Register today: SVG, DTV Audio Group among Highlights of SMPTE’s Entertainment Technology in the Internet Age

On June 17-18, 2014, the Stanford Center for Image Systems Engineering and the Society for Motion Picture and Television Engineers will host a two day meeting on “Entertainment Technology in the Internet Age” featuring presentations from the DTV Audio Group as well as Sports Video Group members. The meeting will take place in the Huang Engineering Center at Stanford University in California and will bring together engineers and executives from Hollywood and the Silicon Valley, as well as experts from around the world.

Click here to see the complete program and here to register today!

Among the topics to be discussed:

-FCC Net Neutrality – featuring Matthew DelNero, Deputy Chief, FCC who is writing the FCC position document will answer questions about new Net Neutrality Rules.

-Quality video and sound over the Internet – experts from many companies will discuss the challenges of delivering high quality video over the web and whether a paradigm shift in quality is in the offering.

-The effect of OTT (Over the Top – i.e. Internet) on MVPD (Multichannel video programmer distributors) – leaders from Youtube, NBC, Verizon and Cisco

-Disruptive innovation for movies, sports and games (a discussion between key technologists from LucasFilm, ESPN and NYU)

-New technologies for augmented and virtual reality – and how that changes storytelling

On June 17 the conference will also have an interactive session that will feature many startup companies who are developing new technologies for virtual reality entertainment applications. Here are just a few:

JAUNT VR developed an integrated suite of hardware and software tools to create cinematic VR experiences. To demonstrate their technologies, they are bringing an Oculus Rift with head tracking and stereo headphones so that users can experience a truly immersive cinematic experience.

GameFace is building an ultra-immersive, Android-based VR device at a consumer-friendly price point, harnessing the performance of next-gen mobile processors and setting the stage for developers to take Android gaming to the next level.

Sixense is a company of experts in the Virtual Reality, entertainment, 3D modeling, and gaming industries that share a passion for creating products that revolutionize the way we interact with 3D content

Leap Motion whose Leap Motion Controller senses how you move your hands in a virtual environment.

USC ICT Lights asPaul Debevec will bring some demos from his amazing collection of research projects, including the Light Stage Systems that capture how an actors’s face appears when lit from every possible lighting direction.

PriorVR, full body motion sensing for Virtual Reality

HIVE stands for Highly Immersive Visualization Environment. The HIVE is a video wall that is 10 feet tall and 24 feet wide. Thirty-five 46 inch thin backlit LCD monitors are arranged in a 7 X 5 concave configuration and controlled by servers connected through optical fiber.

Stanford Project Tango featuring Stanford students use the Google Project Tango phone to build a 3D model of the environment as they move around with the phone.

Homestead High VR an ultra-low-cost virtual reality from the VR Club, a nascent student-run group at Homestead High School in Cupertino, CA

The AMD Holodeck Project: At CES 2014, AMD demonstrated an interactive and immersive concert experience that used a 30-foot diameter dome and 6 HD projectors to create a 360 degree view from the floor to the ceiling. Real time surround sound was generated by 32 speakers that were hidden in the posts of the dome and the video and sound were manipulated by the 3D x 360 degree gestures of a real live human conductor. 72 instruments were mapped to 19 virtual musicians who were modeled after computer-animated characters from the Pixar movie “Monsters, Inc. The gestures of the human conductor directed the musicians to move to different locations in the dome and the audio would move with the instruments as they moved across space. In addition to showcasing AMD’s surround computing hardware, the demo illustrates the importance of surround sound in driving our attention to different places in a virtual environment.

This year, at ETIA 2014, AMD will give share this interactive and immersive experience using a head-mounted stereoscopic display (Oculus Rift), stereo headphones and 3D x 360 degree gesture control (using Kinect). You will feel as if you are in the concert hall, directing the musicians to move to different positions, increase or quiet their instruments, etc. You can walk around the hall, getting closer or farther away from the musicians while directing. Joyce Farrell/Stanford who is the conference co-chair was able to experience an early version of the demo. She said “it made me happy and brightened my mood for the rest of the day.”

Following the 1.5 hour interactive session, there will be an Evening Event (6 – 7:30 pm) that will feature several speakers who will talk about “The Holodeck: Entertainment for the Next Generation”. The speakers include Bing Gordon, Paul Debevec, Dave Singhal, Jon Peddie and Kati London. While the Holodeck was a fanciful concept from the Star Trek series, the advancements in technology are making the possibility of an immersive entertainment experience closer and closer to reality.