Tag: AVATAR

During an address at CinemaCon in Las Vegas yesterday, James Cameron introduced what he considers to be the next frontier in filmmaking: faster film projection rates. It may not sound quite as sexy as some other cinematic techniques that Cameron has pioneered, but, according to the 'Avatar' director, faster frame rates could dramatically enhance image quality across all film genres. Today, ...

Remember how we thought in the mid-'90s that the 2000s would be all about holographs and virtual worlds? But didn't we collectively agree that virtual reality jumped the shark around the time CNN opened a Second Life news bureau, but apparently academe never signed on. The New York Times has a charming story today on how university professors are using interactive, digital visualizations to ...

Forget full-body scans and pat-downs at airports. Get ready for the automated lie detector test. Researchers at the University of Arizona are currently working on a machine known as the Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real-time, or 'Avatar.' Though it's only about the size of an ATM machine, Avatar can apparently pick up on the kind of physiological nuances and quirks that ...

Want to turn your Twitter avatar into a living, breathing and persistently annoying animation? Greg Leuch can help you. First, you'll have to use 3fram.es to create an animated GIF, which you'll save to your computer. Then, just re-size the saved image using Leuch's automated uploader, download the tailored animation, and voilà. You've got your very own dynamo of an avatar, just itching to ...

We always thought intimate, human-to-human interaction was a crucial element to learning any foreign language. But officials in the South Korean city of Daegu apparently think that human-to-robot interaction can be just as effective. On Monday, the city unleashed an army of 29 robot English teachers, designed by the Korea Institute of Science of Technology. The 'bots conducted classes across ...

'Avatar' was one of the most (over-)hyped and talked-about films of the year, so it's only appropriate that, to round out 2010, the James Cameron blockbuster finds itself atop a list of the most pirated films of the year. 'Avatar' has been torrent-downloaded 16,580,000 times, quite a lot more than last year's most pirated film, 'Star Trek,' which was shared about 11 million times. Perhaps most ...

James Cameron enjoyed making 'Avatar' so much, he's decided to do it again. And again. According to Deadline, the director has just inked a deal with Twentieth Century Fox to produce two brand new 'Avatar' films over the next five years. Cameron says the second and third installments will be "self-contained stories that also fulfill a greater story arc," and that they'll be jam-packed with the ...

What's a great way to tear your child away from his PlayStation and get him outside? Why, with a giant robotic toy that will walk for him, of course! At a little over 5-feet tall and weighing over 400 lbs., the new 'Kid's Walker' 'Avatar'-esque robo suit isn't so much a toy as it is a recipe for carnage. Just plop your kid in the bot's seat, let him spend hours cruising around the neighborhood ...

Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. Brooklyn nerds have come together to raise money for "a cyberpunk fête" celebrating the 15th anniversary of the movie 'Hackers.' (15 years? Doesn't that make you feel young?) Funny thing is, Williamsburg dwellers were so eager to get their phreak on with Zero Cool, Acid ...

Fans eagerly awaiting the release of the 'Star Wars' saga on Blu-Ray now have a major big screen event to look forward to, as well. Sources close to George Lucas tell the Hollywood Reporter that the director is planning to release all six 'Star Wars' movies in 3-D, beginning in 2012. The new releases, logically enough, will begin with Episode I, 'The Phantom Menace,' which is reportedly slated ...

The neo-Mephistopheles of cinema, James Cameron, just gave an interview to Popular Mechanics about the current consumer backlash to 3-D. Pop Mech was able to ask four simple questions (if you count "That's an interesting point" as a question), to which the director responded with his typically overblown bravado. Follow along as we translate Cameron's responses for those who can't speak ...

There is a new national crisis, far more important than securing our borders or battling terrorism. Two of the biggest dangers to art and intellect on Earth, James Cameron and the Black Eyed Peas, are teaming up to bring us what can only be described as the anti-'Last Waltz.' It appears that Cameron, of 'Titanic' and 'Avatar' infamy, has signed on to direct a 3-D tour documentary about the ...

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. Yelp Yack is an adorable new blog (if you care for a side of spite) by San Francisco-based illustrator Jessica Wassill. She happens to think that angry Yelp reviews ...

Share Francis Ford Coppola, who hasn't directed a significant film since 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (and 'Jack'!), recently told Electronic House that 3-D films are a "juvenile abomination." Following Roger Ebert's recent condemnation of the film fad, Coppola's comments echo the opinions of many cinéastes: 3-D is simply a way to extract more money from theater-goers. "I don't see why a movie ...

Whether you agree or disagree with him, Roger Ebert's opinion matters. If it didn't, he wouldn't be Roger Ebert. And that's exactly why our ears perked up and our noses began twitching when we came across his most recent Newsweek piece, in which he absolutely slams something so near and dear to our hearts: 3-D technology. First, Ebert argues that human beings don't actually need 3-D, since when ...