This California company wants to turn your selfie into a virtual reality avatar
The Pasadena-based tech firm, housed in the Idealab business incubator, has developed a technology that allows users to create virtual reality avatars of themselves. And once someone’s virtual self has been created it can do “virtually” anything, from climbing a mountain or attending a rock concert to riding a gondola through the canals of Venice, Italy.
obEN’s proprietary artificial intelligence technology can create a personal avatar by simply combining someone’s image and voice recording. And the avatar that emerges looks and speaks exactly like … well, you.
As VR and AR make their way into an increasing number of fields they’re gaining traction with investors. obEN just secured $7.7 million in venture capital funding led by some of China’s most important VR and AR investors. The company plans to use those funds to grow its team of world-class scientists and identify new partnerships.
obEN was also chosen as one of 33 companies to participate in HTC Corp.’s VIVE X accelerator program.
George Djorgovski, chairman of the astronomy department at Caltech and founding director of the Center For Data-Driven Discovery, has been involved in virtual reality technology for the past eight years.
“It’s changing the way we do science,” he said. “VR is way more effective than teleconferencing because people have a 90 percent sense of being there. We did some classes and lectures in VR and it’s very good for data visualization. Being inside of the data gives you a much better perception.
See the full story here: http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/07/this-california-company-wants-to-turn-your-selfie-into-a-virtual-reality-avatar/
5 Things to Know About Microsoft’s Virtual-Reality Efforts
Microsoft's VR ambitions seem well planned and could serve as a natural stepping stone between PCs and HoloLens. They could also finally help Microsoft evolve into a market-leading innovator to counter rivals such as Sony, Facebook, and Google across multiple markets.
Free ‘Virtual Reality Arcade’ Launches Inside World Trade Center Oculus
The mall, in partnership with Tribeca Enterprises, the company behind the Tribeca Film Festival, has launched a "Virtual Reality Arcade" — eight viewing stations that let visitors take in an immersive short film, for free.
The pop-up VR arcade will run for the next two weekends, from Friday through Sunday, until Nov. 20. The stations are open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., and are available first-come first-serve.
The short VR movies, which range from four to 13 minutes, include an animated piece about space aliens called "Invasion!", a supernatural drama set in New York called "Invisible" and a Cirque du Soleil production, its first linear narrative, titled "KÀ The Battle Within."
See the full story here: https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161107/financial-district/free-virtual-reality-arcade-launches-inside-world-trade-center-oculus
Why VR arcades could be virtual reality’s salvation
While different forms of VR arcades have been around since the late ‘90s, it hasn’t been until recently that new virtual reality gaming centers have been gaining massive popularity around the world, first in China, then in other parts of Asia and soon widespread in Europe and North America.
Earlier this week, the senior vice president of HTC’s virtual reality efforts announced initiatives meant to make it easier for people to open these arcades as small businesses.
The company opened Viveland, a VR arcade in Taipei, last week. He said the company is likely to open Vivelands in Europe and the U.S. as well.
Vive is getting into the VR arcade business mostly to help invigorate the sales of VR headsets and games that run on them.
"VR has never really gone away from the out-of-home entertainment and commercial simulation sector," he said. "Most notably Walt Disney saw incredible success with their VR platform incorporated into their DisneyQuest indoor theme park project. Opened in 1997, the facility operated continuously for over 19 years, the famous Aladdin's Magic Carpet VR Ride proving one of the longest running VR attractions, and underpinning the opportunity of VR in the attractions and amusement approach."
...enthusiasm seemed to be centered mostly in China.
That’s because, Williams said, other forms of immersive entertainment like 4D theaters and motion simulators are more established there.
As they’ve grown in popularity, the facilities generally called VR arcades have split into three distinct sorts of entertainment, he said.
"The first are facilities that offer places for players to use the latest consumer VR systems in dedicated facilities," Kevin Williams said. "The second element are specialist franchise sites, in China sometimes called VR Parks, running the latest VR game systems based on dedicated hardware. And finally in this category there are VR Arena-Scale facilities, which offer VR lasertag style experiences."
See the full story here: http://www.polygon.com/features/2016/11/7/13524296/vr-arcades-interview?curator=MediaREDEF
Inside Dolby Laboratories as it moves beyond sound
The biggest lab, a 230-seat private theater, is scheduled to open Nov. 17, becoming a place to test and showcase Dolby Cinema technology that the company is installing in commercial theaters around the world.
But the research goes beyond developing equipment. Dolby employs teams of scientists that study how humans react physically and emotionally to the technology, research that otherwise might be only in the realm of academia.
In the Biophysical Lab, for example, Gitterman wore a 64-channel biosensor system to measure brainwaves, while a hand sensor tracked galvanic skin response, a measure of how sweat glands and the nervous system react to emotional stimuli.
They were researching the sensation Crum described as “feeling” heat on her cheek while watching a video of a bright flame from a movie, an image made even more realistic through high-dynamic-range video monitors developed at Dolby.
...Crum said researchers have also found an interesting skin reaction when soccer fans like Gitterman watch a match on TV. “Every time, right before a penalty kick, you can see a spike, and it’s entirely predictable,” she said. “And these aren’t even teams he cares about. It’s just that human anticipation of this event.”
The research might explain why one moviegoer loves a film while another in the same audience hates it. “Experiences, emotions, arousal, the same fear or salient piece of information might cause one person’s heart rate to go up and another person’s to go down,” Crum said.
...In the basement, the Sensory Immersion Room is a lab with 3-foot-thick walls that shield all perceptible noise from busy Market Street. The entire room rests on a slab of concrete that floats on springs to provide more acoustical dampening. The lab’s door is controlled by motors because it’s too thick and heavy to be opened and closed by hand.
Beneath a covering of gray fabric is a web of more than 50 speakers and 40 microphones that can instantly change the acoustics of the room. There is also a 40-speaker audio subsystem. To demonstrate, Crum hit controls on an tablet, stomped her feet, and the echoes made the room sound like a large hall. She hit another control, stomped her feet, and the room sounded 3 feet long.
...Analyst Avi Greengart of the technology research and consulting firm Current Analysis said he is excited about the potential research that could come out of the immersion room, which he likened to the fictional Holodeck from “Star Trek.”
“I’ve seen a lot of corporate labs, but what they’re doing over there (at Dolby) absolutely blows me away,” Greengart said.
Compared with research efforts he’s seen at Microsoft and Google, Greengart said, Dolby’s scientists are working on “very pragmatic, practical technologies that they can sell to theater owners and to consumers.”
See the full story here: http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Dolby-Laboratories-scientific-research-examines-10594019.php
NFL Throws First Virtual-Reality Pass to Google Daydream, YouTube
The National Football League is producing its first original VR series, launching exclusively on YouTube and Google’s Daydream View virtual-reality headset starting later this month. But the project underscore that it’s still early in the VR game — with the league tapping the tech as a promotional fan-engagement vehicle, rather than a revenue driver.
The VR content will be free, with the first episode of the series to be available on the NFL’s YouTube channel on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24). Later this year, episodes will also be available via the NFL’s VR app designed for Daydream View, Google’s mobile VR headset that works with its new Pixel phones set to begin shipping Nov. 10, along with other immersive experiences.
See the full story here: http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/nfl-vr-virtual-reality-google-youtube-1201908355/
Virtual Reality to boost forest management
The VRForest research team at the University of Helsinki has designed an app demo for virtual forest management. It takes a quarter of an hour to transform the conference room of the Department of Forest Sciences into a forest in need of thinning.
“The application allows forest owners to test how, for example, upper-layer thinning or clear cutting will change the forest or how profitable a thinning is,” says Mr. Osmo Mattila, PhD (For), one of the team coordinators.
See the full story here: http://www.smy.fi/en/artikkeli/virtual-reality-to-boost-forest-management/
6 Virtual Reality Content Companies to Watch
NextVR
Jaunt
LittlStar
MelodyVR Ltd.
The startup, which was founded in 2015, has used 18 months of development to secure over 300 artists and film a wide range of concerts in 360-degrees. The app will offer a wide selection of VR experiences across music genres like classical (the London Symphony Orchestra), rock (Fall Out Boy) and electronic (Annie Mac). Moving forward, MelodyVR will use its custom camera technology to open sold out concerts and music festivals to fans around the globe. Fans will be able to listen to concerts in 360-degree audio.
Mandtvr
An offshoot of Hollywood production company Mandt Bros which launched in 2001, Mandt VR is focused on full-service 360-degree VR production. Mandt Bros. has produced over 3,000 episodes of television shows so far, including the sports show Rome is Burning with Jim Rome, and Walt Disney Pictures’ Million Dollar Arm. On the VR front, Mandt VR has signed a deal to 360-degree livestream premiere PodcastOne show talent, including Shaquille O’Neil and Adam Carolla. The company is also working with clients like Oklahoma State University to use virtual reality content to connect with new customers.
Digital Domain / Immersive Media
In December 2015, Hong Kong-listed Digital Domain Holdings (HKG:0547) paid $39 million for a 66.6% majority stake in Canadian virtual reality technology company Immersive Media. The two companies previously worked together in launching IM360, which Digital Domain Holdings (DDHL) has a 50% stake in.
See the full story here: http://www.nanalyze.com/2016/11/virtual-reality-vr-content/
‘Myst’ creators Cyan break into virtual reality game design with ‘Obduction’
When the computer game “Myst” debuted in 1993, co-creator Rand Miller heard from devoted players who would dim the lights in their dens and crank up their speakers to feel immersed in the title’s photo-realistic island setting.
The advent and affordability of in-home, virtual reality technology allows Miller’s company, Cyan Worlds, to create experiences those gamers couldn’t have imagined 23 years ago, he said.
Obduction was released for PCs in August, but Monday marked the first time Cyan Worlds made good on a 3-year-old promise to create a virtual reality version of the game.
Cyan Worlds raised $1.3 million for the project through a Kickstarter campaign.
Cyan Worlds always has made games where physics-based puzzle solving and world exploration take center stage, compared to the twitchy gunplay and visceral violence that define most modern blockbuster titles.
On the Oculus, Obduction mixes the classic puzzle-solving of Myst with the sensation of occupying a 3-D fantasy world. Players are dropped into a moonlit park next to a lake in the game’s opening sequence. Tilting your head up shows a full moon and twinkling stars, and as you move forward along a linear path a streak appears in the sky, crash-landing near your location. An otherworldly spore appears, winding its way closer to you, before bursting into particles of light as the screen goes blank and the title appears.
See the full story here: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/nov/06/myst-creators-cyan-break-into-virtual-reality-game/