Futuristic virtual reality arcade coming to Del Amo mall in Torrance
LA-based virtual reality video game creator Survios will bring an arcade to Del Amo mall in Torrance to showcase its products. The Planning Commission approved the arcade last week. Attempting to contact company for comment.
Los Angeles-based virtual reality video game developer Survios will open its first-ever arcade at Torrance’s Del Amo Fashion Center next year, officials said.
The 2,020-square-foot space on the ground floor of the mall’s outdoor lifestyle wing will include a dozen gaming stations designed to provide an “immersive, interactive experience.”
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the arcade last week.
It’s unclear exactly when the Survios Virtual Reality Arcade arcade will open; a company spokeswoman observed that this will be the the young company’s first such arcade.
But a mall spokesman said the arcade will complement the 42,336-square-foot Dave & Buster’s scheduled to open in the south end of the mall next year near Sears.
See the full story here: https://www.dailybreeze.com/2017/12/24/futuristic-virtual-reality-arcade-coming-to-del-amo-mall-in-torrance/
Sound is the next frontier for virtual reality
It's not just about frame-rate and resolution. Music is playing an increasingly important role in virtual reality and augmented reality development.
A company called Tribe VR, which makes products (experiences, in the VR nomenclature) teaching people real-world skills in VR & AR environments, just launched a DJ school for Oculus Rift.
To create its DJ school, Tribe teamed up with DJ Kryoman and Pyramind, a San Francisco-based music school. Lessons include beat matching basics, mixing techniques, and DJ masterclasses. Techniques are taught by virtual DJ mentors.
Today, film composers like Harry Gregson-Williams and Hans Zimmer add nuanced compositions to big budget gaming experiences.
VR is building on the sonic evolution of gaming.
For those who just want to learn to spin some vinyl at their next party, Tribe VR's Oculus experience is $4.99 and can be downloaded here.
See the full story here: http://www.zdnet.com/article/sound-is-the-next-frontier-for-virtual-reality/
Startup MEL Science uses virtual reality to get your kids excited about learning chemistry
Based in London, MEL Science started out making and shipping chemistry kits to subscribers for about $50 per month. Each kit contains several experiments and all the supplies a family needs to conduct them at home.
- MEL Science raised $2.2 million in venture funding to bring virtual reality chemistry lessons to schools in the U.S.
- Eighty-two percent of science teachers surveyed in the U.S. believe virtual reality content can help their students master their subjects.
See the full story here: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/21/mel-science-mixing-chemistry-sets-with-virtual-reality.html
Futurist Dananayi exhibits 3D drawings (Zimbabwe)
Tsitsi Ndabambi
Dananayi Muwanigwa changed the face of art drawings by unleashing his 2D artwork at his first ever solo RIMI Digital Exhibition which is running for one week at Batanai Gardens. The exhibition started on Thursday 14 December.
Placing his future vision of the African life on his digital canvas, he explains that he animated the paintings in a software called ‘Adobe After Effects’ then converted the animations to Gifs (Graphic Interchange Formats) which he then made to play when viewed through a smart device using Unity and Vuforia softwares.
The still images then start to make movements and ‘come to life’. Upon entering the exhibition area one would think that people are engaged in a futurist cellphone ritual of some sort with their devices pointed at the Dananayi’s artwork. The difference is he is using technology to make art come to life.
With the naked eye, they are just your usual art paintings with a sparkle hanging on a wall until you use your smart device through a certain application to view it, then it becomes a breathtaking spectacle.
See the full story here: http://www.herald.co.zw/futurist-dananayi-exhibits-3d-drawings/
ANIME NEWS: Kyoto cafe offers anime-themed Virtual Reality Theater service
An Animate Cafe Shop in Kyoto has started a Virtual Reality (VR) Theater service that allows visitors to step into the world of “Attack on Titan,” attend a Hatsune Miku concert, and enjoy other video content.
Operated by leading anime shop chain Animate Ltd., Animate Cafe Shops collaborate with popular anime and video game titles.
The service currently offers at least 20 different programs.
See the full story here: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201712230001.html
Virtual reality gaming comes to Marlborough’s Apex Center
MindTrek, a Boston-based company, announced Friday the new high-tech, free-roam gaming arena accommodating up to 16 players.
Games include battles with zombies, robots or drones; virtual mazes and digital netherworlds, the company said.
The Marlborough area is MidTrek's second Massachusetts location and officially opens on Tuesday. The other location opened in Woburn in July 2017.
The Marlborough arena is located on the third floor of the Apex Center's gaming complex and includes two 2,000-square-foot gaming spaces that can be combined for one 4,000-square-foot space.
See the full story here: http://www.wbjournal.com/article/20171222/NEWS01/171229975/virtual-reality-gaming-comes-to-marlboroughs-apex-center
SingularityNET’s Ben Goertzel has a grand vision for the future of AI
SingularityNET brings AI and blockchain together to create a decentralized open market for AIs. The implications are that it could let anyone monetize AI, allowing companies, organizations, and developers to buy and sell AI algorithms at scale, thus lowering costs and increasing capabilities. Eventually, they plan to plug the Hanson Robots’ “Sophia” robot literally into SingularityNET to power it’s brain.
“Proprietary marketplaces exist, like the Amazon Web Services for instance. What we’re creating here is a decentralized marketplace, more like BitTorrent. There’s no central dictator deciding what gets in there. Anyone can put an AI online, wrap it in our API, announce it to the network and any business that needs AI as a service can request it.
“Then you need a good reputation system to grade the best AIs with a high rating.
“AI processing is compute time sensitive. So we chose the OpenCog platform, which plays two roles. One is that it’s one of the many AI tools that we will use to build some initial AI services in the network, just the way Apple also sells its own apps. We will put some cool tools in there. The other role is closer to the infrastructure.
“We want to make the system so that the AI layer is independent of what blockchain we are using. Our prototype uses Ethereum, but this is too slow. So we want to be able to swap out the blockchain technology easily. So, the smart contracts need to be expressed in an abstract way which is independent of the blockchain we are using. And OpenCog’s logical language works well for this.
See the full story here:
SingularityNET’s Ben Goertzel has a grand vision for the future of AI
What the Hell Is an Initial Coin Offering? ICO
(philnote: this is an excellent short explanation of ICOs.)
A token sale is like a crowdfunding campaign, except it uses the technology behind Bitcoin to verify transactions. Oh, and tokens aren’t just stand-ins for stock—they can be set up so that instead of a share of a company, holders get services, like cloud storage space, for example.