Here’s the top ten virtual worlds by pageviews (on the cross-world social network Myrl.com) and signups (from Myrl.com to the virtual world’s site). Interestingly, Google's Lively is the number three pageview-wise and still under the top ten sign-ups on Myrl. Maybe Google should reconsider the killing of their project after all. On the other hand, Myrl has not yet the traction needed to be considered a source significant enough to show these kinds of trends of popularity. Or does it?
The iRobis Brainstorm® technology facilitates and accelerates the development of humanoid self-learning robots - like this little fella. HR-2 walks, talks, imitates and "evolves". He is already 3 years old by now (he was a prototype developed within 3 months with help of the early Brainstorm® system), but the video about HR-2's abilities is still worth watching. Want! [picture: Almir Heralic]
From the press release: "The Institute of Robotics in Scandinavia (iRobis) has announced that the world’s first “complete cognitive software system for robotics” is ready for application. The system turns robots into self-developing, adaptive, problem-solving, “thinking” machines. Brainstorm® automatically adapts to on-board sensors and actuators, immediately builds a model of any robot on which it is installed, and automatically writes control programs for the robot’s movements. It can then explore and model its environment. Through simulated interaction using these models, it solves problems and develops new behavior using “imagination.” Once it has “learned” to do something, it can use its imagination to adapt its behavior to a wide range of circumstances. A methodology known as genetic programming (GP) is “the trick” that makes it all possible. GP is an automated programming methodology inspired by natural evolution that is used to evolve computer programs."
You can't download their system right away - iRobis is rather looking for high-potential partners/companies/researchers with whom they can develop prototypes like toys or perhaps household robots. Please hurry - I really want some kind of little robot fella on my desktop or maybe a little bit larger so he can get me a coffee or pizza from the kitchen.
-- You can subscribe to this blog: It's about the Metaverse - 3DWeb, social web, virtual worlds, Artificial Intelligence and whatever relates to those.WEITERLESEN...
Die sympathischen Forscher Matthieu Deru und Simon Bergweiler vom Deutschen Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI), die schon mit dem Wii-Balance Board durch Google Earth und Second Life surften, haben mal wieder ein interessantes Projekt zum Thema Mensch-Maschine Schnittstellen vorgestellt: CoMET, das steht für "Collaborative Media Exchange Terminal". Entwickelt wurde Hard- und Software im eigenen Advanced Tangible Interface Lab in Saarbrücken.
Das CoMET Dashboard mit verschiedenen "Spotlets" - intelligente Agenten (Software) mit unterschiedlichen Funktionen
Mithilfe eines durch Sprachbefehle und Drag-and-Drop steuerbaren Arbeitstisches (CoMET) und der dazugehörigen Software versuchen die beiden Forscher uns Normalsterblichen die Nutzung des entstehenden semantischen Webs zu vereinfachen. Zur Demonstration nutzen sie ein iPhone, eine Kamera und einen berührungsempfindlichen Tisch, der als Arbeitsfläche dient. In dem folgenden Video kann man sich genau anschauen, wie das Ganze funktioniert - die beiden sprechen wieder englisch mit lustigem saarländischen Akzent ;-)
Ich hab ja in letzter Zeit ein paar Mixed Reality Beispiele in meinem Augmented Reality Channel auf YouTube gesammelt und ein paar aktuelle Lösungen in meinem englischen Blog vorgestellt. Jetzt kann man das Konzept ganz einfach selbst ausprobieren: Alles, was man dazu braucht, ist eine Webcam und Flash. Digital Pictures Interactive hat eine kleine grüne 3D-Figur mithilfe von Papervision3D zum Leben erweckt:
Voilá, der kleine grüne Alien erscheint auf der eigenen Hand oder auf dem Schreibtisch - je nachdem, wo man das Symbol hinbewegt. Funktioniert in jedem Browser (Flash muss installiert sein) und mit der billigsten Kamera.
Das ist nur eine technologische Demonstration, wie einfach man Augmented Reality Lösungen bereits heute einbinden kann. Sobald z.B. das iPhone Flash unterstützt, haben sehr viele Leute automatisch alles dabei, um Mixed Reality überall und jederzeit zu benutzen. Die "Trigger" (Symbole) können in Zeitschriften, Büchern, Broschüren und auf Plakaten abgedruckt werden und bieten so im wahrsten Sinne eine weitere Dimension. Gefragt sind jetzt kreative Köpfe in Agenturen und Unternehmen, die diese Technologie kennen, verstehen und daraus sinnvolle Konzepte entwickeln.
Eine andere niedliche Variante von AR für den Schreibtisch - die man sogar mit einem präparierten Stab anstupsen kann - heißt "Japanese Girlfriend" - Vint Falken, ebenfalls eine Reisende im Metaverse, zeigt sie in Aktion in ihrem Blog. -- Dieses Blog abonnieren. Meine Themen sind 3D Web, Social Web, Mixed Reality, Neurowissenschaften und Lernen.
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Studie: "Die Mehrheit der Studierenden (73 Prozent) bewegt sich täglich zwischen einer und drei Stunden aktiv im Internet, ein knappes Viertel surft vier bis sechs Stunden pro Tag, und immerhin 1,3 Prozent gaben an, 10 bis 12 Stunden pro Tag im Internet unterwegs zu sein.
Nur 0,3 Prozent sind weniger als eine Stunde pro Tag im Internet unterwegs.
Laut der Untersuchung greifen die Studierenden besonders gerne auf die Online-Enzyklopädie Wikipedia und auf Netzwerke wie StudiVZ, FaceBook, MySpace oder Xing zu. So gaben 60 Prozent der Umfrageteilnehmer an, Wikipedia zu nutzen – Männer etwas häufiger als Frauen. In Social Communities sind hingegen Frauen (60 Prozent) deutlich aktiver als Männer (43Prozent). Ein gutes Drittel der Studierenden (36 Prozent) chattet häufig oder tauscht Nachrichten über Instant Messaging aus, gefolgt von Video-Communities (16 Prozent), anderen Wikis (15 Prozent) und Online-Spielen (9 Prozent)."
[Ergebnisse einer gemeinsam von der in Hannover ansässigen Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH (HIS) und dem Multimedia Kontor Hamburg (MMKH) durchgeführten Befragung von 4.400 Studenten]
Weiter heißt es: "Second Life spielt bei Studierenden jedoch kaum eine Rolle: 79 Prozent gaben an, Second Life überhaupt nicht aufzusuchen." Das liegt daran, dass Second Life überwiegend für Leute über 30 attraktiv ist und Studenten normalerweise nicht in dieses Alterssegment fallen (siehe: Universe Graph, Virtual Worlds by age segments, von Kzero)
"Thanks to advances in our understanding of biology, scientists believe they can model a new generation of computers on how the brain actually works—the microscopic chemical interactions and electrical impulses that translate sensations into knowledge and knowledge into decisions and actions. It's a successor to the old ideas about artificial intelligence, and a handful of companies have initiatives under way, among them IBM (IBM) and Numenta, a Silicon Valley startup."
Artificial Technology GmbH’s modular middleware for emotional and artificial intelligence will make the inhabitants of virtual worlds more intelligent, emotional and vivid
The Scientific American recently ran an article about the current research in neuro-technology regarding brain-machine interfaces. The first page is a little dragging, mentioning all the crazy ideas of science-fiction authors of the past 30 years, but the rest of the article is about current research programs like using the brain as an interface for prosthetics, steering through virtual worlds by mere thought or improving our memories with an artificial hippocampus. If you don't have time skip to page 4 of the article.Full article on Scientific American: Jacking into the Brain - Is the Brain the Ultimate Computer Interface?
Although we appearently still don't know jack about jacking into the brain and doing something really useful with it, there is the next best thing that you can order now (will be shipped to US addresses only by the end of the year for 299 US$): The EmotivEpoc headset taps your neurons from the outside and translates your intentions, facial expressions and emotions into commands for 3D games and virtual worlds. Their technology also lets you control a wheelchair just using mind control (video). Spooky, huh? And damn useful if it works. Here's a video showing how it works with games.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="249" caption="No more typing "lol" (laugh out loud)"]EmotivEpoc neuro-headset
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Mac support is planned but scheduled for later - "the market conditions dictate that Windows comes first" is what Jonathan Geracifrom the Emotiv team told me in July. But they offer an open API set for developers so the range of supported games and virtual 3D platforms should be impressive.
Read more about the sensor-laden headset or order it now if you are living in Obama land at the Emotiv Website. (No chance for the rest of the world without US address yet)
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Demonstration of Oblong's g-speak spatial operating environment.
Some of the core ideas are already familiar from the film Minority Report, where Tom Cruise's character performed forensic analysis using massive, gesturally driven displays. The similarity is no coincidence: one of Oblong's founders served as science advisor to Minority Report and based the design of those scenes directly on his earlier work at MIT. More about the technology: oblong industries, inc.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="A book with special embedded pictures/codes and a cell phone with a camera is all you need to learn Mandarin from a 3D panda"][/caption]
I have done a little research about Augmented Reality (AR) lately and this is one of the few really useful examples of AR solutions for books that I have found (unfortunately I couldn't find a video of it).
Here is how it works: The book designers have embedded cues (a graphic or a code) into the graphics and the software on your cell phone reacts to those. In this example the child's book shows several Chinese characters and if you point your cell's camera to the page, a small 3D cartoon panda come to life on your mobile's display and says the character in English and then in Mandarin. This way the child doesn't need a computer to use a learning software but still has the advantages of modern media - animation, interaction, sound - when (and where) needed.
These kinds of "magic books" will become available by the end of this year.
[caption id="attachment_522" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Traveling Windfairy (my alter ego) in Meez"][/caption]
Talking avatars instead of flat still pictures in IM, representing our real persona while conversing with others, will soon be rather the norm; enhance the animated figurines with AI (Artificial Intelligence) and you can survive the economic downturn by hiring 24/7 employees that never sleep and never complain: Talking Avatars with pre-scripted knowledge or even self-learning skills are in the works all over the worlds (post about it coming soon) and they can help out as greeters, talking FAQs, sales representitives, entertainment characters or automated teachers and tour guides. Their workspace will be where ever real people go wearing an avatar - virtual worlds, 2.5 and 3D chat rooms and the 3D Web.
Freddie McMahon lists some of the movers and shakers for talking avatars in his blog.
Some Snapshots and Screenshots of current and upcoming virtual worlds and chat rooms. 3:40 minutes. More to come.
UPDATE:Gary Hayes just tweeted that he published his travels through the metaverse in the summer. Since I didn't favorited it back then I thought I'd lost it - Gary, I'm so glad you contacted me! His video is covering far more worlds and is a must see: 2008 Metaverse Tour on YouTube>>WEITERLESEN...
![Bill Diodato, Scientific American]](http://www.sciam.com/media/inline/E25FBA86-AC61-F2F8-1D0BFBD2C1EFD994_1.jpg)
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Gaby K. Slezák 
