Scientists Grow Mini Human Brains

Scientists in Singapore have made a big leap on research on the ‘mini-brain’. These advanced mini versions of the human midbrain will help researchers develop treatments and conduct other studies into Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and ageing-related brain diseases.  These mini midbrain versions are three-dimensional miniature tissues that are grown in the laboratory and they have certain properties of specific parts of the human brains. This is the first time that the black pigment neuromelanin has been detected in an organoid model. The study also revealed functionally active dopaminergic neurons. The human midbrain, which is the information superhighway, controls auditory, eye movements, vision and body movements. It contains special dopaminergic neurons that produce dopamine – which carries out significant roles in executive functions, motor control, motivation, reinforcement, and reward.

Also causing PD is the dramatic reduction in neuromelanin production, leading to the degenerative condition of patients, which includes tremors and impaired motor skills. This creation is a key breakthrough for studies in PD, which affects an estimated seven to 10 million people worldwide. Furthermore, there are people who are affected by other causes of parkinsonism. Researchers now have access to the material that is affected in the disease itself, and different types of studies can be conducted in the laboratory instead of through simulations or on animals. Using stem cells, scientists have grown pieces of tissue, known as brain organoids, measuring about 2 to 3 mm long. These organoids contain the necessary hallmarks of the human midbrain, which are dopaminergic neurons and neuromelanin.

More information:

https://www.a-star.edu.sg/Media/News/Press-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/4832.aspx

3D Glasses-Free Movie Screen

A team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science has demonstrated a display that lets you watch 3-D films in a movie theater without extra eyewear. Dubbed ‘Cinema 3D’, the prototype uses a special array of lenses and mirrors to enable viewers to watch a 3-D movie from any seat in a theater. While the researchers caution that the system isn't currently market-ready, they are optimistic that future versions could push the technology to a place where theaters would be able to offer glasses-free alternatives for 3D movies. Glasses-free 3-D already exists, but not in a way that scales to movie theaters. Traditional methods for TV sets use a series of slits in front of the screen that allow each eye to see a different set of pixels, creating a simulated sense of depth.

 

But because parallax barriers have to be at a consistent distance from the viewer, this approach isn't practical for larger spaces like theaters that have viewers at different angles and distances. Other methods, including one from the MIT Media Lab, involve developing completely new physical projectors that cover the entire angular range of the audience. However, this often comes at a cost of reduced image resolution. The key insight with Cinema 3D is that people in movie theaters move their heads only over a very small range of angles limited by the width of their seat. Thus, it is enough to display a narrow range of angles and replicate it to all seats in the theater. What Cinema 3D does, then, is encode multiple parallax barriers in one display, such that each viewer sees a parallax barrier tailored to their position.

More information:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160725121846.htm

How Your Brain Learns Physics

Researchers scanned the brains of nine advanced physics and engineering students as they thought through 30 physics concepts such as momentum, entropy and electric current. The researchers fed the data from the scans into a machine-learning computer program, which eventually could identify which concept a volunteer was thinking about based on his or her brain activity. To take it further, the scientists then compared the scans from their study with previous research matching neural activity to thought processes.

 

They found that brain responses corresponding to the scientific concepts of frequency or wavelength occurred in the same regions that activate when people watch dancers, listen to music or hear rhythmic patterns such as a horse's gallop. And when the students thought through mathematical equations, the engaged brain areas were the same as those that process sentences. These results suggest that general neural structures are repurposed for dealing with high-level science. The findings may someday help determine which school lessons should be taught together for easiest consumption.

More information:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-your-brain-learns-physics/

CGI 2016 Paper

On the 29th of June 2016, my PhD student, Philip Skola gave a talk to Session 4: Character Animation & Rendering which was part of the 33rd Annual Conference on Computer Graphics International (CGI 2016), Hersonissos, Crete, Greece.

The title of his talk was 'Examining the Effect of Body Ownership in Immersive Virtual and Augmented Reality Environments' and the paper was published to a special issue in Visual Computer, Springer.

More information:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00371-016-1246-8

AR Pokemon GO

With the success of Pokemon Go, which has reached 150M DAU in the past week alone, we’ve seen what great IP and a clever mobile experience can be at scale. A simple realtime map, millions of POIs, and just enough AR… has become a worldwide hit in single digit days. What’s amazing is that all of this has happened with just the phones in our pockets. No need for the AR/VR headsets and glasses that so many startups are working feverishly to build and sell.

The best technologies are not measured by their specs, but instead the experiences they enable. This is a great reminder that a simple novel product experience is entirely sufficient to engage millions of people. A new high bar has been set for everyone working on the next killer app for AR/VR. While maybe daunting, I’m even more excited about the future. The next wave of products we all use… will be even that much more amazing.

More information:

https://medium.com/lightspeed-venture-partners/a-new-high-bar-for-ar-the-post-pokemon-go-era-e877619de1cf#.ekaoyh3yv