‘CourtVision’ Review: We tested Steve Ballmer’s attempt to transform the NBA viewing experience
Can augmented reality provide anything so indispensable that NBA fans would howl in protest if it were taken away?
Not yet. But the technology is impressive, and the potential is there.
That’s my takeaway after trying out Clippers CourtVision for two games. The experience was unveiled this week by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his NBA team, the L.A. Clippers.
In “Coach” mode, for example, when Clippers center Boban Marjanović set a screen and cut to the basket for a pass, the system put his name and number over his head to identify him as the player with the ball, diagrammed the play in real-time on the floor (below), and showed his point total above his head after he scored.
It all happens automatically, without human intervention, which is no small technological feat. The stream is currently delayed by two minutes from the live action, to allow time for the required processing, but that’s down significantly from earlier testing, and Ballmer and Second Spectrum say the time gap will get even shorter over time.
One feature of the CourtVision app is the ability to switch the audio away from the game commentators to “Sneaker Squeaks” mode. Unfortunately, this silences only the broadcasters, not the incessant music and sound effects that plague NBA games (and other professional sports). For this basketball purist, at least, the ability to take away that modern “advance” would make the technology truly indispensable.
In the meantime, CourtVision is an impressive technological accomplishment with useful features for basketball fans, and the potential to become even more valuable as it evolves over time.
See the full story here: https://www.geekwire.com/2018/courtvision-review-tested-steve-ballmers-attempt-transform-nba-viewing-experience/
Gartner’s top 10 strategic technology trends for 2019
The Intelligent Digital Mesh
Autonomous Things
Augmented Analytics
AI-Driven Development
Digital Twins
Empowered Edge
Immersive Experience
Blockchain
Smart Spaces
Digital Ethics and Privacy
Quantum Computing
See the full story here: https://www.information-management.com/list/gartners-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2019
Virtual reality experience forces people to lose their jobs and homes, boosts empathy
A new study by Stanford scientists focused on using VR to boost empathy by putting people in the shoes of someone who they might otherwise only read or hear about. Specifically, the used virtual reality to give everyday people a crash course in losing absolutely everything.
The team used a VR experience that they call Becoming Homeless to show people what it’s like to find your life in ruins. In the virtual world, the “player” experiences a range of hardships including losing their job and ultimately giving up their homes.
What they discovered is that people who can experience something first-hand, even in virtual reality, tend to have a lot more empathy for individuals who are actually experiencing those hardships here in the real world.
See the full story here: https://bgr.com/2018/10/18/becoming-homeless-virtual-reality-experience-stanford/
The Digital Transformation To Keep IKEA Relevant: Virtual Reality, Apps And Self-Driving Cars
...
Space10 Innovation Lab
Space10 is IKEA’s research hub and exhibition space launched in 2015 that brings together designers, artists, and technologists to innovate tomorrow’s new products and solutions. From developing autonomous urban farming to upcycling products and materials into other uses, and autonomous vehicle design to 3D printed meatballs and more, Space10 is churning and testing out ideas that might make it to an IKEA catalog in the not-too-distant future. The goal of Space10 and its partners is to create better and more sustainable ways of living.
See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/10/19/the-amazing-digital-transformation-of-ikea-virtual-reality-apps-self-driving-cars/#4852702776be
The Face Of Entertainment Is Changing Because Of Augmented Reality
Revitalising Print Publications?
There are already examples of publishers relying on AR to create a more innovative, fully immersive experience.
The Future of Film and TV
Have you ever watched The Ring? Now imagine the most memorable scene in which the girl crawls out of the well. How about crawling out of the TV and into your reality? This is precisely what could be accomplished through the use of AR technology.
Music, Audio Files and Augmented
While AR may seem like a highly visual technology, there have already been attempts to change the way in which people listen to music or access audio information. AR earbuds are already a thing. Doppler Labs is the company making such equipment and marketing its earbuds as “the first earbuds with Real-World Sound Control.” Now, what exactly does this mean?
Certain real-world sounds (like background traffic noise) could be filtered out while other sounds will come through.
See the full story here: https://www.vrfocus.com/2018/10/the-face-of-entertainment-is-changing-because-of-augmented-reality/
How OTT video streaming service Popcornflix engagement skyrocketed with Unreel: case study
Popcornflix is an over-the-top (OTT) advertising-supported video on demand (AVOD) streaming service. With more than 25 million lifetime downloads and hundreds of thousands of active monthly users, Popcornflix is a well-established and successful business. As the consumer-facing arm of Screen Media Ventures, Popcornflix has the rights to more than 3,000 films, and more than 60 complete TV series. Screen Media Ventures is one of the world’s largest privately held premium video collections in the world.
The Problem
Popcornflix’s rapid proliferation onto OTT platforms brought about several issues that needed to be addressed:
1) Inconsistent user interface (UI) and user experience (UX): The UI and UX in the apps on which Popcornflix content ran were severely uneven.
2) A Fragmented User Base: Popcornflix was not yet a true cross-platform streaming service, as it lacked the ability to track a user’s actions across multiple properties. This prevented Popcornflix from capturing data that could have been used to keep its users more engaged and to inform content strategy.
3) Too Expensive to Update: A wide number of platforms, each with its own design, made it complicated and prohibitively expensive to update each platform’s app regularly to keep up with new features and trends.
The Solution
Enter video streaming service provider Unreel, which provided an answer for each of Popcornflix’s woes. This partnership enabled Popcornflix to focus on its core competency: acquiring and curating great video content.
Instant Growth
The first step of the Unreel and Popcornflix partnership was to launch a new mobile and desktop streaming site to see how it would perform. Replacing the old Popcornflix site with the new Unreel-powered version produced significant improvements.
See the full story here: https://sociable.co/mobile/ott-video-streaming-popcornflix-unreel/