|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good morning!
This week, the American Ballet Theater and CHANEL launched a four-episode documentary series on the intersection of dance and other art forms, which gave dancers and artists across other disciplines the opportunity to create and collaborate in quarantine. RLab artist in residence Kat Sullivan was one of the four artists featured in the series, and her collaboration with Principal dancer Cassandra Trenary – including the documentary episode and a short film produced with motion capture – is worth a watch for the insights into the intersection of live performance and emerging technology. More info in the community news section below!
Also this week – Snapchat launched a slew of new lenses with full body tracking for Halloween and revived its classic hot dog filter for Election Day, which now points Gen Zers and Millennials to polling locations. RoadToVR tracks the anonymous Quest 2 jailbreak that bypasses the headset's Facebook login, South Park's creators unveil a new deepfakes-based show, and an can't-miss Economist podcast features Neal Stephenson and Jaron Lanier on the metaverse.
Enjoy the newsletter!
- the RLab team
We're always working to improve this newsletter - let us know how we're doing and send tips, feedback or questions to info@rlab.nyc.
|
|
|
|
|
MUST-READS
|
|
|
| Snapchat’s New Halloween AR Lenses Offer Full Body Tracking
|
This week, Snapchat launched new 3D body scan Lenses for Halloween. Back in August, we covered the introduction of Full Body Triggers - screen effects triggered by different body movements (here's a more detailed video) - and Full Body Attachments, which can track 18 specific joints on a user's body (video walkthrough), for Lens Studio. Now that we're seeing the tech in action, we can start thinking beyond the novelty of AR Halloween costumes, about use cases like digital wardrobes for ecommerce brands.
In other Snapchat news, there's no doubt the company has young voters' eyes - the platform attracts more 13-24-year-olds than Facebook, Instagram and Messenger combined, with some 80M US Snapchat users of voting age. Thus far, the company says it's helped over 1.24M users with voter registration. These efforts include reviving the classic hot dog filter to help point voters to a nearby polling location. "If a user clicks the sign, they're linked to Snap's Before You Vote tool that helps users find their polling locations and learn about the issues and candidates on their ballots." Besides helping young voters find their way to the ballot box, Snapchat's Happening Now section will feature election updates via partners Reuters, Bloomberg, and BuzzFeed News.
1 min read
|
|
|
|
| Organizer Behind Quest 2 Jailbreak Reports Success in Bypassing Facebook Services |
The XR community didn't have a large incentive to jailbreak VR HMDs until Facebook announced that they would require a social login to access content on the Quest 2. Soon after the headset's launch, Mozilla WebXR dev Robert Long put up a $5,000 bounty for anyone capable of bypassing the Facebook login, and Palmer Luckey said he'd match the amount. Now, XRSI founder Kavya Pearlman (who you might remember from a recent AWE Nite) has confirmed that an XR researcher has gained root access to the Quest 2:
"XRSI's own researchers have validated this jailbreak and are currently working to gather assurances to protect the individuals who discovered these methods of jailbreak. We have also learned there are other researchers out there, who have gained similar access and are unsure how to proceed without clear policies around the right to repair. If you are one of those researchers, we urge you to contact us and share the details in a secure manner. Contact XR Safety Initiative XRSI via info@xrsi.org or Use Signal 510-990-4438."
Right to Repair is the ability to "have full control over hardware and software you own—which is conventionally applied to smartphones and wearables such as smartwatches and fitness devices. XRSI wants to help extend the same to AR/VR headsets, which would including protecting the right of users to jailbreak devices like Quest 2."
2 min read |
|
|
|
| The Creators of South Park Have a New Weekly Deepfake Satire Show |
MIT Technology Review took a closer look at Sassy Justice, a weekly production that will rely on deepfakes as part of its core premise. Fictional American Consumer Advocate and reporter at Cheyenne News Fred Sassy is the creation of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the minds behind South Park. "The first episode, released on YouTube on October 26, took on the topic of deepfakes themselves, with Fred Sassy warning his faithful viewers that they shouldn’t believe everything they see. The satirical twist is that all the footage shown as real is, of course, deepfaked, while all the footage labeled fake is either real or played by puppets." Watch the first episode in full below.
2 min read |
|
|
|
| The Metaverse Is Coming—Computer-Generated Virtual Worlds Are Going Mainstream |
A 28-minute Economist podcast on the metaverse featuring none other than Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon), Jaron Lanier, The Mandalorian VFX team, and Unity VP Timoni West. What more can you ask for? Our favorite quote comes from West:
"I think most of the things we want the metaverse to do we have today, they're just more benign. What's that quote... any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and the reverse is true too: any sufficiently ubiquitous technology doesn't feel like technology any more. We already have MMOs that are decades old. People have avatars that are decades old. My team gets together in virtual reality every week because we can't see each other in real life."
28 min listen |
|
|
|
| MUST-SEE |
In partnership with Droga5 and media agency Hearts & Science, the NY Times created its first Snapchat Lens, "What Is America?" According to Adweek, "when users open the lens in world view, they will be immersed in a 360-degree AR photojournalism experience, where they can explore 25 images and tap on them to access the Times content." Topics include climate change, health care, equality, education, and the economy. "Tapping on the images reveals headlines from the newspaper from an election-specific section on its website," according to Mobile Marketer.
"The publication's AR lens is designed to make its political coverage more accessible to a younger group of consumers and may urge more people to vote with its coverage of key issues on its election-specific website."
 |
|
| COMMUNITY NEWS |
Kat Sullivan, RLab Artist in Residence and visiting faculty at NYU Tandon, was featured in a new documentary series from American Ballet Theatre and CHANEL. Each episode of Pas de Deux explores the intersection of dance and other art forms by pairing up two artists, who delve into each other’s process and craft in intimate 15-minute conversations that culminate in new artistic creations. Other episodes pair dancers with singer Alicia Keys, chef and restauranteur Marcus Samuelsson, and visual artist Chloe Wise. Kat, an artist, technologist and educator who co-teaches motion capture intensives at RLab, collaborated with ABT Principal dancer Cassandra Trenary to create the short film Tapis Roulant, with motion captured at the RLab studio. Watch the documentary episode and the result of their collaboration below.
|
|
| EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES |
|
|
|
Event: StoriesXFuture Virtual Incubator
October 24 - November 6
5-week incubation program unites XR industry, entrepreneurial and sustainability experts to help those interested in developing the skills necessary to create XR projects for impact.
Event: The Business of Disinformation
November 17, 2PM
With NYU Data Future Lab, hear from leading experts and innovators in the disinformation field about the state of the market, the business case for fighting disinformation, and the new solutions they're building.
Opportunity: echoAR Spring Internships
echoAR, a company providing a cloud platform for augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) is looking for a Software Development intern and a Business Development intern for Spring 2021. Fully remote.
|
|
|
|
| OTHER NEWS |
|
|
AR Is Finally Infiltrating Everyday Tasks Such as Google Search
Lenovo to Sell Varjo's Enterprise VR Headsets
How to Use AR on iPhone 12 Pro to Measure Someone's Height
SM Entertainment's New K-Pop Girl Group "Aespa" Will Feature Human and Virtual Members |
|
|
|
|
|
|
