Giu 27, 2014 | Scoop.it
The BBC has given us a startling look into the future by recording a news bulletin with 360 degrees that will allow you to take a good look around with a virtual reality headset like an Oculus Rift.
Source: www.techradar.com
The BBC has always been a trailblazer when it comes to new tech, and they have gamely filmed Fiona Bruce’s news bulletin in a novel new way to get us in the mood for virtual reality television.
The experiment is just part of the BBC’s look into next-generation viewing, including 3D sound.
The purchase of Oculus Rift by Facebook appears to have been something of a catalyst for the Beeb, with head of business development Cyrus Saihan explaining just why he is pushing immersive experiences in a blog which includes the all important making of video.
Giu 27, 2014 | Scoop.it
Artist J. Robert Feld noticed something that if you’ve been to a gallery or art museum recently, you’ve probably seen too. “People rush through a museum, like a scavenger hunt, capturing images in their devices, as if that’s an appropriate substitute for pausing and contemplating the work,” he told Fast Co. Design. This invasion of technology in a formerly tech-free zone inspired him, ironically, to create a series of paintings that actually require the viewer to look at them through the lens of a smartphone in order to properly experience the work.
Source: news.artnet.com
Feld’s “Mondrian Inverted: The Viewer Is Not Present” series features reproductions of Piet Mondrian‘s famed geometric compositions with inverted color schemes. In order to see the paintings with their intended colors, one must look at them through the function on an iPhone or Android that allows for the inversion of colors.
He chose Mondrian because his work is both aesthetically pleasing and widely known, and his use of primary colors also makes the contrast between the inverted and intended colors stark. In an added twist, Feld insists that the paintings themselves are not the actual work.
“The act of looking through the phone and seeing the painting appear more real and recognizable on the screen than on the wall in front of you is the concept of the series,” he says. Though a bit gimmicky, the point resonates.
The ubiquity of smartphones and social media apps dedicated to photo sharing has made it almost impossible to do, look at, or experience anything even somewhat remarkable without feeling the urge to whip out that device and capture it, even at the expense of enjoying the moment for what it is. And, as we’ve seen, sometimes on-the-spot Instagram uploads can be less than tasteful, if not downright dangerous.Any art project that makes us question our collective iPhone obsession can only be for the best, right?
Giu 27, 2014 | Scoop.it
Augmented reality toys have become a small but steady part of the gaming market, but augmented reality as a concept has always been hit or miss. If the companion app isn’t a tacked-on bell and whistle, the toy itself often isn’t much fun to play with. But Lego, which has a long history of blending tech into its traditional building sets, may have struck a decent balance with a new project called Fusion.
Source: www.theverge.com
Fusion’s premise isn’t too different to that of similar toys: put an object on top of, or next to, or under a tablet, and a version of it will appear in a corresponding app. It begins with four fairly normal-looking sets, each based on a different Lego theme: race cars, a town, a medieval castle, and a resort (part of the girl-focused and frequently maligned Friends lineup.) But among the pieces is a small plastic base, each set’s version emblazoned with a different pattern. Build on top of them, and your tablet’s camera will be able to recognize and scan the resulting design, as long as it’s not too big and adheres to some other rules. Whatever you make will end up being part of a mobile game.
BUILD A FACADE, AND THE APP WILL TURN IT INTO A 3D BUILDING
In the Town Master set, for example, you build a house’s facade on what looks like a piece of sidewalk. Start the app, point the camera at your creation, and you’ll be asked to line up its base with a small box on the screen. Once you get it right, the app scans the bricks and matches them by color and shape, reconstructing a virtual counterpart.
The app stretches it into a 3D model, and you can place it in a town-building game that’s reminiscent of a highly simplified SimCity. In the beta version I tried, scanning success depended on good lighting and a few retakes, when the design came out with random black horns or missing bricks. It wasn’t difficult, though, and it didn’t require any special features like NFC. Once a building is scanned, you can check citizens’ needs and assign it the role of a hospital, restaurant, "Segway store," or any number of other businesses and utilities.
Giu 15, 2014 | News on Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality
See on Scoop.it – augmented world
Church of Holy Mary of Grace – Augmented reality in cultural heritage promotion. Church of Holy Mary of Grace (Santa Maria delle Grazie – Milan, Italy): an inconspicuous church which hides a jewel inside the mural of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. Inscribed in the UNESCO list.
augmented world‘s insight:
"Thanks to metaio’s technology (3D Markerless Tracking based on CAD model in metaio Creator) it’s possible a new approach of using mobile Augmented Reality in cultural organisations, such as museums and archaeological sites, for information provision and enhancing the visiting experience." (Mirko Compagno, augmented reality architect at THE ROUND, Italy).
See on www.youtube.com
Giu 11, 2014 | News on Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality
See on Scoop.it – augmented world
Un balzo tecnologico che si deve a un’idea di una piccola società californiana, Ostendo Technologies. Qui lavorano 115 persone, tra cui diversi scienziati esperti di nanotecnologie, che hanno realizzato un chip «grande più o meno quanto una Tic tac capace di proiettare immagini su uno schermo da 48 pollici»
augmented world‘s insight:
Cose, persone, animali fluttueranno per la stanza, facendo capolino dallo schermo dei nostri telefoni cellulari. Questa sarà la rivoluzione della realtà virtuale. In un futuro non troppo lontano gli smartphone saranno in grado di generare ologrammi. Un balzo tecnologico che si deve a un’idea di una piccola società californiana,
Alla Ostendo Technologies lavorano 115 persone, tra cui diversi scienziati esperti di nanotecnologie, che hanno realizzato un chip «grande più o meno quanto una Tic tac capace di proiettare immagini su uno schermo da 48 pollici», si legge sul Wall Street Journal.
Un dispositivo che presto potrebbe arrivare su tutti gli smartphone e che ha un costo contenuto, circa 30 dollari. Il progetto ha catturato l’interesse di investitori pubblici e privati – tra cui anche la Defence advanced research projects agency (Darpa), un’agenzia che fa capo all’esercito statunitense – consentendo a Ostendo di raccogliere 128 milioni di dollari: di questi 38 provenienti da fondi governativi per ricerca e sviluppo. Il capitale è stato impiegato dalla compagnia californiana per realizzare, dopo un lavoro decennale, il Quantum photonic imager, un proiettore ad altissima risoluzione: 5000 pixel per pollice (Ppi). Una qualità dell’immagine molto elevata, soprattutto se si considera che lo schermo di un moderno smartphone raggiunge solo i 400 Ppi.
See on scitech.diariodelweb.it
