Stan Lee Introduces Augmented Reality For His Kids Universe
At 93 years-old, comics legend Stan Lee hasn’t slowed down. A few years ago, he started Stan Lee’s Kids Universe, which is aimed at targeting books and comics at young kids. And now he’s taking that universe to the next level by partnering with developers Playing Forward to launch a new interactive platform, The VROOM, which allows kids to see characters from the Kids Universe in Augmented and Virtual Reality.
The way it works is pretty simple. Kids will pick up a physical copy of the book and then view the book through the camera on their tablet for phone. The augmented reality app then shows a 3D animation of the activities of the character on the page. The first book for the app is Dex The T-Rex, which was written by Katya Bowser.
See the full story here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2016/11/02/stan-lee-introduces-augmented-reality-for-his-kids-universe/#4269760d184d
New Breakthrough Adds Realistic Lighting to Augmented Reality
The super simple version: Elastic Fusion helps augmented reality devices project digital information with lighting effects so it looks more realistic in its environment. If the AR device projects a little digital car on the desk, and there’s a physical light behind that digital car, Elastic Fusion will make sure the car has a realistic shadow.
The simple version: The algorithm Elastic Fusion uses for constructing a 3D model is capable detecting multiple light sources in its environment. When the team uses the algorithm and a 3D scanner to gather information for projecting an augmented reality representation, it will know where these lights are and include them in its model information. This model information is used to provide more realistic lighting effects for augmented reality representations.
See the full story here: http://www.spar3d.com/blogs/the-other-dimension/new-breakthrough-adds-realistic-lighting-augmented-reality/
It’s Finally Legal To Hack Your Own Devices (Even Your Car)
For now, the exemptions are limited to a two-year trial period. And the security research exemption in particular only applies to what the Copyright Office calls “good-faith” testing, “in a controlled environment designed to avoid any harm to individuals or to the public.” As Matwyshyn puts it, “We’re not talking about testing your neighbor’s pacemaker while it’s implanted. We’re talking about a controlled lab and a device owned by the researcher.”
But within those restrictions, the exemptions remove a looming fear of DMCA lawsuits that has long hung over the security research community. “There’s a universe of security vulnerabilities that the law keeps researchers from figuring out and telling you about, but are nonetheless present in devices you use every day,” says Kit Walsh, an attorney with the Electronic Freedom Foundation. “For the next two years, that threat will be lifted for many forms of security research that are really important.”
“When you remove a barrier to disclosure, you avail yourself of the opportunity to fix these things.”
See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/2016/10/hacking-car-pacemaker-toaster-just-became-legal
Gimme360 Social Apparel
Gimme360 is an apparel company that lessens the gap between a purchase and the charitable impact it makes. Each piece of clothing designed by the brand features the exact co-ordinates of that project’s location emblazoned across the front, as well as a chip on the inside tag with VR technology that allows you to actually see your impact through videos filmed by the Gimme360 team.
See the full story here: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/48673-virtual-reality-social-apparel?locale=es
China’s Forbidden City comes to life in VR
Ms. Zhang’s unlikely enthusiasm was directed at a new exhibition at Beijing’s Forbidden City that depicts an archaeological site in Jingdezhen, a small city in southeast China whose name is synonymous with fine porcelain. The virtual-reality production is derived from more than 2,500 high-definition photos that museum researchers took in Jingdezhen amid ruins of the kilns where the porcelain was baked for the benefit of dynastic rulers.
The exhibition, called “Porcelain from the Ming and Qing Dynasty Imperial Kilns: Archaeological Finds at the Palace Museum and in Jingdezhen,” opened on Oct. 26 and runs until Feb. 26 (the Forbidden City houses the Palace Museum).
After strapping on the special black glasses, visitors roam around a virtual replica of the 14,000-square-foot Jingdezhen site, “seeing” the ruins as an audio guide describes the site. Museum officials warn visitors to keep within the boundaries of the 40-square-foot virtual-reality room, obeying a blue warning light or risk bumping into a wall.
In July, the museum announced it would cooperate with the internet giant Tencent on long-term digital projects.
See the full story here: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2016/10/31/forbidden-city-museum-brings-archaeology-to-life-with-virtual-reality/
How virtual reality is transforming dementia care in Australia
There are currently more than 353,800 Australians living with dementia, according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics.
For people living with dementia, VR can offer relief by triggering memories and positive emotions, even for those in the later stages who are often responsive to very little.
Build VR, a Victoria-based company that specialises in VR, virtual tours, and 360-degree video and photography, recently released their Solis VR unit, a Gear VR handset for care homes that marks a big step forward in the quality of care for those living with dementia in Australia.
These facilities — they're kind of out of sight, out of mind. They're beautiful facilities but the residents are bored."
"Our first demonstration was about 18 months ago," Pascal said. "We went to a facility, we had a dozen residents try it and most of them had dementia — we didn't know that before we arrived. So everyone was a bit apprehensive as to what the reaction would be, but the reaction was amazing. All the staff loved it and it pretty much became a hit, because we have all these residents now communicating with each other, talking about what they're seeing and even sharing some stories.
Those five VR experiences now form the five categories of video scenarios that the handset offers users: Travel, adventure, animals, aquatic, and relaxation.
"Another thing we did was figure out how to sync a tablet with the headset, so a staff member can actually see what the resident is experiencing in real-time — that's proven very popular too, they can help guide them and see what they like and what they don't like."
"In terms of dementia residents it's more about how they're behaving before they try it," he said. "There's one woman in particular I remember: She had been making a repetitive moan every few seconds and was really not reacting to anything. We got her to try Solis and within about 10 seconds she just stopped, she was just fixated with what was she was experiencing, which was a canoe trip. She didn't [make the noise] again until I left. And she was in high-care."
"There are a lot of technophobes in this world and a lot of them are carers," Pascal said. "When they first see the tech they're a bit intimidated, and once they get used to it, they love it.
Alzheimer's Australia, which estimates that 1.2 million people are involved in the care of a person with dementia, has taken a slightly different route to improve dementia care through the use of VR. Rather than an experience tailored to the person with the condition, Alzheimer's Australia Vic last month released a free app in collaboration with Deakin University that allows anyone with a smartphone and Google Cardboard to see through the eyes and experience the challenges of a person living with dementia.
See the full story here: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-virtual-reality-is-transforming-dementia-care-in-australia/
Inside LA’s VR Haunted House
In the days before Halloween, a sprawling, 26,000-square-foot Los Angeles coworking space called Ctrl Collective took on an unexpected twist: It became a virtual reality haunted house dance party.
Approximately 1500 visitors stopped by the haunted house, which included eight room-size horror virtual reality environments and 12 scary virtual reality movies and art installations.
According to Jonathan Nafarrete of VRScout, the organization that put on the event, "The lay of land was five little rooms with different experiences. There are tabletops with Gear VR headsets to check out content on that, a main stage with a DJ spinning in virtual reality, and an artist painting in Tilt Brush next to him with a giant 360-degree dome projecting art on top of it. There’s also a 360-degree photo experience, which is a normal photo booth that puts you in a zombie research facility. Your picture is taken inside a holding pen and is then shared on Facebook as a 360-degree photo."
See the full story here: https://www.fastcompany.com/3064634/inside-los-angeles-virtual-reality-haunted-house
Oculus in major recruitment drive as it moves to incorporate a mixed reality of AR and VR
Oculus, the firm behind the Oculus Rift is currently on a major recruitment drive with over 100 positions currently available, 33 of which are for the Redmond, WA -based Oculus research division. Among those is the AR Incubation Lead role, a position that will lead a team "to build augmented reality technology that opens the path for everyday use for a billion people."
See the full story here: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/10/31/oculus-major-recruitment-drive-it-moves-incorporate-mixed-reality-ar-and-vr
Foursquare’s next act: Making ‘Her’ a reality
“Imagine a friend is walking alongside you,” Crowley said. “Can we make a personality like that, that talks to you in that sense? It’s not 30 years out. We’re going to be playing with this stuff a year from now.”
“I want to make that Scarlett Johansson that whispers in your ear, but it’s all about local places and local discovery,” he added. “I want to replicate the experience of walking through the city with a friend that knows the city inside and out, and I want to make that for millions of people.”
Glueck noted that the company may be interested in visual cues delivered by augmented reality, in addition to audio. But he said the way we receive push notifications on our phones today will need some serious rethinking.
“In your glasses or EarPods or watch, some kind of filtering will have to happen,” Glueck said. “All these apps are pushing notifications at you. Certain devices are more personal, and you’ll have to have a high standard of whether you’ll want to be interrupted.”
See the full story here: http://www.recode.net/2016/10/31/13474152/foursquare-next-act-virtual-companion-podcast-recode-decode