philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Virtual Reality is the Latest Tactic The Army is Using to Recruit

To appeal to today's youth, the Army launched "In Our Boots".

The program uses virtual reality to take recruits onto the battlefield. The visuals are from real people, and the scenarios are actual missions.

Some people feel the app may glamorize the Army because it doesn't portray extreme violence that could come with combat.

See the full story here: https://www.wlns.com/news/virtual-reality-is-the-latest-tactic-the-army-is-using-to-recruit/1999800132

Virtual reality project gauges citizens’ faith in law enforcement in the face of gang violence

While investigating the impact of gang violence on Lagos, Nigeria, the sixth-year political science doctoral candidate came up with an innovative research tool: immersive, virtual reality (VR) videos.

Virtual reality: How will it change the way you make music?

One of the best of these has to be LyraVR, which places you in a virtual environment with a palette of samples, sounds and instruments along with various controllers – a keyboard, drum pads, and the like. These tools allow you to create and record hits, notes and chords, which appear as colourful gem-like objects that hang in the air around you, and that you can move around in space to change their characteristics.

Sequences are built by drawing links between these objects, with a visible time pulse running through the linkages. It’s an absorbing and unique music-making experience, although at this stage, the lack of DAW integration may deter many professional music-makers, who’ll miss their professional synths and sample libraries.

However, The Music Room from Melbourne-based developer Chroma Coda can fulfil this wish: it provides a collection of instruments that you play in VR, and which act as MIDI controllers that can be used in conjunction with any DAW, or with a built-in, 8-track version of Bitwig Studio.

If you prefer to play decks rather than instruments, then Tribe XR is going to be of interest. Its virtual CDJ decks and mixer are conventional enough, as is the way it works with your library of tracks and tunes, and in this sense alone it’s a very inexpensive and accessible way to play with such hardware (if you already have the VR hardware, that is). It provides access to various learning tools, too, such as video and interactive tutorials, community support, and even one-on-one live instruction from professional DJs.

See the full story here: https://www.musictech.net/features/trends/vr-music-making/

EON Reality to Open a Virtual Reality Interactive Center in Morocco

EON Reality, a world leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality (AVR), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and five other partners have signed an agreement to open the first Virtual Reality Interactive Digital Center in Morocco.

The center will be located at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University campus in Ben Guerir, a town one hour north of Marrakech. It will include a showroom, a development lab, and a research and development hub.

On May 10, at a launch ceremony at the Sofitel in Rabat, EON Reality signed a memorandum of understanding with USAID, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, the Agency for Digital Development, Mohammed V University of Rabat, the Moroccan Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy, and the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research.

The center will train teachers and develop curricula in AVR, in fields such as aerospace and agronomy, as well as set up the world’s largest library of AVR material. It will train up to 100 students per year in AVR skills, and develop a 3D classroom model to benefit over 5000 students. It will also upskill workers in targeted industries. The project aims to increase the employability of Moroccan youth, and build entrepreneurship.

See the full story here; https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/05/272841/eon-reality-to-open-a-virtual-reality-interactive-center-in-morocco/

‘PLACE ENGAGE’ BRINGS VIRTUAL TOWN HALL TO LIFE VIA AUGMENTED REALITY IN DUBLIN’S FIRST 3D CITY DATA

The winning concept was based on an augmented reality app which would help citizens of Dublin city understand new developments in the city whilst in conception phase and help to understand and visualise these ideas in real time.

“The winning concept, Place Engage, is one that the judging panel found to be the most creative and interesting and more importantly is one that we believe will be viable, and have a social impact on the city”, commented Jamie Cudden, Judge and Smart City Programme Manager for Dublin City Council.

The winning team was Michael McCabe, CEO Virtual Technology, Carol Tallon, CEO Property District, Charl Best, Developer, Ronan Kenny, Innovation Consultant, Jamie Cudden, Smart City Programme Manager Dublin City Council.

See the full story here: https://irishtechnews.ie/place-engage-brings-virtual-town-hall-to-life-via-augmented-reality-in-dublins-first-3d-city-data-hackathon/

Fun with Snapchat’s Gender Swapping Filter

Initial Observations

The center picture is a standard bathroom selfie. To the left is the "male" filter, and on the right the "female" filter.

The first thing most users probably notice is that the app works in real time, works with a few different face angles, and does not require an internet connection to run. Hair behaves very naturally when wearing a beanie.

Occlusion Tests

Ok, it works pretty well. Can we get it to fail? The app detects when the face is in the wrong pose, but what if there are things occluding the face? Do those occluding objects get "transformed" too?

The answer is yes. Below is a test where I slide an object across my face. The app works when half the face is occluded, but it seems like if too much of the face is blocked, the "should I face swap" bit is set to False.

How does it work? A guess

At first glance, my mind jumped to some sort of CycleGAN architecture that maps the distribution of male faces to female faces, and vice versa. The dataset would be the billions of selfies Snap has, er, not deleted in the last 8 years.

This does raise a lot of questions though:

• Are they training truly unpaired image translation? That would be incredibly impressive, ...

Will gender fluidity & drag culture will become more normalized in society as our daily social media normalize gender-bending?

See the full story here: https://blog.evjang.com/2019/05/fun-with-snapchats-gender-swapping.html?fbclid=IwAR2zMkl9X_3-1lvOPj7KBKLCHCEouEORizuOi1JP_YEEVaLm1MxK6xnQBmI

Virtual reality casino games have arrived

The enjoyment value comes from the gambling itself and not as much from the environment in which someone is playing.

Back in 2015, software giant Microgaming first introduced the concept of VR for the online casino industry. It was a crude version of a slot game, but it offered insight into what was possible if software developers would be willing to fully commit to developing a VR experience for online gamblers.

It’s a slow burn, but it looks like the inclusion of the VR option is moving quickly forward. With the right accessories, the quality of gaming is there. It’s just a matter of updating current gambling platforms to include access to the VR gambling experience.

See the full story here: https://knowtechie.com/virtual-reality-casino-games-have-arrived/

AI SpaceFactory Wins NASA’s 3D-Printed Mars Habitat Challenge

MARSHA was praised for its smart use of materiality, constructed from a biodegradable and recyclable basalt composite derived from natural materials found on Mars. After withstanding NASA’s pressure, smoke, and impact resting, the material was found to be stronger and more durable than its concrete competitors.

Built from a novel mixture of basalt fiber extracted from Marian rock and renewable plant-based bioplastic, MARSHA’s vertical shape, and human-centric design marks a radical departure from previous Martian designs. AI SpaceFactory describes MARSHA as a first-principles rethinking of what a Martian habitat could be — not another low-lying dome or confined half-buried structure, but an airy, multi-level environment filled with diffuse light. This innovation challenges the conventional image of “space age” architecture by focusing on the creation of highly habitable spaces tuned to the demands of a Mars mission.

See the full story here: https://www.archdaily.com/916888/ai-spacefactory-wins-nasas-3d-printed-mars-habitat-challenge

Virtual reality: the safest bet business can make today

• The future is virtual - why AR and VR will live in the cloud
• How VR and eye-tracking can help you understand your customers
• VR needs to be led by creatives, not hardware cycles

See the full story here: https://www.techradar.com/news/virtual-reality-the-safest-bet-business-can-make-today

How Virtual Reality Can Improve The Quality Of Life For People With Dementia

Their study was recently published in the Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, and was presented at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems taking place in Glasgow, May 4-9.

The small study, conducted at St Andrew's Healthcare in Northampton, involved 8 patients (ages 41 to 88) who were living with dementia. (Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease).

The study equipped each patient with a VR headset to 'visit' one of five virtual environments (VEs):  a cathedral, a forest, a sandy beach, a rocky beach, and a countryside scene. Each patient underwent 16 monitored sessions and response and feedback was recorded among patients and their caregivers.

One important finding from the study was that VR helped patients retrieve old memories by incorporating novel stimuli difficult to access as a result of poor and declining health and inability to reach from their limited and secure environment.

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2019/05/09/how-virtual-reality-can-improve-the-quality-of-life-for-people-with-dementia/#637c84ae7f1c