Taekman and Steele's SimSingularity

The Franchise – Madden Football

jeffrey.taekman — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:37:15 +0000

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ESPN has a great article on the phenomenon known as Madden Football–along the way, the game helped shape the entire industry.

(Via ESPN – OTL: The Franchise – E-ticket.)

At ESPN, Play-by-Play Goes Virtual – NYTimes.com Many of you are familiar with the Madden Football...
OnLive finally announces June 13 launch OnLive brings cloud computing to gaming. While it was great...
Mind control for games? NeuroSky has released dry sensor ECG headset geared toward gamers. ...

The Future According To ‘Minority Report’ May Be Now : NPR

jeffrey.taekman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:59:10 +0000

Interesting story on NPR’s All Things Considered on how parts of Steven Spielberg’s 2002 movie, Minority Report, have come to pass, way ahead of time (the movie was set in 2054). The story features personalization of advertisements, the prediction of crime, and the floating screen computer interface all featured in the movie.

(Via The Future According To ‘Minority Report’ May Be Now : NPR.)

Haptics: New Software Allows User To Reach Out And Touch, Virtually ScienceDaily (2008-01-31) — European researchers have pioneered a breakthrough interface...
Getting Real Work Done in Virtual Worlds (Forrester Report) Forrester published an outstanding report on the business applications of...
NPR report on California nursing shortage NPR reports California’s 75 community colleges have multi-year waiting periods...

Duke demonstrates autonomous robotic surgery

michael.steele — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:04:16 +0000

It’s the beginning of a brave new world. An autonomous robot at Duke took a bioposy (using a turkey breast and a grape) using real-time 3D ultrasound scans.

Duke University to trial iPad in Fall 2010 The Duke Chronicle reports that Duke University will start using...

Google invests $100M in Zynga?!?

michael.steele — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:48:48 +0000

Wow, Google is making a big move into the social gaming space with it’s investment in Zynga. One wonders if Zynga might consider broadening it’s horizons beyond Facebook? Of course, Google has yet to get it’s facebook competitor off the ground.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/10/google-secretly-invested-100-million-in-zynga-preparing-to-launch-google-games/?goback=.gde_138591_member_24632691

Google Sponsoring a Robot Race to the Moon More than three decades after the last Apollo astronauts landed...
OnLive finally announces June 13 launch OnLive brings cloud computing to gaming. While it was great...
What You See is What You Get! | Wired.com There is an old New Yorker cartoon that features two...

Animated 3D models extracted from single-camera video – New Scientist

jeffrey.taekman — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:23:06 +0000

New software, developed by Xiaolin Wei and Jinxiang Chai of Texas A&M University in College Station, tracks humans in video footage, and creates 3D models of them. This new technology is expected to bring motion capture to the masses without the need for high-end equipment.

(Via Animated 3D models extracted from single-camera video – tech – 10 July 2010 – New Scientist.)

Innovation: What next after the megapixel wars? – tech – 16 March 2009 – New Scientist As the megapixel depth of our cameras becomes increasingly high...
OnLive finally announces June 13 launch OnLive brings cloud computing to gaming. While it was great...
Robots could flex muscles that are stronger than steel – tech – 19 March 2009 – New Scientist Scientists have developed a “synthetic muscle” for robots that...

IDEO Labs – Amazing 3D Immersion Technology

jeffrey.taekman — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:57:12 +0000

“IDEO Labs – Amazing 3D Immersion Technology

Interesting movie of an end-user experiencing a fully immersive 3D environment. A great example of how the body may be “tricked” into believing virtual objects and environments are real.

(Via IDEO Labs – Amazing 3D Immersion Technology | Immersive Technologies : Augmented Reality, Virtual Worlds, Haptics, and More:.)

How Haptics Will Change the Way We Interact With Machines – The Technology of Touch – Popular Mechanics This article in Popular Mechanics talks about today’s haptics,...
Immersion Medical Adds Knot Tying and Suturing to LaparoscopyVR Immersion Corporation, a developer and licensor of touch feedback technology,...
Technology Review: Microsoft Demos Augmented Vision Today, Microsoft researchers will demonstrate software that can, in...

Second Life loses its luster – San Jose Mercury News

jeffrey.taekman — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:43:31 +0000

An article published today about troubles at Linden Labs, the home of Second Life, including layoffs, desertion of strategic companies from virtual space, and a stagnant user base.

(Via Second Life loses its luster – San Jose Mercury News.)

Amino Acid Recipe Could Be Right For Long Life – Science News Caloric restriction has been shown to increase life span in...
Mind control for games? NeuroSky has released dry sensor ECG headset geared toward gamers. ...
Universities frustrated with Second Life – Check out OpenCobalt Interesting article that mirrors our own frustrations with Second Life...

HIRO III lets you feel what you see on screen

jeffrey.taekman — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:25:40 +0000

HIRO III lets you feel what you see on screen: “

Researchers in Japan are developing a ‘haptic interface robot’ — the HIRO III, a robot hand that can transmit realistic sensations of touch to a user’s fingertips.

The user straps their fingers into a robot hand. Through the haptic interface the user can sense tactile sensation including the textures of surfaces, size of virtual objects and a sense of weight.

All this is embedded in a 3d display that also renders the user’s hand–positioned just as it is in real world. It is thought this accurate rendering will enhance the realism of the experience.

The developers anticipate its use in in applications such as factory work and for aiding medical procedure.

(Via KurzweilAI » News.)

Haptics: New Software Allows User To Reach Out And Touch, Virtually ScienceDaily (2008-01-31) — European researchers have pioneered a breakthrough interface...
Robots with a human touch Haptic sensation (virtual touch) is the slowest sense to develop...
Dreamflyer As you know, the Game Developers Conference is taking place...

Bad Research? – Computer gamers ‘have reactions of pilots but bodies of chain smokers’

michael.steele — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:31:50 +0000

A professor at University of Essex compared physical ability of gamers with atheletes. I agree with much of the article feedback, the researcher picked an extreme example (10 hour/day gamer) to conclude they have the fitness level of a 60 year old smoker. The good news, his extreme gamer candidates are happy and have great reaction times.

Here is the the Telegraph article.

OnLive finally announces June 13 launch OnLive brings cloud computing to gaming. While it was great...

The game Portal is free until May 24th

michael.steele — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:10:30 +0000

As a way to promote the Steam platform for the Mac, Valve is giving away the popular 3D puzzle game, Portal, until May 24.

So hop over to the Steam web site and download without delay. I never played it before. It has an interesting game mechanic with nice graphics for the era in which it was developed.

Video Game Lets You Drop Beats As You Drop Blocks : NPR NPR featured a story about a small puzzle that is...
Sony Releases new WiiMote style game controller Of course there is lots of media coverage of Sony’s...
Triangle Game Conference Reveals Speakers, Tracks The annual Triangle Game Conference, which focuses on the gaming...