How Many Lines of Computer Code are Required to Simulate the Human Brain? ~ Stephen's Web. The Micro-Sociology of Networks. Next week I am giving a guest lecture at the Parsons School of Design, specifically an innovation course being taught by BusinessWeek's Bruce Nussbaum. I've been fortunate to establish a relationship with Bruce over the years—ironically all initiated and somewhat sustained by social networks. But the premise of my talk is going to be somewhat different (hopefully) from what we see and hear in the business world which is currently infatuated with the latest and greatest bright and shiny object to hit the scene. What I'm hoping to delve into a bit more is how these bright and shiny objects influence our behaviors and how these behaviors are evolving even thoiugh our basic needs remain relatively the same. As I do with nearly all my presentations—I post them up before I give them so you can have a look and I can initiate a first feedback loop before the "launch" on Monday.
Blog Archive » Realizing the Potential of Virtual Worlds: Why and How to Support OpenSim. Are you one of those people who need something more to get you excited about the future of virtual worlds than, “I am in ur browser, chatting in 3D?” Well, perhaps, it is time for you to take a close look at the burgeoning open source ecosystem surrounding OpenSIm. Jonas Karlsson, Xerox, (avatar Poinky Malaprop) wrote an excellent post (I quote his great title above!) Explaining why he is not turned on by the big bubble of browser based worlds that have sprung up recently – Vivaty, Lively, JustLeapIn, ExitReality, WebFlock and more This flood of browser based worlds into the virtual world scene has caused many commentators in the field to articulate clearly what is important about virtual worlds and where these lite weight worlds fall short (see Dusan Writer) and how they can’t realize virtual worlds’ potential as innovative disruptive technnologies that will actually improve the human condition.
Why is OpenSim Important? There is a common misunderstanding about OpenSim. The Goals of OSGrid. Xbox and Wii Gaming Controllers in Military – Army Uses Video Game Controllers for Training. NEW YORK — Last week was Fleet Week here, so a few of us from Popular Mechanics walked over to Pier 88 on the Hudson River to check out some of the latest gee-whiz weaponry from the Office of Naval Research. I got an in-seat tour of the new Lightweight Stabilized M240 Weapon System, a swiveling rooftop gun mount for Humvees that's completely computer-controlled from inside the cockpit using dual joysticks and a large resistive touchscreen display.
I used the controls to perform a target lock on an unsuspecting civilian Fleet Week spectator, and as the rooftop turret followed the poor fellow around the area, I remarked to one of the ONR representatives how frighteningly similar the whole system was to a video game. He agreed, then showed me a military spec version of an Xbox 360 gamepad that was an alternate interface for the same machine. (It wasn't all that different from the one we thumbed to test drive the Army's robotic MULE vehicle from Lockheed Martin earlier this year.) Institute for simulation and training.