philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Saudi Arabia Sets out Strategy to Become a World Leader in Artificial Intelligence By 2030

The implementation of the National Strategy for Data & AI will follow a multi-phase approach, which will focus on addressing the immediate national requirements for Saudi Arabia until 2025, particularly the Vision 2030 strategic development goals. From 2025 until 2030, Saudi Arabia will focus on developing specialisms in specific areas of AI, to become one of the leading AI and data-driven economies by 2030.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201021005776/en/

See the full story here: https://www.oaoa.com/news/business/saudi-arabia-sets-out-strategy-to-become-a-world-leader-in-artificial-intelligence-by-2030/article_9d62ba17-09ca-5374-b61c-af6c6996c7f5.html

AI can be used in all retirement plans if focused properly – WPS panelists

"We need to really think about what are the safe spaces to onboard AI. Recognize that our industry is not very good at failing, and yet there is no innovation without failure. … That's hard in our world where we have prudent person rules and fiduciary duties. We're not designed for that," Mr. Monk said.

Plans should find safe areas to experiment with AI, he said. "The first place to apply AI is not to try to generate alpha. It would be, let's think about our operational footprint, see if we can unleash AI to take a bunch of unstructured data and make it structured … to do better passive investing." Once there is comfort around the role AI can take in an investment process, then look into how it can be integrated "in attempts to beat the market," Mr. Monk said.

See the full story here: https://www.pionline.com/worldpensionsummit/ai-can-be-used-all-retirement-plans-if-focused-properly-wps-panelists

New Photoshop tool could help fight fake images

 On Tuesday, Adobe announced the release of a "beta" version of an attribution tool for Photoshop, with the hope it will encourage people to trust that the images they see are truthful (or at least make more informed judgments).The feature, which is optional and will be available initially just to select users, lets photo editors append images with detailed information known as metadata that, in essence, travels around with it online. This information will go far beyond the basic details that can currently be added to pictures and may include who created the image and where, a thumbnail of the original image, and data about how it has been altered — as well as whether AI tools were used to change the picture. This data will be secure and it will be clear if it has been tampered with, Adobe (ADBE)said.

The release is part of the company's Content Authenticity Initiative to fight against dis- and misinformation, which Adobe launched a year ago with Twitter and The New York Times. Initially, the content attribution tool will be for publishing still images to Behance, an Adobe-owned social network for sharing creative work. Over time, the company hopes this kind of authenticating information will be added to different types of content, and be shared widely on social media platforms and through media companies.

Adobe's effort will be limited by the fact that those editing images need to use it voluntarily. And the company won't be the first to attempt to popularize a method for making media trustworthy. However, it may have a better chance at success than others due to its reach. 

Yet, as Farid pointed out, Adobe's content-attribution tool can't confirm the veracity of an image before it is edited in Photoshop. To address this problem, photo- and video-verification startup TruePic, which is part of the Content Authenticity Initiative and for which Farid is a paid adviser, recently announced it partnered with chip-maker Qualcomm to create a way to securely snap pictures via a smartphone's the built-in camera app.

See the full story here: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/20/tech/photoshop-attributing-images/index.html

It’s Time to Try Virtual Reality. Here’s Where to Start.

PhilNote: this story is a basic sampler.

The rapidly expanding VR universe, which is accessible from an app store within the headset, will please beginners of all tastes and ages, from an experienced PC gamer to your 8-year-old niece. Here are some tips on where to begin.

See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/realestate/virtual-reality-for-beginners.html

Deconstructing Maxine, Nvidia’s AI-powered video-conferencing technology

Maxine, a platform that leverages artificial intelligence to improve the quality and experience of video-conferencing applications in real-time.

Maxine used deep learning for resolution improvement, background noise reduction, video compression, face alignment, and real-time translation and transcription.

In this post, which marks the first installation of our “deconstructing artificial intelligence” series, we will take a look at how some of these features work and how they tie-in with AI research done at Nvidia. We’ll also explore the pending issues and the possible business model for Nvidia’s AI-powered video-conferencing platform.

See the full story here: https://bdtechtalks.com/2020/10/19/nvidia-maxine-ai-video-conferencing/

UNIVERSAL’S NEW $1.2BN MISSISSIPPI HOTEL TO BE COMPLETED IN 2023, WITH 12,000-CAP VENUE, HOLOGRAMS AND VIRTUAL REALITY ENTERTAINMENT

Construction on the $1.2 billion UMUSIC Broadwater hotel complex in Biloxi, Mississippi – the first of Universal Music Group’s recently announced “music-based experiential hotel properties” – will commence next year and will be completed in 2023.

UMUSIC Broadwater will also have a 12,000-capacity music venue.

UMUSIC Broadwater in Biloxi, Mississippi is first of three locations for the hotel series, with other locations to be announced for Atlanta, Georgia and Orlando, Florida. There are also plans for additional locations across the US and globally.

See the full story here: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/universals-new-1-2bn-hotel-in-mississippi-to-be-completed-in-2023-with-12000-cap-venue-holograms-and-virtual-reality-entertainment/

Bookful, World’s Largest Augmented Reality Library App, Welcomes Mattel’s Barbie® and Thomas & Friends™

It’s been more than half a century since the world was introduced to Barbie, the world's number 1 fashion doll. The iconic brand is so much more than a doll, with over 200 careers and counting, Barbie continues to inspire the limitless potential in every girl, and with new titles including Barbie: You Can Be a Doctor and You Can Be a Designer Bookful will empower young readers to bring to life Barbie’s ethos “You Can Be Anything”.

Thomas & Friends was created 75 years ago by Reverend Wilbert Awdry when he sought to entertain his young son, Christopher, while he was recovering from the measles. Today, Thomas is more than just an engine with hundreds of TV episodes, books, toys and even a theme park.

The Barbie and Thomas & Friends titles are joining Bookful’s library of top publishers and brands including Penguin Random House, Charlesbridge and DK.

Bookful by Inception brings children’s books to life with AR and 3D animations providing productive screen time while cultivating a love of reading and learning. With hundreds of books and educational games, Bookful is the world’s largest 3D/AR library.

See the full story here: https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/business/bookful-world-s-largest-augmented-reality-library-app-welcomes-mattel-s-barbie-and-thomas-friends/article_3b0f4eb1-2779-54b9-be87-6ec720a9d488.html

Augmented Reality Must Have Augmented Privacy

The promise of creating a persistence 3D digital clone of the world aligned with real-world coordinates goes by many names: “world’s digital twin,” “parallel digital universe,” “Mirrorworld,” “The Spatial Web,” “Magic Verse'' or a “Metaverse”. Whatever you call it, this new parallel digital world will introduce a new world of privacy concerns—even for those who choose to never wear it. For instance, Facebook Live Maps will seek to create a shared virtual map. LiveMaps will rely on users’ crowd-sourced maps collected by future AR devices with client-mapping functionality. Open AR, an interoperable AR Cloud, and Microsoft’s Azure Digital Twins are seeking to model and create a digital representation of an environment. 

Facebook’s Project Aria continues on that trend and will aid Facebook in recording live 3D maps and developing AI models for Facebook’s first generation of wearable augmented reality devices. Aria’s uniqueness, in contrast to autonomous cars, is the “egocentric” data collection of the environment—the recording data will come from the wearers’ perspective; a more “intimate” type of data. 

The Bystanders’ Right to Private Life

The AR Panopticon In modern times, the panopticon has become a metaphor for a dystopian surveillance state, where the government has cameras observing your every action. 

Legal Protection Against Panopticon

AR is Even More Privacy Invasive Than GPS and CSLI

Corporations Can Invade AR Privacy, Too

See the full story here: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/10/augmented-reality-must-have-augmented-privacy

Meet the Man Who Wants to Reimagine Virtual Reality

I got to interview James Jensen, the CEO of JUMP, a virtual reality (VR) company designed for users to perform stunts with no training, parachuting, no cost for equipment, and no safety risks. As an amateur with no experience, expertise, or money to feel like virtual reality was accessible, Jensen dispelled my notions. Jensen has an objective for the virtual reality industry: to make it more accessible instead of having it mainly be perceived as an entertainment and video game tool:

“I want people to know that hyperreality simulations are ways for us to learn new things to ourselves and to learn experiences that could influence our walking life,” Jensen told me.

See the full story here: https://medium.com/super-jump/meet-the-man-who-wants-to-reimagine-virtual-reality-353c9b9631ed

Shanghai Disney Resort to introduce virtual-reality experience

"As an industry leader in the VR space, SoReal shares the same commitment with Disney to innovation and technology," said Joe Schott, president and general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort. "We are thrilled to welcome SoReal to Shanghai Disney Resort and to see them deliver their cutting-edge VR entertainment to our guests while further enriching the range of exciting experiences available throughout Disneytown."

With the official handover of the building to SoReal, construction will begin soon, and the SoReal experience is expected to open to guests in 2021.

See the full story here: http://en.people.cn/n3/2020/1016/c90000-9769911.html