cirque du soleil
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Inside Cirque du Soleil's technology lab
We hear about disruption all the time -- to transport, to media, to manufacturers. What happens when it comes for the circus? The centuries-old entertainment form used to be the place to see incredible, death-defying feats. Now, we see that kind of wonder on our smartphone screens all the time.
Chrome experiment explores new types of navigation, degrees of embarrassment
What you're about to see, should you choose to click the source link below, is far from perfect. On the other hand, it's clearly had a lot of effort and expertise put into it -- not only by HTML5-savvy coders, but also by a troupe of performers from the Cirque du Soleil. It's called Movi.Kanti.Revo, which is a fancy way of saying Move.Sing.Dream, and it involves navigating through an ethereal and slightly laggy landscape using only swaying gestures, your singing voice (mournful sobbing sounds also worked for us) and a bunch of APIs that conveniently fail to work on FireFox, Safari or Internet Explorer. It's well-suited to those with a mic and webcam, preferably sitting in a open-plan and bully-ridden workplace, and if you don't like it there's always Bastion.
Molyneux: 'Milo & Kate' fully playable, 'ten times more amazing' than before
While we did get to see (and be impressed by) Fable 3 at E3 last week, there was no sign of Peter Molyneux's other big project, the demo now known as Milo & Kate for the hardware now known as Kinect. Molyneux tells CVG that it is now fully playable, and "ten times more amazing" than it was when we saw it at last year's E3. The game was shown off to celebrities, presumably at the closed-doors hands-on session held during the bizarre Cirque du Soleil event last week. So why didn't we get to see it? "There's a very interesting reason why," says Molyneux, "but I can't tell you why." Really, Peter? Didn't we mature past this random, vague hype? Fable 2 was great, and Fable 3 looks good, so we'll be patient. But the reason why Microsoft didn't show off what sounds like one of its most enticing Kinect titles had better be "interesting" indeed.
Microsoft's E3 Project Natal event to feature Cirque du Soleil performance
Though Microsoft has already announced it will be doubling up on this year's helping of E3 media showings, we received word this morning that Sunday evening's Project Natal event will feature a "spectacular live performance imagined by Cirque du Soleil." The June 13 event had only been scantly detailed since we first got our invites back in March -- luckily, we always anticipated some kind of media circus. We also expect to see that "full lineup" of Natal titles that Microsoft promised -- only, you know, with super-bendy acrobatic performers outclassing Microsoft execs at stage demonstrations.
Sony's Hot Ticket program brings live events to theaters at $20 a pop
If you're a live event nut but live in the sticks, listen up: Sony is about to bring live performances to digital theaters with its new Hot Ticket program. Sony will broadcast Broadway shows, concerts, and sports events to around 500 digital theaters, live and in HD digital projection for about $20 a seat. The venture will launch with Cirque du Soleil's final performance of Delirium from London and for the two of you who haven't seen it yet, Rent's final Broadway performance will be shown in September. We have to admit, though, this could create some fun SuperBowl parties with rival factions on either side of the aisle, Congress style.
Hit the Strip with a new Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Trailer
Ever since the first lackluster trailer was revealed at the 2007 Spike TV VGA's, we've been curious about the direction which Ubisoft is taking our favorite terrorist-hunting franchise, Rainbow Six: Vegas. Sure, we've been promised that that Vegas 2 will improve on the mechanics of the Vegas the first, but we haven't heard much about the storyline for this "part prequel, part sequel". The newest trailer for the game still doesn't tell us about the subject of Six's Sin City romp, but it does drop a few vague clues. For instance, most of the trailer takes place in a large concert hall. Can we expect to rescue a helpless Celine Dion from a pack of disgruntled Cirque du Soleil performers? We can only hope, as this would provide the greatest video game soundtrack since Revolution X -- but it's a fairly unlikely scenario. Ah, well. Our hearts will go on.
LG introduces Cirque du Soleil Quidam LCD
Taking a page out of Samsung's book of naming conventions (see Bordeaux and Cannes), LG has introduced the Quidam series of flat-panels: six LCDs based on a show by world-famous performers Cirque du Soleil, which follows a little girl's desire to escape from sadness and alienation into an imaginary world -- fitting for a screen you use to forget about your dreary life. With a semicircular stand and automatic brightness adjustment sensors, the sets will be available as a 32-incher for $1,614 or 42-incher for $3,336.
