philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Tokyo’s Hello Kitty Land employs use of Israeli technology to remain open

SOMPO will be employing Binah.ai's technology into use within the leisure and entertainment industries in Japan by motoring the health of workers amid the pandemic, hoping to filter entrances into the workplace, malls and even theme parks.

SOMPO developed an application using Binah.ai's technology named Health Checker, which allows smartphone users to check vital signs using photographs taken of a subject by the phone.

The company’s solution monitors an individual’s heart rate within seven seconds, oxygen saturation within 10 seconds, respiration rate within 30 seconds, and heart rate variability within 45 seconds. Within 90 seconds, the app can also assess mental stress levels.The technology, as explained by the company, relies on the simple and long-established optical technique of photoplethysmography, often used in pulse oximeters or “finger clips” to measure blood flow. Rather than shining a light beam into body tissue, the company’s technology analyzes the reflection of light that returns to the camera from the cheeks.

See the full story here: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/tokyos-hello-kitty-land-employs-use-of-israeli-technology-to-remain-open-649779

Marissa Mayer’s New Company Launches AI-Driven Contact App

Since leaving Yahoo, Mayer cofounded Sunshine with the goal of creating “advanced technology to make mundane tasks effortless, free up your time, and make it easier to be thoughtful.”

The company’s Sunshine Contacts is a perfect example, using artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the relationships between people. This helps the app organize communication, events and more. The app also uses AI to pull together the various bits of a contact’s information into one location, making it easier to keep the information organized and up-to-date.

The app is available via invitation for the time being. As of yet, there has been no announcement regarding general availability.

See the full story here; https://www.webpronews.com/marissa-mayers-new-company-launches-ai-drive-contact-app/

Snapchat Wants to Blow Your Mind With Augmented Reality

See the full story here: https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/11/19/snapchat-wants-to-blow-your-mind-with-augmented-re/

Hong Kong Observation Wheel launches augmented reality app to give visitors a feel of city’s historic past

The 60-metre-tall wheel has 42 gondolas, each accommodating up to four people amid the ongoing ban on public gatherings. Tickets cost HK$20 for adults and HK$10 for children aged three to 11 and senior citizens.

• Users can download it for free to see the city from two time periods – between 1890 and 1920, and from 1960 to 1980 – during 20-minute ride
• The world’s first-ever augmented reality experience on a moving platform took two years to develop and was guided by city historians Ko Tim-keung and Jason Wordie

See the full story here: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3110577/hong-kong-observation-wheel-launches-augmented

Exploring Use Cases for Virtual Reality in Child Welfare

In that virtual home, the user practices observing, asking questions of each family member, and then interpreting their behavior. At the end of the experience, the user makes a critical decision: Is the home safe enough for the child? Or should the child be removed from her family? This individual experience is followed by a seminar where users work together to unpack their experiences – a precursor to transferring what they learned to their day-to-day activities.

See the full story here: https://www.techwire.net/sponsored/Exploring_Use_Cases_for_Virtual_Reality_in_Child_Welfare.html

MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and the Singapore Defense Science and Technology Agency award funding to 13 AI-focused projects.

As part of a new collaboration to advance and support AI research, the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing and the Defense Science and Technology Agency in Singapore are awarding funding to 13 projects led by researchers within the college that target one or more of the following themes: trustworthy AI, enhancing human cognition in complex environments, and AI for everyone. The 13 research projects selected are highlighted below.

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“Computationally-Supported Role-playing for Social Perspective Taking” by D. Fox Harrell, professor of digital media and artificial intelligences. Drawing on computer science and social science approaches, this project aims to create tools, techniques, and methods to model social phenomena for users of computer-supported role-playing systems — online gaming, augmented reality, and virtual reality — to better understand the perspectives of others with different social identities.

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“Audio Forensics” by James Glass, senior research scientist. The ongoing improvements in capabilities that manipulate or generate multi-media content such as speech, images, and video are resulting in ever-more natural and realistic “deepfake” content that is increasingly difficult to discern from the real thing. In a project led by Glass, researchers are developing a set of deep learning models that can be used to identify manipulated or synthetic speech content, as well as detect the nature of deepfakes to help analysts better understand the underlying objective of the manipulation and how much effort is required to create the fake content.

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“Analytics-Guided Communication to Counteract Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers” by Deb Roy, professor of media arts and sciences. Social media technologies that promised to open up our worlds have instead driven us algorithmically into cocoons of homogeneity. Roy and his team are developing language models and methods to counteract the effects of these technologies that has exacerbated socioeconomic divides and limited exposure to different perspectives, curbing opportunities for users to learn from others who may not necessarily look, think, or live like them.

...

See the full story here: https://news.mit.edu/2020/advancing-artificial-intelligence-research-1118

Ex-Spotify Exec Nick Holmsten Unveils Multi-Billion Dollar Plan for a ‘Disneyland for Music’ in Times Square

Former Spotify head of music Nick Holmsten has unveiled a plan to create a “playground for artists” in New York’s Times Square, where musicians will be able to perform concerts, meet fans, sell merch and create other experiences. Plans call for the development, which will include a street-facing stage and a retail space, to open in 2022, pending pandemic-related restrictions.

See the full story here: https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/spotify-nick-holmsten-disneyland-for-music-times-square-1234835743/

‘Galaxy’s Edge’ lets you choose your own ‘Star Wars’ VR adventure

After finishing up the latest episode of The Mandalorian, I slipped on my Oculus Quest 2, loaded up ILMxLAB's Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge, and was immediately thrust right into the world I was watching on my TV. It was one of the most uncanny pop culture experiences of my life. And it was a reminder of the power of virtual reality to deliver a genuine sense of presence. I wasn't just playing a game -- I was standing in a dirty spaceship, chatting with a sassy Droid and so close to living the Star Warslife I've always wanted.

Vader Immortal, ILMxLAB's previous VR series, was a classic narrative told across three episodes. Tales from the Galaxy's Edge — which launches today on the Oculus Quest store for $25 — is something different. Taking a cue from the Disney theme park of the same name, the game is focused on immersing you in the universe of Star Wars and giving you the freedom to play it however you like.

You play as a lowly Droid repair tech who gets into a skirmish with the Guavian Death Gang (as one does), and finds shelter in a cantina on Batuu. Once there, you can wander as you see fit. Play a game of darts, chat with the barkeep Seezelslak (played by SNL's Bobby Moynihan), or explore the wilds of Batuu. I spent several minutes just drinking in the atmosphere, like the porgs strewn throughout, and the out of place '50s era jukebox. But eventually, Seezelslak mentioned that he could tell me a story if I brought him enough ingredients for a drink. So off I went, blasters in hand.

 -- you're stepping into the shoes of someone who doesn't normally star in a Star Wars film. 

Tales from the Galaxy's Edge looks fantastic on the Oculus Quest 2 as well. It's a far brighter and more colorful game than Vader Immortal, and the headset's improved resolution made everything look sharper. 

“Wolves In The Walls” Launches On Oculus Quest

Fable’s forty minute VR experience, Wolves in the Walls, based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean, launches on Oculus Quest today. It’s free for Rift and Quest users. The company also announced today that the star of Wolves, an AI-driven character named Lucy (voiced by Cadence Goblirsch), is going to be extending her presence to the real world via social media platforms, emails, texts, voice and Zoom calls. Users can sign up to be her friend. A real world friend. “It’s not like virtual Instagram star Lil Miquela, who pushes content at you. And not like a voice assistant. It’s like a real friend,” Cofounder  and Executive Producer Edward Saachi told us in an interview on Tuesday.

“This is friendship as an infinite game, like Roblox or Minecraft,” says Wolvesdirector and Fable Cofounder Pete Billington. “You can talk with Lucy. You can even play games with her.” At first, only a few hundred people will be able to connect and form a relationship with Lucy. Users interested in experiencing this new form of social entertainment can apply on the Fable blog here. 

See the full story here http://wolves-in-the-walls-launches-on-oculus-quest/?sh=49c610744c3d&fbclid=IwAR39YrlhJ7WWgLPCihtFrYDIsM2xN3uaJhtrWomoa-I_BoWQy_2T8gBYyYk

European Union Plans to Announce Regulations for Big Tech

On December 2, European Commission EVP and commissioner for competition Margrethe Vestager and European commissioner for internal market Thierry Breton plan to announce the new rules governing powerful online companies. Among the draft rules of the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, Big Tech companies will have to share data with rivals and regulators. Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai also apologized to Breton over a leaked document revealing his company’s proposed tactics against the European Union’s new, tougher rules.

Reuters reports that, “the new draft rules would allow the EU to ban companies or part of their services from the 27-country bloc as an extreme option,” an action currently not available. “Strict rules must be enforceable,” said Breton. “For this we need the appropriate arsenal of possible measures: Impose fines, exclude companies or parts of their services from the Single Market, insist that they split up if they want to keep access to the Single Market. Or a combination of all of these.”

But Breton also warned Pichai that, “the Internet cannot remain a ‘Wild West’: we need clear and transparent rules, a predictable environment and balanced rights and obligations.” 

See the full story here: https://www.etcentric.org/european-union-plans-to-announce-regulations-for-big-tech/