philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

AI is learning how to create itself

If AI starts to generate intelligence by itself, there’s no guarantee that it will be human-like. Rather than humans teaching machines to think like humans, machines might teach humans new ways of thinking.

“There’s probably a vast number of different ways to be very intelligent,” says Clune. “One of the things that excite me about AI is that we might come to understand intelligence more generally, by seeing what variation is possible.

“I think that’s fascinating. I mean, it’s almost like inventing interstellar travel and being able to go visit alien cultures. There would be no greater moment in the history of humankind than encountering an alien race and learning about its culture, its science, everything. Interstellar travel is exceedingly difficult, but we have the ability to potentially create alien intelligences digitally.”

Clune also stresses the importance of thinking about the ethics of the new technology from the start. There is a good chance that AI-designed neural networks and algorithms will be even harder to understand than today’s already opaque black-box systems. Are AIs generated by algorithms harder to audit for bias? Is it harder to guarantee that they will not behave in undesirable ways?

See the full story here; https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/05/27/1025453/artificial-intelligence-learning-create-itself-agi/

World-Dominating Superstar Firms Get Bigger, Techier, and More Chinese

The world’s biggest businesses were doing fine until Covid-19 arrived. Now they’re doing even better.

The top 50 companies by value added $4.5 trillion of stock market capitalization in 2020, taking their combined worth to about 28% of global gross domestic product. Three decades ago the equivalent figure was less than 5%.

See the full story here: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-biggest-global-companies-growth-trends/?mkt_tok=ODUwLVRBQS01MTEAAAF9TLFzIRiSLf1xQxhFxkUUyIGPztq6VDRE9p6idTDpJasFO1GyFw4klw047EIuLPFbuun0tjbYd7IVKDXoUe58dtt18Kv-q8-qZ95sY7vvJhyL

2021 Media Map (US)

By Evan Shapiro

See the full plot here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LjdOnmiVfr-E6nX1Z6HjthkWyVZixLQA/view

How the Hybrid Concert Experience Happens

“My team was really spread out, with myself and five others in key positions. Given our distances, just screaming and trying to hear the radio wasn’t going to play. We realized right away that we needed to have comms, and so we reached out to TC Furlong in Chicago. The role of intercom during the pandemic certainly allows you that level of distancing you need to maintain. Adding a Clear-Com system just totally took the frustration level out and allowed us to focus in on the job in hand,” he said.

To ensure smooth communication between production team members as well as to maintain appropriate social distancing requirements, the tour employed Clear-Com’s Encore Analog Partyline intercom system.

“Front-of-House, lighting, video, and stage right were located as far from each other as the venue would allow, with the broadcast engineer in a separate room off the main venue. The Encore system provided full-duplex, hands-free communication with optimal audio quality for users separated by greater-than-normal physical distances and challenged by the blaring nature of being at a live show. All production team members were also equipped with RS-501 belt packs and CC-95 single-muff headsets to ensure they did not miss a beat,” said Froula.

See the full story here: https://amplify.nabshow.com/articles/how-the-hybrid-concert-experience-happens/?mkt_tok=OTI3LUFSTy05ODAAAAF9TK1N2kHRKyXS4kd25kxISD3FNCrgAW5pT8xaJEzugKKFkTF5LchRRnQscZ6msvp29vKy7cgehTDMZaXM2aP0Lc5y7X0R2OO69lhb4A

Immersive VR Needs Your Mirror Neurons

Along those lines, the science of mirror neurons is of particular interest to Dolby. Mirror neurons are described as specialized brain circuits or systems that connect different sensory portions of the brain to the “premotor cortex” which helps control the body.

“Mirror neurons are what allow us to step into the shoes of somebody else,” Daly states. “That is a true aspect of immersion. In immersive media, having that experience would allow you to be literally ‘immersed’ in what is happening to another person.”

Qualcomm, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and others are iterating new versions of VR/AR wearables to not only feel more comfortable on the head — but more compatible with how we actually experience the world.

“VR content creators are essentially conducting informal psychological experiments over time with their audiences as subjects, and they get feedback from the success or failure of those attempts, and try again,” says Daly. “All of those questions with VR are yet to be determined.”

See the full story here: https://amplify.nabshow.com/articles/science-class-immersive-vr-needs-your-mirror-neurons/?mkt_tok=OTI3LUFSTy05ODAAAAF9TK1N2r13xkU7WWbT2fMKpZoZeYcGKehBKuY9HCrAUQ96r30caUafwTDG-ukEuZTb2WKUz1V3dBFvftR1KchdpoUerukdX3xcju6XCw

ETC Executive Coffee: Warner Execs Discuss AI, Ethics

Sony will invest $18bn to grow entertainment and sensor businesses

Sony Group plans to spend 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) during the next three years to secure a dominant position as a gaming and anime provider and to expand its sensor business.

Sony expects to make 2 trillion yen or more in strategic investments through March 2024, according to its midterm business plan. That represents an increase of more than 40% compared to the past three years. The investments will be funded by 3.1 trillion yen in consolidated operating cash flow that the group, excluding its financial services segment, expects to generate during the same period. It also plans to increase capital expenditure by 25% to 1.5 trillion yen.

Jim Ryan, president and CEO of gaming unit Sony Interactive Entertainment, said 10 projects are currently in development.

Sony will also spend more to lure subscribers to its gaming services as well as to its anime and music platforms.

In addition, its entertainment subsidiaries will be expected to deepen their cooperation and collaborate more with outside partners.

Meanwhile, some news outlets have reported that the Japanese government wants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Sony Group to invest 1 trillion yen to build Japan's first 20-nanometer chip plant.

See the full story here: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Media-Entertainment/Sony-will-invest-18bn-to-grow-entertainment-and-sensor-businesses

Virtuix Raises $19MM for ‘Omni One’ Virtual Reality Treadmill

Virtuix has shipped nearly 4,000 Omni Pro systems to more than 500 commercial entertainment venues around the world. Omniverse, Virtuix's proprietary content platform offering 24 VR games and built-in esports competitions, has hosted over two million plays to date. Virtuix, a private company, has raised more than $35 million from individual and institutional investors. Virtuix is launching Omni One, a consumer version of the Omni for the home market, in late 2021.

See the full story here: https://www.inforney.com/texas/virtuix-raises-19mm-for-omni-one-virtual-reality-treadmill/article_92b24823-6d94-53c1-9d5b-b8655031e036.html

The Fascinating History And Evolution Of Extended Reality (XR) – Covering AR, VR and MR

The 1800s

In 1838, scientist Sir Charles Wheatstone outlined the concept of “stereopsis” or “binocular vision” – where the brain combines two images (one from each eye) to make a single 3D image. This led to the development of the first stereoscopes, devices that took a pair of images and turned them into a 3D image with the illusion of depth. Stereoscopic displays are used in today’s VR systems to bring a sense of depth to digital images – thereby enhancing the feeling of immersion.

See the full story here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fascinating-history-evolution-extended-reality-xr-covering-marr/

Apple won 57 Patents today covering Face ID, Augmented Reality, Apple Watch and more

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 57 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we briefly cover the vision system assembly that allows Face ID to remain perfectly aligned so that the biometric feature provides an accurate image of the user's face each time.

Apple was also granted a major AR related patent for displaying objects in 3D context...

See the full story here: https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2021/05/apple-won-57-patents-today-covering-face-id-augmented-reality-apple-watch-and-more.html