Posts Tagged ‘virtual reality’
Would you kill 1 person to save 5 others?
MICHIGAN STATE (US) —A new study suggests a vast majority of people are willing to violate a moral rule if it means minimizing harm, in this case letting one person die to save five others. Continue…
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 14:34 - 6 Comments
Science & Technology - Apr 12, 2011 15:02 - 2 Comments
How virtual acts change attitudes
STANFORD (US) — A virtual reality environment can literally change behavior in the real world, according to a new study. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jul 1, 2010 12:41 - 0 Comments
Virtual reality software packs real savings
U. LEEDS (US)—Virtual reality software that plans the safe decommissioning of nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities could save millions of pounds, according to its inventors. (more…)
Society & Culture - May 14, 2010 17:15 - 0 Comments
Virtual appearance matters to men
INDIANA U. (US)—In a recent study, men’s decisions were strongly affected by certain appearance aspects of computer-generated women, such as jerky movements, while women’s decisions were not. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 24, 2010 12:04 - 1 Comment
Driving game maps brain’s version of GPS
U. PENN (US)—Using implantable electrodes and a first-person driving game, researchers have identified the brain cells that indicate travel in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion, called “path cells.” (more…)
Society & Culture - Mar 15, 2010 10:02 - 0 Comments
Can lookalike avatars help us shape up?
STANFORD (US)—If you saw a digital image of yourself running on a virtual treadmill, would you feel like going to the gym? Probably so, according to a study showing that personalized avatars can motivate people to exercise and eat right. (more…)
Science & Technology - Dec 17, 2009 15:57 - 2 Comments
Real-time action in a virtual world
U. ILLINOIS (US)—A new digital system allows people in different locations to interact in real time in a shared virtual space. (more…)
Society & Culture - Dec 4, 2009 17:22 - 2 Comments
Pedestrians: Ditch the phone, keep the iPod
U. ILLINOIS (US)—How apropos that a research team led by two native New Yorkers would take a fresh look at the dangers of trying to cross a busy street while talking on a cell phone or listening to music on an iPod. (more…)
Society & Culture - Dec 1, 2009 16:57 - 4 Comments
Facebook profiles reveal true self
TEXAS-AUSTIN (US)—Online social networks such as Facebook are being used to express and communicate real personality, instead of an idealized virtual identity, according to new research from psychologist Sam Gosling. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 16, 2009 12:38 - 2 Comments
Doctors take 3-D tour before surgery
IOWA STATE (US)—James Oliver picked up an Xbox game controller, looked up to a video screen, and zipped through a patient’s chest cavity for an up-close look at the bottom of the heart. Oliver was using new software that allows doctors to take an accurate, 3-D tour of a patient’s anatomy in advance of surgery. (more…)
Society & Culture - Nov 13, 2009 14:44 - 5 Comments
Avatars behaving badly
TEXAS-AUSTIN (US)—Digital personas, known as avatars, can affect the way people think and feel when interacting in a virtual environment, new research shows. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 11, 2009 15:39 - 0 Comments
Virtual crashes sound like the real thing
CORNELL (US)—When you kick over a garbage can, it doesn’t make a pure, musical tone. That’s why the sound is so hard to synthesize. Now computer scientists have developed a practical method to generate the crashing and rumbling sounds of objects made up of thin “harmonic shells.” (more…)
Society & Culture - Oct 15, 2009 16:59 - 0 Comments
Giving away privacy by sharing online?
DUKE (US)—Millions of Internet users have been enjoying the fun—and free—services provided by advertiser-supported online social networks like Facebook. But are those users risking their privacy? (more…)
Society & Culture - Aug 14, 2009 10:59 - 2 Comments
Virtual economies mirror the real deal
Researchers studied big economic trends—like GDP and inflation—taking place in the online role-playing game EverQuest II and found parallels to real-world economies. (Courtesy: Sony Online Entertainment)
Society & Culture - Jul 7, 2009 14:55 - 0 Comments
Ask avatars what makes trends trendy
“There’s been a high correspondence between the real world and virtual worlds,” says Lada Adamic, a researcher at the University of Michigan. “We’re not saying this is exactly how people share in the real world, but we believe it does have some relevance.” (Credit: Second Life/Linden Lab)
Science & Technology - Jul 1, 2009 11:41 - 0 Comments
Computers get a lesson in the sound of water
The sounds produced by pouring and splashing water result from the vibration of trapped air bubbles. Cornell University researchers have developed a new method to simulate those sounds by computing how the bubbles would behave in the real world.
