philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Atari Movie Makers Plan to Raise $40 Million via Bushnell Token Sale

The makers of the upcoming Atari movie about the iconic video game console maker are eschewing traditional film financing models for a blockchain-powered initial coin offering (ICO), and plan to sell coins named after Atari founder Nolan Bushnell via a private pre-sale this spring. Film production and financing company Vision Tree plans to raise as much as $40 million with the sale of these Bushnell tokens.

The Atari movie is currently in pre-production, and is being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way as well as Vision Tree and Avery Productions. It’s being pitched as a biopic about Atari’s founder and his life story of starting out as a pinball machine repairman who went on to found one of the most iconic video game console brands.

See the full story here: http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/atari-movie-token-sale-1202732406/

Porsche Launches Mission E Augmented Reality App

The app, developed through collaboration with Google, allows the user to digitally peruse through Porsche’s first purely electric sports car. Similar to the app BMW already has for its i8, users can superimpose a 3D image of the Mission E over the scene in front of them.

The app is available now on both Android and iOS.

See the full story here: http://www.thedrive.com/tech/19440/porsche-launches-mission-e-augmented-reality-app

International VR Experiences to Compete at Paris’ NewImages Festival

"The Real Thing” and “Who We Are” are among the 19 international virtual-reality experiences set to compete at NewImages, a new Paris-based festival dedicated to international virtual-reality creations.

Replacing the Paris Virtual Film Festival, this new event will boast two competition lineups: one for contemplative VR films and another for immersive/standup VR.

World premieres include Benoit Felici and Mathias Chelebourg’s “The Real Thing,” a VR documentary exploring urban myths in the suburbs of Shanghai; Jürgen Hansen and Pierre-Emmanuel Le Goff’s “Dans la peau de Thomas Pesquet,” following a man who has dreamed of becoming an astronaut since childhood and participates in an intensive training with American astronaut Peggy Whitson; and Manuel Lefèvre and Frédéric Gourmet’s “700 Requins dans la nuit” (pictured), an exploration of the Pacific Ocean where hundreds of sharks live and hunt.

The event, which is set to run April 4-8 at the Forum des Images – the former venue of Series Mania – in the center of Paris, is expecting 10,000 participants. NewImages is being organized by the Paris Virtual Reality Film Festival and the French company I Love Transmedia.

See the full story here: http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/international-vr-experiences-to-compete-at-pariss-newimages-festival-1202730085/

Ikea’s augmented reality ‘try before you buy’ app comes to Android thanks to ARCore

Ikea’s augmented reality “try before you buy” app has just launched on Android.

The idea is that you get an accurate 3D impression how furniture and other wares will look in your home, especially in terms of design. The app includes over 3,200 items for you to check out from lamps to sofas to wastebins.

The app uses Google ARCore, Google’s augmented reality software for Android. ARCore has been in preview for a while but launched properly last month.

Google News Initiative launches to boost better journalism

Google will partner with news publications to help surface the most accurate information possible, especially during breaking news situations.

Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler said in a blog post that the company is committing $300 million dollars over the next three years to meet its stated goals.

Along with the initiative, Google announced Subscribe with Google, a tool that streamlines the sign up and subscription process for premium news sources. Launch partners include The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, the Financial Times among several other international publications.

See the full story here: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-news-initiative-launches-to-boost-better-journalism/

Disney’s Latest Research Project Can Turn Scripts Into Virtual Reality

Disney Research has been working on a way to turn natural language scripts into virtual reality (VR) pre-visualizations. While currently focusing on VR story creation, the tool could ultimately be used for traditional filmmaking as well, said Disney Research digital platforms group lead Sasha Schriber during a talk at the Virtual Reality Developers Conference (VRDC) in San Francisco Monday.

“It goes from script to storyboard to animation in real-time,” said Schriber.

Project Cardinal’s software can ingest scripts and turn them into simple animations, which can then be manually manipulated by filmmakers. Creatives can also integrate voice recordings on the spot, and then preview scenes directly in VR while wearing a headset, giving a vantage point that’s similar to being on scene with the actors of a movie.

See the full story here: http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/disney-research-cardinal-previz-vr-1202730650/

Virtual reality helping older ‘explorers’ connect and share memories

When Zofia Joshi comes into a room these days, she's on six legs.

Four of those are attached to a walking frame she's increasingly relied on since the onset of Parkinson's disease nine years ago.

However, another version of Ms Joshi — her avatar — walks upright on just two.

There's no frame needed, just like she moved when she was younger.

"I'm here to learn about avatars and how to make them, and for once have the jump on the young people in my life!" she laughs.

Ms Joshi, 75, is a 'technology explorer'. For the last year she and a group of friends have been working with Steven Baker from Melbourne University to create a virtual world for older people, where they can interact as digital avatars of themselves.

Inside the Highway of Life, avatars can carry digitised versions of objects from their childhoods.

In Melbourne, retired teacher Tony Jones brought a photo from his time as a high school student.

Those of us outside the virtual world watch the monitors, as the older people use their controllers to haltingly express one of four emotions — sad, angry, happy and surprised.

The avatars nod, gesticulate, laugh and speak in perfect sync with their owners.

He believes that by 2020, virtual reality technology could be connecting people in aged care facilities to friends, family and each other as a way of strengthening relationships and guarding against depression.

See the full story here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-18/ground-breaking-virtual-reality-connects-older-australians/9556090

Augmented reality is shaping the future of finance

Augmented reality is uniquely suited to finance tech’s needs. More, it’s come along at the right time to be baked into the industry’s source code. It’s already finding applications including data analysis, client meetings, consumer services and banking.

Consumers will step into it without noticing the transition if it uses the smartphone as a platform. Meanwhile, business finance tech users will leverage low-cost interfaces and cloud computing power to grasp and comprehend the data provided by big data and AI.

See the full story here: https://venturebeat.com/2018/03/16/augmented-reality-is-shaping-the-future-of-finance/

Tobii and Qualcomm bring eye tracking to VR/AR headsets

Qualcomm has announced that it plans to integrate Tobii’s eye-tracking technology directly into its Snapdragon 845 VR headsets. The two companies will create a full reference design and development kit for the Snapdragon 845 Mobile VR Platform.

The eye-tracking hardware follows where a user is looking and uses that information to enhance the experience.

See the full story here: https://www.virtualreality-news.net/news/2018/mar/16/tobii-and-qualcomm-bring-eye-tracking-vrar-headsets/

A Mix of ‘Sensuality and Espionage’: Inside Perry Farrell’s $90M Kind Heaven Project

Farrell is one several creative forces behind Kind Heaven, a new immersive entertainment property set to open in 2019 that transports visitors to Southeast Asia without having to leave the Las Vegas Strip. The $90 million project developed in conjunction with Caesars Entertainment and Immersive Artistry’s Cary Granatcombines film and holographic special effects to recreate streetscapes and holy temples in Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal and Hong Kong. Granat was founder and former CEO of Walden Media, which produced the Chronicles of Narnia film seriesand is former president and COO of Miramax/Dimension Films.

“You start the experience by boarding a train near Caesars that takes you to Bangkok at one in the morning,” Granat explains. “You’re walking through actual night markets, buying food, getting all the scents and smells. And then you go through a forest and experience the beauty of Katmandu in Nepal. It’s really the best of South East Asia combined with incredible music from 130 artists.”

...you’re basically walking through a 90-minute show routed in mythology and original content. When you’re within the complex, you’re free to roam around and discover hidden alleyways, visit nightclubs and eat from Hong Kong-style street food vendors. There will be improvisational actors, musicians, acrobats and comedians, combining elements of sensuality and espionage into an experience that will be a first of its kind.

We’ll outfit visitors with a variety of RFID devices to create a cashless environment to shop and eat without taking out your wallet. And we’ll accept cryptocurrencies and all different kinds of payments. So you can walk into a jewelry boutique or noodle house and your wristband will keep track of purchases.

There’s two different experiences -- one for families in the day and one for adults only at night. So during the day you can learn more about the traditions and cultures of Southeast Asia, then in the evening it becomes an adults-only experience with street walkers, nightclubs and sake bombs. Anyone who has traveled to Hong Kong knows it’s a much different city when the sun goes down.

See the full story here: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8247386/perry-farrell-las-vegas-kind-heaven-project-southeast-asia