philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Pitch, from the founders of Wunderlist, raises $19M to take on Powerpoint in presentations

Portrait of cheerful businessman showing chart

Pitch is emerging from stealth with plans to challenge it, by making what CEO and co-founder Christian Reber describes as “a presentation tool for the Slack generation.”

The Slack reference is intentional, and not just because of how the product will be built (more on that below). Part of the funding is coming from the Slack Fund, the arm of the work-chat unicorn that makes strategic investments into like-minded startups.

The premise behind Pitch is to make “a presentation tool for the Slack generation,” he said, in reference to the workplace communications tool that became a runaway hit with organizations because of its ease of use, its speed, and the fact that it positions itself as a platform, integrating with just about any app that a person might use in the normal course of a working day, turning itself into a communication layer underpinning all those apps, too.

In the case of Pitch, users will be able to create documents for their own ends, but they can also use Pitch as a distribution platform, either to a selected group of users (for example, if you are pitching your startup to investors), or to a wider audience who are also Pitch users.

He noted that Pitch is built on Electron — the application framework that’s used for WhatsApp, WordPress and many other apps — to smooth out some of those bumps across platforms.

Pitch is most certainly going into business with its eyes open, knowing that even if you put Microsoft’s PowerPoint and SlideShare to the side, there are yet others, such as Keynote from Apple, the web-based Prezi, and Slides from Google. But there are plenty of precedents that nevertheless indicate opportunity.

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/09/pitch-from-the-founders-of-wunderlist-raises-19m-to-take-on-powerpoint-in-presentations/?utm_medium=TCnewsletter

Facebook Portal brings Alexa and Messenger video chats to one device

It keenly uses an AI-powered camera to pan, zoom and reframe the picture, allowing you move freely and naturally around.

Ultimately, no matter how good the Portal is, placing a device with a camera in your home made by a company that mishandled your data is a big ask.

And it seems Facebook is aware of this, because the Portal has a physical mute button on the top and an actual camera cap to cover the lens when you're not chatting.

When you're on a video call, you can add Snapchat-like effects that can turn you into a carrot-eating rabbit or Groucho Marx, among other things. It can also place a cat on your head -- my favorite.

One of the coolest features is Story Time: It has five interactive story books you can read, and Facebook is working with book publishers to add even more.

When you start a story book your screen becomes a mini-teleprompter displaying copy from the book. But as you read, the person on the other end sees drawings and animations. When I read a Three Little Pigs storybook, it added a Big Bad Wolf overlay to my face encouraging me to "act" out the role. The appeal of Story Time for families is immediately obvious and fun.

See the full story here: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/facebook-portal-plus-preview/

The best virtual reality games

'SUPERHOT VR’

One of the most unique first-person shooters and adventure games ever made, the original Superhot’s hook – a world that only moves when you move – creates a sense of tactical awareness not typically seen in the genre. The VR version builds on that great foundation, and updates have added additional challenges, levels, and even an option to beat the game without ever firing a gun. Speed and careful planning will be necessary to make it out alive.

See the full story here: https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/best-virtual-reality-games/3/

4 Steps to Piloting Cloud, LBS & Augmented/Virtual/Mixed Reality

Here’s the list of technologies you should be tracking - and piloting:

• Cloud Computing
• Location-Based Services
• Augmented, Virtual & Mixed Reality
• Social Media Analytics
• Wearable Technology
• The Internet-of-Things
• AI/Machine Learning
• Augmented Analytics
• Blockchain
• Cryptocurrency
• Cybersecurity

Some of you are already knee deep in many of them. If not, it’s past time you develop some pilots to determine where the technologies will impact your business models and processes.

There are 4 steps: describe, assess, sponsor and pilot.

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveandriole/2018/10/08/4-steps-to-piloting-cloud-lbs-augmentedvirtualmixed-reality/#30935c2e5e72

Effects of Adaptive Streaming Optimizations on the Perception of 360◦ Virtual Reality Video

ILMxLab’s Next Augmented Reality Experiment Is…Porgs

ILMxLab’s latest experiment in the world of mixed and augmented reality is coming in the form of a new experience dubbed, of course, Project Porg. Set to be officially unveiled at the upcoming Magic Leap Conference in Los Angeles, Project Porg tasks users, at the behest of C-3PO, with corralling a murder of Porgs (the official collective noun!) around their own real-world environment. Give them treats! Pet them! Love them! Acknowledge that as creations of pixels and polygons being beamed into your eyeballs by expensive virtual reality technology, they are not real. But they might as well be, thanks to the magic of augmented reality!

See the full story here; https://io9.gizmodo.com/ilms-next-augmented-reality-experiment-is-porgs-1829602110

Moverio BT-35E augmented reality (AR) smartglasses

Epson Australia has launched its next-generation Moverio BT-35E augmented reality (AR) smartglasses with transparent Si-OLED display.

Designed for daily use, the smartglasses allow users to keep their display in front of them as they carry out their tasks allowing for increased productivity. Offering an out-of-box experience, the smartglasses provide plug-and-play operation with no special software required.

The new BT-35E features an interface unit with HDMI and USB Type-C ports to easily connect to popular output devices and seamlessly blend digital content into the real world. When used with a compatible USB Type-C output device, the interface does not require an external power source.

The smartglasses are designed to fit over the majority of eyeglasses comfortably and are ANSI Z87.1 Safety-Glass Compliant.

See the full story here: https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/hot-product/moverio-bt-35e-augmented-reality-ar-smartglasses-45614611#axzz5TRmrrjkW

Adult VR World ‘Fantasy’ Announces Partnership With Leading Adult VR Platform Velvet Reality

FantasyCoin (FXXX), a digital currency supporting the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) adult entertainment virtual worlds has announced a new partnership with leading VR adult content platform, Velvet Reality. Powered by Gaze Coin, a smart contract blockchain solution that measures and monetizes viewer attention, FantasyCoin is offering virtual real estate in a fantasy VR world for sale to investors who can earn revenue from engagement occurring on their property. This new partnership will see hundreds of hours of premium VR adult content fully integrated into FantasyCoin as a payment method for the platform.

Velvet Reality delivers fully immersive 4K content from the world’s biggest adult VR producers to all VR headsets and smartphones. Once the Fantasy land sale is complete, the integration of FantasyCoin will take place and allow landowners on the Fantasy platform to instantly distribute content to anyone with a mobile phone via a CDN solution using its pre-existing platform. Creators, performers, amateurs or simply those wishing to have fun can offer their own content on their Fantasy property via the fully-functional platform.

FantasyCoin is launching with a Fantasy virtual real estate sale on October 20th, 2018 with the sale establishing a fully functional virtual ‘Amsterdam’ on Mars – complete with a red light district.

See the full story here: https://www.vrfocus.com/2018/10/adult-vr-world-fantasy-announces-partnership-with-leading-adult-vr-platform-velvet-reality/

167 viewsOct 7, 2018, 11:19am AR Artist Estella Tse: How To Unveil New Realities With Art And Science

Last summer, as one of 15 Adobe AR Artists in Residence, Tse offered a vision of what those new worlds might do. At the Festival of the Impossible, sponsored by Adobe, Tse and her colleagues blended gallery artwork with AR integrations (see the video of Tse's exhibit above). Behind the scenes, Adobe was learning about the user experience of Project Aero, its AR authoring tool.

If Tse is easy with new forms, her background might explain why. Her B.A. from UCLA is in sociology, but she is also trained and experienced in illustration, visual design, web design and front-end development. None of that background is left out of her work.

"Right now, in this exploration phase, my limitations are the technology and what is available," she says. But that's why collaboration between technologists like Adobe developers and artists is so vital. "Right now, the two are so deeply entwined, they have to have space to play with each other, art and science, in order to produce something new."

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhumphrey/2018/10/07/ar-artist-estella-tse-how-to-unveil-new-realities-with-art-and-science/#24c1b89f7529

Varjo (Finland) Augmented Reality Headset for Over $11,000 Is Winning Investors

Helsinki-based Varjo Technologies Oy announced has raised $31 million in a funding round led by Atomico. Other investors in the company include EQT Ventures and Lifeline Ventures, a Helsinki venture fund whose advisers include Ilkka Paananen, the co-founder and CEO of Finnish gaming sensation Supercell Oy.

But Varjo isn’t pitching its product, currently in the prototype stage, to the mass market. It’s aimed at the auto industry, architecture, and the military, rather than the consumer. Both BMW and the U.S. Air Force are among those signed up to test the gear.

Unlike many augmented reality goggles, which have transparent lenses, Varjo’s goggles are completely opaque and look more like virtual reality headsets from companies such as HTC and Oculus. The headset is fitted with ultra high-resolution cameras to capture the outside world, and the goggles also track a user’s eye movements. This lets the headset produce images -- both of the real world and of virtual objects -- in the center of a user’s field of vision, closely mimicking the way the human eye naturally processes light.

See the full story here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-08/augmented-reality-headset-for-over-11-000-is-winning-investors