Apr 18
Microsoft has given its IllumiRoom concept a makeover, with the immersive projected gaming experience evolving to deliver interactive web content that fills the living room and engages with Xbox One, … Continue reading
Apr 02
The Face-Stealing Robot
Posted in: Today's ChiliRobots can be awesome. They also can be creepy. This robot fits firmly into the latter category. While most robots have expressionless heads, this one has a face. But not just any face – this robot can have YOUR face on it.
By mounting an LED projector inside of its head, the SociBot can change its face to suit your every whim. It can be loaded with a library of standard faces, or in minutes, your face can be scanned and uploaded to its head. Each face then is mapped with a library of expressions, and mouth movements for talking. The robot can also track gestures, faces, and speak in over twenty languages. Using an IR depth sensor, it can even track the position of up to 12 people in a crowd.
The robot was designed by Will Jackson and his colleagues at Engineered Arts – who are also behind RoboThespian. He says the intent is to provide greater social interaction from the electronic devices we use, and the technology could be used for things like information kiosks or for jobs like automated bank tellers. Oh and if you think that’s creepy, get a load of SociBot with its head off:
[via New Scientist]
Oct 07
Before digital took over, a theater’s projectionist used to be an essential part of the business. Their mastery of the equipment made a trip to the movies possible. A series of photos by Joseph O. Holmes documents the remains of a dying profession.
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Oct 01
Has anyone ever told you that you’ve always got your head in the clouds? Daydreaming isn’t a bad thing because it stimulates your imagination, just as long as you don’t lose sight of reality.
If people stopped dreaming, they’d stop thinking outside of the box and unusually amazing art installations like Cloud Pink wouldn’t come to be.
Using fabric and digitally imposed images of clouds, Korean creative agency Everyware’s Cloud Pink installation gives people the chance to “touch” clouds and literally stick their heads into them.
The best thing about the installation is that it allows visitors to actually interact with it. The projected clouds can be manipulated by touch, so you can move and generate clouds on its digital canvas. Check it out in action in the video below:
[via TAXI]
Sep 24
This week the team at Bot & Dolly – a group that works with 3D objects and video to experiment with art and live performance – have created a new experiment with live projection on moving objects. This project is known as “Box”, and works with projection-mapping – projecting images on to spots that are […]
Sep 24
Remember Bot & Dolly’s awesome Kinetisphere from Google I/O 2012? Today the San Francisco-based design and engineering studio released Box, a film of the first ever synchronized live performance featuring projected 3D computer graphics, robots and actors. Imagine two Kuka industrial robots moving walls around and a projector displaying CG onto them in complete sync. Add a second projector aimed at the floor. Now introduce an actor and capture the entire scene with a 4K camera mounted on a third Kuka robot in sync with the other two. The result is a mind-blowing experience that takes CG into the real world. Flat walls transform in to 3D cubes, objects levitate and teleport — it’s magic.
In fact, it’s even more impressive in person. The company believes that “this methodology has tremendous potential to radically transform theatrical presentations”. We briefly talked with Tarik Abdel-Gawad, Creative & Technical Director and Bradley G Munkowitz, Design Director (of Tron fame) about the technology behind the performance. The project uses two IRIS and one SCOUT robotic motion control platforms (based on Kuka robots) plus two powerful high-resolution projectors. Bot & Dolly’s in-house software, which integrates with Autodesk‘s Maya, is used to synchronize and control the performance. As such, the work serves “as both an artistic statement and technical demonstration.” See the video for yourself after the break.
Filed under: Misc, Robots, Alt
Source: Bot & Dolly
May 09
BenQ doesn’t see the limelight that often, but their aim is set high. The company announced the Joybee GP3 portable projector which comes with an iPhone/iPod dock that allows users to project content that’s stored on their iOS devices. There’s also a new feature that can wirelessly stream content from other devices over a DLNA connection.
This new projector is the successor to the GP2, and BenQ claims it comes with improved brightness and better contrast. The GP3 can also project images up to 160 inches in diagonally, and it has a 2-watt built-in speaker, although it most likely won’t do the trick in a slightly larger room, so a pair of external speakers may come in handy in this case.
Of course, though, the main new feature on this palm-sized projector is the iPhone dock (using the older 30-pin connection). However, if you don’t have an iPhone, the projector offers several other ways to hook up media to the device, including plugging in a flash drive and microSD card, as well as wirelessly streaming content from another mobile device or PC.
There’s also 2GB of storage tucked inside in case a flash drive or microSD card is too much for you, although that probably won’t be enough for a couple of movies, but an album-full of photos would be the perfect fit. The internal battery is said to last 2.5 hours, which will get you through at least a movie and some, so be prepared to take the charger along with you. The GP3 is expected to ship later this month, but no pricing details have been disclosed yet.
BenQ Joybee GP3 projector comes dock-ready for iPhones is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Jan 28
As much as I love playing FPSes on my Xbox 360 and PS3, they’re still not as immersive as they could be on my “puny” 64-inch plasma display. But thanks to simulator technology developed by UniVisual Technologies, you could soon be playing FPSes in an incredibly visceral gameplay arena.
Combining their projection and image warping technologies with a custom 360-degree screen and a 360-degree treadmill from MSE AB, the simulator is able to surround game players with an immersive image that covers their entire field of vision, while at the same time allowing them to actually walk and run through the environment.
The 360-degree setup uses an array of six HD video projectors with short-throw lenses, which have had their images seamlessly blended together and warped using UniVisual’s sophisticated Warpalizer software to match the large curved screen, and to eliminate any areas of overlap, color or brightness distortion. (Check out a cool demo of Warpalizer in action here.)
Under foot is a 3-meter circular treadmill system which determines which way to move based on the player’s foot movements and the game moves its viewport based on the direction of the wireless motion sensors in the gun. Incredibly, the entire system is powered by a single computer running a sub-$500 ATi Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 card.
While similar simulators have been shown off before, UniVisual claims their system is the most complete, cost-effective and ready for market, having already installed one in Mumbai, India for Smaaash Entertainment Center, who expects to launch more centers around India, and possibly abroad down the road. Check out the Mumbai installation in action in the video clip below:
Very cool. Though I wish that they could figure out a way to hide the giant gun reticle in Battlefield 3 to make the environment even more realistic. UniVisual is also developing a smaller version of the system with a 180-degree screen, which uses a set of just three long-life LED projectors. Hopefully, we’ll start to see these sort of immersive simulators show up at entertaiment venues around the world in the not-too-distant future.
Jan 21
As digital displays are becoming more common than ever, good old-fashioned projectors are getting rarer and rarer. That includes the hulking beasts that are planetarium projectors, those often massive, rotating behemoths that spout out views of the entire sky. Fortunately, the antiquated gadgets have a home at the aptly named Planetarium Projector Museum. More »
Jan 09
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Texas Instruments’ Frank Moizio
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Love tiny projectors? Boy have we got the conversation for you! We’ll be speaking with Texas Instruments business manager, DLP Pico Projection, Frank Moizio, who will be showing off new devices featuring the technology and discussing the company’s new architecture and the outlook for pico projectors in the future.
January 9, 2013 12:30 PM EST
Check out our full CES 2013 stage schedule here!
Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Texas Instruments’ Frank Moizio
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
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