Digital Video by the Numbers for Summer, 2012
See the full story here; http://digitalvideospace.blogspot.com/2012/09/digital-video-by-numbers-for-summer-2012.html?utm_source=2nd+Screen+Authority&utm_campaign=e7bc82f263-my_google_analytics_key&utm_medium=email
Resort Towns Face a Last Picture Show (the end of film in theaters?)
According to recent industry statements, the major Hollywood studios are planning to complete the switch to digital by ceasing to release 35-millimeter film altogether; 20th Century Fox promises to phase out film by the end of next year, and the others are expected to follow. Which means that the analog projectors that have whirred along for decades will be suddenly rendered incapable of playing modern movies. For many seasonal theaters, the dog days of this summer may be the only days they have left.
Digital projectors are compatible with hard drives and files called Digital Cinema Packages, which are cheaper to produce and easier to disseminate than film. John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, says 30,000 screens have already been converted, leaving nearly 10,000 in some stage of transition. As he told exhibitors at CinemaCon in 2011, “If you don’t make the decision to get on the digital train soon, you will be making the decision to get out of the business.”
See the full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/movies/resort-towns-face-a-last-picture-show.html?_r=2
Decade of stats points to future (UK and world theatrical and 3D Stats)
This year marked the 10th anniversary of the British Film Institute's Statistical Yearbook, an annual publication of U.K. market data that many consider a benchmark for other markets.
The publication of the 2012 book warrants an analysis of key areas of the U.K. industry and of the prevalent trends reflective of broader international tendencies over the past decade -- indicating where maturing markets in many territories are now headed.
Disney’s 3D-Printed Princesses, Interactive Cakes, and Other Maker Technology
[Philip Lelyveld comment: cool use of 3D printers, IR-activated LEDs, and CAD-designed balloons at Disney parks. Watch the videos.]
Once upon a time, Walt Disney decided he wanted to do more than animation — he wanted to elevate amusement parks to an art form and create utopian cities. Instead of leaving his burgeoning cartoon studio to chase this new dream, he spun off a small skunkworks team in 1952 called Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), that went on to develop robotic-president animatronics, theme parks, and other technological wonders.
But more important than any of their individual innovations, WDI left an imprint on the organization that leads Imagineers to continuously seek ways to use technology in the service of stories. Fast forward to 2012, and Disney’s research group now has six offices across the world, from Burbank to Zurich, releasing commercial projects and academic papers at a pace that would make the Seven Dwarves proud. We’ve poured over their output and found a few of the newest, coolest ones.
Disney D-Tech 3D-Printed Princess Figurines
Disney is helping push ordinary girls to become princesses with the aid of photo scanners and 3-D printers. Starting at $99.95, this 3-D printed tchotchke will hit the royal coffers hard (but not as much as this similarly gender-demarcating $1400 bejeweled Ariel figurine). The plaster princesses are at Disney’s theme parks in Orlando for a limited time. But, as Walt Disney World is the most visited tourist location in the U.S., with over 17 million visitors per year, even slow sales will expose millions of eager minds (and wallets) to 3D-printing technology.
See the full story here: http://www.wired.com/design/2012/08/disneys-3d-printed-princesses-interactive-cakes-and-other-maker-technology/
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, MediaMine to Develop Walk of Fame App
[Philip Lelyveld comment: I have met with MediaMine as part of the Hyper-Personalized Entertainment Offer project.]
The app will be "part tour guide, part scavenger hunt, part game and part local services provider" for tourists.
Planned features for the app include a star map, along with text, photos and videos of the chosen star; points of interest, including entertainment, dining and shopping options; and a trivia challenge and scavenger hunt. Travelers will also be able to post photos to the app and share their experiences on various social networking sites, MediaMine said.
See the full story here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-walk-of-fame-app-365893
This is What a $50,000 3D Gigapixel Display Looks Like
Called the KAUST display, this wall combines a massive display with two gigapixel images to create the ultimate gigapixel viewing experience- in stereoscopic 3D.
See the full story here: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/3D-Gigapixel-Display-Photography-screen,16929.html
Selfridges uses Whispering Windows to entice customers
This little device makes the huge window into a speaker
Selfridges are attempting to attract passers by with a double sensory assault. Audio visual agency Freehand have created a new window display installation for Selfridges of London. The shop window displays are enhanced by animated visuals from a Casio XJ-ST155 Laser & LED hybrid projector. To surprise people with sound the visuals are combined with a Whispering Window system from FeONIC.
MONKEYmedia Releases Walk-in Theater for iPad
Walk-in Theater is an experiment with peripatetic perspective, engaging participants' proprioceptors and spatial memory to orient themselves as they navigate among multiple video streams in a 3D sound field. Departing from one-way linear cinema played on a single rectangular screen, this multi-channel virtual environment pursues a cinematic paradigm that undoes habitual ways of framing things, employing architectural concepts in a polylinear video/sound construction to create a kind of experience that lets the world reveal itself and permits discovery on the part of visitors. The free mobile app is available on the App Store.
Walk-in Theater's patent-pending interaction techniques are not limited to entertainment. A technology incubation white paper can be downloaded from walk-in-theater.com. Stay tuned for future productions.
See the full story here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/monkeymedia-releases-walk-in-theater-for-ipad-2012-08-28