Hollywood Uses Bigger Screens to Tell Sophisticated Stories
“There is a kind of show business in the fall that we’ve never had before,” said Greg Foster, the chief executive of the IMAX Corporation’s entertainment unit. He spoke of the confluence of films aimed at adults, many in 3-D, that will be delivered in IMAX and other large (and premium-priced) formats this year, pointing toward higher seasonal ticket sales, and perhaps a significant shift in viewing habits.
Some film executives see potential for industry transformation, if mature viewers indeed flock to a more sophisticated lineup of event films. “The word I would use is ‘necessary,’ ” Tom Rothman, the chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s motion picture group, said of the envisioned change.
If adults are more willing to don 3-D glasses — among those ages 50 to 59, 3-D viewing hit a peak in 2013, when Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” was a hit — that is partly because film exhibitors and related companies have been courting them to fill newly created capacity.
This year RealD, a supplier of 3-D technology, pushed its screen count past 27,000, up more than 6 percent from last year, even as 3-D viewing among the young fell sharply from a high in 2011, when “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” was a draw, before rebounding this summer. Similarly, the Cinemark, Regal and AMC theater chains now operate more than 430 proprietary premium large-format screens, up 34 percent from 320 in 2013.
IMAX, a giant-screen pioneer, has pushed its global screen count to almost 1,000.
“The more palpable and immersive the experience,” he said, “the more personal the film feels.”
SIGGRAPH 2015: Talking About VR, 360 Degrees of Experience
Beneath the aura of excitement generated this year at SIGGRAPH 2015 by the prevalence of Virtual Reality, a number of panels drilled into the nuts and bolts of creating VR experiences, including managing the workflow and assets. From a Birds of a Feather interest group discussion to panels of senior artists from the major studios and visual effects companies, almost everyone agreed that VR represents creativity on the edge. Siggraph offered a 360 degree look at the issues and lessons so far learned. PART 1 Birds of a Feather meetings at Siggraph tend to welcome a diverse group of professionals and aspirants. In the session Let’s Talk VR, the group got into specifics on the current state of the VR experience.
Cinematographer Andy Schulkind of HeadcaseVR noted that high frame-rate capture is a ‘gamer attitude.’ He finds that 30 fps looks more cinematic.
Mike Murdock of Other World Interactive recommended that you keep the experience design simple to reach the widest audience. Don’t even assume that the magnet on the side of Google Cardboard works, he said. Murdock is using gaze-based storytelling techniques. Since the viewer can look anywhere, his software monitors head motion and doesn’t advance the story until the viewer has looked in the direction of key story elements.
“When you are introducing a new technology, you should keep the story simple and timeless, so the viewer doesn’t have to figure out two things (e.g. tech and story) at once,” said Mirada’s Andrew Cochrane. 
The game Nevermind was mentioned a few times as an interesting niche experience using specialized peripheral devices. Nevermind takes data from biofeedback monitors and increases the scariness of this VR horror story as the player’s heart rate increases.
During the VR: Creating at the Edge panel, Disney Imagineering’s Mark Mine commented that the resolution and FOV (field of view) in VR displays is still too low. He would like 60 pixels per degree, which translates to an 8K display, he said. He also stressed that vertical FOV is possibly more important than horizontal FOV. We look down a lot. His framerate sweet spot is 80-90Hz. Attractions in Disney Parks, like Soarin’ Over California, use 120Hz and have low persistence projectors.
Richard Marks of Sony Magic Lab reported that the Morpheus HMD has a 100 degree FOV, a 120Hz display, and a user-friendly design. The display tilts up so you can see the real world when you need to without having to take the entire HMD off. He pointed out that it is easier to design VR experiences for a game platform than for the PC, since the specs on the game platform are standardized.
As for user experience, Richard reported that a multiplayer collaborative VR experience is surprisingly satisfying. Enabling the players to talk to each other, and implementing spatial audio so each avatar has a sense of their position relative to other avatars, adds a lot. Their user tests also found that people enjoy simple physical gestures, such as waving to each other. Development challenges include creating more realistic movement, such as more natural gesturing, involving Inverse Kinematics (IK).
Our report on VR sessions at Siggraph continues next week.
See the original post here: http://www.etcentric.org/siggraph-2015-talking-about-vr-360-degrees-of-experience/
Zero Latency: The VR revolution begins in Melbourne, Australia
I've been playing Zero Latency for mere moments and already I'm amazed at how it overwhelms my senses. This is the world's largest virtual reality (VR) attraction, and its doors open August 15 in North Melbourne, Australia.
Vandonkelaar had been working on an optical tracking system to track battles of radio-controlled battleships armed with BB-guns, but when he saw the success of the Oculus Kickstarter campaign, he realized his tracking system could work beautifully when combined with VR.
Like the HTC Vive, Vandonkelaar's idea allowed players to walk around a real-world, physical space whilst wearing a head-mounted display. However, Vandonkelaar had grander ambitions about the size of the playing area. Instead of keeping the action confined to a single small room like Vive, he wanted to place up to six players in a much larger space.
Zero Latency soon formed and grew to a team of six full-time staff with extra contractors brought on board for specialist duties.
...Next stop on the funding tour was Film Victoria, a state government funding body, where a grant for $60,000 was approved. ... under the title "Zombie Fort: Smackdown."
After three years of research and development, Zero Latency is ready to open its doors to the public on August 15. The game offers a one-hour cooperative experience for four or six players, and tickets are currently selling for AU$88 (about £40 or $65) per person. Online sales began in early August, and in a week, hundreds of eager gamers had already signed up for this world-first experience.
All 400 square metres (4,300 square feet) are covered in a white grid pattern to aid camera rigs mounted above the playing area in monitoring each player's movements. Covering the entire play space are 129 Sony PlayStation Eye cameras driven by the team's proprietary software. They're arranged in circular rings that cover a 360-degree view, each ring with its own dedicated controller PC.
As the games master suits us up for the battle ahead, I'm pleasantly surprised by the weight and comfort of the backpack. Each pack houses a heavily customised Alienware Alpha PC to render each player's view of the world. Looking like a Proton Pack from "Ghostbusters," it sits easily in the square of my back, despite including its own power source. The Oculus Rift DK2 and a set of quality headphones are tethered to the backpack, and a glowing orb sits on top of the headset.
We're then handed our weapon for the impending zombie apocalypse: a large five-pound rifle machined from a solid block of PVC plastic on the massive computer-controlled milling machine, tucked away in a workshop at the back of the warehouse....
The next 40 minutes are spent walking through a variety of virtual locales, from open city streets to cramped laboratories. The warehouse itself was around 100 metres (328 feet) in length, but clever use of loading screens and level design mean I ended up walking over 10 times that during my experience. Combine this with the weight of the gun and by the end of the hour I was exhausted, dripping in sweat and my arms ached.
It's the best virtual reality experience I have ever had. And I have tried them all since Dactyl Nightmare almost made me puke back in 1991.
See the full story here: http://www.cnet.com/news/zero-latency-vr-entertainment-revolution-begins-melbourne-australia/?curator=MediaREDEF
VR Sickness? Leave Your Sick Bags Behind Thanks to Light Field VR
The Stanford team found a clever way to make your eyes focus inside its device. Using the same principal as a "light-field" camera like the Lytro, but in reverse, they built a headset that has transparent LCD panels stacked in layers, which each layer representing a light field with the correct depth information. As shown in the video simulation (bottom) that helps your eyes to naturally shift focus between front and near objects.
Before any of that can happen, however, there's still a lot of work to do. The extra images required for light-field effects cause "rendering times to grow quadratically," according to the paper. The stacked display will also need to be brighter and have more resolution to reduce artifacts like diffraction.
See the full story here: http://www.vrcircle.com/post/VR-Sickness-Leave-Your-Sick-Bags-Behind-Thanks-to-Light-Field-VR
Cloudhead Games’ ‘Blink’ to Bring Nausea-free VR to HTC Vive this Holiday
[Philip Lelyveld comment: they avoid simsickness by teleporting you. Essentially, they use jump cuts to avoid simsickness. The truly valuable solutions involve addressing latency, persistence, focus/vergence conflict, and other visual system issues.]
VR hardware is improving and the display techniques such as low persistence of vision, pioneered by Oculus and Valve over just the last couple of years mean perceiving VR imagery inside VR headsets is a whole lot more comfortable these days.
The Oculus Rift DK2 brought us optical positional tracking, freeing our heads and bodies from a purely rotationally tracked virtual world. The system allowed free movement within the confines of the tracking camera’s FOV, which when positioned correctly was relatively generous. The HTC Vive and its Lighthouse laser tracking system expanded upon that freedom, introducing what they termed ‘room scale’ tracking – pitching their VR system as one you could explore both physical and virtual spaces with.
Essentially, your inner ear disagrees with your brain – you’re moving in virtual space but not in physical.
Subtitled ‘Elastic VR Playspace’ the solution comprises a number of techniques (as outlined in the video above, presented by Cloudhead Games’ Denny Unger) which, when combined tackles all of the above issues: Cinematic Blink, Precision Blink and Volume Blink – a “locomotion mechanic which ensures player safety, deep traversal and complete spacial awareness in both the virtual and real world.”
Essentially, Blink employs a point, click and teleport system which removes the uncomfortable elements of virtual travel by snapping you to a position and orientation defined by you instantly thereby essentially sidestepping the issue.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/cloudhead-games-blink-to-debut-nausea-free-vr-on-htc-vive-this-holiday/
Inside Industrial Light & Magic’s secret Star Wars VR lab
The group is a collaboration between all arms of the Lucasfilm empire, taking the visual effects expertise of ILM, the latest in real-time computer graphics from the Advanced Development Group, and the audio prowess of Skywalker Sound, and mixing it all together under the incomparable appeal of the Star Wars franchise. It’s a unique effort; while other movie studios are teaming with tech companies to dabble in VR, and VR companies are spinning up their own mini production houses to dip their toes into film, ILM already has the necessary departments integrated under one roof — not to mention a highly-anticipated slate of films in production to play off of. It allows Bredow’s team to experiment with multiple types of experiences simultaneously, in a kind of next-generation entertainment sandbox.
See the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/13/9131805/ilm-ilmxlab-interview-virtual-reality-star-wars-movies
Drone Racing League, a New York startup, is planning its first public race later this year
[Philip Lelyveld comment: There is a great opportunity now for micro drone performance pieces in movie theaters and other venues. Think touring laserium-style shows!]
RSE Ventures, a venture-capital firm co-founded by Mr. Ross, is providing $1 million to the first round of funding for the Drone Racing League, a New York startup that is planning its first public race later this year. The League intends to make money through sponsorships, media and ticket sales.
The Drone Racing League is targeting a growing audience: videogame players and other technology-oriented types. The venture hopes to re-create the success of live videogame competitions, which lately have been packing arenas like Madison Square Garden.
Hobbyists typically race the so-called “250 Class” of drones, which cost $300 to $500 and can hit speeds of 70 miles an hour, and racers through the Drone Racing League will pilot similar drones. The machines are nimble enough to navigate the old factories and other interior spaces in which the Drone Racing League is planning its races.
See the full story here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/developer-stephen-rosss-rse-ventures-invests-in-drone-racing-1439327632
‘Old age suit’ reveals what it’s like to be a PENSIONER: Futuristic exoskeleton mimics arthritis, hearing loss and blindness
There cannot be many people who would wish to hasten the onset of the frailty and difficulty moving that comes with old age.
But robotics experts have developed an 'ageing suit' to replicate the wasted muscles, weak bones, poor eyesight and hearing loss that often accompanies getting older.
Using sensors, augmented reality and adjustable controls, the R70i Ageing device allows the wearer to experience the effects of arthritis, glaucoma, muscle loss and more.
See the full story here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3194823/Old-age-suit-reveals-s-like-PENSIONER-Futuristic-exoskeleton-mimics-arthritis-hearing-loss-blindness.html