Category: Virtual Reality
Second Life sequel on the way
Remember Second Life? No, neither do most people. Well, now it appears that creator Linden Lab is working on a sequel. According to a statement from the developer sent to New World Notes, the sequel will be a "next generation…
World's first augmented national newspaper created in Taiwan
Taiwan's biggest media group, the United Daily News has partnered up with a revolutionary augmented browser firm called Aurasma to create the worlds first augmented national daily newspaper. Images, editorials and advertising are all interactive by simply placing your…
For the technophile narcissist; the Augmented Reality Cosmetic Mirror
Pocket mirrors are so last decade. If you want to look pixel-perfect these days, you need to get yourself in front of an augmented reality cosmetic mirror. It's the latest craze to hit Tokyo malls; you sit yourself down…
CES 2010: Final Thoughts
The Consumer Electronics show, the behemoth of tech, the Valhalla of gadgetry, has come and gone for yet another year. But this time, rather than arriving with a bang, it slinked into sight with something more like a whimper. CES…
CES 2010: Day 3 Round-Up
Another day, another Tech Digest CES 2010 round-up. Fancy Tweeting hands-free in your car or controlling your PC by breathing? Check today's top stories below and find out how. Twitter coming to Ford cars The digital equivalent of drink-driving? Motorola…
CES 2010: Vuzix demo Wrap 920AR Augmented Reality visor
Augmented reality is set to be massive this year, with smartphone apps the likely first stop off point for most. But holding up your iPhone's camera is a bit rubbish compared to the Vuzix Wrap 920AR Augmented Reality Visor. Now…
Second Life and World of Warcraft to be sued by Worlds.com
Worlds.com CEO Thom Kidrin seems like a rather opportunistic chap. He has a patent on a “scalable virtual world client-server chat system” and a “system and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space” that he claims any massively-multiplayer game is infringing.
His first target has been NCSoft, a Koreak publisher that’s responsible for the fantastic-but-aging City of Heroes, and the no-subscription-fee Guild Wars. If that litigation is successful, then Thom says he “absolutely” intends to follow up with lawsuits against Activision-Blizzard and Linden Lab, who run World of Warcraft and Second Life respectively.
Thom says he doesn’t want anyone to go out of business, he just wants to be paid for his intellectual property. It’s going to be difficult for him to prove this one, though, given that these patents were filed in 1996 and 2000, and that most virtual worlds can trace their roots back much further than that, to MUDs, MUCKs, MOOs and MUSHes that date from the 80s.
We’ll keep an eye on this story and report back any developments, because victory in court for Kidrin could see the fledgling virtual worlds industry being cut down in its infancy.
(via Silicon Alley Insider, WoW Insider and Massively)
VIDEO: Circulafloor – intelligent floor for virtual reality use
Circulafloor is a set of four tiles that can intelligently position themselves so that you never fall off, but remain in one place. It’s an interesting idea, and not one that hasn’t come up before, though this one seems to have a long way to go before it’s ready for production.
Looks like you’ve got to walk really rather slowly for starters, and I wouldn’t trust it if I saw the thing first. You never know, though, if this ends up a little more practical, with more tiles, it could be a winner.
(via Dvice)
Daily Mail Online headline: How using Facebook could raise your risk of cancer
Do the Daily Mail and it’s online counterpart write these stories to create outrage or to write sensationalist nonsense? Perhaps it doesn’t matter, because it must work both ways. On the one hand, these kinds of stories sell papers/attract traffic and on the other hand it brings them publicity. Well, I’m sitting here writing about it, aren’t I?
So, today’s pile of old toot is about the possible link between social networking and cancer. Oh really. Now, I feel rather sorry for psychologist Dr Aric Sigman who mainly talks about how using Facebook and MySpace causes a decrease in face to face social interaction and how that might lead to socio-psychological issues.
To give the doctor an incredibly generous benefit of the doubt, it might…
Woman filing for divorce after husband caught "having it off with another man in a dungeon" in Second Life
The husband in question is John Best, 34, who, if you ever believe what the News of the World says, was using his laptop in bed – while his wife was asleep – to indulge in a bit of M2M action in Second Life.
He had a great excuse for doing it. He said “it wasn’t real life” which, to be fair, is 100% correct. Here’s the NotW’s superb visual representation of the story…
“I couldn’t sleep a wink the rest of the night wondering whether this meant he was betraying me or not – that he’d rather have gay sex on Second Life than…
