Mobitrends

I bought Wii Fit as it came out, and while I think the idea was smart, the software is crappy. I was expecting to be able to launch an 15min gym sessions and be driven through non-stop exercises, but the reality of the Nintendo software made this totally impossible : for a 2 minute training session you get about 1,5 min to scroll through the menus back and forth to go from an activity to another, there is no real coach deciding for you what your schedule and exercises set should be and at the end while the exercises themselves are OK the overall experience is boring…
EA’s approach, on the contrary make a lot more sense imho… can’t wait to try it out !

This video has been out on the web for a couple of days and while I got no clue who is at its origins, it’s a great illustration of where we are heading to with Virtual Worlds. With the improved graphics available now in any low cost PC around, along with FTTH technologies, we could reach this degree of realism within years. Add to this a bunch of cool immersion devices, and Neal Stephenson’s “Snow Crash” gets real !

Benjamin just spotted another fun mod of or beloved Spykee, the “compact” mod by Zuneo. Pretty easy, they took the head apart and fed it into the body of Spykee. Can’t do any smaller than that !

This virtual world was created by IBM and is a total digitized version of the Forbidden city. Just make yourself an avatar (not highly customizable I must say), and walk around the marvelous gardens. If you want a more straight approach, just grab one of the guides (NPCs) that will give you a tour around the place.
That kind of use cases around virtual worlds is really amazing, while it sure isn’t photorealistic (I guess having the appropriate high-res textures would be the only reason to justify FTTH projects) it is still stunning to go wander freely in an open 3D environment, just like if you were there in real life.
Last time I went in Beijing I missed it (it is closing way too early) so it’s funny to get there from home!

After Wildcharge, Psyclone TouchCharge kit is next in line to provide wireless power to mass market consumer applications. While I don’t know precisely which vendor is providing with the actual wireless power technology (both companies are “just” device manufacturers), this reminds me of the awesome powercast demo I had during last year’s CES. Would be curious to know which vendor has now taken the lead over that field.

Update: actually I just met Wildcharge’s CEO and it appears that Psyclone is their first OEM deal – I guess it’s not just for nothing that the technology was so similar …