Disney Research, a partnership between the mouse-eared entertainment juggernaut and universities around the globe, is on a virtual reality roll. Its latest development, an algorithm that turns 2D photographs into 3D landscapes, can transform a regular photo into a video game-style environment, using consumer-grade computer hardware.
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The technical magicians at Disney Research are at it once more. This time, they’re working on a technology which allows users to feel sensations without actually having to touch a surface.
AIREAL is a combination of hardware and software which can create tiny air vortexes in 3D space. It was developed by researchers Rajinder Sodhi, Ivan Poupyrev, Matthew Glisson, and Ali Israr. A set of these small haptic-feedback devices can be used in combination with gesture-based control devices to let users feel sensations and virtual textures while interacting with their computers and video game systems. This is truly some science fiction stuff made real.
Check out some examples of AIREAL in action in the clip below:
Pretty amazing concept, no? Wouldn’t it be cool to combine this with a head-mounted display like the Oculus Rift? The wind could blow in your hair as you run through a virtual world, or you could feel bullets whizzing by when you’re being shot at. Crazy stuff. Or it might just turn up in a next generation of Disney’s Haunted Mansion – where you can actually feel the ghosts surrounding you. Hopefully the Disney Research guys talk to the Imagineers.
You can read the entire research paper on AIREAL here. [PDF]
Got FiOS TV? Then you can stream ABC and Disney TV shows. Verizon has reached a deal with Disney that offers authenticated access to the full slate of Watch ABC and Watch Disney online services, including Disney Junior, Disney XD and the yet-to-launch ABC Family. There are no quirks or catches involved, and Verizon has also agreed to carry Fusion, a Hispanic-oriented news and lifestyle TV channel launching later this year. FiOS TV subscribers wanting to catch up on their Motive episodes can start streaming today.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Verizon
Via: Variety
Source: Verizon
The rumored Hulu sale has been the stuff of talk for months now, and earlier today we reported that it had officially been taken off the market, with the company’s owners electing to keep it rather than sell. Word has surfaced over at Bloomberg, however, saying that Time Warner Cable is still in talks with those owners over a possible purchase.
The information was provided to Bloomberg by three sources who are said to be “people with knowledge of the situation.” Rather than selling the entire service, says the sources, Hulu’s owners are considering selling a stake of it to Time Warner Cable. The sources requested that they not be named, stating that these negotiations are happening in private.
Reportedly, if the deal does go through, an agreement could be reached between Time Warner Cable and Hulu’s owners – Walt Disney Corporation, Comcast, and 21st Century Fox – within the next two weeks. This isn’t the first time Time Warner Cable has attempted to buy a stake in Hulu, says the sources, having tried to nab 25-percent in the past.
Neither Hulu nor Time Warner Cable made any comments on the matter. This comes after news earlier today that the service’s owners would – rather than selling the service – invest $750 million into Hulu to continue its future growth. 21st Century Fox’s President and COO Chase Carey had been quoted as saying that “[Hulu had] meaningful conversations with a number of potential partners and buyers,” stating that some of the offers received for it were “impressive.”
Some of the companies reportedly in bid for the service included DirecTV, KKR, and Silver Lake. At the end of it all, a final price for the service could not be agreed upon, and the sales fell through. As such, with nothing official stated, the game plan is for the owners to “propel future growth” for the service, but we could end seeing a switch up behind the scenes if the sources are correct.
SOURCE: Bloomberg
Time Warner Cable reportedly still in talks about Hulu purchase is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Well, we’ve been waiting to hear who would wind up purchasing the struggling Hulu, and now we know — nobody! Instead the service will see an infusion of cash totaling $750 million from its current owners. Hulu has actively courted new owners on multiple occasions, and it seemed as if this time a deal was imminent. Both Yahoo and DirecTV were in the running allegedly but, for whatever reason, Fox, NBC and Disney found their offers lacking. It’s unclear right now whether the issue was over asking price or future plans for the service, but the cabal behind Hulu will instead sink more money into the property to try and grow its subscriber base further. This is turning into something of a habit for the uneasy partnership, one that is quickly turning Hulu into the boy who cried wolf. The official press release awaits, after the break.
Take two of the sale of Hulu is approaching its inevitable end, as multiple sources report the final bids have come in. Currently the site is owned by Disney, Fox and Comcast, while reported interested buyers include DirecTV, Chernin Group / AT&T and Guggenheim Digital Media. Of the potential buyers, The Hollywood Reporter reports Guggenheim would be the one most likely to retain the site’s “entreprenurial spirit,” while DirecTV may want to use it both as a part of its satellite package and as a standalone business. Finally the Chernin Group is reportedly backed by AT&T, which may have goals similar to those of DirecTV.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the site’s current owners are considering how potential buyers will want to license content going forward as part of the bids, with potential restrictions on their top rated shows, or longer windows before content is available on Hulu. We’ll have to wait and find out who had the best pitch before we move on to the next step — deciding if whatever Hulu becomes under new ownership is still worth visiting.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
You might want to usher any kids out of the room before you continuing reading this post, because the honest titles The FW came up with for a bunch of Disney movies might just be too honest for their tastes.
If you’ve seen other trailers and posters that have been dubbed as “honest”, then you know it’s the most blunt and straightforward version of events minus the fairy tale aspect of the story.
Some of the titles are cruelly apt, while others are just hilarious and fitting. My favorite is the one for Beauty and the Beast. It’s one of my favorite Disney movies and Belle having Stockholm syndrome isn’t very hard to believe. Let’s just hope they really ended up happily ever after.
You can check out the rest of the honest Disney titles in the gallery below.
[via Neatorama]
Love or hate haunted houses, it’s hard to deny the fact that their ability to turn otherwise rational adults into whimpering shells of their former selves is, to say the least, fairly impressive. And now, thanks to the new Haunted Mansion Backstage tumblr, you can see exactly how they turn all that dated robotic tech into some of our worst nightmares.
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