ARE there vastly many near-duplicates of you reading vastly many near-duplicates of this article in vastly many parallel universes? Is consciousness a fundamental property of all matter? Could reality be a computer simulation? Reader, I can hear your groans from here in California. We are inclined to reject ideas like …
Read More »Artificial touch: The new tech making virtual reality more immersive
YOU open a door and it hits you – a flare of warmth on your skin. You brace yourself to go inside, battling smoke and heat. Flames flicker around you as you make your way through a burning building. You find what you came for and escape. Outside, it is …
Read More »A bold new take on quantum theory could reveal how reality emerges
ONE snowy day last year, I trekked out of Vienna, Austria, winding my way to one of the city’s graveyards to visit the final resting place of a giant of 19th-century physics. Ludwig Boltzmann’s tombstone features an imposing bust of the man, frowning down with a severe expression. And there …
Read More »AI can steal passwords in virtual reality from avatar hand motions
Artificial intelligence can work out what someone is privately typing in VR meetings in Meta Horizon Workrooms by looking at the way their avatar’s hands move Source link
Read More »Physicists can complete our amazing, imperfect picture of reality
THE standard model of particle physics is a stunning achievement. It offers a concise description of the basic constituents of the universe, the particles and forces that make reality, that agrees with every experimental test we have thrown at it. By most measures, it is the most successful scientific theory …
Read More »Rethinking reality: Is the entire universe a single quantum object?
DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY IMAGINE you could see through everyday objects to the stuff they are made of. If you zoomed in on the arm of a chair, say, you would see that it is made of atoms. Zoom in again and you would see that …
Read More »Do we create space-time? A new perspective on the fabric of reality
IMAGINE approaching a Renaissance sculpture in a gallery. Even from a distance, it looks impressive. But it is only as you get close and walk around it that you begin to truly appreciate its quality: the angle of the jaw, the aquiline nose, the softness of the hair rendered in …
Read More »Mechanical backpack boosts the sensation of jumping in virtual reality
A mechanical backpack can enhance the sensation of jumping or falling in virtual reality by sliding a weight up or down. Simulating forces on the body while in virtual reality (VR), like those you might feel in a roller coaster or a racing car, often requires bulky and expensive hardware …
Read More »Rats can move objects in virtual reality using only their thoughts
In VR, rats can exert control with their minds blickwinkel/Schmidt-Roeger/Alamy Rats can move objects in virtual reality just by thinking of where they want them to go, thanks to an artificial intelligence that reads their intentions in the brain. A mental map of our local surroundings is stored in a …
Read More »High-tech face mask lets you smell things in virtual reality
A face mask designed to enhance virtual reality can release various smells to make the simulation more immersive. It could even be used to mimic the odour of absent loved ones during virtual meetings, say its creators. The senses of sight, sound and touch are all commonly catered for by …
Read More »