Village Gamer

ProFusion 2011 is happening June 17th and 18th at the Toronto Congress Centre, and it’s much more than Canada’s largest professional photo and video tradeshow.

Along with new technology and product demonstrations, ProFusion will showcase a long list of professional seminars and workshops, conducted by world-renowned experts in the field of photography and videography, some lecturers in Canada for the first time.

“Last year’s show exceeded our expectations, particularly the overwhelming response to our seminars and workshops” says Vistek President, Ron Silverstein. “With the success of last year’s show, we decided to up the ante and to expand our selection of seminars, both in quantity and quality.”

According to Mr. Silverstein that’s what distances ProFusion 2011 from any other tradeshow. “It’s not your average ordinary tradeshow. I mean, along with all the new products and technology, we’re offering the most impressive list of seminar presenters ever assembled in this country. These are the best of the best. Most of these guys only do custom workshops on their home turf. Ordinarily you’d have to leave the country to hear them speak. How we convinced them to come to Toronto is still beyond belief.”

Some of the high profile lecturers Mr. Silverstein is referring to include: Jay Maisel, Vincent Laforet, Philip Bloom, Seth Resnick, Douglas Spotted Eagle, Peter Krogh, Mark Cleghorn, Gary Fong, and others.

One of Canada’s leading Web conferences, mesh, has come west by way of a one-day event in Calgary on June 8 at the MacEwan Conference & Event Centre at the University of Calgary. Tickets are $ 279.00 each and can be purchased online.

Like mesh, meshwest will focus on providing insight and stimulating conversations around four streams – media, society, marketing and business. Led by opinion leaders and entrepreneurs, meshwest will provide the opportunity to have thought-provoking and engaging conversations in which the attendees are involved as much as the speakers.

“We think Calgary is a great place to launch meshwest,” said Mark Evans, co-founder of the mesh conference. “There’s a growing start-up and high-tech community, and there are many large companies exploring the use of social media as a new way to communicate, market and sell.”

From Canada’s leading digital marketers to local social media strategists, meshwest will provide an emphasis on exploring what’s over the horizon in the digital world.

Speakers to include:

Tobias Lütke – CEO of Shopify
Stuart MacDonald – One of Canada’ leading digital marketers
Doug Lacombe – Canada’s Internet publishing pioneer
Greg Hounslow – Emerging Media Advisor for WestJet
Mark Evans – mesh Co-founder and former technology reporter with the National Post and Globe & Mail
Leigh Himel – Owner of Toronto-based, Gravity Ltd., a ‘Social Enterprise Design’ firm
Sarah Dickinson – SVP, Strategy at Blast Radius
Tony Rino – Web & Social Media Advisor, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP)

meshwest sponsors include CIRA, Yahoo! Canada, CNW and Hill & Knowlton Calgary.

Vancouver Canucks super fans Force and Sully, collectively known as The Green Men, aim to kick their antics up a notch. The Green Men will be announcing their special plans for the upcoming Stanley Cup Finals between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins, answering questions, and leading a Canuck fan rally in downtown Vancouver this Friday (June 3rd), at the UBC Robson Square Skating Rink.

Find out what the spandexed duo are up to as they continue their campaign to rattle the Canuck’s competition and reveal their latest strategy to unsettle the Boston Bruins whey they make their announcement at 11:45am.

The Green Men Fan Rally will begin at 12 noon, running until 1:00pm. The Robson Square Skating Rink is located underground at the Robson Square Plaza, 800 Robson Street in Vancouver. The next game in the 2011 Stanley Cup Play-offs is at 5pm on Saturday, June 4th at Rogers Arena.

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Annex Pro invites anyone running Pro Tools 8 and earlier versions, on Apple G4, G5, first-gen Mac Pro, iMac or  Windows PC to come in for a hands-on Native Performance test drive with the new Avid Pro Tools|HD Native. Experience for yourself the new high-performance, low-latency, PCIe-based I/O of Avid Pro Tools|HD Native, running on the New 8 and 12 core Apple Mac Pro
Pro Tools is now faster and more affordable, using host-based processing of new Apple multicore Mac Pro computers.  Bench-mark tests show that Pro Tools|HD Native analog to analog throughput latency is far lower than competing FireWire, USB 2.0 and other PCIe interfaces, with the added benefits of:

Nintendo Canada invites gamers in and around the Vancouver area to come down to the corner of Robson & Burrard (in front of HMV) this Saturday, June 4^th to check out the world of one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time.

Watch as  “Chalkmaster” David Johnston will work his creative magic as he brings to life the new highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D game for Nintendo 3DS™, with a life-size work of art. Weather permitting (this is Vancouver, after all) David will be at work on the image all day. Should the weather not co-operate, the art presentation will have to be re-scheduled for a sunnier day.

This event will also be the perfect spot for gamers to gather for StreetPass™ activity on the Nintendo 3DS. If you’re able to pass by, feel free to tweet about the art using Nintendo’s hashtag, #ZeldaChalkArt. The finished art work is anticipated to be complete by 7pm.

Vancouver’s SIGGRAPH chapter presents The Art of Lighting and Rendering Rio with Lighting Supervisor Jim Gettinger. The final event of the 2010/2011 season, this presentation will take place on June 21st at District 319. Jim Gettinger’s talk will explore the developmental work pursued by Jim and his team taking the listener through many stages of the production process at Blue Sky. Lighting and lighting techniques will be presented from concept art, through pre-visualization, master lighting, and compositing. Jim will also highlight the artistic and technical challenges encountered developing a stylized vision of the world renowned city Rio de Janeiro and believable original characters using Blue Sky’s proprietary photo-realistic ray-tracing software, CGI Studio™. Tickets for this event are now on sale – $15.00 for members and $25.00 for non-members.

Hockey Fight Pro by Ratrod Studios is now available in the Android Marketplace. Compatible with most Android phones and tablets running Android 2.1 and up, Hockey Fight Pro for Android will let you compete against iOS and Mac users using the online cross-platform leaderboard. Hockey Fight Pro is loaded with the following features:

• The only 3D hockey fighting game available on the market.
• Intuitive controls for a realistic hockey fighting experience.
• Follow the interactive tutorial to learn the basics.
• Real-time damage system, see your opponent taking punishment.
• Next gen 3D graphics with HD support.
• Fight against 9 of the world’s most dangerous hockey fighters.
• Execute over 40 unique combos and punch combinations.
• Gain respect from your opponents and upgrade your character attributes.
• View your fighting stats and replay highlights to improve your skills.
• Complete a list of over 14 unique achievements.
• Online global cross-platform leaderboard to become the world’s toughest hockey fighter.
• Share your victory with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.
• Complete the game to unlock a special hardcore mode.
• Support for multiple profiles and extensive game options to adjust the game to your preferences.

Vancouver’s Acrylic Apps has launched its news app to the Mac Store. Pulp for Mac takes your favorite news feeds and presents them in a reader-friendly format, making it easy for users to quickly scan through headlines, previews, and photos as if you had your own newspaper right on your desktop. Pulp includes such features as built-in Google search, customizable categories and layout, plus rich descriptors for visual media. You can also put articles on your virtual shelf to read later or easily share them on your Twitter or Facebook feeds. Another great feature is Pulp Sync, a free, cloud-based service that keeps all of your pages, feeds, read articles, and other settings in sync on all of your Macs and iPads, over the air, completely seamlessly. Every change you make is pushed instantly to your iPad, so you never have to go hunting for a refresh button.

Rhino.ca is a proud partner of the Vancouver Canucks, and like the rest of Vancouver hockey fans, is confident this is the season we bring home the Cup. On the heels of the Vancouver Canucks victory over the San Jose Sharks, Rhino.ca has launched the final round of the Rhino Cup Run 2011 hockey pool and is gearing up for the Stanley Cup Finals.

For the last time during these NHL playoffs, hockey fans can pit themselves against each other for leaderboard supremacy in this free, Vancouver Canucks themed, interactive hockey pool. Contestants enter their picks for game scores and individual player stats in categories like most goals, assists, and penalty minutes, and can log-in anytime to see where they stack up amongst the competition.

“We’re die-hard Vancouver Canucks fans and are excited to have partnered with the Canucks in their 40th year during this cup run. It seems like a dream,” said Doug Morneau, RHINO.ca’s Chief Rhino. “Seventeen years since our last trip to the finals and like the rest of this town, we can’t get enough playoff hockey.”

The Vancouver Canucks take on the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals beginning Wednesday, June 1st and there is undeniable playoff fever around RHINO.ca headquarters. “We love how energized this city is right now and Rhino Cup Run in something we could do to help Canucks fans participate and get even more psyched for the finals,” added Morneau.

RBC and the Toronto International Film Festival® today announced the finalists for the RBC Emerging Filmmakers Competition. Reviewed by a jury comprised of esteemed producers, directors and executives from Canada’s film industry, the following five finalists have been selected out of 20 “Family” themed submissions:

• ESTHER AND LEIB – Sean Wainsteim – (Toronto)
  A raw portrait of Esther and Leib, a couple who met when escaping Europe, as they reflect on the passing years and each other.
• MY FIRST MOVIE – Gabriel Taraboulsy – (Montréal)
  Tasked with making a video portrait of her family, a young filmmaker plants a hidden camera, capturing a vision of her family that is far different from anything she imagined.
• NEXT OF KIN – Kara Blake – (Montréal)
  Documenting the parallel lives of two sisters surviving a long, cold winter in Montreal.
• THE REVENGE PLOT – Jared Raab – (Toronto)
  After Matt and his friends are dissed in the schoolyard by a group of girls, they set to work on an elaborate and merciless plan for revenge.
• SATURDAY NIGHT – Kaveh Nabatian – (Montréal)
  New Year’s Eve. Boy meets girl. A film about unprotected sex, destiny and soul music.

From these top five films, the jury will decide the National Winner and an Honourable Mention, each receiving $15,000 and $10,000 respectively. Canadians from coast to coast can support the emerging filmmakers by voting for the film they like, to help decide the Fan Favourite Award which comes with a $5,000 cash prize. The public can vote from June 1 to June 30, 2011 until 11:59 p.m. EST and have the chance to win an all expenses paid trip for two to the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

“This year’s submissions are an exceptional representation of the talented crop of emerging filmmakers in Canada – the jury was faced with a challenge, narrowing down the competition to just five films,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO, TIFF. “TIFF congratulates these high-calibre talents who interpreted the Family theme brilliantly.”

“We are thrilled to be involved in such an important arts initiative that gives emerging filmmakers the opportunity to learn and grow,” said Jennifer Tory, RBC’s Regional President for Greater Toronto. “For many years, RBC has been working with talented filmmakers and industry professionals to help them create their vision and achieve success in the film business. We are particularly proud to recognize and celebrate these rising new talents.”

The RBC Emerging Filmmakers Competition is part of Talent Lab, a four-day intensive program at the Toronto International Film Festival that offers artistic development opportunities to a select group of emerging Canadian and international filmmakers. Each filmmaker is provided with a portable camera, $500 cash and challenged to develop a one to five minute short film for the competition. Each year the films will focus on one topic – this year’s theme is Family. Winners of the RBC Emerging Filmmakers Competition will be announced prior to this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

The Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) aims to promote innovation and support the development of small and medium enterprises (SME) in Canada. The goal of CICP is to help bridge the pre-commercialization gap by purchasing innovations through a Call for Proposals. The Program targets innovations in four priority areas: environment, health, safety & security, and enabling technologies.

There are 19 pre-qualified innovation proposals from the first round of the program, and now The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) invites you to attend the Spring 2011 Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) Forums taking place from 9:00 – noon on:

• June 20, 2011 Kelowna – Delta Grand Okanagan – 1310 Water St. in Kelowna
• June 21, 2011 Kamloops – Kamloops Convention Centre – 1250 Rogers Way in Kamloops
• June 27, 2011 Vancouver – Marriott Pinnacle – 1128 West Hastings St. in Vancouver
• June 28, 2011 Victoria – Hotel Grand Pacific – 463 Belleville St. in Victoria

Come out for a free coffee and learn more about the program – register today, it’s free.

By attending the CICP Innovation Forum, you will have the opportunity to:

• Learn about the CICP and other Government of Canada programs that support innovation
• Meet face to face with Government of Canada representatives
• Find out what new innovations local businesses are working on

Forum Agenda

9:00am – 10:30am (Information session)

The agenda for each Forum is similar – there will be information sessions for businesses on CICP as well as on the Scientific Research & Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program, the Industrial Research Assistance Program, Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade and Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada Programs during the first portion of the event from 9:00am – 10:30am.

10:30am – Noon (Networking and Tradeshow)

The second portion of the event runs from 10:30am – noon and during this portion businesses are invited to showcase their innovative goods and services to government. (Please note that there will be no tradeshow at the Kamloops event.)

If you have any questions about CICP, please do not hesitate to contact Scarlett Chan, Regional CICP Coordinator, at 1-866-602-0403 or visit the CICP web site.

Microsoft Canada has announced the 10 finalists for DO or DIE, a new campaign that asks the question: could you survive with just your PC? Of these 10 hopefuls, DO or DIE will choose three people to drop in three foreign cities with nothing but their wits, a Windows-based PC, and a Windows Phone 7. The lucky three will each choose one friend, and together they will have 10 days to find shelter, earn food and survive by creating, connecting and sharing with Windows and Windows Live services.

They will have no money, no suitcase and no security blanket, but they will have the support of their DO or DIE community, who can follow their adventures at DO or DIE via daily wall posts, photos and videos.

The 10 finalists were selected from an open casting call looking for the most quick-witted, connected and street-smart Canadians. To make it to the top three, they must engage with the DO or DIE community to convince them they have what it takes to survive and earn their support.

The final three will be announced June 6^th, 2011.

The Top Ten include:

• Whitney Bragagnolo, Vancouver
• Dominic McDowell – Vancouver
• Josette Jorge – Vancouver
• Trevor Jones – Vancouver
• Jennifer Leung – Toronto
• Kira-Jade Roebuck – Sarnia
• Danielle Barker – Toronto
• Richard Veltri – Simcoe
• Alex Hugh – Markham
• Rodolphe Louis – Montreal

Not one of the finalists? Not to worry, visitors to DO or DIE can take an interactive quiz featuring exotic locales and lore. Completing the quiz will generate your survival score, which you can share with friends, whether you earn an F (your survival rate is about as likely as a Baby Chick on a Mechanical Bull) or an A (Cockroach in a Tank – you could survive anywhere on earth). There will be new content throughout the campaign with new challenges and games.

Supporting candidates also makes you eligible for a number of prizes, including a $500 prepaid VISA card, a Windows Phone 7, an Xbox 360, and more. See DO or DIE for full contest details.

The SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies program is home to the latest developments in technology, including haptics, displays, robotics, and artificial intelligence. SIGGRAPH 2011 will feature 23 of the latest innovations selected by a jury of industry experts from more than 100 submissions, with topics ranging from displays and input devices to collaborative environments. SIGGRAPH 2011 takes place this August 7th through 11th at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies program is unique in its interactive approach that allows people to experience the most cutting-edge developments first-hand,” said Cole Krumbholz, SIGGRAPH 2011 Emerging Technologies Chair and co-founder of Koduco Games. “This year, conference attendees will experience the latest achievements from industry and university research labs.”

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Here is a sampling of the featured highlights from the SIGGRAPH 2011 Emerging Technologies; more can be viewed on the SIGGRAPH 2011 web site.

Face-to-Avatar

Hiroaki Tobita and Shigeaki Maruyama; Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.

This floating avatar system integrates a blimp with a virtual avatar to create a unique system of telepresence. The blimp avatar contains several pieces of equipment, including a projector and a speaker as the output functions. Users communicate with others by presenting their facial images through the projector and voices through the speaker. A camera and microphone attached to the blimp provide the input function and support the user’s manipulation from a distance.

The user’s presence is more dramatic than a conventional virtual avatar (CG and image) because the avatar is a physical object and moves freely in the real world. In addition, the user’s senses are augmented because the blimp detects dynamic information in the real world. For example, the camera provides a special floating view to the user, and the microphone collects a wide variety of sounds such as conversations and environmental noise.

Potential Future Use: Allows the user to have a moveable, physical presence in the real world from even the most remote location.

Volumetric Display Based on Vibrating Mylar Beam Splitter and LED Backlit LCD

Lanny Smoot, Quinn Smithwick, and Daniel Reetz; Disney Research

This new volumetric display produces full-color, high-spatial-resolution aerial images in front of the apparatus. It is based on a new optical element: the large, tunable-resonance, edge-driven, varifocal beam splitter.

This new display technology uses a circular Mylar beam splitter and adds a tension-adjusting metal hoop pressed against its surface. The beam splitter is adjusted, with high Q, to a specific resonance frequency. Three rim-mounted impulse drivers apply low-amplitude sinusoldal drive. Due to the high Q, the diaphram’s sympathetic vibration is large. The beam splitter folds the optical path, and the system includes a fixed-curvature concave mirror to create real images that appear out in front of the apparatus.

It produces high-quality 3D images that occupy a one-third-meter cube 1/3 meter out in front of the apparatus. The image is viewable over a 30-degree viewing angle.

Potential Future Use: Advancements in 3D displays will impact many fields from medical research to gaming.

A Medical Mirror for Non-Contact Health Monitoring

Ming-Zher Poh, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology; Daniel McDuff and Rosalind Picard, MIT Media Lab

Digital medical devices promise to transform the future of medicine with their ability to produce exquisitely detailed individual physiological data. As ordinary people gain access to and control over their own physiological data, they can play a more active role in diagnosing and managing their health. This revolution must take place in our everyday lives, not just in the doctor’s office or research lab. This project starts in the home environment by transforming everyday objects into health-sensing technology.

The Medical Mirror is a novel interactive interface that tracks and displays a user’s heart rate in real time without the need for external sensors. Currently, collection of physiological information requires users to strap on bulky sensors, chest straps, or sticky electrodes. The Medical Mirror allows contact-free measurements of physiological information using a basic imaging device. When a user looks into the mirror, an image sensor detects and tracks the location of his or her face over time. By combining techniques in computer vision and advanced signal processing, the user’s heart rate is then computed from the optical signal reflected off the face. The user’s heart rate is displayed on the mirror, allowing visualization of both the user’s physical appearance and physiological state.

This project illustrates an innovative approach to pervasive health monitoring based on state-of-the-art technology. The Medical Mirror fits seamlessly into the ambient home environment, blending the data collection process into the course of daily routines. It is intended to provide a convenient way for people to track their daily health when they use the mirror for shaving, brushing teeth, etc.

Potential Future Use: This device allows for easy and much more sophisticated everyday health monitoring.

Telenoid: Tele-Presence Android for Communication

Kohei Ogawa, Shuichi Nishio, Kensuke Koda, Koichi Taura, Takashi Minato, Carlos Toshinori Ishii, Hiroshi Ishiguro; ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication

This new system of telecommunication focuses on the idea of transferring human “presence”. A minimal human conveys the impression of human existence at first glance, but it doesn’t suggest anything about personal features such as gender or age. The minimal appearance allows people to use Telenoid to transfer their presence to distant places regardless of their personal features.

Telenoid’s tele-operation system is simple and intuitive. It can be controlled by even novice users. Its face-tracking system automatically captures the operator’s facial movements and expressions. Field tests revealed that most users tended to have a strange and negative impression of Telenoid in the beginning, but eventually they became comfortable. Elderly people had very positive feelings about Telenoid at first sight.

Potential Future Use: Telenoid provides a much more interactive and intimate experience than technology that is available today, such as Skype.

True 3D Display

Hidei Kimura and Akira Asano, Burton Inc.; Issei Fujishiro and Ayaka Nakatani; Keio University

This research team was the first to use laser-plasma technology for a true-3D display device that allows users to draw 3D images in midair. Now the team has developed a much more compact and precise display,  called SRV (Super Real Vision)-5000, based on advanced laser technology. One remarkable feature of the new device is its enhanced resolution: from 300 points per second to 50,000 points per second. It displays 3D objects more faithfully in real time and increases the range of possible applications.

Potential Future Use: Advancements in 3D displays will impact many fields from medical research to gaming.