VirtualGaming
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Kinect makes pact with head-mounted display, virtual reality Skyrim ensues
Yeah, streaming Skyrim on a Tegra 3-powered Ice Cream Sandwich tablet is nice and all, but what about folks who want a more immersive experience with their beloved time sink? One tech-savvy gamer took matters into his own hands -- conjuring a bit of electronics alchemy by throwing together Sony's HMZ-T1 head-mounted display with a Kinect sensor, a TrackIR5 for head tracking and voice recognition software. The result is an experience that allows any wannabe adventurer to press onward into Tamriel's frozen north by marching in place while imbibing in a true, head-mounted first-person perspective. Admittedly, stomping around and flailing one's arms may lack the elegance and playability of The Gadget Show's $650,000 Battlefield 3 simulator, but at $1500, it's a homegrown virtual reality experience that's actually within reach. Now go forth and explore the video after the break.
Get your Second Life live on your cellphone
Are you sneaking away from work early to get your "Second Life" with it in the virtual space? Well, millions do that every day, so it seems strangely natural for someone or something to port the Second Life virtual environment to a mobile somehow. It's been done -- and as a J2ME application that should work on almost any java-enabled cellphone. Killer features here, according to Comverse Technology which created the app, are integrated SMS and instant messaging -- and even streaming of mobile video directly inside the Second Life mobile app. But if that data connection drops out, expect your avatar to wilt over and wait for that nifty EV-DO or HSDPA connection to return in full force.
