Inside Meow Wolf’s New Omega Mart Interactive Experience in Las Vegas
Spectators are led through a transformative narrative guided by interactive visual, sound, film and digital content all layered into multi-dimensional art. Video content — the length of three feature films — is embedded throughout.
What Exactly is Going on at Omega Mart?
The storyline of the new art experience centers on a mythical energy, called The Source. The Omega Mart grocery store has found a way to harness The Source and put it into their products, and they sell them to America, Brinkerhoff explains.
Guests can follow the storylines of DramCorp, the corporate giant behind Omega Mart, which has moved into this parallel dimension, taking over parts of the desert, as well as those of three sisters that lead a resistance to this infiltration. Look for clues as to what is going on within the exhibits, installation-filled rooms and terrains, or choose your own adventure — anything goes.
The authenticity and approachability of a Meow Wolf experience is a response to the cynicism and gatekeeping of the contemporary art world, something that Brinkerhoff says the collective strives to tear down.
George R.R. Martin’s Role
The Game of Thrones creator consults on story building and vision for the world of Meow Wolf.
“Think of it like the Marvel Universe,” Brinkerhoff says. “There are different characters and sagas but they all kind of exist in this common universe that is the connective tissue between all of our different shows that we're developing.”
See the full story here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/index.php/news/inside-meow-wolfs-new-omega-mart-interactive-experience-in-las-vegas?fbclid=IwAR2tqBL93yC9Gy3qTBRFNktznmCwfXwKfcvr9CB2sI5cA9CCUoQkoAuGlWA
IN 2021, THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL FOUND ART IN ZOOM, INSTAGRAM, AND VR THEATER
Pared down to 14 projects, this year’s New Frontier focused on web art and social media alongside virtual and augmented reality experiences. The result was a show that felt intimate and intriguing — and set a model for showcasing interactive art online.
BEYOND THE BREAKDOWN
CREATED BY TONY PATRICK, LAUREN LEE MCCARTHY, AND GRACE LEE
It’s tough to make a Zoom call feel profound, but Beyond the Breakdown comes close. Like Tinker, the experience involves only a few people, all of whom dial into a web-based video chat. The chat is moderated by a Siri-like voice bot (controlled largely by a human operator), and it’s devoted to answering a simple question: what should Earth look like in 2050?
RICH KIDS: A HISTORY OF SHOPPING MALLS IN TEHRAN
See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/15/22260581/sundance-film-festival-new-frontier-best-of-2021
Artificial intelligence reveals the recipe for a perfect stack this Shrove Tuesday – and claims just ONE flip is ideal
According to the London-based firm, seven ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, butter and eggs – will give the fluffiest pancakes.
And while you might be tempted to go for multiple flips, the AI claims that just one toss is necessary to ensure perfect pancakes.
THE ULTIMATE AI-APPROVED PANCAKES
From the optimum butter-to-milk ratio, to the cooking time & heat, Monolith identified the ultimate combination of ingredients:
- Flour - 210g
- Sugar - 48g
- Baking powder - 14g
- Salt - 6g
- Eggs - 2
- Milk - 256g
- Butter - 25g
- Number of flips - 1
- Pan temp - medium heat (electric) / Low heat (gas)
See the full story here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9262829/Artificial-intelligence-reveals-perfect-pancake-recipe.html
How The UK Is Using VR To Improve Safety For Its Largest Environmental Project Yet
For those who may be out of the loop, the UK is currently in the process of developing an eco-friendly high-speed rail line as part of the countries transition to low carbon transportation. The HS2 Rail Line will feature 25 stations across London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, connecting 30 million people while at the same time generating 500,000 new jobs. When complete, the HS2 will represent the countries largest environmental project to date, offering an alternative form of transportation that emits 17x less carbon than a conventional flight.
“From initial conversations with the team at Align JV, it was clear they were looking at using innovation and the latest technology to enhance the safety of all aspects of the working environment” said Darren Verschuren, International Account Director at Serious Labs. “Not only is simulator training engaging, cost-effective and safe, it provides trainees with better capabilities, while decreasing the potential for accidents and fatalities — something which is better for everyone.”
Finally, a Site That Just Lets Me Know How to Cook the Dang Thing
Aptly named “Just the Recipe,” it takes any recipe URL and spits out a list of ingredients, estimated prep time, how many servings it makes, and step-by-step directions.
The site, which we spotted thanks to the good folks on Twitter, automatically sorts out the salient details, pun intended, from the needless word fluff. Since the system appears to be algorithmically generated, it’s not always perfect. A few times we tried it out, the site got its signals crossed and listed ridiculous amounts for some ingredients (it seems to have particular trouble sorting out ingredients that recipes typically leave open “to taste” like salt and pepper) but it was pretty consistent about picking up on all the important directions and putting them in the right order.
See the full story here: https://gizmodo.com/finally-a-site-that-just-lets-me-know-how-to-cook-the-1846271356
Shakespeare in virtual reality: is this the future of theatre?
Based on the Shakespearian classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performers will bring this new play to life in a digital midsummer forest. Through virtual reality (VR), audience members at home will be able to interact with actors and guide the story in real-time.
In collaboration with Manchester International Festival and thanks to funding from big tech names including Innovate UK and Fortnite creators Epic Games, Dream marks the latest efforts from the theatre community to give us the live performances experience we miss so much.
See the full story here: https://mancunion.com/2021/02/12/shakespeare-in-virtual-reality-is-this-the-future-of-theatre/
Vuzix looking far ahead with its smart glasses and Augmented Reality technologies
PhilNote: thorough company analysis for stock price.
Founded in 1997, the group holds 184 patents and patents pending and numerous IP licenses in the Video Eyewear field. It has won Consumer Electronics Show (or CES) awards for innovation for the years 2005 to 2021 and several wireless technology innovation awards among others
See the full story here: https://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/941234/vuzix-looking-far-ahead-with-its-smart-glasses-and-augmented-reality-technologies-941234.html
AI progress depends on us using less data, not more
1. AI has a compute addiction.
2. Big data can mean more spurious noise.
3. We’re still only making linear progress.
4. Privacy concerns are expanding.
How I learned to stop worrying and enjoy data scarcity
In order to overcome these challenges, specifically in my area, cyber security, we have to, first and foremost, align expectations.
Algorithmic efficacy as top priority.
Human augmentation-first approach.
Leveraging hardware improvements.
Eyal Balicer is Senior Vice President for Global Cyber Partnership and Product Innovation at Citi.
See the full story here: https://venturebeat.com/2021/02/13/ai-progress-depends-on-us-using-less-data-not-more/
