HTC Vive Wrist Tracker Could Solve One of VR’s Big Problems
The device, announced today at CES 2022, is designed for use with HTC’s all-in-one Vive Focus 3 headset, which tracks the location of a user’s hands using onboard cameras. That approach can fall short for a number of technical reasons, including that it’s hard to tell if a hand is small and close to the camera, or large and far away. Invisible LEDs on the Vive Wrist Tracker add more points of reference and exact scale to the equation, allowing the headset to calculate precise location and movement through a 3D space.
The Vive Wrist Tracker is about the same weight as a smartwatch, even though it’s more bulbous, and it’s 85% smaller and 50% lighter than a Vive Focus 3 controller. ...
The new Vive Wrist Tracker will available in the first quarter of 2022 for $129.
See the full story here: https://gizmodo.com/htc-vive-wrist-tracker-could-solve-one-of-vrs-big-probl-1848306450?fbclid=IwAR3tJAHl13NYf3RSSLnwUYt4XP1V1WMpm9sMRmlO4hjZrn6Vs1xFHMFj1pU
CES: Top Concepts from the 2022 Eureka Park Startup Zone
ETC’s George Gerba and Don Levy spent Wednesday perusing the CES 2022 Eureka Park startup zone looking for new companies and unique products that would be of particular interest to the entertainment industry. Among this year’s most compelling concepts were an AI-assisted content creation tool, COVID-compliant tech ideal for workspaces and productions, AI-based audio tech, a response tracking system for dynamic displays, emerging NFT approaches for artists, new tech investing models, light-based networking solutions, paper-based biofuel cells and haptic wearables.
Below are short descriptions of booths that stood out to ETC. They will be included in the post-CES roadshow presentation and report that ETC will produce.
Audio Design Desk is an AI-assisted content creation tool that reinvents the process of connecting audio to video. It is particularly good with sound design, foley-like sound effects and music.
ADD is intelligent, so it’s aware of the types of sounds and music you import, use in your projects, and will even make qualified and informed recommendations to help keep your projects evolving in all the right ways. For example, temporary music queues can easily be replaced with final music, since it intelligently replaces sounds without losing sync.
Used on productions seen on Netflix, Amazon and HBO Max, ADD’s AI technology allows editors to seamlessly add sound effects to videos by choosing from a library of more than 30,000 royalty-free sounds. Like a Spotify for sound effects, it suggests new sounds based on past preferences.
Soapy is of interest because it supports COVID compliance in a friendly, gamified and verifiable manner. The personal hand washing station will help any production set remain COVID-compliant in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible manner.
From touch-free water and soap triggering, perfect wash tutorials that gamify handwashing, and WHO approved timing cues, Soapy ensures that the most effective wash is achievable every time. Powered by AI and connect to the IoT, its semi-biometric recognition process tracks personal performance and body temperature while protecting each individual’s privacy.
Soapy provides the monitoring, alerts and reporting that guarantee 100 percent assurance and compliance. As a bonus, Soapy donates one unit to a disadvantaged community for every ten units sold. The models start at $3,495, with soap refills starting at $89 per bottle.
Supertone is an AI-based audio tech startup. The company is researching and developing technologies that seamlessly convert voices, create new unique voices, capture a singer’s tone and rich expression, and separate any voice from unwanted background noise.
ETC was shown a project currently in development where they capture the emotional tonality, timber, intonation, and other qualities of an actor’s dialog in the original language, and then apply those qualities to the dialog from a dubbing actor in another language. This could be applicable to anyone creating multilanguage versions of content.
ADDD offers a portable, AI-driven audience facial, body-language, and emotional response tracking system for dynamic displays intended for rolling vehicles, pop-up marketing events and special temporary venues. The system recognizes, tracks, skeletonizes and analyzes each person’s response as they look at the screen, and can adjust the content in response to the reactions.
A number of companies offer audience detection and dynamic real-time modification of the marketing message or programming for permanent installations. Portability is ADDD’s unique value proposition.
Echo Labs is another example of how artists are jumping into the NFT space. Jerrod Maruyama, who has designed a great deal of Disney merchandise has partnered with Echo Labs to develop Little Corgi Cuties.
Although no plans for Maruyama’s work have been announced yet, another artist, Josh Agle (better known as Shag), has already released Qitty Qats NFTs in partnership with Echo Labs and posted a product road map. When you buy a Qitty Qats NFT they will mail you a 5x 5-inch paper print of it. For a fee you can upgrade to a larger signed paper print or one printed on canvas.
The website will also offer scheduled meetings with the artist on Discord, Qitty portraits of fans, merchandise, giveaways and parties; all for additional fees.
Kryptulip may be an alternative funding path for startups. From the website: “Kryptulip is an investment platform that connects inventors and new technology enthusiasts. It associates NFTs (non-fungible tokens) with IP assets. Inventors design the rewards they will offer in exchange for the purchase of NFTs by investors. Investors can thus contribute to the emergence and development of new technologies that are important to them, and profit from attractive returns on investment.”
Unlink VR is a laser light-based networking solution for free roaming location-based entertainment and other large-space situations. Unlink’s light sensors fit any VR headset. Laser light transmitters and reflectors are placed throughout the room. If the light from one sensor is blocked, the sensor immediately switches to any other visible transmitter or reflector. The system can deliver an uncompressed 4K signal 40X faster than Wi-Fi.
The product is still in development, but you can sign-up for notifications when they start accepting pre-orders.
BeFC, or bioenzymatic fuel cell, is a thin, lightweight, flexible paper-based biofuel cell that is biodegradable, environmentally friendly and economically viable. The company is also developing flexible electronic platforms that combine a range of sensor technologies with wireless communication for data readout that are optimized to partner perfectly with BeFC fuel cell tech.
They expect the BeFC battery to come to market in early 2023. With 97 percent of batteries ending up in landfill or being incinerated, BeFC biofuel cells are a biodegradable organic energy source that can help protect the environment.
OWO looks like a tight-fitting short sleeve zipper-top, but can wirelessly deliver haptic sensations to 10 locations (including abs, pecs and arms) for up to eight hours on a single charge. Algorithms vary nine parameters to create 30 distinct sensations, including wind, insect crawl and bite, light and severe abdominal wound, lift or push objects, shot with exit wound, machine gun recoil, and more.
The OWO works natively or semi-natively with a suite of games such as “Fortnite,” “League of Legends” and “Rocket League.” The top is available in six sizes.
See the original post here: https://www.etcentric.org/ces-top-concepts-from-the-2022-eureka-park-startup-zone/
Panasonic Enters Into Immersive Entertainment Collaboration With AREA15
CES 2022, Panasonic System Solutions Company of North America announced its newest collaboration with AREA15, an experiential event and entertainment district located just off the Strip in Las Vegas. AREA15 offers a curation of vibrant, themed entertainment experiences and ever-changing art and retail experiences for locals and visitors of all ages.
This five-year collaboration with Panasonic will provide AREA15 with turnkey solutions from the very best of Panasonic’s solutions such as software development, engineering, projection design, show-quality support, industry-leading projectors and more to provide seamless and unparalleled 360-degree visual experiences.
AREA15 is utilizing Panasonic’s PT-RQ35KU 3-Chip DLP® SOLID SHINE 4K laser projectors for its multi-purpose Live Events space, The Portal. ...
See the full story here: https://aithority.com/gadgets/panasonic-enters-into-immersive-entertainment-collaboration-with-area15/
CES: Hyundai Envisions ‘Unlimited Mobility of Things’ Future
During CES 2022, Hyundai Motor Company presented a compelling vision of the future that blends the metaverse, the Internet and robotics to make time, distance and the distinction between the physical and virtual worlds irrelevant. The company’s media event started with videos of a robotic platform concept that could be built into furniture for dynamically reconfigurable rooms. The platform technology could also carry people in personal mobility pods and power autonomous vehicles. Hyundai describes its vision as the “unlimited mobility of things.”
From there, Hyundai discussed its partnership with advanced robot maker Boston Dynamics and Microsoft’s cloud and AI division. Together they are developing a vision of the future that involves digital twins and physical avatars.
With digital twins, Hyundai envisions people experiencing simulations of locations and work environments that are driven by AI technology and delivered via the Microsoft cloud.
For physical avatars, actual robots such as Boston Dynamics’ Spot dog robot would be the physical proxy or telepresence device for a person. The use case example was Spot exploring the surface of Mars while a person on Earth saw, heard, and felt everything Spot experienced via an immersive display and haptic feedback devices.
“With our robotics we will expand human reach,” explained Hyundai Motor Group executive chair Euisun Chung (above). Vehicles are already transforming into living spaces. Hyundai envisions its future evolving from moving physical things to transporting our senses.
“Robotics will create a horizontal connection across our business areas and create new business systems that we call the unlimited mobility of things,” said Chung. “Like the metaverse, it builds a bridge between the physical world and new virtual realities.”
See the original post here: https://www.etcentric.org/ces-hyundai-envisions-unlimited-mobility-of-things-future/
CES: Highlights from the 2022 CES Unveiled Pre-Show Event
ETC’s George Gerba visited the CES Unveiled show floor in Las Vegas Monday evening looking for companies and products that would be of interest to our members, illustrate emerging trends, or are simply unusual. Gerba discovered a range of compelling technologies across areas such as blockchain, non-fungible tokens, Li-Fi, wearables, large-scale video screens, the metaverse, remote work, cell signal boosters, health, batteries and more. Among the more interesting companies at CES Unveiled this year were Icecap, Oledcomm, Somalytics, VideowindoW, Toraru, SureCall, Biospectal, Prinker, Airxom and Nanotech Energy.
NFTs and digital currencies are one of three new categories at CES 2022 (food tech and space tech are the other two). Icecap uses the Ethereum ERC721 NFT (non-fungible token) standard to give diamonds their own digital tokens. The unique token represents the rights to a single diamond and enables that diamond to function as a tradeable asset. The pitch is that Icecap enable you to safely add diamonds to your investment portfolio via blockchain technology.
Oledcomm has developed networking technology, tablets and other products that communicate via Li-Fi (Light Fidelity). The company unveiled a Li-Fi tablet for home and home-office (above, shown for medical use). Its patented technology modulates invisible infrared spectrum at more than 10 million times per second to convert data into binary code in an optic equivalent of Morse code. Li-Fi has a latency 100 times less than Wi-Fi. The signal is robust, stable and cannot be intercepted outside of the room.
Somalytics has developed very sensitive carbon nanotube capacitive sensors that can detect human tissue up to 20cm away. Their sensors are small (<1mm diameter), low latency (<3ms), and fast (up to 1000hz). Use cases include eye tracking, touchless and contact HMI (human machine interaction), wearables and industrial.
VideowindoW transforms windows, including the entire glass curtain of a skyscraper, into a black and white video screen. Unlike tintable glass, VideowindoW divides glass into numerous small segments, comparable to pixels. Each pixel’s transparency ranges from fully transparent to nearly full black, and changes fast enough to display video content. Uses include glare control and shading, generative video patterns, entertainment and art, and branding and advertising (above).
Toraru would like its GENCHI app to be the Mechanical Turk of the metaverse. Already deployed in Japan, GENCHI is an on-demand remote work agent service in which “you can ask someone to do something, no matter where you are in the world.” It is an example of the rush to move existing ideas into the green field environment of the metaverse.
SureCall is a 5G signal booster system. The company claims 10X improvement of voice, text and data signal inside any home, office or vehicle. SureCall signal boosters work with all cell carriers and cellular generations, including 3G, 4G LTE and 5G LTE (below). An outside antenna captures the signal, the signal booster amplifies the signal’s strength and indoor antenna(s) send the improved signal to your phone. ETC thinks this type of tech will be installed in office buildings and will be useful for temporary installations supporting remote productions and operations.
Biospectal is making instant, ubiquitous and accurate remote blood pressure monitoring and management a reality. With the touch of a finger to a smartphone camera, anyone can transform their phone into a medical grade blood pressure monitoring solution, anytime, anywhere.
Prinker Korea Inc. demonstrated a printer that produces personalized temporary tattoos. Choose from a rich library of pre-made artwork or design your very own tattoo with the Prinker Design App. Get personalized temporary tattoos, commitment free, and without the pain. The tattoos last two to three days.
Airxom is a face mask that offers “total respiratory protection” from pollution, viruses and bacteria (above). The mask filters and destroys micro and nanoparticles (atmospheric pollution) and shines UV rays onto a catalyst to destroy viruses, bacteria and volatile organic compounds (including SARS-CoV-2).
Nanotech Energy announced customizable, non-flammable lithium-ion batteries that utilize monolayer graphene, which charge faster, hold a charge longer, and are safer than traditional lithium batteries. The use of monolayer graphene is a significant environmental advance. Nanotech Energy is a Los Angeles-based company founded in 2014 by Dr. Jack Kavanaugh and noted UCLA scientists Dr. Richard Kaner and Dr. Maher El-Kady.
See the original post here: https://www.etcentric.org/ces-highlights-from-the-2022-ces-unveiled-pre-show-event/
CES: Fittingbox Demonstrates Unexpectedly Useful AR App
Sometimes you see a product idea that is so obvious you wonder why no one created it sooner. French company Fittingbox has developed an augmented reality app and a 3D model database that lets you try on new frames for eyewear without taking off your old glasses, so you can actually see what you look like as you try them on. Diminished reality is a subset of augmented reality focused on removing, rather than adding, elements of what you see and hear. The Fittingbox app uses the selfie camera on a smartphone to scan the face of the customer. It then recognizes and removes the wearer’s glasses from the 3D modeled image.
Fittingbox has over 120,000 digital frames to try on in the world’s largest 3D frames and photo database. The customer selects frames to try on, and each frame is projected onto the selfie image. Accurate tracking and sizing are guaranteed for an enjoyable customer experience.
Simply open the app, point the selfie camera at your face, and raise and lower the screen to flip between different frames. Find one you like and Fittingbox is happy to sell it to you.
“Our mission has always been to develop more immersive solutions through technology,” said Fittingbox CEO and co-founder Benjamin Hakoun. “We have generated more than 95 million virtual try-ons in 2021.”
“Diminished reality could be applied in other ways, as well,” notes TechRadar. “Highlighting the person you’re meeting in a crowd via a big arrow overhead (and maybe their latest Tweet) is a common trope of augmented reality. Imagine instead if the rest of the crowd were turned down a bit — blurred out or removed altogether, to ensure you don’t miss your date.”
Fittingbox is demonstrating its product during CES this week in Eureka Park at the Venetian Resort, booth #60414.
See the full story here: https://www.etcentric.org/ces-fittingbox-demonstrates-unexpectedly-useful-ar-app/
Have a better 2022 with these tech resolutions
Get multifactor authentication already.
Rethink two-day shipping.
Take that next meeting over the phone.
Embrace the infinite inbox.
Be critical about the news.
Mute notifications.
Celebrate Digital Cleanup January.
Lastly, remember there’s a whole world outside of tech.
See the full story here: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/12/31/1043032/2022-tech-resolutions/
Forget augmented reality, diminished reality is coming for your face (and your glasses)
A CES 2022 lesson: AR can remove things from the real world too, helping solve life's little problems.
Diminished Reality is an intriguing offshoot of augmented reality, being shown off at CES 2022 for the first time by a French "digital eyewear" company called Fittingbox. The company uses the tech not to layer new stuff over the existing world but to remove stuff from the real world -- in this case, to let you try on new eyewear without removing your existing glasses. ...
“To date we have generated more than 95 million virtual try-ons in 2021, and we produce the largest 3D frames and photo database in the world, accounting for around 120k digital frames.” ...
See the full story here: https://www.techradar.com/news/forget-augmented-reality-diminished-reality-is-coming-for-your-face-and-your-glasses
