philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

The World’s First Multi Material 3D Printer

Philip Lelyveld comment: this "multi material 3D printer" still only outputs plastics (no conductive metal or glass yet), but by using two materials instead of one it is able to simulate a variety of material properties.  Its pretty cool.  Watch the video.

Cartilage-like car has 3D-printed body

The Semi-Rigid Concept car design from Los Angeles architectural practice Emergent is designed to solve several current transportation problems by invoking biological concepts in vehicle design and construction.

Intended to be built by a 3D printing technique that creates an outer body “similar in texture and form to cartilage – and just as resilient”, the car is designed “to withstand any external impact and bounce back.” Precisely formulated polymer materials, including composites and elastomers, would be printed onto the car’s frame in a sequence of layers.

See two stories; here and here

Japan’s Virtual PopStar Hatsune Miku Rocks Los Angeles

[by Aaron Saenz]

Excerpt:

July 2nd, 2011: the day a software program became an internationally touring pop sensation. Hatsune Miku gave a blowout concert at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles this weekend as part of Anime Expo 2011. The concert was only Miku’s third live performance, and the first given outside of Japan. Around 6000 fans were in attendance with many thousands more watching the show streaming via pay per view on Nico Nico Douga (Japan’s version of YouTube). Check out clips from the show in the videos below! Waving glow sticks and screaming along with the music, the LA fans, many still in costume from their time at the Anime Expo, blew me away. This was one of the most fun and entertaining concerts I’ve ever been to mainly thanks to the crowd’s infectious energy. The music was excellent, there were surprise guest stars, and a five minute chanting session from the house encouraged Miku to do an extensive encore. For fans of J-Pop the night was a dream come true. Why is a teen pop idol touring LA such big news? Well, despite her immense talent, her exhaustive song book, and her legions of fans, Hatsune Miku isn’t human. This anime singing princess is a virtual creation, a fictional character…and a very real pop star.

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And Now A Discussion on Ghosts

If you’ve heard about Miku before, and we’ve certainly discussed her as often as possible, you’ve probably seen how life-like her cartoon projection seems in the official DVD/Blu-Ray videos of these concerts. While not a real hologram, the presentation can be incredibly believable, with movements so smooth you’d swear she was right there on stage. Yet her virtual nature allows her to change clothes between every song (sometimes during songs), disappear in sparks, and sing lyrics too fast for even the most masterful of divas.

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What struck me most about Miku’s projection is that it was very angle dependent. If she was on your side of the stage she was clear as day, but when she was far away you could see right through her. Such is the problem with rear projection on a transparent screen. Every concert, Miku’s team has experimented with a new variation of the display system, trying to find the best solution for showing her to the crowd. In the videos above, you’ll notice that large sections of the lower theater were left empty, that’s because the audience was channeled into the center line where Miku would tend to appear clearest. The press and industry members were sat towards the outside edges as well, so that the true fans would have the best views of Miku on stage. You’ll also notice the ample use of two huge screens to show Miku in the high quality image captured by the official camera crew (the concert will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray later this year). What this all adds up to is the sad truth that Hatsune Miku may be a professional pop star, but only an amateur looking ‘hologram’.

See the full story here: http://singularityhub.com/2011/07/07/japans-virtual-popstar-hatsune-miku-rocks-los-angeles/

Billion-pixel camera to create 3D map of the Universe

In 2013, the European Space Agency will launch the Gaia spacecraft. It will boast a billion-pixel imaging sensor, one of the largest digital cameras ever to exist, and over the course of its mission, it's estimated that Gaia will detect 15,000 new alien planets outside of our solar system.

The spacecraft will spend five years creating a three dimensional map of our entire galaxy and is expected to map a billion stars within the Milky Way Galaxy.

Read the entire story here.

iPod/iPad Déjà vu

[Philip Lelyveld comment: this is a really entertaining column about how other tablet manufacturers' marketing campaigns are so ineffective relative to the Apple iPad.]

Remember the BenQ JoyBee? The RCA Lyra? The Rio Forge 128? They were all casualties of the iPod in its march toward portable music player domination.

And if you’re paying attention, this whole lopsided Apple vs. the world scenario is playing itself out again in the nascent tablet PC wars.

Read the full story here.

How social is your favorite TV show? Bluefin Labs knows.

TV viewers are increasingly engaging in social media while watching their favorite shows. But which shows are drawing the most commenters and the largest share of the conversation? Cambridge, Mass.-based startup Bluefin Labs is using social media to not only measure engagement during TV shows, but also to find connections between shows that those viewers enjoy watching.

Read the full story here:

5 hot social networking sites

Actually there are two giant waves in the sea of social networking - mobility and games.

Here are 5 social media sites that are creating a buzz:

1. Empire Avenue

2. Color (Color Labs Inc.)

3. foursquare

4. Hunch

5. IMVU

Learn about what they do and who is behind them here.

Smartphones Outsell Feature Phones For First Time

Android and iOS have helped propel smartphones from the corner office to the four corners of the Earth in just a few short years. What used to be executive playthings are now being adopted by the mass market. Nielsen has new figures to show just how far things have come.

According to a recent survey conducted between March and May of this year, Nielsen discovered that 55% of people who purchased new phones in the U.S. bought a smartphone rather than a feature phone. In other words, the majority of new devices sold were smartphones. That's a notable reversal of fortune for the lowly feature phone, which used to be the bread-and-butter device for everyone.

Read the full story here