Village Gamer

Tungle is now available in the BlackBerry App World as a free download. Tungle.me is an app that makes scheduling meetings easy – across organizations, calendar systems and time zones – by eliminating the multiple emails, phone calls and double bookings that typically come with finding a time to meet.
While it is not a calendar itself, Tungle.me synchronizes with the leading online calendar systems including BlackBerry®, Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple iCal, Entourage for Mac, Lotus Notes, Yahoo! and Windows Live. Tungle.me does not require people you schedule with to sign up or download anything.

Tungle.me lets you send meeting invitations that propose multiple times and automatically adjust for time zones. You can also invite others to schedule with you through your personal Tungle.me page, which displays your custom availability (not your calendar details).

With Tungle.me for BlackBerry, you can share calendars with others, inside or outside your organization, across different calendar types. You can schedule meetings by overlaying calendars of people you share with and proposing multiple times to meet. Tungle.me sorts replies for you, dynamically prevents double bookings, and automatically adjusts for invitees’ time zones. You can also reply to meeting invitations received from other Tunglers, or through your personal Tungle.me scheduling page.

Tungle is now a part of the RIM group, and can be used on PC, Mac, mobile iDevices and as mentioned above, BlackBerry.

These types of stories carry a double-edged sword, in part because it reminds us all that the internet has a dark and evil underbelly, but it also reminds us how important it is to teach our children about internet safety and to be involved in their lives.

On May 25 2011 the RCMP Integrated Child Exploitation unit, with the assistance of the New Westminster Police department, arrested a 27 year old male identified as Brandon Parisien from his home in New Westminster. Parisien was arrested for using the internet to expose himself to a 13 year old female and to attempt to meet with that female to have sex.

What Parisien did not know is that the 13 year old female that he was communicating with was in fact a police officer from the RCMP Child Exploitation unit.

“Every time we can arrest someone who is actively looking to take sexual advantage of children over the internet, we feel extremely satisfied that the community has one less predator to worry about” said Corporal Van LaerR, from the RCMP Child Exploitation unit.

Parisien was identified after contacting and engaging in chat room conversations with someone he believed to be a 13 year old female. Once it was determined that Parisien was living in New Westminster, the RCMP Child Exploitation unit contacted the New Westminster Police department and a joint operation was put together. This operation lead to the successful arrest of Parisien, who was then brought before the court in New Westminster on the same day. Parisien was later released from custody under strict conditions, including no contact with any children under the age of 16. Parisien is living alone and does not have any children. His computer equipment was seized and police confirmed that Child Pornography pictures and videos were also found on that equipment.

“This is yet another reminder for parents and children to be aware that these predators are Online and will not hesitate to engage children in conversation quickly leading to sexual exploitation” adds Corporal Van Laer.

Parents and children alike are reminded that any unusual Online activity should be immediately reported to their local police department or can be directly reported online at CyberTip, a website dedicated to these investigations and on which anonymous complaints can be filed.

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.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwGK6lGnu90]

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.

Hothead Games today announced summer release plans for The Baconing, a new stand-alone experience about the mythology of the Bacon Fires. In The Baconing, players will be able to settle in for a lot of fun, meeting some old friends and new acquaintances in this new high profile comical adventure. The game is currently in development for PC, Mac and other formats and is scheduled for release in late summer.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruIXkzsqpxo]

Apparently Bob from Marketing released this comment about the trailer – after a briefing from Legal:

“With an epic name such as ‘The Baconing’ we didn’t want to detract from one of the most memorable video game names in history, so we created a trailer that shows only the title logo. This trailer explains half of the story about how we arrived at this name, the other half of this story is down to one of our loyal fans.”

I wonder if DeathSpank will know more….is it possible to bribe ineptly naive virtuous super-heroes? I hope that “one of the other formats” includes the Xbox 360. If not, I will have to vanquish a few friends from the realm of Hothead with a kick in the shin. 😉

Ottawa-based AssetLabs Inc. and Dublin’s Openplain Ltd. have announced the integration of their web-based ‘SAM’ (Software Asset Management) solutions. This integration enables customers to share data between AssetLab’s AssetCheck and Openplain’s LicenseMetrics services, empowering corporations to optimize, reduce and forecast their software licensing requirements.

LicenseMetrics is a web-based managed service that offers software metering and inventory for PC, MAC, Unix and other network devices. There are no servers or databases to maintain. LicenseMetrics can track usage of desktop, web, virtual and portable applications. LicenseMetrics includes FeatureDetect™, which determines whether the ‘professional or ‘standard’ features of a product are being used, assisting customers in justifying the value of professional editions, or to save money by deploying standard editions.

AssetCheck is a web-based managed service that offers software licensing, budget and productivity risk analysis and true-up cost forecasting based upon software growth trends. AssetCheck also categorizes and normalizes inventory data, identifies vendor ‘end-of-support’, Windows 7 readiness and enables tagging of various license states (open source, trial, volume license, etc.)

“The combination of LicenseMetrics and AssetCheck enables corporations to quickly identify ‘wasted’ software licenses and to justify and also budget for essential increases in software deployments,” says Jon Mulligan, CEO of Openplain. “As a web-based managed service, the deployment and ROI of both AssetCheck and LicenseMetrics are immediate to both the corporation and their SAM advisors.” Read the rest of this entry »

Canadian and international filmmakers, animators and video artists are invited to submit one-minute silent films for an urban public to the 5th annual Toronto Urban Film Festival (TUFF).

TUFF is FREE to submit prior to June 1, 2011. After that date, there will be submission fees: $10 (June 1 – June 30) and $15 (July 1 – July 15). Final deadline is July 15, 2011. Films can be submitted through the TUFF website. The Festival pays artist fees and awards thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.

The Toronto Urban Film Festival is North America’s only true “underground” film festival, reaching over 1.3 million daily commuters who ride the Toronto subway system.  Films screen every 10 minutes on 300 screens in 60 subways stations across the city. The festival takes place September 9 – 18, 2011 concurrent with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Award-winning Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan will guest judge this year’s festival. Egoyan will select the top three films of the festival as well as the winner of the “Naish McHugh Award”, an annual cash award from the City of Toronto to an emerging GTA filmmaker. Egoyan, who was on the jury of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, joins a prestigious roster of former guest judges that includes Deepa Mehta, Don McKellar, Mark McKinney, and Jeremy Podeswa.

Named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s “20 Coolest Film Festivals” for 2010, TUFF is co-produced by Art for Commuters and Onestop Media Group, and funded by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Promaginy, a business assistance company in Winnipeg, is pleased to officially launch its own product. UpDownStart is a free web app that uses Twitter technology to track the latest announcements of games industry companies and their fans.

UpDownStart allows developers, news media, and fans to easily see the latest Tweets from the games industry. UpDownStart goes beyond focusing solely on game companies, expanding to include game communities, providing a holistic industry perspective. Companies and communities not included in the site’s index are invited to submit their Twitter feed to UpDownStart.

UpDownStart allows developers, media critics, and fans to:

• Track the most popular companies and communities, ranked by number of Twitter Followers. Smaller entities can be found through the index, the site’s search form, or via the random profile selection.

• Read games industry Tweets through UpDownStart.com’s Activity Feeds. Feel the industry’s pulse via distinct company and community perspectives.

• Add your own Twitter Feeds. If you are game developer, news media, or a fan, and have a website related to the games industry, you can add your site to UpDownStart. Not only will your profile be included in the index, your future Tweets will be shared via UpDownStart’s Activity Feeds.

• Note, there is currently a message on the site which states: At the moment we are only taking submissions for Video Game Company profiles. This is due to limited amount of resources at this early stage. Follow @updownstart for news when the resources limit is removed.)

The Entertainment Software Association Canada (ESAC) will unveil new research on the size and importance of Canada’s video game industry at a luncheon gathering on May 30th at the Empire Club in the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Based on research conducted by SECOR, ESAC Executive Director Danielle LaBossiere Parr will deliver a speech entitled A digital economy: the rise of the video game industry in Canada, which will highlight how Canada has carved a niche in video game development and is now a major player on the world stage. The new research includes updated statistics on the size and growth of the Canadian video game industry as well as a detailed analysis of the emerging trends, challenges and opportunities for the future.

Speaking of futures, Mascouche game developer Wild Games Studios has announced the expansion of its business. The studio be will moving into a new workspace 5 times larger than their present location in July, and will therefore be looking for 35 new team members to fill positions in various departments before the month of July.

Wild Games Studios now possesses the logistic capacity and experience to create games for other companies such as popular IP, and they invite companies interested in having more information to contact them. In addition, the studio will complete its first AAA game “Dhaila’s Adventures” in October and will immediately follow that up with the development of its new license AAA “World Circus” which will be presented at E3. An additional 15 team members will be required for that project, leading the studio to a team of about 65 employees for next fall.

Best Buy is now accepting presale orders of NHL 12 for XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3. Be the next legend in hockey with EA Sports‘ NHL 12. Take to the ice in all-new interactive environments where helmet-popping hits, glass-shattering collisions, and crushing checks along the boards are always part of the action. Experience the intensity, speed, and physicality of authentic NHL hockey with NHL 12.

Pre-order from Best Buy and receive the goalie boost to enhance your Be a Pro and EA SPORTS Hockey League goalie. Best Buy Reward Zone members will also earn 800 points with presale orders, a $10 value. NHL 12 is available for presale at all Best Buy locations and on BestBuy.ca. The game is priced at $59.99.

Following the great success of “I Learn With Poko: Seasons and Weather! HD,” Tribal Nova has released the iPhone version of this top ranking educational app. The iPad version has been selected by Apple as “New and Noteworthy” or “Staff favorites” in the U.S and 15 other countries. Users and reviewers have also given the game rave reviews bringing the app to the top position of the Games-Educational and Games-Kids charts in Australia as well as a top 10 positions in the U.S., Canada and the UK.

I Learn With Poko: Seasons and Weather! is an educational game that lets children 3 to 7 years old learn many key concepts about the weather in various seasons, how to dress and what activities to do depending on the weather… while having tons of fun! Produced by the developers behind the award winning PBS KIDS PLAY! and CBC Wonderworld online learning programs, this app is the first app available on iPhone in the groundbreaking iLearnWith educational program, which is designed to help kids get ready for school, one app at a time.

“Seasons and Weather is one of the most important Science subjects taught to children in Pre-k and Kindergarten, yet there are no games for young children covering the subject in the app store. We are happy to fulfill this need and are committed to developing a comprehensive educational program in which each app will address a specific subject in the curriculum. We have another nine apps currently in development covering various skills in math, literacy, science and foreign languages,” says Pierre Le Lann, co-founder of Tribal Nova.

This app is based on National Standards and has been developed with child developmental psychologists and educators. The game has three levels, increasing in complexity, details and subject covered. Moreover, each level contains a mechanism that adjusts the difficulty based on the child’s success rate. These elements combined enable the game to meet children’s developmental needs regardless if they are 3 or 7 years old.

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The game contains many ways for children to learn about seasons and weather: finding certain weather conditions such as clouds or snow to help Beebee find pictures for her photo album; or spotting clothes that do not fit the weather to help Poko take a perfect picture; or guessing what activities Poko did certain days of the week based on the weather and the month of the year.

Educational content, rich graphics and audio, fun game mechanics and a high production budget really set this app apart to deliver both learning and fun to families.

“We have developed over 100 online educational games for young children over the past 5 years. We are very excited to apply our expertise to touch screens, and are confident we can develop some of the best kids apps in the app store with truly educational content and great gameplay,” says Guillaume Aniorte, Tribal Nova’s other co-founder.

Canadian casual developers are invited to the Casual Connect Conference, taking place in Seattle this July 19th through 21st. The conference attracts over 2,000 industry professionals with a cutting edge lecture series and highly popular nightly networking events. Join more than 50 Canadian companies that are expected to attend this year’s conference and take advantage of the following:

• $100 discount off the Premium Registration for the first 50 companies – Contact your local Trade Commissioner for details.

• Send and receive meeting requests with companies prior to the conference

• Access to free on-site meeting space during the conference

• Informational breakfast briefing with local industry experts on July 19

• Networking events held at the Invest in Canada booth on-site

• Inclusion in the Canada Company Directory to be distributed at the event (please feel out attached document)