Avatar Reality Names VSE as Developer of First Blue Mars City
http://www.virtualspaceentertainment.com
From the press release:
Avatar Reality Inc., a development entity dedicated to the advancement of online community building, today announced San Anselmo, Calif. – based virtual world developer, Virtual Space Entertainment, Inc. (VSE), as the newest addition to their Third Party Developer Program. VSE’s team of talented designers, led by renowned futurist Syd Mead, will create an entirely new, unique attraction that will serve as the first fully functional city for the upcoming massively multiplayer virtual world (MMVW) Blue Mars, which will launch in beta format at the end of 2008. At SIGGRAPH 2008, VSE will preview the development of their Blue Mars city at Avatar Reality’s booth, number 727.
“It is extremely gratifying to add a brilliant team, such as VSE, to our line-up of Blue Mars Third Party Developers,” said Kazuyuki Hashimoto, president of Avatar Reality. “Our goal is to provide a variety of unique, high-quality attractions to Blue Mars users and VSE’s perspective is sure to add to this vision.”
Visitors to VSE’s virtual Blue Mars city will experience the future of entertainment, social networking, commerce and education. Retail shopping centers, entertainment venues, museums and more will give visionary entrepreneurs the best commercial opportunities of the 22nd century.
“We are thrilled to be developing the first city on Blue Mars,” said Richard Childers, CEO of VSE. “By combining the talents of our designers and the inspiration of Syd Mead’s magnificently appointed environment with Avatar Reality’s brilliant team, we expect to set a new benchmark for virtual worlds.”
Avatar Reality’s Third Party Developer Program gives game developers, CG artists and interested business partners an opportunity to create a variety of in-world attractions, 3D art assets and promotions for Blue Mars.
For additional information about Avatar Reality and Blue Mars, please visit www.avatar-reality.com. Further details regarding VSE may be obtained at www.virtualspaceentertainment.com.
About Blue Mars
Set in Terraformed Mars in the year 2177 AD, Blue Mars will feature stunning graphics, realistic characters and endless gaming attractions that will allow players to build and simulate real-life scenarios by creating personalized characters, or avatars. The MMVW will launch in a public beta version at the end of 2008.
About Avatar Reality Inc.
Founded in December of 2006, Avatar Reality Inc. is developing a new massively multiplayer virtual world (MMVW), called Blue Mars, featuring stunning graphics, realistic characters and endless social bonding opportunities. The Honolulu-based company consists of multiple well-known and award-winning game developers including Henk Rogers, founder of Blue Planet Software, Blue Lava Wireless and The Tetris Company, and Kazuyuki Hashimoto, former vice president of technology, New Platforms at Electronic Arts (EA) and chief technical officer of Square USA.
VentureBeat: “Stealth mode Conduit Labs’ LoudCrowd revealed”
via http://venturebeat.com/2008/08/08/breaking-stealth-mode-conduit-labs-loudcrowd-revealed/
From the post:
The mysterious Conduit Labs has gone through pains to keep its nature under wraps. The company’s stated goal is to create online social experiences that are as rich as those we have offline, and it has managed to raise $5.5 million from Charles River Ventures and Prism Ventureworks without even launching a product.
Yet, despite numerous appearances on gaming conference panels from its CEO and co-founder, Nabeel Hyatt, and buzz surrounding the fact that one of Rock Band’s game designers is involved, no one has had any idea what Conduit Labs is actually doing.
Things change. Thanks to the magic of FriendFeed and some sleuthing on Twitter, I managed to get myself into the company’s alpha site, LoudCrowd, and while the alpha version of LoudCrowd does not reveal the full-scope of Conduit Labs’ secrets, it does offer some enticing hints.
So far, it seems that LoudCrowd is part virtual world, part social network and part casual game. Before I began, I created an avatar using only the most basic set of options. I could pick skin color, hair color and sex. I then uploaded a photo, hoping that it would map my face to my avatar but it didn’t. At this stage, photos are just used so other people could identify me on the dance floor.
Dance floor? Yes.
Right now, LoudCrowd’s experience centers around a rhythm-based dancing game that is like a far simpler version of Dance Dance Revolution — a Dance Dance Revolution for the casual gaming set. The key to the game is pressing arrow keys at the right time. I won points when I brought out my skills and won more points when fellow dancers chose me as a partner.
These points, as you might have guessed, can be used to jazz up my avatar. Currently, LoudCrowd simply automatically offers new items, like “space” jackets, pants and hats. I imagine that down the road, one will be able to select from a range of options and, of course, pay real cash to make one’s virtual self exceptionally special.
Conduit Labs has built the whole game on Flash, and the talents of the company’s designers are abundantly clear. The game is simple and fun, the look is cartoonish, but not cheap, and the animations are great. While the dancing game could get old eventually, it’s clear that there will be many others to play as LoudCrowd develops. Hyatt once told me that Conduit Labs has “no desire to rebuild a social graph,” so I expect it will leverage those that already exist — perhaps by using Facebook’s Friend Connect or building the whole package into the social networks, themselves.
As an interesting aside, it seems that the company paid $39,000 to buy the LoudCrowd url.
We have reached out to Hyatt for comment and will update when we hear back.
(Thanks, Annie Ok!)
Graffiti Research Lab: Korean Beef
via http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=158#video
From the website:
Where’s the Beef? Not in Seoul, South Korea. They have beef with U.S. beef beyond belief. And the G.R.L. was there to throw it on the grill.
“Fuck that beef shit, that shit is played out”
– Notorious B.I.G.MO (4 SHOW):
Korean beef on Fuck Flickr
Korean Beef on Flick Fuckr.
GRL on the Hack the City blog
LASER Tag Korean-style (This is not the work of the G.R.L.)
DKB News Covers the G.R.L.
What we be eat.
Korean Beef - Graffiti Research Lab from fi5e on Vimeo.
Lyle Owerko: The Boombox Project
via http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/thoughtfortheweek/index.php?thoughtid=368
http://www.owerko.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&a=4&p=0&at=0
Loudcrowd preview by Conduit Labs
http://www.loudcrowd.com
http://alpha.loudcrowd.com
http://www.conduitlabs.com
http://blog.conduitlabs.com
From the website:
Conduit Labs is a stealth mode group of creative hackers in the heart of Cambridge, MA. Conduit was founded by a combination of web entrepreneurs and social gaming pioneers; leaders in the development of Rock Band, Lord of the Rings Online, Guitar Hero, Asheron’s Call and Ambient Devices. We’ve got funding, ambition, and plenty of coffee in our quest to build a new kind of flash-based social gaming.
Loudcrowd Preview by Conduit Labs from conduitlabs on Vimeo.
conduitlabs dance game intro from conduitlabs on Vimeo.
Nabeel Hyatt of Conduit Labs on Intruders.tv
Race For Tibet: Six Ways to Help Tibet!
via http://www.racefortibet.org/act/help.php#
From the website:
Six Ways to Help Tibet!
#1 Tell China to Wake Up!
Tell Chinese leaders to wake up before it’s too late! Sign the petitions calling on world leaders not to commit to attend the Olympic opening ceremony, and demanding that the International Olympic Committee cancel permission for the Olympic torch relay through Tibet!
* Click here to Help China Wake Up!#2 Join the Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet team!
Help make the Beijing 2008 Olympics a catalyst for change in China! Sign-up for our email updates so that, together, we can shine the spotlight of the Olympic Games on human rights and China’s occupation of Tibet.
* Click here to Join#3 Spread the Word!
Click here for suggestions on how you can help raise awareness of the Tibet issue and the enormous opportunity China has to improve its human rights situation and receive international acclaim
* Click here to send a message about Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet to a friend
* Order your free Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet bumper sticker here#4 Organise or take part in a Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet event!
Join others worldwide in organizing or taking part in Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet events. Whether it be a fun run, dinner party, read-a-thon or bike race, get your friends together, have fun and spread the word! This website is packed with all resources you need to organize your own Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet event!
* Check out the Resources section for more details#5 Get Informed!
“Truth is our only weapon,” the Dalai Lama always says. Make sure you’re well equipped to support this non-violent movement for Tibetan rights by knowing the issues. Learn about China’s brutal occupation, the situation inside Tibet today and more by clicking here
* Check out our Tibet Fact Sheets#6 Write Letters to the Editor!
Don’t let Chinese propaganda win: monitor the media and write letters to the editor. For tips on how to contact your local paper and write an op ed, click here
Want into the PlayStation Home Closed Beta test? Here’s How to Apply
From the post:
Today we’re announcing the expansion of our closed beta test for PlayStation Home to begin at the end of the month.
Later today, the PLAYSTATION Store will be updated with a PlayStation Home theme. By downloading the theme, users are submitting an application to join the PlayStation Home Beta test community. We will be using a variety of criteria including activity on the PLAYSTATION Network to determine eligibility for the Beta community. Existing beta testers have automatically qualified to be part of the expanded beta.
We’re really excited about this milestone and want our most loyal fans to be a part of the evolution of PlayStation Home.
In Europe, SCEE is also beginning their expanded closed beta, directly targeting consumers who have been most active on PLAYSTATION Network and PLAYSTATION Store. SCEE will be in email contact with their PSN audience very shortly.
Inhabitots: “Sustainable design for the next generation“ by Inhabitat
From the website:
With the motto “Sustainable design for the next generation“, Inhabitots is the baby / parenting focused website in the Inhabitat family. The site was started during the summer of 2008 by Inhabitat.com founder Jill Fehrenbacher as she prepared for the arrival of her first child in August 2008.
We recognize that the birth of a child is a turning point in people’s lives and the impetus for many people to ‘go green’ and really start researching the materials and production involved in all items that closely touch our lives. With this in mind, Inhabitots.com was created as a resource for parents, families, and anyone else interested in sustainable modern design for children. With a focus on design specifically targeted at babies, toddlers and kids, Inhabitots.com is a supplement to the wider focus of Inhabitat.com
futureU™: The Prep Game for SAT by Aspyr and Kaplan
via http://www.aspyr.com/product/info/92
From the website:
futureU™
Platforms: Mac/PC/Nintendo DS™
Genre: Education Puzzle
ESRB: EveryonePlay Your Way To A Better Score!
No pressure. No deadlines. Just a whole lot of fun!
Introducing a painless new way to prep for the SAT. Sharpen your critical thinking skills, build relevant knowledge and reduce test anxiety with a collection of games that feature curriculum from Kaplan, the leader in SAT Prep. Study on your own time and for however long you like. There’s no easier – or more fun – way to become a better problem-solver, boost your confidence and up your SAT score!
Features
- Get the inside track on tackling the big test with curriculum from Kaplan, the SAT prep experts.
- Improve core knowledge of the test material through fun games – no memorization necessary.
- Track your progress and identify areas that need more practice.
- Strengthen test-taking skills that will help you on the SAT, in your college experience and in life.
The Brain Unmasked - New imaging technologies reveal the intricate architecture of the brain, creating a blueprint of its connectivity.
via http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21175/?a=f
From the article:
The typical brain scan shows a muted gray rendering of the brain, easily distinguished by a series of convoluted folds. But according to Van Wedeen, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, that image is just a shadow of the real brain. The actual structure–a precisely organized tangle of nerve cells and the long projections that connect them–has remained hidden until relatively recently.
Traditional magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, can detect the major anatomical features of the brain and is often used to diagnose strokes and brain tumors. But advances in computing power and novel processing algorithms have allowed scientists to analyze the information captured during an MRI in completely new ways.
Diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) is one of these twists. It uses magnetic resonance signals to track the movement of water molecules in the brain: water diffuses along the length of neural wires, called axons. Scientists can use these diffusion measurements to map the wires, creating a detailed blueprint of the brain’s connectivity.
To generate diffusion images, scientists scan the brain, much as they would with a patient undergoing a medical MRI. The data collected during the scan is then analyzed using specialized algorithms to produce an image like this one, which shows the brain of a healthy human volunteer. Each fiber in the image represents hundreds to thousands of individual neural fibers in the brain, which are impossible to distinguish even with a high-power brain scanner.
Credit: George Day, Ruopeng Wang, Jeremy Schmahmann, Van Wedeen, MGH
