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virtual reality

90-year-old grandma rocks an Oculus Rift VR headset

Some technologies are ageless. We've been dreaming of virtual-reality worlds for a long time. With gadgets like the Oculus Rift headset, many people are getting their first shot at engaging with a virtual-reality environment. Paul Rivot's grandmother is one of those people.

Rivot posted a video of his grandma trying out the Oculus Rift for the first time using the Tuscany demo. She looks out over the wide landscape and jokes about bringing her swimsuit for a dip in the ocean. "It's so real," she says. "Is it my eyes, or are the leaves blowing in the wind?"… Read more

Virtual talking head expresses human emotions

With the arrival of in-car GPS units, and then Siri and its clones, products that give and receive voice commands and answers have become more common. But one problem, according to the University of Cambridge, is that disembodied digital voices can just be so darn impersonal.

So Toshiba's Cambridge Research Lab and the University of Cambridge's Department of Engineering set about putting a face to the voice.

What the team ended up with looks like something straight out of the British comedy franchise "Red Dwarf" -- perhaps the ancestor to the AI with the 6000 IQ, … Read more

The 404 1,200: Where we play the crying game (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- "Bang With Friends" sex app claims to help you mix business with pleasure.

- Paying tribute to Holocaust victims...using Grindr?

- Google Street View catches couple doing it in a dressing room.

- Research finds people that fly in virtual reality are more eager to help in real life.

- Sony teases big NYC event for February 20; PS4 debut?… Read more

T-Mobile unthrottles unlimited data

Wednesday's tech news roundup is at full throttle:

T-Mobile will launch a truly unlimited data plan beginning Sept. 5. No caps or throttling. Sprint also offers this, but T-Mobile is competing with pricing. Sprint's starting price for unlimited data is $80 a month, and users are limited to 450 voice minutes. T-Mobile also starts it at $80 a month, but throws in 500 minutes. The larger difference is when you want both unlimited data and unlimited talk; Sprint charges $110, T-Mobile charges $90 a month. Of course, there's also smartphone choice and service to consider. T-Mobile will … Read more

Gamers go ga-ga over Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset

You'd think this were the turn of the 1990s. The "Total Recall" remake just opened today in theaters, and a virtual-reality headset ended up being up the hottest thing in the gaming world this week.

The Oculus Rift works like a conventional head-mounted display, but packs a few features that make it ideal for gaming. For example, the Rift offers impressive head-tracking capabilities; stereoscopic 3D rendering; a wide field of view (110 degrees -- most headsets only offer around 40 degrees); and several inputs (DVI/HDMI and USB). When wearing the Oculus, each eye gets close and personal with a 640x800 LCD screen for a total resolution of 1,280x800 (720p). … Read more

USC students building a working Holodeck

Infiltrating the Borg or having dinner with Deanna Troi are just a few of things that could soon become a (virtual) reality with some help from a team based at the University of Southern California.

Project Holodeck is exactly what it sounds like -- a very serious effort to make the iconic virtual-reality room from "Star Trek" an actual reality.… Read more

Virtual reality vs. PTSD: Helping combat vets heal

LOS ANGELES--I'm sitting across from a soldier named Garza, trying to get him to open up about why he got caught drinking and driving.

This is a serious offense in the military, and Garza could lose his rank, if not get kicked out of the Army altogether. And it's my job as his superior officer to try to understand that Garza -- who used to be among the best in his unit -- may be struggling with the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

This, of course, is a simulation. I'm not in the military, and Garza doesn'… Read more

When will we have perfect speakers?

Dome tweeters, cone woofers, metal ribbons, planar magnetic and electrostatic panels all do the same thing: They vibrate air to make sound. Those technologies have all been around for decades, but the goal of making a perfect-sounding speaker has yet to materialize, so it's pretty easy to tell the difference between a real piano and the sound of a piano reproduced over speakers. Same for drums, acoustic guitars, basses, violins, flutes, horns and voices.

Electric instruments and synthesizers should be easier to reproduce in part because they don't make sound on their own; we always hear them over amplifiers and speakers. Even so, it's next to impossible to make your home hi-fi sound like a big Fender guitar amp. … Read more

Ford uses virtual reality to hone car design (video)

Designing a car can take years, but Ford has been able to cut the process in half, from six years to three years, by using virtual reality.

"We are able to cheat reality," says Elizabeth Baron, a VR technical specialist at Ford. She says virtual reality enables the automaker to do all kinds of tests in a short period of time, though there are limitations to the technology too. SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das gets outfitted with the automaker's virtual-reality gear for a preview.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "At Ford, using virtual reality to tweak car design.&… Read more