While other people use the Wii for its intended purposes (playing party games and bludgeoning loved ones), Johnny Chung Lee sees its true potential. You might remember him as the guy who used a Wiimote to set up a Minority Report-esque finger tracking system, or the one who used the same peripheral to turn any surface into an an incredible multi-touch interactive whiteboard.

Further proving that Lee is a reverse engineer from the future, his newest video shows what might just be the next big thing in gaming -- immersive virtual reality displays using, you guessed it, a Wii remote. While this may conjure up bad memories of massive, plasticky helmets and unresponsive controls, Lee's method seems extremely functional, and only requires you to wear a pair of LED-infused safety glasses (which for all we know is the hip style in the futureworld Lee comes from). Seriously, how 'bout it, Nintendo?

(Thanks, Rich.)

Spray paint the VR920 gold and you too can be the Geordi LaForge of gaming. Icuiti's VR920 was apparently the winner of the 2007 CES innovations award. The headset gives the feeling of watching a 62 inch screen from 9 feet away. It displays in 640x480, includes a built in microphone and head tracker. Whether you think it's cool or an absolute waste, it sure beats the heck out of the old-school VR sets that made you look like your grandparents returning from the eye doctor. The VR920 is not yet available.

[Via TheElectricSistahood]

Game addiction might be a hot topic at the moment, but researchers at the University of Georgia are hoping a specially designed virtual reality game can help people get over a much more prevalent addiction: smoking.

Patients in the study don a ridiculous looking VR headset and are placed in simulations of situations where they might be tempted to smoke, like a party full of other smokers or a tight traffic jam. With the help of a therapist, the smoker gradually learns how to handle these situations without lighting up.

Does it work? One elderly smoker interviewed for the story had failed to quit with the patch and medications, but after the VR sessions found she could "be in a room with four or five people smoking and I don't light up." We have the opposite problem -- after years of playing Mario, it's hard for us to be in a room full of turtles without feeling the need to jump on their backs over and over.

Related: Virtual reality student project aims to cure acrophobia

[Via Game|Life]

The Last Boss's Tom Fronczak (a semester away from a degree in game design) profiles a VR studio at the University of Pittsburgh's Medical Virtual Reality Center, which he and a small team of classmates will use to develop an acrophobia (fear of heights) sim to be used during habitual therapy sessions. Tom's group will be using Unreal Engine (1) to design a level, ideally representing an unfinished skyscraper. Players Patients will slowly ascend the floors of the building, eventually emerging into the open air, where they'll have to navigate up scaffolding to reach the top, grab the flag, and sprint back to base. Development time has be limited to ten weeks.

Tom will continue to update The Last Boss readers on the status of his project during the coming weeks, and notes he's eager for feedback. Our advice: Don't look down!

We here at Joystiq are all about the virtual reality technology, but the current state-of-the-art in hand-waving leaves us a little wanting. Enter the Virtusphere, a 10-foot tall, 400+ pound hollow steel sphere with sensors that translate every step into in-game movement. The Russian-made device, which has apparently been in development since at least 1996, uses a head-mounted display and handheld controller to allow free, immersive exploration and viewing of a 3D world.

The device seems targeted primarily towards military and police training uses, but the possibilities for gaming are obvious. Just the idea of using this thing for some Super Monkey Ball or even American Gladiators-style Atlasphere matches gets us all excited. What game world would you like to explore in a giant, virtual hamsterball?

[Thanks bassbeast]

If you've ever wanted to play something more meaningful than "Fetch!" with your pets, this research project might prove just the thing. A collaboration between the Emerging Art and Architecture Research Group and the Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore, Mice Arena allows your hamster to chase you -- in a virtual reality.

By using a tank with an elastic floor, which is manipulated to reflect the digital terrain, pets can experience the virtual world first-hand. It's an interesting idea, though we're hard pressed to see a practical side to it. Still, the researchers are hoping for "unexpected results", so you never know -- we just may learn something after all.

[Via Engadget]