Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
TED talk Deb Roy: Analysing Mass Media and Social Networks
MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water." Astonishing, data-rich research with deep implications for how we learn.
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From Transcript around 11:40 in to it:
In my lab, which we're peering into now, at MIT -- this is at the media lab. This has become my favorite way of videographing just about any space. Three of the key people in this project, Philip DeCamp, Rony Kubat and Brandon Roy are pictured here. Philip has been a close collaborator on all the visualizations you're seeing. And Michael Fleischman was another Ph.D. student in my lab who worked with me on this home video analysis, and he made the following observation: that "just the way that we're analyzing how language connects to events which provide common ground for language, that same idea we can take out of your home, Deb, and we can apply it to the world of public media." And so our effort took an unexpected turn.
Think of mass media as providing common ground and you have the recipe for taking this idea to a whole new place. We've started analyzing television content using the same principles -- analyzing event structure of a TV signal -- episodes of shows, commercials, all of the components that make up the event structure. And we're now, with satellite dishes, pulling and analyzing a good part of all the TV being watched in the United States. And you don't have to now go and instrument living rooms with microphones to get people's conversations, you just tune into publicly available social media feeds.
So we're pulling in about three billion comments a month. And then the magic happens. You have the event structure, the common ground that the words are about, coming out of the television feeds; you've got the conversations that are about those topics; and through semantic analysis -- and this is actually real data you're looking at from our data processing -- each yellow line is showing a link being made between a comment in the wild and a piece of event structure coming out of the television signal. And the same idea now can be built up. And we get this wordscape, except now words are not assembled in my living room. Instead, the context, the common ground activities, are the content on television that's driving the conversations. And what we're seeing here, these skyscrapers now, are commentary that are linked to content on television. Same concept, but looking at communication dynamics in a very different sphere.
And so fundamentally, rather than, for example, measuring content based on how many people are watching, this gives us the basic data for looking at engagement properties of content. And just like we can look at feedback cycles and dynamics in a family, we can now open up the same concepts and look at much larger groups of people. This is a subset of data from our database -- just 50,000 out of several million -- and the social graph that connects them through publicly available sources. And if you put them on one plain, a second plain is where the content lives. So we have the programs and the sporting events and the commercials, and all of the link structures that tie them together make a content graph. And then the important third dimension. Each of the links that you're seeing rendered here is an actual connection made between something someone said and a piece of content. And there are, again, now tens of millions of these links that give us the connective tissue of social graphs and how they relate to content. And we can now start to probe the structure in interesting ways.
So if we, for example, trace the path of one piece of content that drives someone to comment on it, and then we follow where that comment goes, and then look at the entire social graph that becomes activated and then trace back to see the relationship between that social graph and content, a very interesting structure becomes visible. We call this a co-viewing clique, a virtual living room if you will. And there are fascinating dynamics at play. It's not one way. A piece of content, an event, causes someone to talk. They talk to other people. That drives tune-in behavior back into mass media, and you have these cycles that drive the overall behavior.
Another example -- very different -- another actual person in our database -- and we're finding at least hundreds, if not thousands, of these. We've given this person a name. This is a pro-amateur, or pro-am, media critic who has this high fan-out rate. So a lot of people are following this person -- very influential -- and they have a propensity to talk about what's on TV. So this person is a key link in connecting mass media and social media together.
One last example from this data: Sometimes it's actually a piece of content that is special. So if we go and look at this piece of content, President Obama's State of the Union address from just a few weeks ago, and look at what we find in this same data set, at the same scale, the engagement properties of this piece of content are truly remarkable. A nation exploding in conversation in real time in response to what's on the broadcast. And of course, through all of these lines are flowing unstructured language. We can X-ray and get a real-time pulse of a nation, real-time sense of the social reactions in the different circuits in the social graph being activated by content.
So, to summarize, the idea is this: As our world becomes increasingly instrumented and we have the capabilities to collect and connect the dots between what people are saying and the context they're saying it in, what's emerging is an ability to see new social structures and dynamics that have previously not been seen. It's like building a microscope or telescope and revealing new structures about our own behavior around communication. And I think the implications here are profound, whether it's for science, for commerce, for government, or perhaps most of all, for us as individuals.
Movea MoveTV platform delivers motion control options to TV and set-top makers
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/09/movea-movetv-platform-delivers-motion-control-options-to-tv-and/
In case you've been living under a rock: motion controls are all the rage these days. And it's not just console makers who want in on the action. ASUS, Philips and Hillcrest Labs have all launched their own takes on the tech. Movea is a company that's well versed in the field, and now plans to start offering its wares direct to TV and set-top box manufacturers. The MoveTV platform offers not only remote control tech to OEMs, but opens up the company's tools to developers for building games and apps. Movea even announced its first partners: C&M Media, a major cable provider in Korea, and Remote Solution. Remote Solution will be licensing Movea's SmartMotion and integrating MoveTV into the set-tops provided to C&M. Soon enough using gestures to change channels and playing arm-flailing renditions of Angry Birds on your cable box could be the norm. Check out the video, PR and one more pic after the break.
Who Stole My Pictures Is a Firefox Extension That Helps You Locate Copied Images
From Lifehacker:
Firefox: If you're worried people might be using an image of yours without telling you, Who Stole My Pictures is an extension for Firefox that lets you reverse search with a simple right-click.
Instead of just using one service, Who Stole My Pictures makes use of Yandex, Tineye, Google, Baidu and Cydral to search for your image. With a simple click you can open all five search engines at once to see if anyone has snagged you pictures without credit. It's similar to the previously featured previously mentioned Search By Image extension for both Firefox and Chrome, but adds a few more engines to sift through.
Who Stole My Pictures?
Firefox: If you're worried people might be using an image of yours without telling you, Who Stole My Pictures is an extension for Firefox that lets you reverse search with a simple right-click.
Instead of just using one service, Who Stole My Pictures makes use of Yandex, Tineye, Google, Baidu and Cydral to search for your image. With a simple click you can open all five search engines at once to see if anyone has snagged you pictures without credit. It's similar to the previously featured previously mentioned Search By Image extension for both Firefox and Chrome, but adds a few more engines to sift through.
Who Stole My Pictures?
Chumby’s new NeTV makes almost ‘any TV’ into an Internet connected device
UPDATE:
read NeTV - Open Source Hardware HDMI overlaying & video compositing
From Hack-A-Day:
Check out the new set-top box on the block, the NeTV from Chumby Industries. That link will take you to their video demonstration of the device, which is a humble-looking black box with no apparent user interface. You’ll see a few cool tricks that may impress you, like pairing the device with an Android phone through the use of a QR code. Once the two have mated you can do things like share images on the TV and load webpages from addresses entered into the smart phone. There are options for scrolling alerts when you receive an IM or SMS, and a few other bells and whistles. All of this from a device which connects with two HDMI ports to sit between your TV and whatever feeds it a video signal. Read all about the features here.
But its the hacking potential that really gets our juices flowing. The developer page gives us a look inside at the Spartan-6 FPGA that lives in the little case. We don’t often quote [Dave Jones] but we’re certain he’d call this thing ‘sex on a stick’. They’ve made the schematic and FPGA information available and are just begging for you to do your worst. The power for the device is provided by a USB connection but curiously is just above spec when drawing a max of 700 mA. We have a USB port on the back of our TV and would love to velcro this thing in place and power it from that. What would you plan to do with it?
read NeTV - Open Source Hardware HDMI overlaying & video compositing
From Hack-A-Day:
Check out the new set-top box on the block, the NeTV from Chumby Industries. That link will take you to their video demonstration of the device, which is a humble-looking black box with no apparent user interface. You’ll see a few cool tricks that may impress you, like pairing the device with an Android phone through the use of a QR code. Once the two have mated you can do things like share images on the TV and load webpages from addresses entered into the smart phone. There are options for scrolling alerts when you receive an IM or SMS, and a few other bells and whistles. All of this from a device which connects with two HDMI ports to sit between your TV and whatever feeds it a video signal. Read all about the features here.
But its the hacking potential that really gets our juices flowing. The developer page gives us a look inside at the Spartan-6 FPGA that lives in the little case. We don’t often quote [Dave Jones] but we’re certain he’d call this thing ‘sex on a stick’. They’ve made the schematic and FPGA information available and are just begging for you to do your worst. The power for the device is provided by a USB connection but curiously is just above spec when drawing a max of 700 mA. We have a USB port on the back of our TV and would love to velcro this thing in place and power it from that. What would you plan to do with it?
Bandwidth Crunch
A friend of mine sent this to me today.
Click image to see full size
Look like this is from August 2011 Wired Magazine.
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/st_infoporn_bandwidth/
The Myth Of The Bandwidth Crunch Just Won't Die Dec 27th 2007
Report: Cable companies facing big bandwidth crunch
[PDF] The Looming Bandwidth Crunch—Legitimate Crisis, or Cyberspace Chicken Little?
Click image to see full size
Look like this is from August 2011 Wired Magazine.
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/st_infoporn_bandwidth/
The Myth Of The Bandwidth Crunch Just Won't Die Dec 27th 2007
Report: Cable companies facing big bandwidth crunch
[PDF] The Looming Bandwidth Crunch—Legitimate Crisis, or Cyberspace Chicken Little?
Kinovea - Sports video analysis
The primary audience is coaches and athletes to study and optimize biomechanics.
Used by athletic coaches to breakdown and analyze the movements as well as categorize videos to create an index of events (e.g. pass goal, player, Golf Swing, Runner Stride, etc).
Open Source and Windows only
Quickly Analyze Sports Videos With Kinovea Video Editor
http://www.kinovea.org
Alternative to DartFish.
Used by athletic coaches to breakdown and analyze the movements as well as categorize videos to create an index of events (e.g. pass goal, player, Golf Swing, Runner Stride, etc).
Open Source and Windows only
Quickly Analyze Sports Videos With Kinovea Video Editor
http://www.kinovea.org
Alternative to DartFish.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Inside Netflix's WebKit-Based UI For TV Devices - Slashdot
Link to presentation.
http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/presentations/htmltvui/oscon-2011/Netflix%20Webkit-Based%20UI%20for%20TV%20Devices.pdf
From Slashdot:
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/10/0543231/Inside-Netflixs-WebKit-Based-UI-For-TV-Devices
DeviceGuru writes with this interesting snippet on a modern approach to GUI design: "Netflix uses WebKit, JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3 to build user interfaces that are delivered to millions of game consoles, Blu-ray players, Internet-connected TVs, and devices such as the Roku player and D-Link Boxee Box. Matt McCarthy and Kim Trott, device UI engineering managers at Netflix, have just published 50 presentation slides from their recent talk at OSCON 2011 in which they explained how Netflix develops its WebKit-based user interfaces."
http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/presentations/htmltvui/oscon-2011/Netflix%20Webkit-Based%20UI%20for%20TV%20Devices.pdf
From Slashdot:
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/10/0543231/Inside-Netflixs-WebKit-Based-UI-For-TV-Devices
DeviceGuru writes with this interesting snippet on a modern approach to GUI design: "Netflix uses WebKit, JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3 to build user interfaces that are delivered to millions of game consoles, Blu-ray players, Internet-connected TVs, and devices such as the Roku player and D-Link Boxee Box. Matt McCarthy and Kim Trott, device UI engineering managers at Netflix, have just published 50 presentation slides from their recent talk at OSCON 2011 in which they explained how Netflix develops its WebKit-based user interfaces."
Raspberry Pi Playing 1080p Video
http://www.raspberrypi.org/
From OS News:
From OS News:
Remember the Raspberry Pi ARM board we talked about last week? Well, while running Quake III is all fine and dandy and illustrates the board is capable of something, it didn't really tell me anything since I'd guess few people are going to use such a board for gaming. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Raspberry Pi team posted another demo today - running 1080p video for eight hours straight. The chip was still cool to the touch. And just to reiterate: $25.
The Raspberry Pi board ran a 1080p video (H264) over HDMI for eight hours straight, and the board was still cool to the touch. Playback shows no hiccups, which is pretty impressive considering the price of this board. Furthermore, the HDMI port on the Raspberry Pi is a full implementation - so it carries audio signals as well (although audio was turned off for the demo since it took place on a trade show floor).
The Raspberry Pi board ran a 1080p video (H264) over HDMI for eight hours straight, and the board was still cool to the touch. Playback shows no hiccups, which is pretty impressive considering the price of this board. Furthermore, the HDMI port on the Raspberry Pi is a full implementation - so it carries audio signals as well (although audio was turned off for the demo since it took place on a trade show floor).
The Quake III demo was interesting and all, but this? Heck, this only further cements my desire to get a few of these. At this price, they could be excellent extremely small media centers, or even a tiny server. Sadly, little information is available at this point about which media player the team was using; they say it's a custom one, but I would personally want to see it running, I don't know, MPlayer or something. Of course, I'd love to see it run Boxee (my media center of choice) even more, but alas, I will have to find that out for myself once the board becomes available.
I want one of these today rather than tomorrow!
I want one of these today rather than tomorrow!
Friday, September 09, 2011
YouTube API Blog: Getting 3D Content on YouTube
---------- Forwarded message ----------
YouTube API Blog
________________________________
Getting 3D Content on YouTube
Posted: 08 Sep 2011 10:48 PM PDT
Over the last few months, we've been steadily rolling out features for YouTube 3D. Early this year, we announced support for the LG Optimus 3D and NVIDIA 3D Vision, and this month we announced support for Samsung 3D TVs. And we'll keep rolling out to more platforms to make it easier for everyone to get access to user-generated 3D content.
Many readers have been asking how to upload content. 3D uploads to YouTube will work across all supported devices, from red/blue glasses to the latest 3D televisions.
There are two ways to upload content to YouTube in 3D. If you're just uploading one or two videos, upload content in any supported format and then edit the video settings to tell us that it's 3D. From a video's watch page, select "edit info", then "3D Video". This will only work on videos you've uploaded yourself.
If you're using the API to upload 3D videos, you'll want to format your video in a certain way. YouTube supports automatic detection of 3D content with certain file formats. If you upload with a format that supports automatic detection, we'll automatically set the correct settings so that your video shows up automatically in 3D and shows up properly on phones, TVs, and PCs.
In both cases, YouTube requires that content be uploaded in Side by Side L/R with each frame squashed 50% and preferably with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The following formats are automatically detected when uploaded:
WebM with the StereoMode setting set to STEREOMODE_TYPE_LEFT_RIGHT. Note that other modes, including alternate track, are not supported.
H264 AVC with Supplementary Enhancement Information, Frame Packing Arrangement set. If you are using x264, the argument --frame-packing=3 will set this correctly. In Handbrake you can set this in "x264 Advanced Option String".
Be sure to get the squashing and positioning exactly correct. 3D content won't look right if video formatting is off by even a pixel or two.
We're excited to see what you'll show us! Here's an idea from a favorite webcomic of ours.
Cheers,
—Jonathan Huang, YouTube 3D Product Manager
P.S.—We recently worked with some folks to help them get 3D Mars footage from 1979 restored from the Viking landers. Check it out!
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Liberty Global to deploy thePlatform's TV Everywhere platform
http://www.fiercecable.com/story/liberty-global-deploy-theplatforms-tv-everywhere-platform/2011-09-08
http://www.theplatform.com/
Liberty Global to deploy thePlatform's TV Everywhere platform – By Steve Donohue – FierceCable – 9/8/11
http://www.theplatform.com/
Liberty Global to deploy thePlatform's TV Everywhere platform – By Steve Donohue – FierceCable – 9/8/11
Liberty Global (Nasdaq: LBTYA) struck a deal to deploy thePlatform's white-label online video publishing system on its cable systems worldwide.
Publish Status panel, part of thePlatform's mpx video management system.
The agreement, which Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries announced during a keynote address at the IBC convention in Amsterdam Thursday, marks one of the largest TV Everywhere deployment agreements yet for thePlatform, which is owned by Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA). The company also supplies technology to Comcast, Cox Communications, Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and several programmers, including PBS, Starz and truTV.
Liberty Global said it will use thePlatform's cloud-based, mpx video management system as the central aggregation hub for collecting, protecting and publishing online video to its Web portals. It will also manage authorization for Liberty Global, granting subscribers access to online video content based on networks available in a customer's pay TV subscription package. Liberty counts 17.6 million subscribers worldwide, operating cable systems in 14 countries, including Germany, Belgium, Chile and Australia.
The agreement with Liberty Global is a big score for thePlatform, as it will see its technology deployed worldwide. But few U.S. cable MSOs have launched broad TV Everywhere websites such as Comcast's Fancast Xfinity TV.
While the technology is available that would allow cable operators to deliver premium online video to authorized subscribers, one of the biggest challenges distributors face is obtaining rights from programmers to distribute content to subscribers on the Web and mobile platforms.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Hitachi announces 1TB-per platter drives
From ComputerWorld:
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Tuesday announced that it's started shipping hard disk drives that cram a terabyte of capacity onto a single spinning platter.
The new technology allows Hitachi to produce slimmer form factors.
The new single-platter technology is now shipping in the Hitachi Deskstar, Travelstar and CinemaStar lines with capacities ranging from 250GB to 1TB.
Utilizing the higher-capacity platters, Hitachi said it has produced new 3.5-in wide, .27-in (7mm) thick "z-height" drives targeted at everything from desk tops and TV set top boxes to ultra thin and light notebooks.
For the ultra-thin and light notebook market, Hitachi's Travelstar Z5K500 drives offer up to 636Gbit/sq. in. on a platter that spins at 5200RPMs.
Hitachi's new Deskstar 7K1000.D 7200rpm and 5K1000.B 5200rpm drives, which utilize a 6Gbit/sec SATA interface and a 32MB cache buffer, are designed for commercial desktops, external storage arrays and PC gaming systems.
The new Deskstar line uses CoolSpin technology to save up to 15% power over standard drives by idling down the spindle. CoolSpin technology is an optimization of motor speed to provide a balance of performance, power utilization and acoustics.
Hitachi GST's CinemaStar 7K1000.D and 5K1000.B hard drives are aimed at the market for storage-based TVs and DVRs that record, playback, surf and stream content from and to devices.
Single-disk capacities ranging from 250GB to 500GB make up about 90% of disk drive demand for consumer electronics devices. Hitachi's new CinemaStar drive family now doubles that capacity for video content.
"The areal density race continues and while having the highest capacity is appealing, reaching 1TB per platter is equally important as it serves a full range of applications and opportunities across the industry's largest market volume," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing at Hitachi GST, in a statement.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Tuesday announced that it's started shipping hard disk drives that cram a terabyte of capacity onto a single spinning platter.
The new technology allows Hitachi to produce slimmer form factors.
The new single-platter technology is now shipping in the Hitachi Deskstar, Travelstar and CinemaStar lines with capacities ranging from 250GB to 1TB.
Utilizing the higher-capacity platters, Hitachi said it has produced new 3.5-in wide, .27-in (7mm) thick "z-height" drives targeted at everything from desk tops and TV set top boxes to ultra thin and light notebooks.
Hiatchi GST's new 'z-height' 1TB hard drive
Hitachi's new Deskstar 7K1000.D 7200rpm and 5K1000.B 5200rpm drives, which utilize a 6Gbit/sec SATA interface and a 32MB cache buffer, are designed for commercial desktops, external storage arrays and PC gaming systems.
The new Deskstar line uses CoolSpin technology to save up to 15% power over standard drives by idling down the spindle. CoolSpin technology is an optimization of motor speed to provide a balance of performance, power utilization and acoustics.
Hitachi GST's CinemaStar 7K1000.D and 5K1000.B hard drives are aimed at the market for storage-based TVs and DVRs that record, playback, surf and stream content from and to devices.
Single-disk capacities ranging from 250GB to 500GB make up about 90% of disk drive demand for consumer electronics devices. Hitachi's new CinemaStar drive family now doubles that capacity for video content.
"The areal density race continues and while having the highest capacity is appealing, reaching 1TB per platter is equally important as it serves a full range of applications and opportunities across the industry's largest market volume," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing at Hitachi GST, in a statement.
Panasonic CTO: 3D TV Is 'Chicken Or Egg' Story
From MediaPost:
Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, chief technology officer at Secaucus, N.J.-based Panasonic. & San Jose, Calif., (Panasonic laboratories)
A big part of his job is to serve as 3D evangelist to content producers: the goal is to get them to see 3D content as an affordable revenue opportunity. After all, if there's more 3D content, people will buy more 3D TV's.
It helps that the company, which is now marketing its second generation of 3D televisions, also happens to make the equipment to broadcast in 3D. Panasonic just signed a deal with the International Olympic Committee that will result in some 200 hours of 3D content broadcast from the London games next year. Tsuyuzaki spoke to Marketing Daily from the U.S. Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, where Panasonic is a sponsor, and is involved in 3D broadcasts of U.S. Open tennis matches.
Q: To use an optic metaphor, you seem to have a bi-focal job description: you're in both product development and marketing.
A: My focus is on developing new technology and new markets in the U.S. I talk to every broadcaster you can name at least once a month, the majors and others. My job isn't really only technology, it's [also] understanding the dynamics of the market and helping grow the right kind of partners.
Q: What are the barriers to consumer acceptance of 3D?
A: The great interest in 3D theatrical content suggested there would be strong demand for 3D television; when they see it in a theater, it's the natural expectation for people to want that kind of functionality in the home. Then you have to figure out if you look at markets, who do we need to work with to create an industry? If you're a movie studio, by having [a 3D] theatrical release you can amortize costs; you get more revenue and it's more profitable, so they love 3D.
Q: How about bringing it into the home -- why is that easier now?
A: HD technology is mature and it's inexpensive. So instead of having to compromise by sticking two crappy images into one high-definition frame you can have two pristine high-definition frames. That's the difference. The bandwidth is no longer as much of an issue. And high-definition is a benchmark now; consumers expect that level of quality, and I do not want to compromise on that.
Q: Even with limited content, do people seem interested in 3D?
A: Introducing big technology that will transform the industry is always chicken and egg. If I'm going to make content, I need to know how many people are going to watch. But last year, the difference in price between a 3D TV and a 2D TV was about $200 -- not a heck of a lot. And we sold, as an industry, about 1.3 million 3D televisions. This year, as an industry, we will sell about 3.5 million 3D TVs. That means in two years that's 4.5 to 5 million TVs. If you compare that to the introduction of high-definition television 12 years ago, in the first five years [after the introduction of HD] the industry sold less than half a million TVs. It was something like that. This time, it's 5 million in two years, so the velocity is much higher.
Q: But as a percentage of total TV sales this is still a tiny slice...
A: Say 200 million of any kind of TV was sold in the world last year, or 100 million of the ones that make a difference -- the big TVs you see at the big-box retailers. Given this growth curve of 3D, most flat-panel TVs will have both an Internet and 3D functionality by 2013, or 70% of all our screens will have a 3D feature by then. The ramp-up is getting quicker and quicker.
Q: What will drive the market in terms of 3D content?
A: Obviously movies -- but also sports, traditionally, is a huge driver, which is why we spend a lot of money pushing these programs, and it's why we're here. The key is the variety of different genres available in 3D: scripted dramas, documentaries, nature, movies, music, Broadway ... you want a wide range of programming. What's really going to push it is big tentpole events broadcast in 3D, such as Major League Baseball's All Star game.
Q: Why is the U.S. Open so important for Panasonic?
A: We make lots of revenue outside of the consumer realm: the professional cameras, the signage, the solar panels, the laptops. We have a lot of stuff. From a corporate standpoint, since New York is our home base, it's important to reach out to the community and you know what the makeup of this community is -- it's very affluent. Ultimately, when we integrate not only the [grassroots consumer] activation, but during the 2D broadcast where we say: "Do you know that this is also available in 3D," the awareness really pops. That's where we always see a huge lift. That's why it's worthwhile doing this.
Q: What strategic advantage do you have over other consumer electronics companies making 3D TVs?
A: One point is that we have the capability to make the professional gear to do this. Other people don't do that. They want to do it, but it might take them a while or they won't do it as well. I'm biased, but I think we have done a better job because we have spent a lot of time with the production community.
Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, chief technology officer at Secaucus, N.J.-based Panasonic. & San Jose, Calif., (Panasonic laboratories)
A big part of his job is to serve as 3D evangelist to content producers: the goal is to get them to see 3D content as an affordable revenue opportunity. After all, if there's more 3D content, people will buy more 3D TV's.
It helps that the company, which is now marketing its second generation of 3D televisions, also happens to make the equipment to broadcast in 3D. Panasonic just signed a deal with the International Olympic Committee that will result in some 200 hours of 3D content broadcast from the London games next year. Tsuyuzaki spoke to Marketing Daily from the U.S. Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, where Panasonic is a sponsor, and is involved in 3D broadcasts of U.S. Open tennis matches.
Q: To use an optic metaphor, you seem to have a bi-focal job description: you're in both product development and marketing.
A: My focus is on developing new technology and new markets in the U.S. I talk to every broadcaster you can name at least once a month, the majors and others. My job isn't really only technology, it's [also] understanding the dynamics of the market and helping grow the right kind of partners.
Q: What are the barriers to consumer acceptance of 3D?
A: The great interest in 3D theatrical content suggested there would be strong demand for 3D television; when they see it in a theater, it's the natural expectation for people to want that kind of functionality in the home. Then you have to figure out if you look at markets, who do we need to work with to create an industry? If you're a movie studio, by having [a 3D] theatrical release you can amortize costs; you get more revenue and it's more profitable, so they love 3D.
Q: How about bringing it into the home -- why is that easier now?
A: HD technology is mature and it's inexpensive. So instead of having to compromise by sticking two crappy images into one high-definition frame you can have two pristine high-definition frames. That's the difference. The bandwidth is no longer as much of an issue. And high-definition is a benchmark now; consumers expect that level of quality, and I do not want to compromise on that.
Q: Even with limited content, do people seem interested in 3D?
A: Introducing big technology that will transform the industry is always chicken and egg. If I'm going to make content, I need to know how many people are going to watch. But last year, the difference in price between a 3D TV and a 2D TV was about $200 -- not a heck of a lot. And we sold, as an industry, about 1.3 million 3D televisions. This year, as an industry, we will sell about 3.5 million 3D TVs. That means in two years that's 4.5 to 5 million TVs. If you compare that to the introduction of high-definition television 12 years ago, in the first five years [after the introduction of HD] the industry sold less than half a million TVs. It was something like that. This time, it's 5 million in two years, so the velocity is much higher.
Q: But as a percentage of total TV sales this is still a tiny slice...
A: Say 200 million of any kind of TV was sold in the world last year, or 100 million of the ones that make a difference -- the big TVs you see at the big-box retailers. Given this growth curve of 3D, most flat-panel TVs will have both an Internet and 3D functionality by 2013, or 70% of all our screens will have a 3D feature by then. The ramp-up is getting quicker and quicker.
Q: What will drive the market in terms of 3D content?
A: Obviously movies -- but also sports, traditionally, is a huge driver, which is why we spend a lot of money pushing these programs, and it's why we're here. The key is the variety of different genres available in 3D: scripted dramas, documentaries, nature, movies, music, Broadway ... you want a wide range of programming. What's really going to push it is big tentpole events broadcast in 3D, such as Major League Baseball's All Star game.
Q: Why is the U.S. Open so important for Panasonic?
A: We make lots of revenue outside of the consumer realm: the professional cameras, the signage, the solar panels, the laptops. We have a lot of stuff. From a corporate standpoint, since New York is our home base, it's important to reach out to the community and you know what the makeup of this community is -- it's very affluent. Ultimately, when we integrate not only the [grassroots consumer] activation, but during the 2D broadcast where we say: "Do you know that this is also available in 3D," the awareness really pops. That's where we always see a huge lift. That's why it's worthwhile doing this.
Q: What strategic advantage do you have over other consumer electronics companies making 3D TVs?
A: One point is that we have the capability to make the professional gear to do this. Other people don't do that. They want to do it, but it might take them a while or they won't do it as well. I'm biased, but I think we have done a better job because we have spent a lot of time with the production community.
Touch Screen Whiteboards
This kids are doing this in school, how can they come home to a dumb tv?
http://smarttech.com/us/Solutions/Education+Solutions/Products+for+education/Interactive+whiteboards+and+displays/SMART+Board+interactive+whiteboards/800+for+education
http://www.guardian.co.uk/classroom-innovation/bett-2011-review-ict-schools-technology
http://www.tekpanel.com/digital_whiteboard_system.asp
http://owaychina.en.busytrade.com/products/info/1440918/Interactive-Electronic-Whiteboard-Touch-Screen.html
http://cybertechnology1.blogspot.com/2011/02/touch-screen-digital-whiteboard.html
http://www.prodisplay.com/front-projection-touch-screens.html
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Virtual Reality mirror for previewing Plastic Surgery
Actually this is Augmented Reality and not Virtual Reality.
Virtual reality allows users to face up to a new look
Sept. 6 - Computer technologists in London have developed a virtual reality mirror that offers people who are unhappy with their looks an opportunity to have a peek into an alternative future.
STORY: Charlize Theron's eyes.....Naomi Campbell's cheekbones.......Angelina Jolie's lips.......they're all features often requested of plastic surgeons by cosmetic surgery patients. But the worry for those going under the knife is whether the eventual reality matches their idealised dream. Scientists in London believe they've developed the best way method of avoiding plastic surgery remorse. They've created a 3D 'virtual reality mirror' that changes the way a person looks in real time video by altering individual features on a PC. Student Vlado Kitanovski of Queen Mary, University of London is one of its developers. SOUNDBITE (English) PHD STUDENT AND CO-DESIGNER OF VIRTUAL REALITY PROGRAM, VLADO KITANOVSKI, SAYING: "Faces of different persons were used to build this statistical model of different appearance of faces so that it can adapt to every face which is unseen..........Then I'm using a 3D face tracker, which is actually simulating the pose of the face in every video frame, so that my algorithm knows exactly ......the pose and the position of facial features, so that later I'm using to synthesise a new view, modified view, of facial features by means of 2D warping." Professor Ebroul Izquierdo came up with the idea and a year ago put together a team to work on it. While a normal webcam-PC configuration shows your face as it is, a PC loaded with this software alters features on demand. SOUNDBITE (English) QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND CO-DESIGNER OF VIRTUAL REALITY PROGRAM, EBROUL IZQUIERDO, SAYING: "The advantage is that you can look at the mirror and see the face of the person as if you would be looking at a real mirror but with the enhanced, changed, nose and then the person can do all the local motions that you usually do with your nose, gestures, laughs, close eyes, and it will be seen in real time." The team believes the software will also help would-be patients get the approval of the one person whose views count as much as their own. SOUNDBITE (English) QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND CO-DESIGNER OF VIRTUAL REALITY PROGRAM, EBROUL IZQUIERDO, SAYING: "I guess it's going to help to get a better idea about how they are going to look and not only how they are going to look, but they could ask their wives or husbands to see what is going to happen..... 'well I'm going to enhance my nose and this is what you are going to see after that." Izquierdo and his team are putting the finishing touches to the program before making any commercial approaches. They're convinced that when their virtual reality mirror is released it will give face value a whole new meaning. Jim Drury, Reuters
RELATED SYSEMS
http://modiface.com/
Virtual reality allows users to face up to a new look
Sept. 6 - Computer technologists in London have developed a virtual reality mirror that offers people who are unhappy with their looks an opportunity to have a peek into an alternative future.
STORY: Charlize Theron's eyes.....Naomi Campbell's cheekbones.......Angelina Jolie's lips.......they're all features often requested of plastic surgeons by cosmetic surgery patients. But the worry for those going under the knife is whether the eventual reality matches their idealised dream. Scientists in London believe they've developed the best way method of avoiding plastic surgery remorse. They've created a 3D 'virtual reality mirror' that changes the way a person looks in real time video by altering individual features on a PC. Student Vlado Kitanovski of Queen Mary, University of London is one of its developers. SOUNDBITE (English) PHD STUDENT AND CO-DESIGNER OF VIRTUAL REALITY PROGRAM, VLADO KITANOVSKI, SAYING: "Faces of different persons were used to build this statistical model of different appearance of faces so that it can adapt to every face which is unseen..........Then I'm using a 3D face tracker, which is actually simulating the pose of the face in every video frame, so that my algorithm knows exactly ......the pose and the position of facial features, so that later I'm using to synthesise a new view, modified view, of facial features by means of 2D warping." Professor Ebroul Izquierdo came up with the idea and a year ago put together a team to work on it. While a normal webcam-PC configuration shows your face as it is, a PC loaded with this software alters features on demand. SOUNDBITE (English) QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND CO-DESIGNER OF VIRTUAL REALITY PROGRAM, EBROUL IZQUIERDO, SAYING: "The advantage is that you can look at the mirror and see the face of the person as if you would be looking at a real mirror but with the enhanced, changed, nose and then the person can do all the local motions that you usually do with your nose, gestures, laughs, close eyes, and it will be seen in real time." The team believes the software will also help would-be patients get the approval of the one person whose views count as much as their own. SOUNDBITE (English) QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND CO-DESIGNER OF VIRTUAL REALITY PROGRAM, EBROUL IZQUIERDO, SAYING: "I guess it's going to help to get a better idea about how they are going to look and not only how they are going to look, but they could ask their wives or husbands to see what is going to happen..... 'well I'm going to enhance my nose and this is what you are going to see after that." Izquierdo and his team are putting the finishing touches to the program before making any commercial approaches. They're convinced that when their virtual reality mirror is released it will give face value a whole new meaning. Jim Drury, Reuters
RELATED SYSEMS
http://modiface.com/
3D Hacking Environment Links Kinect, Blender, and Metasploit
baxpace writes with a link describing a way to test your own security systems for vulnerabilities using Kinect-interpreted natural gestures in tandem with the Metasploit Framework and the Blender game engine, writing:
"The idea is to hack into your own systems while in a 3D, first person shooter style environment that interfaces with the Kinect sensor. The game engine was built using Blender and looks to be one of the most pleasing ways of uncovering your own systems' architectural/networking vulnerabilities."
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