philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

IU-based startup launches high-tech system for virtual, augmented reality developers

"I created cy.PIPES to easily plug-and-play the user's choice of 4-D effects devices along with the Unity game engine. Dynamic factors like wind direction are automatically computed with cy.PIPES, and effects are rendered to users as they would expect from the virtual environment they are immersed in," Frend said. "I wanted to prove it is possible to easily and inexpensively hook up environmental conditions to virtual and augmented reality systems."

Frend's research on cy.PIPES was published in a 2015 issue of the SPIE Electronic Imaging publication track. It was named Best Research Demonstration at IEEE VR 2016 and is being used by IUPUI informatics students and at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Frend submitted an invention disclosure to the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office, which has applied for patent protection. He started CyUtil after he licensed the intellectual property from the IU ICO.

See the full story here: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-iu-based-startup-high-tech-virtual-augmented.html

Thyng – This delightfully weird app wants to bring augmented reality to the masses

Thyng, which is currently available for iOS devices and has an Android version on its way, can also be used to scan real-world objects to unlock digital content.

“One of the things we want to do is to make the technology easy and fun enough to use that our users can come up with new applications for the technology that will continue to amaze and surprise us,” said LaHood.

With a current team of about nine employees, LaHood said he expects to expand the company as Thyng makes a push to build out the app’s feature set.

See the full story here: https://www.builtinchicago.org/2017/11/27/thyng-brings-augmented-reality-masses

HTC Invests in 26 More AR/VR Startups in Vive X Accelerator

HTC today announced its third batch of AR/VR startups backed by the company’s Vive X accelerator program. A total of 26 new companies from across the world have been selected to participate in the program with the goal of “building and advancing the global VR/AR ecosystem.”

Started last year, Vive X is a $100 million fund for AR/VR companies that, according to HTC, provides “unparalleled access to expertise, resources, planning and an extensive network throughout the AR/VR industry.” The accelerator has already backed 66 companies over the course of its two batches.

Here’s the new batch, connecting with companies across Vive X’s operating territories including San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, and a newly announced fifth location in Tel Aviv:

See descriptions here: https://www.roadtovr.com/htc-invests-26-arvr-startups-vive-x-accelerator/

Departing Hulu VR VP Noah Heller Launches L.A. Tech Fund 3Rodeo

One of the key executives behind Hulu’s virtual reality (VR) push has left the company, and is now starting a Los Angeles-based tech fund: Noah Heller, Hulu’s VP of business development for emerging technology and VR, left Hulu this month. His new gig: 3Rodeo, an early stage venture fund that wants to help local entrepreneurs to not only get the money, but also the advice they need to get their startups off the ground.

Heller is running 3Rodeo as managing partner, and is being joined by RYOT Studio co-founder Molly DeWolf Swenson and former Picasa CEO Lars Perkins, both in the capacity of venture partners. “We’ve seen a lot and we built a lot before,” said Heller about the team’s combined entrepreneurial experience.

See the full story here: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/hulu-exec-noah-heller-departure-1202621074/

MIT and Harvard create cheap artificial muscles with super strength

The new soft robotic artificial muscles are inspired by origami, and can be constructed in as little as 10 minutes with materials generally available that can be acquired for less than $1. The technology uses ‘skeletons’ or basic structural scaffolding which are surrounded by a sealed bag that can then change its motion by creating a vacuum within the bag itself.

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/27/mit-and-harvard-create-cheap-artificial-muscles-with-super-strength/?utm_medium=TCnewsletter

SingularityNet: Converging AI & Blockchain for the greater good

...AI is currently dominated by a few giant corporations who want to monopolize AI and maximize their own share value, at the individual’s expense. But they can only do so because there is no efficient, network alternative available to the general public.

This has to change, and that is why Ben Goertzel, David Hanson, and I are creating SingularityNET, a protocol that allows anyone monetize AI algorithms at scale in a permissionless market.

SingularityNET is a collaborative effort that brings several teams of different expertises, backgrounds, and walks of life together, including:

• Hanson Robotics — the world’s most advanced robotic company in the world
• OpenCog — global open-source software initiative aimed at building AGI
• Novamente — an AI-based R&D and consulting company
• Vulpem Ventures — a blockchain and cybersecurity agency

We envision a future AI economy that is pervasive and sustainable, in which the immense knowledge and wealth that AI creates is distributed to all sentient beings .

See the whole story here: https://becominghuman.ai/announcing-my-next-big-adventure-716806c88be9

AI with an Undo

Getting AI to be more cautious: Where do we go next, and can we change our minds if we don't like it?

The idea is to have an agent jointly learn a forward policy and a reset policy. The forward policy maximizes the task reward, and the reset policy tries to figure out actions to take to reset the environment to a prior state. This leads to agents that learn to avoid risky actions that could irrevocably commit them to something.
"Before an action proposed by the forward policy is executed in the environment, it must be “approved” by the reset policy. In particular, if the reset policy’s Q value for the proposed action is too small, then an early abort is performed: the proposed action is not taken and the reset policy takes control," they write.

See the full story here: https://us13.campaign-archive.com/?u=67bd06787e84d73db24fb0aa5&id=43052be12b&utm_source=MIT+Technology+Review&utm_campaign=edc326f0a0-The_Download&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-edc326f0a0-153894145

Quantum encryption is now fast enough for voice calls

Quantum cryptography. Eye of an observer reflected in a mirror in quantum cryptography apparatus. Quantum cryptography is based on the principle of entanglement, a property of a pair of particles in which a change to one has an instantaneous effect on the other, no matter how far apart they are. Cryptography in this case refers to the encoding of data so that only specified targets can access it. If the sender and the receiver of the data share entanglement then any data is only readable by them alone. This is more secure than existing encryption methods, most of which rely on mathematical algorithms. Photographed at the lab of Anton Zeilinger at Vienna University, Austria.

...researchers have developed a quantum encryption key distribution system that promises to be five to 10 times faster than existing methods, or roughly on par with conventional encryption when run in parallel. The trick was to cram more data into each photon.

Normally, you can only encode one bit per photon by using a weak laser. The team discovered that it could encode two bits by tweaking the release time of photons and using high-speed photon detectors to track these changes. Effectively, they're giving photons properties they couldn't have before.

There's a lot of effort left before this becomes practical, not the least of which is the size: a transmitter/receiver combo would be about as large as a computer. It's more realistic than you might think, mind you. All the parts beyond the single-photon detector are readily available, and it could even be used for "free space" (read: over the air) transmissions. Eventually, there may be a time when you could hold a secure voice chat knowing that even the most determined spy couldn't listen in.

See the full story here: https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/26/scientists-develop-fast-quantum-encryption/

Professor Vikram Explains the Integration of Mixed Reality/Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality into Various Technologies

IEEE Senior Member Vikram Kapila, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Director, Mechatronics, Controls, and Robotics Laboratory New York University, Tandon School of Engineering

IEEE Transmitter: How can MR/AR/VR benefit the world’s next leaders in research and teaching, medicine and exploration (e.g. space, underwater, archaeology)?

Professor Kapila: The MR/AR/VR technologies can benefit the world’s next leaders by allowing their frictionless integration in applications that employ convergent-technologies, e.g., robotics, computer vision, machine learning, additive manufacturing, among others. Similar to open-source hardware and software platforms such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ROS, OpenCV, etc., development, dissemination, and deployment of corresponding open-source hardware and software for MR/AR/VR can enable researchers from disparate domains to explore these technologies.

Compelling use-cases will further showcase broad utility of these technologies to potential users. These technologies can of course facilitate highly intuitive, natural, and immersive telerobotics which is highly relevant to remote exploration in space, underwater, and archaeology; remote observation of land and sea creatures without human invasion of their natural habitat; as well as in surgery. MR/AR/VR have myriad applications in education, for example, laboratory education, anatomy, astronomy, engineering graphics, spatial relations, etc. Moreover, in a manufacturing environment, maintenance workers can benefit from the MR/AR/VR technologies during inspection and repair operations.

See the full story here; https://transmitter.ieee.org/professor-vikram-explains-integration-mixed-reality-augmented-reality-virtual-reality-various-technologies/

Frank Kolkman creates death simulation machine using virtual reality

To tackle "death anxiety" among terminally ill hospital patients, designer Frank Kolkman has created a device that simulates a near-death experience using virtual reality.

Visitors to Dutch Design Week were invited to try out the experimental device, which explores how new computer technologies can address psychological issues, such as fear of mortality.

The out-of-body experience simulated by Outrospectre could provide therapy for dying people, by gently acclimatising them to the sensation of death.

Kolkman's device relies on video footage of the real environment instead of computer-generated visuals.

Users stand directly in front of a robotic head, which is fitted with a 3D camera in each eye. The head is mounted on a vertical trolley track, allowing it to move forwards and backwards.

The cameras transmit a live video stream to the user, who watches through a VR headset as the camera glides away from their body.

The robot mimics head movements in real time, allowing the user to look around and observe their environment. It also has "ears" – two microphones positioned at opposite sides of its face that intensify the feeling of displacement.

"Our brains utilise subtle differences in timing and timbre to identify the origin of a detected sound in direction and distance, and where you are in relation to it," Kolkman explains.

The third element is an automatic hammer that taps the chest each second to mimic a heartbeat, which helps to make the experience feel more physical.

Four out of five people currently experience sensations of physically moving or being present in a different location, and a few have recorded being in two places at once.

With Outrospectre, Kolkman intends to start a conversation about how designers can introduce a new culture of acceptance and openness about death in hospitals.

He says that there is currently too much focus on keeping ill patients alive, rather than on improving the quality of time they have left.

See the full story here: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/11/23/frank-kolkman-outrospectre-near-death-experience-virtual-reality-technology-robots-health/