[From The Maine Campus; the VEMI Lab web site is here] [Image: Richard Corey, VEMI Lab Manager, (left) and Timothy McGrath (right) take part in a virtual world in Virtual Environment and Multimodal Integration Lab, located on the third floor of Boardman Hall. Photo by Paul Perkins] Students create virtual realities in campus lab By Rachel Curit Posted on Sunday, September 11th, 2011, 11:10 pm Several University of Maine students are escaping the tedium of school on a regular basis, although classes began only two weeks ago, by plugging in to virtual realities. Unlike students who may avoid the pressures…

[From The New York Times, where the article includes a multimedia feature; information about Audyssey’s latest product, Personal Surround, is available here] [Image: Tyson Yaberg of Audyssey Laboratories listened to an experimental system at the University of Southern California. Audyssey’s goal is to make dens and living rooms sound like concert halls and movie theaters. Photo by David Ahntholz for The New York Times.] Sound, the Way the Brain Prefers to Hear It By GUY GUGLIOTTA Published: September 5, 2011 LOS ANGELES — There is, perhaps, no more uplifting musical experience than hearing the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s “Messiah” performed…

[From Time magazine’s Techland blog, where the post includes additional information; the full Sony press release, which includes the claim that the product will “provide entertainment enthusiasts with a more immersive, engaging visual experience,” is here] Sony Unveils Ultra High-Def 4K Projector: So Long 1080p! By Matt Peckham on September 8, 2011 You’ve finally picked up a monster-sized high-definition 1080p flatscreen for your entertainment center, you’re plowing through your Blu-ray stacks of Lost or Friday Night Lights or Breaking Bad at a crisp, eyeball-thrilling 1920 x 1080 pixels, and then you see this: Sony’s launching a projector that’ll run at 4K,…

[From Wired’s Gadget Lab blog, where the original post includes many additional images; also see the follow-up at Venture Beat here] How Microsoft Researchers Might Invent a Holodeck By Dylan Tweney August 31, 2011 A few hundred yards away, in Hardware Studio B, the rubber gets a little closer to the road. An impressive, multistory curtain of LEDs hangs in the lobby, displaying some sort of interactive art that responds to movement and sounds in the space, while employees enjoy a game of pingpong. The rest of the building is more prosaic, with surplus computers stacked up in the unused…

[From ArtInfo, where the story includes other images and a short video] ART AND TECHNOLOGY How Augmented Reality Is Going Viral in the Art World, From the Omi Sculpture Park to a 9/11 Memorial By Kyle Chayka Published: August 31, 2011 Right under our noses, or perhaps under our fingertips, a new art medium has been springing up. Augmented Reality (AR) refers to smartphone, tablet, and computer applications that mix the real with the digital, using mobile devices’ built-in cameras to take an image of a user’s physical surroundings, and adding in digital graphics or information on the viewing screen…

[From Cardiovascular Business] [Image: A nurse (left) and a paramedic (right) train medical resident Simon Moore (centre) at Nanaimo General Hospital. Photo by Chris Koehn. Source: University of British Columbia.] JAMA: Medical technology simulation training has proven its worth Written by Editorial Staff September 6, 2011; Last updated on September 7, 2011 A new meta-analysis has confirmed the effectiveness of technology-enhanced medical simulation in clinical training—and the study’s lead author, David A. Cook, MD, a medical-education specialist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., suggested in an interview that the time has come to stop proving the obvious. The analysis was…

[A press release from Medibotics via PRNewswire] Next Generation Technology for Full Body Game Controllers Patent approved for Motion Recognition Clothing(TM) MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — Medibotics’ U.S. patent 7,980,141 for Motion Recognition Clothing™ (MRC) has been approved.  MRC is an innovative technology for translating body motion into computer-readable signals that could power the next generation of full-body game controllers.  The market for translating body motion into computer-readable signals is already very large.  For example, over 10 million units of an existing camera-based full-body game controller system have been sold.  With further development, MRC could be used for…

[From The Guardian] [Image: Jamaica’s Usain Bolt wins the men’s 100m final in a world record time in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian] BBC plans to use 3D and ‘super hi-vision’ for London Olympics Executive in charge of 2012 coverage has spoken about the proposed experiment at the Edinburgh televison festival Mark Sweney Sunday 28 August 2011 The BBC is considering plans to broadcast the 100 metres final of the London Olympics in 3D, as well as trying out a new technology that delivers picture quality said to be 16 times better than HDTV. Roger…

[From Military & Aerospace Electronics] SRI International to develop prototype virtual-reality training system for Marine Corps infantry Aug 28, 2011 Posted by John Keller ARLINGTON, Va. – Simulation, training, and mission rehearsal experts at SRI International in Menlo Park, Calif., are designing a prototype virtual-reality training system for the U.S. Marine Corps that is able to insert virtual actors and objects into computer-generated scenes that each trainee views. SRI International will build the virtual reality training system under terms of a $5.4 million contract awarded Friday by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va. The ONR project…

[From Cornell Chronicle] Chatty robots go viral on YouTube By Bill Steele Aug. 31, 2011 An online chat between two robots set up by Cornell students is entertaining the nation. “It was just an afternoon hack,” said Hod Lipson, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. “It went viral in 24 hours and took us completely by surprise.” Lipson asked Ph.D. students Igor Labutov and Jason Yosinski to set up the conversation as a demo for his class on artificial intelligence. They chose a Web-based chatbot (a computer program designed to simulate human conversation) called Cleverbot. Anyone can go to…

[From MIT’s Technology Review, where the story includes several more images] [Image: A still from the 18-screen video May 12th 2011 Rudston to Kilham Road 5 PM. Credit: ©David Hockney] The Mind’s Eye Long preoccupied with technology, David Hockney is exploring a new artistic medium that uses high-definition cameras, screens, software, and moving images to capture the experience of seeing. September/October 2011 By Martin Gayford One of your basic contentions, I say to the British artist David Hockney, is that there is always more to be seen, everywhere, all the time. “Yes,” he replies emphatically. “There’s a lot more to…

[From the web site of Latitude] The Future of Gaming: a Portrait of the New Gamers By Kadley Gosselin August 23, 2011 In the spring of 2011, Latitude Research launched a study to understand the recent explosion in gaming, driven in part by the popularity of mobile phones and tablets. Specifically, the study sought to uncover how the profile of the stereotypical gamer has changed, various motivations for gaming, and the evolving role of games in moving traditionally online experiences into the “offline” world—suggesting new opportunities for game and technology developers, educators, and social innovators. As one study participant noted:…