philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Hi-Tech Goggles Bring Augmented Reality To The Slopes

With the Tel Aviv, Israel based RideOn augmented goggles, you can transform and enhance your time on the slopes. Users are even able to set up an obstacle course to ride through, earning points on the way. For a limited time, $519 gets you the pair of goggles, from which you can access a myriad list of options, such as finding out exactly where you are on the map- helpful should you get turned around while snowboarding or skiing.  When you’re waiting for your turn for a chair lift and want to have some fun while passing the time, you can play a game. You can check your email. You can make reservations for dinner. All in the comfort of your goggles. Wanting to be as user-friendly as possible, they created a floating user interface that the wearer interacts with without losing visibility. It’s centered in the middle of the display, not the sides, as in other AR goggles. Because they are skiers and snowboarders themselves (and have friends and family that are) they designed this device for ease of use and usability in mind.

See the full story here: http://www.sporttechie.com/2015/04/22/hi-tech-goggles-bring-augmented-reality-to-the-slopes/

Groundbreaking Augmented Reality Exhibit Coming to New York’s City Lore Gallery

The epic comic book, PRIYA'S SHAKTI, which presents a new Indian female superhero and rape survivor who tackles the problem of sexual violence in India and around the world, is having an augmented reality exhibition at City Lore Gallery in New York City.

The opening reception is May 7, 2015 at 7:30PM and is part of PEN World Voices Festival. Also, a large colorful augmented reality mural from the comic book is on display at the Tribeca Film Festival.

To bring any image in the gallery to life, audiences simply need to download the Blippar mobile app on an Apple, Android or Windows device and hold it up to an image from Priya's Shakti. Instantaneously, the images will come alive and viewers will be able to interact with engaging digital content directly on the device's screen.

Inspired by ancient mythological tales, the comic book tells the story of Priya -- a mortal woman and gang-rape survivor -- and the Goddess Parvati as they fight against gender-based sexual violence in India and around the world supporting the movement against patriarchy, misogyny and indifference. 

See the full story here: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/groundbreaking-augmented-reality-exhibit-coming-to-new-yorks-city-lore-gallery-2012818.htm

Augmented reality meets underground asset location

[The application both allows you to see infrastructure superimposed on the real world, and to correct errors in the data by properly positioning infrastructure.  It links to ESRI, one of the most popular GIS packages used by facilities management organizations  (think studios and theme parks).Footnote: "Can" is not the best example!]

It's an app for Android and iOS tablets and smartphones from a New Zealand company with the same name and it superimposes images of underground assets on the image of a streetscape captured by the device's camera. It works two ways: if the information provided proves to be inaccurate, the source can be update with accurate data on the location of the infrastructure, collected by direct observation.

According to Augview the company, Augview the app is the world's first application of augmented reality asset management for the utilities industry. It "connects to GIS web servers like Smallworld GSS or Esri ArcGIS Server via a secure internet connection, and can connect to and receive map and asset data from multiple web servers simultaneously."

See the full story here: http://www.cso.com.au/mediareleases/22178/augmented-reality-meets-underground-asset-location/

Crystal – This App Wants To Change Email Forever — By Getting Inside Your Head

You can get a free "practice account," which gives you full service to the site and the Gmail add-on for two weeks and lets you look up people to see a personality profile. Once you've signed up (Crystal recommends signing up via LinkedIn), your Crystal account will generate personality profiles based on your public social media posts and pretty much anything else that comes up when someone Googles you.

With the personality profile, you'll see advice on how to speak to the person, email them, work with them and sell to them. You'll even be told what comes naturally to them and what does not. Crystal also displays something called "accuracy confidence," based on how much information the app could find about the person.

"There are 64 different personality categories someone can be assigned from Crystal, and some are closer to each other on the spectrum than others," Crystal founder Drew D'Agostino told The Huffington Post in an email on Tuesday. "From user testing and surveys over the past few months, we've confirmed that Crystal provides a 'very accurate' reading for just over 80 percent of profiles, and that is continuing to improve as the product gets smarter."

As fun as it is to look up all of your coworkers and friends on Crystal, the really special part is how it helps you write emails. If you download the Google Chrome extension, Crystal will assist you in writing emails in your Gmail account. Crystal will appear as a little green button at the bottom of the email you're writing, suggesting a certain tone based on its assessment of the recipient's personality.

See the full story here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/crystal-gmail-app_n_6931478.html

AGE OF TECHNOLOGY: GENERATIONAL VIDEO VIEWING PREFERENCES VARY BY DEVICE AND ACTIVITY

Philip Lelyveld comment: my only question is, how does such a high percentage of people find TVs outside of the home?

See the full story here: http://redef.com/item/55387b62ef118f6828a50092?curator=MediaREDEF&source=http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2015/age-of-technology-generational-video-viewing-preferences-vary-by-device-and-activity.html

Google could turn your home’s walls into screens

 The technology interacts with walls that are coated with photo-reactive paint.  The projector works by emitting a beam of light or a laser at the painted wall. The paint reacts to the light and adjusts to display the colors. That image would stay on the wall until the user projects an image with a computer or smartphone. The patent suggests the technology will be able to project images fast enough to support video.  Because the paint is transparent, it could be used on any surface.

See the full story here: http://qz.com/388002/google-could-to-turn-your-homes-walls-into-screens/

HTC Vive Developer Edition Signups Now Open, Free for Selected Devs but Not for Sale

After a buildup of rumors, Valve officially revealed the HTC Vive headset in March at GDC 2015, complete with the ‘Lighthouse’ positional tracking system that can track the headset and controllers in a ‘room-scale’ space of 15×15 feet. Prior to the reveal, Valve secretly met with select indie developers to create a suite of demos that were shown running on the SteamVR platform at GDC 2015.

On the form, Valve asks developers to specify the development company’s name, website, a description of their VR project, when that project is estimated to launch, how large the development team is, and standard contact information.

In addition to two Lighthouse base stations, the HTC Vive Developer Edition will include two SteamVR game controllers which are tracked by the same system. The controllers have sombrero-looking crowns which position the Lighthouse sensors to reduce occlusion by the hands. 

See the full announcement here: http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-developer-edition-signups-open-steamvr-free-selected-devs-not-for-sale/

Google’s Chief Technology Advocate Joins as Wearlity Sky CEO as Kickstarter Passes $60,000

Wearality Sky has surpassed half of its crowdfunding goal of $100,000 for their VR smartphone adapter, a device that offers a 150 degree field of view (FOV) for 5–6 inch phones. With former Google Chief Technology Advocate Michael Jones signing on as new CEO of the startup...

Signed on to the project is also long-time VR advocate and developer Mark Bolas, director of the ‘MxR’ Mixed-Reality Lab at USC...

Long-time computer scientist Alan Kay is advising on the project, joining Vi Hart, founder of eleVR.

See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/googles-chief-technology-advocate-joins-wearlity-sky-ceo-kickstarter-passes-60000/

3D Audio: Weighing The Options

At the time of writing, 3Dception and AstoundSound would be my top picks in terms of sound quality, performance, stability, and ease of use. 3Dception feels like the most mature plugin with lots of advanced features, and AstoundSound has the advantage of working over additional hardware setups. Plus I think that both of these plugins sound great.

The other plugins in the list all have a lot of potential, so I would recommend keeping an eye on them.

Oculus Audio SDK is free to use, but has some work to do in terms of sound quality, user interface, and stability.

Phonon 3D needs to address performance, and then continue to incorporate their three plugins so that they can be used in tandem.

RealSpace 3D has the foundation of great research, but it has work to do in terms of performance and usability.

See the full technical post here: http://designingsound.org/2015/04/3d-audio-weighing-the-options/

CinemaCon: Carmike Bringing Interactivity to Theaters Via TimePlay System

Carmike Cinemas is teaming with interactive technology developer TimePlay to bring interactivity to select cinemas, starting with roughly 100 Carmike screens in the U.S. The first sites will offer the system beginning next month.

By downloading the free TimePlay app, which the companies liken to a game controller, moviegoers will be able to interact, in real-time, with content on the screen while competing for prizes and receiving special offers from Carmike and advertisers.

The deal marks TimePlay's first major foray into the U.S. The platform is currently used on 725 screens across Canada, and the company reported that it regularly achieves a 40 percent participation rate among frequent moviegoers and a 35 percent redemption rate for advertising offers. Pilot programs have also been run in Mexico and Europe.

See the full story here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/cinemacon-carmike-bringing-interactivity-theaters-790209