Disney’s New 3D Printer Prototype Makes Huggable Things Out Of Fabric Instead Of Hard Plastic
The machine builds the object up layer by layer by cutting shapes out of a sheet of adhesive felt, cramming/heating each layer together as it goes. You know those 3D puzzles where you stack a bunch of sheets to eventually build a weird, blocky version of Abe Lincoln’s head? It’s like that, but created on the fly.
When it’s done, you get what looks like one big block — but once you tear away the extra felt bits (left in place to support the shape as it’s printed), you’re left with your bunny/bird/mostly useless wrench/whatever.
See the full story here: http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/17/disneys-new-3d-printer-prototype-makes-huggable-things-out-of-fabric-instead-of-hard-plastic/?ncid=tcdaily
Gallery Uses Augmented Reality to Exhibit Modern Art
Armory Captures is on view at Smart Objects (1828 W. Sunset Boulevard, Echo Park, Los Angeles) through April 17.
Using the free phone app 123Dcatch, Gibson made 3D scans of about 80 works from the modern wing of the 2015 Armory Show in New York. He began by taking 8–20 photos of each work from different angles, which the app uses to generate a 3D model. He then placed custom AR tags (similar to QR codes) on the gallery’s walls and floor, each one linked to a specific 3D model of an artwork. When gallery visitors use their phone or tablet to scan the tags with another free app, Augment, the corresponding 3D model pops up on their screen. Picasso, Lichtenstein, Frankenthaler, Miro — the greatest hits of the 20th century in the palm of your hand.
It is significant that these aren’t just high-rez images, but actual 3D scans that reflect the objecthood of these artworks.
Spielberg, Ridley Scott Producing Virtual Reality Entertainment As VR Industry Banks On Hollywood
Virtual Reality Co., a Los Angeles-based firm started by four Hollywood veterans, is at work on a program that enables users to investigate futuristic crimes in 10- and 15-minute chapters, as well as a documentary experience that lets them ride along with former Pittsburgh Steelers great Jerome Bettis as he prepares for his Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Both projects are helped by Spielberg's presence on VRC's board of directors. The “Jaws” and “Indiana Jones” director is in the midst of a project that one VRC executive told the Journal was meant to be a “full family experience.”
This coincides with Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber's suggestion that millions of people could attend the next Golden Globes ceremony via virtual reality.
See the full story here: http://www.ibtimes.com/spielberg-ridley-scott-producing-virtual-reality-entertainment-vr-industry-banks-1884552
Meet the lawyer taking on Uber and the rest of the on-demand economy
Liss-Riordan, 45, has spent her entire legal career going after employers for allegedly short-changing their employees. She specializes in worker misclassification lawsuits—the illegal practice of companies who classify their workers as independent contractors, rather than normal employees, in order to avoid paying them benefits they’re owed under federal law.
Read the full story here: http://redef.com/item/552fe2bbe701a8001ca63a26?curator=TechREDEF
A startup called Light uses a cluster of small camera modules to create top-notch photos. First stop: Your smartphone.
Light aims to put a bunch of small lenses, each paired with its own image sensor, into smartphones and other gadgets. They’ll fire simultaneously when you take a photo, and software will automatically combine the images. This way, Light believes, it can fit the quality and zoom of a bulky, expensive DSLR camera into much smaller, cheaper packages—even phones.
Virtual reality may be effective tool for evaluating balance control in glaucoma patients
The team of ophthalmologists, vision scientists and engineers studied 42 patients with open-angle glaucoma and 38 healthy subjects as a control. The subjects wore Oculus Rift stereoscopic goggles that can simulate different settings while standing on a force platform, a device that measures balance and movement. Measurements were recorded by the force platform, including when the goggles simulated movement such as moving through a tunnel or a spinning floor, and when the goggles were not worn or were not providing visual stimulation.
During simulated movement, researchers found that participants made balance adjustments that were an average of 30 to 40 percent more pronounced in glaucoma patients than in healthy subjects, who were able to regain balance more quickly than those with glaucoma. The study authors suspect that the pronounced lack of balance control in the subjects with glaucoma may be related to the loss of retinal ganglion cells caused by the disease, which leads to slower visual processing and impaired motion perception.
The study also found that the degree to which balance was lost was strongly linked to a history of falls, which validated the study's methods and metrics. The researchers hope that future studies using this paradigm will help ophthalmologists better understand the relationship between risk of falls and retinal ganglion cell loss in people with glaucoma.
See the full story here: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-virtual-reality-effective-tool-glaucoma.html