[From Big Think’s Hybrid Reality blog] Can Hollywood Redesign Humanity Parag and Ayesha Khanna on August 29, 2010 Most people do not come to Hollywood for deep conversation, but as we explained with respect to “serious games,” the entertainment universe is producing an impressive array of products that can educate youth to think more constructively about real-world problems through experimenting with solutions in online environments. There is also a new breed of film-makers who are advancing the cause of techno-optimism in ways that contradict the dystopian visions of robots taking over the earth. When we convened a salon of film-makers, online…

[From InfoWorld] August 19, 2010 HP projection technology could take a page from Star Wars Businesspeople would be projected into meetings the same way R2D2 projected a hologram of Princess Leia By Paul Krill | InfoWorld In the future, business meetings might seem like a scene out of the movie “Star Wars,” if  technology envisioned at Hewlett-Packard comes to fruition. Stars Wars-like 3-D projection technology is on the drawing board at the company, with the potential to project businesspersons at many locations into virtual reality-like meetings, reducing the need to hop on airplanes and spend significant time away from home.…

[From BLDGBLOG] Augmented Metropolis Posted August 23, 2010  Keiichi Matsuda, a recent graduate—with distinction—from the Bartlett School of Architecture, whose film Domestic Robocop was featured on BLDGBLOG several months ago, has a new project out: Augmented City. And it’s in 3D. The [2:46 minute] film “focuses on the deprogramming of architecture and the spontaneous creation of customised, aggregated spaces,” Matsuda writes. We see its central protagonist surrounded by pop-up menus and projected touchscreens, able to switch urban backgrounds—graffiti to gardens—in an instant. …

[From BizBash Hive] World’s First Scented Online Banner – Smell This! by Community on August 17, 2010 Ever heard of smell-o-vision? Back in 1960 one film was made, ironically called “Scent of Mystery,” that brought-to-life a very cool idea – pumping smells into the theatre that corresponded with scenes happening in the movie.  So when the characters on screen were eating at a restaurant the audience would smell the food. Fast forward 50 years later to Brazil and the world of KAIAK – a top selling men’s fragrance that is sold exclusively door-to-door.  The company wanted to let people know…

[From VentureBeat] HP’s Phil McKinney shows off a wide, wide, wide high-definition screen August 20, 2010 | Dean Takahashi Hewlett Packard is working on a display with a really wide screen. Phil McKinney, chief technology officer at the Personal Systems Group at HP, showed off the concept for the screen at the DisplaySearch Emerging Technologies conference this week in San Jose, Calif. The screen is so wide that you can see an entire pro basketball court at the same time. McKinney referred to the screen as a “triple wide high-definition” screen that is created by stitching together images from lots of…

[From CrunchGear] Video: Creepily Realistic Robot Hand by Serkan Toto on August 11, 2010 Kyoto-based Squse has developed the so-called Robot Hand H-Type [JP], a creepily realistic (but very cool) robotic hand. The hand’s “bones” are made of polycarbonate, while the skin is silicon rubber. It weighs 340g and can lift up and move objects weighing up to 1.5kg. The secret lies in its 16 joints and 22 actuators. Needless to say, the Robot Hand H-Type will be used mainly for industrial applications (for “pick and place” actions). Squse says that two auto makers and another two companies from the…

[From CANOE] [Image: Ashley Brown works on her science project Tuesday at the University of Alberta. (Perry Mah, QMI Agency)] Computer program makes scents By LINDA HOANG, QMI Agency EDMONTON – Ashley Brown is hoping to change the world — one smell at a time. Born and raised in Elnora, a village about 70 km southeast of Red Deer, Brown, 17, never thought she’d be part of a team working on a project that could help improve rehabilitation, education, research and even gaming. It’s called Smell-O-Vision, and it’s a virtual reality computer program — which Brown built herself — that…

[From The Radioactive Yak, a technology blog by Reto Meier, an Android Developer Advocate for Google in London and author of Professional Android 2 Application Development; an evaluation of some of these predictions can be found here] [Image: From “Introducing the “iThink” by Paul Mic on his The Monkey Buddha blog] The Future of Mobile: Invisible, connected devices with infinite screens Monday, August 09, 2010 by Reto Meier The history of smartphones looks something like this: At the end of 2008 the very first Android handset was available on T-Mobile in the US. The iPhone has existed for 3 years.…

[From The Daily Mail (UK); the original story contains additional images] The real A.I.: Childless millionaire builds ‘intelligent robot’ that sings Karaoke, laughs and tells jokes By Mail Online Reporter Last updated on 13th August 2010 Tony Ellis and his wife, Judie, do not have any children or animals at home – but with chatterbox robot Aimec following them around, there is never a dull moment. The couple effectively have a robotic child, just like in the 2001 futuristic fairy tale Artificial Intelligence starring Haley Joel Osment. Their creation is so advanced it can tell jokes and keep its human parents…

[From CNN GO Asia; the original version includes several additional images] [Image: Inside the State Grid Pavilion] Shanghai Expo 2010 pavilions: The best of the Puxi site With less than three months left of the Shanghai Expo, head to these Puxi pavilions for some of the Expo’s best entertainment By Christine Tan 17 August, 2010 One-time visitors to the World Expo tend to stampede toward the Pudong site’s national pavilions, leaving Puxi’s dazzlingly garish pavilions for last — or never. It’s time to change people’s 2010 Expo strategy. Here are the best corporate pavilions that may entice new visitors into…

[From The National (UAE); the original story includes a photo gallery] [Image: Jonas Samson’s light emitting wallpaper. Photos by Roel Determeijer] The plugged-in home of tomorrow Yvonne Courtney Last Updated: August 14. 2010 Technology and home furnishing have never been the easiest of partners – yet they are starting to converge in all kinds of exciting ways as digital technology starts to revolutionise design thinking. Cue window blinds that glow or darken in response to light levels, tiles that light up your path as you touch them or wallpaper that changes colour according to how much energy your home is consuming.…

[From The University of Michigan Health System Newsroom] [Image: Trauma room simulation (source: Yong Cao, Virginia Tech)] August 09, 2010 Medical students believe video games can help them become better doctors Survey of medical students at University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin-Madison shows strong interest in role-playing and strategy games for doctor training ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Today’s students were raised with a digital mouse in their hands. So it should be no surprise that a majority of medical school students surveyed say video games and virtual reality environments could help them become better doctors. A reported 98 percent…