NAB 2018: Immersive Media & Location-Based Entertainment
Location-based entertainment (LBE) is at the forefront of virtual reality and mixed reality content, and an NAB panel took a look at the role that LBE plays in distributing and popularizing this form of entertainment. Phil Lelyveld, ETC@USC’s lead of the Immersive Media Initiative program, noted that LBE represents the high-end of VR/MR storytelling, in contrast to home-based solutions. Technicolor Experience Center lead VR/AR experience producer Brian Frager said the industry adoption of standards will change that.
“That’s one of the friction points right now,” Frager said. “So much content is created specifically for the platform it’s being deployed on. With standards, you’ll be able to see content played across platforms. I think a rising tide will lift all boats.”
ILMxLAB mixed reality supervisor Michael Koperwas noted that haptics can play an important role in introducing someone to this new form of media. “We’ve learned from some of our experiences that if the audience can touch something, it can break down the barrier of trying VR for the first time,” he said.
Popper reported on “five different things are all growing exponentially”: the technology, great content, the number of LBE sites, social interaction, and the marketing of the experiences. “We need a combination of education and marketing to show that it’s not a gimmick,” she added.
See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/nab-2018-immersive-media-location-based-entertainment/
Pixvana creates in-house virtual reality production studio WunderVu
Pixvana has created its own in-house virtual reality production studio.
The Seattle startup today announced WunderVu, a new independent consultancy for clients needing help with virtual and augmented reality storytelling projects.
WunderVu is led by Scott Squires, who co-founded Pixvana and is a Sci-Tech Academy Award winner known for his visual effects work and also a veteran of Lucasfilm.
Pixvana now employs 25 people in total. The company raised a $14 million round this past November led by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital, with participation from investors like Raine Ventures, Microsoft Ventures, Cisco Investments, Hearst Ventures, and Madrona Venture Group.
See the full story here: https://www.geekwire.com/2018/pixvana-creates-house-virtual-reality-production-studio-wundervu/
Leap Motion designed a $100 augmented reality headset with super-powerful hand tracking
Gesture interface company Leap Motion is announcing an ambitious, but still very early, plan for an augmented reality platform based on its hand tracking system. The system is called Project North Star, and it includes a design for a headset that Leap Motion claims costs less than $100 at large-scale production. The headset would be equipped with a Leap Motion sensor, so users could precisely manipulate objects with their hands — something the company has previously offered for desktop and VR displays.
Instead, the company is releasing the necessary hardware specifications and software under an open source license next week.
The headset design uses two fast-refreshing 3.5-inch LCD displays with a resolution of 1600x1440 per eye. The displays reflect their light onto a visor that the user perceives as a transparent overlay. Leap Motion says this offers a field of view that’s 95 degrees high and 70 degrees wide, larger than most AR systems that exist today. The Leap Motion sensor fits above the eyes and tracks hand motion across a far wider field of view, around 180 degrees horizontal and vertical.
Leap Motion emphasized to The Verge that it’s not a headset company, and it’s said before that it’s primarily interested in getting software running on as many systems as possible....
See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/9/17208192/leap-motion-project-north-star-augmented-reality-headset-open-source-concept
Even if Magic Leap’s goggles suck, it can probably still make money off them
Ozi Amanat, founder of VC firm K2 Global, which invested in Magic Leap’s $542 million series B funding round in 2014 along with Kleiner Perkins, Google, and others, said he saw the intellectual property as a buffer to his investment.
“It definitely gave me a lot of comfort looking at the company,” said Amanat, who is based in Singapore.
Carl Bernstein speaks on ‘Fake News! The Media, The Truth, and our Democracy’
“The truth is often complex,” Bernstein said. “It doesn’t always limit itself to a string of facts.”
A common failing is to leave out context. which brings deeper meaning and understanding to the facts, he said. Reporters should have a healthy skepticism but should not be cynics.
While those terms are often used interchangeably, the line Bernstein drew was between asking questions versus always expecting the worst of people.
Donald Trump might not record every word he utters during private meetings with staff, but he does one thing that gives us a clue as to who he is and what he’s thinking: He tweets.
“Tweets are readings of Donald Trump’s mind,” Bernstein said. “The lie is basic to how he conducts himself.”
Bernstein said it’s important for journalists to follow the lies and follow the money.
“For all our failures as journalists, there is also a failing of the citizenry,” Bernstein said.
People are no longer looking for information, he said, they are looking for affirmation of what they already believe.
See the full story here: http://www.normantranscript.com/news/government/separating-truth-from-virtual-reality-no-easy-task/article_cf24aa85-f306-53ec-9eed-947ab5c3951d.html
Jay and Silent Bob are coming to virtual reality, whether you’re ready or not
Filmmaker Kevin Smith first broke into the film industry thanks to his no-budget, 1994 indie comedy Clerks, and now, that movie’s two most memorable characters will be coming to virtual reality. Jay and Silent Bob VR will be a live-action comedy series that will be written and directed by Smith, shot from the point of view of his Silent Bob character as Jason Mewes’ Jay “leads the way through a string of idiotic adventures.”
It’s just one of several VR projects in development that were announced today by STX Entertainment’s Surreal division, which handles VR and immersive entertainment production for the company. Among the other announcements is an untitled live-action series from John Wick writer Derek Kolstad about a government agent sent to investigate a mysterious aircraft crash in 1947, and an action-comedy from Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista. The Kiev Exchange will be a spinoff of director Peter Berg’s upcoming action film Mile 22, while the comedy New Tricks — to be directed and produced by The Hangover’s Ed Helms — will follow a slacker who discovers he is fated to become an all-powerful wizard.
See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/4/17200358/kevin-smith-jay-and-silent-bob-vr-stx-entertainment