TOTW
Tech of the Week
Week of April 14th, 2010 – Last TOTW of Spring – Random Videos in Digital Art and Sciences: What can be done in the field!
Here is a short video depicting a photo-shoot of a model and how the models picture ends up on a billboard. Notice how her picture is digitally enhanced before it is placed on the billboard.
This is a short animated film about the element, oxygen.
Here is a video of some multitouch interaction done on a graphical display surface. For the main website: “While touch sensing is commonplace for single points of contact, multi-touch sensing enables a user to interact with a system with more than one finger at a time, as in chording and bi-manual operations. Such sensing devices are inherently also able to accommodate multiple users simultaneously, which is especially useful for larger interaction scenarios such as interactive walls and tabletops.”
Up next we see a commercial for an application on the new iPad. This commercial emphasizes interactivity in a sleek, clean, and simple manner.
Finally, here is a commercial from Samsung on what 3D can accomplish in digital art/media/science and how it can enhance your experience!
Week of April 7th, 2010 – Flyfire Technology – A New Visualization Concept
Heres a conceptual piece about a possible futuristic form of visualization. We’ve seen true 2D on our computer screens forever, and we’ve seen fake 3D on those same screens for a good 20 years now. Flyfire Technology brings to life the concept of true 3D with a unique and innovative approach.
Flyfire Technology from Techspot on Vimeo.
Week of March 31st, 2010 – Gadgets, Gadgets, and more Gadgets
Moving forward in information technology, we are really stretching the typical boundaries and breadth of information. Cameras are nothing special here. Take a look at a consumer level 360 degree camera.
Augmented reality has never been so cool! Now you can co-op zombie campaigns from your iPhone while flying an awesome space ship around the house.
Google is starting to really push into the mobile device realm. Check out this side-by-side comparison between an iPhone and the new Google Nexus One.
Week of March 2nd, 2010 – Just How Big Is The Internet?
The Internet has been around for a while, and despite the fact that Al Gore invented it, the Internet has been wildly successful. But just how big is the internet? And how fast is it growing? This video will take a look at the number game that is the Internet.
JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.
Week of February 24th, 2010 – New Ways to View Photographs – Photosynth
The internet brought photo galleries to the world – multi-touch systems have brought unique interaction to those photo galleries. Now, Photosynth brings image galleries to life! With Photosynth one can compose a number of pictures of a particular scene/location, and the software will generate a 3D landscape based on the photographic details.
Week of February 17th, 2009 – So You Want To Build A Platformer…
So you have decided you are going to build a platformer. You have a theme, a story, game dynamics, the whole package. Now what? Well, you should probably start designing the system, but what architecture will you support?
Should we use Java?
Java is a very useful language, and has certainly been used to build some impressive games. Further, Java can easily run on any major operating system. But what about the JVM? Sure, Java is highly optimized to run as quickly as possible, but there is always some overhead associated with JVM execution. For beginning programmers it is more important to focus on learning standards, languages, and design principles – not to worry about implementation specific knowledge of the language being used. Java probably is not the best choice in this case.
Should we use Flash?
Flash provides a relatively feature-rich language in ActionScript 3.0, not to mention Flash is made for deployment in an environment that anyone can access. Plus, Flash can’t be that difficult to use right? Well….remember the JVM argument for Java? The same argument applies to Flash except that its about 100X worse. In Flash, you don’t just have to pay special attention to the complexity of your code, but you also have to pay attention to how you manage your memory. Flash runs in a web browser, which is not going to grant your game the same amount of RAM as a full-fledged application. Then, on top of all of this, new programmers have to learn Flash specific terminology like Sprite, MovieClip, Stage, etc. For people who are new to video games, Flash is almost certainly a terrible choice of platform.
Should we use XNA?
XNA is a game framework provided by Microsoft. Games built using XNA can be deployed on a PC, XBox, and Zune player. Therefore XNA provides acceptably thorough deployment options. Additionally, the XNA framework is made for games. That means a game developer’s goals are well represented in the API of the framework. Finally, and possibly the most important part, the XNA framework offers an example project which is already a working platformer game! That means new developers do not need to know exactly what steps to take before beginning – we now have an effective means for experimentation in our programming. The hardest parts – collision detection, physics, basic AI – have been handled for us. Just to prove that XNA really is used for this kind of thing, take a look at some indi games in progress…
Week of February 10th, 2010 – StarCraft II Level Builder
Blizzard games have been known for their impressive map building utilities. The original StarCraft offered tools for developing unique map layouts with various factions of units. Warcraft III offered tools for truly altering gameplay – introducing the possibility of a role playing game based on a real time strategy engine. Now with the development of StarCraft II comes a revolutionary map building system. It really doesn’t do the builder justice to call it a “map builder” – its really a desktop publishing version of a game engine. Now you can create just about anything you see fit while utilizing the power of the StarCraft II engine.
Of course, StarCraft II itself has generated a lot of buzz. The graphics are impressive and many fans are looking forward to the return of their favorite StarCraft units and factions. If you’d like to see some campaign sequences, you can watch this video here:
Week of February 3rd, 2010 – Smart Image Resizing
With varying screen sizes, resolutions, aspect ratios, and visual applications, images in today’s media world are subject to extraordinary sizing dynamics. Today, images are resized by simply averaging pixel values to collapse an area – but no attention is paid to the content or focus of the image. Well thats all about to change…
Week of January 27th, 2010 – Attractive Java Games
Java has a reputation for being a utility language. Its good for getting things done, but in the entertainment department it comes up short. Or does it? Java’s image is somewhat of a self-inflicted one – developers just don’t spend enough time creating Java games.
Don’t be lead astray. Java can work with some pretty nice graphics, and can support standard user interaction. Below you will see 2 examples of decent graphics in Java, followed by an impressive recreation of the original Command & Conquer – all in Java!
This first Java game is a 3D version of a common old-time arcade game. Even though the game play is simple, notice how attractive the 3D models appear – and I don’t notice any lag, do you?
This second Java game illustrates some impressive graphic work. The video quality is terrible, but notice the realistic water, reflections, light interaction, and smooth motion. This demo could turn into something pretty cool.
This third and final video impresses me a lot. I grew up playing Command & Conquer (all 10 or so releases of the series). The creator of this game worked to duplicate the original Command & Conquer: Red Alert game. The graphics aren’t anything special, but thats because they are pulled directly from the 90’s classic RTS game. Just notice that Java can interact just as well as the rest of them, you can run your GUI, AI, collisions, and graphics with no problem.
Week of January 20th, 2010 – The Making of Avatar
The movie Avatar has changed how cinematographers film movies, how audiences watch movies, and how much money a single director can make! Director James Cameron requested that his team invent a new type of camera which can shoot both 3D and standard imagery at the same time. This new camera ends up filming 3D in a way analogous to how the human eye perceives depth of field.
But the cameras were not the only unusual element in the making of Avatar. Playing a 10ft tall alien race also came with its challenges. Take a peek at the body suits, face cameras, and expansive motion capture studio that went into the creation of the Na’vi.
Finally, an epic film could never be complete without those bootleggers! Enjoy a short comedic presentation about the making of the Avatar bootleg.
Week of January 13th, 2010 – Build Your Own Multi-Touch System
Using little more than a cardboard box and a webcam, you can run your very own multi-touch computer system. Watch the video to see how it works!
