philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Cai Guo-Qiang’s VR fireworks bring together advanced technology and traditional craft

And what makes Sleepwalking in the Forbidden City truly unique is the way it was created. We might mistakenly assume that Cai relied on 3D animation software, which these days can create images that are virtually indistinguishable from reality. In fact he wanted to avoid the kind of computer-generated effects associated with Hollywood movies, believing that they lacked in ‘warmth’ and ‘animalistic energy’. So he commissioned the artwork’s components in real life and went about filming them, bringing an analogue dimension to what is often a purely digital medium.

Craftsmen from his hometown of Quanzhou, where Cai had launched his career-defining Sky Ladder five years ago, spent five months painstakingly creating a model of the Forbidden City in alabaster. What we see through our VR headsets is in fact an intricate 3D scan of the model, with its handcrafted textures, rather than a mere rendering. (The model has been included in the Palace Museum exhibition to clue viewers into the physicality of the production process). ‘I believe that for certain works, I shouldn’t use the cleverest way [of making],’ explains Cai.

See the full story https://www.wallpaper.com/art/cai-guo-qiang-virtual-reality-fireworks-forbidden-city

Landmark artificial intelligence legislation advances toward becoming law Defense bill awaits possible presidential veto and Congressional override; includes 63 pages of legislation authorizing new AI policies and funding by the federal government

This publication provides an overview of the key AI initiatives and the funding provided for AI programs.

National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (Division E) 

The NDAA includes a 63-page portion of the bill titled Division E, the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020. As explained in the House-Senate Joint Explanatory Statement, the provision was contained only in the version that the House passed earlier this year, but the Senate agreed to include it in the final compromise version with certain changes. Division E draws heavily on legislation introduced earlier this year, (HR 6216), the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020, as well as legislation from 2019, the Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act or AI–IA (S 1558), to establish a coordinated, civilian-led federal initiative to accelerate research and development and encourage investments in trustworthy AI systems for the economic and national security of the United States. The NDAA includes both Department of Defense (DoD) and non-DoD AI provisions.

Among the Division E highlights:

See the full article here: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=81ec9b64-7454-45d3-ae35-a79a6dffad3f

Verizon Bets on Virtual Reality With Entain Gambling Partnership

Verizon Media has formed a global tech partnership with Entain, the gambling operator formerly known as GVC Holdings, to innovate the next generation of sport betting products, including a combination of gambling and virtual reality.

The two companies say they’ll work together to build a VR platform that integrates live sports with layers of data and gambling. The goal is to create an immersive experience where sports fans can view games, check stats, place wagers and socialize, all within the same platform.

The gambling will take place through Entain’s brands, which include bwin, Ladbrokes, Coral, PartyPoker and BetMGM, a joint venture with MGM Resorts. Terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

See the full story here: https://sports.yahoo.com/verizon-bets-virtual-reality-entain-115500913.htmlhttps://sports.yahoo.com/verizon-bets-virtual-reality-entain-115500913.html

Augmented Reality and the Surveillance Society

By Mark Pesce

To work well, AR must look through our eyes, see the world as we do, and record what it sees. There seems no way to avoid this hard reality of augmented reality. So we need to ask ourselves whether we’d really welcome such pervasive monitoring, why we should trust AR providers not to misuse the information they collect, or how they can earn our trust. Sadly, there’s not been a lot of consideration of such questions in our rush to embrace technology’s next big thing. But it still remains within our power to decide when we might allow such surveillance—and to permit it only when necessary.

See the full article here: https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/augmented-reality-and-the-surveillance-society

A Data-Driven Guide to Whether a Machine Will Be Doing Your Job By 2025

Humans and machines will clock the same work hours by 2025 (and other startling findings from the World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs 2020’ report).

See the full story here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/88a575/a-data-driven-guide-to-whether-a-machine-will-be-doing-your-job-by-2025?utm_source=reddit.com&fbclid=IwAR1Ddfcrt0ayDjpvGtq3jez1iO9M9kTILxp4NyeEIi1OfPEmCXIoKpsQBts

VR LEAPS INTO THE DISRUPTIVE PHASE

In 2016, combined venture investments in VR, AR, and mixed reality (MR) exceeded $1.25 billion. In 2019, that number increased more than 3X to $4.1 billion.

And today, major players are bringing new, second-generation VR headsets to market that have the power to revolutionize the VR industry, as well as countless others.

Already, VR headset sales volumes are expected to reach 30 million per year by 2022. For example, Facebook’s new Oculus Quest 2 headset has outsold its predecessor by 5X in the initial weeks of the product launch. 

With the FAANG tech giants pouring billions into improving VR hardware, the VR space is massively heating up.

In this blog, we will dive into a brief history of VR, recent investment surges, and the future of this revolutionary technology.

See the full blog here: https://www.diamandis.com/blog/vr-disruptive-phase?utm_campaign=Tech%20Blog&utm_content=149495516&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-508209262538427&fbclid=IwAR20k1KEQPxfmdRk3g5e8nsxbRwCkjRI_VCZO_7WxS27xg5rPZVWq8P3zG8

The new normal for concerts could involve mixed-reality holograms

Live-streaming performances and music downloads brought in some revenue, but those experiences aren’t as captivating or money-generating as in-person concerts. That’s where innovative tech offerings like holograms and personalized digital concerts fit in, according to Denise White, CEO of BLANK XR and former director of direct-to-consumer technologies at the Walt Disney Company.

“From our point of view, the new normal is holographic,” White said. “What that will enable you to do is put on a headset and actually have a conversation with your favorite artists.”

Essentially, it’s mixing artificial intelligence with video and sound manipulation.

The company is in the process of recruiting performers who will share ownership of the holographic image. The service is primarily geared toward Gen Z and younger millennials who prioritize sensory experiences, White said.
BLANK XR will roll out its musician experience with a $9.99 per month membership. Users will also be able to subscribe to individual artists and can choose to donate money to support them, White said.

Koss, a former cybersecurity officer at Walt Disney, said the company has a policy against creating holograms of dead musicians. “I’m not bringing anyone back from the dead,” Koss said.

Conferences After Covid Will Be Shorter—and Smarter

Last year’s event, which took place in New York, drew 1,000 attendees; this year, 6,000 people signed up. “Since we didn’t have the cost associated with setting up a whole venue, we had the opportunity to open it up to people; you don’t have to travel, you don’t have to pay for a hotel; that helped us grow quickly,” says Arueyingho, who’s based in Houston.

Brevity Is the Soul of Zoom

But there’s one thing organizers didn’t need AI to tell them: Zoom fatigue is real. “People don’t want to sit in front of their computer for more than 30 or 40 minutes; that’s why TED talks are so successful,” 

“The other day I shared a statistic with a client: They had 500 attendees and 398 unique chat posts,” says Edwards. That format enables anyone—not just panelists—to answer questions that arise in a chat, and it encourages participation among introverts who are disinclined to walk up to a microphone in a room full of people, she says.

The Party Problem

The Investigative Reporters & Editors conference in September included a trivia happy hour, a Dutch baby cooking demonstration, and a pet parade, complete with slides introducing each animal companion during an unsurprisingly chaotic live Zoom; the event drew more than 150 people, including one participant who said she’d woken up at 5 am so she could tune in from Kyrgyzstan.

See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/what-conferences-will-look-like-post-covid/

Facebook reverses postelection algorithm changes that boosted news from authoritative sources.

Facebook confirmed that it has in the past few days rolled back a change that lifted news from authoritative outlets over hyperpartisan sources after November’s election, signaling a return to normalcy for the social network.

The change involved boosting the weight that Facebook’s news feed algorithm assigned to an internal publisher quality score known as “news ecosystem quality,” or N.E.Q. It was implemented several days after the election as part of Facebook’s emergency “break glass” plan to combat misinformation during the critical postelection period, while votes were still being counted.

The change resulted in an increase in Facebook traffic for mainstream news publishers including CNN, NPR and The New York Times, while partisan sites like Breitbart and Occupy Democrats saw their numbers fall. After the election, some Facebook employees asked at a company meeting whether the “nicer news feed” could stay, according to several people who attended.

But they were told that the “break glass” measures, including the N.E.Q. change, were never supposed to be permanent.

See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/technology/facebook-reverses-postelection-algorithm-changes-that-boosted-news-from-authoritative-sources.html

Childish Gambino mesmerizes fans with real-time animation

In 2016, singer/rapper Childish Gambino blew audiences away with his Pharos show, where projections of futuristic imagery and animation inside an enormous dome surrounded the audience and performers throughout the concert. To complete the technological experience, the concert spawned a 360-degree video and a VR companion app.

See the full story here: https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/spotlights/childish-gambino-mesmerizes-fans-with-real-time-animation?fbclid=IwAR27OuahvuO2ELTtR5l63ErNZ0cvKrPLMs3XutVBIN5Stn6C20Lg-HMqRt0