technology – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

March 8, 2025

‘An ideal tool’: prisons are using virtual reality to help people in solitary confinement

Participants view scenes of daily life as well as travel adventures – then process the emotions they trigger through art

One Monday in July, Samantha Tovar, known as Royal, left her 6ft-by-11ft cell for the first time in three weeks. Correctional officers escorted her to the common area of the Central California Women’s Facility and chained her hands and feet to a metal table, on top of which sat a virtual reality headset. Two and a half years into a five-year prison sentence, Royal was about to see Thailand for the first time.

When she first put on the headset, Royal immediately had an aerial view of a cove. Soon after, her view switched to a boat moving fairly fast with buildings on either side of the water. In the boat was a man with a backpack, and it was as if she were sitting beside him. With accompanying meditative music and narration, the four-minute scene took Royal across a crowded Thai market, through ancient ruins, on a tuk-tuk (a three-wheeled rickshaw) and into an elephant bath with her backpacked companion. For Royal, these vignettes felt real enough to be deserving of a passport stamp.

March 3, 2025

Companion and other AI films to see

Companion and other AI films to see. KBZ Films has had some interesting articles about a variety of films covering different areas of technology from AI to the Multiverse to VR. We have covered some of these articles from the tech horror of AR & VR in film to their list of the best AR & VR films.

One of our favorite films we have seen this year is Companion. The film is a dark and twisted romantic comedy featuring AI and how it could be abused by someone with a lack of morals or ethics. So it wasn’t a surprise to see Companion at the top of a list KBZ Film recently sent us that outlined some of the best films about AI from the last 5 years. We were also pleasantly surprised to see The Artifice Girl on the list as it’s a film we enjoyed that few people in our industry have heard of. It’s also a great film to check out if you’re looking for a technical deep dive into areas of AI development.

We’ve embedded video from the article that shows some previews of the films on their list and there’s some other interesting films we plan on checking out including Wonderland.

The post Companion and other AI films to see appeared first on Zugara.

February 28, 2025

Scientists create ‘e-Taste’ device that could add flavour to virtual reality experiences

Potential uses for gadget could include online shopping, weight management and sensory testing, say researchers

If your colleague bores you to tears with pictures of their lunch, then a new gadget could make your life even worse.

Scientists have developed a device to recreate the flavours of food and drink, allowing them to be shared remotely in a matter of seconds – but they have not yet cracked spicy food.

January 2, 2025

The Tech Horror of AR & VR in Film

We have previously written a few blog posts about KBZ Film which is a site that lists over 28,000 films within 209 film subgenres and microgenres. Some of our posts have been about KBZ’s subgenres including Techno Thrillers, Films About AI, Films About Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality and Cyberpunk Films. We thought it would be a good time to go back to KBZ for the tech horror of AR & VR in film.

We’re admittedly a little late getting to this. but late last year, KBZ also released a list of Techno-Horror films. This list caught our eye for a few reasons. While most of the films are related to the horrors of artificial intelligence (that’s seems to be the most popular technology subject for horror), their blog post also has an extensive list of AR & VR Horror films. Some of these films include classic VR horror like Videodrome (1983), The Lawnmower Man (1992) and The Cell (2000) and there were also more recent films that explore the horrors of AR in H0us3 (2019), The Bridge Curse: Ritual (2023) and Latency (2024). Those are some of the better films exploring the tech horror of AR & VR in film and we would also suggest a few other horror films including Blind Date (1984), St. John’s Wort (2001), You Die (2018) & V/H/S/85 (2023).

Though it’s not a horror film, we still feel Anon (2018) is the best film about the dangers of widespread AR and we highly recommend watching it if you haven’t seen the film yet. Otherwise, if horror is more your thing and you want to see the dangers of any new technology from AI & AR to VR & XR, we suggest you read KBZ’s blog post of Techno-Horror films or watch their video below.

The post The Tech Horror of AR & VR in Film appeared first on Zugara.

January 2, 2025

Games to look forward to in 2025: Date Everything!

An endearingly weird game about dating household appliances, with every potential lover – from an unhinged microwave to a fratboy fireplace – brought to life by a different voice actor

Like many great things, Date Everything! started off as a joke. Envisioning a game where a lonely remote worker starts chatting up their furniture, Final Fantasy voice actors Ray Chase and Robbie Daymond soon became obsessed with the concept. What if there really was a game where you could date literally everything?

Now boasting more than 70,000 lines of dialogue and 100 dateable inanimate objects, their weird game about hitting on household appliances has become a reality. Partnering with Team 17 and fellow voice actor and producer Amanda Hufford, they have brought their silly concept to life, a game that they describe as wholesome, flirty and fun.

December 25, 2024

I spent a week working, exercising and relaxing in virtual reality. I’m shocked to say it finally works | Ed Newton-Rex

Bar some glitches, I think a tipping point has been reached – except when it comes to virtual gigs

I’m writing this from a room that’s slowly orbiting the Earth. Behind the floating screen in front of me, through a giant opening where a wall should be, the planet slowly spins, so close that it takes up most of my field of vision. It’s morning in Australia to my right; India and the first hints of Europe are dotted with lights up and to my left. The soft drone of the air circulation system hums quietly behind me.

I spent a week doing everything that I could – working, exercising, composing – on my virtual reality headset. This was the year virtual reality threatened to go mainstream, with prices becoming more attainable and Apple entering the market, and so I wanted to see how far VR has come since I first tried it in the mid-2010s, when the main experiences on offer were nausea-inducing rollercoaster simulators. I used a recent model from Meta, called the Quest 3, and the conclusion was clear: this thing now works. It feels a little unfinished, but we’ve reached the point where VR could at last become genuinely useful.

December 16, 2024

A volcanic explosion every 15 minutes: how Australia’s museums are turning to tech to lure us in

Museums are using VR and immersive experiences to boost attendances – and, while it can provide an amazing spectacle, critics say it can be an expensive distraction

It starts with a low rumble, then an explosion and a deafening roar. A pyroclastic flow bursts from the volcano and hurtles towards us at a frightening speed. Showers of ash appear to pummel the space around us – well technically, it’s a pumice lapilli unique to Mount Vesuvius – and, for a few minutes, visitors to the National Museum of Australia are in Pompeii 1,946 years ago.

Immersive experiences, including increasingly sophisticated virtual reality technology, have gone from gimmick to essential component of blockbuster museum exhibitions, despite criticism from scholarly quarters that whiz-bang special effects can distract viewers from the actual artefacts and exhibits, and are training a future generation to assume entertainment is the primary function of museums.

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November 25, 2024

Meta Quest 3S review: the best bang for your buck in VR

Headset offers near top-tier experience at cut-down price with good fit, fast chip, great controllers and large games library

Meta’s latest virtual reality headset offers almost everything that makes its top model the best on the market but at a price that is far more palatable as an entry into VR.

The Quest 3S costs £290 (€330/$300/A$500) – about 40% less than the £470 Quest 3 and cheaper than 2020’s Quest 2 that it directly replaces.

September 25, 2024

Meta debuts augmented reality glasses and Judi Dench-voiced AI chatbot

Mark Zuckerberg presents Orion, prototype that can project digital renderings of media, games and more onto real world

The Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, presented new augmented reality glasses at the company’s annual developer conference on Wednesday, debuting a prototype of the next phase in its expansion into smart eyewear. Zuckerberg also announced that Meta AI will be able to talk in the voice of Dame Judi Dench.

The glasses, named Orion, have the ability to project digital representations of media, people, games and communications on to the real world. Meta and Zuckerberg have framed the product as a step away from desktop computers and smartphone into eyewear that can perform similar tasks.

September 22, 2024

NHS pilot uses virtual reality to tackle racism and discrimination among staff

Immersive training scenarios highlight experiences of minority ethnic colleagues in health service

In one scene, a black nurse called Tunde is told by his manager that personal protective equipment (PPE) was being locked away at night to prevent its theft during night shifts, during the pandemic when ethnic minorities were more likely to work these hours.

In another, an Asian female doctor called Jasmine is dismissed by an HR manager after raising a double standard regarding requests for shift changes during the pandemic over childcare, something which her white colleagues were granted.

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