mcantamesse.net

Roboante, non c’è che dire!
È il titolo dell’incontro di stasera (dalle 18.00), presso il Negozio civico ChiamaMilano, in Largo Corsia dei Servi, 11 (MI).

Si tratta del secondo incontro di un ciclo di 4 incontri-caffescienza, organizzati dal Laboratorio di Informatica Civica dell’Università degli Studi di Milano e da Caffescienzamilano.
Parleremo di Web 2.0, le sue tecnologie, e come questi temi si riflettano sulle dinamiche sociali/psicosociali in rete.

Per chi fosse interessato, su slideshare trovate le slides (del tutto inutili, senza lo speech, temo).

Mentre questo è il link al calendario degli eventi: Internet e le nuove interazioni sociali.

Giovedì 17 gennaio sarò ospite del Dipartimento tecnologie innovative, (in collaborazione con il Laboratorio
cultura visiva) alla SUPSI per una presentazione dal titolo altisonante: “Introduzione alla Realtà Virtuale: nuove tecnologie di interazione e applicazioni pratiche”.
L’incontro si terrà in Sala Anfiteatro (Centro Galleria 2, Manno, CH), dalle 17.30, e dovrebbe finire alle 19.30 circa.

Cercherò di offrire una panoramica sulle applicazioni della RV e delle sfide offerte da progettazione, implementazione e studio dei mondi virtuali.

Nel frattempo, vi segnalo alcuni link interessanti e freschi freschi (altri li trovate su delicious)

http://cb.nowan.net/blog/state-of-vr/state-of-vr-devices/
http://eightbar.co.uk/2008/01/16/reality-augmented-virtually/
http://vroot.org/node/4794
http://grandtextauto.org/2008/01/16/cfp-virtual-pets-symposium/
e un articolo riportato dal Gaggio (sempre i link troppo lunghi!)

A Las Vegas (Nevada), si terrà in Novembre la conferenza E-Learn 2008.
Ecco alcune informazioni e link utili:
E-Learn 2008, November 17-21, 2008 * Las Vegas, Nevada (Riviera Hotel & Casino Convention Center)

E-Learn 2008 — World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education is an international, annual conference which serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the exchange of information on research, development, and applications of all topics related to e-Learning in these four sectors.
E-Learn is an innovative collaboration between the top public and private academic researchers, developers, education and business professionals, and end users from the Corporate, Healthcare, Government, and Higher Education sectors.

All presentation proposals are reviewed and selected by a respected, international Executive Advisory Board and Program Committee, based on merit and the perceived value for attendees.

For Call for Presentations, connect to: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/call.htm

Deadlines
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/deadlines.htm

Submissions Due: April 29, 2008
Authors Notified: May 30, 2008
Proceedings File Due: Sept. 24, 2008
Early Registration: Sept. 24, 2008
Conference: Nov. 17-21, 2008

Links
Submission Information, Deadline April 29th:
Call for Presentations: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/call.htm
Submission Guide: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/submitguide.htm
Presenter Guide: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/PresenterLounge
Major Topics: www.aace.org/conf/elearn/topics.htm
Presentation Categories: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/categories.htm
Products/Services Showcases & Presentations: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/corporate.htm
Proceedings & Paper Awards: http://www.aace.org/pubs

Ricevo e pubblico questo annuncio…

The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) is the leading German research institute in the field of innovative software technology. Based in Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Bremen and Berlin, the DFKI ranks among the important “Centers of Excellence” worldwide.

The DFKI at Saarbrücken, Germany, is seeking

2 RESEARCHERS (full-time)

for a research position in the area of intelligent user interfaces. The earliest start date is March 2008. The duration of the contract will be 2 years with a potential extension of one year. Candidates are expected to work towards a PhD degree in this time.

The positions will be affiliated with the independent research group “Embodied Assistants for Multimodal Interaction”, established as part of the Cluster of Excellence “Multimodal Computing and Interaction”, a co-operation between Saarland University, DFKI, MPI Informatik and MPI Softwaresysteme. The group’s research vision is a natural interaction between human users and autonomous embodied agents in 3D worlds. Current topics comprise artificial intelligence methods for controlling virtual humans, realistic character animation and innovative 3D interaction techniques.

We are looking for international applications from students with a finished computer science degree (Diplom, MSc or equivalent) and a research background in AI and/or computer graphics. Solid practical programming skills are desirable, knowledge in computational linguistics and cognitive psychology is highly welcome. Good knowledge of written and spoken English is required.

We will start considering applications by 1 February 2008. The application process will be open until both positions are filled. Please send your application both electronically and as a hardcopy to

Dr. Michael Kipp
DFKI
Stuhlsatzenhausweg 3
66123 Saarbrücken
Germany

E-Mail: michael.kipp@dfki.de
Internet: http://www.dfki.de/~kipp/positions.html

Sul sito del Ministero è stato pubblicato il Decreto relativo al bando PRIN 2007

Decreto Ministeriale 18 settembre 2007 prot. n. 1175/ric/2007

Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico
Comunicato Stampa
Roma, 6 settembre 2007 -
Il Ministro dello Sviluppo Economico, Pierluigi Bersani, ha oggi incontrato i rappresentanti delle Amministrazioni regionali e delle Amministrazioni centrali, nell’ambito della sede permanente di concertazione prevista dalla finanziaria, sul tema di politica industriale, in particolare su Industria 2015. Il Ministro Bersani ha illustrato lo stato dell’arte e ha avviato un percorso di collaborazione tra Amministrazioni centrali e regionali sull’attuazione dei Progetti di Innovazione Industriale. La riunione si è conclusa con piena condivisione sia degli obiettivi di politica industriale sia delle modalità operative da intraprendere tra Governo e Regioni ed è stato definito un calendario dei prossimi incontri. Per maggiori informazioni: - www.industria2015.ipi.it - tutti i comunicati su Industria 2015 e i Progetti di Innovazione Industriale Industria 2015 sulla stampa:
Due recenti interviste al Direttore Generale dell’IPI, Andrea Vecchia, fanno il punto su Industria 2015 e la sua filosofia:

• “Una nuova politica industriale”, da il Corriere delle Opere (4 settembre 2007)
• “L’Italia torna ad inventare”, da Il Messaggero (2 settembre 2007)

Source: www.ipi.it

Direttamente da:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=d0db3902-1288-4424-9e9b-dce693452380

Sanjay Sipahimalani

September 04, 2007

One of the prime characteristics of human beings is not that they´re the only animals who blush, but that all of them yearn to step out of their own skin to inhabit other worlds.

Fortunately, there is a piece of technology that enables them to do this. One that lets them take on new identities, explore new places and role-play with other beings. Millions have made use of it already; millions more are doing it right now.

Second Life? Nah. It´s called a book.

Without the benefit of broadband, and in this life itself, you can experience the fate of the Russian nobility during the Napoleonic Wars; inhabit a deserted island and venture across Middle-Earth to retrieve the Ring of Power. And these are just three worlds out of thousands and thousands.

Once between the covers, travelling back and forth in time is

simple: you can teleport yourself to a collapsing Galactic Empire or fly to Victorian London to become the sidekick of a pipe-smoking private detective. With such richness of invention, what else can Second Life be but a poor second?

Ah, but what about one of the key characteristics of the virtual world - that its content is user-generated? It´s the Resident Avatars who create Second Life´s environment, after all, unlike in a book where the author lays down the line.

Well, re-reading should be enough to convince you that the version of the book you create in your mind is subject to change, depending on your circumstances when reading it.

In his The Rise of the Novel, Ian Watt points out that one of the reasons for that genre´s ascendance in the 18th century was the desire of members of newly-literate middle-class to understand their place in the changing world around them.

Till today, there´s no better way of doing this than reading, be it a novel or non-fiction that attempts to explain the workings of the quark, the cosmos, or the minds that ordered the invasion of Iraq. Need a more pragmatic reason? Well here´s the portentous American critic Harold Bloom:

“Imaginative literature is otherness, and as such alleviates loneliness.” We hear you, Harry. You are not alone.

The ability to generate empathy by viewing the world through others´ eyes; the capability to make you understand why the world is as it is today; and the power to create worlds in time and space in which you can lose yourself again and again. Give me shelf life over Second Life any day.