[From MIT’s Technology Review TechSpecs blog; a 1:08 minute video is available here] A Minority Report Interface for the Rest of Us You don’t have to be rich like Tom Cruise to rock a gestural interface. John Pavlus 11/16/2010 Gestural computing: ever since a be-gloved Tom Cruise blew everyone’s minds in Minority Report, interface dorks have been trying hard to bring it into the real world. But here’s the problem: who actually wants to spend their whole workday wildly waving their arms around? Well, musicians and dancers just might. That’s the idea behind Toscanini, a gestural computer interface named after…

[A press release from Digital Elite Inc. via PR Web] METAMORPHOSIS – A 360° Immersive Film Wins Hollywood Award Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) December 10, 2010 Digital Elite Inc. Los Angeles in partnership with researchers at the Technical University of Budapest in Hungary have developed a fully interactive Panoramic Broadcasting technology, called PanoCAST, for producing 360° Immersive Films for parallel cinematic and on-line experiences. Using this technology they have produced an experimental short film, an authentic adaptation of THE METAMORPHOSIS, a film that has now won the Best Short Film Award at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. “You have…

[From The New York Daily News] Playing for real: Game technology dissolves distance between ‘Tron’ and world reflected in sequel BY Michael Sheridan DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Sunday, December 12th 2010 “Tron: Legacy,” opening Friday, is a case of past and present colliding with a future vision that has come true. Nearly 30 years ago, Disney’s original “Tron” hit the big screen with a mixture of computer-generated effects and wacky science fiction concepts unseen before. Its man-inside-of-a-video-game concept was perfect for the newborn Pac-Man era, and the standup Tron video game was like an instant companion piece to the film:…

[From ABC News, where a 1:56 minute video is featured] Virtual Reality Study Encourages Subjects to Save for the Future Morphed Photographs Show What You’ll Look Like ‘When You’re 64’ By JOHN BERMAN and JENNIFER METZ Dec. 9, 2010 At the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University, researchers are tackling one of the Beatles’ crucial questions: “Will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” Hal Ernser-Hershfield, a behavioral-finance researcher from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, has developed a new idea to help young people answer that question — to determine if they’ve saved enough to feed and…

[A press release from Luxurious Animals and Panasonic via PR Web; a 1:57 minute video is here] Luxurious Animals Turns to Panasonic for New 3D Gesture Control Technology Luxurious Animals turns to Panasonic’s 3D Gesture Control technology for their new virtual reality lounge called “Dream of Flight”. The high tech lounge, sponsored by Lufthansa, is part of a multi-million dollar project for Esquire Magazine. Panasonic Electric Works’ 3D Image Sensing Camera, the D-IMager, was chosen as the preferred motion–detection device for this state-of-the-art installation that is free of conventional controllers. New Providence, NJ and New York City, NY (PRWEB) December…

[From The Epoch Times] [Image: Psychic Toys: Software developer Robert Oschler looks at his WowWee Rovio robot while wearing an Emotiv EPOC headset. Using the headset, he programmed the robot to be controlled by his thoughts. (Robert Oschler)] Emotion Tech Developer Shares Dreams of Electric Sheep On the tech frontier, boundaries between man and machine fade By Joshua Philipp Epoch Times Staff Created: Dec 6, 2010 Last Updated: Dec 7, 2010 Few may remember the 1982 film, “Firefox” about the Soviet fighter jet controlled by the pilot’s mind. The film, starring Clint Eastwood, set out on a premise that technology…

[From MIT’s Technology Review Editors blog] Robots for Our Old Age iRobot’s CEO says robots will help the elderly and infirm live independently, for longer. Kristina Grifantini 11/24/2010 Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot, gave a keynote talk last month at the 2010 Connected Health Symposium in Boston. He didn’t say what the company is working on in its new healthcare robots business unit, but he predicted robots will have a crucial role to play in the future of healthcare. Angle said that assistive robots will enable old or sick people to live independently for longer.…

[From New Scientist] Microsoft develops shape-shifting touchscreen Updated 13:16 29 November 2010 by Paul Marks Microsoft this week filed a patent application covering a novel way to construct a “tactile” touchscreen – a display that uses technical tricks to convince users they are actually touching the ridges, bumps and textures of a displayed image. Whereas previous screens produced only an illusion of texture, Microsoft proposes producing a real texture, using pixel-sized shape-memory plastic cells that can be ordered to protrude from the surface on command.…

[From Broadway World] PETER PAN Set to Play Atlanta in State-of-the-Art Theatre Tent, Tix On Sale 10/25 Thursday, October 14, 2010; Posted: 11:10 AM – by BWW News Desk threesixty° entertainment presents the spectacular new threesixty° stage production of PETER PAN, J M Barrie’s classic story performed in a state-of-the-art theater tent for a limited engagement in Pemberton Place®, adjacent to the World of Cola-Cola®, in the heart of Downtown Atlanta. Performances start Friday, January 21. Conceived by an award-winning creative team and featuring 23 actors, stunning puppets, epic music, dazzling flying sequences, and the world’s first 360-degree CGI theater…

[From The University of Leeds] Virtual training gets real! Published Thursday 2nd December 10 Computerised training systems are getting an extra dose of reality, thanks to an EU-funded research project led by the University of Leeds. PC-based virtual reality training is typically cheaper than face-to-face sessions with a mentor or coach. As the recent Hollywood blockbuster Up in the Air showed, multiple members of staff can be trained by practising various scenarios in a virtual reality environment without having to leave their desks. With businesses continually seeking to curb costs, more and more companies may follow the example of George…

[From MIT’s Technology Review Editors blog; the original post includes a 1:27 minute long video] Collaborative Augmented Reality Makes Beautiful Music With ARmonica, two players bounce virtual balls off musical note bars using Wii remotes. Kristina Grifantini 11/17/2010 Augmented reality (AR) places interactive, virtual objects and effects over the real world, and it has huge potential for gaming. Imagine wearing an AR headset to play chess with animated virtual pieces on a real chess board, or to fight computerized zombies running into your own home. For this to happen, computer scientists need to make sure players’ views and motions are…

[From Parade] [Image: Family portrait: Jeff, Joel, Marissa, and Mira with Flat Jared. [Photo: Adrianne Stewart] The Stewart family deploys a novel solution to stay close to Dad By Brad Dunn When her husband shipped out to Iraq in August 2008, Marissa Stewart knew nothing could replace Daddy for her three young children. Still, she was afraid they would start to forget about their father. How could she fill the void he left behind? Today, she points to a lifelike, life-size photo of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jared Stewart perched on a chair in her Seattle living room. “That bit…