This smh.com.au article reports Pope Benedict XVI said that the media's increasing reliance on images, fuelled by the endless development of new technologies, risked confusing real life with virtual reality. From the article: "New technologies and the progress they bring can make it impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to confusion between reality and virtual reality," the pope said.

"The image can also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a virtual word, with various consequences - above all the risk of indifference towards real life," he said.

He said the use of new technologies should set off "an alarm bell".

The Immersive Technology Summit will be hosted in Los Angeles October 21, 2010. Here's a promotional video about the event. Check out the agenda of speakers and exhibitors:
8:00am Registration & Morning Refreshments
9:00am Welcome Ken Rutkowski & Harold Tan
9:10am Immersive Collaboration Jody Turner (Culture Of Future)
9:25am HMD Integration Fred Nikgohar (Robo Dynamics)
9:40am I-Cocoon Tino Schaedler (Nau)
9:55am Using AR for Social Impact Bonnie Buckner (Imagined Communities)
10:10am Virtual Choir Eric Whitacre
10:15am Panel Discussion – Immersive Organizations Alex McDowell (5D), Ed Lantz (IMERSA), Kate McCallum (C3), Aaron Walsh (Media Grid)
10:30am Refreshment Break & Exhibitor Showcase
11:15am Video Immersive Playtime

This Engadget article looks at the Japan's NTT DoCoMo AR Walker system. Here's a video about the system. From the article: "Say you're in New York... or Tokyo. You have absolutely no idea where you are, where you need to go, or where the closest Starbucks is. Sure, you could look at the mapping app on your AGPS-equipped handset, but where's the sci-fi in that? Leave it to Japan's NTT DoCoMo (in partnership with Olympus) to whip up a wearable augmented reality solution that's nearly small enough (and reasonable-looking enough) for individuals with an ounce of self-respect to use, and we've had a chance to check it out here at CEATEC this week.

This I Programmer article looks at the LightSpace project: a user interface that uses a whole room. Here's a video about the project. From the article: "It's not so long since we were all entranced by the original GUI with its icons and key innovation - the mouse. Recently we moved on to gestural interfaces and touch is the key input device. Now Microsoft Research are showing off a system that gives us some idea where this might all be going. LightSpace is a user interface that uses a whole room.

This Vancouver Sun article looks at the use of virtual reality as a treatment for hoarding. From the article: "Psychologist Kieron O'Connor has compiled a list 30 pages long of different objects he has seen hoarders accumulate. The list includes newspapers, empty cornflake packages and toilet paper rolls.

"It's a very difficult problem to treat," he says. "People collect things and they can't get rid of them. They build up at home and often take over so the person has no living space."

O'Connor, with two colleagues, is studying whether virtual reality could be a possible treatment for hoarding. It is believed to be the first study of its kind in Canada. It takes place at the University of Quebec Outaouais (UQO) in Gatineau. The university is one of the few in North America doing research in cyberpsychology.

This Artlantis Blog article looks at the Leonar3Do VR Tool. From the article: "Our readers may be interested in learning about this amazing new 3D virtual reality tool, known as Leonar3Do. Check out this video for more information, in addition to the official website. Even Prince Charles gave it a try on his most recent visit to Budapest!

This AkihabaraNews article reports Nissan and Namco Bandai today announced the joint development of a driving simulator through which people can experience the near future of Yokohama City, in virtual reality, where a Smart Grid is in place. From the article: "The driving simulator represents the near-future Yokohama City based on the “Yokohama Smart City Project,” a venture to realize a low-carbon city. The simulator produces an ultra high-definition 3D image with pixels approximately four times larger than the full high-definition image (4K2K).

Like any Games and simulation nowadays, this simulator will have a “Co-op” mode where four people can “play” at the same time."

This Japan Technology Information article looks at the i3Space: a system which provides the user with feeling of touch as well as resistance in the air when the user views the 3D images (haptization), as well as facilitates direct manipulation of virtual objects of 3D images with fingers through three-dimensionalization of multi-touch operations. From the article: "Group of researches at AIST has developed the i3Space, a system that creates a virtual reality (VR) space.

This NewScientist Tech article looks at a new branch of psychotherapy - avatar therapy- in which therapists interact with their clients avatar to avatar. From the article: "Psychotherapy in a virtual world has its advantages – particularly if the real world is what you can't cope with

BY MY fourth interview, I'd developed a checklist to use before each meeting. For starters, I would make sure I had grown some hair. I'd also check that I was fully clothed - I had learned the hard way about that one. Only then would I teleport to the interview, hoping that this time my avatar wouldn't materialise in anyone's lap.

This Positive Technology Journal article looks the XWave: a new technology that uses a single electrode placed on the wearer’s forehead to measure electroencephalography (EEG) data, and converts these analog signals into digital so they can be used to control an external device. From the article: "The XWave comes bundled with a software that includes a number of brain-training exercises. These include levitating a ball on the iDevice’s screen, changing a color based on the relaxation level of your brain and training your brain to maximize its attention span.

In the company’s own words: