Kanopy is an award-winning video streaming service providing access to more than 30,000 independent and documentary films ─ titles of unique social and cultural value from The Criterion Collection, The Great Courses, Media Education Foundation, and thousands of independent filmmakers.
Article by Marcus Siu
It’s astonishing to know that there are so many people don’t even flinch an eye when they pay nearly $100/month for premium streaming channels. The channel’s exclusive “must-see” TV shows have these consumers hooked. For example, Apple Plus has “Ted Lasso”, HBO Max has “Succession”, Netflix has “Stranger Things”, Amazon Prime has “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, Disney Plus has “The Mandalorian”. The exclusive list of titles is endless, and if you want access to all the top quality shows, you will pay the price.
However, if you don’t fall in that category as these “must-see” TV viewers, and just want to mainly watch indie, international films or documentaries, then it is is refreshing to know that you have another alternative out there for video on demand streaming platforms streaming quality content. Whether or not you are someone who simply cannot afford to pay for premium services, or just a film scholar in college who loves to watch and study film, Kanopy, comes to mind as the best choice for “thoughtful entertainment”.
Kanopy includes partners with filmmakers and movie studios around the globe to give movie-lovers free access to films that stimulate imagination, promote learning and spark meaningful conversations. Many films on Kanopy—including from iconic suppliers like the BBC, NEON, Samuel Goldwyn Films, HISTORY, A&E, First Run Features Kino Lorber and IFC Films—are unavailable elsewhere. The Criterion Collection, A24, and Neon is also showcased.
An ever growing list of content partners continue to be added to Kanopy, including BBC, A&E, and Neon.
As an frequent film festival goer, I have missed out on many films that I could not see due to scheduling conflicts. Kanopy solves that problem by having many of these same films in their catalog that I regrettably missed at the festivals over the years available for video on demand. It is a blessing as many of these obscure titles were movies that I gave up on seeing long ago.
New titles are added weekly, so you never know what you’ll find. One title that caught my attention was also one that I missed at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival; “Benediction”, a British film directed by Terrence Davies that played film festivals, and also had a limited release in June in the U.S. Even more surprising is that there hasn’t even been a release of the film on DVD or Blu-Ray in this country, only in the U.K.
Kanopy, founded in 2008, was originally an Australian based DVD distributor that marketed primarily to universities. In 2010, Kanopy moved to San Francisco, and offered its new streaming services to City and County libraries and Universities around the nation for their patrons. Now with over 45 million users, Kanopy is currently available through 4,000 libraries in 200 different countries. Chances are your local library is one of them.
If you belong to one of the 4,000 Kanopy library’s and have a card from one of them, it’s free for you just for being a card holder.
How can it be free, you ask? Just as libraries purchase books for their patrons to borrow, they also offer a variety of digital resources. Kanopy is able to provide its viewers with free access because the public library or university covers the associated costs, allowing patrons to watch for free, with no advertisements.
Kanopy can be played on a tablet, smartphone, or computer.
All you need is a tablet, smartphone, computer, or TV with streaming capabilities, e-mail address and unique password to create your Kanopy profile, a library card number and PIN/password, and the Kanopy app or updated web browser software (e.g. Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, etc.).
Then all you have to do is go to Kanopy’s website to add your library card number and PIN/password. Once confirmed, you will be given a number of credits that you can use each month, depending on which library is entered. Some libraries give 10 credits per month and some give less, such as 8 credits. You can add multiple library cards, if you belong to different participating libraries, so it’s possible to watch a movie each day, if you have three or four library cards.
The Kanopy app is available on iOS and Android and all major streaming devices, including Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TV. In 2021, OverDrive acquired Kanopy to bring together the single most extensive catalog of premium content and the best-in-class user experience for video, ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and additional streaming media.
With over 30,000 titles to choose from, it would be tough to want to do anything else but watch movies all day. It can be very addicting.
Be warned that even couch potatoes still need to get out once in awhile.
Disney Original Documentary’s Mija follows Doris Muñoz and Jacks Haupt, two daughters ofimmigrants from Mexico, navigating their careers in the music industry. A moving love letter to immigrants and their children, this intimate debut feature by Isabel Castro captures the emotional and complex stories of Doris and Jacks for whom “making it” isn’t just a dream, it’s a necessity.
A DISNEY FIRST
It’s been a quite a musical journey for 27 year millennial old Doris Muñoz, the subject and protagonist of the latest Disney documentary feature film “Mija”, who appeared at a recent screening at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco along with the films Emmy-nominated director, Isabel Castro, who is also credited as the Director of Photography.
“Mija”, which literally translates to “my darling little daughter” in Spanish, tells the story of Muñoz pursuing her dreams of “making it” in the music industry while trying to sponsor her undocumented immigrant parents to gain legal status in the U.S. enabling them to reunite the entire family together. Her brother was deported back to Mexico six years ago.
“Mija” has the distinct honor of being the first “Disney Original Documentary”, which is “committed to pushing the boundaries in non-fiction storytelling by embracing new creative voices, approaches and styles in cinema”. The film is a sensible first choice as it fits that criteria with the Latino community, an ethnic group whose voice rarely gets heard in the media. On so many different levels, the film takes the audience out on an emotional rollercoaster, especially exposing the racial and cultural barriers of living in this country without having the benefit of being treated as a first-class American citizen.
The film had its premiere at Sundance in January, its theatrical run in August, and will be streaming on Disney Plus starting September 16th.
PERSONAL STORYTELLING
In contrast to her journalistic immigration documentaries that she directed for various media outlets, Castro was given more creative control and was able to shape the narrative story-telling in “Mija” that had limited her so much in the past. “As a teenager, I felt like there was a shortage of stories about what it meant to come of age as an immigrant or as the child of immigrants in the United States. I wanted to tell the kind of story I craved myself, as a Mexican immigrant, when I was figuring out my identity, family, and community.” Castro exclaims.
It’s her most personal film to date, which included and total cooperation and trust from with her subject, Doris Muñoz, along with her entire family and her musical cliental, even through the pandemic, which actually heightened their relationship even more.
“When I met Isabel, we clicked in a way that felt like we’ve known each other for such a long time. And that’s my gut feeling immediately checked out. I was like, already cool, like I could trust her with this, and I think that”, Munoz explained. “I didn’t have Big Sisters growing up and I felt like Isabel kind of really like became a part of our family. Her being a part of such intimate moments. And I felt like I had a big sister all of a sudden, you know, and I, I think quite transparent online.”
MUSIC AS A CAREER CHOICE
The film begins with Muñoz, buying party supplies at a local store in San Bernardino, which we later find out is for her own 26th birthday party that she plans to throw for herself. She explains that she is the “birthday queen” as we are shown footage of early family home videos from when she was a baby to where she is now. Lovingly raised alongside her brother by her immigrant parents and extremely proud of their Latina heritage, we see her singing at home, in church, and even playing the saxophone and the violin in high school. Through these clips, it becomes obvious that music was going to be her chosen path.
After graduating USC with a degree in music theater, Muñoz questions her unorthodox career choice of being a music manager. We see her trying to persuade her supportive but unconvinced parents that she is heading in the right direction career-wise to financially support herself. At the same time, we feel the conflict and tension in her voice as she tries to reason with her parents on the phone, as she now has to make critical adult decisions on her own that will shape her life and eventually her family from this point on.
A CAREER IN MUSIC MANAGEMENT
It soon pays off for Muñoz, as she began to reach out to other Latino artists using social media, such as Twitter and YouTube. She gets her big break with becoming the music manager for Cuco, a young teenage Chicano singer-songwriter music artist from Hawthorne, California. Within a year, Muñoz helped Cuco playing backyard BBQ shows to major music festivals, such as Coachella and Lollapalooza, eventually becoming an international sensation.
In one memorable scene, Cuco mesmerizes his Latino audience, who are also singing along to his lyrics as he seductively performs to them. The camera perfectly captures the mood with its colors magically blending its universe and adding to the ethereal quality of the moment, as well as showing us the power and intensity of those of the artist and audience that are reserved usually only to the musical elite.
From that point on, Muñoz never looked back as her career flourished with a new lifestyle that she never imagined; five star hotels, restaurants, travel all around the world, but most of all, financial independence…all for something she loved doing.
After Cuco and Doris parted ways, due to the pandemic that forced cancelling tours, she decided to create her own company, named “Mija Management”. She reached out to Jacks Haupt for who she also saw on social media. Like Muñoz, she was also an immigrant who wanted nothing more than to succeed as an artist with no turning back. Even with Muñoz being six years her senior, the two became like-sisters, with both having the same guilt of being the only U.S. citizen in their own family.
Just as the importance in a relationship between a documentary subject and the documentary director is to the film, the same could be said between the artist and the music manager when it comes to music. It’s all about gaining trust. Just like Muñoz has a trusting relationship with her family, she also does with the artists that she manages. With her growing reputation and success as a music manager, musical talent now pursues her instead of it being the other way around.
A CAREER AS A MUSIC ARTIST
Though she had the talent to be a singer herself when she attended USC, Muñoz preferred not to be in the spotlight but to be behind the scenes. It wasn’t until she had the opportunity to sing with Ed Sheeran, who asked her onstage to sing along to his hit single “Lego House” at a radio event during her sophomore year in college, that she ever did consider to become a singer and launch a solo career.
As soon as she started posting videos of herself performing on YouTube, they went viral. Even her musical heroes responded and gave her much encouragement and praise. Even more amazing is that it hasn’t even been yet a year since Muñoz decided to change career paths from being a music manager to a singer. It was a life transformation for her.
“It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. It was like when I finally made the decision, it felt like my angels, my ancestors, my guide, take everyone who’s been rooting for me up and around me”, Munoz continued, “they made the way, and like every door has been opening since”.
Now she is going by the stage name, Doris Anahí, she has her music on all the streaming platforms and already has a few Vevo music videos playing on YouTube. There will also be a soundtrack available for “Mija’, as well.
When asked during a Q&A at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco about her future plans, Castro answered, “I don’t know. I’ll give you a medium answer ’cause I can stay up here for two hours. Kind of unpacking my existential crisis.” Castro paused. “I’m constantly just navigating the different challenges that come along with storytelling spaces. I think I moved out of journalism to try to, you know, go into documentary. And now I’m kind of thinking about fiction”, Castro concluded. “I’m a mess”, as the audience roared into laughter.
With the overly enthusiastic audience and ovation at the end of the film, I believe we will all greatly anticipate and embrace her next film project, whatever it may be documentary or fiction.
Twenty years ago, on April Fools Day, a friend and I decided to play a joke on her soon-to-be husband. The plan would be for me to call him and impersonate someone who worked for a collection agency and tell him he owed money to them. I made the phone call to his home and disguised my voice in a manner that he wouldn’t recognize me. Since there was no answer, I left a voice message on his answering machine.
The next morning, my partner in crime and his soon-to-be wife said he was worried sick and couldn’t sleep the previous night. Feeling guilty, and feeling bad for the emotional duress we put on her fiancé, we eventually had to confess to him that this was just an April Fool’s joke before he had a nervous breakdown.
In a way, I guess you may be able to call this a “phone scam”, but without any true intent for monetary gain…just for a extra few laughs between friends.
However, if her fiancé was preyed upon by a very “seasoned” phone scammer today, he would have been an excellent prospect. Scammers nowadays are not only pretending they are from collection services, but also the IRS, Social Security, Medicare, retailers (Amazon or Apple), electric companies, phone companies, and even other for-profit organizations. They will call just about everyone with a phone number and will victimize anyone who picks up the phone and is willing to chat.
WHY ARE THERE SCAMMERS?
Ben Rothke web presentation’s “How to Avoid Being a Scam Victim when Your Phone Rings” was recently aired via webcast at the RSA Conference a month ago. He is a New York City-based Senior Information Security Manager with Tapad and has over 20 years of industry experience in information systems.
Rothke explains that scammers are not exclusively operating in third world countries but are operating even in some first world countries, too. It’s quite more lucrative for scammers in third world countries, who are normally living under poverty, where they can make a significant amount of money off just one scam with very low odds of being under the radar. The odds of being caught and prosecuted are even almost smaller, so in some ways they’re working with just pure impunity. Being a fraudsters in certain parts of the world can be quite profitable, especially attacking victims in affluent countries, such as the United States.
These are large organizations, highly structured scam operations and not just a one-offs. There’s management, cost enters, controls, IT, and even a security person, just like any normal companies have. These organizations are well run and highly efficient. American law enforcement is unlikely to be able to catch these scammers for a lots of reasons that are in their favor. International laws make it quite difficult. Jurisdiction is extremely difficult.
WHO IS THE TARGET?
“Older adults or are particularly susceptible to scammers for a lot of reasons as they see or they’re trusting. Grandparents are very giving – they’ve got unconditional love”, Rothke explains.
Rothke points out that scammers like to target the “not so tech savvy” elderly, who are generally more trusting, giving, unsuspicious and have a lot more time on their hands. They also feel very guilty about ending calls as they are accommodating to giving information out, which scammers adore.
This could easily be anyone’s mother or grandmother that they are taking advantage of. However, scammers are not just limiting this just to the elderly, but just about anyone who has a phone.
Recently in the news, an 82-year-old woman from Florida lost over $700,000 to scammers who convinced her that her granddaughter was in legal trouble and needed financial help. Over the summer, the woman, who was not identified, received a phone call from a woman claiming to be her granddaughter.
“It’s not just people who are who are clueless who are being victims I’ve had some friends professionals who became victims of these scammers”, Rothke declares.
If you know any elderly people who might be a prime target, it’s best to make them aware of scammers. Help them put controls on their bank accounts as a safeguard, even if they don’t do any online banking, and make sure they do not give out any personal information. Assure them that it’s okay to hang up on them, but most of all, let theses unrecognized calls go straight to voice mail, when possible.
HOUSE ADVANTAGEFORPHONE SCAMMERS
These are all unsolicited calls – calls out of the blue. These scammers are willing to say anything and persuade the unprepared victim in giving them personal information, such as their bank, credit card, medical number, and just about any personal information that they can sell or use.
They will certainly pressure you with a deadline offer at the end of the call, with absolutely no callbacks allowed. Even if you tell them that you want to “think about it” and consult with your spouse, children, friends, or even lawyers, their tactic is to say once you hang-up, the offer is void. If they pressure you that there is a deadline, it is most likely a scam.
Rothke states, “the last thing they want you to do is think about it, because if you think about it and go to Consumer Reports, Better Business Bureau, or to speak to a spouse or a friend, you’re gonna know it’s a scam.”
Many times, spammers will even “spoof” their calls. For example, they will be able to make your caller ID look like it’s from the same area code and prefix, so it look like a legitimate local call that you would normally pick up. You may think it’s your doctor’s office or your mechanic.
If you do pick up the call, but still somewhat suspicious about it, it’s a good idea to ask your caller where exactly they are calling from. If they say they are from the same city you are located in, you should inquire about the streets or neighborhood where they are located to get a sense if they are really local or just lying through their teeth, which is usually the case.
“They’ll e-mail you, maybe they’ll text you, but very few legitimate businesses are calling people. Medicare doesn’t call people to sell them things. Amazon is not calling you, your electric company is not, so you know the fact that you’re getting an unsolicited call should put your guard up right there because they said if you get a cold call in 2021 almost certainty you know that it is a scammer on the other line”, Rothke concludes.
TOP PHONE SCAMS
AMAZON:
The Amazon-scam robocalls tend to start with someone saying there has been suspicious activity on your account, and then asks you to press 1 or call another phone number. Next, the scammer may ask for your Amazon account information. Or he may ask to help you by taking over control of your computer via software that lets him gain access to your credit card, banking and other sensitive information — so he can steal your identity and your money.
Recently in the news, a Rocky River man lost over $124,000 after two men claiming to work for Amazon convinced him his personal account was in danger and that he needed to move his money to a newly set up account. The resident told police he received a call from two men claiming to be from Amazon security who advised him that an unknown person accessed his personal account and had tried to charge $900 to it. The men, still identifying themselves as security, helped the resident set up an online account and attach his bank account to it. The men convinced him that he needed to move his money to the new online account.
It’s better to contact Amazon directly, if you have questions concerning your orders.
SOCIAL SECURITY ARREST WARRANT
Scammers posing as Social Security employees will claim your Social Security number was used for some illegal activity, such as bank fraud or drug trafficking, and that there’s a warrant for your arrest. They will threaten to freeze your bank account or 401k’s and ask you lots of personal and financial questions to determine how much they can scam you for.
It’s best to call Social Security directly to verify anything this serious.
CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATE REDUCTION SCAM
You get an unsolicited automated call from “card services” or a major credit card company promising to secure you a reduced APR and lower credit card interest payments. All they do is transfer your credit card debt to a new account and charge you 40 to 60% fee for that service up front. They will even mention the Restructuring Act from the Obama Administration to make it sound more credible.
These scammers would convince their victims to request wire transfers from Western Union, MoneyGram or even gift cards, which are non-traceable for something. Legitimate companies never ask you to wire money.
It’s against the law for debt-relief services to collect payment before they have done anything for you. Also don’t trust the company if the offer expires after you hang up.
EXTENDED AUTO WARRANTY SCAMS:
Scammers will offer extended auto warranty, but in reality, it’s not a warranty, since only the manufacturer can issue a warranty. What you buy at the dealer or from a third-party are extended service contracts (ESC), also known as “Vehicle Service Contracts”, which gets you a policy, but no coverage. They are worthless and should be avoided at all costs. If you believe it is legit, then you should call other dealers and inquire about these ESC’s.
SENIOR HEALTHCARE SCAMS
With over 50 million people seniors signed onto Medicare, there are even more scams targeted among the elderly to be concerned about. Medigap, drug or Advantage plans are used to enroll seniors into fake plans, identity theft, purchase of expensive and overpriced medical equipment, using high-pressure scare tactics like problems with your Medicare account, in which case they will ask for your ID number and bank/credit card details to fix it, which would make it easy for identity theft.
ELECTRIC AND ENERGY SCAMS:
Scammers will claim they are from your local energy supplier and say that you are on a commercial plan that needs to be moved to a lower-rate consumer plan. Given the unfamiliarity of kWh (kilowatt-hour) rates by most people, it makes it easier for scammers to say that money will be saved, but rates you’ll be charged will most likely be quadrupled. By the time the bill comes in 6 to 8 weeks, it will be too late, and they are stuck to pay for these exorbitant charges.
SOLAR ENERGY:
Solar seems like a no-brainer, so why wouldn’t anyone want to invest in it? Leave it to the fast talking salesmen scammers of Solar Energy to make it simple with no out of pocket expenses and install low quality solar panels. But with not knowing how the bills are processed, how the meters are read, and what you’re paying for. By the time you get your bill it could be two to three months into the scam.
In addition, they they know a lot of people like auto-pay, since it’s just much easier to have your monthly bill debited from your account. People like to go into paperless so they could go on for a few months and not to have to think about it. When their account overdraft kicks in four to five months later, they realize that they have overspent a lot more than they expected.
TRAVEL AND VACATION SCAMS:
Scammers will offer a free vacation, but the customer will still have to pay for a a reservation fee or some other fee that they claim will be worthwhile. For example, if the fee is $1000, then you will be getting $6000 worth of amenities, when all you will get are worthless travel certificates.
FUND RAISING FOR-PROFITS PAC’S
Political action committees (PAC’s) try to pose as legitimate charities, but are not. They capitalize on name confusion to deceive you. These companies enrich themselves at the expense of the donating public. “Americans for the Cure of Breast Cancer”, “Orphans Fund Diabetes Network of North America” are examples of 501(c3) charities. These PAC’s misled donors as to where their funds would go and what they would be used for. Of course, none of these would give you a tax deduction.
PHONE AND CABLE SERVICE
Just like electricity and energy scams, phone and cable scammers will claim to be from your current cell provider and promise you lower rates. They will attempt to get for your account information, since they won’t have it and then switch you to a different and more expensive provider.
BASIC RED FLAGS TO LOOK FOR:
Scammers won’t let you call back. They will say once you hang up, the offer will expire. No legitimate salesperson/businesses do this. They are using pressure tactics. Just because they called you doesn’t mean that you have to accept the offer.
Don’t make payments by gift card, prepaid debit card or wire transfer. Fraudsters favor these methods because they are difficult to trace.
Don’t give personal or financial data, such as your Social Security number, Medical, bank account or credit card account numbers, to callers you don’t know.
SAFEST SOLUTION:
Do not to answer the phone if you don’t recognize the phone number. If it’s a legitimate call from your doctor, mechanic or a friend (not in your contacts list), they will leave a voice message if it’s important enough. If you do answer the phone, don’t press any numbers based on prompts on the suspicious robocall. Just hang up.
REVENGE SOLUTION:
If you want to be a rebel and mess with the spam caller and and want some vendetta, my suggestion is to take the call and speak to them for a brief moment showing genuine interest in whatever they are selling. Then abruptly cut the conversation short and say “I need to put you on hold because someone is at the front door. Can I put you on hold for a moment?” As soon as they agree, put them on hold until they eventually lose patience and hang up.
At the closing of the 2022 RSA Conference, moderator Hugh Thompson, along with panelists from the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder, Katie Couric, Rashad Robinson, and Chris Krebs. Photo by Marcus Siu.
Article and photos by Marcus Siu
America is in a crisis of trust and truth. Bad information has become as prevalent, persuasive, and persistent as good information, creating a chain reaction of harm. Recent examples include, vaccines, elections, and fake news. It makes any health crisis more deadly. It slows down response time on climate change. It undermines democracy. What can we do?
The Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder was created to address this issue.
“It’s one of the most important issues of our time and it’s “information disorder”. How do we know that the information that we’re getting the information that we’re acting on… Is it real? Who wrote it? Is it based in fact? It’s a challenge that all of us face everyday“, Hugh Thompson asks his audience.
Award-winning journalist, Katie Couric, best known as the longtime cohost of NBC’s Today show for fifteen years and as the first solo female anchor of a major network (CBS) evening news program. Also on hand were the other two co-chairs from the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder, Cybersecurity expert, Chris Krebs and Civil Rights Activist, Rashad Robinson. They took the stage at the Hugh Thompson Show at the 2022 RSA Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
COURIC’S CO-CHAIRS
Chris Kreps, was the founding director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) that was established on November 2018 that former President Trump signed into law.
However, on November 12, 2020, CISA issued a press release asserting, “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” On the same day, Director Krebs indicated that he expected to be dismissed from his post by the Trump administration.
Five days later, Krebs was subsequently fired by President Trump via tweet for his comments regarding the security of the election. He was fired because he didn’t help support Trump’s “Big Lie”.
“I walked into the house and somebody texts me and says hey you need to check out Twitter” Krebs recalled, “You just got fired and lo and behold I pull up Twitter at 7:07 PM November 17th 2020…and I’m sitting there in the kitchen…turn to my wife again: “I just got fired by a tweet”.”
Several months later, the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder approached him to join their team in April 2021.
Rashad Robinson, President of Color of Change, a leading racial justice organization with more than seven million members also joined Krebs. His organization was founded in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Who can ever forget the images of black people on their roofs begging for the government to do something and left to die?
When asked why he was interested in joining the Commission, he said, “I jumped at the chance and up and away to make sure that the work that we could do could be part of a greater whole and something that could hopefully be useful at sort of advancing a way forward.”
“Every single day we are working to build power for black Americans”, Robinson remarked. “It’s a fight that black Americans have had to have in this country since being born here the truth about our very humanity”.
Along with this trio of co-chairs, the Commission was composed of a diverse group from across the political spectrum, representing academia, government, philanthropy, and civil society. Over the course of six months, commissioners held internal discussions and heard from experts, community leaders, academics, researchers, tech industry representatives, and lawmakers to understand and explore the multidimensional attributes of information disorder.
WHAT IS INFORMATION DISORDER?
“As we were doing the the initial research, one of the kind of foundational documents is a report by professor Claire Wardle from 2016-17 and she defines information disorder as a framework”, Krebs explains.
“Information disorder at its core is three problems: disinformation, which is false information that is spread for malicious purposes; misinformation which is false information spread for inadvertantly without bad intention and malinformation which is real information spread for harm”.
“Then within all of that there are a set of factors that are driving this seeming implosion. It’s like the increase of national news and the TV and the ability to share low quality information. The erosion of local media, the erosion of trust in science and evidence and expertise, computational amplification…”
THE CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE ACCORDING TO KATIE COURIC
“I hate when people say they grew up watching me”…”you know how old that makes me feel?”, Couric joked after Thompson’s awkward date-stamp introduction.
Thompson showed an amusing video clip from the Today show archives when Couric and cohost Bryant Gumbel attempted to explain to their TV viewers to what the internet was and what the “@” meant in an e-mail address. Gumbel incorrectly thought the “@” stood for “about”.
“When I got into the business back in 1979, it was a much more limited landscape; there were three major networks, people would watch Walter Cronkite back in the day, but my generation it was Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw”, Couric reminisced.
“There were major newspapers, there were many local newspapers. 2200 local newspapers have folded since 2005…there was a very limited pool of information…”
“I think the iPhone didn’t come out till I believe 2007 or 2008, so when you think about that and that I think is when everything really exploded because suddenly you had everything you could possibly want in the palm of your hand”.
FACT CHECK
“When I was doing interviews at the Today show or even CBS, they would be very deeply researched. Often times if I was doing an interview on the Today show, I would over prepare by calling someone from the RAND Corporation or calling someone from a Think tank or Brookings to get some background. I was also mindful that when I got some information I would consider…is that person biased or is that somebody who looks at the economy like Paul Krugman? Or is it somebody who looks at it from a different perspective and kind of weighing all of that. It was much much easier I think to find credible sources and to research because there wasn’t this plethora, this velocity of information.” Couric continued.
“I sort of had the feeling those were the good old days and they really weren’t. They were in some ways because there was not so much disinformation, malinformation…but their voices that were controlling the media were white men and so there was no representation of marginalized communities. Women were just integrating broadcast news”.
“I think that people need to be critical consumers. They need to consider the source. They need to be as discriminating about the content they’re they’re reading, as they are about…what they would feed their kids….the problem is it puts a lot of onus on the consumer but we need to teach media literacy and schools.”
FAKE NEWS
“I remember seeing a well known actress posted something and it looked like the American Medical Association. It was some bogus claim and or some claim… and I was like… is that right? Who was saying?, Couric questioned. “I googled the organization and it was this anti abortion…super extremely conservative organization that wasn’t even a medical organization.”
“But when you think about deep fakes you know you can make Nancy Pelosi look drunk when she wasn’t or have somebody something coming out of Barack Obama’s mouth that he never said. It is really really hard for consumers. We need to start educating even at at in elementary schools about being of an uneducated consumer and understanding the source for this material is not accurate.”
A RIGGED ELECTION IN 2024?
“Half of the GOP candidates that are running embraces are perpetuating “The Big Lie” that Joe Biden was not legitimately elected as president of the United States. It’s not hurting them in the polls and so I’m very concerned about what is happening and some of the things that are happening at the state level in terms of legislative changes. They’re actually gonna result in a rigged election in 2024 giving election officials way too much power.”, Couric remarked.
“I guess the some of the positive things are that we have elevated this; Barack Obama gave a lengthy speech at Stanford about this, incited our research and I think he’s shine a light on it.”
CABLE NEWS – TALK RADIO ON TV?
“I think that cable news operations are starting to realize that perhaps they went too far. CNN has gotten rid of the “breaking news” banner because it was never “breaking news”, but they said it was “breaking news”. They are starting to have different points of view represented.
“I think what happened in cable is commentators took over and it became Talk radio on TV… and that’s fine as long as people know this is commentary, but I think people miss having…reporting of the facts and letting them kind of come to a conclusion with careful analysis instead of diatribes”, Couric commented.
“At 5:00 o’clock today, 8:00 o’clock tonight, and 8:00 o’clock eastern, the January 6th hearings are gonna be airing on prime time television on every network except for Fox News because they don’t want their viewers to see it. I mean if that doesn’t show you how screwed up our country is right now, I don’t know what does.”
Apparently Fox News did air the next hearings, but with very low ratings with an average of 727,000 viewers. That compares to the 3.09 million who watched the hearings on MSNBC and the 2.21 million tuned in to CNN. Fox cut away from the hearing at 5 p.m. to show its popular panel program, “The Five,” and fans immediately rewarded them: viewership shot up to 2.76 million people, Nielsen said.
RECOMMENDATIONS?
The Commission’s Final Report is the culmination of that in-depth investigation. Offering a viable framework for action, it makes 15 recommendations for how government, private industry, and civil society can help to increase transparency and understanding, build trust, and reduce harms.
“I think we came out with with a a really solid group of recommendations across increasing trust and increasing transparency and reducing harms”, Krebs explained, “and it’s great to see that some of the recommendations have been picked up… they’re you know we’re not going to fix this problem tomorrow”.
“It was an amazing report and you know one of the things that struck me right away were the folks that were involved in this Commission it was incredibly diverse and eclectic…you had people from every aspect including a Prince. Correctly Prince Harry”.
Jeffrey Ovadya and Veronica demonstrating real-time performance capture and finger tracking with Vicon Shōgun 1.7 at GDC 2022.
Article and photos by Marcus Siu
In the very early days of the the film industry, motion capture was accomplished via rotoscoping, invented by Animator Max Fleischer in 1919. Rotoscoping is the process of recording actual footage, and tracing over this footage frame-by-frame. In those days, animators need to hand-draw each frame, which is a laborious and time-consuming process
A lot has happened since then.
In 2002, when Gollum was introduced to the world in “The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers”, it took audiences by surprise how amazing CGI characters could be so lifelike. Andy Serkis, the pioneering actor who would become a household name for his performance/motion capture work, proved that characters could be fully realized and emotionally compelling. His work as Gollum was instrumental to the success of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, as was his portrayal of Caesar from the latest “Planet of the Apes” trilogy, which most thought made the remake of the franchise vastly superior than the original.
To those who aren’t familiar, motion capture is the process where actors’ physical movements are captured and then recreated on digital character models allowing actors to give realistic movement to fantastical CGI creatures, bringing them to life. The Marvel Comic Universe, for example, would have been nearly impossible to create, if it wasn’t for this process.
In contrast to gaming, by recording human actions and using them to animate digital models, 3D artists bring deep realism to video game characters. Performance motion capture technology allows artists to create animated image models directly from actors’ movement and facial expressions. More than 90% of the top selling games are dependent on motion capture.
Now one hundred years later since rotoscoping, motion capture now has evolved into “real time”, which was the theme at this years Games Developer’s Conference.
Live Subject Calibration with Veronica at the Vicon demo booth at GDC 2022.
Setting up a motion capture is fairly simple. You will need a Optical motion capture software on your computer, a room with a infrared camera system (along with the ground and forward axis), an actor in a mo-cap body suit with markers, assigning an A-Pose or T-Pose to the skeleton for calibration to the software…and you are ready to go live. After motion capture is done, you are ready to import everything into the Unity or Unreal engine and assign animations to a character. Easy peasy.
VICON
I got a chance to chat with Jeffrey Ovadya, the director of Sales Support and Marketing for Vicon Motion Systems, the global leader in Motion Capture Cameras, software and Motion Capture Systems for the VFX, life science and engineering industries for the past 35 years.
Q: So tell us about the latest Vicon project at GDC…
A: We’ve got Two complete demonstrations right now.
We have partnered with ROE Visual who have given us 60 panels in this 16 X 19 foot LED power wall so we can showcase some virtual production pipeline using a virtual camera running in real time with a game that our team created – Mitchell Whitmore and Connor ended up making this racing game here that’s all live and Unreal. We’re letting people not only drive the racing simulation in Unreal live but also change the camera angle so that you can see the perspective on the ROE Powerwall. ROE is the the LED panel manufacturer that’s used in “The Mandalorian” and all of those other shows as well so this is a really fun demo.
Virtual Camera Tracking at the Vicon demo booth at GDC 2022.
Then later on today we’re gonna do a traditional Performance Capture presentation where we showcase the latest in our Shogun software and we’re going to have some talent come in. We’re going to do live 10 finger capture, we’re going to show some new STI camera calibration for virtual production, pipeline some new auto skeleton features just things to make performance capture, motion capture and virtual production easier across the board with the best product in the industry.
Here is a two minute video that captures both demo’s.
Other noteworthy demo’s on the GDC 2022 floor include, OptiTrack, Qualisys, and Manus below.
Live tracking demonstration from OptiTrack at GDC 2022. Photo by Marcus Siu.Qualisys’ animation solution live and location-based solution in the immersive 20’x20′ demo booth. Photo by Marcus Siu.Everyone deserves a hand at the demo booth at Manus Quantum Metagloves at GDC 2022. Photo by Marcus Siu.
As a regular gamer of “Call of Duty” over the years on the Sony PlayStation platform, I’ve always noticed that the number of online “undesirables” tend to increase as it gets later and later into the wee hours of the night. These are the diehard gamers who play 24/7 with a few cans or Red Bull next to them to keep them jolted. For them, winning is a life and death situation, so they do absolutely everything in their favor for that desired outcome. Even if it’s cheating, yelling obscenities and insults at their fellow teammates to do things differently.
For certain, these aren’t the friends I want to hang out with.
Even though “Call of Duty” games are rated PEGI 18, only suitable for 18 or over, there is always a mix of children, teenagers and adults playing online during the peak hours of the evening. However, when it’s past bedtime for those kids, it becomes super aggressive with toxic adult gamers. At times, I can’t believe how much swearing or threats I would hear online. In those circumstances, I wish I could recruit some online military SWAT team to take that player out.
Back in the day, when everyone wore headsets, it was exciting to chat with your teammates to plan strategies with each other. However, because of the toxic environment online gaming has quickly become over the years, especially when e-sports came around making gaming a professional sport, typical players nowadays don’t even want to use their headsets so they can enjoy their game at their own pace and skills level.
I’ve always wondered if there was any hope to battle this type of online conduct, and was very happy to discover the answers during my visit at GDC 2022, the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last month.
The Unity booth at GDC 2022 Photo by Marcus Siu
UNITY
Last August, Unity, the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D content, acquired OTO, an AI-driven acoustic intelligence platform that can be leveraged to build and foster safer gaming environments with voice and text chat environments. OTO will be integrated into Unity’s industry leading Vivox platform as a cornerstone for solving one of gaming’s global challenges: the rise of toxic behavior that leads to poor player experience, and ultimately, lost revenue for game creators.
Unity also released findings from a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on its behalf that illustrates the growing problem around toxicity that impacts not just players, but profits for developers and creators. This survey was conducted online within the United States from June 21-23, 2021. Key findings of the survey include:
Nearly seven in 10 (68%) of players – defined as those who played multiplayer games in the past year – said they’ve experienced toxic behavior while playing multiplayer games (e.g., sexual harassment, hate speech, threats of violence, doxing).
Nearly half of players (46%) say that they at least sometimes experience toxic behavior while playing multiplayer video games, with 21% reporting it every time/often.
67% of players were very/somewhat likely to stop playing a multiplayer video game if another player were exhibiting toxic behavior.
92% of players think solutions should be implemented and enforced to reduce toxic behavior in multiplayer games.
Q&A with CLEANSPEAK
CleanSpeak handles content filtering and moderation platform protecting online communities from inappropriate content. Self hosted or cloud based, their products serve customers worldwide. The company helps the world’s largest companies manage their user-generated content and protect their brand from PR disasters and user attrition caused by offensive and inappropriate content.
Founded in Broomfield, Colorado, the company works with most of the large game companies in the world from all ranges that use this platform including EA, Ubisoft, Activision, Big Fish, Amazon Games, Per Blue, Pokémon, and even Nintendo.
I spoke with Brian Pontarelli, the founder and co-CTO of CleanSpeak, as well as Fusion Auth, which deals with identity & access management. Both companies are under the umbrella parent company, Inversoft.
He gave me some insight on the company on how the company deals with online profanity, as well as origins of the company.
“I started the company about 15 years ago and I was working on a social network at the time and we were wanting to do filtering around users profiles, their usernames, any content that they were posting because we wanted to keep the community clean, and as we grew it we just started to realize it was a great fit for game companies.”
“Game companies started coming to us and they said, “we’re trying to filter usernames, we’re trying to filter our chats, we really want toxicity to go down, and we really want users to enjoy playing, and get rid of like trolls and issues”. So, then we started building on moderation tools where you could actually discipline and kick users out in real time as events were happening”.
Q: Could you give me an example of what gets a player kicked out?
A: “Let’s say a player is being really inappropriate; they’re using racial slurs, they’re telling people that they’re going to kill them or they’re just using a lot of profanity in a really obscene way. A moderator might see that activity or CleanSpeak might analyze their profile and realize that they’re being really offensive…and then what we’ll do is we’ll do is what’s called a “discipline,” so we’ll activate an “event” on their account that causes them to be kicked out of the game and not be able to log in for a certain period of time.
Q: How can they get back in?
A: “In most cases they can go ask the moderation or open a support ticket. They can ask the moderation team to let them back in and basically take off that “discipline”, but most of the time they just have to wait. What that does is it just reduces the overall toxicity of the environment, and a lot of times when gamers realize that their account might be taken away that they worked really hard on, they tend not to come back in and keep doing it.”
Q: Do they get a warning?
A: “You can do warnings. We have lots and lots of layers. Everything is customizable so you can start with a warning. You can go to “mute” so that they can still play the game but they can’t chat and then you can go all the way to a band. It’s all customizable. Our customers get to define what is best for their company.”
Q: Is Sony PlayStation going to enlist?
A: “Potentially, you know we’ve been talking to Sony now for a number of years and we hope that they join the team… join the family”.
Playing video games should be for everyone, no matter what skill level they are at. No one needs to play in an toxic environment where it’s no fun to play with gamers who treat their gaming like “boot camp” as their life depends on it. It’s nice to know that there are companies out there that will make it more enjoyable for all of us as they continue to reduce the problems that many game companies and gamers face.
It used to be so simple. The Academy Award nominations would be announced and six weeks later, movie goers would have more than ample time to search out which theaters are playing the nominated movies so they can be on “top of things” when they attend an Oscar party.
Not so much anymore. Things have changed. Blame it on streaming or blame it on COVID.
TV VIEWERSHIP OF THE OSCARS:
The Academy of Motion Picture Sciences (AMPAS) have recently tried to boost their TV audience ratings for their Oscar telecast, by increasing the number of nominees of Best Picture nominees to ten from five, hoping that the bottom half of the nominees were more mainstream features that most people have seen and connected with. Since over the last one or two decades, movies nominated were deemed too “art house” and not the commercial “box office darlings” titles that the public loved to watch with their bottomless popcorn and soda.
The movies rewarded were deemed more artistic and daring within the industry with their peers…in other words, there wasn’t much of a common ground. Last year, ratings of the Oscar telecast has dropped to 10.4 million viewers, or 60% decrease from the prior year, so much that ABC is thinking of not televising at all.
This year they decided to “eliminate” eight categories from the live telecast and edit them in later for the sake of making sure that the telecast makes the three hour cut. It reminds me of how picture in picture commercials slowly got into sport broadcasts. It’s completely irritating and offensive. .
THE WORLD OF STREAMING
However, the latest threat with movie going these days is that many don’t get a movie theater release date, but a streaming date. Movies are getting all types of distribution and not necessarily a guarantee you will be able to see them in movie theaters. Some are exclusively in theaters, exclusively streaming, same-day streaming and limited release in the theaters. It makes it confusing for the audience to figure out where and how to see such films.
Here’s a question I would like answered: How many of the Academy voting public actually seen all the ten Best Picture nominees in movie theaters before having them been nominated? My guess is that hardly anyone did.
Not only are movie theaters being skipped, which is really the “only way to see a movie”, they are now being streamed on different channels. For example, two movies that are vying for Best Picture have been streaming on Netflix and Apple+. Unless you saw “The Power of the Dog” or “CODA” at a film festival, you probably won’t have access to see it, unless you subscribe to Netflix and Apple TV.
Movies have shifted much of the content away from movie theaters and are now streaming in their living rooms. Unfortunately, that’s not the way $100 million dollar movies should be seen, like “West Side Story”…let alone “Dune”, that was made for $200 million dollars. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more Oscar voters who have watched all ten nominated movies on their cell phone than in the actual theaters We have “dumbified” what essential movie going is all about.
It’s as though we are going through an new “mp3” generation for movies now.
OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Here are my predictions for the 94th Annual Academy Awards.
BEST PICTURE:
It’s the little picture that could. I believe when Apple TV bought this Sundance classic that didn’t even play in the movie theaters in Park City for $25 million dollars, they knew what they were doing. It was the first film that swept the three major Sundance Awards: The Grand Jury Prize, The Audience Award, and the Special Jury Award, as well as the Director’s Prize. For the longest time during the award season, “The Power of the Dog” seemed likely to win the big prize, but CODA, surprised everyone recently winning the SAG Ensemble and Producer’s Guild prizes.
Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant in “CODA,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
BEST ACTOR
Will it be Will or Benedict? Though Cumberbatch even outdoes himself in “Power of the Dog”, the fact that Will just won at the BAFTA tells me that he will also get the Oscar for “King Richard”. Neither have ever received the Oscar, but the industry gets to choose who the better peer is…and with so much “Will power” in Hollywood, he’s got this cemented. 40-love.
(L background-r) SANIYYA SIDNEY as Venus Williams and WILL SMITH as Richard Williams in Warner Bros. Pictures’ inspiring drama “KING RICHARD,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
BEST ACTRESS:
The toughest category to predict where all five of the nominees were all career topping performances. My choice is with Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Bakker”. Many people passed on the movie when it came to theaters, not interested in this biopic, but there’s no denying Chastain transformed herself into the evangelical Bakker, and made her seem like a true compassionate person that people in the 80’s never seem to understand . She and Kristen Stewart, who plays Princess Diana, are the only ones in this category to not win an Oscars, and though both of them, as well as the others who have one them, Chastain is well liked by her peers and should have enough support for the win.
Best Picture: “CODA” Best Actor: Will Smith, “King Richard” Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” Best Supporting Actor: Troy Katsur, “CODA” Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” Best Director: Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog” Best Adapted Screenplay: Siân Heder “CODA ” Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Branagh “Belfast” Best Cinematography: “The Power of the Dog” Best Costume Design: “Cruella” Best Film Editing: “Dune” Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “The Eyes of Tammy Faye “ Best Music (Original Score): Hans Zimmer, “Dune” Best Music (Original Song): “No Time to Die”
Best Production Design: “Dune” Best Sound: “Dune” Best Visual Effects: “Dune” Best Animated Feature Film: “Encanto” Best Foreign Language Film: “Drive My Car” Best Documentary (Feature): “Summer of Soul” Best Documentary (Short Subject): “Lead Me Home” Best Short Film (Animated): “Robin Robin” Best Short Film (Live Action): “Please Hold”
PlayStation VR2 and VR2 Sense Controllers. Courtesy of Sony PlayStation.
Article by Marcus Siu
As the technology continues to thrive and the general public starts to embrace it as mainstream entertainment, whether its gaming, or social media, it seems more and more likely that Virtual Reality will be here to stay with us indefinitely, especially when the hardware and software keeps constantly improving.
Most people are becoming well aware of VR, thanks to the ad campaigns from Meta. The company formerly named Facebook believes that VR is the future of social media, and continues to run its commercials, such as those played during the Super Bowl.
For the uninitiated, many of them are wondering what they are missing. My guess is that the many of those TV viewers have never really had the pleasure to experience VR on a stand-alone unit, such as an Oculus or an HTC Vive, or even on the original Sony PSVR.
Though many have experienced it on the Samsung GearVR headsets that came with their Galaxy smartphones that Oculus stopped supporting years ago, it’s not a comparable experience…not even close.
It has been over eight years ago since Sony PlayStation jumped aboard on the VR bandwagon, Though they were a little late to the scene, it was very gratifying to see them at this year’s CES 2022 show fully committed to the technology as they announced their upcoming new and improved “second generation” PlayStation VR2.
The PSVR2 virtual reality system pairs with the PS5 gaming console and is an optional accessory, along with the PlayStation VR2 Sense controller. Though not wireless like Meta’s Quest 2, the PSVR2 will no longer need a camera mounted on your TV, like you did on the original PSVR, but still needs to be tethered to its PS5 gaming console via USB-C on a single cord.
As far as the physical design of the headset, it’s very similar in color to the first generation model but has a much slimmer design with a headband-type visor compared to the original VR strap-on headset. Expect it to be much more ergonomically comfortable than its predecessor, as well. The headsets have built-in microphone and stereo headphone jacks, just like the original.
The PSVR2 promises to have four times the resolution compared to the original PSVR headset with two 2000 x 2040 OLED displays for each eye. The refresh rate remains the same with 90Hz and 120Hz, but the new version will have four built in cameras so you can look in your virtual environment clearly with pinpoint accuracy to whatever you are focusing on, thanks mainly to the headsets’ foveated rendering techniques, which gives you the best visual experience with less pixels.
Two features new to the headset design include an eye tracking movement that allows emotional responses and expressions when meeting people online and a single built-in motor that adds vibration to the headset that immerses the gamer with realism along with the sensor controller’s haptic feedback. Imagine all the whirring sounds flying by you in 5.1 or maybe a virtual punch to the head that adds realism, similar to the “dual shock” on the PS remotes.
According to the Sony, here are the highlights of the PS VR2:
Visual Fidelity: For a high-fidelity visual experience, PS VR2 offers 4K HDR, 110-degree field of view, and foveated rendering. With an OLED display, players can expect a display resolution of 2000×2040 per eye and smooth frame rates of 90/120Hz.
Headset-based Controller Tracking: With inside-out tracking, PS VR2 tracks you and your controller through integrated cameras embedded in the VR headset. Your movements and the direction you look at are reflected in-game without the need for an external camera.
New Sensory Features: PS VR2 Sense Technology combines eye tracking, headset feedback, 3D Audio, and the innovative PS VR2 Sense controller to create an incredibly deep feeling of immersion. Headset feedback is a new sensory feature that amplifies the sensations of in-game actions from the player. It’s created by a single built-in motor with vibrations that add an intelligent tactile element, bringing players closer to the gameplay experience. For example, gamers can feel a character’s elevated pulse during tense moments, the rush of objects passing close to the character’s head, or the thrust of a vehicle as the character speeds forward. Additionally, PS5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech makes sounds in the player’s surroundings come alive, adding to this new level of immersion.
Eye Tracking: With eye tracking, PS VR2 detects the motion of your eyes, so a simple look in a specific direction can create an additional input for the game character. This allows players to interact more intuitively in new and lifelike ways, allowing for a heightened emotional response and enhanced expression that provide a new level of realism in gaming.
In addition to the announcement of the VR PlayStation VR2, Sony announced announced a new game designed and originally built for the PS VR2 Platform, “Horizon Call of the Mountain from Guerrilla and Firesprite”, one of the biggest PlayStation franchises.
As of this time, there is no release date or retail price.
VR2 Sense Controllers. Courtesy of Sony PlayStation.
BMW has just made it much more difficult for police cars to chase bad guys in the future. That’s if the bad guys decide to drive away in a car that changes the color exterior of a car just like the one that was demonstrated at this year’s CES show in Las Vegas.
The German luxury automaker brought in their all new electric sporty BMW iX showing off its ground breaking concept E-ink technology that practically “wraps” the surface of the car. With just the touch of a button from a smart-phone app, it is able to change the car’s exterior color in just a matter of seconds.
The wrap contain a low voltage electrical connection similar to that of an Amazon’s Kindle, where it is able to change from any two colors, such as from white to black or black to white as in their demo, along with shades of grey in between.
The fact that this technology gives you two colors to choose from, and white and black are the most popular colors in the country for luxury autos according to Kelley Blue Book, it confirms that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson was right. It doesn’t matter if it’s black or white. So, if you’re spouse wants white and you want black or vice versa, it’s a win-win situation for both of you.
Another great feature of having a black and white car is how it adapts to the seasonal weather. As we all know, for example, black cars can be unbearable in hot weather and heat up the interior much more dramatically more than white cars do. Summer weather would be best to drive a white car, and winter weather would be best to drive a black car. Just by switching colors during seasons, its will help the efficiency of the internal heat and air conditioning in the car, which will help prolong the battery life and consumption, which is equivalent to more mileage for the vehicle.
Last but not least, another feature worthy of noting is for those absent-minded drivers who have a hard time locating their car in a parking lot when returning from their chores, which I confess, happens to me from time to time. Instead of relying on a chirp from your key alarm which may give you a general idea where your car is, you can now have it flash in your peripheral vision. That will be a huge plus for many drivers as they traipse to their car.
Though, presently this technology is restricted to two colors and is not quite economically feasible for mass production, it gives us an idea of how E-ink technology might change our lifestyles with custom made personalization. Rumors have it that E-ink is initially looking at personalizing license plates, but imagine in the future where you will be able to change and create the colors on your wall and surface space in your house based on your mood.
For the mostly virtual CES show, which saw a 70% drop in attendance this year compared to the pre-pandemic levels in 2020, the lucky few 40,000 or so attendees that were able to make it there in person were in blown away from what BMW had shown them. Demos like this make it a shame that more people couldn’t see this up close and in person as seeing is believing.
Courtesy BMW
The BMW Theatre Screen is our idea of luxury in-car-entertainment of the future. It brings the ultimate digital experience to the back seats of your car, transferring it into a real driving cinema.
– Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior VP BMW Group Design
WHAT ELSE IS NEW?THEATER SCREENWITH 4D SOUND
Now that we are in a world where EV’s will be dominating the future, it seems BMW is taking it further by not only letting you personalize the colors on your car, but also putting an entertainment theater right into the comfort of your back seat.
They showed off their new concept of the 8K “Theater Screen” in one of their luxury vehicles, which is a 31-inch, 32:9 ultra-wide panoramic screen that can display 16:9, 21:9, and cinemascope 32:9 aspect ratios. It’s fitted atop the ceiling of the car and is accompanied with 30 Bowers and Wilkins surround sound speakers, including those installed in the back seat of the vehicle, much like how the vibrating chairs in the Dolby Atmos Theaters are built, for a more immersive experience, which BMW describes as “4D” sound.
It’s display has Smart-TV functions, that runs its content through the Amazon Fire TV that is directly built in and uses 5G technology. Your choices are endless. You can listen to music, stream movies, watch TV episodes, and use any of it’s apps for a truly immersive experience. The screen is touch-enabled, but there are also touch controls on each of the rear doors, giving passengers a choice of how they want to interact with the display. Headphones are optional.
As the screen descends down from the ceiling of the car, the roller sun blinds from the side and rear windows close, and the ambient lighting is dimmed, it creates a true cinematic experience, transforming the backseat of the car into a “private cinema lounge.”
BMW promised something similar to its “Theater Screen” concept in the near future for all their cars.
With its presence at CES capturing the headlines for its innovation, the company have demonstrated that they are revolutionizing how things might look (and sound) in the future and have come to the forefront of personalizing the future of automobiles for consumers.
AltspaceVR created the first social VR platform in 2015 allowing users to interact as avatars in a virtual environment. Photo was taken from the 2016 Silicon Valley VR conference. Photo by Marcus Siu
Article and photo by Marcus Siu
“I believe the metaverse is the next chapter for the internet.” – Mark Zuckerberg
With the COVID-19 epidemic surging among the population in record numbers around the world, it has negatively impacted us while dramatically altering our lifestyles for the worse. With shelter in place rules becoming more now of a decisive lifestyle choice for many of us as new variants emerge and continue to bombard us, such as the Delta and Omicron, it certainly has decelerated our psychological well-being (PWB), which is driven by our own physical and emotional health that includes social loneliness.
This has been problematic for most of us, as we simply do not want to go out like we have in the past. To be safe, we need to wear a mask, keep a distance from others in order to protect ourselves and our families from the coronavirus. Gone is the immediate social interaction and independence that we were so used to before the pandemic. Face to face gatherings may be a thing of the past…at least for now, until the virus begins to disappear.
While a portion of our population stays unvaccinated as new variants emerge, the question remains:
When will we ever get to go back to the “pre-pandemic” good old days?
Regardless of what happens, as we constantly thrive for human connection, we will continue to use a wide variety of social apps, such as Zoom, WhatsApp, WeChat, TikTok, and countless others to get us by. Thanks to these social apps and platforms on our smartphones, we have always been connected to the world. If it weren’t for these apps, I’m sure the suicide rates would have gone way up.
THE RISE AND FALL OF SAMSUNG GEARVR
It was 2016 at the Silicon Valley VR Conference when I visited the AltspaceVR booth and took their demo. I put on their Oculus Rift headset they provided me and made my first virtual call. I was suddenly transported in a virtual world at a party with other avatars who would come and greet me. I had no idea who they were, but discovered that I was talking with people from all around the world. Though the avatars were fairly simplistic and had limited movement, it was still quite eye opening.
The following year, a vast majority of consumers were introduced to AR and VR through Samsung’s GearVR headsets. That was the year when Samsung essentially threw in the headsets for free as part of the Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone package. The GearVR headset, powered by Oculus, who is owned by Facebook. Alongside Samsung, Oculus, HTC Vive, Google, and much of the media were all betting that VR would change the world, especially in the world of gaming.
Unfortunately, that was not to be the case, at least in the short term. It was just a temporary fad as the majority of the consumers did not gravitate to it. Most people surveyed said that they could not wear the bulky headsets for more than 30 minutes at a time because not only was it uncomfortable on their head, but they would also get motion sickness and headaches from it. Many women also complained it messed up their hair.
Similar to the popularity and demise of 3D HDTV’s, the interest for Samsung GearVR headsets was eventually rejected by consumers. At the same time, VR still had a niche market for Business to Business (B2B) applications, AR, VR, and MR (mixed reality) were used mostly practical for technical and training purposes for companies who decided to develop “in house” for their employees.
Compatibility issues within platforms along with the lack of industry standards was always a sore issue with VR developers, though, Nvidia has come up with their “Omniverse” which has changed everything for Game and VR Developers. The Nvidia Omniverse addresses the challenges of creating massive libraries of 3D content that helps game developers build photorealistic, physically-accurate games with record speed by unifying artists, their assets, and software tools in one powerful platform.
THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION IN THE META WORLD
It was no accident Facebook purchased Oculus for $2 billion seven years ago. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and co-founder of Facebook had a much broader vision than anyone could ever imagine what Facebook could do with Oculus, who most people just saw as a VR gaming company. Even business experts had questioned why Facebook squandered all that money at the time. Now we know.
With the recent surging popularity of the Oculus Quest 2, which just surpassed the Oculus Rift as becoming the world’s most popular VR headset, it is becoming obvious that Facebook, now Meta, is heading into a new era of social media. Meta has come to realize that it’s the world of future social connection that will be part of Facebooks’ rebranding, along with the companies under it’s umbrella; Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp which are sure to be incorporated into the Metaverse.
“We’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences,” Zuckerberg commented while announcing the deal. “Imagine enjoying a courtside seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home. This is really a new communication platform.”
Perhaps one day, we will be able to have all our friends at one big virtual gathering at a favorite spot such as the home they grew up in, a favorite restaurant, music venue, sports arena or bar. We can even throw a virtual birthday party, graduation, wedding, or even a funeral, and invite friends who are living on the other side of the world who normally wouldn’t be able to attend a real one. Everyone can meet each other virtually that might not have ever happened in reality due to logistics.
Instead of being limited to the number of friends you can sit and watch the Super Bowl, we can do what AltspaceVR did. Invite 200 of your friends and watch it with them. That would be some super party.
Or you can imagine that you are on the planet of Pandora; James Cameron’s “Avatar” environment with your own lifelike Avatar that resembles yourself that tracks your face and eye movements from your headset. This is no longer science fiction, but may be reality soon as Meta is currently developing “Project Cambria”, a very high end VR headset that will be able to do these things that will probably be released late 2022 or 2023.
Project Cambria/Meta
Instead of being distracted by their smart-phones at the dinner table, kids will be soon distracted by their VR headsets or glasses as mom and dad get irritated and lose their patience.
“Take off those damn VR headsets kids and tell your friends you have to eat dinner in the real world! NOW!….”Dinner is getting cold!”
With the Metaverse right around the corner, we may soon be immersed in an a brand new virtual world experience that will be more gratifying as Mark Zuckerberg had originally envisioned. It will also be a more peaceful one knowing that there are no pandemics where humans get sick, regardless of how many viruses are on the computer. Last, but not least, the bulkiness of the headsets will be a thing of the past and the headsets will just be no heavier than a pair of google glasses.
With the fact that people no longer want to go anywhere due to COVID, perhaps the Metaverse will be here sooner that you think and holiday dinners with the family will never be the same again
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