Science & Technology World

Virtual goods such as weapons or digital bottles of champagne traded in the US could be worth up to $5 bn in the next five years, experts predict. In Asia, sales are already around the $5 bn mark and rapidly growing. For many, virtual goods are one of the hottest trends in technology and are fuelling huge growth in the social gaming sector. "This is just an exploding part of the gaming business right now, said venture capitalist Jeremy Liew. "It is the most exciting area in gaming," he said. Mr Liew, whose firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has invested $10 m in virtual goods companies, said the rapid growth of the sector was unprecedented. "We have seen companies go from nothing in the last 18-24 months to tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue." Revenue model Playfish is a social gaming company that started two years ago. Today it has 11 online games and more than 61 million people who play those games worldwide. Crucial to its success is the sale of virtual goods, ranging from furniture for your pet to menu items for your own restaurant in games like Pet Society and Restaurant City. "Virtual items within the Playfish games are the centre point of the way in which Playfish derives its revenue," Tom Sarris of the firm told BBC News. "We have two different revenue models. The primary is the sale of virtual goods and the second is in-game advertising, but that is a very minor aspect at this stage." Mr Sarris would not reveal how much Playfish makes from the sale of virtual goods, but admitted that it accounts for the lion's share of the company's revenue. That, according to Mr Liew is fairly typical. "Virtual goods is the whole story in the world of social games. It accounts for 90-95 % of revenue for a lot of these social game developers." The new gamers And it is not just the stereotypical gamers that are spending their hard earned cash on goods that only add up to a handful of pixels on a website Emma Cox is probably fairly typical of the new breed of social gamer who plays as a way to stay connected to friends and family. "I am not a traditional gamer. I don't buy console games or go out and spend $40 on a game for my PlayStation," said Ms Cox. "I am playing online games for a different reason and it's instant gratification, playing with friends, showing off to others and have them see all the virtual goods you have bought for yourself and even for them." Ms Cox told the BBC she spends about $10 a month per game on virtual goods and plays two to three games. Her favourite is Country Store where players trade real money for coins allowing players to move ahead in the game or to buy goods. The game bills itself as an opportunity to let players get away from the hustle and bustle of life by hanging out in the country tending crops and breathing the country air. On her last visit, Ms Cox bought fertiliser and seeds for corn and peppers. "These virtual goods are easy to buy, they are accessible, they are online," said Ms Cox. "The immediate impact is being able to move throughout the game a lot more quickly. It also enhances your overall experience of the game - it is about total entertainment." Playfish's Mr Sarris said that is the main reason people are willing to purchase products that do not exist. "The way we look at it is it's no different from paying money to go and see a movie or rent a dvd. What you are paying for is the experience and that notion of entertainment." Social is key Central to the early growth of this virtual goods revolution have been social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo. Users of these networks can also pay for virtual goods, such as digital birthday cards, champagne or flowers. "Increasingly as people's relationships migrate online, your interactions occur there," said Lightspeed's Mr Liew. "That makes it more natural for those acknowledgements of how important someone is to us to occur there also. Buying something like virtual champagne or a birthday card is telling someone they are important to you." However most of the momentum in this virtual goods market happens through social games which Mr Liew said is responsible for bringing a new type of new gamer to the fore. "We have found tens of millions, hundreds of millions of people playing these social games and many would never consider themselves as gamers. Yet they spend real money to play these games and in some cases really meaningful amounts of money. "That is what makes the expansion of this market so exciting," added Mr Liew. Bright future The market is clearly one with a lot of life in it. About two thirds of the top 15 applications on Facebook are games, according to analytics firm AppData. Those ten games are said to draw more than 100 million users a month. Earlier in December, one of the biggest social gaming companies, Zynga, sold a stake in the firm to Russia's Digital Sky Technologies for $180 m (£113 m). And in November, Electronic Arts, agreed to buy Playfish in a $400 m deal (£251 m). Proof of how successful the virtual goods business has become is evident in moves by Facebook itself to test a payment system to get a cut each time an online-game player buys a digital tractor or pair of flip flops. "We are still in the growth stage of this industry, " said Mr Liew. "We are still seeing people come out of nowhere and become a leading player. Five years down the line, it will become more stable with five to ten companies becoming more valuable. "The virtual goods industry is one of the most exciting categories of 2009 and will remain an exciting category in 2010 ," he added.

If 2009 was dominated by touch technology then 2010 looks set to be the year of 3 D. 3 D has been one of the biggest hits of the cinemas this year and it is likely to continue its stride into other mediums during 2010 , experts agree. TV manufacturer LG wants to sell nearly half a million 3 D-ready TV sets next year as the World Cup kicks off in the format. Meanwhile laptops and games consoles are also getting a 3 D makeover. Acer has already released what it is claiming is the world's first 3 D-capable laptop, and most agree it will be the first of many. One critic likened the screen of the Acer Inspire 5738 DZG to that of a 1960 's cinema "but in laptop form". Others have dismissed the 3 D capability as a gimmick, but most agree that it will be the start of a glut of similar machines. Acer has created its 3 D effect by putting a polarising filter over the screen which splits images into separate streams. When combined with a pair of polarising glasses ( and the laptop comes with a free pair) it allows users to view content in 3 D. Some movie trailers come preloaded on the laptop, while software called TriDef 3 D can add a third dimension to PC games, DVDs and video footage with varying degrees of success. Microsoft is watching developments in the field with interest. Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's vice president of user experience believes the technology will play a major role over the next decade. "A 3 D spatial camera inside a computer will offer a new way to interact with content. It will allow people to spatially organise things with older things farther away," she said. Trendy glasses Gaming is the most obvious first stop for 3 D and Sony committed in November to making all its PS3 consoles "upgradeable to 3 D", suggesting games are on their way. Meanwhile Microsoft continue to work on its own alternative to a gaming remote control called Project Natal, which uses an optical camera and 3 D sensors to read body movements and facial expressions. In order to view content, some form of eyewear is going to be essential although it is unlikely to have much in common with the cardboard spectacles of the 1970 s. Jeremy Fennell, head of marketing for Dixon Store Group, is betting on visitors to January's high-tech CES show spending a lot of their time on the conference floor wearing 3 D glasses. "An awful lot of money has been invested in 3 D and there is a world of difference between cardboard glasses from the 1970 s to designer 3 D RayBans and aviators," he said. He expects to have a range in store towards the end of next year. In the world of TVs, HD-ready is rapidly being replaced by 3 D-ready. LG Electronics aims to sell 400 ,000 3 D TVs in 2010 and 3.4 million in 2011. One of the drivers for such sets will be the World Cup which Fifa has confirmed will be the first soccer event shot in 3 D. But 3 D isn't the only thing changing TV. More sets will be available with built-in net access, making the viewing of content such as the iPlayer a whole lot simpler. And Microsoft's UK managing director Ashley Highfield envisages an even more interactive future for the humble box in the corner. "If TVs have some form of 2- way functionality, the TV recognises you and you can flick through too find a programme you want to watch," he said at a recent conference, although he did not offer a timeframe for such smart sets. Headset patent Apple has recently filed a patent suggesting that it is looking into create its own 3 D display, possibly as an alternative to the mouse and keyboard. The patent refers to "an electronic device for providing a display that changes based on the user's perspective". MacRumours speculated that the maker of the Mac is planning to offer greater interactivity for users via an established technology known as head-tracking. Using a camera, such a system would be able to detect a user's position and adjust a 3 D display to create the illusion that an on-screen object is physically present, it said. Such patents are not unusual though. In December 2008 Apple filed one seemingly aimed at created a 3 D desktop. And back in 2007 university student Johnny Chung created his own head tracking device using a Nintendo Wii remote controller which became one of YouTube's most popular videos. Interest in 3 D is likely to continue unabated as 2010 begins to make it a reality for consumers.

John Holman, a lifelong champion of science and technology education, is among the scientists to appear in the New Year Honours list. Professor Holman, who leads the National Science Learning Centre, is awarded a knighthood. Prehistory expert Paul Mellars and RSPB director Graham Wynne also receive knighthoods, while nuclear physicist Sue Ion becomes a dame. Further honours for scientists include two CBEs, three OBEs, and nine MBEs. "I'm delighted; it's an enormous personal honour and somewhat overwhelming," Sir John told BBC News. "But more importantly I think that it's a recognition of the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to the future of the UK and to the lives of millions of young people." Sir John studied natural sciences at Cambridge University, going on to teach in a number of secondary schools and soon began advising on science education nationally and internationally. In the late 1980 s, when the National Curriculum standardised teaching across the UK, it was he who wrote the science curriculum. After six years as headmaster of Watford Grammar School for Boys, in 2000 he came to the University of York as Salters Professor of Chemical Education, founding the National Science Learning Centre in 2004. In 2006 , he also became the first national director of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for the government, a post Sir John refers to as "conducting an orchestra of groups inside and outside the government" where the sole motive is STEM education. "We're in difficult economic times but it's quite clear that one thing this country is very good at is science and technology - but we need to maintain that and build on the strength of that as the core of a future economic strategy."

The head of Russia's federal space agency has said it will work to divert an asteroid which will make several passes near the Earth from 2029. Anatoly Perminov told the Voice of Russia radio service that the agency's science council would hold a closed meeting to discuss the issue. Any eventual plan is likely to be an international collaboration, he said. The US space agency said in October that there is a one-in-250 ,000 chance of Apophis hitting Earth in 2036. That announcement was a significant reduction in the probability of an impact, based on previous calculations that put the chances at about one-in-45 ,000. The asteroid is estimated to pass within about 30 ,000 km of the Earth in 2029. Mr Perminov, who is the chief of Roscosmos, gave little detail of any plans that the agency has, but was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying that the solution would not entail the use of nuclear weapons. Other schemes that have been put forth in the past for diverting asteroids from collision courses include spacecraft that nudge the space rocks out of their trajectory through force, or diverting them with "solar sails" that use the wind of particles ejected from the Sun. "People's lives are at stake," Mr Perminov reportedly told the radio service Golos Rossii ( Voice of Russia). "We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people."

The US space agency Nasa has selected three projects as finalists for its next celestial mission. The projects aim to either probe the atmosphere and surface of Venus, return an asteroid fragment to Earth, or send back rocks from the Moon's south pole. The proposals are part of the New Frontiers programme, designed to carry out frequent, low- cost missions. Nasa has provided funding for a fuller analysis of the projects, with a winner to be selected in mid- 2011. The cost of the winning project must not exceed $650 m (£410 m) and must be ready to launch by the end of 2018. These limits are in keeping with the New Frontiers programme's principles of funding focused, short-term, and comparatively cheap space science missions. The three proposals are: The Surface and Atmosphere Geochemical Explorer, or Sage, would gather information about Venus' atmosphere during the descent of a lander, which would then scratch at the planet's surface to determine its chemical and mineral composition in detail. The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer, or Osiris-Rex, would initially orbit an asteroid, landing on it to collect about 60 g of material that would be returned to Earth. The Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return Mission would land near the Moon's southern pole, returning about a kilogram of material that scientists believe has risen from the moon's interior to the surface. Each team has been given $3.3 m (£2.1 m) to further flesh out the details of their proposals over the coming year. "These are projects that inspire and excite young scientists, engineers and the public," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for Nasa's Science Mission Directorate. "These three proposals provide the best science value among eight submitted to Nasa this year." The proposal that is eventually chosen will form the third mission in the New Frontiers programme. The first, New Horizons, was launched in 2006 and is bound for a Pluto fly-by in 2015. The second, dubbed Juno, will be the first craft to orbit Jupiter from pole to pole after it launches in August 2011.

Individually designed music therapy may help reduce the noise levels experienced by people who suffer from tinnitus, say German researchers. They altered participants' favourite music to remove notes which matched the frequency of the ringing in their ears. After a year of listening to the modified music, individuals reported a drop in the loudness of their tinnitus. The researchers said the "inexpensive" treatment could be used alongside other techniques to relieve the condition. " It could significantly complement widely-used and rather indirect psychological treatment strategies " Dr Christo Pantev Westphalian Wilhelms University It is thought that around 1-3 % of the population have chronic ringing in their ears which is significant enough to reduce their overall quality of life. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said although the cause of tinnitus remains unknown, it has been shown that the part of the brain that processes sounds is frequently disrupted in people with the condition. The theory behind the new technique is that removing the spectrum of noise associated with tinnitus from the music reduces activity in the brain relating to that frequency, alleviating the condition. Therapy The 39 patients who took part in the study all had chronic tinnitus for an average of five years but had no other hearing problems. They were split into three groups and were offered either the modified music therapy, a dummy version of music therapy or usual treatment. Participants listened to the music for an average of 12 hours a week and by the end of the study, those who had been given the tailored music reported a significant drop in the level of the ringing they heard compared with those listening to the dummy version. Study leader Dr Christo Pantev, from Westphalian Wilhelms University in Munster, said the approach specifically targeted the part of the brain responsible for tinnitus. "The notched music approach can be considered as enjoyable, low cost, and presumably causal treatment that is capable of specifically reducing tinnitus loudness. "It could significantly complement widely-used and rather indirect psychological treatment strategies." Dr Ralph Holmes, director of biomedical research at deaf and hard of hearing charity, RNID, said he would look in detail at the findings. "While we find it encouraging there is new investment in treatment for tinnitus, we know there is no proven 'cure'. "This seems to be similar to tinnitus retraining therapy which is one of the most common ways of managing the condition."