Technological Musings

I ran across this today.. Quite a fun game... I'll have to check out the TV series as well. Hopefully Channel 4 won't mind me hosting a copy locally...

I have to agree with scifiwire here... This is awesome, you must watch it.

I wish I was a writer because a Hitchhiker/Doctor Who crossover would be incredible... Interestingly enough, "Life, the Universe and Everything" originally began as some sort of Doctor Who story treatment.. So perhaps there is more than just room for a crossover... Maybe it's inevitable!

The second of three papers written for a computer science class I took recently. You can find the first here. For this second paper, we were directed to project our chosen technology into the future and explain our predictions. I think I was a bit apprehensive with going too far with this, so this is probably a bit tamer than it could be. Over all, though, I think these predictions are at least reasonable and possibly something I may even see within my lifetime.

Today's entertainment shows a marked progression towards more immersion and realism. As the technology used to provide and enhance entertainment evolves, the ability to provide accurate depictions of previously unattainable events becomes possible. In the past, books and movies relied on the observer's imagination to fill in any gaps in the story. Newer technology allows artists the ability to realistically generate these scenes, more fully depicting their overall artistic vision. There are numerous benefits to these evolving technologies for many different aspects of daily life.

In the 1999 hit movie, The Matrix, the protagonist, Neo, eventually realizes his full potential and gains the ability to perform superhuman feats. All throughout the movie, seemingly impossible feats are performed with almost no perceptible break in reality. Characters jump from building to building, dodge bullets, and fight with strength unheard of in normal humans. New technology provided the tools used to merge human actors with virtual constructs in a realistic manner. New techniques were used to provide unique viewing angles and sequences such as the stop-motion bullet sequence.

The bullet-time technique was subsequently used by CBS television in the 2001 Superbowl XXXV game. CBS worked with Takeo Kanade, a computer vision expert from Carnegie Mellon University, to develop the technology. [1] Using this technology, CBS was able to provide the viewer a unique look at the game as the camera's vantage point could be moved, on the fly, at any point during the game. In fact, this new technique allowed referees to correctly uphold a replay challenge, identifying whether or not a player fumbled the ball after passing over the touchdown line. [2] Bullet-time provides what may be a key technology in moving towards real-time 3D broadcasting. Previously, meticulous work was required to generate realistic 3D sequences in movies, and doing this on live television was unheard of.

3D and holographic television has long been a lofty dream of technology enthusiasts. Visions range from standard television-sized displays, capable of displaying three-dimensional movies and sports events to massive room-sized units capable of completely immersing a person in a new world. But televisions capable of 3D imagery are only just starting to appear on the market. At the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show, a large number of 3D-capable high-definition televisions were announced. [3] These units require the use of 3D glasses to view the images presented. 3D televisions may well prove to be the next “big thing” for tech-savvy consumers, but there is a distinct lack of 3D content available. Additionally, requiring the user to wear a set of 3D glasses during each viewing is going to wear on the users quickly. Until more immersive and accessible technologies are available, widespread adoption of 3D will likely be slow.

The Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, CAVE, is a tentative step in the general direction of more fully immersive 3D technology. Developed at the University of Illinois, the CAVE is a large cube with several screens surrounding the viewer. The system automatically adjusts the perspective displayed by the screens based on the location of the viewer. [4] Images on each screen are projected in 2D. In order to properly view the 3D imagery, special glasses are required. CAVE systems are still very experimental and are most often used by colleges to help students bring their creations to life. Mainstream CAVE use has been slow, but some industries such as the auto industry use CAVE systems to model new car designs. This technology, while immersive, still suffers from inaccessibility. CAVE systems are large, complex systems designed for very specific tasks.

The true “Holy Grail” of immersive projection technologies is holographic. Holographic projection provides the ability to project and view three-dimensional images in real-time without the need for augmentation devices such as glasses. This dream has been on every nerds wishlist since it was described by authors such as Ray Bradbury. The most common example of a full-sized holographic unit is the Holodeck from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The holodeck is a futuristic device capable of creating realistic environments in which a person can interact. It is capable more than mere image projection, however. According to Star Trek lore [5], the holodeck can create holographic matter, taking on the texture and other characteristics of real matter. Users can then interact with this matter as they would a “real” object.

Research into Holodeck-style environments is on-going. A paper from researchers at the University of Colorado details a method for bringing such an environment to life. [6] Instead of using holographic matter, their system uses a deformable environment in which a computer molds the world around in real-time. Still, these systems are big and bulky, not something the average consumer is likely to add to their home entertainment system.

Looking further into the future, it is feasible from current trends that more accessible technologies are on their way. Within ten to twenty years, holographic displays will be commonplace in consumer homes. These displays won't necessarily be what we expect, either. Based on current technology, it would appear that a holographic display would be a large, walled unit with a myriad of cameras and other gear to project the 3D images. What is more likely, however, is that something as simple as a coffee table will be the surface used to bring 3D to life.

As holography becomes more mainstream, it will begin to pop up in more places. Many sci-fi authors envision holographic advertisements as commonplace in futuristic worlds. Combining holographic projection with other technologies leads to some interesting scenarios.

Using image recognition techniques, computers can identify when a person is looking at a specific location. Using information about the person such as height, weight, relative age, skin color, and more, the computer can compile a user profile, placing them into a category of consumer. Additional information such as facial features and gait detection may lead to positive identification of an individual, helping to tailor the categorization even more. With this information, the computer can then determine what that person will most likely be interested in and identify potential advertisements to transmit to the target. Holographic laser emitters can be used to “beam” an advertisement directly into the viewers eye.

Advertising in this manner can provide the target with a highly personalized advertisement, as well as relative privacy. It also prevents popular thoroughfares from becoming a disorganized mass of disjointed holographic projections. Complete industries will rise up around preventing such advertisements from making it to the target, circumventing those technologies, and so on.

Another use of holographic technology is akin to the personal digital assistant, or PDA. As computers become more powerful, their relative size is diminishing. In the future, a small wearable device will potentially contain the equivalent power of a supercomputer. This power can be used to “augment” reality in various ways. Heads-up displays can be displayed inside of glasses, or even projected directly onto the user's cornea. Displays can provide navigation information while traveling, both on foot and in a vehicle. Users can interact with real-time data such as stock quotes or news. Movies can be displayed, providing the user their own private movie theatre.

Augmented reality devices can also be used to overlay information on the real world. Future businesses will be able to overlay their real-world stores with dynamic, digital information. Imagine walking up to a store and having digitized versions of famous people personally inviting you in. Perhaps a personal assistant will escort you around, providing reviews, alternatives, and pricing. Walk into a fast-food restaurant and you can access a menu overlay, personally tailored for you. The applications for such technology is almost limitless.

Artists can use these same technologies to provide a unique experience for viewers. Instead of sitting down in a theatre, watching the latest blockbuster movie, artists can bring the movie to the viewer. Holographic overlays can be used outside of theaters, inviting viewers to join in the action. More immersive movies can dynamically change the flow of the movie based on viewer actions. Imagine changing the outcome of a movie, purely based on your personal choices.

The future of entertainment technology is bright and full of potential. Artists will be able to use new and exciting tools to bring their visions to life. Movie viewers will be able to interact with the performance, even changing aspects of the story as they see fit. Using these technologies in the consumer space provides similar enhancements to daily life. Information such as navigation and news can be provided directly to the user. And augmented reality can provide new views of the world. Computers are definitely shaping how we see the future.
References:

[1] (2010, March 20). [Online]. Available: http://www.ri.cmu.edu/events/sb35/tksuperbowl.html
[2] (2010, March 20). [Online]. Available: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/2001/playoffs/news/2001/01/28/superbowl_tv_ap/
[3] (2010, April 6). [Online]. Available: http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10431350-269.html
[4] . Cruz-Neira, D. J. Sandin, T. A. DeFanti, R. V. Kenyon, and J. C. Hart, "The Cave: Audio Visual Experience Automatic Virtual Environment," Communications of the ACM, 1992.
[5] (2010, April 6). [Online]. Available: http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Holodeck
[6] Krunic, V.; Han, R.; , "Towards Cyber-Physical Holodeck Systems Via Physically Rendered Environments (PRE's)," Distributed Computing Systems Workshops, 2008. ICDCS '08. 28th International Conference on , vol., no., pp.507-512, 17-20 June 2008

E3 is in full swing and among the myriad of incredible announcements and demos, the fine folks over at Aperture Science demonstrated some of their new technology. Below are some absolutely incredible videos showing off all that is Portal 2. I am so incredibly excited about this game and cannot wait to get my hands on it.

Just look at the beauty of the environment they've designed for Portal 2... The bright white of the original Portal lab is marred by rust and wear as well as encroachment from the outside.

The new game mechanics are simply brilliant. I can't wait to see how creative you can get with the various mechanics. I'm sure the achievements available will reflect this as well.

According to what I've read, Valve brought on the team from Digipen that came up with Tag and added that technology to Portal. The result is the gels you see being used to provide additional bounce or speed boosts.

2011 cannot get here fast enough.. Let's just hope I have enough time to play before the world ends in 2012!

I've been taking some courses in Computer Science lately and had the opportunity to take a more ethics-based class this last semester. As part of that class, I had to write a series of papers delving into where computer technology started and where I see it ending up. Ultimately, we had to have a general theme as computer technology can be rather broad. I chose entertainment for my theme, partially as a bit of a challenge to myself, and partially because it can be an interesting field.

Below is the first of the three papers I wrote.


In the beginning, before formal written languages, man told stories. Stories provided news, knowledge, and entertainment. Storytelling was often a group event, with well-known storytellers providing the entertainment through both spoken word and, often, music accompaniment. As time passed, storytelling became more elaborate. Stories were performed in front of audiences, and eventually written down after a formal writing language was developed.

In the late 1800's, radio was developed. While initially used as a tool for disseminating important information, radio was quickly adapted to provide entertainment for the masses. Both music and stories were broadcast to mass audiences. By the 1920's, it was not uncommon for families to gather around their radio to listen to the latest broadcast of their favorite program.

In the early 1930's, the commercialization of television helped to quickly replace radio as the primary source of home entertainment. As with radio, families gathered around the television to watch their favorite program, immersing themselves in their entertainment. With this new medium, entertainers were determined to push the envelope, seeking the very limits of the technology available.

Alongside the development of both radio and television, scientists and mathematicians were progressing towards development of mechanical and, later, electronic computers. Initially, computers were used primarily for calculation. During World War II, computers such as the Colossus were used to break enemy ciphers.

By the late 1950's, computers were being used at businesses and colleges across the country, primarily for financial calculations. Colleges made computers available to graduate students who used them for research and course work. In many instances, tinkers and hackers gained access to these computers as well. Their goal was not to use the computers as they were intended, but to push the limits of the system and learn as much as they could in the process. Inevitably, the use of computers turned to entertainment as well as utilitarian functions. In 1959, a professor at MIT, John McCarthy, was working on a program for the IBM 704 that would play chess. Some of the grad students working with him devised a program that used a row of lights on the 704 to play a primitive game of Ping Pong. [1]

As computers advanced and moved from rows of lights on a console to integration with video devices, graphical capabilities increased as well. In the early 1960's, MIT students created interactive graphical programs on the IBM TX-0. Ivan Sutherland created a program called SketchPad which would allow a user to draw shapes on a computer screen using a light pen. Steve Russell created one of the first video games, Spacewar. These programs marked early attempts at using computers for entertainment purposes. [1]

By 1966, Ralph Baer designed a game console called the Brown Box. Magnavox licensed the system and marketed it to the general public in 1972 as The Odyssey. The Odyssey connected to a user's television and manipulated points of light on the screen. Plastic overlays were used as backgrounds for the games as advanced graphics manipulation was not yet available. [2]

Around the same time that video games were being invented, other computer scientists were working on generating more advanced graphical capabilities for computers. At Cornell in 1965, Professor Donald Greenberg worked with a number of architecture students to develop a computer animated movie about how Cornell was built. Greenberg went on to start the Program of Computer Graphics at Cornell and work on photorealistic rendering. He is considered to be one of the forerunners in the field. [3]

At the University of Utah, Ivan Sutherland, who previously created Sketchpad, joined the Computer Science department and began teaching computer graphics. One of his student, Ed Catmull, would go on to become a pioneer in computer graphics, developing some of the most common graphical techniques used today.

In the early 1970's, a number of animation studios were formed. Among these were Information International Inc. (Triple I) and Lucasfilm. One of the primary purposes of these new studios was to use computers along with traditional motion picture film. While most of these new studios quickly went out of business, a few, such as Lucasfilm, were quite successful and continue to be innovative today. [4]

In 1973, the movie Westworld was released. This movie marked the first use of Computer Generated Imagery, CGI, in a major motion picture. Technicians at Triple I used digital processing techniques to pixelate a portion of the movie, providing the movie watcher a unique view of one of the main characters, an android. This movie was to be the first of a wave of movies employing computer generated imagery. [5]

Futureworld, the sequel to Westworld, was released in 1976. A scene in Futureworld used a 3D model of a human hand, a model designed and built by Dr. Edwin Catmull while he was a graduate student at the University of Utah. [6] After graduation, he joined the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab. Catmull and other researchers at the CGL helped to develop many of the advanced graphics techniques used in todays movies. In 1979, the group started working on the first feature length computer animated movie, The Works. The group worked for 3 years before releasing the first trailer at SIGGRAPH, the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group in Computer Graphics, in 1982. Unfortunately, due to both technical and financial limitations, work on the movie was halted in 1986 and the film was never finished. [7]

George Lucas, a film director and producer, created a new computer graphics division at Lucasfilm in 1979. Dr. Catmull, along with other researchers from NYIT, were among the initial hires. The computer graphics group concentrated on 3D graphics, eventually developing a computer system for Disney and Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) called the Pixar Image Computer. In 1986, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., purchased the computer graphics department from Lucasfilm. Pixar used their computer to develop a number of movie shorts to show off the capabilities of the system. Ultimately, however, Pixar stopped selling the computer due to slow sales.

Despite problems selling their Image Computer, Pixar was able to generate revenue by creating animated commercials for various companies. Pixar decided that animation was their strong suit and began pursuing an avenue for producing full-length animated films. Their earlier business dealings with Disney allowed them to sign a deal wherein Pixar would create a full-length film and Disney would market and distribute it. Pixar and Disney released the world's first full-length computer animated movie, Toy Story, in 1995. [8]

While Pixar was developing technology for cartoon rendering, other companies such as Triple I and ILM were developing technologies that could be used in traditional live-action movies. Perhaps one of the most famous “computer” movies, Tron, was released in 1982. Triple I helped to create approximately 15 minutes of computer animation that was used in the movie. [9] In the same year, ILM used fractals, a mathematical technique, to generate a landscaping sequence for the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. [10]

ILM created the digital effects for Terminator 2 in 1991. Several of the sequences in the movie featured a liquid metal humanoid form transforming into several different characters. ILM had to create new techniques for creating realistic humanoid actions such as walking and running. [11]

At the turn of the century, computer graphics has reached a point where so-called hyper-realism is achievable. In 2001, Square Pictures, the computer-animated film division of the Square entertainment company, released Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within. The film featured a lead character, Aki Ross, who was entirely computer generated. Some of the special effects in the film included realistic modeling and animation of hair and facial features. [12]

Computer generated actors and models have been used in recent years for movies, commercials, and even print ads. These realistic characters are used in place of traditional actors for a variety of reasons. While it can take a tremendous amount of time to create a new “actor,” the benefits can easily outweigh the work. CGI actors are predictable and don't throw tantrums or have trouble remembering lines. Once the major design work has been completed, using a CGI actor is arguably as easy as posing an action figure. [13]

As technology progresses, it is inevitable that we will be able to create even more realistic characters, completely blurring the lines between real and imaginary. One can argue that we have already hit that point with movies such as Avatar, which feature entirely new species and civilizations created entirely out of pixels. But as brilliant as Avatar is, it still relies on human actors to serve as motion capture targets. Even the facial expressions used in Avatar are based on motion captured data from live actors. [14]

It seems, however, that we are quickly approaching a time when even real actors won't be necessary to create the latest movies and television shows. A time when technology will edge out high paid actors, replacing them with a hard drive full of bits. Bits that can be molded to any role, instantly, without the need to eat or sleep. It means we will have actors who can do all of their own stunts without fear of getting injured or requiring body doubles. In short, it means we can fulfill roles we have never been able to fill before, with relatively inexpensive labor.

Does this mean we will see a shift in the industry as actors move to fill new roles as voices, or even as writers or directors? Or will we see a battle between the real and the imaginary? As was seen in the automotive industry as robots took over human jobs, fear was everywhere. Will the movie industry see this as a negative move, or will they take a queue from workers who shifted from manual labor to technical jobs, in charge of the very robots that threatened to make them obsolete? Either way, technology is changing the way movies are made.

References:
[1] S. Levy, Hackers : Heroes of the Computer Revolution. London: Penguin, 1994.
[2] (2010, February 24). [Online]. Available: http://www.pong-story.com/odyssey.htm
[3] J. Ringen, "Visions of Light," Metropolis, June, 2002.
[4] D. Sevo. (2010, February 24) History of Computer Graphics. [Online]. Available: http://www.danielsevo.com/hocg/hocg_1970.htm
[5] "Behind the Scenes of Westworld," American Cinematographer, November, 1973.
[6] C. Machover, "Springing into the Fifth Decade of Computer Graphics – Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going!" Siggraph, 1996.
[7] J. C. Panettieri, "Out of This World," NYIT Magazine, Winter, 2003/2004.
[8] A. Deutschman, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs. New York: Broadway Books, 2000.
[9] R. Patterson, "The Making of Tron," American Cinematographer, August, 1982.
[10] J. Veilleux, “Special Effects for 'Star Trek II': Warp Speed and Beyond,” American Cinematographer, October, 1982.
[11] L. Hu, "Computer Graphics in Visual Effects," Compcon, 1992.
[12] H. Sakaguchi, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Columbia Pictures.
[13] R. La Ferla, "Perfect Model: Gorgeous, No Complaints, Made of Pixels," New York Times, May 6, 2001.
[14] B. Robertson, "CG In Another World," Computer Graphics World, December, 2009.