By Ela Darling, co-founder of Gamelodge

The process of building an indie video game, especially for Virtual Reality, can be an arduous years-long endeavor. Becoming a professional game developer takes years of specialized study, building connections, and mastering emerging technology, with the reward of working in an exciting creative field. Like any industry, it takes focus and dedication to become a pro. But this barrier of entry can be a limitation on new, diverse game concepts.

For an aspiring game developer without a background in tech, the path to creating a game can be long and daunting, especially for VR. Between navigating the esoteric nuances of a game engine and learning complex coding languages, it can take months to even approach the starting point of development. Identifying bugs and merging branches with a co-developer makes the process even longer. But a new application called Gamelodge seeks to accelerate that process.

It can take months to even approach the starting point of development
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For an aspiring game developer without a background in tech, the path to creating a game can be long and daunting, especially for VR
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Gamelodge, is a new platform that serves as both a depot for games made by other users and a stepping stone for aspiring game developers. It is a cooperative game engine that offers users an all in one opportunity to design, script, and share game ideas socially in VR and on desktop. It aims to resolve common pain points in game development, such as the tedious write, compile, distribute, test process, by eliminating the need to compile code and allowing users to build and test together in real-time. The application is available on Kickstarter through August 22, 2020.

Existing applications that have attempted to offer a sandbox game building environment have a variety of limitations that Gamelodge overcomes. Roblox has become popular with young gamers, but falls short on graphical fidelity and VR controls. Other options that thrive in VR suffer from limited scripting accessibility, poor control systems, and often don’t offer desktop support. These shortcomings are core competencies in Gamelodge.

Gamelodge, is a new platform that serves as both a depot for games made by other users and a stepping stone for aspiring game developers
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From start to finish, a user with no experience with complex game engines or knowledge of code can build a game in a weekend. Objects, particles, and textures can be easily uploaded to the shared database, or users can drag and drop objects from the existing library of models to start building a scene. Users can make games without writing a line of code with the in-app scripting library. New scripts can be swiftly written in Miniscript and immediately applied without compiling a new build or exiting the program. The whole process can be done collaboratively with other users in-game.

Only 20 percent of game released games make a profit
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From start to finish, a user with no experience with complex game engines or knowledge of code can build a game in a weekend
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Even experienced developers can find value from a tool that allows for such swift creation. One study showed that just 20% of released games make a profit, which means a lot of time, money, and energy is lost on games that don’t resonate with their audience. For a creator who is debating the direction to take their next project, the ability to build and test game concepts in an easy and accessible environment can be a form of early market research. An early draft of a game idea, built quickly and shared within the community, may help identify which aspects resonate with players and which parts miss the mark.

In the ever-growing yet slowly diversifying community of game developers, new tools that help democratize the industry are more important than ever. Broadening access to both creating and testing games could reduce developer resource waste and expand the voices and concepts showcased in the game world. Ultimately, a space that allows anyone to play and create games with friends collaboratively across platforms could break down some of the barriers in game development and empower a new community of creators.

In the ever-growing yet slowly diversifying community of game developers, new tools that help democratize the industry are more important than ever
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To become a chef, you must attend culinary school, but you don’t need a culinary degree to cook a good meal. With tools that increase accessibility to game development, you don’t need an engineering degree to build a good game.

About the author, Ela Darling, co-founder of Gamelodge

Ela has a diverse background in Virtual Reality spanning over six years. Cofounder of GonzoVR, a live VR broadcasting platform, and Gamelodge, a comprehensive sandbox game builder. She has spoken about various aspects of VR at conferences all over the world including a TEDx talk in 2016, and is considered a pioneer in certain verticals in the industry.

The post Expert View: Eroding the Barrier to Entry in Game Development appeared first on Tech Trends.

By Brian Thomas at Enlightened Digital

The gaming market has been on the rise for a long time now. The industry as a whole is projected to hit over 90 billion dollars by 2020. That will be 12 billion dollars in growth since 2017.

Strategy and war games, which have historically been more popular in Europe, have been gaining serious ground in the US
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It would seem that this rising tide is lifting all ships, including the TableTop industry. Strategy and war games specifically, which have historically been more popular in Europe, have been gaining serious ground in the US. Simultaneously, AR has been coming on strong since the launch of PokemonGo. Visual technology has advanced so much since then, that it was only a matter of time before designers from both worlds started coming together to try and create the most epic gaming experiences possible.

At some point in time, needing to be in the same space to play games may be a thing of the past
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Easier scheduling

One of the biggest struggles most gaming groups have is scheduling. For those groups (like mine) that consist of players in their 30s and 40s this little thing called “life” can get in the way of regular gaming sessions. Babysitters can cancel. Spouses can “correct” your understanding of the schedule for that week. There are many things that keep gaming groups apart for weeks or months at a time, which is a shame.

With some of the capabilities AR literally “brings to the table”, groups can play together online, and see the same game “board”. Check out this video from TiltFive, which, at the time of writing, has raised over $1Million on Kickstarter with over 21 days left on its campaign that had an original target of $450,000. The pad that players connect on can sync up so everyone can still see and interact with the same board wherever they are playing from. At some point in time, needing to be in the same space to play games may be a thing of the past.

With the capabilities AR literally brings to the table, groups can play together online and see the same game board
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@tiltfive has so far raised over $1Million on Kickstarter
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Increased Design Space

Along with an increase in connectivity, game developers will see a massive increase in design capabilities with the implementation of AR. Since the advent of board games, they have for the most part been stuck in two dimensions. The pieces and “meeples” are of course 3 dimensional but the board itself is typically flat. With AR, the design space goes from a sheet to a cube in front of the players, so even if the physical components of the game stay flat, UI elements like points and progress trackers can now be displayed in a 3rd dimension. We’ve all played games that end up needing way too much space on the table. With AR, UI and gameplay elements can start going up rather than out, saving lots of space and providing developers with new spaces to explore when building their games.

Along with an increase in connectivity, game developers will see a massive increase in design capabilities with the implementation of AR
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Cross-Functionality

New games will have a field day with these new designs, but don’t be surprised if some of your current favorites also get re-released with AR functionality. One of the major areas of focus is wargaming, and Dungeons and Dragons in particular. Any game that utilizes some sort of grid-based environment with combat mechanics would work beautifully with AR. DMs can conjure up their nightmare environments that are hard to replicate without incredibly expensive add-ons. They can even control fog of war for their players!

With AR, UI and gameplay elements can start going up rather than out, saving lots of space and providing developers with new spaces to explore when building their games
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Potential Problems?

Even with all the great things AR can bring to the table, there still could be some downsides to it. We talked about how awesome it would be to not have to miss sessions due to scheduling conflicts. But being connected online should never replace those face-to-face moments with friends and family. If your group finds itself getting together in the same room less and less for “convenience”, you may need to pump the breaks and realize one of the things you loved most about gaming in the first place was being together. So watch out for that.

Another thing we could lose is the tactile feel of manipulating pieces. There is a tangible difference between video and board games and that is the physical manipulation of pieces around a board. You pick things up and put them down, it feels good. With AR, those pieces can be represented digitally and moved through wands, joysticks, or hand motions.

Jeri Ellsworth, CEO of TiltFive told Engaget.com that “The things that people like about board games are connecting with people, storytelling, and working with physical objects. The thing that people love about video games is that you can jump in really quick, you can save your games, and you can play with people over a long distance. We’re kind of somewhere in between.”

So admittedly some of that tactile feeling will go away, and if we start to lose the “togetherness” of being at the same table, tabletop gaming may start feeling a lot more like just, well, video gaming.

I think that overall, AR will be amazing for tabletop gaming, the pros will far outweigh the cons. I for one can’t wait to try to DM for my D&D group and really show them the horrors I have planned! Mwahahaha!

Brian Thomas is a contributor to Enlightened Digital, long-distance cyclist, and lifelong advocate for women in business from Philadelphia.

The post Playing With XR appeared first on Tech Trends.

Tech Trends takes a look at the first-ever government run crowdfunding platform and what it hopes to achieve for the municipality of Biscay.

Crowdfunding has come a long way over the last decade or so, and it is fair to say that most people are not only familiar with the concept but have supported some sort of crowdfunded project themselves. Increasingly, therefore, the model is being seen as an essential part of the mix where it comes to financing not only individual projects and companies, but entire ecosystems. We’ve recently reported on such moves being made in places like Cornwall.

Crowdfunding has come a long way over the last decade or so
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The municipality of Biscay (Bizkaia) has gone a step further, however, launching its own equity-based crowdfunding platform. This is the first of its kind to be officially backed by a government for the purpose of encouraging investment and entrepreneurship in the region. The idea is to encourage ordinary people to invest in Basque start-ups by connecting individual small investors and companies seeking funding.

Biscay has launched its own equity-based crowdfunding platform, the first of its kind to be officially backed by a government
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The Crowdfunding Bizkaia website is initially launching with four start–ups, with another four set to follow shortly. The target is to manage between ten to twelve projects a year, selected from a pool of around thirty applicants currently being considered.

Biscay is known for innovation in many areas including its world-renowned gastronomy and education system
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Crowdfunding has become an essential part of the mix in financing not only individual projects and companies, but entire ecosystems
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Biscay is known for innovation in many areas including its world-renowned gastronomy and education system which is amongst the top in Europe and where most parents nowadays opt to have their children be taught in the Basque language.

Once a regional start-up is accepted onto the platform, it has fifty days to raise its funding target from the public. Once that is achieved, they will also have the option to apply for the government to match the amount raised – up to €30,000 per start-up. Bizkaia has initially set aside a €240,000 fund for this purpose.

This is not just about providing start-ups with seed investment, however, as each business accepted onto the platform also receives a year of free business mentoring and support, helping them reach their growth targets and opening new avenues for financing.

Citizen investors from any country are able to invest a minimum of €75-1,000 and a maximum of €3,000 per project
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Once a start-up is accepted onto the platform, it has fifty days to raise its funding target from the public
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Unlike private sector platforms such as Crowdcube – which allow any business to pitch for funds, the Crowdfunding Bizkaia platform only hosts business which have been vetted by the government to ensure that investors’ money is only channeled towards viable projects.

Businesses from any sector (apart from real-estate and finance) can apply as the aim is to promote a broad range of ventures to strengthen the economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region. Start-ups seeking investment must therefore be headquartered in Biscay, which is hoped will also encourage outside companies to come to the area.

“We want to help grow good projects and attract the best ideas to the territory. Crowdfunding Bizkaia is our new and unique financing tool that offers investors the security of projects that have been screened by an expert team for their economic and financial viability,” says Imanol Pradales, Regional Deputy of Economic Development.

The four companies initially joining the platform are We Are Testers, an online marketing research tool; WATS, a social initiative created to eradicate violence in sports; FractalMed, a mathematical tool that forecasts disease progression in multiple sclerosis patients; and PoliMaker, a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer capable of becoming almost anything.

Juan Manuel Villanueva from FractalMed, said that crowdfunding is an important tool for developing social capital as well as helping start-ups overcome initial barriers such as financing.

Each company that applies to be accepted onto the platform is subjected to a rigorous financial and economic appraisal– similar to the due diligence process which would be conducted by a venture capital firm. This is very different from the situation in similar crowdfunding platforms where it is mostly up to the individual investor to assess the start-up’s viability. This high level of government scrutiny is a key differentiator for investors.

‘Citizen’ investors from any country are able to invest a minimum of €75-1,000 (varying from project to project) and a maximum of €3,000 per project. The annual maximum contribution each investors can make to start-ups on the platform is €10,000. Each company sets its own minimum contribution level, which translates into investor shares and eventually yields a return when a company makes a successful exit.

Each company that applies to be accepted onto the platform is subjected to a rigorous financial and economic appraisal
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This exit strategy again can differ from start-up to start-up, but examples of typical exit plans can include share buyback schemes, IPOs, or trade sales. As part of their investor pitch, each company provides an exit timeline, giving an estimate of when funders can expect a return on their investment.

Businesses accepted onto the platform also receive a year of free mentoring and support
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Another differentiating factor from traditional equity crowdfunding platforms is that the commission fees are substantially lower than the market average– with just 1% of the investment value going to Crowdfunding Bizkaia to cover its running costs.

This platform is just one part of the Biscay government’s larger effort to boost sustainable growth and situate the Basque Country as one of Europe’s most attractive destinations for entrepreneurs.

Each start-up provides an exit timeline, giving an estimate of when funders can expect a return on their investment
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One recent example of this was the launch of the Euro Fond Innova, where ordinary citizens can invest between £3,000 and £5,000 in a fund that will lend to Biscay start-ups in exchange for a tax rebate. The fund aims to raise €100 – 120 million to support Basque business. This is coupled with a range of other investment funds aimed at promoting local innovation. These include the Development Fund, a financing tool focusing on SMEs in the technology sector; FEIS (Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation Fund), geared towards socially beneficial business ventures; and Mikro, aimed at developing microenterprises, including cooperatives.

The Deputy General of Bizkaia, Unai Rementeria, explained that his government’s priority is to foster start-ups and encourage business growth through a strong industrial policy and a business-friendly taxation system. “This is one of many measures that makes Biscay an attractive place for entrepreneurship with the ability to attract projects from other parts of the Basque Country and Europe,” he concludes.

The platform is just one part of the Biscay government’s effort to boost sustainable growth
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Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasioon Twitter.

The post Crowdfunding Boosting Innovation appeared first on Tech Trends.

More than a quarter of Americans avoid drinking tap water for fear of contamination.

There’s a growing water and plastic pollution crisis In America, as most people fear to drink tap water, which they believe is rife with contaminants, lime scale, and micro-plastic.

There’s a growing water and plastic pollution crisis In America
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These were the findings of a recent survey of over 500 US households by TAPP Water – a Barcelona start-up that is looking to make tap water cleaner and healthier – which also found that in the past 10 years, consumption of water on plastic bottles doubled to 12.8 billion gallons in 2016. Households spent on average over $400 a year on bottled water, which also means a higher carbon footprint which also means they have a much-increased carbon footprint which comes with making and transporting those bottles.

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“We are killing our oceans and planet,” says TAPP Water Co-founder Magnus Jern. “This year alone, plastic was found in a third of fish, and those individuals who eat seafood ingest up to 11,000 tiny pieces of plastic every year. We need to work together on a solution to this growing epidemic.”

In December TAPP Water launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to bring the world’s first fully biodegradable water cartridge to market. TAPP 2 is a Bluetooth-enabled IoT smart filter, and it quickly surpassed its $30,000 target.

“Tap water, whether it’s filtered or unfiltered, is always the best alternative for the environment, concludes Jern. “There’s a monumental opportunity to educate consumers about the safety, health, cost and environmental benefits of consuming filtered, clean, tap water in their home.”

Households spent on average over $400 a year on bottled water
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Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Infographic: Water Pollution Crisis appeared first on Tech Trends.

Crowdfunding has gone mainstream, but still has plenty of room to grow. Tech Trends takes a look at what the future holds.

Most of us have backed at least one crowdfunding campaign at some point. We featured many success stories on the site and personally even put our money where our mouth is. I mean, who could have resisted getting their hands on the world’s creepiest limited edition troll doll, shaped like Donald Trump? Not me, nor the other 10,000 or so backers that Kickstarter attracted…

Crowdfunding opens up many new possibilities for creative producers
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As a producer, my own upcoming release with Carrion Films – Borley Rectory – was successfully funded on Indiegogo, and I don’t think we would have been able to complete it – or to build the fantastic community buzz around the film –  without crowfunding. So it’s safe to say I’m a big fan of this medium that has opened up an entire new field of possibilities for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and their wonderful crazy ideas.

What is it about crowdfunding that has won the popular imagination?
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So last month we gladly accepted an invitation from Invest in Cornwall (the regional council’s economic development initiative) to visit the Newquay Headquarters of Crowdfunder.co.uk, based in an old surf shop overlooking the stunning Great Western Beach. The company was holding their annual Summer Experience and celebrating the milestone of raising more than £40 million for projects around the UK.

Crowdfunder has raised over £40 million for projects around the UK
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The party was not only attended by leaders from global businesses but it also welcomed a particularly special guest, the world’s first flatpack vehicle, the OX, as it finished its tour through Cornwall, stopping at a few of the region’s iconic landmarks along the way – including the Eden Project and Watergate Bay – before launching its own fundraising campaign on the Crowdfunder platform.

We got a chance to see the world's first flatpack vehicle, the OX
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karlmackie.com

Crowdfunder is aiming to secure over a million users by 2018
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By summer 2017 Crowdfunder.co.uk had supported over 90k projects with more than 200 new ones starting everyday and with over £40Million raised to advance those projects. The company now aims to secure over a million users by 2018 and looks set to take on the big boys of crowdfunding such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. I chatted to Rob Love, Co-Founder & Chairman of Crowdfunder to hear his thoughts on business in Cornwall and why crowdfunding has become so popular and successful in recent years.

“It’s great to have so many people from around the UK joining us for our Summer Experience event in our headquarters in Newquay. This is what it’s all about – celebrating the success of companies we have been able to help. Cornwall is the ideal location to host this celebration as it’s home to a thriving forward-thinking business community and we look forward to celebrating that for many years to come.” Rob explained.

karlmackie.com

This is what it’s all about – celebrating the success of companies we have been able to help
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A key member of the groundbreaking team behind TV sensations Big Brother and River Cottage, Rob is well qualified to talk about disruptive media and technology and sees crowdfunding as a powerful force for good in a society that has lost faith in the ability of big government and financial institutions to support us and help launch new businesses.

“When I saw the success of Kickstarter I thought, we can do better, let’s do a better UK version with more of a social purpose. Crowdfunding is a return to small things, a behavioural change in society. The concept is fundamental, let’s all do it together, sod the banks, if the crowd think it is a good idea, that’s what is driving it.”

karlmackie.com

Crowdfunding is a return to small things, a behavioural change in society
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I then asked him how advances in technology have given rise to crowdfunding, and what additional benefits it can offer to small businesses that would struggle to secure funding through traditional institutions.

“We had a tech explosion and we got social media where you can hit Facebook, Twitter and all of them, crowdfunding combines marketing, pre-selling and community building, if it’s a customer facing idea why wouldn’t the crowd fund it? It’s proof of concept, it’s crowd validation and crowdfunding, and it’s very viral. People back people, so you need to get your passion across, tech is an enabler, but in the end it’s about real people and real passions – the tech should be almost invisible.” 

Despite the disruptive nature of crowdfunding, it is now interesting to see how forward-thinking mainstream companies are also embracing it. Crowdfunder has brought on board partners including Santander, M&S Energy and Virgin Media Business, who see the potential in crowdfunding to support and grow small business in the UK. I spoke to Julian Borra, Founder of The Thin Air Factory, who works with Virgin Media Business on their entrepreneurial VOOM initiative which combines crowdfunding with entrepreneurship.

“Crowdfunding is a new model of pitching for funding to faceless banks. Instead of blind investors, with a crowdfunding platform everyone is emotionally predisposed to make good things happen and they have the business’ back, they are emotionally invested before they become financially invested.” Explained Julian. “Virgin Media Business wants to inspire and champion entrepreneurship in everyone, everywhere through VOOM. It’s volatile out there, we’re in a time of uncertainty and the only thing we can be certain of is small business sparks start-ups, scale-ups, creates wealth, creates jobs and improves lives.” 

Virgin Media Business wants to inspire and champion entrepreneurship in everyone, everywhere
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“The benefits go beyond funding. What you’re doing is creating an audience, a market, a loyal, engaged support base and advocates, and you’re doing your marketing and strengthening the whole proposition.” Adds Rob.

karlmackie.com

Crowdfunder success story What a Melon won the VOOM 2016 award and Founder Olly Bolton enthused about embracing crowdfunding to launch his business:

“We’ve raised a lot of money, grown our customer base, boosted awareness and audience engagement. It’s been a massive win, and we are definitely going to crowdfund again. We’ve opened up more opportunities through #VOOM than we’d ever imagined.” 

Crowdfunding brings investors close to the business in a very resilient model
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“Crowdfunding initially works better for people who evangelise their business, who are more likely to succeed. VOOM used this idea and challenged contestants to get out there and What a Melon did just that. Olly was great, he was out there rain or shine talking about his business,” Julian expanded.

Crowdfunder is part of an energetic, flourishing tech sector in Cornwall which is filled with entrepreneurial drive and spirit. Cornwall has had twice as many successful crowdfunding businesses than the UK average (40% vs 23%) and the region plays a key part in those local business success stories. Nicola Lloyd, Head of Inward Investment for Invest in Cornwall, said:

“This is a really exciting time for Cornwall, and ambitious, thriving businesses are transforming the way in which the region is viewed. This event celebrated all the people making this happen, in a place that enables businesses to grow with its fantastic connectivity, attracting world class talent who are looking to match an exciting and ambitious career with an incredible place to live.”

karlmackie.com

The Crowdfunder party was teeming with successful local businesses and talking to Kim Conchie, Chief Executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, the enthusiasm for the future of the region was palpable.

“The 21st Century is Cornwall’s time to shine. The Duchy now has excellent broadband and physical infrastructure, a really innovative and creative culture, a skilled and progressive workforce and the best work/life balance anywhere in Europe. The ability to combine achievement and enjoyment in Cornwall makes it simply the best place to be in business.”

Thriving businesses are transforming the way Cornwall is viewed
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Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post Crowdfunding Comes to Cornwall appeared first on Tech Trends.

Some fans had the chance to contribute to the voiceover and have their artwork incorporated into the animation as a painting in the Moominhouse.

A campaign to fund an innovative Moomin animation TV series raised more than US$250,000 – over 127% of its initial target –  from 3,701 superfans. Supporters received perks ranging form postcards to an all-inclusive trip to Finland to visit the Moominworld theme park, Söderskär’s lighthouse and the Moomin Museum in Tampere.

We want the animation to be 3D because the books are so atmospheric
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The Gutsy Animations team behind the project includes creative director and executive producer Marika Makaroff; Oscar-winning director Steve Box; BAFTA-winning producer John Woolley and Emmy-winning writing duo Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler. They will now start development of a cutting-edge 2D/3D hybrid technique, where characters are rendered in 3D in an environment with some 2D illustrative or painterly elements.

“We want the animation to be 3D in large part because the books are so atmospheric. As a reader, you can really sense the environment – it’s an important part of Tove’s work.” Explains director Steve Box. “3D will allow us to create a lighting and an atmosphere that has that same effect. We want to show the depth of feeling and experience within the original stories, but to retain a sense of the graphic/illustrative look of the original books. It’s something I’ve struggled to find any other examples of, which I think is because it has been so difficult to do before now. Thankfully, technology is catching up with these kinds of ambitions and the capability is now here.”

The much-loved creation of novelist, painter, illustrator and comic book artist Tove Jansson, Moomintroll is one of Finland’s biggest cultural exports with the original books having been translated into over 50 languages and the previous animation broadcast in 124 territories.

“Even though we are all familiar with the characters, this will be the first time they will have been created in 3D for the moving image. As anyone who has been handed 2D artwork and had to translate it into three dimensions will tell you, it’s not a straightforward process,” Explains producer John Wooley. “We spent a long time analysing the characters and identifying what drives them emotionally, what their strengths are and, just as importantly, what their flaws are. This will be reflected in the characters’ body language and consequently how they are rigged and animated.”

The production company already have buyers lining up to show the finished product, with Finnish public broadcaster Yle appropriately being the first one to sign an agreement to broadcast the first two series of thirteen episodes in spring 2019. They are also in talks with major networks in the UK, US and Japan, where Moomintroll is also very popular.

“We knew that a new television series would be hugely popular with Moomin fans, but we are completed bowled over by the excitement and enthusiasm that we’ve seen in response to the campaign,” says Marika Makaroff, CEO of Gutsy Animations. “We will now be able to give fans what they deserve – which is the most faithful Moomin animation there has ever been. We won’t shy away from the complexity and depth found in Tove Jansson’s original stories and the result will be a beautiful and heartfelt series that appeals to the whole family. We will be sharing new visual concepts, behind-the-scenes stories and clips as the production progresses and are so excited to take fans on this journey with us.”

The animation is being developed with the full support of Moomin Characters, the business set up by Tove Jansson and her brother Lars to manage the Moomin brand. To this day Moomin Characters is run by family members with Sophia Jansson, Lars’s daughter and Tove’s niece, as Chairman of the Board and Creative Director. Sophia said: “Tove gave the inhabitants of Moominvalley the values of tolerance, love, respect, friendship and bravery – which are needed in today’s world more than ever. We’re very excited to have a wonderful team who shares these values bringing Moomin to life in a new way for fans young and old.”

The animation is being developed with the support of Tove Jansson's Moomin Characters
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“As we wanted to have a Nordic influence in the visual development, we’ve been working with the Piñata team, based in Helsinki. They have an understanding of the changing nature of light across the seasons in the Nordic region that Steve and I don’t have,” adds Woolley. “We needed to communicate a surreal quality as well as an emotional subtlety in Tove Jansson’s work with a visual language of equal sophistication. A fully 3D built world with generic volumetric lighting wasn’t going to do that so we had to come up with something new.  The characters and foreground elements will be built in 3D but we will make extensive use of matte paintings much like backdrops in a theatre. The characters will then be surfaced and lit sympathetically with the environments.”

For companies looking to gain a competitive edge through technology, Tech Trends offers strategic Virtual Reality and Digital Transformation Consultancy services tailored to your brand.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Crowdfunding Brings Moomin to Life in 3D appeared first on Tech Trends.

Tech is supposed to be hip, but where it comes to sex, it’s surprisingly square. It’s one woman’s mission to change all that, and spare us no blushes.

“The three biggest tech disruption opportunities today are cannabis, Bitcoin and Sex.” But while money is flowing steadily into the first two – to the extent that VCs and start-ups in those sectors routinely lobby for regulatory change– Cindy Gallop tells me that the Sex Tech space which she pioneered remains taboo.

Sex Tech remains taboo
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We live in a supposedly liberal and forward-thinking age, yet where it comes to sex, repressed prudishness still rules supreme, and this makes investors nervous. So where apps like Yo and Wakey – which can safely be described as pointless – attract million-dollar investments, a platform to socialize sex with over 400 thousand engaged users and a plethora of monetization opportunities is something that VC firms won’t touch with a proverbial barge pole.

Where it comes to sex, repressed prudishness still rules supreme
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Cindy’s Make Love Not Porn launch was one of the most popular TED Talks in history, and not just because it included no fewer than 3 mentions of coming on one’s face. Over 1.6 million people have watched it since 2009, but in spite of near-universal enthusiasm for the concept, she has so far been bootstrapping the platform with only her own savings and support from one Angel investor.

MLNP has to constantly fight against blockers such as banks refusing them business accounts and PayPal not processing their payments. “My team and I fight a battle every day because every little piece of infrastructure that other start-ups take for granted, we can’t, as the small print says no adult content. So I realized very early on that I would have to pave my own way if I want to scale and grow this into the billion dollar venture I know it can be.”

I realized early on that I would have to pave my own way to scale this into a billion dollar venture
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Even with all the obstacles and no development resources, the bare-bones platform already monetizes content, regularly making four-figure payouts to its ‘stars’. There’s huge demand for expansion in areas such as educational content, fiction and commercial partnerships, but growth remains paralysed by lack of investment.

It’s infuriating, according to Gallop, “because it’s never about what the person you’re talking to thinks. It’s about the fear of what other people will think.” Time and again she’s had enthusiastic VCs approach her saying how much they loved the idea and saw its commercial potential, but felt unable to take it to their firms.

It’s about the fear of what other people will think
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Make Love Not Porn operates on a revenue sharing model, which means users get 50% of the “rental fee” of $5 per video. “That’s the diametric opposite of how the porn industry operates,” Gallop points out. “Whether you’re a newbie or the world’s biggest porn star, you only ever get paid by the scene, and that maxes out at about $2000. These people never see a penny from the vast revenue their videos generate, but I believe the business model of the future is that shared values plus shared action equals shared profit.”

Quite apart from the huge revenue streams that could be generated through content – both social/entertainment and educational, Gallop makes an exceedingly convincing case for the market potential of commercial partnerships, advertising and product placement. Hands down, it’s the most entertaining pitch I’ve ever heard, but quite apart from that, it’s a rock solid argument made by someone who, not to put too fine a point on it, really knows her shit. Gallop’s impressive resume includes decades of experience in the advertising industry, most recently as President of Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

Photo by Matthew Williams

She puts to me that, in spite of all the existing taboos and limitations, the current size of the sex toys and accessories market is worth an estimated $1B, and that’s without even going into content-connected teledildonics or the burgeoning field of VR, with all the possibilities that brings. If she succeeds in building MLNP into the platform she envisages, however, “we’re talking Trillions.” She assures me before launching into a typically not SFW story that drives home the point:

“A few months back LELO sent me this special edition black and gold TIANI couple’s massager,” she recalls. “So I open the box, look at this beautiful object, and I find myself thinking: how the fuck do you use this thing?”

 “So I think to myself: there’ll be instructions inside. But all I find is this one-pager that tells you how to charge it. Nothing about what goes where.”

Not one to give up easily, Gallop then turned to that universal source of enlightenment for the befuddled – YouTube – where she did find a video about the TIANI: “But because this is YouTube, what I’m presented with, is a video of what I call ‘Stepford Woman’, by which I mean a completely sanitised, whiter-than-white person holding the device and telling you how to use it. And I’m listening to her and going ‘what? So you put that inside and then the guy puts in his cock as well? How the fuck does that work?’ needless to say, my couple’s massager has never been used with any of my lovers. You don’t want to risk killing the mood with something going wrong.”

Bearing in mind that Gallop is a strong, confident, openly sexual woman who’s a huge fan of sex toys and own a whole bunch of them, what hope do the rest of us have of navigating through that particular minefield.

“It’s simply impossible to overstate the negative impact that our inability to talk honestly about sex has on the ability of every sex toy manufacturer out there to shift their product,” she agrees. “ But because our videos on MLNP are so reassuring in all sorts of ways – we celebrate normal bodies, normal hair, real penis sizes, real-world emotions – we also help to demystify and take the embarrassment factor away, so there’s a huge opportunity for product demonstration and communication.”

Last summer they piloted a collaboration with Refinery 29 to road test 5 bestselling sex toys on the MLNP community. Volunteers were picked from a diverse range of ethnicities, sexual orientation, singles, couples, and asked to video themselves using the product for the first time, with all the accidents, near-misses and laughs left in. It was the ultimate antidote to the Stepfordian YouTube experience that proved such a turn-off for Gallop.

Photo by ioulex

“That was a world first, people trying out sex toys on camera for the first time, and we got a brilliant response.” She recalls one woman who wrote to tell her that watching the user-generated demonstration made her feel comfortable to buy and use the toy where she never would have dared to before.

That was a world first, people trying out sex toys on camera
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But if you think that this potential for “demonstration and communication” stops at sex toys, think again. “There will be a specific area of the site where you can sell any perfectly ordinary household good or product as long as you integrate it, entertainingly, in a real-world sex scenario. The chair they’re using, the necklace she’s wearing, the clothes they’re taking off, the beer he’s drinking. For brands brave enough to do this the viral engagement possibilities are enormous.”

Sex is an area where research and data are badly needed
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As the platform scales there is also huge potential for data to be developed into additional revenue streams, aggregating real world, real time human sexual behaviour information in unprecedented ways. “Sex is an area where research and data are badly needed, yet it’s the most data-free area of research going. It’s also the one area where you’ll find the widest possible gap between what people say and what they actually do.”

“When my angel investor asked me several years ago what our exit strategy was, I said to him that it didn’t yet exist; we were going to create it. Because when we achieve our mission of socializing sex, 10 years from now company X will buy us for a shit-ton of money who wouldn’t even dream of it now.”

It might seem far-fetched to think about a company like Facebook eventually sharing curated social sex videos. This is, after all, a platform that routinely takes down pictures of women breastfeeding their babies. But things can change very rapidly in the social media world. Think about how far the goalposts of what is considered acceptable or ‘normal’ content have already shifted. We might have become rather jaded to it these days, but even your average person from the early 90s would probably be weirded out by most of the videos up on YouTube.

Your average person from the 90s would be weirded out by most videos on YouTube.
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MLNP does feel like something that really does – excuse the pun – fill a gap. If Gallop does manage to pull it off, she could very well – and this is a rare occasion where it’s possible to say this without the Silicon Valley sarcasm– ‘make the world a better place’.

Until we start talking about sex , we’re all quite literally fucked
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Cindy says she’s in the Steve Jobs business of reality distortion. “When you have a truly world changing start-up you have to change the world to fit it, not the other way around.” Because, she concludes, until we actually start talking about sex and socializing it in a healthy way, we’re all quite literally fucked, in the wrong way.

Photo by Kevin Abosch

Ballsy investors are welcome to email cindy@makelovenotporn.com

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

Featured Photo by Julian Hanford

The post Why We Need The Balls to Invest in Sex Tech appeared first on Tech Trends.

Alexandra Fine often says she wants to make the world a happier place, “one vagina at the time.”

But while that might seem like just another take on the Silicon Valley joke, fixing the “pleasure gap” is no laughing matter. Women are four times more likely to describe recent sex as “not at all pleasurable,” and that’s simply not OK anymore.

So it’s no wonder that when Fine—a Master in Clinical Psychology from Columbia who co-founded Dame Products with Janet Lieberman, an MIT-educated mechanical engineer—took its innovative vibrator design to Kickstarter last year, it made nearly eight times its original $50,000 goal.

Up to 70% of women need clitoral stimulation to orgasm, and Fin sold itself on an intuitive design that enhanced the natural movements of intimate touching by adding that clitoral stimulation for women to sex between couples.

The #sextech making the world a better place - one vagina at the time
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Almost 5,000 backers signed up before the campaign closed, and more are placing orders on the website every day. So it’s fair to say that Fine and Lieberman have struck quite a chord with the community.

This followed from the huge success of their previous Kickstarter product, Eva (a hands-free, strap-free clitoral vibrator that a woman can wear during sex), which quickly became the most highly funded adult product in the history of online crowdfunding—raising $575,000 in just 45 days.

Read all about it on Future Of Sex

These Sex Tech Dames Are on a Pleasure Crusade by @alicebonasio https://t.co/qv4GYhQCLS #sextech

— FutureofSex (@FutureofSex) April 17, 2017

The post The SexTech Entrepreneurs Who Crowdfunded Pleasure appeared first on Tech Trends.

Are Holograms going to forever change the way we learn? HoloStudy, a Russian start-up developing content for the Microsoft HoloLens certainly thinks so.

In this article for IDG Connect I talk to them about why Holograms and Mixed Reality are the best tools to enable learning and engage students, and how they’re hoping their newly launched crowdfunding campaign will help them make these Mixed Reality lessons accessible students all over the world, for free.

Holograms will enable visual learning on an entirely new level and revolutionise education
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“Pictures and videos simply do not do it justice; you have to experience it for yourself,” says Alexey Yakubov, CEO and founder of HoloGroup, the Russian-based company behind HoloStudy, a revolutionary educational project for the Microsoft HoloLens.

Yakubov believes the advanced holographic technology they’re working on has the potential to shift the entire paradigm of education, offering a truly visual and interactive learning experience to students all over the world.

Why mixed reality?

“Mixed reality literally allows for the real and digital worlds to be combined, and with holograms you can almost feel the science at your fingertips,” he explains. “This is absolutely a revolutionary way to transfer information and enable collaborative work. It makes the process of learning clearer, more interactive, and more interesting; therefore, more effective.”

Their mission, he says, is to bridge the gap between the increasing flow of information and the obsolescence of existing teaching methods using mixed reality (MR) — a technique where three-dimensional holographic images, graphics and data are dynamically interwoven onto real-world environments. Initially they will be developing a series of lessons in geology, chemistry, physics and biology. Each lesson is to be delivered by a virtual professor and include tests, lab work and holographic games to consolidate learning.

“What makes mixed reality particularly well-suited for a learning environment is that teachers and students are able to see and interact with the same hologram at the same time, as well as with one another. This is extremely conducive to collaboration and team work,” explains Yakubov. “With a 3D visualization it is much easier to understand the connections between atoms, complex working of human organs or explain physical and chemical phenomena, so students better understand those subjects, stay focused for longer and engage with their learning.”

Holograms for everyone

But Yakubov also believes that such powerful educational content should be universally accessible, so HoloStudy decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to help subsidize some of the MR lessons so that students will be able to see how the world was formed, travel to the center of the Earth, study its chemical and mineral composition, experience the biological diversity of Earth’s inhabitants, and develop an understanding of the laws of physics… for free.

The chemistry course, for example, teaches concepts such as the structure and properties of atoms and how the bonds between them interact through intermolecular forces to form different substances. Since these things happen on a molecular level invisible to the naked eye, the ability to bring them to life through interactive visualization is a powerful tool for teachers explaining such complex phenomena and processes. These 3D holograms are dynamic enough to allow students an in-depth exploration of the structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, identification and taxonomy of different living organisms or the dynamics of stars and entire galaxies.

When he first heard about the Microsoft HoloLens mixed reality headset in April 2016, Yakubov was already familiar with virtual reality technology but was somewhat put off by its somewhat closed nature. He says he was very impressed with the suite of developer tools offered by Microsoft, however, and soon came to realize the potential of these advanced 3D holograms to solve all manner of business problems in a wide variety of industries.

There are interesting initiatives — such as Zapbox and Bridge — looking at bridging the gap between the HoloLens and entry-level experiences, much in the way that Google Cardboard has done for VR
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Developing for the HoloLens

“With HoloLens, it felt totally different. Pretty much immediately I had the idea to start developing mixed reality applications for it,” he recalls.

Their first pair of HoloLens arrived in June 2016, and it was used to develop the first HoloStudy geology lesson. This was indeed offered for free at the Microsoft Store, where it was rated among its top 10 best applications and downloaded by over 600 people by November, quite a remarkable feat considering how this isn’t yet a mass-market device. In fact, one of HoloLens’ creators, Alex Kipman, was among the first users to test it. On Sept. 1, that geology app became the first Russian-language HoloLens application to ever be uploaded to the Microsoft Store.

Their course content is based on U.S. and European curriculum materials, and lessons are developed in collaboration with experienced teachers and scientists from leading universities and think tanks. Additionally, HoloStudy is also actively seeking further partnerships with educational institutions to transfer their content to mixed reality.

Holostudy course content is based on U.S. and European curriculum materials, and lessons are developed in collaboration with experienced teachers and scientists
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The goal is to gradually release this core content over the next 9 months, with the first two lessons in each subject scheduled for completion by April and the full program of eight lessons per subject available in September 2017. They plan to first release these into markets known for embracing cutting-edge technology in education, namely the U.S., South Korea and Finland.

How much of this content can be offered for free will depend on the outcome of the crowdfunding campaign, but their objective is to create at least four subjects that are entirely free, with subscriptions for the remaining content starting at just under $50 per year for one subject.

The chemistry course teaches concepts such as the structure and properties of atoms and how the bonds between them interact through intermolecular forces to form different substances
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Empowering teachers

By May 2017, they also hope to roll out a suite of tools that will enable the teaching community to start creating user-generated content. The team is developing a lesson creator editor to allow anyone to design their own lessons, even without any programming experience. Teachers would be able, for example, to easily put together a holographic tour or presentation around a three-dimensional model, and then share or monetize these in a marketplace similar to what Udemy currently offers.

Bridging the gap

The major obstacle that arises from being at the forefront of a technological shift is its relative high cost for early adopters. The HoloLens developer kit, for example, is priced at around $3,000 dollars, yet it is likely to become much more accessible as consumer and industry demand for mixed reality increases.

Additionally, there are interesting initiatives — such as Zapbox and Bridge — looking at solutions for bridging the gap between such advanced hardware as the HoloLens and entry-level experiences, much in the way that Google Cardboard has done for virtual reality. In the meantime, however, projects such as HoloStudy — as well as the work done by Case Western Reserve University where the HoloLens is already used to teach anatomy classes to medical students — provide an important proof of concept on the tremendous impact that this technology can have for global education.

Making holograms in the classroom a reality, by @alicebonasio from @CIOonline – https://t.co/AbWOH7ucRs

— Technology Experts (@IDGCN) December 19, 2016

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Crowdfunding Holograms for EdTech appeared first on Tech Trends.

Meet Zappar, a British start-up with the big ambition to become the “Google Cardboard of MR.”

The truth is that once you try out Mixed Reality it’s really hard to go back. Other tech – from smartphones and computers to VR headsets – feels clunky in comparison, and the world seems a much duller place without those friendly and convenient holograms, as you start seeing potential use cases for the MR literally everywhere.

But as Microsoft made very clear when we met, HoloLens is nowhere near a consumer launch yet. Sure, if you’re a dev with $3,000 spare and live in one of the 8 countries they currently supply, you can get your hands on one, but mere mortals will have to wait a long time to experience MR for themselves. Or so I thought.

ZapBox – a Kickstarter-funded project from UK start-up Zappar – is proposing to leapfrog Microsoft (and everyone else) by making a MR equivalent of Google Cardboard for a hundredth of the HoloLens cost – a mere $30. They launched it just over a week ago, aiming to raise $30,000 toward development. At the time of writing, however, they had already exceeded that goal, with 19 days still left to go.

The truth is that once you try out Mixed Reality it’s really hard to go back. Other tech – from smartphones and computers to VR headsets – feels clunky in comparison
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Although I kept an open mind as I went down to London* to try this out for myself, it was hard to picture how it would be possible to replicate the complex tech of the HoloLens on a cardboard device. It’s one thing to project 360 video on one of those, but quite another to integrate computer-generated elements in your real-world environment, in real time.

But as I put on the prototype headset – endearingly held together with brown tape – that Zappar’s Co-Founder Simon Taylor handed me, I was immediately impressed. The feed it displayed from Taylor’s iPhone 6 camera was accurate – if very slightly blurry at times – in every detail except for the rabbit peeking out of a hole on the table in front of me.

Like my Wonderland namesake I felt the urge to investigate further, and took a peek down that rabbit hole. As I stood above it I could actually see quite a way down, with no sign of the table underneath it. When I reached out my hand, it of course went straight through the rabbit hologram, but – crucially – it did touch the edge of the table exactly where I expected it to be. That’s when I started to get excited.

I tested my boundaries by walking around the small room, and was able to accurately and effortlessly navigate around obstacles such as chairs and laptops. I picked up my glass of water, and saw the half-eaten mince pie that Simon had been working on as he setup the demo. It all felt natural and real, in spite of the big blue bunny insistently waving at me, which reminded me of the opening scenes of that Playtest episode in Black Mirror.

This “video see-through” approach (in contrast to the optical see-through employed by HoloLens) works through a code that uses the smartphone’s camera to scan the environment for a set of specific physical markers. This allow for accurate, real-time mapping of the user’s location in relation to objects (both real and computer-generated).

“We call these markers pointcodes, and they’re the fundamental unit that makes all of this possible on a smartphone” explains Taylor, who did his Cambridge University PhD on Fast Object Localisation for Mobile Augmented Reality Applications before becoming Zappar’s Head of Research. “We lay out our marker codes onto the world like we want it and they help us map out the environment, whether that’s a table-top setup or a combination of wall and floor if you want a larger play area.”

The next demo is more interactive, so I get to try out the hand controllers; a pair of origami-like paper devices featuring pointcodes in every facet, neatly held together with Sellotape. And that’s another thing that shows how different this is from a regular VR experience: I put on the headset and by default look straight ahead, expecting Taylor to guide me and put the controllers in my hands. He does, before pointing out politely that I can look down and see my own hands – not a pair of floating gloves or a graphic representation of the controllers, but my hands – and so can do the job much better myself.

After I get the hang of it – it’s all pretty intuitive, specially if you’re familiar with devices like the Vive and the Oculus Touch – I then use one of the controllers as a laser pointer, which interacts with a hologram of a building projected on the table. It’s easy to see how that setup would be useful in educational settings or for presentations. Next up I’m instructed to use the other controller to press a holographic button with a moon symbol on it, which immediately dims the ambient light in the room. Pressing the sun-symbol button next to it undoes the effect, and I spend a fun few extra seconds just turning the lights on and off for kicks. It’s surprising how, in these virtual worlds, the simplest experiences are often the most compelling.

ZapBox – a Kickstarter-funded project from UK start-up Zappar – is proposing to leapfrog Microsoft (and everyone else) by making a MR equivalent of Google Cardboard
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Finally, I indulge in some “air finger painting” with their ZapBrush tool. And although this was nowhere near as slick as Tilt Brush, the potential is evident once they get around to refining colors, textures and templates properly. The main thing is that the 3D element worked flawlessly, and I could see my handiwork from all angles as I walked around the room, smugly avoiding the laptop bag I had left on the floor (something that surely would have sent me flat on my face had I been wearing the Vive).

There are certainly a few kinks yet to be ironed out; there’s a slight lag issue if you move around too quickly, and some design work on the controllers is needed to make them easier to self-assemble. There are also plans to fit a wide-angle adaptor for the phone camera lens that would allow it to continually scan for pointcodes without the need to keep your target area at the centre of your FOV. But the fact that this was supposed to be such an early Beta and that they felt confident in shipping to their 800+ current Kickstarter backers by April next year almost seems too good to be true.

ZapBox is proposing to give users a Mixed Reality experience for a hundredth of the HoloLens cost
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But it starts to make sense once you look at the company’s background. These are not newbies to this space, as Zappar has been experimenting with Augmented Reality and delivering commercial AR projects with a broad range of partners for the past 4 years. Their existing technology uses “zapcodes” (an evolution of bar/QR codes) to help devices recognize real-world objects and trigger interactions, and that is what they built on to create the pointcodes that make ZapBox MR possible.

Their ever-growing list of backers is a healthy mix of developers and consumers, and Taylor says that this is the main reason they decided to go for Kickstarter in the first place.

“It’s not about the money,” he said. “If we want to make this work as an ecosystem we need to build that community.”

In addition to the flat-packed headset and hand controllers, those first users will get access to ZapWorks Studio, which uses an integrated Javascript-based API and promises to be user-friendly, making it easy to develop original content for the device without a lot of assets or code. The SDK should work seamlessly with the latest generation of iOS and Android smartphones.

When I was a kid, I remember building a “computer” out of cardboard and sticky tape. Back then I had to rely on my imagination to make that work of course, so it’s funny how I lived to see the day where cutting-edge technology actually does work with cardboard in such interesting ways. And if Zappar succeeds in making this an affordable and intuitive entry-level device for Mixed Reality – and fostering an ecosystem that produces the content to make people want to use it – they could very well do for MR what Google Cardboard did for VR.

This article was originally published on UploadVR

.@ZapparApp is bringing a mixed reality experience for just $30. via @alicebonasio#AR#MRhttps://t.co/Q50UbqsmEmpic.twitter.com/dprweL6CtQ

— Upload (@UploadVR) November 29, 2016

Tech Trends’  Virtual Reality Consultancy services offers support for companies looking to enhance brand strategy with immersive technologies such as Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post A Google Cardboard for Mixed Reality? Yes please! appeared first on Tech Trends.