You know those gimmick-based dating shows about people going on dates naked, or in the dark, or with some other twist? Someone is doing this for virtual reality now, and while that already may not sound great, I promise that it is worse than it sounds. It’s not that Virtually Dating is dumb about VR, or that it sensationalizes it. It’s just a dating show that’s so boring it tarnishes the concept of dating itself.
See the full story with video here: https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/30/16227238/virtually-dating-conde-nast-facebook-vr-dating-show
At UCLA, Nanthia Suthana is one of the first neuroscientists in the world to harness the power of VR to unravel how someone’s brain encodes and retrieves memories while the person explores a new virtual setting on foot.
Her work recently captured the attention of the popular digital network, Mashable, which profiled her in its “How She Works” video series.
“At UCLA, we are the first to blend virtual reality with a surgically implanted prosthesis to reveal what happens inside the brain when we create memories.”
In 2015, Suthana recruited a crack team of experts in bioengineering, neuroscience, computer science and physics to help design a virtual-reality lab at UCLA. She crafted a study that correlates electrical activity from the neuro-prosthesis deep inside the brain with a patient’s physical movement in the virtual environment.
See the full story here: https://www.uclahealth.org/neuroscientist-harnesses-the-power-of-virtual-reality-to-unlock-the-mysteries-of-memory
In time for Labor Day – one of the most popular days for alcohol consumption in the U.S. – and back-to-school season, Diageo, a global leader in beverage alcohol, today announced plans for a new virtual reality (VR) experience that will immerse consumers of legal drinking age in a first-person, multi-perspective story about the dangers of binge drinking.
...the new program follows Diageo's successful October 2016 launch of "Decisions," a first-of-its-kind 360° experience that placed consumers in the front seat of a fatal drunk driving crash. In the four months after its introduction, "Decisions" accumulated almost 14 million views. The experience made a significant impact on consumer perceptions with 73% of viewers surveyed after watching the film saying they are now more likely to stop other people from drinking and driving. In addition, 75% of viewers said they will prevent drinking and driving by planning ahead with a designated driver.
See the full story here: http://www.crossroadstoday.com/story/36260983/diageo-to-reignite-virtual-reality-efforts-with-experience-focused-on-dangers-of-binge-drinking
Lotto spokesman Brian LeCompte says it involves wearing a headset that immerses the user in various scenarios they will likely face at a house party or in the workplace.
The eight-minute experience is meant to compliment existing counselling services, available to the roughly 1,500 people a year who win prizes of $25,000 or more.
There's no obligation to use the headset, adds LeCompte, and winners of lesser amounts can request VR if they feel they need it.
He says their Montreal and Quebec City offices have a dozen headsets, and that the project cost $100,000 for work that included casting and shooting the VR footage.
See the full story here: http://www.pentictonherald.ca/life/national_life/article_f0ab4861-2548-5894-82fb-5d89c3f0690f.html
Invisible Highway is an experiment in controlling physical things in the real world by drawing in Augmented Reality. Simply make a pathway along the floor on your phone and the robot car will follow that path on the actual floor in your room. A custom highway with scenery is generated along the path to make the robots a little more scenic on your phone screen.
See the full story here: https://boingboing.net/2017/08/30/augmented-reality-project-adds.html
https://boingboing.net/2017/08/30/augmented-reality-project-adds.html
To enjoy the AR scene, all you have to do is plant yourself within a mile of any one of 20 global landmarks, boot up the Star Wars app and point your phone to the sky.
If you do that, you'll get to watch a short scene unfold above that real world location. You'll also be able to take photos of your encounter. According to the announcement, the scene is a 10-second clip that shows a Star Destroyer and a pair of TIE Fighters flying over whatever landmark you've chosen to visit. You'll be able to enjoy this AR experience through Sept. 3 at any of the following locations:
Hollywood Sign, USA
See the full list here: http://www.cinemablend.com/games/1697989/star-wars-has-turned-global-landmarks-into-augmented-reality-locations
Stinger Report representatives were invited to attend London's first permanent VR Arcade location. Based in North London, the new DNA VR facility sees 10 dedicated enclosures created to allow single and group players to enjoy a selection of specially selected consumer VR experiences.
New to the Virtual Entertainment scene, the team behind the DNA VR facility have invested in a location offering access to who they perceive as their key audience and what that audience is looking for. The price point works on a 30-minute or 60-minute model, and is attracting group and private party bookings. Using the HTC Vive as the platform, the operators have created a foundation for what they see as a profitable opportunity, looking at traction in being able to accommodate 12 people per hour with their ten enclosures.
The Disney D23 Expo event, however, revealed that Disney's park operation was now turning its research and development fully to the creation of immersive entertainment experiences. These "All-Immersion" attractions in development of launch included the ground-breaking Star Wars hotel and restaurant at Epcot, opening in 2018. The venue will feature immersive digital windows which simulate action-packed galactic views, including a major viewing area in the restaurant, while cast members and guests partake in role-playing and related adventures.
From the Stinger Report 8/29/17 e-newsletter, available at kwp@thestingerreport.com
Specs
- A choice of two screen options: 2880×1600@90 Hz LCD, or 2160×1200@90 Hz OLED including diffusion film for reduced SDE
- Removable face-plate
- Built-in dual silent fans to comfort and ventilation
- Front IR window for optional embedded Leap Motion controller
- High-quality 100-degree optics with adjustable focus
- Integrated 9-axis orientation tracker
- On-unit buttons for user interface (disabled in pre-production units)
- Ergonomic and adjustable head strap
- Supports direct mode and asynchronous time warp
- Supported by all major game engines including Unity, Unreal and more
See the full story here: https://www.roadtovr.com/sensics-releases-high-resolution-vr-headset-built-specially-arcades-theme-parks/
Father reading to daughter (2-4) on sofa, smiling
...researchers at Disney and the University of Massachusetts Boston have been working on neural networks that can evaluate short stories. While these AIs don't (yet) analyze story like a professional literary critic, the software tries to predict which stories will be most popular. "Our neural networks had some success in predicting the popularity of stories," said Disney Research scientist Boyang "Albert" Li in a statement. "You can't yet use them to pick out winners for your local writing competition, but they can be used to guide future research."
The researchers used social question and answer site Quora for a large database to feed into its AI algorithms. Many of the answers on Quora come in the form of stories, so reader upvotes can be used as a measure of popularity, and as "a proxy for narrative quality." The team gathered almost 55,000 answers and classified more than 28,000 of them as stories, each with an average of 369 words. Then they developed a couple of different neural networks — one to look at different sections of each story and one to take a more holistic view of a story's meaning. Each AI made predictions about the relative popularity of a given story. Both neural nets were better at choosing a story's popularity over a baseline text evaluation, but the holistic network showed an 18 percent improvement over the one that focused on sections.
Let's just hope that researchers find a way to filter stories for quality, and not just popularity. No one needs another Transformers movie.
See the full story here: https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/21/disney-research-taught-ai-to-judge-short-stories/
By Jay Samit
At a time when teachers are forced to compete with the stimulation of video games and social media for students’ attention, digital reality is a tool that expands the lessons in textbooks by providing interactive 3D models and 360-degree videos that students can engage with in self-paced, self-directed learning.
Technology companies are recognizing the long-term marketing opportunity of engaging today’s students. More than two million students have already experienced a virtual field trip using Google Expedition. With hundreds of modules to choose from, Expeditions allow students to go inside the human digestive system, scuba dive through diverse geographic biomes such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and even climb the Mayan pyramids of Chichen Itza. Apps like Unimersiv take students on treks of ancient Greece or deep inside the neurons of the human brain. And for the college bound, YouVisit lets prospective students visit campuses they might not have the time or means to physically tour. As tablets and smartphones become more ubiquitous, more companies are investing in academic virtual experiential courseware.
Virtual reality is more than just a fun classroom distraction. VR is also being used to help identify students with special educational needs. According to a recent study, VR is helping to accurately identify students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Virtual “peer” avatars are also being used to help students on the autism spectrum learn important social skills such as eye contact and empathy.
Jay Samit is Vice Chairman of Deloitte Digital and author of the bestselling book “Disrupt You!”
See the full story here: http://fortune.com/2017/08/29/virtual-reality-field-trips/?xid=gn_editorspicks
You know those gimmick-based dating shows about people going on dates naked, or in the dark, or with some other twist? Someone is doing this for virtual reality now, and while that already may not sound great, I promise that it is worse than it sounds. It’s not that Virtually Dating is dumb about VR, or that it sensationalizes it. It’s just a dating show that’s so boring it tarnishes the concept of dating itself.
To enjoy the AR scene, all you have to do is plant yourself within a mile of any one of 20 global landmarks, boot up the Star Wars app and point your phone to the sky.
