#AWE2014
Syntertainment

Syntertainment

Syntertainment lives at the intersection of entertainment and reality. Created by game industry legend Will Wright, visionary technologist Avi Bar-Zeev and members of The Stupid Fun Club, we are a growing team of talented designers, technologists, and entrepreneurs who have previously created genre-defining works like SimCity, The Sims, Spore and Google Earth. We are dedicated to changing the world through uniquely fun and lasting user experiences. http://www.syntertainment.com/...

AWEsome Keynote Speakers at AWE 2013

AWEsome Keynote Speakers at AWE 2013

AWE, the world’s largest gathering of professionals developing solutions for augmented humans in an augmented world, is just 2 months away – June 4-5, 2013. An amazing 110 speaker lineup from nearly 100 companies confirmed participation in the 2 1/2 day packed agenda, headlined by these AWEsome industry luminaries: Here is a video to whet your appetite for the headlining speakers: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbQMeG4IdYo] Register today and take advantage of the special early bird rate (and save $200!) before it expires on April 9th....

Stupid Fun Club

Stupid Fun Club

Stupid Fun Club is creating a new genre of mobile experiences and re-inventing gaming, toys, robots, and television....

Interview with Bruce Sterling: Augmented Reality and Transitioning out of the Old-Fashioned "Legacy Internet"

It is just over a week until Augmented Reality Event, and I know there are a lot of people, including me, who are totally psyched to see what unfolds there this year. Bruce Sterling, Vernor Vinge, Blaise Aguera Y Arcas, Jaron Lanier, Will Wright, Marco Tempest and Frank Cooper will join 107 speakers from 76 augmented reality companies on a single stage to tell a momentous story of a technology of our time (see here for more from Bruce Sterling on AR & my previous post). As Bruce Sterling points out, in the interview below, Augmented Reality is “truly a child of the twenty-teens, a genuine digital native,” and one visible indication that: ..the Internet really could look like a “legacy.” The Legacy Internet as an old-fashioned, dusty, desk-based place best left to archivists and librarians, while the action is out on the streets.” Interview with Bruce Sterling by Tish Shute and Ori Inbar Tish Shute: As you so memorably put it, “AR is a technovisionary dream come true – something really rare, and you have to be really patient for those….” What is best and worst, in your view, about the way Augmented Reality technovisionary dream is coming true and emerging to flourish in the wild? Bruce Sterling: The best part is that AR is truly happening and is a lot of fun, and the worst part is that it’s happening in a Depression. If AR had broken loose in the dotcom days when cash flew around like soap bubbles, man, that would have been psychedelic. AR that is even more of-our-time than “social media.” AR has arisen directly from modern technical factors that just didn’t use to exist. It’s made from shiny new parts, and is truly a child of the twenty-teens, a genuine digital native. It’s a little kid and it has to walk before it can run, but it’s great to see it walking. Tish Shute: As Jesse Schell pointed out last year at ARE2010, “The whole point of AR is to see things from a different point of view…How can there be a more powerful art form than one that actually changes what you see?” What do you feel will be the most impactful application of AR in people’s everyday lives? Bruce Sterling: I’m all for impact, but it’s pretty clear that the people who would weep for joy to have Augmented Reality are people whose reality is already damaged. People who need reality augmented as a prosthetic, in other words, so that they can achieve an “everyday life.” This is like the impactful but underappreciated role of the Internet in the lives of people who’ve been shut-in. If you’re laid-up in a hospital bed, a laptop is a revolution in convalescence. But that kind of “impact” doesn’t sound too exciting or too profitable. My guess would be that the biggest arena for “impactful AR” would be augmenting cityscapes for foreign people who can’t speak the local language, can’t read the signs, and lack time to learn the local reality. Imagine, say, the Brazilian overlay for Moscow. You could show up, read your native Brazilian overlay of that city, do your business, eat, sleep, buy, leave, and scarcely “be in Moscow” at all. Constructed right, the AR Brazilian Moscow might even be a better Moscow — a Moscow that Russians themselves would pay to visit. Tish Shute: You pointed out last year, in your opening keynote for ARE2010, that less immersive forms of AR have their own merits. We are still not seeing much “head mounted display weirdness” yet, but many other forms of AR are emerging – mobile, webcam, projected video, sonic augmented reality, even sticky light. You noted, practically everything that AR is involved in is a transitional technology. But since you spoke last year at ARE2010, which of these transitional technologies have shown the most promise for AR? Bruce Sterling: It’s got to be handsets. Smartphones. The stats there are just amazing. The smartphone biz makes the personal computer business look like a Victorian railroad. When I read a guy like Tomi Ahonen, who talks about transitioning out of the old-fashioned “Legacy Internet,” that idea is startling. But AR is one visible indication that the Internet really could look like a “legacy.” The Legacy Internet as an old-fashioned, dusty, desk-based place best left to archivists and librarians, while the action is out on the streets. Tish Shute: This year we have seen gestural interfaces go mainstream. What are the most interesting directions for gestural interfaces that you have seen emerge in recent months? Bruce Sterling: To me, the most “interesting” part is seeing people do gestural stuff in public. William Gibson, my fellow author, observes that cellphones have stolen the gestural language of cigarettes. There’s lots of fidgeting, box tapping, ash-swiping, slipping boxes in and out of pockets… People quickly learn to do that without thinking twice, and they forget how weird it looks. It’s “design dissolving in behavior,” as Adam Greenfield puts it. The gestural hack scene for the Kinect has been amazing. It’s like watching 1950s Beatnik dancing go mainstream. Tish Shute: You have observed that Augmented Reality is Glocal which not only gives us different flavors of augmented experience but is “a departure from earlier models of tech startups, where you usually have like three hippies in a local garage. Now you’ve got German-American-Korean outfits like Metaio, and Total Immersion has a Russian affiliate. They’re inherently multinational, both inside the company and out.” What flavors of glocalness do you hope/expect to see at Augmented Reality Event this year. Bruce Sterling: I’d be pretty happy to see some AR input from Brazil, India, and South Africa. I seem to be picking up a lot of followers in my Twitter stream from those locales. If I saw some Augmented Bollywood Reality, that would pretty much make my day. Ori Inbar: What sessions will you go to at ARE this year? Who do you want to meet at ARE 2011? Bruce Sterling: I make it my business to hang out with artists, but I’m hoping to drill down more on the technical aspects. For instance, where exactly are the bottlenecks in building animated augments? It looks like we’re about a sneeze away from jamming some crude Hanna-Barbera cartoons into real spaces. But the devil is in the details there. Ori Inbar: Your commentary about the evolution of the AR industry over the years had significant focus on style. Is the AR industry dressed to kill yet? Any glimpses of promise in that direction? Bruce Sterling: I’m not “pro-style” in every possible aspect of life, but as an Augmented Reality critic, it’s clear to me that if you claim to “augment” reality, then you should work hard to augment it — struggle to make it better. Otherwise you might as well call yourself “Defaced Reality,” or even “3D Spam.” When I see that kind of crudity and carelessness in AR, I’m gonna call people out on it. I know there will be the AR equivalent of cheesy billboards and gang graffiti, but I never much cared for those, either. The industry’s videos have improved radically in the past year and a half. It used to be all about “look at my grainy, shaky handheld video of my cool new AR hack,” but nowadays the biz has really pulled its socks up. If AR is about “experience design,” as I think it basically is, then eventually, as a matter of intellectual consistency and professional pride, everything you create will be considered part of “the experience.” That’s the industry’s way forward — that’s what it would do if it was grown-up. AR people already look better than most similar geeks in the gaming business, and some day, I really do believe that augmentation people will become glamorous. They won’t be supermodels, but they’ll be about as chic as, say, professional set designers. Because AR is set design, in a way; it’s real-time interactive set-design for three-D spaces. Ori Inbar: In the Layar Launch in 2009 you said “it’s the dawn of AR…”, at ARE 2010, you followed up on the theme saying “it’s 9am in the AR industry.” What time is it now? Bruce Sterling: I’d be guessing it’s around 9:30 AM, but come on, that’s just a metaphor! ARE we all gonna blow off at 4:30 PM and have a beer, or is AR one of those cruel tech startups where nobody ever gets a personal life? Ori Inbar: Are you reading any new fictional literature about AR that inspires you? And/or What interesting design fictions for AR have you come across recently? Bruce Sterling: Well, I’m always interested in creative people who just plain make stuff up. Because that’s why I commonly do myself. The stuff that “inspires” me is usually stuff that I just didn’t expect to see. But when I don’t expect it, that usually means I wasn’t paying enough attention. I plan to pay a lot of attention to AR this year. I’m not sure it makes a lot of sense to write fiction nowadays “about AR,” because it’s no longer a fictional topic. It’s become like writing fiction “about cinema.” You can write good fiction about someone who works in cinema, but not fiction about cinema itself. AR is not sci-fi “Augmented Reality” any more, it’s become a real-world phenomenon, a new industry of real augmentation. With that said, I must remark that I sit up straight whenever I see Marco Tempest do stuff. Magicians are all about mystery and wonder. You wouldn’t see a magician, say, using AR to work an assembly line, or re-order library books, or find a pizza joint in Barcelona. And that’s great. Marco is always gonna do something freaky and out-there, and even though he’s a tech magician, it’s never about the tech first. It’s always about his ingenuity in finding new ways to employ new tools in creating a magical experience for his audience. Marco’s not an entrepreneur, he’s not gonna revolutionize people’s daily lives or invent Web 4.0, but even if AR becomes “old hat” some day, it’s never going to be old hat when he’s doing it. The guy is a pro, and I’m quite the fan. Magic Projection Live @ TEDxTokyo 2010 from Marco Tempest on Vimeo....

The Best of the Best in Augmented Reality to Compete for Top Industry Award

Industry icons Bruce Sterling, Vernor Vinge, Will Wright and Jaron Lanier to judge “The Auggies” – at the worldʼs largest AR event. Register Today! SANTA CLARA, CA (April 26, 2011) – The Augmented Reality industry is getting ready to show off a new round of innovation to the technology, media, and marketing communities.  If you ever wondered about the potential of Augmented reality and wanted to check it out up close, you will be excited to know that “The Auggies” returns to the world’s largest augmented reality event, ARE 2011 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California. The second annual Auggies competition will take place at the heart of Silicon Valley as the brightest minds in the industry put on a show to impress the industry’s most iconic judges and inspire the audience packed with AR enthusiasts. The thing I like best about ARE is personally witnessing things that never show up on the Internet. There’s a tension in Augmented Reality, between the global scope of the technology and the local character of the teams that produce it. When you’re in the room with committed, creative people — looking them in the eye, breathing the air they are breathing — that’s what makes it an “event.” – said Bruce Sterling. For the Auggies competition, augmented reality teams get 5 minutes each on stage and compete for the coolest live AR demo. The panel of judges provides their unabashed comments, critiques and if they are deemed worthy praise. Winners will be voted by the audience and receive the prestigious “Auggies Award.” The Auggies is the opportunity for AR developers to unveil their vision of the future, not only in terms of technical progress, but also on how creative you can be with this technology. Winning is truly an important recognition from the AR community and it surely means you’re defying the norm and taking one step further. – said Ivan Franco of YDreams – the 2010 Auggies winner. Here is the complete list of competing teams for the Auggie – the industry’s top award. The competition is still open for additional nominations until May 10th. The only way to witness the yearly AR battle for the Auggies and participate in the live audience voting is to register for the ARE 2011 event. Event registration is limited and does sell out. Here is a look back at “The Auggies” competition from ARE 2010. Unplugged, raw video of the demos and the insightful, brutally honest, and entertaining commentary by the judges: Bruce Sterling, Jesse Schell, and Mark Billinghurst. It feels so…2010....

Sneak Preview of ARE 2011 Schedule – Packed with Augmented Reality Goodness!

The second annual Augmented Reality Event (ARE 2011) is unveiling a sneak preview of the schedule for the world’s largest event – focused exclusively on advancing the augmented reality industry. ARE 2011 will take place in May 17th-18th at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California, and is surely a must-attend event for the Augmented Reality (AR) community, and anyone interested to learn about AR. **** Join Bruce Sterling (“the prophet” of AR) on the main stage, with Vernor Vinge (author of “Rainbows End” and “The Coming Technological Singularity”), and Will Wright (Legendary game designer of SimCity, The Sims, and Spore). Also returning from last year’s event, Blaise  Aguera Y Arcas (a leader in Microsoft’s mobile strategy), to top his Ted talk demonstrating innovations in Bing Maps and Augmented Reality. And if that’s not enough magic – Marco Tempest, the world’s most notable AR magician will stun the audience with a live augmented magic show. **** The 2 day event will feature more than 33 hours of talks running the gamut of AR essentials in 3 tracks: Business, Technology and Production: a) Business – For executives of established and start-up AR companies, as well as mobile hardware companies – in search of business models and promising verticals for AR;  a venue to form partnerships, learn about latest innovations, and most importantly speak with clients. b) Technology – For Developers, programmers and technologists seeking the latest and greatest engines and tools for AR; learn from case studies and post mortems delivered by experienced developers from the leading companies in the space. c) Production – For Producers, designers, project managers (in gaming companies, agencies, marketers, brands, and artists) hungry for proven techniques to leverage augmented reality to advance your brand, attract and keep your customers, and build successful campaigns and products that will delight users. For a complete list of confirmed speakers checkout the website at: ARE 2011 Speakers If you are an AR Enthusiast – you will feel like a kid in a candy store at are2011. Not convinced yet? Check out these special activities: 1) “Startup Launch pad” – Five AR startups present their business models and products in front of an expert panel: VCs, Entrepreneurs, and industry luminaries – hosted by a major industry powerhouse. Winner receives: “ARE Best startup prize” (to be announced.) Submit your proposal here under track: “Startup Launch Pad”. 2) “The Auggies” – Teams get 5 minutes each to present on stage and compete for the coolest live AR demo. An extraordinary trio of judges: Bruce Sterling, Vernor Vinge, and Will Wright, will comment on the demos – American Idol-style. Winners will be determined by the audience and receive the prestigious “Auggies Award.” Submit your proposal here under the “Auggies” track. 3) ARt Gala – A display of AR art projects and live performance art by the world’s top AR artists featuring: Helen Papagiannis, Amir Baradaran, Sander Veenhof and more to be announced. And to make sure all your senses are stimulated – drinks and food are on the house – courtesy of our sponsors. 4) ARE Press Conference – If you are planning to announce a new product or service – secure your spot in the press conference that will kick off the event. Submit your proposal here and add: “Press Conference” in the title. 5) Exhibition and Sponsorships – A small number of booths is still available in the exhibition hall ($995 for 10′x10′).Grab them while they last! Register today for the augmented reality event!...

What to Expect from ARE 2010 Keynote Speakers

Chris Grayson from Gigantico – a media partner and a good friend of the augmented reality event – has put together this cool promo for what to expect from are 2010 keynote speakers: Bruce Sterling, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Will Wright, and Jesse Schell. If you are planning to attend – consider it as 15 minutes of really fun homework for the event. Enjoy! I bet they will blow our minds next week!...