An interesting application of augmented reality that could, down the line, be greatly useful in the Health Sciences realm.  For now though, it’s a bit more on the novel and interesting side than actual practicality.  The multi-effect project, as implemented by researchers at the University of Tokyo presents the test participants with a special cookie.

Wait, special cookie?  Well, taste-wise, the cookie appears to be pretty plain looking and bland, but with an added bonus.  The crunchy baked good is actually branded with an AR marker that overlays a graphic of any other cookie over the original dull treat.  The culinary explorer sees this through a VR headset that is also connected to a mechanism that pumps scented (cocoa) air into the participant’s nose at varying rates depending on how close the cookie is to their mouth.

With sight, touch, and smell activated, it creates a strong cross-modal effect that gives the illusion of a more delicious cookie than the one actually delivered.  As we know, since scent and taste are so closely related, we’re extremely curious to see just how this Metacookie would taste.

Where were you on October 21st, 2010? Listen to Bonnie Bucker, CEO of MicroFocus Media, a corporate and political marketing research firm she co-created, founded and helped bring to success, talk about Imagined Communities. Bonnie is also a co-founder of Be, a restoration and urban renewal venture. In these capacities Bonnie has worked with u.s. Presidential and other prominent national political campaigns, as well as helped organize community grass-roots neighborhood improvement efforts in conjunction with city boards and non-profit organizations.

This video is copyrighted by ImmersiveTech: immersivetech.org

Where were you on October 21st, 2010? Listen to Mark Bolas, a research scientist, artist, and designer exploring perception, agency, and intelligence at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director at USC ICT talk about where we are today with virtual reality. His work focuses on creating virtual environments and transducers that fully engage one’s perception and cognition, and create a visceral memory of the experience. Amongst his courses at the undergraduate and graduate level are the design for interactive media and the business of interactive media. Bolas’ 1988-89 thesis work “Design and Virtual Environments” was among the first efforts to map the breadth of virtual reality as a new medium. He has been a professor at Stanford University and KEIO University and is chairman of Fakespace Labs in Mountain View, California, which he co-founded in 1989 with Ian McDowall and Eric Lorimer to build instrumentation for research labs to explore virtual reality and grow the emerging field.

This video is copyrighted by ImmersiveTech: immersivetech.org