Augmented reality is conquering new frontiers with Star Wars

Earlier this year, LMxLAB, a research and development division for Lucasfilm and Disney, unveiled a new augmented reality installation called the Holo-Cinema at the New Frontiers program for the Sundance Film Festival.

The technology uses lightweight 3-D glasses covered in sensors, motion-tracking cameras, projectors, two screen walls, and the floor to immerse users in a cinematic world.

The Sundance exhibition featured the desert world of Jakku from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Several different users could walk into a pre-recorded scene and explore the environment in 3D.

Cameras tracked everyone’s location so that at any given time each person’s point-of-view was specific to his/her position. The project is a signpost for the ways in which augmented reality will impact the future of the entertainment industry.

“Directors are learning their way around the medium to make content that plays better in a 360-degree environment,” Shari Frilot, New Frontiers’s Senior Programmer and Chief Curator, said in an interview with Screen Daily. “This will only keep getting better.”

John Gaeta, the executive creative director at ILMxLAB, was similarly enthusiastic about advancements in the AR field. He believes that in a few years, the technology will evolve enough to be showcased at amusement parks or even used in the privacy of your own home. The R&D lab is already working on future consumer-facing displays to accompany upcoming episodes of Star Wars.

The development of Holo-Cinema marks a major milestone in filmmaking history.

Not only does this new technology allow viewers to explore their favorite films from a new perspective, but it can also help directors determine how to film a particular scene.

Generally, filmmakers only see concept art and animation while filming, so they are unable to see computer-generated graphics combined with the actors in-scene until post-production. Holo-Cinema enables them to better visualize each scene and decide on the best camera angles and props to use.

Gaeta predicted that augmented reality would become an extension of most mainstream movies in three to five years. In five to ten years, the technology may be within the budget of even more diverse films.

Fans of Star Wars should be relieved to hear that the ILMxLAB team is working closely with Lucasfilm’s story group to provide a cohesive experience of the fictional universe. Eventually, the technology may be used to explore new worlds and subplots that are not included in the movies.

Consumers can expect to see more of the Holo-Cinema technology in other famous film series coming soon. ILMxLAB currently works with a number of filmmakers to help create more engaging theater experiences. Jurassic Park is another series that the division has been focused on this last year.

Against this backdrop, Disney has proven to be a major investor in the AR industry. Holo-Cinema is not the first example of the company’s interest in using immersive entertainment to expand the Star Wars universe. During July 2015, Disney released an official Star Wars mobile application that used AR to simulate lightsaber training.

Players must tilt their lightsabers (a.k.a. their smartphones) at different angles to block shots fired at them. This section of the app replicates the force training that Luke Skywalker underwent in the first Star Wars film.

In addition to using their phones as a lightsaber stand-in, users can interact with BB-8 or a stormtrooper in real time after scanning an image on a poster using their smartphone cameras. This free Star Wars app is available on both iOS and Android.

All of this goes to show that augmented reality is looming over the entertainment industry. By enabling viewers to engage with scenes from their favorite films, AR technology provides a captivating new experience for all theatergoers.

Comments

Google Announces Android Wear Update With WiFi Support, Always-On Apps, And More

It has been a while since Android Wear got any substantial updates, but today Google is announcing a big one. A new version of Wear will be rolling out over the coming weeks that includes a number of previously rumored features (like WiFi support) and some all new stuff (like always-on apps). Most Wear devices use the always-on ambient mode for the watch face by default, the Moto 360 being a notable exception. The new Android Wear version allows apps to operate in ambient mode too, so they remain active when the watch goes to sleep. That makes it easier to take a quick glance at the app instead of waking the device up and opening the app all over again. The watch will still only go into full-color mode when necessary. WiFi support is also coming in the update, which means your watch can be useful even if your phone isn't connected. Watches with WiFi support will be able to connect to WiFi and still get messages and notifications from your phone, provided it has an interne...

Budding #entrepreneur from Chandigarh University!!

Budding #entrepreneur from Chandigarh University!! #CU #students unfolded their creative ideas and presented them with a productive shape! Meet Our #Automobile #Engineering student - Trilok Singh, who has started his own start-up with the name GEARR TECHNOLOGIES under the guidance of CU-TBI. This start up focuses on affordable high end #Bicycles and its high #technology equipment’s. This start- up will bring to the Indian audience the scope of Products, #innovation, creativity and customization available in the market. Watch the video!!

South Korea aims for startup gold

Back in 2011, when South Korea won its longshot bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, the country wasn’t widely recognized as a destination for ski and snow lovers. It wasn’t considered much of a tech startup hub either. Fast forward seven years and a lot has changed. For the next 10 days, the eyes of the world will be on the snowy slopes of PyeongChang. Meanwhile, a couple of hours away in Seoul, a burgeoning startup scene is seeing investments multiply, generating exits and even creating a unicorn or two. While South Korea doesn’t get a perfect score as a startup innovation hub, it has established itself as a serious contender. More than half a billion dollars annually has gone to seed through late-stage funding rounds for the past few years. During that time, at least two companies, e-commerce company Coupang and mobile-focused content and commerce company Yello Mobile, have established multi-billion-dollar valuations. To provide a broader picture of how South Korea stacks ...

The Eight Most Impactful Excel Shortcuts That You Should Master

If you’ve ever gone online to research improving your Excel skills, you’ve undoubtedly come across a post or two listing all of Excel’s keyboard shortcuts. In the latest version of Excel, Microsoft has made it easier than ever to learn shortcuts, by assigning shortcuts to nearly every function and making the discovery of the input sequence very transparent. While memorizing Excel shortcuts will generally improve your productivity, not all shortcuts are created equal. Shortcuts that you never use are not inherently not very useful and not worth memorizing. Your focus should be on the shortcuts that have the most impact – either by the amount of time it saves you, the frequency that you’ll use them, or the behavior it encourages. If you’ve already started using Excel or just haven’t utilized shortcuts heavily before, review the top eight shortcuts below. For any that you don’t know already, I would suggest memorizing them and incorp...

Facebook will verify the location of U.S. election ad buyers by mailing them postcards

Facebook’s global director of policy programs says it will start sending postcards by snail mail to verify buyers of ads related to United States elections. Katie Harbath, who described the plan at a conference held by the National Association of Secretaries of State this weekend, didn’t reveal when the program will start, but told Reuters that it would be before the Congressional midterm elections in November. The cards will be sent to people who want to purchase ads that mention candidates running for federal offices, but not issue-based political ads, Harbath said, and contain a code that buyers need to enter to verify that they are in the U.S. The program is similar to ones used by Google My Business and Nextdoor when they need to verify business owners or users who want to join closed neighborhood groups, respectively. Harbath told Reuters that the postcards “won’t solve everything,” but were the most effective method the company came up with to prevent people from using fa...

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog