Cambridge Consultants has trained artificial intelligence to reconstruct images from a highly distorted image or video feed in real time that is the AI’s best guess of what the source image originally looked like. The unique approach of their DeepRay product involves recognizing and correcting for a wide universe of distortion patterns. Cambridge Consultants’ first clients are self-driving car companies concerned with accurate object and risk detection, but DeepRay could also have a number of entertainment industry technical and story applications. Continue reading DeepRay Uses AI to Reconstruct Distorted Video in Real Time

After receiving interest from Apple and other customers, Sony plans to rev up production of its next-generation 3D sensors, which power front- and rear-facing 3D cameras. Sony sensor division head Satoshi Yoshihara reported that the company accelerated production of the 3D chips in late summer to meet the demand for several smartphones slated to debut in 2019. Although he did not provide production targets, he said Sony’s 3D business is already profitable and will impact earnings for the fiscal year beginning in April. Continue reading Sony Increases 3D Chip Supply to Meet Demand for Phones

At CES 2019 next month, Innovation Award honoree zSpace will show a portable Windows PC laptop that is focused on “spatial content,” allowing users to interact with augmented reality and virtual reality content. Based in Sunnyvale, zSpace’s creators claim it is the first portable Windows PC that “breaks the screen barrier” between users and AR/VR, and tout its ability to foster creativity and collaboration in a flexible, immersive environment. It features patented 3D screen technology and lightweight glasses. Continue reading zSpace to Show Windows Laptop for AR/VR Viewing at CES

MoviePass has had a rough year, and now, it’s aiming for a reboot. Chief executive Mitch Lowe will hand over the reins of day-to-day operations to executive vice president Khalid Itum and focus on long-term strategy. Itum noted that the company has lost consumers’ trust, and that he will lead an effort to “fix” the product as well as empathize with the turmoil its members endured over the past year. Starting in January 2019, MoviePass will introduce three new plans, each of which offers up to 36 movies per year. Continue reading MoviePass Hopes New Subscription Plans Will Save Service

Last year, Samsung debuted a cinema LED screen, Onyx Cinema LED, to be offered in three sizes to accommodate different movie theaters. The 19-foot model will run at DCI 2K (2048 x 1080), and the 34-foot and 50-foot versions will run at DCI 4K (4096 x 2160). The 2K version has a peak brightness of 300 nits, and the other two support 500 nits, enabling 3D projection. The screens will support other resolutions with letterboxing as well as wide or flat DCI and several versions of HDR, including Samsung’s HDR10+. Continue reading Samsung Readies Onyx Cinema LED Motion Picture Screens

At this week’s Unite LA event, Unity Technologies debuted CineCast, an AI-powered camera system that is intended to change how people stream, watch and interact with games and eSports. CineCast, which will enter beta in 2019, lets them create and view different camera angles. Unity introduced this technology to offer a better viewing experience for watching games such as “Overwatch.” Although the Overwatch League created similar tools, they don’t reach everyone, and Unity hopes to attract more viewers to the games. Continue reading Unity’s AI-Enabled CineCast Allows Dynamic Game Viewing

If Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft attain their goal, more of us will soon have our first experiences with augmented reality. These tech behemoths are hiring the talent and spending the money to make it a reality, with the hope that AR headsets will become lighter and sleeker — maybe even contact lenses. The experts note that all of our Internet-connected devices (IoT), paired with the cloud and AI, will dramatically “unlock the spaces around us.” But the potential applications also raise a number of potential privacy issues. Continue reading Technology Giants Envision the Future of Augmented Reality

Next year, an Amy Winehouse hologram will be on tour to collect money for an eponymous charity. She’s the latest in a trend of deceased actors, from Carrie Fisher in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” to Paul Walker in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, appearing as virtual 3D replicas. Now, some actors and studios are getting a jump on post-life value by creating 3D digital scans. Industrial Light & Magic just scanned Ingvild Deila, who was Princess Leia in “Rogue One.” She calls it “a safe bet for the people with the money.” Continue reading Movie Studios Creating 3D Digital Scans to Preserve Actors

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Onshape, a cloud-based CAD (computer-aided design) manufacturer, has created an application for use with Magic Leap’s augmented reality glasses to let engineers collaborate in designing products. Shown as a technology demonstration at the L.E.A.P. conference, Onshape’s tool was one of the few applications that was not entertainment-related and proved the concept of spatial computing’s power touted by Magic Leap chief exec Rony Abovitz. Onshape’s leadership includes the original creators of SolidWorks, a popular CAD tool. Continue reading Onshape App for Magic Leap Powers 3D Engineering Design

At its Adobe MAX show in Los Angeles this week, the company debuted a preview of Photoshop for iPad, stating plans to bring the full version to other tablets. The iPad Photoshop app is based on current code for the desktop version, and, within a few versions, will offer identical tools as the desktop version, including layers, masking and 3D. This move comes after Adobe brought Lightroom to mobile devices; at MAX, the company unveiled facial recognition, improved search and updated sharing tools for Lightroom. Continue reading Adobe Previews Photoshop for iPad and Lightroom Updates

Observer Analytics unveiled its platform for quantifying virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, to create key performance indicators (KPIs) for the industry. The platform was built from scratch to analyze the new and complex forms of engagement found in this immersive content, with the end goal of making it easier for developers to understand how users interact with their content. To create the platform, the company has raised $685,000, including a pre-seed round from Boost VC and Precursor Ventures. Continue reading Observer Analytics Debuts Tool to Evaluate VR, AR Content

In a 15-page letter on September 26, Snap chief executive Evan Spiegel told employees his plan to achieve full-year profitability in 2019 and refocus the company around new strategies. He admitted that the company’s redesign created many problems and “lost the core of what made Snapchat the fastest way to communicate.” That widely criticized redesign led to Snapchat’s first-ever decline in daily active users last quarter. Spiegel now wants the company to focus on adults, not teens, and messaging, not stories. Continue reading Snap Chief Exec Outlines a New Plan for Profitability, Growth

Rokoko made its library of professionally produced digital motion capture assets available for purchase in the Unity Asset Store. Its SmartSuit Pro captures an actor’s movements, turning them into data that can be used to animate characters in games and movies. Unity Technologies, which makes the Unity game engine, offers pre-made assets to game developers who are looking to avoid the hefty price of professional motion capture. Assets in The Motion Library are available for as little as $1 and a $10 monthly subscription. Continue reading Rokoko Offers Up Motion-Capture Library in Unity Asset Store

Magic Leap says its newly released Magic Leap One Creator Edition mixed reality glasses are “like living in the future ahead of everyone else.” Journalists got a sneak peek of the mixed reality “Angry Birds” on the Magic Leap goggles. On October 9-10 at the first L.E.A.P. developers conference in Los Angeles, the company will show off more apps and more of the interface. One reviewer added that the company is “taking a leap of faith” that the applications will be compelling enough to convince many users to shell out $2,295. Continue reading ‘Angry Birds FPS’ Offers New Experience for Magic Leap One

A month ago, MoviePass switched its $10 per month unlimited movie plan to one that offers three movies per month, with a limited selection. Now, rival Sinemia is offering a similarly unlimited movie plan — except that it costs $30 per month. With this plan, Sinemia allows the subscriber to see a movie a day, except for IMAX or 3D movies, at whatever theater, and adds the perk of being able to reserve seats. But Sinemia also offers other plans, starting with a basic one at $5 for one movie per month. Continue reading Sinemia Launches a $30 Unlimited Movie Plan in U.S. Market