like someone in an Escher drawing (or David Bowie in Labyrinth).…

[Excerpts from an article in GQ; an audio interview with the author is available from NPR] [Image: Ari Hollander/Hunter Hoffman] Burning Man On his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, Sam Brown was set on fire by an improvised explosive device. He survived, only to find himself, like thousands of other vets, doomed to a post-traumatic life of unbearable pain. Even hallucinogen-grade drugs offered little relief, and little hope. Then his doctors told him about an experimental treatment, a painkilling video game supposedly more effective than morphine. If successful, it would deliver Brown from his living hell into a strange…

[From The Huffington Post] Petros Vrellis Makes Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ Interactive Posted: 02/10/2012 4:08 pm Imagine being Vincent Van Gogh. Imagine giving form to “Starry Night” with your hands. With the help of Petros Vrellis, playing the artist instead of the observer is now possible. The Greek artist created an interactive template of “Starry Night” — through the use of open source C++ toolkit openFrameworks, Vrellis made a touch interface that allows the viewer to repaint the piece of art.…

[From Geek-O-System via Telepresence Options;  a 4:55 minute video is available here] Man Plays With Dog From Work With Robotic Surrogate by Max Eddy | February 11th, 2012 Jordan Correa and his wife had a problem. Because they both worked full-time jobs, they weren’t able to spend time at home during the day with their new dog Darwin. Instead of painfully readjusting their lives, Correa did what any man with training in robotics and engineering would do: He built a telepresence robot surrogate that he could control from work to play with his dog. You know, the obvious solution.…

[From The Hindu] With the heart in your mouth Shilpa Nair Anand Kochi, February 1, 2012 A snake hissing in the face, feeling its breath on the back of the neck and wondering if it IS a snake near the feet…it is the ultimate ‘6D’ experience at the recently opened ‘Sixth Sense’ digital studio at Abad Nucleus Mall. It is an entirely different movie viewing experience. It is a heady mix for the senses. Twenty-four seats, 3D glasses, phones on mute, handbags on the aisle…why handbags? “It is safer,” says an attendant. Safer? Prudence questions, ‘this is just some short…

[From Wired’s Underwire blog, which includes videos and additional images] [Image: Keiichi Matsuda’s video “Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop” shows off his sci-fi view of the future] Sci-Fi-Infused Videos Show Off Keiichi Matsuda’s Vision of the Future By Matt Fisher January 19, 2012 We are living in the future — Keiichi Matsuda knows that. Working from London and Tokyo, the 27-year-old designer and filmmaker creates innovative videos that blend architecture, virtual reality, social networking and sci-fi, offering a glimpse into how augmented reality could play out in the coming years. His two most recognized films, “Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop” and “Augmented…

[From PC Magazine] Apple Patent Reveals Plans for 3D on Steroids By Damon Poeter February 10, 2012 Apple has filed a patent application for a 3D eye-tracking graphical user interface (GUI) for personal electronic devices like the iPhone and iPad. The application, published Friday by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, describes technology that could be incorporated in the company’s iOS mobile operating system for use with gaming, photography, video, biometrics, and surveillance applications, according to the Patently Apple blog, which spotted the filing. Apple’s proposed technology essentially uses various techniques to combine aspects of current 3D simulation for handheld…

[From Wired’s Danger Room blog; a 5:16 minute video from the Royal Society is available here] Neuroscientists to Top Brass: Mess With Minds… Carefully By Katie Scott, Wired.co.uk February 7, 2012 A working group led by the Royal Society has warned the scientific community and the Government to tread carefully when entering the ethical minefield that is the use of neuroscience. A report published today by the Royal Society tackles the divisive issue of the potential uses of neuroscience research by the military or security forces — whether to improve the performance of our troops, to “diminish” the performance of…

[From The Philadelphia Inquirer] On Movies: ‘Pina’ melds dance with 3-D – and her death February 05, 2012 | By Steven Rea, Inquirer Columnist Wim Wenders was two weeks away from the start date for his new film when his star – Philippina “Pina” Bausch, the German choreographer – died. She had cancer, and had been diagnosed only five days earlier. “We had been talking about making this together for almost 20 years,” says Wenders, who had finally figured out how to go about doing his documentary – in 3-D – when Bausch died. “We were so happy that after…

[From The Atlantic; note: ISPR is non-partisan] [Image from Down With Tyranny] The Uncanny Valley: What Robot Theory Tells Us About Mitt Romney The GOP front-runner looks just enough like the perfect picture of an American president to make us uncomfortable. By Brian Fung Jan 31 2012 Mitt Romney is the storybook presidential candidate. He’s successful, good-looking and a family man, to boot. Yet one of this political season’s enduring puzzles has been the former governor’s consistent inability to bond with voters. It’s been suggested that Romney’s robotic persona may be to blame — and perhaps the analogy isn’t far…

[From TekGoblin] Kinect-Powered Amusement Park Will Blow Your Mind Analysis by Nic Halverson Mon Feb 6, 2012 Has playing video games on your couch lost its luster? Ever wish you could fully immerse yourself in an interactive world of virtual reality? If so, you might want to keep an eye on ticket prices to South Korea. “Live Park 4D Art Factory” is a new amusement park/virtual museum that recently opened in Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. The 10,000-square-foot space includes 65 attractions, several interactive displays and art installation.…

[From TekGoblin; more information is available from Corning] Corning’s Second Day of Glass By: Andy Mercer | February 5, 2012 Nearly a year ago, Corning (maker of Gorilla Glass), released a video encapsulating it’s vision of the future. It’s since gotten 17 million views on youtube, and started numerous discussions and responses. In the video, Corning predicted large scale desktop touchscreen displays, bigger video screens, and dynamic billboards. And while much of the video is still in the future, the OLED TV’s shown by LG at this year’s CES do seem to bring the video to life. Despite the fact…