2018 – Gordon Marantz

18 Nov

Disney’s Human Speaker

Imagine if you could simply touch someone’s ear to make them hear something. A project out of Disney Research makes it possible. Disney Research has crossed these wires in a project called Ishin-Den-Shin (a Japanese expression for communicating through an unspoken mutual understanding). Developed by Olivier Bau, Ivan Poupyrev, and Yuri Suzuki, the system records sounds through a device fitted to the microphone that creates a "modulated electrostatic field" around the user's skin. When touching another person's ear, this modulated electrostatic field creates a very small vibration of the earlobe. As a result, both the finger and the ear together form a speaker, that makes the…

09 Nov

Announcing Disney+

Bob Iger has officially revealed the name of the new Disney streaming service which will be called Disney Plus. The House of Mouse has also set up a new registration site where users can sign up to receive further information as it becomes available. Disney+, scheduled to launch in the US in “late 2019.” As far as what Disney+ will include, its vast library will be comprised of content from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and, of course, Disney, according to the website. It's clearly a promise that original content from these five brands will be at the core of Disney Plus. A second Star Wars…

30 Aug

Location Based Entertainment

There are fully immersive experiences popping up all over the country where you can step into a live video game. Imagine you could go to a venue and physically step into a new world, being transported into a story combined with state-of-the art VR technology, physical stages and multi-sensory effects, including touch and smell, with Hollywood characters and storylines. Welcome to location based entertainment (LBE). What is location-based entertainment? The term LBE is applied to a whole group of entertainments, such as theme parks, large scale arcades, bowling alleys, pools, water parks, casinos, movie theaters and many others. Despite the…

20 Jul

Disney Stuntbots

Disneyland has been planning to have humanoid robots fly across stages posing as famous Marvel, Star Wars, or Pixar characters. Walt Disney Imagineering in Burbank, California, have been developing robots known as ‘stuntbots’ for a number of years now and is now close to coming into fruition. https://youtu.be/ENa98h7M7qY The stuntbots could also be used in live theatre performances at Disney owned resorts and themed parks. Autonomous Stuntronics are self-correcting aerial performers able to make on-the-go corrections during a high-flying stunt, to ensure that they land safely. Imagineering have made significant advances in the field of animatronics. Animatronics are static, lifelike robots that already entertain crowds…

01 Apr

Slack

I recently had the opportunity to attend a technical talk with Slack CTO, Cal Henderson. We had already been using Slack within our teams, and it had proven to be much more efficient than prior tools. While email has its place, it has become a noisy distraction. Email is an overused tool that consumes too much of our time, energy and focus. Most of us hate email, and for good reason - we send and receive too much, and sifting through many trivial messages to find the vital few has become a chore. But it’s not just email that’s the…

25 Feb

Moving to ATSC 3.0

ATSC 3.0 Advanced Television Systems Committee 3.0 (ATSC 3.0) has been released and our government is allowing broadcasters to adopt it. Greater transmission efficiency combined with more robustness is going to allow broadcasters to do more in the same amount of spectrum and at the same time provide higher quality. Consumers will be able to get an internet type of experience combined with broadcast television (aka linear television). What's the big deal? The move to ATSC 3.0 is not just about delivering better image quality and more channels; it’s about customization. Key audio features of the new standard…

24 Jan

Blockchain Technology in Entertainment

What applications are there for blockchain in the media and entertainment industry? Many entertainment and media companies are trying to ride the blockchain wave in order to raise more funds. Simply put, the blockchain technology enables a decentralized digital marketplace and ensures transparent transactions. In the entertainment and media context, blockchain will help with disintermediation, distribution, and royalties. For instance, live streaming hosts will be able to connect with fans without any intermediaries. The gaming industry has been the first in entertainment and media to integrate blockchain technology, with Ethereum-based game “CryptoKitties” being one of the most popular games. Despite…

21 Jan

CES 2018 – Samsung’s “The Wall”

CES 2018 - Samsung's "The Wall" could change your media experience. Could you see these on every other wall in the mall? How 'bout at your favorite bar? Maybe just put a scaled down version in restrooms? Samsung made some of the most exciting TV news at the 2018 CES: The first consumer TV based on micro-LED technology (aka MicroLED, mLED, and µLED). You can think of the mLEDs in the 146-inch, 8K UHD (7680 by 4320 pixels) "The Wall" is significantly brighter using non-organic OLEDs that similarly provide their own individual, energy-efficient light source. Micro-LEDs eliminate the need for both…