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Can Medical Games in 3D Improve Your Health?

So Flipping Cool: AR Sandboxes with Virtual Water Simulation

The UC Davis W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in the Earth Sciences built this incredible demonstration of interactive AR topography with funding from the National Science Foundation. The demonstration uses Microsoft Kinect as well as water flow simulations based on the Saint-Venant set of shallow water equations.

Levitation: Baby Steps

An exciting new project from MIT Media Lab holds the promise of being able to control and levitate the objects around you, opening new doorways for digital and physical interactions with your environment. 

Says creator Jinha Lee, "ZeroN is a physical and digital interaction element that floats and moves in space by computer-controlled magnetic levitation." Interaction options include physical playback of gestures, physical manipulation of 3D trajectories, camera recording along 3D paths and lighting viewpoints. While these interactions are occurring inside a lab today, let's hope it won't remain that way forever. Watch the video to learn more about the technology behind this amazing process.

'Welcome to the Anthropocene' Earth Animation

This 3-minute video is simply stunning, you won't be able to take your eyes off it. I highly recommend watching it in full-screen mode. The visual execution is superb, and the data that unfolds contains thought-provoking insights about our impact on the planet. A question comes to mind: are we nearing an age where our technology can support a more lightweight visual impact, or will the lines criss-crossing the planet only increase as a new private space industry starts to gain its footing?

About the project:

16th Century Amsterdam in 3D

Amsterdam-based studio PlusOne has completed an intriguing project for the Amsterdam Museum: a series of stunning videos that bring the viewer into the physical, political and religious milieu of one of the most important port cities of the 16th century.

3D art has the unique quality of feeling extremely immersive and immediate, which is why it is a fantastic way to introduce people to a historical setting in full color! 

Awe-Inspiring: An Interactive, Musical Starry Night

An unexpected new technique is starting to take hold amongst archaeologists: using lasers to determine the dimension of bones and then 3D printing them to create a full dino skeleton. It's simple, effective, brilliant, and should have happened a long time ago!

This magical story begins with inventor and magician Wolfgang von Kempelen's parlor demonstrations in eighteenth century Vienna, and continues today through a curious turn of events and a California man's passion for the awe-inspiring Mechanical Turk, an impressive contraption which appears to intelligently play chess by mechanical means alone.

Since the artifact was lost in a fire in 1854, its mysterious inner workings have remained a topic of much speculation. Until now.

After years of research and study, magic-maker and automaton-collector John Gaughan has painstakingly rebuilt the Turk. Gaughan keeps a reliquary shop in Atwater, CA and has a wealth of knowledge, delightful anecdotes, little-known facts, and a master's experience with magical automatons and cabinetry, Houdini-esque escape hatches, optical illusions, and levitating carpets (and teddy bears). 

It's fascinating how powerful confidence and belief can be. Charles Babbage, the inventor of the first computer experienced the Mechanical Turk in the 1770's. Says Gaughan,

People then didn’t know it was an illusion. They thought it was a thinking machine. And Babbage thought: “My god, if they can build a machine that plays chess, I should be able to make a machine that that can execute various rational functions.”

So this very powerful illusion could be part of what inspired Babbage as well as Jaquard, the inventor of the mechanical loom, to have the courage to innovate on such a great scale. It turns out magic has its uses, after all.

Keeping Royalty Fresh: The World's First Augmented Coin

Can you think of anything more traditional than a federal money-making mint, and a Royal one at that? Yet in a delightful turn of events, the Royal Canadian Mint got a breath of fresh air, topped with a breath mint last night. The Mint has sourced internationally renowned artist Gary Taxali to design six new limited edition collector’s quarters. And to spice things up further, our fearless leader Brian Mullins teamed up with visionary augmented reality researcher Helen Papagiannis to develop the world’s first Augmented Reality coin. Helen and Brian created a one-of-a-kind experience that guests were treated to during an evening celebration last night at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

Erick Miller and Jon Rodriguez are two young, driven startup founders. What sets them apart from the sea of young entrepreneurs with big dreams? For starters, their near term goal is to make an Iron Man suit. Long term, they're thinking cyborgs.

This is Jon Rodriguez giving a prototype demo.

Check out their website and keep an eye out for Kickstarter campaigns to fund their sci-fi-like projects. In the meantime, see their latest release, social-media enabled goggles that recognize your friends' faces: 

How Robots See the World