philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Could Augmented And Virtual Reality Be The Next Big Things In The Meetings And Events Industry?

As a speakers bureau, my company knows keynote speakers will utilize AR/VR in their presentations to adapt to the marketplace. It’s more dynamic than a standard Zoom call or in-person presentation. Think storytelling through scent, visual and auditory channels; we envision something like Disneyland’s "Soarin' Around the World" or "It’s Tough to Be a Bug" rides. AR and VR tools could also be used to teach hands-on lessons or simply for entertainment during meetings. There is so much room for creativity and interaction. 

When exploring the potential of having our staff implement AR/VR in our meetings, we imagine we’ll play some games, and we’ll all do it from the comfort of our home, not having to travel in the middle of winter, or from the East Coast or wherever. 

In some instances, AR/VR may replace in-person events; in other events, it may be supplemental. In-person events will always have relevance and will continue to be more experiential, yet VR meetings will rise and eventually may be the vast majority of gatherings.

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2021/07/27/could-augmented-and-virtual-reality-be-the-next-big-things-in-the-meetings-and-events-industry/?sh=3c964311525a

Facebook sets up new team to work on the ‘metaverse’

Facebook is creating a product team to work on the "metaverse," a digital world where people can move between different devices and communicate in a virtual environment, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday.

The team will be part of the company's virtual reality organization, the group's executive Andrew Bosworth said in a Facebook post.

"I believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet, and creating this product group is the next step in our journey to help build it," he said on his Monday Facebook post.

See the full story here: https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-sets-up-new-team-work-metaverse-2021-07-26/https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-sets-up-new-team-work-metaverse-2021-07-26/

Virtual Reality Is the Rich White Kid of Technology

[PhilNote: the last two paragraphs capture the lengthy article.]

I’m sure the rigs and goggles of 2026 will be better and more affordable than the ones we have today. I’m just not sure what else we will use them for. The problem isn’t the technology—it’s the vision. And the trouble with imagining the future through sci-fi action adventures is that it obscures the mundane everyday uses of technology.

Are we ever going to start judging VR on its performance instead of its pedigree?

See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/virtual-reality-rich-white-kid-of-technology/

VR Technology Could One Day Be Powered By Your Sweat

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a wearable device that generates power when touched or sweated on, potentially opening up new opportunities for smaller electronics, including maybe VR technology.

In a paper entitled A passive perspiration biofuel cell: High energy return on investment, the team goes into detail regarding the potentially game-changing wearable. The thin, flexible device is worn around the users’ fingertip and collects small amounts of sweat via an absorbant padding composed of carbon foam electrodes. These electrodes feature special enzymes that activate a unique chemical reaction between lactate and oxygen molecules which, in turn, generates small amounts of electrical power.

[PhilNote: TWO energy sources!] According to the team, biofuel cells located in the wearable are capable of harvesting ∼400 mJ/cm² of energy during sleep; enough to power something like a digital (non-smart) wristwatch. In addition to sweat, piezoelectric generators allow the user to generate additional energy with light finger presses.

See the full story here: https://www.virtualrealitypulse.com/edition/daily-amazon-apple-2021-07-26?open-article-id=19847324&article-title=vr-technology-could-one-day-be-powered-by-your-sweat&blog-domain=vrscout.com&blog-title=vrscout

German startup Aleph Alpha raises $27M Series A round to build ‘Europe’s OpenAI’

With Microsoft now being an investor in OpenAI the field now more open for new insurgents into the open-source AI arena. Now a German company hopes to take on the next AI mantle and produce something akin to the success of the GPT-3 AI model.

German AI startup Aleph Alpha has now raised €23 million / $27 million in a Series A funding co-led by Earlybird VC, Lakestar, and UVC Partners. Following a seed round of €5.3 million from LEA Partners, 468 Capital, and Cavalry Ventures in November 2020, Aleph Alpha has now raised a total of €28.3 million (people in $33.3 million).

The idea behind Aleph Alpha is that it researches, develops, and “operationalizes” large AI systems towards generalizable AI, offering GPT-3-like text, vision and strategy AI models. The platform will run a public API enabling public and private sectors to run their own AI experiments and develop new business models.

The team says it will have a strong commitment to open-source communities (such as Eleuther.AI), academic partnerships, and will be pushing “European values and ethical standards,” it says, “supporting fairer access to modern AI research – aimed at counteracting ongoing ‘de-democratization’, monopolization, and loss of control or transparency.” The move is clearly meant to be a stake in the ground in the international world of AI development.

...In other words, they want to firmly center themselves in the EU under EU law, GDPR and regulation. They may well prove a useful “Fortress Europe” for the company.

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/27/german-startup-aleph-alpha-raises-27m-series-a-round-to-build-europes-openai/

DuckDuckGo launches new Email Protection service to remove trackers

Email trackers exist in more than 70 percent of mailing lists, according to a highly cited 2017 study. Once implemented, they let advertisers figure out when you open email, where you are when you open it, and which device you’re using. Removing trackers from email removes data points from lists building hidden advertising profiles on you, which have become a priority for privacy advocates in recent years.

Weinberg said that consumer research showed that asking people to switch to an entirely new email address and provider would be a tough pitch. So instead of creating a new email service, the Email Protection tool acts as an intermediary layer guarding access to your inbox.

“Our high-level goal is to make simple privacy protection available for everyone anywhere they are,” CEO Gabriel Weinberg tells The Verge. “So we’re trying to build this into any major browser or operating system or email provider you use.”

iPhone users might recognize the concept of a relay email address, a feature that Apple introduced with iOS 14 called Hide My Email. When signing up for an app through an Apple device, your iPhone can suggest a randomized Apple email address. Emails hit the random address, preventing the app from knowing your real email. In Apple’s iOS 15, the company is introducing similar features to confuse email trackers and protect privacy.

Weinberg explains that DuckDuckGo’s Email Protection is different than Apple’s offerings because it’s cross-platform, meaning you have a unified experience with disposable email addresses on mobile, desktop, iPhone, or Android. 

See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/20/22576352/duckduckgo-email-protection-privacy-trackers-apple-alternative

Data Visualization in UI Design Explained

For a far easier method of data interpretation, a human mind needs to take in the data’s visual representation.

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While data visualization types vary and can be multi-purposeful, there are some prevalent and effective ways to use data visualization.

● Periodic Change Tracking: The most common and widely used data visualization method illustrates how the data collected changes over time.
● Frequency Identification: Typically working in tandem with the time-related changes are also data points that reflect variances in frequency.
● Correlation: Determining a relationship between two distinct variables is very challenging without being able to visualize it. Yet, it is a vital part of data analysis, one in which data visualizations’ involvement is paramount.
● Analyzing Risk/Value: With many complex metrics and variables involved, assessing the value or risk factor can be nearly impossible without the ability to visualize that data. Through charts or color-coding plot points via a formula, it is much easier to assess otherwise less apparent factors that could be game-changers in decisions made about a business.
● Study Of Networks: Marketers need to be able to break down their audience into segmented clusters, understand those clusters, assess the influencers in that sphere, and figure out how they relate to each other, as well as the outlier examples relevant to the particular area. Data visualization helps to classify this information into more evident, distinguished regions.
● Effective Scheduling: Complex projects entail the creation of often confusing schedules. This can be assisted by visual representations of the data, such as Gantt charts, helping to develop a more precise illustration of the projects, their stages, and the length required to complete them.

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See the full story here: https://thenationroar.com/2021/07/26/data-visualization-in-ui-design-explained/

DeepMind’s Lila Ibrahim: ‘It’s hard not to go through imposter syndrome’

Lila Ibrahim is the first Chief Operating Officer. DeepMind, One of the most famous artificial intelligence companies in the world. She doesn’t have a formal background in AI or research, which is the company’s main job, but she oversees half of the employees, a global team of about 500 people, including engineers and scientists.

“It’s hard not to experience impostor syndrome. I’m not an AI expert. I’m working with very smart people here .. .. What’s over the first 6 minutes of some research conferences It took me a while to figure out, “she says. “But I realized I wasn’t hired as an expert. It brings 30 years of experience, the human side of understanding technology and impact, and helps achieve this ambitious goal. I was hired to do so in a fearless way. “

“I know the pressure Alphabet is under because I’ve been on the board of public companies before. In my experience, when an organization focuses on the short term, it often stumbles. We need to think both short-term and long-term in terms of value, “says Ibrahim. “Alphabet believes DeepMind is an investment in the future of AI while at the same time returning commercial value to the organization. DeepMind technology WaveNet has been integrated into Google products. [such as Google Assistant] And to Project Euphonia. This is the voice text service used by ALS. [motor neuron disease] Patients can maintain their voice.

The third challenge Ibrahim focused on was translating ethical principles into the utility of DeepMind’s AI research. Researchers are increasingly emphasizing the risks posed by AI, such as autonomous killer robots, and issues such as replicating human prejudice and invading privacy through technologies such as facial recognition.

See the full story here: https://californianewstimes.com/deepminds-lila-ibrahim-its-hard-not-to-go-through-imposter-syndrome/444337/

(Gambling) Top 5 Emerging Technology Trends for Entertainment Industry

1. Increased Innovation

2. Online Interactive Feature on Contents

3. Streaming Services to Continue

4. Entertainment Industry Implementing Virtual Reality

5. Artificial Intelligence

See the full story here: https://www.bobfm.co.uk/top-5-emerging-technology-trends-for-entertainment-industry/https://www.bobfm.co.uk/top-5-emerging-technology-trends-for-entertainment-industry/

When virtual becomes reality: Cryptocurrency comes riding into Texas

Your fiduciary (power of attorney agent or executor) will likely not know you own crypto unless you tell him. Otherwise, your crypto investment may go to the grave with you.

Your fiduciary may not be able to legally access your crypto if you, and he, do not follow the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act. You must give your fiduciary written access to your digital assets. Even then, to access the assets, your fiduciary will have to provide, at a minimum, a written request, a copy of your will, trust or power of attorney, and information that links the digital account to you.

See the full story here: https://www.dallasnews.com/sponsored/2021/07/25/when-virtual-becomes-reality-cryptocurrency-comes-riding-into-texas/