philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Annie Awards Check Into Virtual Reality With Inaugural Prize

The Annie Awards, recognizing a need to celebrate all the animated content being made these days in virtual reality, has created a category this year to honor that work.

Until now, VR content had to create a 2D version and, in some cases, play in theaters, in order to become eligible for awards recognition, which can be a time-consuming and costly process. So ASIFA-Hollywood, the organization behind the Annies, set up a VR lab at the Burbank HQ so that judges could view the content as it was meant to be seen.

The inaugural Annie nominees for VR production are Google Spotlight Stories’ “Age of Sail,” directed by John Kahrs; Sundance 2018 selection “BattleScar,” directed by Nico Casavecchia and Martin Allais; Baobab Studios’ “Crow: The Legend,” directed by Eric Darnell, pictured above; Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg’s “MindPalace,” directed by Carl Krause and Dominik Stockhausen; and Polyarc’s “Moss,” which is a VR game.

The Annies will be presented Feb. 2 at UCLA’s Royce Hall at 7 p.m. For the entire nomination list, see annieawards.org.

See the full story here: https://variety.com/2019/film/spotlight/annie-awards-check-into-virtual-reality-with-inaugural-prize-1203114890/

Indoor virtual reality theme park seeks Philly-area site

With a modular format, the VR theme parks can offer experiences ranging from a Junior Zone that allows young children to discover, learn and explore through virtual and physical spaces, to a Sports Zone where all ages can learn, practice and hone skills in football, baseball, clay pigeon shooting and other sports, to an Arcade Zone featuring immersive and interactive arcade games, the company said.

Legend Heroes has hired retail leasing specialist R.J. Brunelli & Co. of northern New Jersey as its exclusive nationwide real estate broker for its entry into the U.S. market.

Brunelli is scouting vacant anchor and sub-anchor spaces at regional malls as the preferred locations, as well as freestanding or strip center big-boxes.

Other possible venues include warehouse/flex buildings in close proximity to major malls or entertainment complexes.

Building requirements call for 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot spaces with a minimum ceiling height of 16-feet overall, with 40 percent of the space at least 32-feet high for rides, noted Julie T. Fox, Brunelli's manager of new tenant representation. Preferred locations should have five million people within 30 miles, with a one-hour maximum driving distance, Fox said.

See the full story here: https://www.phillyvoice.com/indoor-virtual-reality-theme-park-seeks-philly-area-site/

AT SUNDANCE, VIRTUAL REALITY FILMMAKERS ARE EVOLVING BEYOND VR

Five years ago, Sundance's New Frontier program proved to be a launch pad for the VR filmmaking boom that was coming. In 2019, there are still a lot of virtual reality projects, many of them from longtime VR creators like Felix & Paul, but some, like Saatchi, are branching out and incorporating augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and connected devices into their interactive storytelling.

"We're finally going into an experimental phase where people have to hustle and think about how new technologies can merge together," Arora says. "What's happening has kind of, in a Darwinian sense, purged the kind of get-rich-quick folks."

"What's really reflected in the show this year is that the human body is integrated into the frame of the experience," Frilot says. "I was looking at the lineup and realized there was a physical body in every single one of these projects."

That's even true for the latest project from Oculus itself. The Under Presents, which debuted at Sundance, uses Oculus Quest to put users in an interactive theater experience where the characters in the VR space are actually being played by Quest-wearing actors from the New York-based theater collective Piehole. (The project will be made available later this year.)

See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/sundance-vr-film-evolution/

Sandbox VR Raises $68 Million for Location-Based VR Experiences

Hong Kong-based virtual reality (VR) startup Sandbox VR has raised a $68 million Series A round of funding from Andreesen Horowitz, Floodgate Ventures, Stanford University, Triplepoint Capital, CRCM and Alibaba. The company wants to use the new cash infusion to launch new VR centers in New York, Tokyo and elsewhere.

Sandbox currently operates VR centers in 6 cities, including San Mateo, Calif., Vancouver and Hong Kong. In those locations, it offers players the opportunity to freely explore a stage, and play together to fight zombies, aliens and undead pirates in a series of location-based VR experiences.

“We believe this new medium is not about better movies or a more immersive game,” the company wrote in a blog post Monday. “It’s something else entirely, and we as an industry will need to learn from the best of both mediums — movies and gaming.”

See the full story here: https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/sandbox-vr-68-million-funding-1203120501/

Ford’s designers are learning to create 3D cars in virtual reality

VR software Gravity Sketch allows a faster way to sketch cars.

Smith says it took him about 40 hours of work in a virtual reality program called Gravity Sketch to create the vehicle rendering from scratch. How long would it have taken to produce something like this using Ford's traditional design methods, like 2D sketches and CAD software?

"We're talking months," he says at a presentation to journalists in Dearborn, Michigan last week. "If you wanted to make an interior and an exterior, you're still talking months," versus approximately 20 hours in the VR tool, he says.

See the full story here: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-virtual-reality-design-gravity-sketch/

From The Soundboard: Virtual reality could transform the live music experience

It’s actually already beginning to happen. In September 2017, NextVR partnered with LiveNation to stream the Global Citizen Music Festival in virtual reality. They also currently offer a LiveNation “channel” on their platform, which broadcasts VR recordings of concerts and other music-related events.

The VR startup MelodyVR presents a similar service, and it has now acquired licenses from three major record labels (and is the only VR startup to have done so thus far). The company made deals with over 600 artists, including Jay-Z. Seeing as how live events are one of the most profitable aspects of the music business, making moves to incorporate an emerging technology like this will only improve their economic viability.

In the future, if being able to see Beyoncé live and in person becomes more difficult for someone than seeing Beyoncé from their couch through VR, that may pose a significant issue for touring musicians. Also, just as streaming culture arguably weakens the value of music among the general public, VR streams of concerts can similarly weaken the value of attending live events.

Thus, there would need to be a way to encourage society to view VR as a supplement for the traditional concert experience and not a replacement.

See the full story here: http://dailytrojan.com/2019/01/27/from-the-soundboard-virtual-reality-could-transform-the-live-music-experience/

Maritime News – Playing Serious Games with Virtual Reality

Moving beyond the initial impact of the scenario, re-experiencing a mistake through simulation enables trainees to react again and build up their confidence and practical skills.

Applications of virtual reality technology in the maritime industry include ensuring crew have the experience they need to safely and efficiently deal with situations such as mooring operations, machinery adjustments, galley fires or engineroom explosions.

These “serious games” also help build resilience, a concept that focuses on a person’s ability to achieve goals under a large variety of conditions, both anticipated and unexpected.

A Greek company founded in 2006, SQLearn is a specialized provider of e-learning services, including custom e-learning solutions, integrated Learning Management Systems development, instructional design and custom e-learning content development, game based learning, serious games development, 3D training simulations, mobile learning and e-learning consultancy services.

SQLearn created Dolphin Platforms, a complete suite of specialized services for the shipping industry. Dolphin Platforms include a range of innovative and effective products, using flexible, interactive and reflective learning techniques.

See the full story here: https://www.maritime-executive.com/features/playing-serious-games-with-virtual-reality

Qantas customers request exercise bikes, virtual reality for 20-hour flights

Focus group research as well as customer surveys of those who have flown on its 17-hour non-stop route from Perth to London have found health and wellness are the top trends, Qantas said in a statement.

Passenger suggestions include spaces for gentle exercise, providing wireless noise-cancelling headsets and installing an in-flight cafe with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, the airline said.

For its Perth-London flights, which began last year, Qantas offers 15-minute stretch classes at its Perth transit lounge prior to and following the flight, with the airline reporting a take-up rate of 80 percent.

But neither carrier has set aside dedicated cabin space for exercise or lounging on its current ultra-long haul flights.

See the full story here: https://www.euronews.com/2019/01/28/qantas-customers-request-exercise-bikes-virtual-reality-for-20-hour-flights

At Sundance, VR explores America’s legacy of racism and… Eminem

We've reached a point where it's no longer surprising to find virtual reality experiences at film festivals like Sundance and Tribeca.

It was easy to chart the evolution of virtual filmmaking: Everything simply looked better, and artists were getting more comfortable with the language of VR. Now as the next Sundance Film Festival kicks off, its time for the next wave of VR to shine. There isn't a noticeable jump in quality this time around, but it's clear that filmmakers still have plenty to say.

Traveling While Black, directed by Roger Ross Williams, explores just how difficult it was for African Americans to move around the US during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. It uses 360-degree video to place you right inside of Ben's Chili Bowl, a historic safe space for black travelers in Washington, DC.

Williams and co-director Ayesha Nadarajah use the 360-degree video perspective in intriguing ways. At times, the booth mirror beside you reflects Ben's Chili Bowl in the past, symbolizing how the problems we're facing today are directly connected to what came before. In other scenes, like the segment with Samaria Rice, you're sitting in the middle of a crowd, and you can see how her story deeply affects everyone in the room. It's an experience you can't easily recreate by watching the film on a 2D screen.

Felix & Paul are also behind Marshall from Detroit, Marshall "Eminem" Mathers' ode to his hometown. It's an all-encompassing video that follows the artist as he reminisces with rapper and journalist Sway Calloway. It's mostly set in the back seat of a limo, but since you're watching it in VR, it's as if you're part of that intimate conversation as well.

Moving away from 360-degree video and into interactive VR, there's Emergence, an Oculus Rift experience from Within and the artist Matt Pyke of the creative firm Universal Everything. ... As you move the analog sticks of the Oculus Touch controllers around, you'll notice that everyone tends to follow what you're doing.

See the full story here: https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/26/sundance-vr-traveling-while-black/

WIR Distributes Thousands of Virtual Coins at World Economic Forum 2019 in Davos

...we have made an exclusive, explorative interview with Daniel Surya, Chief Executive Officer of WIR, Asia’s leading group of companies focusing on Augmented Reality.   With its headquarters in Indonesia,  WIR is the technology company selected to showcase its technologies and to share various topics such as "WIR: Indonesia's Next Unicorn in Digital Reality" at the Indonesia Pavilion during the World Economic Forum 2019 in Davos.

WIR believes that 3 major factors make blockchain application effective: creativity, covering the fundamentals, and relevance. "Those 3 factors can be realized through a GAMING application and that can definitely be an advantage for brands too".  This is MINAR,  a free-to-play, location-based mobile gaming application based on Augmented Reality (AR) technology and GPS feature. "With MINAR, you will discover a whole new world – a world filled with endless treasures. MINAR gives you the opportunity to explore real location and search far and wide to mine virtual treasures which can be found inside a Minar Stones in realtime".

...‘Also’, Surya announced, ‘In mid-February, WIR has been invited to introduce MINAR to the island country of Malta (part of the EU), as well as other Mediterranean nations. We will introduce MINAR through a keynote speech in the opening of the Mediterranean Tourism Forum, attended by government and business leaders from the tourism sector from countries such as Turkey, Italy, Morocco, Greece, Croatia, Egypt, Tunisia, Algiers, and many more.  While working on the Mediterranean region, WIR will also work its way to introducing the game in East Asia, as well as the US and Europe”.

MINAR has 3 kinds of virtual treasures as a form of a digital currency that has its own value and function: Minar Coins, Minar Points and Lucky Draw Tickets.

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/geraldfenech/2019/01/27/wir-distributes-thousands-of-virtual-coins-at-world-economic-forum-2019-in-davos/#6b15a539475d