Category: Internet & Technology

What’s Next after Cardboard Crash, VR Cinema? Talking to NFB’s Vincent McCurley

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Virtual Reality (VR) is making further steps into the mainstream this year, and Vincent McCurley, Creative Technologist of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), knows how to make an experience in this field matter. His work, Cardboard Crash, is only a beginning in exploring what this technology can do. It is not always about smoke and mirrors. The applications range from use in drawing in the third dimension to medical imaging — one day, doctors might be able to perform emergency surgery in the virtual space because they can’t get to the hospital in time. While its use in the entertainment forefront is getting the most attention at shows like the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show which wrapped last weekend and at film festivals there’s more to this technology than meets the eye.

“It’s really about putting the audience in a position where they feel like they’re actually in that world. My program came out of that core idea of what makes VR different than any other medium,” said McCurley.

Ultimately, VR is the computer mediation of our senses. A truly immersive experience makes what’s presented by wearing that headset completely indistinguishable from reality to an image on a computer. A suspension of disbelief is required and a willingness to be entertained (or shocked) by the computer program creates part of the fun. For this particular application, this software engineer and filmmaker created, it explores a topic that academia is interested in. It’s a subject worth exploring when considering Google wants to put self-driving cars on the market. The future is looking dangerous.

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The Vintage Tempest’s Open Letter to Santa Claus

Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
by Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Dear Santa,

There’s not much I need this year. You helped set the wheels in motion to help deliver a few items from the list I made last year. I received Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition some months ago, but the score is seeing Pulp Cthulhu and the out of print Fall of Cthulhu Omnibus arrive before the big day! My dreams have been fulfilled.

Though, with virtual reality (VR) still being the talk of 2016, I still like to see how this technology will grow in the coming year. It leads my list of items I’d love to see under my tree.

Oculus Rift

While the jury is still out in deciding if VR is the future of entertainment, out of all the three contenders (HTC Vive and PlayStation VR being the other two) I’m placing my bets on this device to get my Matrix-style illusion on. The amount of varied software that’s soon to be offered is the main selling point for me. Of course, a fully decked out gaming computer from Alienware to ensure I can play Star Wars: Battlefront VR expansion pack will be great too!

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Cheshire Cat Disappearing Coffee Mug (from Amazon)Santa

Thankfully, not every item in my wish list is not expensive. My coffee mug featuring this cat from Alice in Wonderland has the ink literally being worn out from repeated washings from other family members in the home who does not know how to treat a designer cup well — if there’s a version which layers a thick clear finish over it, I’d love to own this cup again.

Every time I drink from the mug, I can not help but grin back at the cat. He always comes back when the cup gets cold.

Continue reading “The Vintage Tempest’s Open Letter to Santa Claus”

In Conversation with MCM, Redefining Storytelling with the multi-narrative “Dirt”

MCM (Michael Milligan) is a prolific and progressive-thinking author, screenwriter, computer programmer making waves with his mobile app, Get Dirt.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

201699_10150171129933450_3208833_oMCM (Michael Milligan) is a prolific and progressive-thinking author, screenwriter, computer programmer making waves with his mobile app, Get Dirt. It redefines how a story can be told. Instead of reading a book, the tale is told through a different kind of “found footage.” Unlike the cinema approach which locks viewers to a sequentially edited product, all the information is at the user’s disposal and he or she has to shift through it to discover the tale. There’s also a comparison to a Victorian-age book, but more on that later.

Part of his approach comes from a condition he has. Aphantasia is a rare problem where folks are unable to mentally visualize images. “I can’t see things in my mind’s eye,” said MCM, “It’s actually a brilliant thing, I think, for script writing especially because a scene or any event is built out of key components that you need to focus on for its execution to make sense, and everything else is extraneous because I don’t know what it looks like.”

When writing for animation, especially at the preschool level, the formula is simple: educate the viewer. Often, the piece involves teaching a lesson the youth can take to apply in everyday life as they grow up. As with many programs developed in this television entertainment medium, they are done in a boardroom in a roundtable discussion. Ideas are pitched and in what’s developed, it’s made into a 23-minute show. This writer’s task is to develop a focused script that gets to the point. Continue reading “In Conversation with MCM, Redefining Storytelling with the multi-narrative “Dirt””

[Electric Bungalow] Field Testing QuietOn’s Noise Cancelling Technology

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

QuietOn Ear PlugsMany months ago, I chanced upon an IndieGoGo campaign about QuietOn, a pair of earplugs that operate almost like a pair of Bose noise-canceling headphones. By using active noise cancellation, a fair amount of low-frequency sounds can be filtered out with this sound blocker. This Finnish re-invention looks at the sounds bouncing within the ear canal and creates additional filters for quietness.

After a few weeks of my own testing in random environments, these plugs do work as advertised. They are described to effectively block sound when filtered through walls. For example, those sounds of jet engines from far away, the loud neighbours from the next room in a hotel and elephant stampede in an apartment one level up are nonexistent. I have yet to try sleeping next to an air conditioner and when the noises are not blaring directly at you, they function as intended. Snoring beasts are difficult to prevent, so my quest continues lest I have that suitcase Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them carries to stuff those monsters into.

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Taking NFB’s Cardboard Crash VR App for a Spin

550575449By Shawn Trommeshauser
(Dreaming in Digital)

Would you trust your safety to a computer algorithm? What about to the people who programmed it?

Cardboard Crash for iOS and Android is a deceptively straightforward Virtual Reality (VR) experience by Vincent McCurley and the National Film Board of Canada. Mid last month, it won the Digi Award for Mobile Entertainment and this award is the 11th to an NFB production. This app was first previewed in the DocLab program of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2015.

This title has a cute stylised world filled with cardboard people, buildings, and cars. The cardboard textures add a lot of detail to keep the world simple and angular. The music is pleasant and fitting for the game’s contents. Nothing overstays its welcome as the scenario is only a couple of minutes long.

The game has a very simplistic interface. It doesn’t require any additional controllers or hardware beyond a VR headset such as Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard to play. All you need to do is look at an available button for a few seconds to activate it. A voice clip will play when you highlight one of the many buttons and if you only want to hear the description before you decide on anything, you have to look away just before the selection is finalized.

I had no problem with the motion tracking or response time using an iPhone 5s. The game was a little choppy at times, but I believe that’s simply due the age of my phone. However, I experienced a huge drain on the battery, approximately 20% in less than 5 minutes of play time.  I’m not sure if it’s this particular game, the Unity engine that it runs on, or it was simply too much for my phone to handle. So if you give this title a try, please make sure that your phone isn’t overheating as you play.

Spoiler Alert! I’m going to go into detail on what happens during gameplay. If you’re interested and have a VR-capable iOS or Android device, I suggest taking a few minutes to play through Cardboard Crash before reading any further. it is only about two or three minutes long.

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Matsumoto’s ‘Documental’ Offers Gaki Fans More No Laughing Situations

matsumotohitoshi2By James “I am Lame” Robert Shaw
(The Wind up Geek)

Matsumoto Hitoshi brings a little bit of what you fancy to Amazon Prime Japan this fall. Starting November 30th, Matsumoto, (one half of internationally known comedy duo Downtown), will host Documental, a 4 part series akin to the duo’s No laughing Batsu New Year specials. In Documental, ten hand-picked Japanese entertainers will be given the chance at winning a grand prize of ¥10,000,000. Under Matsumoto’s watchful eye each entertainer must endure 6 hours of no laughing as they are subjected to a comedy barrage by other contestants or else be forced out from the competition.

The Trailer identifies entertainers Daisuke Miyagawa (Oh! Father) and Jimmy Ōnishi (No Laughing High-School batsu) as two of the 10 entertainers involved in this production. The show resembles that of an American reality program (like Big Brother) but it still retains that Japanese game show feels as indicated by Matsumoto’s grip on the control box that holds both a red button (stop) and a blue button (start). It appears the use of a yellow card comes into play during this program. The yellow card is used in sports when indicating a penalty and could be used for the same reason here. If so a red card would mean elimination for any one of the ten entertainers.


Matsumoto Hitoshi is a producer, writer, and director. He is known the films Big Man Japan (2007), Symbol (2009), Saya-zamurai (2010) and R100 (2013). He is currently co-star of the variety series Gaki no tsukai ya arahende!! and former co-host of the enduring music show Hey! Hey! Hey Music Champ.

Documental will stream every Wednesday starting November 30, 2016 on Amazon Prime Japan.