3D

Imagine a robot or a drone that is made with a 'skin' of sorts capable of precise amounts of shock absorption, something tailored to meet the precise needs of the device. That's exactly what MIT researchers have made possible via a new shock-absorbing 3D material for robots that offers all sorts of interesting properties, not the least of which is less bouncy, more precise and controlled landings after a blow.

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Viewing digital images in 3D, whether it be in a theater or with something like a VR headset, operate on the same principles of separating what the left eye sees from what the right eye sees. Coincidentally, both those cases also have something in common: the need to use some eyepiece or, worse, headgear, to experience "true" 3D visuals. Glasses-free 3D has been a holy grail, especially in the entertainment industry, where solutions like that found on the Nintendo 3DS are too expensive to put on a giant screen. Luckily, researchers from MIT are working on such a solution and are calling it, what else, "Cinema 3D".

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With the Lenovo PHAB2 Pro, the company becomes the first to detail a consumer-aimed Google Tango smartphone. This is the technology we've been demoing and hypothesizing about for months - even years - now come to a device that, fingers crossed, will be released in September of 2016. This device's implementation of Tango technology allows it to use motion tracking, depth perception, and area learning to know not only what it can see, but where it is in 3D space at any given time.

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Want to record 3D videos, but don’t have hundreds or thousands of dollars to spend on a dedicated VR camera? Vitrima lens could be the solution, especially if you already own a GoPro action camera. The lens is better described as being a case with a large open front portion in which a couple of mirrors are positioned. When the camera is inserted, the mirrors shuttle two slightly different images to the camera, producing a stereoscopic video that looks 3D with the right headset.

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If you are a fan of the rock band Queen, you will recognize the name Brian May as the guitarist for the band. Being a rock star isn’t all that May is up to, he is also an astrophysicist and owns a company called the London Stereoscopic Company that makes something called the Owl Stereo Viewer. This device allows people to view his company’s reproductions of classic Victorian era stereo cards along with astronomy cards and images from Queen.

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Virtual reality cameras have been increasing in number over the past year or so, as ways to consume VR content - whether smartphone based, like Gear VR or Google Cardboard, or more significant rigs like Oculus' Rift and HTC's Vive - have proliferated. Usually, though, the decision you have to make is whether you want the best quality, or to burn through the contents of your wallet.

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A few years ago, Samsung and LG were almost at east other's throats, trying to beat the other to the flexible smartphone race. Both, however, have stopped short of that goal, settling for curved smartphones like the G Flex, or curved edge screens like the Galaxy S7 edge. Some, however, have never given up that dream. Researchers from Australia's Queen's University Human Media Lab have cooked up a smartphone that does flex just a bit. That, however, is only in service to the HoloFlex's real raison d'être: projecting holograms.

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VideoStitch has launched the Orah 4i, a small camera capable of livestreaming 4K-resolution 360-degree video with 3D audio specifically for virtual reality applications. The company, perhaps best known for its 360-degree VR video software, has put the camera up for preorder at a discounted rate; company CEO Nicolas Burtey said in a statement, “We have developed a solution that
streams 4K resolution live virtual reality video to headsets–all with the push of a button.”

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Ever wondered how your classic two-dimensional games would look like in 3D but didn't really want them converted to full 3D? Well, wonder no more. A new kind of emulator is apparently in development that does the seemingly magical but also most likely grueling work of directly taking old 2D games and adding some 3D depth to them, making games like Super Mario, Mega Man, and Contra pop out, almost literally. While it doesn't change the gameplay, it definitely adds a new dimension to the games.

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While we're estimating that the all-in-one VR headset is going to be a big deal, it's not going to replace your phone - it's going to replace your television. For those that take this next wave serious enough to replace their television AND their phone, well - therein lies the danger. Warnings are out there. We've talked about this. The troubles we've been discussing over the past several years regarding virtual reality headsets become a much bigger deal when it comes to using said device as your one-and-only.

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The University of Washington has unveiled the prototype of a device called the NutriRay3D, a hand-held nutrition scanner not unlike something out of classic sci-fi movies. The NutriRay3D prototype aims to take the guess work out of calorie counting, keeping track of how many calories as person is consuming simply by scanning the dish and analyzing the calories.

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Intel has decided that this week, amid the masses of information being released on all manner of CES 2016 devices, they'd release a phone too. This device isn't just any phone, of course, it's a developer-aimed device - which means they aren't aiming to sell them in droves, by any means. Instead, Intel's device is meant to be sold to developers who will then use the capabilities of the device to create their own unique applications for the near future, complete with Google Tango action.

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