BiotechMashup

(FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) Virtual characters can behave according to actions carried out unconsciously by humans. Researchers at the University of Barcelona have created a system which measures human physiological parameters, such as respiration or heart rate, and introduces them into computer designed characters in real time.

The benefits of virtual worlds can be used to help autistic children develop social skills beyond their anticipated levels, suggest early findings from new research. Researchers have developed an interactive environment which uses multi-touch screen technology where virtual characters on the screen demonstrate gestures and show children's actions in real time.

Researchers have developed a unique new computer model called the Virtual StreamLab, designed to help restore real streams to a healthier state. The Virtual StreamLab demonstrates the physics of natural water flows at an unprecedented level of detail and realism.

Product developers, vehicle design engineers and trainee pilots increasingly utilize 3-D worlds, operating in a virtual space created by realistic images in real time. Researchers have now created precisely a new virtual reality system. The Flexible Reconfigurable Cave (FRAVE) offers a wealth of advantages over the previously established CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment): it is much cheaper, more flexible, features a modular structure and a smaller footprint.

The most comprehensive study of 20th century children's books ever undertaken in the United States has found a bias towards tales that feature men and boys as lead characters. Surprisingly, researchers found that even when the characters are animals, they tend to be male.

(Stanford University) Cutting down a virtual redwood with a virtual chainsaw may lead you to save trees by recycling more paper. That finding is an example of how real-world behavior can be changed by immersing people in virtual reality environments -- a notion that is at the heart of work under way in Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab.

by Xueni Pan, Marco Gillies, Chris Barker, David M. Clark, Mel Slater
Background Male volunteers entered an immersive virtual reality that depicted a party, where they were approached by a lone virtual woman who initiated a conversation. The goal was to study how socially anxious and socially confident men would react to this event. Interest focused on whether the socially anxious participants would exhibit sustained anxiety during the conversation or whether this would diminish over time, and differ from the responses of the more socially confident men.

(Technische Universitaet Muenchen) Product developers, vehicle design engineers and trainee pilots increasingly utilize 3-D worlds, operating in a virtual space created by realistic images in real time. Researchers at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have now created precisely a new virtual reality system. The Flexible Reconfigurable Cave (FRAVE) offers a wealth of advantages over the previously established CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment): it is much cheaper, more flexible, features a modular structure and a smaller footprint.

(University of Minnesota) Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a unique new computer model called the Virtual StreamLab, designed to help restore real streams to a healthier state. The Virtual StreamLab, which demonstrates the physics of natural water flows at an unprecedented level of detail and realism, was unveiled for the first time this week at the 2009 American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting in Minneapolis.