[From Wired’s Underwire blog, where the story includes more images and a 0:53 minute video; a second video is available here] 360-Degree Panorama Takes You Inside Prague’s Off-Limits Baroque Library By Evan Rail March 29, 2011 PRAGUE – On a brisk but beautiful February afternoon, Jeffrey Martin and his robotic camera stand inside one of the Czech capital’s most gawk-worthy attractions: the gloriously decorated Philosophical Hall, a Baroque reading room in the city’s 868-year-old Strahov monastery library. Though he’s a photographer, the 34-year-old Martin doesn’t seem to notice the rare books, ornate marquetry or heroic statues in the recently restored…

[From newStaar Media; more information, including pictures and videos, is available here] Telepresence Creates an Interactive Experience for Television Viewers By D Robert Curry March 28, 2011 As part of their annual Expedition Week on television, the National Geographic Channel announced the launch of “Mission Expedition.” Using telepresence, the internet, and a highly detailed miniaturization of places in the world, the expedition is designed to engage viewers in an immersive interactive experience and scavenger hunt. Viewers can log on to www.natgeotv.com/ expedition from March 28th to April 9th to take part in the virtual expedition. Via the internet, viewers will…

[From The Hindu] Berlin, March 30, 2011 The driving experience of the future, a blend of real and virtual In the world envisioned by conceptual architect Juergen Mayer H, driving a car is a blend of digital, virtual and conventional reality. Imagine the year is 2030 and you are driving through a virtual city named Pokeville in a free car, which you accessed from a pool. You are showing a visitor around and, in a bid to impress the person, you have decided to ban the ugly buildings, rubbish heaps and ghettos from the tour. No problem: Just press the…

[From Fast Company’s Co.Design] Condition ONE App Makes War Reporting Immersive and Scary [Video] War correspondent Danfung Dennis wants his DSLR-powered newsgathering technology to change the visual language of video journalism John Pavlus Posted March 28, 2011 DSLRs can make gorgeously cinematic images out of just about anything you stick in front of them — including war, death, and destruction. (Somehow, Hollywood-style tracking shots don’t seem an appropriate way to cover post-earthquake Japan.) Award-winning war correspondent/DSLR videographer Danfung Dennis thinks the visual language of conflict photojournalism is “dying” — and with an interactive system called Condition ONE, he’s trying to…

[From The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW); a 1:02 minute video is available here] Fruit Ninja live, bring your overcoat by Dana Franklin (RSS feed) on Mar 28th 2011 Your virtual overcoat, that is. Students in a virtual reality workshop at the FH Wedel University of Applied Sciences cloned Fruit Ninja, the best-selling game for smartphones and tablets, in 3D using the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). The result is a life-size, fully immersive fruit slicing experience that transforms the casual game into a serious workout where players slay seedy sprouts with their (almost) bare hands.…

[From DigInfo.TV, where the story includes additional pictures and a 1:41 minute video] Paranga Adding Tactile Feedback to E-Reader Devices 23 March 2011 At Interaction 2011, a research group with members from Osaka University demonstrated the Paranga, a device which recreates the sensation of turning pages when using an e-book reader. “E-books are becoming popular, but the only feedback they give you is pictures and sound. For example, if you want to skip ahead several pages in an e-book, you scroll with your finger to the desired position. But the problem is, that’s not very intuitive. The advantage of this…

[From The Guardian’s Film blog] 3D technology has even sceptical directors embracing another dimension From Herzog to Coppola, big names are filming stereoscopically – and the technique’s full potential is still to be revealed Posted by Ben Walters Thursday 17 March 2011 guardian.co.uk Six years ago, 3D cinema seemed about as likely a candidate for a revival as Odorama. Today it owns the multiplex. After swiftly dominating CG animated features, it gained toe-holds in horror, action and concert films, achieving inarguable momentum even before the success of Avatar. Now – objectionable as it might be to refuseniks such as Walter…

[From DigInfo TV, where the story includes additional pictures and a 1:35 minute video] 3D Multi-Viewpoint Fog Projection Display 17 March 2011 At Interaction 2011, a research group from Osaka University exhibited a fog display that enables multi-viewpoint observation. “Ordinary fog displays use a single projector with fog on a flat surface, but this display uses three projectors, each showing a different picture. So when the observer moves around the fog, they get a three-dimensional view.” This system utilizes the fact that dispersion of light by fog has directionality. It projects different pictures, from different angles, onto a cylindrical fog…

[From the IEEE Spectrum blog Automaton; a 2:26 minute video is available here] BrainDriver: A Mind Controlled Car POSTED BY: Markus Waibel  /  Thu, February 17, 2011 Imagine you could drive your car using only your thoughts. German researchers have just made that possible — and they have the video to prove it. Following his recent interview on the Robots Podcast about autonomous vehicles, Raúl Rojas, an AI professor at the Freie Universität Berlin, and his team have demonstrated how a driver can use a brain interface to steer a vehicle. …

[From Parsippany New Jersey’s Daily Record] [Image: Staff Sgt. Joshua Johnson controls a virtual bomb-disarming robot using patented software developed at Picatinny Arsenal. Looking on is Staff Sgt. Christopher Duff at the Sgt. Ryan E. Doltz Software Engineering Center.  Staff Photos: Bob Karp] Virtual robot controller preparation for reality Picatinny engineer’s software incorporated into video game By Abbott Koloff Mar 20, 2011 Because bomb-disarming robots cost about $140,000 apiece, Bernard Reger’s superiors asked him to design a virtual training system that does not require using robots that might get blown up during an exercise or fall off a cliff. The Army already…

[From the web site of BBC Radio 4’s Today program, where the story includes images and a 0:36 minute audio clip; more information and a 4:08 minute video are available here] Musical sweet spot for 3D sound An enhanced way of creating 3D sound using computer software is attracting interest from the TV industry and Hollywood. By Matt Wells Today programme 19 March 2011 I am standing in a foam-clad chamber with my eyes closed, listening to the sound of scissors dancing around my head. All that is missing from a real visit to the barber is the feel of…

[From Northwestern University’s Medill Reports, where the story includes a 1:31 minute video; see also the web site of The Electronic Visualization Lab and Lab’s materials on YouTube] [Image: Dan Sandin, co-founder of the Electronic Visualization Lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is a pioneer in electronic visualization and virtual reality. Annie Koval/MEDILL] Visualization pioneer creates virtual worlds by Annie Koval March 16, 2011 Left-brained or right-brained. Dan Sandin leaves such differences in the dust. He’s both technical and creative. A computer science wiz and an artist. A logical and abstract thinker. Sandin, 68, is a pioneer in…