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Why does Riot Games keep making virtual bands?
An unusual concert took place before FunPlus Phoenix and G2 Esports battled for the League of Legends World Championship last weekend. The Grand Finals in Paris opened with Valerie Broussard singing "Awaken," a track released at the start of the year to celebrate the upcoming esports season. The performance ended with a magical blast that threw Broussard and her backup singers into the air.
Presidential candidate Andrew Yang will use 3D holograms for remote rallies
Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang revealed this week that he's planning to use a 3D hologram to hold campaign rallies in multiple cities at the same time. Yang discussed the hologram during an appearance on TMZ Live. The segment showed off a hologram version of Yang dancing and performing with the famous Tupac hologram that appeared at Coachella in 2012.
'Assassin's Creed Symphony' concerts will also feature holograms
This summer, Ubisoft and MGP Live will debut the Assassin's Creed Symphony -- a concert series bringing the game's soundtrack to stage. As the saga of Assassin's Creed plays out on screen, a live orchestra and choir will perform the score. The just-released trailer, which you can watch below, promises an "immersive experience," complete with holograms of your favorite characters.
Amy Winehouse's hologram will tour with a live band in 2019
Amy Winehouse will return to the stage in 2019 as the latest in a long line of deceased performers resurrected as holograms. The digital ghost of Winehouse (who died in 2011) will perform her hits such a "Rehab" and "Valerie" while backed by a live band. The tour is a product of a partnership between LA-based BASE Hologram and the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which raises money for the prevention of alcohol and drug abuse.
Magic Leap is experimenting with light-bending nanomaterials
Mixed reality company Magic Leap is cagey with its tech, to say the least. However, it has released a research paper in conjunction with Berkeley Lab that hints on what it's doing. The team developed new materials that can take in light from more angles than before and redirect it with minimal losses. That could aid not only its mixed reality (MR) headset, which reportedly uses wave-guiding tech similar to the Hololens, but spark breakthroughs in holograms, invisibility cloaks and more.
Researchers use quantum physics for counterfeit detection
Scientists from Lancaster University have developed a foolproof anti-counterfeiting measure using a combination of quantum physics and smartphone technology. Previously, the team created unique atomic-scale IDs based on irregularities found in 2D materials such a graphene -- irregularities which, unlike current anti-counterfeiting technology such as holograms, are impossible to clone. Quantum physics amplifies these irregularities and, once turned into a tag, makes it possible to "fingerprint" objects.
Study offers best evidence yet that we're in a holographic universe
Don't freak out, but there's a good chance that the entire universe is actually a holographic projection. The theory isn't new -- we've been talking about it since the 90's -- but a new study from researchers in Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom hint that it's even more likely than we thought. Their findings, which are based on irregularities in the cosmic microwave background (the remnants of the Big Bang), suggest there's as much evidence for a holographic universe as there is for our existing models.
Faraday Future sued over missed payments on $2 million VR video (update)
Faraday Future may have had a new car to show off at CES earlier this month, but everyone's left Las Vegas and old problems are cropping up. Now, the company is being sued by a video effects company for failure to pay for a virtual fly-through of one of its concept vehicles. Last September The Mill gave Faraday an estimate for how much it'd cost to produce a "graphic presentation with virtual reality, augmented reality and holographic components" for January's trade show, according to court documents obtained by Jalopnik.
ICYMI: The US Government wants to limit big rig speeds
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing to mechanically limit the speed of buses and semis over 26,000 pounds to under 68 miles per hour. The idea focuses on safety concerns but also would improve fuel efficiency.
The HoloFlex is a flexible, glasses-free 3D display
Researchers at the Queen's University Human Media Lab in Ontario have developed what they claim is the "world's first holographic flexible smartphone" display. Dubbed the HoloFlex, the display uses an array of tiny lenses overlaid onto one flexible 1,920 x 1,080 HD OLED screen and allows multiple people to simultaneously view 3D images without the need for clunky glasses, complex projectors or individual head tracking.
The Notorious B.I.G. might be going on tour in hologram form
ARHT (Augmented Reality Holographic Technology) Media announced on Monday that it has acquired the digital rights to Biggie Smalls' likeness and will resurrect the famed rapper as a hologram. He (it?) is expected to appear in a new music video before potentially going on tour. "What we're gonna start with is a video with the first single from [Faith Evan's upcoming duets compilation] The King & I then I think Faith wants to do a little tour," ARHT Media founder Rene Bharti told Billboard.
Untethered and unguided: Our first deep look at HoloLens
There's a white unicorn with a rainbow horn on the wall in front of me. A tiger sits casually by the door on the right. On a grey couch at one end of the room, a globe starts to spin when I gaze at it. A second celestial object with the word "Fragments" floats over a white coffee table. I walk towards the couch and turn onto a short hallway next to it. I see a bright pink octopus staring back at me from the tiled toilet floor.
'Star Wars' and the coming holographic cinema revolution
"AR is going to hit us like a big bang," says ILMxLab creative director John Gaeta when I ask him whether augmented reality, as that holographic technology is known, has been undervalued by the public and press. "We're just trying to point out right from the beginning that there will be a form of AR that will be as hi-fidelity as the cinema that you see at some point. I can't say what year that'll be. But at some point, we'll have intimate holo-experiences with performance and things like that."
Virtual pop star Hatsune Miku will tour North America in 2016
Hatsune Miku may have started out as the humble Mascot for a music production software suite, but today she's a bonafide pop star -- and she's about to embark on her first multi-state US tour. Yes, it's a little weird if you think about it too much, but it's happening: starting in April, Miku Expo will be touring Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto and New York, with other possible cities to be revealed later.
Billie Holiday's hologram is slated to play the Apollo theater
Joining the ranks of Tupac, Selena, Liberace and Michael Jackson, Billie Holiday's posthumous hologram is slated to play the Apollo over the holidays. And she won't be the last. The famed theater, one of the country's first racially integrated clubs, announced on Wednesday that it also plans to be the first venue in America to routinely feature holographic performances.
The world as a work of digital art
As curious creatures, we attempt to understand the world around us in many ways and nowadays that usually boils down to big data visualization. Whether we're creating models of large-scale systems or breaking down reality into wireframes and exposing the digital bones beneath, the data-rich internet and open-source tools are helping people map and explore the world in new ways. People are leveraging technology to make their voices heard in political realms and using digital expression to bypass physical conflict. Indeed, in this digital age, the lines between life and art are becoming blurred. Don't believe us? Then explore the gallery below for just a few examples.
Indiegogo plan needs $500k to put holographic Selena on tour
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez could soon be going back on tour despite having been dead for more than two decades. Like Tupac and Michael Jackson before her, the Latin American icon will return to the stage -- in hologram form -- as early as 2018. All that needs to happen first is the funding of a $500,000 Indiegogo campaign (which launches on April 16th). Not only will "Selena The One," as her digital version will be known, go on tour but there are reportedly plans afoot to "release new songs and videos ... and collaborate with current hit artists." Obviously, she won't be writing new material but if Selena's unpublished catalog is anywhere near as large as either Michael's or Tupac's, her fans will have years of entertainment to look forward to.
Can Microsoft make HoloLens more than a mirage?
When we think of groundbreaking technology announcements -- the sort of things that make you sit back and reflect on just how far we've come as a species of innovators -- it's easy to jump to the likes of Apple, Google and Tesla before you even consider Microsoft. After all, the possibilities of something like self-driving cars, or a modular cellphone are inherently more interesting than yet another version of Windows. But with this week's surprising announcement of Project HoloLens, futuristic shades that paint your world with realistic holograms, and its accompanying Windows Holographic platform, Microsoft proved that it too can leave us dumbfounded with a new gadget that puts all of our science fiction fantasies just within reach. The only problem? Microsoft now needs to focus hard on not screwing it up. And given its history, there's no guarantee it won't.
Eric Schmidt yaks it up at MWC, talks about the future like it's 1955
If you've been looking for an excuse to start using Chrome, Eric Schmidt is here to remind you, "it's free." Well, free, fast, secure and of course, on Android. After a quick demo of new Android Chrome app, Schmidt took the stage at Mobile World Congress to dream up a future of holographic projectors, driverless cars and a (Android powered) smartphone in every pocket. In short, Google's head honcho has technological expectations that make Back to the Future part II look modest. See the optimistic spiel for yourself up top, or hit the source link below to watch it on YouTube.
Microsoft TechForum unveils three research projects (video)
TechForum is a Microsoft-sponsored shindig where the company can get together, party, and then show off its latest and greatest research projects. First up we've got a transparent interactive 3D display which builds on technology from Cambridge University's HoloDesk project. Next is Holoflector, a "magic mirror" that overlays LCD projections onto your reflection. Both of these two projects rely heavily upon Kinect as more projects find the potential in the little sensor. Finally there's Illumishare, a pair of overhead projectors / cameras that share a desktop space with a colleague when you need to look at the same thing. After the break you can see all three concepts in action and you can learn a little more about each at our source links.[Thanks, Lokitoth]
