Toolbox

Vicon, the motion capture technology specialist for the entertainment, engineering and life science industries, has launched two cameras, Vero and Vue. The new cameras will join Vicon’s flagship camera, Vantage, to form a new product family. Vero is an optical high-resolution camera package, offering a new level of power, performance, flexibility and value for money in the motion capture market. Vue is the industry’s first full High Definition synchronized video camera, providing clear and precise video footage in the mocap volume.       

Based on the technology of camera platform Vantage, Vero provides an affordable system suited to a wide range of applications. From robotics to visual effects, the need for up-to-the-minute information during motion capture shoots has never been greater. To meet this need, Vero features on-board sensors that continuously monitor performance, camera position and temperature, enabling the system operator to ensure optimal performance at all times.  

The Vero range includes a custom-made variable focus lens that delivers an optimized field of view, as well as an industry-leading 2.2 megapixel camera. The highly efficient and flexible system makes it ideal for capturing fast sport movements and multiple actors or objects with very low latency. The range also includes a powerful 1.3 megapixel camera, and delivers resolution and speed at an unrivalled price point. Vero is compatible with existing Vicon T-series, Bonita and Vantage cameras as well as Vicon’s Control app, which allows users to calibrate the system and make adjustments on the fly.   

Meanwhile with full High Definition resolution, Vicon Vue incorporates the sharpest video image into the motion capture volume. It also enables seamless calibration between optical and video volumes, ensuring the optical and video views are perfectly aligned to capture the finest of details.  

“The launch of Vero and Vue continues our ongoing commitment to delivering flexible yet powerful solutions to the motion capture community,” said Imogen Moorhouse, CEO, Vicon. “The intuitive Vero system delivers more pixels for its price, making Vicon high-quality motion capture more efficient and cost effective.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday that apps are the future of television and that the company wants to help change the entertainment industry.

Cook was speaking at a meeting of tech and other startups in Amsterdam, two months after Apple announced software enhancements for its TV system, Apple TV, and knocked $50 off the price of its smart watch.

Since launching Apple TV, "it's clear to us as we pull that string that there's a lot left to do and we'd like to be a catalyst in changing the world of entertainment," said Cook, whose company already radically changed the music industry with its iTunes store.

The Apple boss told a meeting in the Dutch capital that the Apple Watch also should become a vital tool for wearers to keep a check on their health.

"The holy grail of the watch is being able to monitor more and more of what's going on in your body," he said. "It's not possible technologically to do it today to the degree that we can imagine it, but it will be."

Cook said that health is a field Apple is focused on now and into the future. In March it announced CareKit, a set of tools for developers who create mobile apps for medical use. Such apps could help patients monitor chronic conditions such Parkinson's disease and share that data with their doctors.

Apple remains the world's most valuable company, but sales of both its iPhones and iPads have been falling as consumers increasingly hold off on upgrading their devices. That sales slowdown is the main reason Apple's stock has fallen by nearly 30 percent during the past year.

At the same meeting of entrepreneurs promoting their startups, Eric Schmidt of Google's parent company Alphabet criticized European governments for choking startups in red tape and legislation.

"There are a gazillion laws that still make it difficult to be an entrepreneur. It's much harder to be an entrepreneur in Europe than it is in America," he said.

Upcoming virtual-reality headsets based on Google's new Daydream VR system won't be as sophisticated as Facebook's Oculus Rift.

But they could give more people a taste of VR and make better games and applications affordable.

On Wednesday, Google said it will develop a range of VR headsets that promise to be more comfortable and durable than its ultra-cheap Cardboard headset. Google will make one and share design guidelines with other manufacturers.

There will also be a wireless motion controller - functioning like a fishing rod, a steering wheel or a pointer - to permit more-sophisticated VR experiences.

Sophisticated systems such as the Rift and the HTC Vive are expensive, limiting their appeal to gamers and other tech enthusiasts. Alternatively, cheaper VR headsets that tap the power of smartphones are typically tied to one manufacturer's phones, such as Samsung's or LG's.

Daydream headsets will work with a range of phone brands. Gartner analyst Brian Blau says he believes the Daydream-powered devices could prove to be a "thorn in the side" of both Samsung and Oculus, which teamed up to make a similar VR headset , called Gear VR, late last year.

But there are hurdles:

YOU MUST BUY A NEW PHONE
You'll need a higher-end phone running the upcoming "N'' version of Android. Existing phones won't have the right hardware, and cheaper "N'' phones won't either, so you might have to spend a few hundred dollars more for a top-of-the-line model.

Google says at least eight manufacturers, including Samsung, HTC, and Huawei, will make compatible phones this fall. It's a matter of adding sensors and good-enough screens, among other things.

Because these phones don't exist yet, it will take time for Daydream to grow, says Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research.

Furthermore, Daydream won't work with Apple's iPhones, whereas Google Cardboard headsets do.

If anything, Daydream could spark interest in smartphone upgrades. Because the pace of phone innovation has slowed, some people have been holding on to their phones longer.

CHEAPER, BUT NOT CHEAPEST
Though no price was announced, the Daydream headsets will be more expensive than Cardboard, likely in the ballpark of Samsung's $100 Gear VR. By contrast, Google sells Cardboard for as little as $15, and many brands, including The New York Times, give them away as part of promotions. The price difference gives you better materials - not cardboard - and a strap to keep your hands free.

Still, the new headsets will be much cheaper than high-end VR systems like the Rift and the Vive. Those cost several hundred dollars, not including a powerful personal computer with fast-enough graphics.

IT'S NOT FULL VR
You won't get everything you get with higher-end systems. The Vive, for instance, offers full position tracking. As you walk around a room, images on the headset change to reflect your new perspective.

By contrast, smartphone-based VR is more like a 360-degree movie in 3-D. You're meant to watch it sitting down at the same spot. Moving around won't change the perspective.

It's the difference between climbing Mount Everest by gripping virtual ladders, or watching someone with a 360-degree camera do it.

Where Google's system advances over other smartphone headsets is in its motion controller. Cardboard and Gear VR don't offer much control beyond pushing a button on the headset as you move your head. Google's controller will be able to sense motion, so you can swing it like a tennis racket when playing a tennis game in VR.

THE COMPATIBILITY QUESTION
The introduction of yet another VR system might create more confusion and persuade some people to wait until it's clear which will survive. After all, no one wants to be stuck with VR's equivalent of Betamax recorders after the world has moved to VHS.

On the other hand, these headsets are cheap enough that consumers aren't taking a huge financial risk, certainly nothing near what it takes to commit to a Rift, Vive or Sony's upcoming PlayStation VR, says Ian Fogg, head of the mobile analyst group at IHS.

And while some people might be buying VR games and apps that won't work with a future, competing system, Fogg says these are cheap, too - priced like a phone app, along the lines of a few dollars.

BETTER APPS, BUT NOT THE BEST
Once Google's devices are in the hands - and heads - of consumers, there will be more incentive for companies, educators and individuals to create VR apps. Google says leading brands like Netflix, HBO, The Wall Street Journal and game maker Electronic Arts have committed to Daydream. More apps and video could encourage even more people to buy headsets.

And the motion controller could lead to better VR experiences, ones where you do more than sit and swivel in a chair to look behind you.

But you'll need something far more sophisticated to unlock the true power of VR.

"You miss out on rich graphics, the fully immersive audio and the fully simulated environment," says Jason Paul, general manager for the VR business for Nvidia, which makes chips powering the graphics behind the Rift and the Vive.

But Paul is supportive of mobile headsets, given that casual users aren't likely to experience a sophisticated VR device.

"Each has their value," he says. "We can use the mobile platform to get the word out."

Technicolor has been instrumental in defining every display technology throughout its 100-year history, and the company is marking its centennial this year by using one of the latest--Sony’s BVM-X300 OLED HDR 4K professional reference monitor.
 
The production and postproduction house works on features, episodic, and marketing material across the content scale from major studio productions to award-winning independents. Technicolor has been leading the topic of High Dynamic Range (HDR) through many outlets including the foundation of the UHD Alliance. Its services range from color grading, mastering services, VFX and final delivery, all of which have now incorporated HDR content.
 
“Technicolor’s technology is now also being used in live event production,” said Josh Limor, VP, Technology & Ecosystem Development at Technicolor. “This includes implementation of our award-winning Intelligent Tone Management solution into live workflows to allow for real-time up conversion from Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) to HDR, lowering the cost of HDR live content production, such as sports.”
 
To handle this new workload, Technicolor is using Sony’s BVM-X300 as its reference monitor to grade features for HDR home video, and HDR television series. 
 
“We grade to the open standard HDR quality metrics established by the UHD Alliance and that content is being released through Technicolor’s HDR delivery system, UltraHD Blu-ray discs, and HDR-10,” added Limor. “The Sony monitor, with its 100% coverage of the P3 gamut at a D65 white point and amazing contrast plays perfectly for creating UHD Alliance premium content, ensuring consumers will have the best experience on both types of UHD Alliance premium certified devices.”
 
Technicolor is working on HDR content with several major studios and online content providers. “The Revenant” from New Regency was graded at Technicolor, and Technicolor helped Amazon produce the majority of its original series in HDR, including “Mozart in the Jungle” and “Red Oaks.” These titles were graded by Technicolor artists on the Sony X300.

“This monitor has become the de facto “standard reference monitor” for mastering HDR content, primarily due to its stability, uniformity, and fabulous contrast ratio,” added Josh Pines, VP of Imaging Research and Development for Digital Intermediates at Technicolor. “What is especially impressive is the monitor’s ability to maintain color fidelity and contrast at off-axis viewing angles - something surprisingly rare with modern technology displays. This feature is of crucial importance in color correction sessions where several creatives (e.g. the colorist, the cinematographer, director and producers) are typically sitting side-by-side, all viewing the same monitor from different angles simultaneously.”

“Having a monitor capable of full UHD resolution allows us to see the complete resolution of the content being mastered,” said Dennis Berardi, VFX supervisor at MR X, part of the Technicolor family of companies. “Our QC team can see any potential VFX composite or matte issues down to the pixel level and that is not possible on an HD screen even if it has HDR.”
 
Sony designed the BVM-X300 to fill a specific production need unmet by other reference monitors. “High-dynamic range cameras have been around for a while, but until now, it’s been impossible to really view an image from a camera like the F5, F55 or F65 as it was originally captured,” said Gary Mandle at Sony. “The best you could hope for was to archive the raw content and wait for the display technology to catch up. Now, the X300 presents a solution that allows direct viewing at full range without the need to make any conversion LUTs or changes to the native image.”