philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

An Oral History of the Funniest Podcast Ever

Comedy Bang! Bang! is the rare comedy podcast that’s actually funny. That’s because instead of talking about comedy, Aukerman and his guests—typically one celebrity appearing as him or herself and one or more comedians playing outrageous characters—actually do comedy on the show. Specifically, they do the type of long-form improv made popular by the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in an audio medium that allows listeners’ imaginations to take over, leading to blissfully surreal and demented scenarios to unfold week after week.

See the full story here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/comedy-bang-bang-500-episode-milestone-funniest-podcast-scott-aukerman?curator=MediaREDEF

Wi-Fi could protect you from getting lost in virtual reality

Their solution, which they call WiCapture, requires two parts: a standard Wi-Fi chip, such as the one you might find in your phone, and at least two Wi-Fi “access points,” which are transmitters such as the ones found in home routers. Communication between the chip and a transmitter comes in high-frequency radio waves. In order to track a Wi-Fi signal source with millimeter-level accuracy, one needs to measure the time it takes a signal to travel from the chip to the transmitter with picosecond-level accuracy. However, the chip and transmitter have different clocks, and no two clocks in Wi-Fi devices are perfectly synchronized.

To get around this problem the researchers took advantage of the fact that signals reach the transmitter through many paths. Some radio waves travel directly to the receiver to create the main signal, whereas others bounce off walls to create echoes. Kotaru wrote an algorithm that looks at signals from two different paths, identified by triangulating among the transmitter’s multiple antennas. Those signals will be equally affected by clock asynchrony, so the algorithm can just compare their relative change as the chip moves and ignore the drift of the clocks’ timing. Still, this method measures distance to only one transmitter; using two or more transmitters in combination allows the algorithm to use triangulation to track motion in two dimensions. (The researchers will eventually expand WiCapture to track motion in three dimensions.)

He notes that 1 centimeter is not a high enough accuracy for head tracking, but would work for hand tracking. In a fighting game, “I’m not sure I’m going to do any small delicate movements with a sword.”

The authors acknowledge that WiCapture still has a slower reaction time and lower accuracy than infrared cameras, but they think they can improve both by combining it with an accelerometer to add another source of data and fill in the gaps. In any case, Kotaru says, the technology is basically ready to use.

See the full story here: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07/wi-fi-could-protect-you-getting-lost-virtual-reality

Stanford Athletics’ Foray Into Virtual Reality Includes Storytelling Element

Stanford University’s athletic department is utilizing virtual reality across a number of sports in an effort to enhance athletic performance and engage with fans.

Most notably, Stanford’s fencing team made an interactive video that features a fencer fighting the viewer. In it, a virtual reality rig is set up facing the fencer as he or she is lunging away at you — the color changing as the viewer is hit by the saber.

Stanford’s video department uses a rig that consists of six GoPros with a specialized placement holder at the top.

The rig has also been used to produce a virtual reality video of the wrestling team in the middle of training, photo shoots of members of the women’s and men’s basketball teams — Erica McCall and Reid Travis — and the Cardinal women’s volleyball team getting hyped in a huddle before a game.

“This is a good example of the biggest problem with any VR that we’re producing or anyone else is producing — most people don’t watch it as it is intended,” Trabue said. “A very small percentage of folks are watching VR content on a headset. It’s going to be mostly on a phone or on not so good 4G. There are a lot of bad experiences with it in that sense.”

See the full story here: https://www.sporttechie.com/stanford-foray-virtual-reality/

Intel shuts down wearable division, here’s why

According to the latest reports, #wearables are out and have been replaced by AR or #augmented reality at Intel. CNBC report that #Intel has downed the shutters on its wearables division two weeks ago and is now focussing on augmented reality. The New Technologies division which looked after the development and manufacture of wearables was shifted to now oversee the augmented reality division.

See the full story here: http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/07/intel-shuts-down-wearable-division-heres-why-001871577.html

Spielberg warns VR will rule the future at Comic-Con

SAN DIEGO, CA - JULY 22: Director Steven Spielberg attends the Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation during Comic-Con International 2017 at San Diego Convention Center on July 22, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

"The only reason I say it is dangerous is because it gives the viewer a lot of latitude not to take direction from the storytellers but make their own choices of where to look.

"I just hope it doesn't forget the story when it starts enveloping us in a world that we can see all around us and make our own choices to look at."

Now he seems to have, if not changed his mind, at least embraced the future.

The 70-year-old director now sees VR as the opening of new possibilities, where humans are able to do "anything you can possibly imagine".

Directing Ready Player One, Spielberg was faced with 80s nostalgia and pop references related to his own work in the past, and said he feared being "vilified for some kind of grand act of grand larceny of vanity".

Ready Player One premieres 30 March 2018.

See the full story here: http://news.sky.com/story/spielberg-warns-vr-will-rule-the-future-at-comic-con-10958385

SIGGRAPH 2017 will showcase the latest in AR and VR

“It has matured to the point where everybody knows what AR and VR is,” said VR Village Chair Denise Quesnel. “In the first year it was about introducing the technology widely to people. The second year it was about…how you can push the envelope a little more. This year, for the third year, it’s taking chances and really going beyond where we think VR is at today and showing a little bit about what is yet to come.”

In addition to the VR Village, the Computer Animation Festival that is part of the conference is adding VR content projects to that portion of the event. Instead of waiting in lengthy lines, organizer Pol Jeremias-Vila is employing a ticketing system for a specific time of day that will put visitors through a series of experiences in the Oculus Rift one after another.

Panels and presentations will also be offered allowing visitors to learn more about the projects. Here are some of the notable experience presentations, panels and talks that will be at the event.

See the full story here: https://venturebeat.com/2017/07/22/siggraph-2017-will-showcase-the-latest-in-ar-and-vr/

What Happens When You Can’t Look Away? How VR Developers Used Gaze Activated Technology To Captivate Comic-Con

A young woman runs up to the camera, frantic. She begs the viewer not to look away from her, to steady their eyes — but then, in the corner, a flash. And then another one, just out the corner of your eye. And she continues to beg, the viewer finds it harder and harder to focus, until eventually, most give in and glance over. With an ominous warning, she disappears, replaced by a fearsome monster.

The most interesting part of the experience was that the user didn’t know their actions had any impact on the story. Done overtly, gaze-activation can lend a “choose your own adventure” sheen to a piece, which is fine if that’s the aim. But done covertly, it can provide fascinating insight into the human mind, not to mention a subtle way to make an experience interactive without having to hand someone controllers.

see the full story here: https://uploadvr.com/what-happens-when-you-cant-look-away-how-vr-developers-used-gaze-activated-technology-to-captivate-comic-con/

Space-starved Hong Kong could get its first virtual cemetery for green burials

Imagine remembering your loved ones in a virtual cemetery that displays a digitalised version of your favourite location, while in real life, their ashes are stored in a high-rise columbarium that bans most tribute rituals.

This is what 80-year-old industrialist and inventor Yuen Se-kit and his son Anthony Yuen Sze-ming want to achieve.

As the city continues to age, the government has projected the number of deaths will double from 46,900 last year to 97,600 by 2064.

The share of people being cremated has increased from 35 per cent in 1975 to 93 per cent last year, while the share of green burials accounted for 9 per cent in 2015.

Yuen says the columbarium will ban incense or the burning of offerings to reduce pollution.

See the full story here: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2103733/hongkongers-encouraged-enter-virtual-world-pay

IKEA better hope its Apple ARKit furniture app looks as good as this developer’s app

If you've already seen ARKit apps in action, this might sound like just another AR demo, but you have to watch the video to realize just how powerful the app is. In just under a minute, Vollmer populates an empty space — while people are moving about in the background — with realistic looking furniture, plants, and even a working fireplace.

See the full story here: http://mashable.com/2017/07/22/arkit-furniture-app-augmented-reality/#22JFwIGIJsqj

EON Reality appoints new Chairman of the Board: Göran Malm, a former President of General Electric Asia Pacific

EON Reality Inc., the world leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer for industry and education, announces that Göran Malm has been selected to serve as Chairman of EON Reality effective as of July 18, 2017. Malm has served on EON Reality’s Advisory Board since 2001 and brings his expertise in the Industry, Medical and Technology sectors as well as regional expertise in Asia to EON Reality’s operations. He succeeds Dan Lejerskar who will continue, in his capacity as a Founder of EON Reality, to actively lead the EON Human 2.0 Initiative and its global expansion.

See the full story here: https://www.eonreality.com/press-releases/eon-reality-appoints-new-chairman-board-goran-malm-former-president-general-electric-asia-pacific/