Issued on: 09/09/2021
There are 37 projects in the Venice VR Expanded official selection, which has been part of the film festival since 2016
Marco BERTORELLO AFP
Venice (AFP)
"Can you tell the difference between what is and isn't real?" intones Tilda Swinton as the room disintegrates into pixels.
Swinton is the latest star to lend her talents to the world of virtual reality, which has been quietly building into a medium with incredible -- and disconcerting -- potential.
She narrates "Goliath", about a man's descent into schizophrenia, illustrated by startling visual effects and interactive experiences that illustrate his slippery hold on reality.
It premiered in the VR section of the Venice Film Festival which is running until Saturday.
It was far from the only intense experience on offer to those willing to don helmets and flail around in a booth.
"Container" was a particularly arresting experience.
One minute, the container is filling with water as a woman tries desperately to keep from drowning, then suddenly it becomes a massage parlour with a man trying to force a woman into sex, then suddenly a tiny sweatshop in which a family of garment workers are toiling away.
The viewer is so utterly immersed, effectively standing just centimetres away from the characters, that it feels viscerally, uncomfortably real.
"VR is immersive theatre meeting technology. It has extreme potential, it goes beyond the wildest imagination of what people can experience spatially and artistically," May Abdalla, co-creator of "Goliath", told AFP.
- Fully fledged artform -
"Not every project suits VR. You need to find the right experience," Abdalla added.
One of the most daring at Venice was "In the Mist", which skirts a delicate line between art and porn.
Given that its 15-minute running time is almost entirely filled with naked men fellating and penetrating each other in a sauna, some might feel the line is crossed.
Michel Reilhac, Venice VR co-curator, insisted it should be seen as naked contemporary dance that "transcends sexuality", though he added that the porn industry was the only sector to turn a profit with VR for now.
VR competitions have become a regular feature of film festivals around the world, from Sundance to Cannes, but many remain unaware of how quickly the medium is evolving.
"The tech has reached the point where the makers are no longer fascinated by the tech... where it can call itself a fully-fledged artform," said Reilhac.
- Tricking the brain -
The projects at Venice range from 360-degree films in which the viewer can look around but not interact with objects, to the other end of the spectrum in which they embody an avatar and are fully immersed in an interactive world.
Venice (AFP)
"Can you tell the difference between what is and isn't real?" intones Tilda Swinton as the room disintegrates into pixels.
Swinton is the latest star to lend her talents to the world of virtual reality, which has been quietly building into a medium with incredible -- and disconcerting -- potential.
She narrates "Goliath", about a man's descent into schizophrenia, illustrated by startling visual effects and interactive experiences that illustrate his slippery hold on reality.
It premiered in the VR section of the Venice Film Festival which is running until Saturday.
It was far from the only intense experience on offer to those willing to don helmets and flail around in a booth.
"Container" was a particularly arresting experience.
One minute, the container is filling with water as a woman tries desperately to keep from drowning, then suddenly it becomes a massage parlour with a man trying to force a woman into sex, then suddenly a tiny sweatshop in which a family of garment workers are toiling away.
The viewer is so utterly immersed, effectively standing just centimetres away from the characters, that it feels viscerally, uncomfortably real.
"VR is immersive theatre meeting technology. It has extreme potential, it goes beyond the wildest imagination of what people can experience spatially and artistically," May Abdalla, co-creator of "Goliath", told AFP.
- Fully fledged artform -
"Not every project suits VR. You need to find the right experience," Abdalla added.
One of the most daring at Venice was "In the Mist", which skirts a delicate line between art and porn.
Given that its 15-minute running time is almost entirely filled with naked men fellating and penetrating each other in a sauna, some might feel the line is crossed.
Michel Reilhac, Venice VR co-curator, insisted it should be seen as naked contemporary dance that "transcends sexuality", though he added that the porn industry was the only sector to turn a profit with VR for now.
VR competitions have become a regular feature of film festivals around the world, from Sundance to Cannes, but many remain unaware of how quickly the medium is evolving.
"The tech has reached the point where the makers are no longer fascinated by the tech... where it can call itself a fully-fledged artform," said Reilhac.
- Tricking the brain -
The projects at Venice range from 360-degree films in which the viewer can look around but not interact with objects, to the other end of the spectrum in which they embody an avatar and are fully immersed in an interactive world.
Swinton is the latest star to get involved with VR, narrating new release 'Goliath' CHRISTOPHE SIMON AFP
"You're tricking the limbic brain and you can't turn that off," said co-curator Liz Rosenthal.
"When you're standing on the edge of a virtual cliff, you can't stop yourself feeling vertigo."
The vast potential means creators are still defining what VR can be for themselves and for audiences.
"You can feel the possibilities changing as you're working with the tools," said Abdalla.
"With film, there is already a sophisticated rapport with the audience. They understand the vocabulary of cinema. But with VR, you know it's often their first time. You have to connect with that. It's a collaboration with them."
- 'Will become ubiquitous' -
Famously, VR is a medium that has been on the cusp of going mainstream for years -- even decades -- without ever quite getting there, held back by the expensive and unwieldy equipment.
"You're tricking the limbic brain and you can't turn that off," said co-curator Liz Rosenthal.
"When you're standing on the edge of a virtual cliff, you can't stop yourself feeling vertigo."
The vast potential means creators are still defining what VR can be for themselves and for audiences.
"You can feel the possibilities changing as you're working with the tools," said Abdalla.
"With film, there is already a sophisticated rapport with the audience. They understand the vocabulary of cinema. But with VR, you know it's often their first time. You have to connect with that. It's a collaboration with them."
- 'Will become ubiquitous' -
Famously, VR is a medium that has been on the cusp of going mainstream for years -- even decades -- without ever quite getting there, held back by the expensive and unwieldy equipment.
A visitor takes part in the Venice VR Expanded programme at the Venice Film Festival Marco BERTORELLO AFP
But the industry only really got going in the mid-2010s as many companies -- including Google, Apple and Amazon -- began pouring money into the technology.
Reilhac said things were now moving fast thanks to the surge of interest in "social VR", where people meet up for digital gaming and gigs -- a trend accelerated by the pandemic.
"It will become ubiquitous when the headsets become glasses," he said.
The business potential was underlined last month when Facebook -- which owns the Oculus headset firm -- unveiled "Horizon Workrooms" for people to collaborate virtually.
"Give it two to three years and we'll see where we are, but I bet it's going to be major," Reilhac said.
© 2021 AFP
Facebook and Ray-Ban debut 'smart' shades
Issued on: 09/09/2021
But the industry only really got going in the mid-2010s as many companies -- including Google, Apple and Amazon -- began pouring money into the technology.
Reilhac said things were now moving fast thanks to the surge of interest in "social VR", where people meet up for digital gaming and gigs -- a trend accelerated by the pandemic.
"It will become ubiquitous when the headsets become glasses," he said.
The business potential was underlined last month when Facebook -- which owns the Oculus headset firm -- unveiled "Horizon Workrooms" for people to collaborate virtually.
"Give it two to three years and we'll see where we are, but I bet it's going to be major," Reilhac said.
© 2021 AFP
Facebook and Ray-Ban debut 'smart' shades
Issued on: 09/09/2021
Facebook and Ray-Ban have launched new smart glasses, seen here in an undated handout photo
Handout Ray-Ban and Facebook/AFP
San Francisco (AFP)
Facebook and iconic eyewear brand Ray-Ban on Thursday launched their new smart glasses, the latest effort in a tricky, niche market but which the social media giant sees as a step toward its future.
The "Ray-Ban Stories" shades can take pictures and video upon the wearer's voice commands, and the frames can connect wirelessly to Facebook's platform through an app.
"We took our Wayfarer (frames), born in 1952, and we reinvented the design squeezing in some cool technology," said Fabio Borsoi, global research and design director at the EssilorLuxottica group, Ray-Ban's maker.
Facebook is wading into a market that has already seen 2013's Google Glass, which sparked a privacy backlash over built-in cameras and prompted the tech titan to pivot its focus for the device away from the general public.
Messaging app SnapChat has also released its camera-equipped Spectacles, but they are pricey and have struggled to catch on broadly with tech lovers.
Notably, the Ray-Ban Stories glasses will not have augmented reality features -- technology that can mesh online computing with visual cues such as mapping or face recognition.
Instead, the shades are an early step toward efforts to create futuristic eyewear that adds to real-world views with data or graphics from the internet, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said previously.
The company had said in July it was combining specialists from across its hardware, gaming and virtual reality units to build an immersive digital world known as the "metaverse."
- Privacy features -
Priced starting at $299, the Ray-Ban Stories will roll out in Australia, Britain, Canada, Ireland, Italy and the United States.
Cameras are built into the front of the frames, while the arms are designed to act as directional speakers for listening to calls or streamed audio.
A white light in the front of the frame goes on when the cameras are being used, which is intended as a privacy feature to alert people they could be filmed.
Users can take a picture or a video clip of up to 30 seconds by pressing a button at the temple or using a voice command, both of which can be cues that a camera is on.
"We need the user to feel completely in control of their capture experience," said Facebook Reality Labs product manager Hind Hobeika.
"And, similarly, we need people around them to feel comfortable that these smart glasses exist and always be in the know when a capture is happening," Hobeika added, referring to filming.
The glasses also have a physical switch for turning them off.
Users log into the glasses' Facebook View app using their accounts at the social network.
Ray-Ban Stories frames sync wirelessly to a smartphone app designed specifically for handling images or video captured by the glasses.
Users can decide using the app whether they want to share pictures or video they have just captured, such as posting to Facebook or attaching them to an email.
Only data needed to run the app is gathered, and no information is used for targeting ads, said Hobeika.
© 2021 AFP
San Francisco (AFP)
Facebook and iconic eyewear brand Ray-Ban on Thursday launched their new smart glasses, the latest effort in a tricky, niche market but which the social media giant sees as a step toward its future.
The "Ray-Ban Stories" shades can take pictures and video upon the wearer's voice commands, and the frames can connect wirelessly to Facebook's platform through an app.
"We took our Wayfarer (frames), born in 1952, and we reinvented the design squeezing in some cool technology," said Fabio Borsoi, global research and design director at the EssilorLuxottica group, Ray-Ban's maker.
Facebook is wading into a market that has already seen 2013's Google Glass, which sparked a privacy backlash over built-in cameras and prompted the tech titan to pivot its focus for the device away from the general public.
Messaging app SnapChat has also released its camera-equipped Spectacles, but they are pricey and have struggled to catch on broadly with tech lovers.
Notably, the Ray-Ban Stories glasses will not have augmented reality features -- technology that can mesh online computing with visual cues such as mapping or face recognition.
Instead, the shades are an early step toward efforts to create futuristic eyewear that adds to real-world views with data or graphics from the internet, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said previously.
The company had said in July it was combining specialists from across its hardware, gaming and virtual reality units to build an immersive digital world known as the "metaverse."
- Privacy features -
Priced starting at $299, the Ray-Ban Stories will roll out in Australia, Britain, Canada, Ireland, Italy and the United States.
Cameras are built into the front of the frames, while the arms are designed to act as directional speakers for listening to calls or streamed audio.
A white light in the front of the frame goes on when the cameras are being used, which is intended as a privacy feature to alert people they could be filmed.
Users can take a picture or a video clip of up to 30 seconds by pressing a button at the temple or using a voice command, both of which can be cues that a camera is on.
"We need the user to feel completely in control of their capture experience," said Facebook Reality Labs product manager Hind Hobeika.
"And, similarly, we need people around them to feel comfortable that these smart glasses exist and always be in the know when a capture is happening," Hobeika added, referring to filming.
The glasses also have a physical switch for turning them off.
Users log into the glasses' Facebook View app using their accounts at the social network.
Ray-Ban Stories frames sync wirelessly to a smartphone app designed specifically for handling images or video captured by the glasses.
Users can decide using the app whether they want to share pictures or video they have just captured, such as posting to Facebook or attaching them to an email.
Only data needed to run the app is gathered, and no information is used for targeting ads, said Hobeika.
© 2021 AFP
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