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Birdly VR rig invites users to soar like an eagle, look like a lazy mole
Mankind has long dreamed of soaring through the clouds like the majestic albatross. That feat remains firmly in the realm of comic books and sci-fi novels, but thanks to students at the Zurich University of the Arts and the Oculus Rift VR headset, we can now fake it pretty well. Dubbed "Birdly," the contraption seen in the above footage offers users a bird's-eye view of their virtual flight, while a fan provides faux headwind and scent emitters waft the surrounding smells directly into a the would-be bird's all too human nose. Motors in the apparatus shift a user in relation to what the Oculus Rift headset is depicting, and sensors translate arm movements into the flapping of an bird's wings. Granted, it's not actual flight, and will probably cause a number of people to vomit from vertigo or simple sensory overload, but you take the good with the bad. A few puke stains are a small price to pay to glimpse the future of virtual reality. [Image: Birdly]
Kompott 'robotic agent' helps the elderly stay connected, enjoys a nap
Full-fledged humanoid robots helping the elderly are certainly well and good, but what about somebody that just needs a little help staying in touch with their family? They might one day be using something like this so-called Kompott "robotic agent" designed by some students at the Zurich University of the Arts Interaction Design lab. As you can see, it's actually just a robot head, which has a touchscreen for a face and a couple of sensors that let you tap it on top to wake it up, and on each side to scroll through items. To simplify things even further, the bot also boasts both voice recognition and text-to-speech, and a single button on its chest that lets you access a list of contacts. Of course, it's still just a prototype, but it does appear to be fully functional -- head on past the break to check it out in action.
