[From Scientific American’s Assignment: Impossible blog, where the post includes additional images and a video] A Modest Proposal: Virtual Keyboards via Kinect Eyeglasses By Charles Q. Choi | October 28, 2011 In the series “A Modest Proposal,” my colleagues and I will propose inventions and projects that I think are eminently doable and would love made real. I love my iPad. I scan vast amounts of information daily for work and play, and tablet computers are ideal for displaying it. But tablets and mobile devices in general have a key weakness — as much as they help people consume information,…

[From MIT’s Technology Review] Biomedicine The Virtual Nurse Will See You Now In the hectic world of a hospital, a computer-simulated nurse can be surprisingly comforting. Tuesday, November 1, 2011 By Emily Singer Researchers at Northeastern University have developed a virtual nurse and exercise coach that are surprisingly likable and effective—even if they’re not quite as affable as the medical hologram on Star Trek. In fact, patients who interacted with a virtual nurse named Elizabeth said they preferred the computer simulation to an actual doctor or nurse because they didn’t feel rushed or talked down to. A recent clinical trial…

[From Technabob; a 0:50 minute video is available here along with additional details] Last-Minute Costume Idea: Cut a Hole in Your Torso with Two iPad 2s October 30th, 2011 by: Technabob If you still don’t have a Halloween costume, you’re probably left to the dregs of the random ill-fitting Scooby Doo and Teletubbies costumes at your local Wal-Mart. But if you and a buddy can spare your iPad 2s for the night, you could end up being the life of the party. By taking a pair of iPad 2s and strapping them to his chest and back using duct tape, Technabob…

[From The Huffington Post] Microsoft Shows Off 3D Concept ‘HoloDesk’ (VIDEO) The Huffington Post  Jason O. Gilbert Updated: 10/20/11 Hang on to your perceptions of reality: Microsoft just released a video of a 3D ‘HoloDesk,’ a radical system that allows users to seemingly manipulate 3D objects like balls and cubes with their hands. Check out the [4:15 minute] video to see what this means. Per the video description from the MicrosoftResearch YouTube channel: HoloDesk is a novel interactive system combining an optical see through display and Kinect camera to create the illusion that users are directly interacting with 3D graphics.…

[From Zee News; the Echoes web site is here] Virtual worlds help autistic kids develop social skills Last Updated: Saturday, October 22, 2011 Washington: A new study has suggested that the benefits of virtual worlds can be used to help autistic children develop social skills beyond their anticipated levels. Researchers on the Echoes Project have developed an interactive environment which uses multi-touch screen technology where virtual characters on the screener act to children’s actions in real time. During sessions in the virtual environment, primary school children experiment with different social scenarios, allowing the researchers to compare their reactions with those…

[A press release from The International Telecommunication Union] Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) nearing reality ITU experts create enhanced television viewing experience Geneva, 14 October 2011 – Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) took an important step towards becoming reality when experts reached agreement on most of the pertinent technical characteristics of this exciting new standard for television. UHDTV marks a leap forward beyond the current standards for High Definition Television (HDTV). The experts, which include scientists and engineers from around the world, have been working together for several years in the ITU Study Group on Broadcasting Service (ITU-R Study Group…

[From Ars Technica] Microsoft researchers want to turn your hand into a touchscreen By Jon Brodkin | Published October 19, 2011 Multitouch screens are so versatile and easy to use, why limit them to smartphones and tablets? Researchers have been working for several years to extend multitouch to arbitrary surfaces, but a project called OmniTouch from Microsoft Research and a PhD student at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University may bring it closer to reality. OmniTouch turns body parts and nearby surfaces into touch interfaces. Users can read and reply to an e-mail by touching their hands or…

[From The Daily Mail, where the story features many additional images; more information including a 2:28 minute video is available at PhysOrg.com] [Image: A new generation: Geert Matthys, research and development manager at Barco, demonstrates the 360 degree view of the simulator] The ultimate in virtual reality: New simulator which gives fighter pilots a 360-degree view of the world By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated 17th October 2011 A Belgian company has unveiled the ultimate fighter jet training tool: a fully immersive 360-degree flight simulator designed to reproduce reality exactly as a pilot sees it. The dome is the first…

[From the FedLine blog of Federal Times; more information is available at the GSA’s telepresence web site here] GSA virtual meeting centers open to agencies October 14th, 2011 | Posted by Nicole Johnson The General Services Administration’s 15 virtual meetings centers are finally open for business after months of delays. In the face of shrinking travel budgets, GSA is encouraging agencies to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions by meeting virtually. The telepresence centers, which opened earlier this month, cost $399 per hour per location, comparable to the price of public telepresence rooms. Public meeting rooms usually cost between $400 and…

[From The Daily Mail, where the story includes many additional images] Pencil vs reality… where do you draw the line? The incredible optical illusions created by artist By Kerry Mcqueeney Last updated 26th September 2011 You have often heard about art imitating life, but an artist has taken the saying to a whole new level with an incredible collection of drawings that reveal a masterful eye for illusion. Reality meets fantasy in this amazing series of drawings which are to be exhibited at art shows in London next month. Using expertly-drawn sketches, Belgian artist Ben Heine blends pencil, photography, imagination and…

[From ScienceDaily; the article in PLoS ONE is here] Talk to the Virtual Hands: Body Language of Both Speaker and Listener Affects Success in Virtual Reality Communication Game ScienceDaily (Oct. 13, 2011) — Modern technology allows us to communicate in more ways than ever before, but this virtual communication usually lacks the body gestures so common in face-to-face interactions. New research, published Oct. 12 in the online journal PLoS ONE, finds that the lack of gestural information from both speaker and listener limits successful communication in virtual environments.…

[A press release from Nanyang Technological University] [Image: A robotic avatar with mobile video conferencing capabilities developed by NTU researchers. Photo by Ernest Chua] Enter the virtual world of avatars, dolphins and fashionistas at NTU NTU’s centre of new media research showcases discoveries that can be applied to improve everyday life Published on : 11-Oct-2011 In a room resembling an IMAX theatrette on Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) campus lies a new virtual world with practical applications that the public can immerse in and interact with – and go wow! Called the Immersive Room, it is the latest star attraction at…