Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

30/03/2024

Yesha's spark of the week:
https://demo.hume.ai/

Web-based (no app needed) voice conversation that captures your feelings from your voice.
Be prepared to be amazed.

16/02/2024

Yesterday, Sam Altman shared more info about “Sora”, OpenAI’s new Video generating tool.

We're not talking about “4” seconds of blurry cartoons; we are talking about 1-minute video of real-life cinematic content.

*Full Story*
(1) 12 min. video cover: https://youtu.be/NXpdyAWLDas?si=H9VYncr61q2xrwIw (txs Maya for the link)
(2) 5 mi.n technical overview of Sora in open AI site: https://openai.com/sora (txs Jacob)
(3) And read about $100 valuation: https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-talks-raise-new-funding-100-bln-valuation-bloomberg-news-2023-12-22/ (txs Reuters)

*meaning*
(1) As usual, about 100 startups in video ceration / stock need to pivot.
(2) Actors, storytellers, video creators, YouTube itself, etc. -- are also in danger (why save videos when you can generate them on the spot?)
(3) Humans -- get ready.

*small reminder:*
Reminder: If you want to see how MindLi gives us the power to do human thinking, join us this Tuesday over Zoom (you need to be a member - details and sign up https://digitalrosh.com/register/drl097-welcoming-mindli/
MindLi Welcome - Tuesday, 20-Feb-2024 | Zoom | 18:00 IST | 17:00 CET | 11:00 EST

04/01/2024

**Today, I had the great pleasure of selecting the 10 most interesting items related to AGI for our upcoming AI Digital Leadership update. The update is scheduled for next week, Tuesday, and will span 2 hours on Zoom.** 17:00-19:00 (CET), 18:00-20:00 (IST), 11:00-13:00 (EST)

After reviewing 391 items, I narrowed them down to the top 10. But how does one choose? With so much progress, a plethora of technologies, new applications, conflicting issues, and even gossip, the task was daunting. "You got to do what you got to do" — and after careful deliberation, I chose 10 cases that exemplify a key leadership principle. This principle should guide digital leaders in their journey to understand Artificial Intelligence and harness its potential for creation.

Here is the preliminary list (subject to minor updates):
1. “Aloha Robot” — How Close Are We to Winning the Wozniak Test?
2. “Puzzle” — Thinking with Code
3. “Cruise” — When Things Go Wrong
4. “Ask Yesha” — A Case of Do-It-Yourself
5. “PIKA” — The Future of Actors, Movies, and More
6. “NYT” — Who Owns What
7. “Midjourney v6” — The Rate of Progress
8. “From 25 to 45” — The Truth About Truth
9. “Perplexity” — The Battle of Open Source
10. “Retina/EEG/and More” — Knowing Too Much

**The talk will include a review of these topics, followed by a Q&A session, and a discussion on 'what we should do as organizational leaders'. To sign up, https://digitalrosh.com/register/drl096-community-meeting-the-agi-elephant-q3/ DigitalRosh Pro members - log in to receive an invite promo code. Space is limited as this will be an interactive Zoom meeting — so bring your cameras and be ready to engage! 🙂**

23/06/2022

The need for standards is emerging again:

https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/21/metaverse-standards-forum-meta-microsoft-nvidia-unity/

04/06/2022

An interesting use for the metaverse -- medication.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/24/psychedelic-vr-meditation-startup-tripp-raises-11-million-series-a/

As an increasing number of startups sell investors on mobile apps that help consumers prioritize well-being and mindfulness, other startups are looking for a more immersive take that allows users to fully disconnect from the world around them. Tripp has been building immersive relaxation exercises ....

02/01/2022

🌟💥Happy New Year to all members, readers, authors, and researchers. 🌟💥
A fascinating project is coming to its opening on May 27, 2022 - ABBA in London in a holographic event "Voyage". A concert that combines the old and new, the young and not-so-young. The ABBA-tars (Abba avatars) are the 1979 version of the legendary group.
The quartet spent five weeks with A/V wizards at Industrial Light and Magic, who have used advanced motion capture techniques to create virtual copies of the band that behave accurately in every way, from their dancing to their eye movements. Artificial intelligence (AI) routines were then used to “de-age” the performers.
More at Forbes: https://bit.ly/3mOMS2a
and https://abbavoyage.com/

24/11/2021

Yony Kanety continues to bring the best -- here XR (eXtra Reality) in action.

20/08/2021

Facebook is bringing the office to VR with Horizon Workrooms

https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/19/22629942/facebook-workrooms-horizon-oculus-vr

We spent time with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Horizon Workrooms, the company’s new attempt to build a metaverse for work collaboration in Oculus VR.

24/07/2021

FYI.

Research publications from the Empathic Computing Lab on Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality technologies applied to remote collaborative experience.

28/06/2021

Give a gift. Make an impact!

28/06/2021

Virtual farming craze.

This Farming Video Game Is So Popular, People Pay To Watch Gamers Play It https://one.npr.org/i/1008986894:1008986895

Join The Game from St. Louis Public Radio on NPR One | 3:41

26/06/2021

25/06/2021

Conan on VR… classics.
He wants to go into a cube for 4-5… the rest is inside.

19/05/2021

3D over wire. Google project that set amazing targets. Video.

Imagine looking through a sort of magic window, and through that window, you see another person, life-size and in three dimensions. Project Starline is a tec...

15/05/2021

Update from Tom Boellstorff

In this article, Tom Boellstorff explores a film that chronicles the experiences and insights of disabled persons in the virtual world Second Life. The focus of the article is on the making of the film through collaboration between researchers, filmmaker, and community.

07/05/2021

A resource for rapid prototyping of AR/VRMR/XR applications. It contains links to software, articles, videos and presentations that show how to quickly create your ideas for XR applications.

26/04/2021

Great direction. VR And empathy.

Virtual reality (VR) has recently been popularized as the “ultimate empathy machine,” and yet the science behind the effects of VR on empathy is scarc…

03/04/2021

$21.9 billion
The value of a deal that Microsoft signed to provide custom augmented-reality headsets Microsoft HoloLens to the U.S. Army, which sees such headsets as a potential way to make sure troops are more aware of dangers around them.

31/03/2021

The best 3D3C development in a decade.

A lot’s happened since Facebook’s first headset brought virtual reality to the masses. Facebook might have been a first mover, but it also wants to be the last one.

14/03/2021

Scientific Reports Editor's Choice collection: virtual reality research, tools and applications.

05/03/2021

The challenges of AR research.

also focusing on objects in the real world at a different distance. Liu et al. [7] showed one solution for this by creating an HMD with variable focal planes that enabled users to view virtual content at different focal lengths. Light Field Displays are another important emerging area of research, a...