This Virtual Reality Exhibit Brings Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech to Life
“The March” features around 25 to 30 minutes of education, immersive realism and reflection. First, visitors enter a “sound bath” spatial audio experience where they hear from the likes of Rosa Park’s attorney Fred Gray; Freedom Rider Henry “Hank” James Thomas; and Reverend Gwendolyn Cook Webb, a participant in the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Then, they are transported to the heart of the 1963 march, becoming a member of the crowd fighting for racial equality and a witness to one of the greatest speeches in United States history. Viola Davis, actress and executive producer of “The March,” serves as participants’ narrator, guiding them through the VR exhibit.
After exiting the virtual world, visitors can reflect on their experience by “speaking” with Joyce Ladner, an organizer and activist who attended the March on Washington, via an artificial intelligence interview portal. In total, says Tramz, Ladner recorded around eight hours’ worth of dialogue.
More than 200 people from seven different companies collaborated to virtually render the events of 1963, according to Tramz. Digital Domain, a visual effects and production company known for its work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Titanic and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, built the groundbreaking digital recreation of King and the surrounding scene. Using a custom-built wireless headset that renders King in real time, visitors will be able to walk around the famous activist and observe him up close as he gives his speech.
See the full story here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/virtual-reality-exhibit-brings-martin-luther-king-jrs-iconic-i-have-dream-speech-life-180974232/
Ubisoft’s Blockbuster ‘AAA VR Project’ Half-Life: Alyx is Virtual Reality’s Big Turning Point
- Ubisoft is hiring a narrative director for a AAA VR title.
- It will be based on an existing IP.
- Valve isn’t the only big player in the VR game.
The most anticipated virtual reality title is Half-Life: Alyx, no doubt. After all, this game is not only the first “full-length” experience from the legendary game makers in years but also a new title in arguably the most popular game franchise of all time.
What’s especially interesting about Ubisoft’s interest in VR is that most of its games are of the open-world genre. Half-Life: Alyx might be a fantastic, slightly linear FPS title based on the footage, but Ubisoft’s approach may very well be of that same open-world sort.
See the full story here: https://www.ccn.com/ubisofts-blockbuster-aaa-vr-project-is-virtual-realitys-turning-point/
Internet privacy: the apps that protect you from your apps
Jumbo, an app for iOS and Android, launched in 2019 with the promise that it would cut through some of that confusion. The offer was simple: download the app, check a few boxes and it would automatically lock down your privacy settings on platforms including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Amazon. Rather than having to hunt down every individual preferences screen and decipher which settings were innocuous and which were merely deliberately phrased to sound innocuous, the app would do it for you.
“It would take you a whole year to read your privacy policies, but if you go to a doctor, they don’t tell you to go and spend a year learning medical science; you go to a lawyer, you don’t need to read the whole IRS code. In fact, they have a whole ethical code about how to represent their clients. That’s the idea here: it’s about representing people and working for them, to simplify a complex system.”
But for the rest of the internet, shame doesn’t work. ...
Noise Cancellation and Navigation images sharper than your TV among tech improvements coming to vehicles
A pair of new technologies promise to make driving easier and more pleasant, particularly on long trips. Both feature prominently on vehicles debuting shortly.
- Augmented reality navigation will use graphics and artificial intelligence to improve driving directions.
- Road noise cancellation promises to make cabins quieter and more pleasant in the same way noise-cancelling headphones reduce the discomfort of airline travel.
See the full story here: https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2020/02/15/augmented-reality-navigation-noise-cancellation-cars-vehicles/4742843002/
Marine Corps Looks to Virtual Reality as a Recruitment Tool
According to a request for information launched this week, the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, or MCRC, wants to “create a highly-portable virtual reality simulator” to support its recruitment of aviation officer candidates in regions across the United States. It’s in some ways an effort to entice more digital natives to join.
The RFI prompts interested entities to respond with descriptions of their relevant VR solutions by Feb. 28. The MCRC is looking to purchase, lease or partner up to gain access to a system that has open-source VR-compatible scenery, offers content creation of realistic on-the-job scenarios such as low-level canyon flight and aerial refueling, is constructed of off-the-shelf hardware that has follow-on upgrades and replacement parts, and is portable enough to fit in a standard 15 passenger van and be lifted by no more than two people at a time.
See the full story here: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2020/02/marine-corps-looks-virtual-reality-recruitment-tool/163139/