News Dump: The latest small developments in VR/ AR tech

[rhinosix]

Technology moves fast. It's hard to keep up.

Sometimes I see news or new technology which is relevant to VR / AR, but doesn't deserve it's own thread. And some things go by unmentioned on the forums here.
We have the "future of" thread which is mainly focused on user interfaces. This thread is a place to post a quick summary and a link to small articles related to VR/ AR technologies.

To start:

http://www.gizmag.com/augmented-reality ... ers/26143/

a Japanese start-up company, will begin marketing an Augmented Reality robot doll that can take on the appearance of any virtual character. Essentially, a computer-generated image is projected in real-time onto a robot (covered in green screen material) that is viewable through a head-mounted display (HMD)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/915 ... -a-camera/

[Lynx A is] the world's first point-and-shoot 3D camera. It's not a conventional camera, but it's like a camera - particularly when it comes to learning curve and ease of use. If you can use a point-and-shoot Nikon, you'll find the Lynx even easier to use. Instead of outputting 2D images, it produces 3D models of whatever you point it at.

[virror]

a Japanese start-up company, will begin marketing an Augmented Reality robot doll that can take on the appearance of any virtual character. Essentially, a computer-generated image is projected in real-time onto a robot (covered in green screen material) that is viewable through a head-mounted display (HMD)

Thats just so Japanese, i guess we can expect the virtual girl/boyfriend to make it to new heights : p

[rhinosix]

http://www.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/baudisch/ ... space.html

GravitySpace is a new approach to tracking people and objects indoors. Unlike traditional solutions based on cameras, GravitySpace reconstructs scene data from a pressure-sensing floor. While the floor is limited to sensing objects in direct contact with the ground, GravitySpace reconstructs contents above the ground by first identifying objects based on their texture and then applying inverse kinematics.

This kind of tech could be interesting for bringing objects from the physical world into your virtual environment. Or maybe you could have a room that displays your virtual environment on the floor so other people could see where you are?

http://www.gizmag.com/bowblade-bow-and- ... ing/26073/

what if you prefer shooting virtual arrows over virtual bullets? You’d need some sort of bow-like smartphone-holding gadget for that, wouldn’t you? Well, that’s just what the BowBlade is.

This has limited applications. But it could be fun for a Predator style slow-paced bow & arrow sniper game combined with an ODT.

[WiredEarp]

I've thought about using pressure sensors on the floor, but it just seems like way too much of a stopgap method...

[STRZ]

[Lynx A is] the world's first point-and-shoot 3D camera. It's not a conventional camera, but it's like a camera - particularly when it comes to learning curve and ease of use. If you can use a point-and-shoot Nikon, you'll find the Lynx even easier to use. Instead of outputting 2D images, it produces 3D models of whatever you point it at.

i'd like to see a affordable laser Scanner of this sort:

[youtube-hd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUI6HD_d89k[/youtube-hd]

[youtube-hd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxTYYce_d_8[/youtube-hd]

It would be very benefitial for virtual open worlds because everything is at the right scale by default, and could be used as well as basis for further modeling it into fantasy landscapes, similar to CGI enhanced landscapes in films.

[Krenzo]

i'd like to see a affordable laser Scanner of this sort:

I thought you were going to post this.

[STRZ]

I thought you were going to post this.

I'm sure i will in the future

[rhinosix]

NHK has developed a haptic feedback device.

It seems the device uses tiny balls which are updated every 1/1000th of a second to push against the skin to create five points of resistance and simulate a virtual object.

The linked article is an entertaining read.

[colocolo]

category brain-interface
http://phys.org/news/2013-06-carbon-nan ... -cell.html

[DavidJones]

It's very cool that there is an opportunity to exchange useful information. I follow AR development . And recently I found a useful guide about Augmented Reality App Development , I'm sure it will be useful information.