The first virtual reality headset that can stimulate all five senses will be unveiled at a major science event in London on March 4th.

If mere texting, talking, e-mailing and snapping pictures on mobile devices aren’t enough to satisfy your data cravings, now there’s the prospect of accessing and displaying 3-D virtual reality simulations and animations on them. New information architecture from researchers in Offenburg, Germany puts 3-D visualizations in the palm of your hand to make this possible.

Consumers in search of product related information and technical support often turn to virtual communities for help. A forthcoming examination in the April 2008 Journal of Consumer Research of virtual P3 communities – peer-to-peer problem solving communities – presents evidence that social capital, widely described as declining in face-to-face neighborhood communities, has migrated online.

Israeli hospitals have recently started to use virtual reality therapy for stroke patients. One commonly used program has the patient watch his virtual image on a screen. For example, tennis balls are virtually thrown at the patient from all directions and the patients' actual hand motions are recorded on screen.

A group of neuroscientists and a philosopher have devised a series of novel experiments using virtual reality that could shed light on decades of clinical data pointing to cognitive and perceptual mechanisms involved in humans’ concept of self.

What's nerdier than creating an online avatar that fights dragons and raids strongholds? Creating a virtual pendulum that you can sync up to your real-life pendulum. Leave it to physicists to do just that, resulting in a mixed reality state in which the two pendulums swing as one.

In a year when many Americans have experienced first-hand the dangers of raging wildfires, University of Central Florida researchers are preparing to study whether interactive, virtual reality simulations of wildfires can make residents more willing to invest in preventing them.

The Arizona State University Decision Theater is helping policy makers and community members explore issues ranging from the evironment and urban growth to education and health. The advanced visualization, simulation and modeling, and collaboration tools enable users to visualize possibilities and realize solutions.