Each year the Advanced Imaging Society (AIS) honors outstanding technical achievements in the entertainment, arts and technology sector. Developers of technologies and processes, which have demonstrated both innovation and impact in advancing the creation or delivery of quality content, are awarded.
In particular, Fraunhofer HHI won the AIS Technology Innovation Award 2018 for the development of the 3D Human Body Reconstruction.
The 3D Human Body Reconstruction technology captures real persons with multiple cameras simultaneously and uses the video information to create a natural moving dynamic 3D model, which can be viewed from 360 degrees and can be placed into any virtual environment.
Please find more information in the press release on the Fraunhofer HHI Homepage.
Homestory – design akademie berlin
The design akademie berlin, SRH Hochschule für Kommunikation und Design has been a partner of the 3IT, former 3DIC, from the very beginning. Professor Sebastian Denz is a representative of the university and focuses on 3D photography and spatial media. He started to participate in networking events of the 3IT in 2012, where he met other professionals from the economic as well as the science sector. He was able to introduce the 3D research group (3DFG) to them, consisting of teachers and students who are interested in the field of 3D and want to take part in the development and design of 3D content. “The strength of three-dimensional processes is, at the same time, their great weakness. In many of the works I’m familiar with, the medium does actually force its way into the foreground, so that the form displaces the content, reducing the work to a mere ‘3D effect’. We have to think design in spatial dimensions, find a new vocabulary and storytelling.” (Sebastian Denz)
Apart from the university’s collaborations with other partners of the 3IT, Sebastian Denz also integrated the innovation center’s facilities into his 3D photography class – the studio and cinema for example have been used by students numerous times. Resources were joint, new technologies tested and innovations were presented to diversified audiences. In 2015 a new photography bachelor degree studypath (B. A. Fotografie) was established at the design akademie berlin. Its focus lies on visual media including 3D, CGI, 360°, VR and AR. There are a couple of intersections with the 3IT that were incorporated into the concept from the start. In June 2016 the 3IT team came to the design akademie berlin for a visit to introduce themselves to the students of the new studypath and to take a look at the recently refurnished building of the university.
ZWISCHEN RAUM, which translates to “space” or “room in-between” is an experimental installation of the increase of immersion in Virtual Reality. The project is at the same time a very successful bachelor thesis, realized by Adrian Staude and supervised by professor Sebastian Denz and Jörg Frohnmayer. The goal was to develop a prototype that gives a new perspective on immersion through Virtual Reality. One person/viewer is participating in a VR computer game via a head mounted display and a joystick, while another person is using several props at the same time, so that besides sight and touch, other senses of the viewer are involved as well.
ZWISCHEN RAUM was exhibited at the 3IT VR Workshop that took place at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in 2016 as well as at Performersion – Days of Performing & Immersive Arts at Kühlhaus, a cooperation of the re:publica 2016, one of the largest and diverse conferences about digital culture in the world. Read more…
PAREIDOLIA is the title of the bachelor thesis written by Mila Albrecht. It is named after the phenomenon that the human brain can recognize faces and objects in patterns, structures and forms. The project was supervised by professor Sebastian Denz and Kirstin Weppner. The former student developed a device she called “Pareidoskop”, which gives the viewer the possibility to see the world upside down, isolated from the environment. This manipulation allows the person using the gadget to discover pareidolia, because the common masks of the human brain are disrupted. Mila Albrecht produced a book with a collection of pictures documenting the discoveries with the “Pareidoskop”. The device has to be used with an iPhone, in some sense a controversial medium that is said to be very engaging, to a point that its users have a restricted perception of their surroundings. In this case, the phone is used to counteract, because the viewer has the chance to perceive his or her environment in a new way with a different perspective.
Real-time Depth and Distance Measurement by Means of Stereo Endoscopy
New algorithms and demonstrators are being developed to enable a promising use of stereophotogrammetry for new application fields in the near future within the framework of the BMWi funded project 3DInMed.
The article “3D-Endoskopie: Kinotechnik für die berührungslose Vermessung”, by Jean-Claude Rosenthal from Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and Johannes Ruhhammer from SCHÖLLY FIBEROPTIC GmbH is the cover story in the current issue of the German trade journal photonik.
To sum it up, the article presents a new image-based stereometric system based on new algorithms. These algorithms allow real-time depth and distance measurement by means of stereoscopic endoscopy. The images that are being recorded with stereo borescopes can be displayed in 3D on any conventional 3D display via known stereo representation. The resulting improvement of the depth perception ensures an intuitive and quick navigation of the inspection site.
The algorithms used for the depth and distance measurement are based on the principle of stereo triangulation which is an established procedure in optical measurement. The big advantages of stereoscopic measuring systems are an improved measuring methodology and an easy user guidance through the in real-time generated disparity information.
Please find the detailed article in German (!) available for download here.
MAGENTA VIRTUAL REALITY – Easy Access to the Virtual Worlds for Everyone.
Deutsche Telekom invites you to experience new virtual worlds easily and free of charge (individual data rates may apply). With its Magenta Virtual Reality app, Telekom provides some of the best VR and 360° contents in the areas of sports, music, e-learning and entertainment. In addition to VR content produced exclusively for Telekom, you have access to partner content, for example of Red Bull, National Geographic and Twentieth Century Fox. Witness new, exclusive and regularly added VR content, such as:
• Red Bull: Rally 360° and Surfing 360°
• National Geographic: Glowworm Caves of New Zealand and 360° Victoria Falls – The Devil’s Pool
• Telekom exclusive: Freistoß – FC Bayern training in 360° with Franck Ribéry, Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman
Furthermore, exclusive VR App Deals are waiting for Telekom customers using Android smartphones. Once registered in their account, they are enabled to try out selected games or e-learning courses free of charge for a limited period time.
With or without VR glasses, the Magenta VR portal enables you to join Virtual Reality through different devices, such as Google Daydream, Samsung Gear VR and even simple cardboards. Even without any additional technical equipment, you can experience amazing videos and games on your browser with its “magic window” mode.
Download the app Magenta Virtual Reality to your smartphone for free now!
Click here to enter Magenta Virtual Reality.
New Partner Schneider Digital
We are happy to announce that Schneider Digital is now part of our 3IT partner network. As a manufacturer of professional 3D/VR/AR hardware Schneider Digital completes our partner portfolio with innovative solutions for all target groups with high-end needs for performance, system stability and high quality in daily professional use.
The Schneider Digital product portfolio contains high res displays from 23‘‘ to 98‘‘, passive stereo monitors, VR-powerwalls, performance workstations, professional graphics cards and innovative 3D/VR/AR input devices, and peripherie like CAD mouse devices, tracking and much more to achieve a complete solution.
One of Schneider’s brand-new 4K passive 3D-stereo displays – 3D PluraView can be viewed in our showroom. It includes all 3D capable software applications for different industrial and research fields of use. The flicker free and highbright 4K monitor shows GIS and mapping application examples with Terrasolid, Trimble and Hexagon as well as 3D-CAD, design and rendering software like Siemens NX and Autodesk VRED. Check out this website for more details.
TOA – Tech Open Air 2017 Berlin
In 2012 a couple of people from Berlin’s start-up scene came together to create a new kind of festival with the intention to build a bridge between technology, music, art and science worlds. This year TOA is taking place at Funkhaus Berlin, 11 – 14 July 2017. Don’t miss the diverse conference that includes various formats like presentations, Think Tanks and even morning meditations.
It is the world’s first crowdfunded festival and is therefore part of the leading interdisciplinary technology festivals in Europe. People from different disciplines invest their time in this festival to pass on their knowledge and passion to others.
TOA will also host over 200 unique satellite events all across the city. They allow participants to take over the festival and transform Berlin’s creative community into an interactive hub for tech. Attendees get the chance to talk to leading experts, as well as creating their own products in 3D printing workshops and more. On Friday, 14 July 2017, a satellite event will also take place at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute.
Fraunhofer HHI showcases its collaboration platforms and showrooms, where you can experience the latest innovations in Smart and Big Data and Immersive Imaging Technologies like VR, AR and 360° panoramas. The tours include the Smart Data Forum, TiME Lab, the 3IT and the VR experience Human Body Reconstruction including a little Q&A with drinks and light snacks.
Find more information about the satellite events here.
Stereopsia is Proud to Announce the Launch of its Calls 2017
Researchers with novel scientific and/or technical results on the general topic of “3D immersion” are invited to submit their 4 to 8 page papers to the 7th edition of the peer-reviewed International Conference on 3D Immersion (IC3D) by 17 July 2017.
www.stereopsia.com/scientific-conference
Producers are invited to submit their best 3D contents for cinema, TV, and VR (preferably cinematic VR) produced in Europe, the Middle East or Africa (EMEA) to the Awards Competition by 1 September 2017.
www.stereopsia.com/awards-competition
Independent producers with projects in development for a 3D film (theatrical release) or a 3D VR film (for VR devices/platforms) are invited to submit their projects to the 2nd edition of the 3D Film Booster (3DFB) by 15 September 2017.
http://www.stereopsia.com/booster
The winners of the best scientific paper and of the best 3D contents for cinema, TV, and VR will receive Lumiere Awards from the Advanced Imaging Society and VR Society. All Stereopsia awards will be given out at the Awards Dinner in the beautiful “Salle Horta” of the Center for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, Belgium on 13 December 2017. More info about Stereopsia (ex 3D Stereo MEDIA) here.
DIGILITY: Conference and Expo for Virtual and Augmented Reality
The Digility Conference took place in Cologne from 22 to 23 September 2016. Two exciting days were packed with interesting talks, technology demos and panel discussions. Peers known in the VR & AR environment came together to talk about their visions and ideas for the future. Since this was the first time the conference took place, we didn’t know what to expect. But the line-up of speakers looked promising and on top of this IQ Gemini, run by Kimo Quaintance and Alissia Iljaitsch, two speakers at former 3IT events, was responsible for the program. They invited Kathleen Schröter to moderate the “Developing for VR & AR” track and also asked her to give a keynote at the “Brand Experiences & Best Practices” track. Among the speakers were Alysha Naples, Magic Leap’s Senior Director of User Experience and Interaction until recently, and Robert Scoble from Upload VR.
The conference was basically split into six pieces with talks and presentations on two main topics each day as well as different kinds of workshops. If you are interested in the conference program, please click here. Unfortunately it is not possible to give a report on all talks since two tracks were running parallel all day long but let’s try to summarize the main facts.
Digility was co-located with this year’s photokina in Cologne’s huge trade fair center and professionally organized and executed with about 1000 guests. The focus was on AR & VR and the upcoming industry around it with the goal to learn about the technology, the stories, to connect with other spirits in this field, to push its development and discuss the social impact of these rising technologies.
Alysha Naples, who was working for Magic Leap until recently, opened the conference with a clear message: Human beings do not really change a lot, we all have the same needs. Although the mode or the physical form may vary from decade to decade: people pack the same things they used to pack ages ago (only changing the mode – from a printed book to an ebook for instance). People are just physical. When we move half of our belongings into the digital space we leave the physical space – but still exist. Having this in mind, how do we need to design interaction? We must not transfer old metaphors to new media! Instead we need to create something completely new for new devices. We have to remove the frame that separates us from the data on the screen. Plus: We don´t need the screens anymore. Let´s go in-between! Break the screen that separates both worlds.
Whether they were representing a tech & developing company like NVIDIA, 3DEXCITE or Crytek or a consumer brand like Audi, Volkswagen or Deutsche Bahn – many speakers made similar points: People get excited when you let them do impossible things. Also, people love to interact. Main message: Let them run free and experience your demo this way! Once again, exploration and engagement are the key factors to success! Alysha Naples’ talk later on the first day was stated afterwards to be the most important talk on AR/VR in 2016 – at least that’s what the magazine t3n wrote. One cannot sum up in just one sentence what her mission and vision are but to lay emphasis on the fact she reminded the audience once more that human beings don´t change. Only technology around us does. But humans still live a physical life, have a family, relations, they are eager to learn, to share, to play and to explore the world. Technology changes over the course of years and should support us and meet our needs. Alysha warned to not only think about the user of AR glasses. We must not only think about the perfect content for him or her – we also need to think about the non-wearers. What’s with the other people in the room? How do AR and spatial computing affect society? Not addressing those questions might have been the reason why google glasses were unsuccessful. We recommend to read the article Why Google Glass Failed, But Magic Leap Will Succeed which summarizes an interview with Robert Scoble earlier this year.
To learn more about DIGILITY check out their website which includes all speakers and the program. For more photos you are invited to have a look at their facebook page and for even more detailed reports on this event we recommend to read what their official media partners wrote: www.augmented.org.
News from Solectrix: liaHDR at IBC 8.B68
The increase of the dynamic range (HDR – High Dynamic Range), that is ideally close to the performance of the human eye, plays a decisive role in the realization of an immersive television experience. Thanks to the tremendous technical developments of camera sensors, the dynamic range of high-quality moving image cameras can reach values that can be referred to as HDR. Even though today’s displays are incapable of reproducing this increased dynamic range, a dynamic compression is essential.
The goal of this collaboration project called live immersive adaptive High Dynamic Range (liaHDR) is to find an overall solution that will enable an immersive HDR from recording to playback, from glass to glass, such as for high-end live broadcasting. With a new type of 360° camera that compared to today’s cameras, has a clearly extended dynamic range, a real-time and a backward compatible process for the automatic dynamic adaptation, and a high-quality HDR – display; this overall solution allows the viewer to have a new, close to reality, immersive visual experience.
The live immersive adaptive High Dynamic Range (liaHDR) project that will take place from 2016 to 2018 is a collaboration between three partners: The department of Engineering of the University Rhine Main, Solextrix GmbH from Nuremberg and sonoVTS GmbH from Feldkirchen near Munich. The project is being co-funded by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie – BMWi) in line with the Central Innovation Program (ZIM).
First results of algorithms developed within this project will be demonstrated during IBC 2016 at the sonoVTS stand B68 in hall 8.
The 4th Anniversary of the 3IT – Thanks for Making It a Great Event!
The 3IT just turned four! And so many partners and friends came to celebrate it with us on 01 September 2016.
We hope we successfully gave you an insight into our day-to-day work as well as the businesses of 3IT partners and our extended family. The program included interesting panel discussions with various international professionals in the field of immersive imaging technologies. The latest funded projects within the 3IT community were presented, and there were exciting talks and discussions about the challenges and opportunities of VR & AR for the entire value chain, from production to distribution. Experts were talking about the future cinema and showed us some of the latest examples of innovative VR movie formats.
Afterwards we had a nice networking evening with drinks and light snacks. We enjoyed several new exhibits at our innovation center and got in contact with other technology enthusiasts.