Apple has added another bizarre patent to it’s collection; a head-mounting display with head-tracking technology. The unit would be intended to reduce viewer fatigue and disorientation by simulating a theater or other viewing environment. The wearer of the VR device could pick a seat in the fake theater and be bale to manipulate an image, zoom in and out, and look around using a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope. The whole thing comes packed in to a pair of goggles you can see a patent design for above. No word on when and if they plan on bringing this thing into the real world. Shades of Wii, only nuttier.

A very cute anime virtual girlfriend in the form of Dennou AR Figures were released in Japan earlier this month by Geisha Entertainment. The augmented reality (AR) software comes with a paddle and small box. The character interacts with the box and paddle, and other objects, you move around in front of your webcam. You can even undress your virtual girlfriend.

Click here to check out the Geisha Tokyo site, or here to purchase your own virtual geisha.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PSTD, is a common medical problem that soldiers must face after returning from the front lines.  With soldiers returning from the Iraq War, psychologists are using virtual reality software created by the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies. 

The software will mainly be used to help psychologists study the effects of PSTD, according to the report, but it may ultimately help heal soldiers from the disorder, or even prevent PSTD from ever occurring if soldiers are redeployed into Iraq.  Virtual Iraq will recreate a soldier’s memory of a traumatic event within the environment and he or she will relive that event continuously until it becomes a memory, rather than a constant flashback that triggers PSTD. 

The technology will not replace talk therapy, according to Albert Rizzo, who helped develop the software.  However, it is an invaluable tool that will improve the chances of recovery.