The first big play from Disney following February’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games is “ESPN Football Island,” available now as part of the “Fortnite” social gaming platform. The new sports-themed experience is designed to get football in front of younger fans. Games include navigating an obstacle course and “high-intensity box fights,” with the main action centering on “Touchdown Rush,” where players “team up with friends and enter the stadium to navigate rocky terrain, a lava moat, and the other team,” according to ESPN. The experience includes participation from ESPN announcers and will soon feature regular updates highlighting the current season. Continue reading Disney, Epic Launch ‘ESPN Football Island’ Experience Online

On March 2, an international gathering of media technology executives and startups spent an hour discussing “the multiverse” and related topics. It was part of a day-long SPROCKIT Sync and ETC@USC Multiverse Symposium co-sponsored by the ETC and SPROCKIT, with additional support from ETC member Ronin X Foundation. Moderated by ETC’s Phil Lelyveld and Ronin X’s Sandeep Casi, attendees debated how to define the metaverse; discussed how development would impact contracts, rights and payments; raised tech implications of free range experiences and dynamic storytelling on capture and distribution processes and infrastructure; and addressed mixed reality experiences being planned and tested for theme parks. Watch a 9-minute video highlight reel of the discussion. Continue reading Tech Leaders Map the Multiverse at ETC Digital Town Square

What a difference a year makes. CES 2023 attracted more than 115,000 attendees from 140 countries to Las Vegas where 3,000 companies filled 2 million square feet of exhibit space. Among the major themes relevant to M&E this year were artificial intelligence, the multiverse, AR and immersive experiences, displays, mobility, IoT, and numerous policy and regulation topics. ETC@USC attended the convention with onsite and remote teams, once again blending its in-person tradition with a virtual presence. Our post-show report features extensive coverage and perspectives related to these key creative, business, and technology areas. Continue reading CES 2023 Report: Connection, Collaboration and Cooperation

For four days in Las Vegas, CES 2023 becomes the nucleus of global innovation. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), owner of CES, predicts a show significantly larger than CES 2022, emerging from two pandemic restricted years on January 5. The annual confab will open more than two million square feet of exhibit space with more than 2,400 exhibitors and the expectation of as many as 100,000 attendees, more than double the last show. ETC@USC will have its team in place, on the ground and online, to explore the show floor and over 175 sessions and keynotes. We’ll be reporting on the latest in AI, Web3, multiverses, image displays and other emerging CE tech impacting M&E. Continue reading CES 2023: What to Expect When the Show Opens in January

The Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California (ETC@USC) is pleased to announce the addition of the RoninX Foundation to its executive board. The Japan-based foundation is pursuing a camera metadata interoperability standard and a new 8K streaming protocol for innovative use cases for the open multiverse. The RoninX Foundation is guided by its community of camera manufacturers, storage providers, Internet service providers, infrastructure providers, 5G operators and studios. Continue reading ETC@USC Announces RoninX Foundation as Board Member

“Preparing for the Multiverse” was the subject of ETC@USC’s latest virtual Digital Town Square event. As the culture, art and commerce spaces rebalance to incorporate blended physical and virtual options, it is clearly important that we understand early on how changes will impact our business and creative endeavors. Our speakers spend their days thinking about how the emerging metaverses will impact creativity, business development and the fabric of society. We chose the word “multiverse” because we expect many metaverses to develop and compete — some designed top-down by multinational corporations and others developed bottom-up by DAO communities. Continue reading ETC Examines Realities of Multiverse at Digital Town Square

Moving back toward an onsite experience, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) hybrid format for CES 2022 opened to an anticipated reduced audience compared to previous years but continued its showcase of insightful and exciting product revelations and keynote addresses. With its own hybrid makeup, the ETC@USC team’s boots on the ground in Las Vegas and remote reporting in Los Angeles identified and covered four specific areas of activities — the multiverse, augmented reality, NFTs and artificial intelligence – as well as other CES tech trends, products, keynotes and highlights. ETC’s CES 2022 Report is now available online. Continue reading ETC Releases Its CES 2022 Report: AI, AR, Multiverse, NFTs

Citing laptops as the fastest-growing PC platform, Nvidia is doing its part to ensure gamers and creators can keep up, unveiling 160 new models equipped with its GeForce RTX GPUs at CES 2022. More than 100 of them are AI-powered Nvidia Studio laptops, optimized for creatives and VFX professionals. After four years in beta, Nvidia is making its Omniverse platform free to individuals and introducing cloud-based collaboration capability as the company stakes its claim on creating for the multiverse. Omniverse lets creators use different typically incompatible software packages in one workflow in real time. Continue reading CES: Nvidia Optimizes Studio Laptops for Creatives, VFX Pros

Sky Glass, the streaming television platform that Comcast offers European customers as an alternative to dish-delivered Sky Q, has begun generating reviews. Billed as a turn-key smart TV solution, Sky Glass features a 4K display, HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, a built-in set-top-box and six-speaker Dolby Atmos. It also touts wake-word voice commands at the press of a button and multiscreen functionality via the Sky Stream Puck. However, as a walled garden Sky Glass is said to lack the versatility of Android TV or LG’s webOS TV platforms. Continue reading Comcast’s Sky Glass 4K QLED Smart TV: The Pros and Cons

At the HPA Tech Retreat in Palm Desert this week, Sony chief technology officer Don Eklund described how Sony has been using artificial intelligence as a toolset to create applications specific to its needs. “I was aware of AI but didn’t pay attention,” he said. “It’s now become pervasive.” He brought together three companies — Adobe, Rival Theory and Video Gorillas — that are researching and developing AI-enabled solutions over many years. Some of these tools are commercially available or will be soon. Continue reading Firms Highlight Real World AI Solutions at HPA Tech Retreat

Kent Bye covers location-based VR operations, pricing structures, crowd management and throughput, and reaching the mass audience in this 30-minute Voices of VR podcast interview with the founders of VR World NYC. The new midtown Manhattan portal, which opened June 24th, features over 50 VR experiences spread over three floors in a 20,000 square foot space near the Empire State Building. Visitors pay $39 in the afternoon and $49 in the evening for unlimited stay and play. Continue reading VR World NYC Offers an Open Buffet of 50+ VR Experiences