Virtual Environment News

June 13, 2025

Top Headlines

Self-Powered Artificial Synapse Mimics Human Color Vision

June 2, 2025 — Despite advances in machine vision, processing visual data requires substantial computing resources and energy, limiting deployment in edge devices. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a self-powered artificial synapse that distinguishes ...

Five Things to Do in Virtual Reality -- And Five to Avoid

May 28, 2025 — A review of experimental research reveals how VR is best used and why it's struggled to become a megahit with ...

Listening to Electrons Talk

May 29, 2025 — Researchers present new experimental and theoretical results for the bound electron g-factor in lithium-like tin which has a much higher nuclear charge than any previous measurement. The experimental accuracy reached a level of 0.5 parts per ...

An Artificial Protein That Moves Like Something Found in Nature

May 22, 2025 — Proteins catalyze life by changing shape when they interact with other molecules. The result is a muscle twitching, the perception of light, or a bit of energy extracted from food. The ability to engineer shapeshifting proteins opens new avenues for ...

High-Quality OLED Displays Now Enabling Integrated Thin and Multichannel Audio

May 21, 2025 — A research team has developed the world's first Pixel-Based Local Sound OLED technology. This breakthrough enables each pixel of an OLED display to simultaneously emit different sounds, essentially ...

Researchers Make Breakthrough in Semiconductor Technology Set to Supercharge 6G Delivery

May 22, 2025 — Self-driving cars which eliminate traffic jams, getting a healthcare diagnosis instantly without leaving your home, or feeling the touch of loved ones based across the continent may sound like the ...

Remotely Controlled Robots at Your Fingertips: Enhancing Safety in Industrial Sites

May 19, 2025 — A research team has developed a novel haptic device designed to enhance both safety and efficiency for workers in industrial ...

How to Swim Without a Brain

May 19, 2025 — A team was able to show that swimming movements are possible even without a central control unit. This not only explains the behavior of microorganisms, it could also enable nanobots to move in a targeted manner, for example to transport drugs to ...

Machine Learning Powers New Approach to Detecting Soil Contaminants

May 9, 2025 — A team of researchers has developed a new strategy for identifying hazardous pollutants in soil -- even ones that have never been isolated or studied in a ...

One Glass, Full Color: Sub-Millimeter Waveguide Shrinks AR Glasses

May 8, 2025 — Augmented-reality (AR) technology is rapidly finding its way into everyday life, from education and healthcare to gaming and entertainment. However, the core AR device remains bulky and heavy, making prolonged wear uncomfortable. A breakthrough now ...

Is Virtual-Only Couture the New Clothing Craze?

May 7, 2025 — As fast fashion continues to fill wardrobes and landfills at a staggering pace, new research suggests that the future of fashion might lie not in fabric, but in ...

Cutting the Complexity from Digital Carpentry

Apr. 25, 2025 — Many products in the modern world are in some way fabricated using computer numerical control (CNC) machines, which use computers to automate machine operations in manufacturing. While simple in concept, the ways to instruct these machines is in ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:43pm EDT

Photons Collide in the Void: Quantum Simulation Creates Light out of Nothing

June 8, 2025 — Physicists have managed to simulate a strange quantum phenomenon where light appears to arise from empty space a concept that until now has only ...

Combining Signals Could Make for Better Control of Prosthetics

Apr. 24, 2025 — Combining two different kinds of signals could help engineers build prosthetic limbs that better reproduce natural movements, according to a new study. A combination of electromyography and force ...

Farm Robot Autonomously Navigates, Harvests Among Raised Beds

Apr. 16, 2025 — A researcher has developed an autonomous driving algorithm for agricultural robots used for greenhouse cultivation and other farm ...

Simulate Sound in 3D at a Finer Scale Than Humans Can Perceive

Apr. 15, 2025 — Ambisonic rendering is a way to simulate the precise locations of sounds in 3D, and an ambisonics algorithm has allowed researchers to create rich virtual 'soundscapes.'Researchers decided to test ...

3D Streaming Gets Leaner by Seeing Only What Matters

Apr. 9, 2025 — A new approach to streaming technology may significantly improve how users experience virtual reality and augmented reality environments, according to a new study. The research describes a method for ...

Beyond Ambiguous Reflections: Bridging Optical 3D Metrology and Computer Vision

Mar. 27, 2025 — A new method significantly advances 3D imaging of reflective surfaces. The approach integrates techniques known from high-precision optical 3D ...

A Lighter, Smarter Magnetoreceptive Electronic Skin

Mar. 27, 2025 — Imagine navigating a virtual reality with contact lenses or operating your smartphone under water: This and more could soon be a reality thanks to innovative e-skins. A research team has developed an ...

Feeling the Future: New Wearable Tech Simulates Realistic Touch

Mar. 27, 2025 — Most haptic devices only deliver feedback as simple vibrations. New device applies dynamic forces in any direction to simulate a more realistic sense of touch. Small, lightweight device can enhance ...

Virtual Reality Videos Increase Environmental Awareness

Mar. 26, 2025 — Nature documentaries presented as 360 virtual reality videos have a stronger positive effect than other forms of media, including an indirect effect on donation ...

VR Crime Scene Tech

Mar. 25, 2025 — Researchers presented advances shaping the world of forensics, from research that could improve how forensic scientists estimate a person's age at death, to technology demos of CSIxR -- a virtual ...

Revolutionary Blueprint to Fuse Wireless Technologies and AI

Mar. 18, 2025 — Virginia Tech researchers say a true revolution in wireless technologies is only possible through endowing the system with the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) that can think, imagine, ...

Muscles from the Printer: Silicone That Moves

Mar. 11, 2025 — Researchers are working on artificial muscles that can keep up with the real thing. They have now developed a method of producing the soft and elastic, yet powerful structures using 3D printing. One ...

Paralyzed Man Moves Robotic Arm With His Thoughts

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have enabled a man who is paralyzed to control a robotic arm through a device that relays signals from his brain to a computer. He was able to grasp, move and drop objects just by ...

Touchless Tech: Control Fabrics With a Wave of Your Finger

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have created washable and durable magnetic field sensing electronic textiles -- thought to be the first of their kind -- which they say paves the way to transform use in clothing. This ...

Researchers Demonstrate Laser Writing With Unprecedented Speed and Resolution

Feb. 27, 2025 — Researchers developed a new optimized printing approach that could enable super-resolution 3D direct laser writing (DLW) of microlenses, photonics crystals, micro-optical devices, metamaterials and ...

Researchers Create the World's Smallest Shooting Video Game Using Nanoscale Technology

Feb. 26, 2025 — A research team demonstrated the 'world's smallest shooting game,' a unique nanoscale game inspired by classic arcade games. This achievement was made possible by real-time control of ...

A New Model Accurately Predicts the Movement of Elite Athletes to Catch the Ball in Parabolic Flight

Feb. 25, 2025 — How does a tennis player like Carlos Alcaraz decide where to run to return Novak Djokovic's ball by just looking at the ball's initial position? These behaviours, so common in elite ...

'Loot Box' Virtual Rewards Associated With Gambling and Video Game Addiction

Feb. 19, 2025 — A new study of more than 1400 adults who gamble and play online video games has found loot box buying is associated with real-world gambling, video gaming addiction, and other mental health issues. ...

Is the Metaverse a New Frontier for Human-Centric Manufacturing?

Feb. 11, 2025 — The future of manufacturing is not just about machines and AI; it's about re-empowering humans, according to a new ...

Study Using Virtual Breathing Coach Indicates It Is as Effective as a Human Trainer

Jan. 30, 2025 — A study suggests that a computer-generated breathing coach could be as effective as sessions with a human ...

Finding Better Photovoltaic Materials Faster With AI

Jan. 23, 2025 — Perovskite solar cells are a flexible and sustainable alternative to conventional silicon-based solar cells. Researchers were able to find -- within only a few weeks -- new organic molecules that ...

Artificial Intelligence in Biomedicine: A Key to Analyzing Millions of Individual Cells

Jan. 23, 2025 — Our bodies are made up of around 75 billion cells. But what function does each individual cell perform and how greatly do a healthy person's cells differ from those of someone with a disease? To ...

Electrohydraulic Wearable Devices Create Unprecedented Haptic Sensations

Jan. 8, 2025 — Scientists have invented compact wearable devices that deliver rich, expressive, and pleasant tactile sensations that go far beyond the buzzing vibrations of today's consumer ...

Virtual Chemistry Speeds Up Drug Discovery

Jan. 6, 2025 — Among the hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds produced by plants, some may hold the key to treating human ailments and diseases. But recreating these complex, naturally occurring molecules in ...

Building Better Infrared Sensors

Jan. 2, 2025 — Researchers developed a type of infrared photodiode that is 35% more responsive at 1.55 m, the key wavelength for telecommunications, compared to other germanium-based ...

Plasma Heating Efficiency in Fusion Devices Boosted by Metal Screens

Dec. 19, 2024 — Scientists have performed computer simulations confirming a technique that prevents the production of unhelpful electromagnetic waves, boosting the heat put into fusion ...

New Virtual Reality-Tested System Shows Promise in Aiding Navigation of People With Blindness or Low Vision

Dec. 17, 2024 — A new study offers hope for people who are blind or have low vision (pBLV) through an innovative navigation system that was tested using virtual reality. The system, which combines vibrational and ...

Shape-Changing Device Helps Visually Impaired People Perform Location Task as Well as Sighted People

Dec. 10, 2024 — A groundbreaking piece of navigation technology that uses the ability to sense information through touch can help people with visual impairment perform a location task as well as sighted people, ...

Virtual Fences Are a Pollinator-Friendly Option for Ranchlands

Dec. 9, 2024 — Fences are an effective stationary method of corralling livestock, but their sharp borders can create sudden changes in native grassland vegetation and the pollinators and birds that live there. ...

Brighter and More Efficient LEDs That Don't Droop

Nov. 25, 2024 — LEDs with low polarization in a direction similar to standard LEDs show greater efficiency at higher power by resisting 'efficiency droop', a new study shows. The findings open the door to ...