Broadcom patent’s a method for watermarking 3D content
Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ:BRCM) was assigned a patent (8,300,881) that was developed by four co-inventors for a “method and system for watermarking 3D content.” The co-inventors are Xuemin Chen, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Samir Hulyalkar, Newtown, Pa., Marcus Kellerman, San Diego, and Ilya Klebanov, Thornhill, Canada, and the abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A video transmitter identifies regions in pictures in a compressed three-dimensional (3D) video comprising a base view video and an enhancement view video. The identified regions are not referenced by other pictures in the compressed 3D video. The identified regions are watermarked. Pictures such as a high layer picture in the base view video and the enhancement view video are identified for watermarking. The identified regions in the base view and/or enhancement view videos are watermarked and multiplexed into a transport stream for transmission. An intended video receiver extracts the base view video, the enhancement view video and corresponding watermark data from the received transport stream. The corresponding extracted watermark data are synchronized with the extracted base view video and the extracted enhancement view video, respectively, for watermark insertion. The resulting base view and enhancement view videos are decoded into a left view video and a right view video, respectively.”
See the original post here: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/seagates-outlook-sluggish-due-to-weak-pc-shipments-and-4-chip-and-big-data-stocks-on-the-move.html/
Leap Motion hires former Apple director to lead its marketing team
Leap Motion today appointed Michael Zagorsek to the role of vice president of product marketing.
The motion-control technology firm brought Zagorsek on due to his experience at Apple as that company’s director of marketing communication. He’s leading Leap Motion’s efforts to bring The Leap gesture-control peripheral to market in 2013.
Read the full story here: http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/30/leap-motion-hires-former-apple-director-to-lead-its-marketing-team/
China officials meet 3D Society; mirrors U.S.
Chinese filmmakers and the Chinese government are anxious to work more closely with the International 3D Society to promote more 3D movies and TV programming, officials said Monday at a committee meeting of the year-old China branch of the Society.
Gesan Liu, Dean of the Beijing Film Academy Film and Technology Department, said broadcasters cannot charge a premium for 3D since the audience is already so small. He also noted that while TV manufacturers promote the sale of 3DTVs, content producers need to get more involved with promotion of 3D programming.
Other companies and organizations represented at the meeting included Panasonic, Beijing TV, Autodesk, China Film Group, and Shanghai Broadcasting.
Read the full story here: http://hollywoodinhidef.com/2012/10/china-officials-meet-3d-society-mirrors-u-s/
The Three Stooges in 3D Blu-ray
[Philip Lelyveld comment: Legend converts the classics to 3D!]
These are all public domain pieces, but Legend has put together a package sourced from elements that for the most part look quite good.
The 3D post-conversion on the other hand is largely excellent and inarguably well done. Legend was one of the first labels devoted to 3D, and their expertise with this technology is readily apparent in all of these shorts. There's been exceptional care devoted to these pieces, with a really nice layering of depth (note for example in Disorder in the Court how there are clearly defined layers of the court observers depending on where they're sitting, rather than just simply foreground and background objects). A number of the sight gags are increased due to this dimensionality.
See the full story here: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Three-Stooges-in-3D-Blu-ray/52764/
Government announces £7m for 3D print research
The funding has been provided by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to encourage faster progression in additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, with the aim of bringing components and consumer items that are created using the process, to market.
Grants from £50,000 to £750,000 will be awarded through an open competition managed by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), the government's science and technology advisory body.
The competition, which opens on 3 December, will be open to projects categorised as small (£100,000-£400,000) and led by a small company, medium ((£200,000 to £1m) and led by a medium sized business, or large (£500K to £1.5m) and led by a large company with partners from three or more sectors.
Proposals for the Inspiring New Design Freedoms in Additive Manufacturing competition must be collaborative, involving science-to business or business-to business approaches, and must include at least two non-academic partners although university participation is encouraged.
See the full story here: http://www.printweek.com/news/1157012/government-announces-7m-3d-print-research/
3D camera for brain surgery a big leap forward
The Toronto doctor who pioneered what has become an international standard in neurosurgery is once again breaking new ground, becoming the first surgeon in Canada to use a 3D camera to remove a brain tumour.
Dr. Michael Cusimano made headlines 17 years ago when he became the first neurosurgeon in the world to remove tumours by endoscopic surgery, a minimally invasive procedure that involves sending a video lens along with instruments through both nostrils and into the brain.
Earlier this month, Cusimano took that technique a big step forward in a surgical theatre at St. Michael’s Hospital, inserting a three-dimensional camera — barely larger than a speck of sand — up the nose of a 75-year-old man. The surgeon scooped out a benign but large walnut-sized tumour on the patient’s pituitary gland at the base of his skull. The tumour was pressing on his optic nerve, causing him to go blind.
The 3D tool he ultimately developed helps surgeons precisely manoeuvre their instruments in a tiny space. The better view enables surgeons to remove more of a tumour with reduced risk of error.
Back in the operating room, with the 3D endoscope buried about 10 centimetres in his patient’s nose and brain, Cusimano marvelled at the image on the screen.
It was as though his own eyes were in the patient’s brain, he says, noting the 3D view allowed him to more accurately and quickly resect the patient’s tumour.
See the full story here: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1278688--3d-camera-for-brain-surgery-a-big-leap-forward
Fox’s Jim Gianopulos Talks SOPA Debacle, Steve Jobs, 3D at USC Law Institute
Asked about the future of 3D filmmaking, Gianopulos noted how
international expansion in places like China and India is shaping the kinds of movies being made. "They're building at the rate of something like 9 theaters a day," he said. "They're all digital and they're all 3D."
See the full story here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/foxs-jim-gianopulos-talks-sopa-383679