[From SmartPlanet] World class robot art includes a telepresent ocean By Christie Nicholson | November 2, 2011 We are often followed by cameras as we go about our daily routines, getting cash, buying milk, throwing underwear into laundromat dryers, yet most of us routinely forget this fact. Want to get a more intense feeling of what it’s like to be tracked? Now through to December 18 you have your opportunity to let robots get closer to you at an art installation, Desire of Codes, at the InterCommunication Center in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. The artist Mikami Seiko set up walls covered…

[From The Wall Street Journal; a related article is available in THE Journal] [Image: Students at Monarch High School in Louisville, Colo., watch lessons in 3-D.] Coming Soon To Schools: Dissecting Frogs in 3-D By Michelle Kung September 7, 2011 When Maurio Medley, an eighth-grade math teacher at Ocoee Middle School in central Florida, wants to teach his students how to find the volume of a cylinder, he doesn’t turn to a textbook or chalkboard. Instead, he turns on a 3-D-enabled projector to rotate a virtual Euclidian solid. Schools are trying to keep up with the multiplex, keen to find…

[From The National Post] [Image: The “street lab” recreates the environment outside the hospital. Tyler Anderson / National Post.] Virtual danger: Toronto lab recreates the world — and may revolutionize research Tom Blackwell Nov 16, 2011 It looks like a typical, comfortably furnished one-bedroom condominium, with a few notable exceptions — the apartment has no ceiling, it is surrounded by a catwalk that lets scientists peer down at the occupants and the entire thing is situated in a downtown hospital. “Home lab,” as researchers at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute have dubbed their open-top apartment, is part of an impressive $36-million complex whose…

[From iTnews] Bell Labs builds telepresence ‘robots’ Nethead could reach market in two years. By Liz Tay on Nov 7, 2011   Videoconferencing ‘robots’ in development at Alcatel-Lucent’s research arm, Bell Labs, could give remote workers a more physical presence in office meetings within two years. Researchers are working on a low-cost camera and screen that swivels on a set of robotic shoulders, and sits at a meeting table with physical attendees. Each so-called ‘Nethead’ represents a remote participant, who appears by video on the screen, and can control the direction the robot faces by naturally turning his or her…

[From CNET’s Crave blog; more information, including images and a 1:31 minute video, is available at DigInfo TV] Giant robot cat mask purrfect for pesky mice by Tim Hornyak November 14, 2011 Japanese writer Natsume Soseki, author of the celebrated novel “I Am a Cat,” would have loved this one. Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University’s Ideea Lab have developed a giant furry cat head that mimics the movements of its human wearers. The Neko Kaburu headpiece, aka the AnimatronInterface, consists of an inner mesh mask equipped with sensors that track eyelid, mouth, and muscle movements. These are reproduced in the…

[From scienceline]   [Image: A new existence awaits right inside our computer screens. Credit: Snooze] Virtually everything at stake A video game designer and a scientist explore the undeniable pull of virtual worlds By Kelly Slivka | Posted November 13, 2011 Lee Guzofski loves people, and that’s why he loves virtual reality. By the time I arrived to interview him at a coffee shop near Washington Square Park in Manhattan, he was already on a first-name basis with the baristo Leo, chatting with him like an old friend. “New York City is endlessly fascinating and authentic,” Guzofski told me after…

[From The New York Times’ Lens blog; the post includes a 1:37 minute video]   Immersing Yourself in the Story November 11, 2011 By Michael Kamber Tired of news footage where all you can see is what’s right in front you as the camera rolls down a road in a war-torn landscape? A new iPad app is about to change all that, immersing viewers in a near virtual reality where they can become director and editor. With the Condition One app, which debuts Friday, viewers can get a 180-degree field of view by simply moving the iPad in their hands.…

[From Gizmag; coverage in DigInfo TV includes additional information including many images]   Robotic avatar transmits real-time sensations of remote environment By Pawel Piejko November 8, 2011 Developing true robot surrogates that allow you to be in two places at once means duplicating all of our movements and senses in machine form. Given you can now make a video call on your phone, it’s fair to say we have the sight and sound aspects pretty well covered, but the challenge of adding touch to the equation is formidable. The TELESAR V Robot Avatar shows just how far we’ve come in turning into telepresence into telexistence…

[From The Daily Mail, where the story includes additional images] Virtual changing rooms hit the high street: Debenhams first to trial new technology By Sadie Whitelocks Last updated on 1st November 2011 If clammy changing rooms clogged with rails of clothing and queues of belligerent shoppers drive you mad, the virtual changing room might be the answer. Using your smartphone, iPad or webcam you can try on potential purchases at your leisure, without getting undressed or battling through crowded shops. Known as augmented reality (AR) this cutting-edge technology superimposes outfits over your image, bringing together real and virtual worlds. Now…

[From Wired’s GeekDad blog] Real-Life Holodecks? Microsoft Kinect Augmented Reality Room Is the Closest Thing Yet By Chuck Lawton November 5, 2011 I first saw technology like this at the Microsoft Imagine Cup where student teams hacked the XBox 360 accessory Kinect to do some pretty amazing things. Microsoft’s previously released SDK was showcased at the event with workshops for students to learn how to leverage the platform and every competitor received a free Kinect to further the platform. And while what’s showcased in this [6:00 minute] video is far from a group of students hacking away at a consumer device,…

[From The Vancouver Sun] [Image: A giant steel dome in central Montreal shelters the world’s first ‘immersion theatre’. A 360-degree screen, eight projectors and 157 loudspeakers plunge the spectators completely inside a virtual reality created by modern digital filmmakers. Photograph by: Geraldine Woessner, AFP, Getty Images, Agence France-Presse] Experiencing 3-D without the glasses Satosphere provides 360-degree view of art projections and puts audiences into the action Agence France-Presse November 4, 2011 The audience finds itself inside a giant uterus. Or it flies around cathedral ruins. Or it is transported to a dark, lonely forest. Such are the experiences offered by…

[From BikePortland.org, where the post includes additional images] A look inside Oregon State’s bicycling and driving simulator laboratory Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on October 19th, 2011 A research laboratory at Oregon State University in Corvallis is the first in the nation to integrate an advanced driving simulator with a bicycling simulator. When the two are connected, researchers can collect real-time data on how vehicle operators react in an extremely realistic, three-dimensional roadway environment. Think about that for a minute. Imagine the possibilities of researchers being able to do everything from testing how road users react to each other, how…