philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

EON Reality and Toyota Academy Announce Partnership to Utilize Augmented and Virtual Reality Solutions

EON Reality Inc., the world leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality-based knowledge transfer for industry and education, and Toyota Material Handling, the world leader of material-handling solutions, today announce the establishment of the partnership to bring Augmented and Virtual Reality (AVR) technology for both training purposes and to support Toyota’s Customer Lean Transformation.

The pairing will combine EON Reality’s flagship AVR Platform with the Toyota Production System, a methodology developed by Toyota to maximize efficiency in production. The first collaboration is dedicated to 5S training, but the companies’ shared vision of Industry 4.0 will allow high-end AVR solutions to be used for training, sales, and maintenance purposes.

At this month’s EON Experience Fest 2019 in Bologna, Italy, EON Reality and Toyota Material Handling Italia will demonstrate the first beta product and better outline the partnership’s ultimate goals. Early AVR training modules will focus on forklift operators and drivers before moving into areas such as Toyota’s automated warehouses. The two companies will then work together in joint workshops to decide how to best accelerate the use of AVR technology in Toyota’s portion of the industrial sector.

See the full story here: https://www.eonreality.com/press-releases/eon-reality-toyota-academy-avr/

The Ancient World through virtual reality

For example, if the user was walking through the Colosseum or the ruins of the forum in Rome, they would be able to visualize it exactly as it would have looked 2,000 years ago. The technology allows visitors to walk among the ruins, exploring different areas, while seeing the recreated city right in front of them.

Many tour operators across the world offer various forms of enhanced virtual reality experiences, bringing the ancient past to life for a new generation of visitors. This new technology is transforming the way in which we think about, and access, the ancient world.

See the full story here: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/03/28/virtual-reality/

How VR Enhances the Business School Experience

[At MIT Sloan] Students may see their proposals lead to rising sea levels wiping out Shanghai or housing being lost in California and Florida. The climate simulation "teaches our business students skills such as improvising, negotiating and public speaking," he says. In addition, "it reinforces how their decisions can have consequences that last for decades."

The Stanford University Graduate School of Business has committed to virtual reality in its two online Learn, Engage, Accelerate, Disrupt – or LEAD – certificate programs, one in corporate innovation and the other in personal leadership.

Teaching With NYT Virtual Reality Across Subjects

In the following order, they researched:

A. Sharks, skates and cartilaginous fish
B. Bony fish
C. Are dolphins fish?
D. What is a cetacean?
E. Cetaceans and intelligence
F. Dolphin clicks and screeches

The student research created a runway to speak about echolocation. We asked students to demonstrate hearing as a spatial sense by making sounds in different parts of the room while another student tried to locate the sound with eyes closed, pointing in the direction of the sound. As another example, we asked them to click their tongues with their eyes closed.

...

“The Displaced” is a virtual reality experience that recognizes the nearly 60 million people who are currently displaced from their homes by war and persecution. Half are children. This NYT VR multimedia journey tells the stories of three children from eastern Ukraine, Syria and Sudan.

See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/learning/lesson-plans/teaching-with-nyt-virtual-reality-across-subjects.html

Immersive Digital Experiences Alliance (IDEA) to Create Specifications for Next-Gen Immersive Media, Including Light Field Technology

The Immersive Digital Experiences Alliance (IDEA) will launch at the 2019 NAB Show with the goal of creating a suite of royalty-free specifications that address all immersive media formats, including emerging light field technology. Founding members, including CableLabs®, Light Field Lab Inc, Otoy, and Visby, created IDEA to serve as an alliance of like-minded technology, infrastructure, and creative innovators working to facilitate the development of an end-to-end ecosystem for the capture, distribution, and display of immersive media.

See the full story here: https://www.broadcastingcable.com/post-type-the-wire/immersive-digital-experiences-alliance-idea-to-create-specifications-for-next-gen-immersive-media-including-light-field-technology

View this email in browser. We're Launching at NAB And you're invited! We are working to create a suite of royalty-free specifications that address all immersive media formats, for commercial network-streaming to all types of displays, including emerging light field panels. These specifications will fill a gap in the immersive-experiences ecosystem by providing an interchange and distribution format that can be used to stream content to existing XR headsets and, in the not-too-distant future, light field panels. Won't you join us to find out more? Refreshments will be served. When: Monday, April 8 at 5 p.m. Where: Room N113 in the Las Vegas Convention Center

Google Establishes Advisory Panel to Examine AI Fairness

Last June, Google published its “seven guiding AI Principles,” which states the company will not pursue projects that “(1) aren’t socially beneficial, (2) create or reinforce bias, (3) aren’t built and tested for safety, (4) aren’t ‘accountable’ to people, (5) don’t incorporate privacy design principles, (6) don’t uphold scientific standards, and (7) aren’t made available for uses that accord with all principles.”

See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/google-establishes-advisory-panel-to-examine-ai-fairness/

No Earrings, Tattoos or Cleavage: Inside China’s War on Fun

The Communist Party’s effort to instill what it calls “core socialist values” — patriotism, harmony and civility, among others — is intensifying. Content that celebrates money worship, hedonism or individualism is increasingly removed. Material that was acceptable only a few years ago no longer passes muster.

In a few years’ time, today’s youths will have seen less unfiltered content than people even five years older. Without knowing what they don’t know, they’re likely to be more receptive to party doctrine and easier to govern.

It lacks content-rating systems — like the American industry group that labels movies PG or R, for example — so everything has to be suitable for a 12-year-old to consume.

The sex has been edited out of the local streaming of “Game of Thrones,” rendering the plots that are often explained through “sexposition” nonsensical.

See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/27/business/china-war-on-fun-earrings-tattoos.html

Comcast to spend $50 million in South Philly to create the nation’s first video gaming arena

8th Wall Spins Up New ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ Augmented Reality Experience for Blu-Ray, DVD Release

After webbing up a web-based augmented reality experience to promote the theatrical release of Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, Sony has ordered a new AR activation from creative agency Igniteie to promote the Blu-ray, DVD, and streaming digital video release of the film.

Like the first version, the new AR promotion runs on the web-based AR toolkit from 8th Wall, which enabled Ignite to bring Spider-man into the real world and give users the ability to capture photos of the web-head, which they can then sell to J. Jonah Jameson.

You can try the experience yourself here by scanning the code on the website with your smartphone or tablet camera (iOS and Android devices work just fine), no app needed.

See the full story here: https://mobile-ar.reality.news/news/8th-wall-spins-up-new-spider-man-into-spider-verse-augmented-reality-experience-for-blu-ray-dvd-release-0195244/

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Will Have Female, Non-Binary Protagonist Options

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will let players create a female protagonist or a non-binary character. Publisher Paradox Interactive announced the sequel to the cult classic game last week.

The game becomes one of few titles with non-binary representation. Other games with non-binary player characters or NPCs are the upcoming dating sim, Boyfriend Dungeon and mech combat game, BattleTech.

In Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, you will start off as a newly formed vampire. However, what your vampire looks like is up to you. In an interview with VG247, Hardsuit Labs confirmed that you can choose to play as a male protagonist, a female protagonist, or a non-binary protagonist.

The character customization feature allows you to choose your body type and your pronouns, which will support the decision to create a non-binary player character. Rachel Leiker, a UX/UI designer at Hardsuit said that “we’re interested in providing a very robust roleplaying experience for the player with something were they can really identify with their character by fine tuning and providing lots of options for them to do that.”

What your character looks like isn’t the only choice you get to make in the game. You will also be able to choose what abilities your character has, make story decisions, choose which characters to drain blood from, which clan to ally with, and more.

See the full story here: http://jstationx.com/2019/03/26/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-will-have-female-non-binary-protagonist-options/