Wierzbowski85 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Indie Low-Budget Sci-fi Short Combines Miniatures With CGI (filmmakermagazine.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 06, 2013 @04:36AM

An anonymous reader writes: The filmmakers behind Indie Kickstarter-funded sci-fi short HENRi chose to photograph the film practically with miniature sets and rod-puppetry, as opposed to relying solely on CG animation, to create the uniquely visual world from the script. NoFilmSchool writes: "The film is a unique blend of traditional miniature and puppetry effects alongside more modern motion-reference animation, and the results are simply stunning.” The film’s director, Eli Sasich, explains in an article for Filmmaker Magazine, "The concept of using quarter-scale miniatures to create HENRi was initially born out of necessity – but I also wanted to use the technique because that’s how the classics were made.” In addition to the effects, HENRi pays homage to classic science fiction in another way – it stars sci-fi legend Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey) in the title role. The trailer and film are available now on the film's official website.

Submission + - In the Future, We Will All Be Jedis

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27, 2013 @09:32PM

An anonymous reader writes: Throw Trucks with Your Mind is the most amazing game you've never heard of. The guys over at Venture Beat demoed it and called it "seriously awesome" and pretty much the best biofeedback game they've ever played. Its originality got the attention of Kotaku for being one of the zaniest games they've ever seen. The game works by "doing a bunch of crazy math on your brainwaves to determine how calm and focused you are" and transforms those mental conditions into psychic powers. Literally, you can throw trucks with your mind in this game. Insane.

Submission + - 2001: A Space Odyssey's Dave Returns to Sci-fi in New Film (wired.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27, 2013 @09:24PM

An anonymous reader writes: Indie Kickster-funded short HENRi stars sci-fi legend in a roll very much like HAL-9000 — with a twist. WIRED writes: "If it sounds a little bit like 2001: The Later Years, then here’s the real twist: HENRi, the ship/body, is voiced Dr. Dave Bowman himself, Keir Dullea." In a making-of video for the film, Dullea says, "I guess you could say the character of HENRi was a sane version of HAL." The film itself utilizes a mixture of the old and the new — combining live-action sequences with puppetry, quarter-scale miniatures, and modern CGI. The official trailer has just been released.

Submission + - LiceCode Kickstarter Most Successful Development Tool Raise Of All Time (kickstarter.com)

Submitted by MikeyTheK on Wednesday February 27, 2013 @09:09PM

MikeyTheK writes: To fund a move to Open Source its engine, LiveCode, a descendent of HyperCard, turned to Kickstarter. With 8 hours still to go, the project has raised over $650,000, a staggering amount for a development tool on Kickstarter. With only a couple of stretch goals remaining, it is by far the most successful raises for a development tool.

Submission + - EA Building Microtransactions Into All Of Its Future Games (develop-online.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27, 2013 @07:38PM

An anonymous reader writes: Develop reports on comments from Blake Jorgensen, Electronic Arts' Chief Financial Officer, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference. As you may have guessed from the name of the conference, the business aspect of EA was the topic. Jorgensen said, 'The next and much bigger piece [of the business] is microtransactions within games. ... We're building into all of our games the ability to pay for things along the way, either to get to a higher level to buy a new character, to buy a truck, a gun, whatever it might be, and consumers are enjoying and embracing that way of the business.' This is particularly distressing given the reaction to EA's recent implementation of microtransations into Dead Space 3, where you can spend money to improve your weaponry.

Submission + - Inspiration Mars announces two passenger flyby of planet Mars in 2018 (moonandback.com) 2

Submitted by Dishwasha on Wednesday February 27, 2013 @06:26PM

Dishwasha writes: Private space firm Inspiration Mars conducted a press conference today expressing their intention to send a two-person crew to slingshot around Mars in 2018. The plan has been NASA endorsed and the round trip will take around 501 days to complete.

Submission + - Taylor Wilson, Teenage Nuclear Scientist, Redesigns Nuclear Power (fastcompany.com)

Submitted by Lasrick on Wednesday February 27, 2013 @04:45PM

Lasrick writes: Not satisfied with being the youngest person to ever build a working fusion reactor, the 18-year-old now has plans for a modular nuclear power plant. He graduates high school in May.

Submission + - TED 2013: SpaceTop 3D see-through desktop (bbc.co.uk) 1

Submitted by another random user on Wednesday February 27, 2013 @02:31PM

another random user writes: TED fellow Jinha Lee has been working on the SpaceTop 3D desktop in collaboration with Microsoft.

Allowing people to interact with machines in the same way they do with solid objects could make computing much more intuitive, he told the BBC. He can see the system coming into general use within a decade.

The system consists of a transparent LED display with built-in cameras, which track the user's gestures and eye movements. The design was inspired by what he sees as a human need to interact with things.

"Spatial memory, where the body intuitively remembers where things are, is a very human skill," he said. Translating this to the digital world will enable people to use computers more easily as well as complete more complex tasks.

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