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

Metaio’s Thermal Touch Gets A Little Bit Smaller At MWC 2015

We first reported on Metaio’s Thermal Touch concept for Augmented Reality interaction last spring. Still in its infancy, the concept relies on thermal imaging cameras to track residual heat your body leaves on surfaces that it touches. Metaio’s software can track these heat signatures so they act as “clicks” or “touches” in Augmented Reality interfaces that only the user sees on interactive eyewear or devices. It’s a pretty interesting concept and will undoubtedly open a new realm for User Experience and User Interface experts to ponder. The first prototype we looked at was crude and completely impractical—an iPad with a giant thermal camera attached to it. Indeed, a few people pointed out to me “why would you need to touch external surfaces, when the iPad screen is right in front of you?” However that question totally misses the point of the prototype, which was really just proving the concept was worth further exploration. This next concept for thermal touc...

How to prevent Recent and Phone Favorite contacts from showing in your iOS task switcher

When you double-click your iPhone's home button, you will be greeted with the task switching screen, which presents you with card deck-style snapshots of your active apps to freely browse and switch to. With iOS 8, however, where most iPhones are at the moment, Apple introduced a Favorites row there, with circular pictures of your most recently used contacts. Most people aren't bothered by their recent contacts appearing there, but for some this means easy snooping on who they've called or texted last, or simply unnecessary clutter. If you don't want to wait until iOS 9 hits and gets rid of these circular shenanigans in your task switcher, here's what you need to do to get rid of them: 1. Go to the Settings app, and scroll down to the Mail, Contacts, Calendars section; 2. From Mail, Contacts, Calendars, look for the Contacts section, which will be hosting the Show in App Switcher options; 3. Tap on Show in App Switche...

Oculus’ New $99 Samsung Gear VR Makes Serious Virtual Reality Affordable

At half the price of its last mobile VR headset, the new $99 Oculus-made Samsung Gear VR is cheap enough to unlock virtual reality for the mainstream. Revealed today at the Oculus Connect conference, it works with the whole 2015 line of Samsung Smartphones including the Note 5, S6, S6 Edge, and S6 Edge+. It will ship in November in time for Black Friday. Compared to the $199 previous Gear VRs that only worked with fewer phones, this headset will be a lot more accessible. The new Gear VR is 22% lighter, making it more comfortable to wear. The trackpad on the temple of the headset also now has a tactile directional pad on it so your finger will know where it’s touching. The previous Gear VRs had a smooth trackpad and sometimes it was to tough to know if you were touching it or just the unsensitive shell of the headset when you couldn’t see for yourself. There’s also a new Gear VR Gamepad which all the Oculus Connect conference attendees will get for free. It features an...

Laser gun is deployed and operational on U.S. Navy warship

After several years of research and testing, the U.S. Navy has introduced a new laser gun designed to protect ships without using ammunition. Another entry on our timeline is now a reality as the U.S. Navy has authorised the first operational use of a laser weapon. This new hi-tech system – known as the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) – is designed to serve as a form of defence against drones and other small flying vehicles or small-boat enemies including suicide attackers. It is highly accurate, able to hit objects moving at up to 300 mph (480 km/h). The LaWS fires a solid-state infrared beam with two modes: high output to destroy a target, and low output for optical "dazzling", warning shots or to cripple a potential attacker. Among the advantages of this device versus projectile weapons is the low cost per shot, as each firing of the weapon requires only minimal cost for generating the energetic pulse; by contrast ordnance for projectile weapons must be des...

Intel announces the first 14 nanometre processor

At the Computex conference in Taipei, chipmaker Intel has revealed a fanless mobile PC reference design using the first of its next-generation 14nm "Broadwell" processors. The 2 in 1 pictured here is a 12.5" screen that is just 7.2 mm thick with keyboard detached and weighs 670 grams. The Surface Pro 3 – for comparison – is 9.1 mm thick and weighs 800 grams. It includes a media dock that provides additional cooling for a burst of performance. The next-generation chip is purpose-built for 2 in 1s and will hit the market later in 2014 . Called the Intel Core M, it will be the most energy-efficient Intel Core processor in the company's history with power usage cut by up to 45 percent, resulting in 60 percent less heat. The majority of designs based on this new chip are expected to be fanless, with up to 32 hours of battery life, offering both a lightning-fast tablet and razor-thin laptop. Intel is also delivering innovation and performance for the ...

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog