philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Retail applications of VR

Luxury boutique retailer The Line is already experimenting with the Samsung Gear VR headset. Shoppers can currently tour the brand’s Manhattan store, The Apartment, using the 3D video technology – even if they are halfway around the world. Similarly, VR developers Sixense and marketing agency SapientNitro recently showed Reuters a demo of a consumer virtually browsing shoes from a display, “picking them up” and trying them on an avatar, and making a purchase. The ultimate goal is for these platforms to learn a shopper’s preferences so the experience becomes more personalized with each visit. In addition, in select stores around the world, shoppers can watch Tommy Hilfiger’s fall 2015 catwalk show with a Samsung Gear VR headset – “a 360-degree, three-dimensional version of the runway as though they’re sitting in the front row.”

See the full story here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/currentaccounts/2016/01/28/virtual-reality-coming-soon-to-a-clothing-store-near-you/#7836452410ed

The best virtual reality from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival

[Philip Lelyveld comment: this is a great collection of Sundance VR Experience summaries and recommendations.]

I went to Sundance 2016 for the express purpose of covering virtual reality, and over the past week, I tried out all but a handful of the 30-plus VR-related experiences at its experimental New Frontier show. New Frontier is obviously just one part of the festival, but since last year, virtual reality has been big enough to merit a collection of the weirdest, darkest, and most sublime excursions that we’ve taken into other worlds. Here are some of the most interesting moments from my show — I've chronicled several more over the course of our Sundance coverage.

See the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/29/10871384/sundance-film-festival-2016-best-vr

TED 2016 Attendees Will Step into THE VOID’s Mixed Reality World

The Void, which merges virtual reality experiences with a large physical stage, has created a stage and experience that will be deployed at TED 2016 conference next month where several thousand attendees will have the opportunity to step inside. The company teases the experience: “TED attendees will be able to feel the mist of ancient caverns, use a torch to light their way through mystical puzzles and discover a legend all while exploring the dangers and mysteries of an ancient temple.”

See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/ted-2016-attendees-will-step-into-the-voids-mixed-reality-world/

ATHENS VIRTUAL REALITY THEATER PRESENTS HAGIA SOPHIA HISTORY

The 1,500-year-old history of Hagia Sophia, the iconic world cultural heritage site and the most spectacular Orthodox cathedral in eastern Christendom, is showcased in a new 45-minute show at the Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre’s dome-shaped Virtual Reality Theatre, ‘Tholos’, in Athens.

The interactive presentation tells the cathedral’s history which starts in 532, when Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian commissioned the temple to architects Anthemios and Isidorus, and weaves in elements of subsequent Byzantine history and culture.

The presentation explores the challenges faced by the architects in carrying out their ground-breaking and ambitious construction, the problems they had to overcome, and also shines light on the intricate decorations of the interior.

See the full story here: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/90029.htm

PTC Hosts Upcoming Augmented Reality ‘ThingEvent’

Later this week, on January 28, PTC (NASDAQ: PTC) will host its exclusive ThingEvent, focused on augmented reality (AR) in the enterprise. This livestream event will highlight real-world customer solutions from leading manufacturing companies as well as new technologies that will transform how humans interact with and experience the physical ‘things’ around them in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT).

By seamlessly overlaying digital data onto the physical world – and providing a rich, visual, interactive experience – augmented reality can fundamentally improve and transform the way we design, manufacture, operate, and service smart, connected products and systems.

Date: January 28, 2016
Time: 9:00 AM EST and 3:00 PM EST
Registration:  www.thingevent.com

See the full story here: http://www.ptc.com/news/2016/ptc-hosts-upcoming-augmented-reality-thingevent

Quantum Chess – Stephen Hawkings and Paul Rudd

Sony creates a new company to run everything PlayStation

[Philip Lelyveld comment; Andrew House speaks Japanese fluently!]

Sony Interactive Entertainment combines hardware and software with PlayStation-branded services.

Sony just announced that it's spinning off PlayStation into its own separate company, dubbed Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. It combines Sony Computer Entertainment (basically any and all PlayStation-related hardware and software) with Sony Network Entertainment (services like PlayStation Vue and the PlayStation Store) and will be led by Andrew House as president and global CEO. Head of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, retains his title, but will now report to Shawn Layden.

See the full story here: http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/26/sony-interactive-entertainment-llc/

Starbreeze Studios Announces A Full-Scale VR Arcade For Los Angeles

Starbreeze AB… at VRLA Winter Expo announced its intention to establish a VR arcade venue in Los Angeles, named Project StarCade. Aiming to make premium VR experiences accessible for the masses, Starbreeze will create a StarVR powered arcade hall, where VR enthusiasts and novices alike are welcome to experience the exciting technology in an immersive setting.

See the full story here: http://l.goodbits.io/l/dnpmy24a

Global Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market – Expected to Reach Approximately $1.45 Billion by 2020 – Research and Markets

The Global Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market is poised to grow at a CAGR of around 17.8% in the next 5 years to reach approximately $1.45 billion by 2020.

This industry report analyzes the global markets for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Healthcare across all the given segments in the research scope. It presents historical market data for 2012, 2013 and 2014, as well as revenue estimations for 2015 and forecasts till 2020.

Companies mentioned

• CAE Healthcare
• GE Healthcare
• Hologic Corporation
• Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
• Laerdal Medical
• Medtronic, Inc.
• Philips Healthcare
• Siemens Healthcare
• Simulaids, Inc.
• TheraSim, Inc.
• Virtual realities
• Vital Images, Inc.
• WorldViz, LLC

See the full story here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160125005733/en/Global-Augmented-Reality-Virtual-Reality-Healthcare-Market

Nonny de la Pena, Sundance VR: hate is the purest emotion

De la Peña has two pieces at Sundance 2016: Across the Line, based on footage from women crossing the omnipresent and often abusive anti-abortion pickets outside Planned Parenthood; and Kiya, which dramatizes a 911 call that captured two sisters unsuccessfully trying to stop a third's ex-boyfriend from killing her. The first ends with a remembrance of the three killed and nine injured by a gunman who targeted Planned Parenthood last year, and the second closes by reminding participants of the number of women murdered by romantic partners and ex-partners every day.

...my initial reaction to Across the Line — which I tried first — was analysis. De la Peña's work is aesthetically unique: it uses real location blueprints, photographs, and motion capture data to create simple digital scenes that participants can walk through in VR. It feels distinctly influenced by the blocky style of Second Life, suggesting reality rather than recreating it. Across the Line, though, opens with a short 360-degree video introduction that follows a young woman through the picket line and into the clinic. I'm told this was done to create a greater sense of space, since the HTC Vive it's being demoed on provides less space than the custom headsets of her earlier work. But it also fills out the work in an interesting way, like a photorealistic cutscene in an otherwise low-detail video game.

See the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/24/10820778/sundance-2016-virtual-reality-immersive-journalism-experiences