Soft-Edged Shadows
A coder?s article about creating realistic, dynamic soft shadow in real-time interactive, and complex scenes.

Whilst over 30 years old now, this book is one of those whose usefulness is never likely to fade. It is a physics book, dealing with the mathematics and physical constraints of getting any rigid body jointed system to move as desired. Designed initially with robots in mind, long before the avatar, the maths contained within is ideal for grounding on ragdoll physics as used with avatars.

Confirmation: Any Tool is viewed as a Temporary Body Part
With the number of rubber body(part) studies that have been done, each showing that if it looks to be a body part, and feels like a body part, the brain accepts it as a body part, this research should also hold no surprises. We finally have direct proof of the concept that, when we utilize any tool, even for a scant few minutes, our brains integrate that tool into our self-body-image.

Rubber hand, rubber body, rubber arm, rubber leg. Time and time again, studies have shown that even if a body part is completely fake, completely artificial, if enough of our senses tell us that it is us, then we believe it, consciously and subconsciously. This can easily be exploited by VR, such that what you perceive to be your body, IS your body, even when its really your avatar.

Body 2.0 - Continuous Monitoring Of The Human Body
A detailed and in-depth article by the singularity hub, on the quest for integrating the human body with a sensory network, and what such will mean for us as individuals, health and life-wise.

Virtual Body: Fundamental Concepts: 1
In order to link a mind to a virtual body, which will be controlled by the same subconscious and conscious impulses as a physical body should be, the link connecting the mind to the physical body, save for autonomous finctions, is likely to require severing or blocking for the duration of the virtual immersion.

Interrupting the Brainstem
The brainstem is the part of the brain that descends just in front of the cerebellum. It drops down from the brain to meet and meld with the spinal cord rising from the body. The issue is, how do we go about hijacking the brainstem, to splice a virtual body, or artificial body parts onto it?

Virtual worlds Require Better Tools
When we interact with the world around us, how do we do it? Do we press soft foot soles to the floor, feeling the cold flow up our legs? Bend over the fridge, wiping the hair out of our eyes as we do so, smelling the mix of meats and cheeses within?

(03/08/2012)
Computer-generated characters have become so lifelike in appearance and movement that the line separating reality is almost imperceptible at times. "The Matrix" sequels messed with audiences' perceptions of reality (in more ways than one...

(27/06/2008)
iRobot has secured a multimillion-dollar R&D contract for a new type of soft, flexible robot for the military.

The robot DARPA wants to see must be a soft, flexible, mobile robot that can squeeze into hard-to-reach places. Th...

(28/07/2014)
In the movie “Terminator 2,” the shape-shifting T-1000 robot morphs into a liquid state to squeeze through tight spaces or to repair itself when harmed.

Now a phase-changing material built from wax and foam, and capable of sw...

(19/06/2012)
The EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) Laboratory of Intelligent Systems (LIS) is working on a robot made up of soft, floating modules that connect to each other through electroadhesion.

Electroadhesion uses very...

(11/08/2012)
Earthworms creep along the ground by alternately squeezing and stretching muscles along the length of their bodies, inching forward with each wave of contractions. Snails and sea cucumbers also use this mechanism, called peristalsis, to get...