Matrix
Latest
US Air Force getting Matrix-style camera to see bullets in slo-mo
Apparently, the US military forces have hired some seriously good R&D help, as we've seen the Navy's 8-Megajoule railgun, the Army's war-tested iRobots, and now the Air Force has something of their own to boast about. Nova Sensors of Solvang, California has designed the Variable Acuity Superpixel Technology (VAST) system, which is reportedly capable of tracking "anything slower than a bullet," but the shifty part is that this camera can home in on speeding shells as well, hopefully lending a hand in protecting soldiers in the years to come. The machine focuses on heat bursts emitted in the infrared range by moving bullets in order to detect an incoming projectile; ideally, it would be connected to "active armor" that could move, expand, or otherwise protect an individual or a entire platoon if a stray (or purposeful) bullet was headed their way. The system includes software that "mimics the fovea in human and animal eyes," and essentially provides high-resolution focal points of the incoming shells while making everything else low-resolution in order to showcase what's really important life-threatening. While we're fairly certain these guys won't be coming out with a commercial rendition suitable to block those laser-guided office missiles that nail you in the kneecap every morning, be sure to click on through for a short demonstration of VAST in action.
IGN takes a look at Star Wars: Lethal Alliance
Egad! It seems like Star Wars: Lethal Alliance is coming out next week. It's usually not a good sign when a game sneaks past everyone's radar until right before it ships. Maybe Ubisoft isn't too confident in their first PSP Star Wars offering? (Anyone know why Ubisoft, and not LucasArts is publishing this?) The new videos that IGN have put up showcase a weird mix of the Star Wars and Matrix universes, with the main character being far more nimble and acrobatic than I'm accustomed to. Unfortunately, it appears that the game looks nowhere as nice as it does in the still shots (shown above). The textures seem a lot worse, and the framerate appears to barely chug along.Maybe I'm wrong (and I hope I am!). I'd love to see a decent Star Wars game on our platform. Read IGN's impressions to find out more.
Take the Wii pill
Talk about a Revolution. Though difficult to see, the bottom of the poster features Iwata, Reggie, and Perrin Kaplan walking in badass black trenchcoats. If Iwata is Neo, though, where's Shiggy? And is Ken Kutaragi the "architect"? Nah. That guy couldn't make a square out of toothpicks.[Thanks, Spex!]
Super Console Wars puts spin on mascot Gamepires
We've seen Mario in the Matrix, Luigi as a Braveheart, and what we thought was everything in between. Well, hold up, 'cuz now we've seen everything: classic game icons have been mashed up with Star Wars.Super Console Wars: The Gamepire Strikes Gold is that hybrid that with good and evil roles spread out onto each platform and various gaming mascots, ranging from Mario clone troopers vs. Princess Zelda to a VMU droid and GPU-enabled android (erm, peripheral).About two-thirds of the way through the 20-minute video, you're gently encouraged to wear 3D glasses to enhance your video viewing, but even without glasses, the parody stands as an amusing take-off of gaming standards, pop culture, and retro reminiscing. Obi-Wan Shinobi, indeed.[Thanks, Cradrock]See also: Super Mario Reloaded Ready for an "Oldschool Revolution"?
Prediction: One virtual world to rule them all
This Wired piece by technology thinker Steven Johnson is a neat summary of a prediction about virtual worlds that's becoming increasingly common. If you take a step back from the MMOs and other online pursuits of today, you see a lot of standalone bubbles of activity with one common factor--you. However, you can't cross the boundaries between worlds, taking your Halo 2 friends list and reputation into EverQuest or sending your Animal Crossing characters messages from your mobile.The prediction is that, relatively soon in the future, this won't be the case. As in The Matrix, as in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, one virtual world (or metaverse, if you prefer) will connect everything together:Within a decade, then, the notion of separate game worlds will probably seem like a quaint artifact of the frontier days of virtual reality. You'll still be able to engage in radically different experiences - from slaying orcs to cybersex - but they'll occur within a common architecture.The heterogeneous environment of home computing in the 1980s underwent a similar transformation; now it's virtual worlds' turn. Whether a proprietary product like Second Life (which resembles a fledgling metaverse) will come to the fore, or whether it will (like the Internet itself) evolve out of open standards and protocols, only time will tell--either way, in ten years' time people will look back on this post, from their virtual homes in a virtual reality, and laugh.[Via Terra Nova]See also: Wharton Dean: virtual worlds are the future of MBA education Virtual crucifixion punishes bad behaviour onlineIs online gaming antisocial?
Switched On: Enter the lay tricks
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: The scene: A hotel room on a rainy night. Pentius and Duo face each other near large, comfortable red chairs that look like leftover props from Pee Wee's Playhouse, yet no one is filming a Radio Shack commercial. "Pentius! It's an honor to meet you!" "Please, have a seat, Duo. The honor is mine. I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like a noob in the middle of a large computer store. You're here because you feel something that's eating at you that you can't explain. Do you know what I'm talking about?" "What is..." (squinting at the badge on Pentius's computer) "V eleven v?" "It's pronounced 'vive." Do you want to know what it is?" "Actually, there's this E! True Hollywood Story about "Who's The Boss" that I -""VIIV is the hype that surrounds the industry. You can see it in every computer magazine, in Intel's booth at CES, in keynotes from Microsoft. Soon it will be in your living room, your bedroom, anywhere you have an Intel-based desktop. Duo!" "Yes?""Were you listening to me or staring at that big pile of co-op funds from Intel?""I was, uh... OK, so this vi'iv thing? What is it again?"
HDTV Listings for January 14, 2006
What we're watching: Two of the best AFC teams in the NFL take to the 1080i gridiron on CBS tonight. The Patriots step up to Mile-High Stadium to tackle the Broncos at 8 p.m. and this game could go either way. If for any reason the game gets one-sided (which I doubt), I'll be jacking in to "The Matrix" on TNT-HD at 10:30 p.m. for a 1080i showing. The Oracle already told me who wins the football game anyway... After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.
