If you open your mind for 3 minutes and let the music take over, Bobby McFerrin will quickly demonstrate that your brain serves as a virtual reality processor. You don't need any hardware other than your eyes, ears and brain for this experience. Human beings have been doing this for a long time - a few women have been trying tell us this over the past 2 decades. It's pretty inexpensive and will work when the power's out too. OTOH, if money and power are available, the technology has it's advantages - being able to share these stories is just one. James Cameron's recent Avatar 3D movie leverages the technology to present experiential data designed for the human virtual reality computer. The convergence of old and new "theater" will stretch our perspective what is "real". A more detailed look at the hardware Cameron is using should be interesting.(emphasis mine)

Crucial to the 3D look of “Avatar” is the extensive use of the Fusion Camera System developed by Emmy-nominated cinematographer Vince Pace and Academy Award-winning director James Cameron. Originally called the Reality Camera, it was first deployed on Cameron’s underwater documentaries “Ghosts of the Abyss” (2003) and “Aliens of the Deep” (2005), which proved that Pace’s concept of combining two Sony HDC-950 HD cameras with lenses that could dynamically adjust the angle of their convergence to match the depth of objects in Z-space significantly reduced the eye strain associated with viewing previous 3D productions, while increasing the flexibility of manipulating an image’s perceived depth effect.

Paralyzed Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) volunteers to exist as an Avatar on Pandora.

Now upgraded with Sony HDC-F950 cameras, the Fusion Camera System was used on location in New Zealand throughout the live action sequences on “Avatar” by Mauro Fiore (2007’s “The Kingdom”). Pace, who is CEO of the digital camera system company, PACE, in Burbank, Calif, also served as second unit DP in New Zealand and as primary cinematographer on all the scenes shot in studio back in Los Angeles. Like James Cameron himself, Pace has been closely involved with all the post work on the film.

“A key enhancement to our Fusion Camera System used on ‘Avatar’ has been our ability to introduce a software algorithm that controls the convergence so we can extract the best stereo from a shot based on metadata such as focal length and distance to the subject,” Pace explained.

“This patent-pending ‘Constant Convergence Algorithm’ then specifies variables such as the interocular distance between the lenses and their necessary convergence point, and when used in conjunction with an on-set convergence engineer, gave us a guide track for creating images in ‘Avatar’ that most closely emulate the way human eyes perceive depth. We want it to be a totally immersive 3D visual experience.”

But that 3D experience has taken almost three years to emerge from the edit bays at 20th Century Fox and also Cameron’s own Malibu home at the hands of post pros John Refoua (editor on 2007’s “Balls of Fury,” Cameron’s “Ghosts of the Abyss,” and many TV episodics) and Stephen Rivkin (three “Pirates of the Caribbean” features along with hits such as 2001’s “Ali” and “The Hurricane” in 1999). Refoua and Rivkin have worked closely with Cameron’s vision to take audiences on a 3D thrill ride to Pandora.

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Easy access to viewing scenes in Z-space is vital as editors are still learning the grammar of 3D visual story telling.

“The 3D in ‘Avatar’ tends to be used to enhance the reality of the visual environment rather than as an effect in itself,” said Refoua. “We want the audience to feel they are actually standing in the scene they are watching. This also enabled us to use faster cuts in some of the action sequences because the audience’s eyes will not be overwhelmed with visual information.”

Tuesday March 23, 2010
10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern
Social Media for Enterprise: Changing Scene

Use of social media by enterprises -- or at least consciousness that these diverse means of communication are important -- is now a given. But businesses continue to receive mixed messages about their use: both because much apparent best-practice seems conflicted, and because there's no one, true formula for success.

One can release a new kind of social network game and easily see how its user base grows and how the engagement metrics show that a game is popular. Within weeks, they know if the game will flop or not. The lower costs of development and release allow game designers to try whole new and risky things.

The challenge for MMORPG games is to find a way to take risks with new gameplay styles and truly unique game challenges that the best game designers can imagine. The social game viral distribution model and Games are probably not going to become more complicated in mechanics due to issues with accessibility, but instead the game complexity will come from the players themselves instead of the game design and game engine.

When game mechanics become more complex, it reduces the potential audience because they are harder to learn. We can search for more meaningful game experiences without increasing the level of gameplay complexity. The production values and graphics quality will go up, but the real power and draw of a game is from your friends and family.

... The industry is at a very exciting point now, when people are growing tired of the same old MMORPG game. Some new games are coming out with unique twists on game mechanics, but at their core, are still a basic MMO. I see a future, though, where game designers will break away from the pack, convince investors to put up a smaller amount on a new idea, and produce a hybrid MMORPG/social networking game. And I predict that it has the potential to draw in and retain a lot of new people and old veterans and become the Next Big Thing.

2009 will be remembered as the year that casual gaming stormed social platforms and changed the way millions of people socialized with friends online. With an up-to-$400 million acquisition of Playfish by Electronic Arts, hundreds of millions of dollars in venture investments, and some of the highest engagement numbers that online entertainment has ever seen, social games are now impacting businesses across the media landscape. It's become clear that there are substantial opportunities for social game developers with virtual goods revenue models, but the market is still evolving rapidly.

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How big is the market, and where will social gaming go in 2010? How will existing players fare as Facebook shifts the social gaming landscape, and larger and more sophisticated players enter the market? Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2010 provides deeper insight into social game monetization, development, customer acquisition, and the key questions facing the space in 2010 than you'll find anywhere else.

About the Report

Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2010 gives you an inside view of the future at this critical juncture in the intersection of social networking and online games. The big picture? We estimate that the US virtual goods market will reach $1.6 billion in 2010, and that social gaming market will contribute $835 million of that total this year.