philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Inside Lost Horizon, the virtual reality version of Glastonbury’s Shangri-La

Finally we arrive at the new Nomad stage, which I decide is my favourite as soon as I see how lovingly rendered the mud underfoot is. It doesn’t squelch, though. We can only hope that in the future teams of experts will update this world using a thorough taxonomy of Somerset mud, carefully categorised all the way from easy-walking to the dreaded wellie-sucker.

– Lost Horizon is held July 3 and July 4. For further information visit www.losthorizonfestival.com. Sign up to experience LostHorizonin VR or on PC at www.sansar.com/losthorizon

Two days. Four stages. Fifty-plus performances from a star-studded global lineup, including Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox, Jamie Jones and more. Welcome to Lost Horizon, from the team behind Glastonbury’s Shangri-La - the world’s biggest music and arts festival in virtual reality! Join us from wherever you live, across desktop PC and VR here at Sansar.

See the full story here: https://www.nme.com/features/lost-horizon-virtual-reality-glastonbury-2020-shangri-la-2693862

A ‘Game-Changer’: Johns Hopkins Uses Augmented Reality To Perform Major Surgeries

“We take a computer image and place that image on the view of the real world,” he said.

Dr. Witham used an apparatus through which he could see a full CT scan of Bartulis’ body, and with precision, could navigate where the screws in her spine needed to be placed.

“This allows for tremendous accuracy and precision,” he said. “It’s added confidence for the surgeon that we are placing the instrumentation correctly and accurately.”

See the full story here: https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/06/23/johns-hopkins-augmented-reality-surgery-2/

Surgical Theater Responds to COVID-19 Pandemic with Free Remote 360° VR Services

Using patient-specific MRI and CT scans, Surgical Theater creates a 3D, 360° immersive Virtual Reality environment that allows physicians to navigate and "walk" inside the patient's anatomy from every possible angle. This FDA Cleared and CE Mark technology can help medical teams better visualize the extent of each individual patient's disease.

See the full story here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/surgical-theater-responds-covid-19-185300340.html

Why aren’t people smarter? The dubious benefits of intelligence, real or artificial

Is AI going to make us all smarter, or are we already as smart as we can handle?

Human cognitive gaps, well documented in The Logic of Failure, explain why we keep making the same mistakes over and over.
There's also our fast leaps-to-conclusions mind and our slow, analytical mind. The fast mind is usually correct on everyday issues, but complex problems baffle it.

COUNTERFIT INTELLIGENCE

This is why pundits love to offer simple, short, and irrelevant punchlines that inflame emotions rather than encourage thought.

CULTURAL TRANSMISSION VS EVOLUTIONARY SELECTION

In the paper, "Why Aren't We Smarter Already: Evolutionary Trade-Offs and Cognitive Enhancements" two scientists consider the potential of drugs for cognitive enhancement. They consider how evolution has shaped our cognitive functions, looking at two major problem examples.

Intelligence isn't an end in itself, but a tool that allows us to understand and shape our environment. If people willfully abandon facts, evidence, and logic, it doesn't matter how "intelligent" they are. They'll get the wrong answer and damage themselves, and, sometimes, the rest of us.

The two goals of AI should be to extend the fast-thinking part of our intelligence, so we can apply more intelligence to the areas where we are most likely to make mistakes. That is an ideal use case for embedded mobile device intelligence.

The second goal should be where we've made the most progress: Domain-specific expertise, such as interpreting medical imaging. This will put a lot of expensively trained professionals out of business, but improve the quality of life for the rest of us.

See the full story here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-arent-people-smarter/

Mollywood (Macao-Hollywood) Listed: China Will Build an “Eastern Hollywood”

Yesterday, the “China Mollywood” project, co-sponsored by hundreds of artists from Chinese film and television entertainment industry, was officially released and launched at Xianghe Guohua Film and Television Base in China. ...

According to the organizer, this new film and television landmark, headquartered in Macao and critically acclaimed as “Eastern Hollywood,” is jointly sponsored by more than 100 renowned Chinese entertainment industry giants including Wang Haige, Jackie Chan, Yu Dong, Gong Yu, Sammo Hung, Wen Jun, Liu Jiang, Chen Baoguo, Gaowa Siqin, Gong Hanlin. Moreover, Mollywood will be built into another cultural industry cluster with the output value of hundreds of billions of dollars in the future for the diversified development of Macao, China.

Based on the film industry, music industry, e-commerce and smart technologies, the project will build a comprehensive ecosystem as a “platform+content+data+community” model, and create a “global technology and film culture center in the new era of intelligence.” Succeeding Hollywood and Bollywood, it will be another world film, music, fashion production and communication hub. Meanwhile, it will also become an experimental base for the combination of technology and film and television.

See the full story here: https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/business/mollywood-macao-hollywood-listed-china-will-build-an-eastern-hollywood/article_f0cbb112-add2-5673-8712-79520ff01d56.html

40+ Resources For Bringing AR/VR To The Classroom

[PhilNote: this is a list of general use tools and specific topic tools.]

Do you work within or interested in the education industry and looking to bring VR/AR to the classroom? In this blog, you’ll find a collection of links to FREE apps plus much more!

See the full story here: https://www.vrfocus.com/2020/06/40-resources-for-bringing-ar-vr-to-the-classroom/

Seeing isn’t always believing: Google starts fact-checking images

The fact-check label will appear on any image that is included in an article that fact-checks a photo or another claim. A larger preview of the photo will show a short summary of the fact-check and direct users to its source.

Should I buy a new MacBook now or wait for Apple silicon?

If you're shopping for a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air

The 13-inch Air and 13-inch Pro have both been very recently updated. The performance in these systems is considered excellent, especially now that you can get quad-core CPUs in the MacBook Air. If it's a near-term need, I would feel comfortable buying a MacBook right now. I'd bet the new platform isn't coming to those systems until 2021 at the earliest.

If you're especially focused on Photoshop or Final Cut

Consider waiting. The only real, solid details Apple offered on the new Arm-based platform was that Adobe had early access and already had Photoshop working smoothly on it, and that Final Cut was similarly up and running in native form. That means that future development of those apps may tilt strongly towards Apple silicon from now on.

See the full story here: https://www.cnet.com/news/apples-back-to-school-deal-get-159-towards-airpods-when-you-buy-a-mac-or-an-ipad/

My triplets had coronavirus anxiety — so I taught them how to do science

Although the study would be small, rushed and nowhere near the quality threshold for peer review, I saw it as an opportunity to teach my children about the scientific method, and to address their coronavirus anxiety head-on. We devised an experiment in which people would hear messages from four sources about preventing the spread of COVID-19. We decided that the sources would be a group of health-care workers, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, social media and a fictitious politician. For an educator such as myself, explaining the experimental set-up to seven-year-olds after years of teaching undergraduates was an eye-opening experience.

Turning my kids’ anxiety into curiosity was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a scientist.

See the full story here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01868-7

AirPods updated with automatic switching and a new ‘Spatial Audio’ feature

Apple has announced new features coming to its AirPods earbuds at WWDC: automatic switching between devices and a new “Spatial Audio” feature for 3D sound on its AirPods Pro earbuds.

The new automatic switching feature is coming to the AirPods Pro, second-generation AirPods, Powerbeats, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Solo Pro in a firmware update, and will automatically switch audio inputs based on which Apple device you’re using through your iCloud account. For example, if you’re listening to something on your iPhone and then start playing a video on your laptop, the audio feed will automatically switch over to your computer. Or if you answer a phone call on your iPhone, your AirPods will automatically switch from your computer.

Additionally, Apple announced a new “Spatial Audio” feature, which will only be coming to its AirPods Pro earbuds. The new feature will offer 3D, surround sound-style audio on your AirPods Pro to replicate a “movie theater experience” and will constantly recalibrate based on the position of your head to whatever device you’re using.

Apple didn’t say when the new AirPods features would be rolling out.

See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/22/21299362/apple-airpods-pro-update-automatic-switching-spatial-audio-wwdc-2020