Net

The Psychology of Immersion - Virtual Reality Is Reality

A recent article in Wall Street Journal talks about virtual relationships and their affect on real relationships. According to a recent study cited we can learn the following about the cognitive processes in players brains:

• On a neurological level, players may not distinguish between virtual and real-life relationships
• People socializing in virtual worlds remain sensitive to subtle cues like eye contact - in one study, participants moved their avatars back if another character stood too close, even though the space violation was just virtual
• Our brains are not specialized for 21st-century media - There is not switch that says "Process this different because it is on the screen".

More discussion at the MIT Advertising Lab and Neuromarketing

Hong Kong Web Startup Meet Up

Last year when I was visiting Hong Kong and met with the Simon Lee & the guys at Bullpoo, they complained that there where not enough web entrepreneurs in Hong Kong. And if there were, they were not aware of each other. I then suggested that the meet up with a few people I had been in contact with and start meeting informally for drinks once a month. Guess what? Today Simon tells me over Skype that the initiative I started have just resulted in the fourth Hong Kong Web Start up Meet up, and they were almost 200! Amazing!

EditGrid hosted the last meetup, Yahoo HK have started to show-up and  Catharina Maracke from Creative Commons was there as well. I am really excited about the fact that it was started on my initiative and in one year has grown to such an extent. There is nothing more gratifying than being able to help and connect people with each other.

And of course, what event/group can be taken seriously if they don't have their own Facebook group? Join HK Web 2.0 on Facebook here.

I for sure will come by next time I have an opportunity to join the meetup. Good luck - and thanks Simon for sharing the story.

My Soul Is Craving Culture

Lately I have had an over-dose of blogs and media covering the Web, social networks, start-ups and technology. To cure this I have come up with my own prescription:

• Classical Music Podcasts
• Jazz Podcasts
• MP3 Podcasts
• Ideas & Culture Podcasts
• Science Podcasts
• Free University Courses

NPR and watching interesting videos on the free-open source video platform Miro. Offline line reading: Umberto Eco's: The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. The only technical/ web related blog I read follow regularly is Lifehacker. While we are on the subject of reading. What are your life changing books?

Summer Time - And the Kids are Jumping

I know I haven't been blogging for the last 3 weeks, sorry about that for all you people who have been up sleepless wondering what is going on. There is a very good reason for it:

• We have a new baby on the way
• I am taking some time-out before my next new very exciting venture (stay tuned)
• Family time - it's summer!
• I have found Twitter and Facebook as more suitable platforms for updates and all the miscellaneous stuff.

Stay tuned for more stuff on Outsourcing my life, RunCasting and Storyboarding!