philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Intel’s PRTI at 100 Days: In Los Angeles, Online Classes that Inspire

3d rendering of virtual human silhouette on laptop screen,concept of online education

One hundred days since Intel launched its $50 million Pandemic Response Technology Initiative in April, Intel and ViacomCBS are close to rolling out a series of pre-recorded online classes unlike anything most L.A. kids have seen before in their classrooms.

“We are passionate about helping schools tackle the challenges of remote learning — which in the future may play a much bigger role in education,” says Intel’s Rick Hack.

The two companies are partnering with L.A. schoolteachers to create a series of “What I Do for a Living” online classes and videos aimed at inspiring students with career opportunities in media and entertainment.

See the full story here: https://newsroom.intel.com/news/prti-100-days-los-angeles-online-classes/#gs.be32wu

Fully Autonomous, Highly Interactive Cat Robot

Created by Elephant Robotics, MarsCat is the world’s first ever bionic pet cat. MarsCat is a fully responsive robotic pet that acts like a real cat. The robot is fully automated & autonomous and does not need any instructions for anything. The robot is fully interactive. MarsCat can even play with toys like real cats. It walks, runs, sleeps, sits, stretches, bites nails, kneads and does everything else what you expect from a real cat. It also meows at different tones and makes gestures like a cat does. However, the actions are autonomous and unpredictable. The robot does everything at random, you can never know what it is going to do next.

The robot can feel your touch. When you touch its head or scratch its back it can feel it and then respond to it. MarsCat can hear your voice and follow your commands. The robot can recognize various voice commands like “Hello”, “How Are You?”, “Run”, “Walk”, “Come Here” etc. The robot can actually see things and react to them. For example it can see toys and then play with them. The robot has moving object recognition and it can play with toys with precision.

MarsCat works on a quad-core Raspberry Pi which is easy to program for custom functions.

MarsCat’s personality and character can be altered according to preferences. It has 6 different personality traits that can be changed ; enthusiastic or aloof, energetic or lazy, social or shy. The robot develops her personality over time with the help of machine learning depending on how you treat her.

See the full story here: https://poptimesuk.com/fully-autonomous-highly-interactive-cat-robot/32870/

Producer Michael Shamberg Sues Academy for Ignoring His Plea to Improve Social Media

An Academy member since 1981, Shamberg also has been working on the inside to try to get the Academy’s board to heed his warnings. According to the suit, he proposed an amendment to the organization’s bylaws in January that would have required the group to adopt a “state of the art” social media strategy and conduct an annual survey of its members.

The Academy’s bylaws allow members to propose amendments, but they do not appear to require that a proposal be put to a vote.

“This revolutionary change in communication is like going from silent films to talkies,” Shamberg argues. “The Academy is stuck in a bland style of impersonal institutional communication which is so last century.”

See the full story here: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/michael-shamberg-sues-academy-social-media-1234711741/?fbclid=IwAR0qXAYEiazN9Di639g78L0qMNCo7vTKTqYQ4wCANtOZJAauFGpNbs7Spmg

Ringo Starr’s Big Birthday Show Comes To CEEK Virtual Reality

CEEK Virtual Reality has announced that Ringo’s Big Birthday Show, the all-star
special broadcast on his YouTube channel on his 80th birthday on 7 July, is available to watch from today on www.ceek.com and on the Ceek Virtual Reality App. It now includes unbroadcast performances and birthday wishes from the former Beatle’s family and friends.

The 360VR experience will be exclusively available on the CEEK platform, which can be downloaded on such platforms as iOS, Android, Facebook Oculus and HTC and viewed through CEEK’s mobile Virtual Reality headset. CEEK’s content can also be viewed on desktops, laptops, and tablets via www.ceek.com. From today (21), an exclusive, one-week-only stream in virtual reality is broadcast on the CEEK VR app and on www.ceek.com.

See the full story here: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/ringo-starr-birthday-show-ceek-virtual-reality/

(Google Research) Instant 3D Object Tracking with Application in Augmented Reality

Abstract: Tracking object poses in 3D is an important technology in augmented reality applications. We propose an instant motion tracking system that tracks the object's pose (3D bounding box) in real-time on mobile devices. Our system does not require any prior sensory calibration or initialization sequence to perform. Objects are detected and their initial 3D pose is estimated using a deep neural network. Then the estimated pose is tracked using a robust planar tracker. Our tracker is capable of performing relative-scale 6-DoF tracking in real-time on mobile devices. By combining CPU and GPU usage efficiently, we get 25-FPS+ performance on mobile devices.

See the full paper here: https://research.google/pubs/pub49317/

Weta Digital Launches Paradigm-Shifting LED-Stage Virtual Production

Weta Digital partners with Avalon and Streamliner to bring LED-stage virtual production to New Zealand.

Similar in concept to Industrial Light & Magic’s LED-screen StageCraft platform, launched for “The Mandalorian” series, Weta’s system also relies on the real-time Unreal engine from Epic Games in accelerating a paradigm shift for the industry, offering social distancing and smaller crews, while reducing the size and scope of location shoots, set builds, and crowd scenes for the foreseeable future.

In the short term, we are probably more likely to see shots moving to full CG to help reduce shoot days or replace entire location shoots. For us and many facilities, these workflows offer stability and predictability, two things currently in short supply.”

Gary Watkins, CEO, Avalon Studios, is looking to provide “the safest work environment possible as productions look to ramp back up. This new setup allows producers to think strategically about what they shoot and limit the number of actors and onset crew required, changing post-production requirements. Avalon has four main stages of varying sizes and dedicated spaces to house additional departments, making it a perfect hub for local and international productions.”

See the full story here: https://www.indiewire.com/2020/07/weta-digital-led-stage-virtual-production-service-1234574877/?fbclid=IwAR1N7sk4xnqbVqaAdGKVFR_W74C4ZzO32iDCNQbT0hpO12puPgC3K6ktaQA

Tesseract: The company behind the JioGlass

One of the biggest unveilings by the Ambanis at Reliance's Annual General meet was the JioGlass, a virtual reality eyewear that allows people to connect with each other in real time. At RIL's 43rd AGM, the JioGlass was demonstrated by heir Isha Amban...

The JioGlass was designed and built by Tesseract — a five-year old deep-tech startup that was acquired by RIL in 2019. Founded by Kshitij Marwah at a Mumbai warehouse, the startup is a subsidiary of RIL but is run independently, it told BloombergQuin...

https://tesseract.in
See the full story here: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/tesseract-the-company-behind-the-jioglass-863500.html

Facebook Is Doubling Down on the Virtual Reality Market

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is ramping up the production of its Oculus VR headsets by up to 50% this year, according to the Nikkei Asian Review, with a target of two million devices. That's an ambitious goal, since Facebook's newest headset, the stand-alone Oculus Quest, only hit 705,000 shipments last year, according to SuperData.

Facebook remains the market leader in VR headsets with a 35% share, according to TrendForce, and the Nikkei report implies it will double down on the growing market with new headsets.

See the full story with stats here: https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/07/17/facebook-plans-to-extend-its-lead-in-the-virtual-r.aspx

A free virtual reality course can prepare you for a new job

A new private-public partnership will use virtual reality technology to help train Alabama’s workforce.

JumpStartAL will roll out at five Alabama community colleges this year to start, offering free training to anyone interested in a job in skilled trade positions. Officials say the program will use virtual reality training to help Alabama meet its goal of increasing the state’s cohort of highly skilled workers by a half-million by 2025.

The program also comes at a crucial time for the state, when its workforce is reeling from measures to control the outbreak of COVID-19. More than 650,000 Alabamians have filed for unemployment since mid-March.

Some of the offerings already developed will train participants on concepts such as precision measurements in manufacturing, blueprint reading and plant safety. For example, the module on plant safety features training in using personal protective equipment and common tools, and is designed for trainees with little or no experience in a manufacturing environment.

See the full story here: https://www.al.com/business/2020/07/a-free-virtual-reality-course-can-prepare-you-for-a-new-job.html

Everything you need to know about Palantir, the secretive company coming for all your data

“I think it’s worth keeping in mind that Palantir sees itself not alongside Uber, Twitter, and Netflix, but alongside Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Booz Allen,” said the Intercept’s Sam Biddle, who has covered Palantir for years. “Palantir wants to be a defense contractor, not a Silicon Valley unicorn.”

“Palantir’s core business, and probably its most profitable business, is its government business — especially work for three-letter agencies and the Department of Defense,” Garg said. “I don’t think that’s going to change.”

What remains to be seen, then, is if Palantir’s ability to marry 21st-century Silicon Valley disruption to 20th-century defense contracting will live up to its valuation when it hits the stock market. At a time when Big Tech companies are trying to make their data collection practices more transparent and say they’ll give consumers more control over them (and are facing increased pressure from lawmakers to do so), Palantir has been able to keep much of its work with our data secret. A successful IPO will only give it more reasons and opportunities to do so.

See the full story here: https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/16/21323458/palantir-ipo-hhs-protect-peter-thiel-cia-intelligence