CIS Focal Issue

Though characters like Woody and Buzz Lightyear are wonderfully realistic and lovable, the relationship that kids have with them is largely one-sided. Kids can hear these characters talk—not only through movies, but games, toys, and other movie merchandise—but they can’t engage them.

It was this idea that inspired Jacob to team up with his former Pixar colleague, Martin Reddy, and launch a new company, ToyTalk. The San Francisco-based outfit develops mobile games that let kids have conversations with animated characters—dialogues that can last for hours

Known as PullString, it’s equal parts speech recognition engine and script writing tool, and it’s quite a departure from other speech rec tools developed by the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Apple. It’s tailored specifically to kids, whose sentence structure, pitch, and vocal tone have posed challenges for traditional tools.

The SUPER AWESOME ME experience begins when the fan visits an in-store scanning station where a 3D face scanner captures their likeness to create a 3D model.

At launch, fans can visit one of 10 Walmart or two Sam’s Club stores to create a personalized 12” action figure. The SUPER AWESOME ME figure features a traditional 12” articulated plastic action figure body and a full color 3D printed head. Recommended for fans ages 4 years and older and available for an approximate retail price of $45, the SUPER AWESOME ME figure will be available for pick up at Walmart locations or ship to Sam’s Club customers in four weeks.

Its newest toy is called Barco Escape and right now it’s essentially three theater screens in one space — the main screen and then additional screens on the left and right walls. The effect is a 270-degree image that makes viewers feel like they are in the middle of the action.

It’s the kind of premium experience that most people would expect to pay extra for but Schilowitz says part of the point of Escape is to give viewers a more theme-park like experience without charging any more for a ticket.

Schilowitz hopes to engage brands to make 270-degree short films to show before the actual movie. Think Red Bull's Red Bull's many extreme sports videos. Now picture them in an immersive experience.  The money coming from brands could help offset the costs of the Escape screen.

The new Russia doesn’t just deal in the petty disinformation, forgeries, lies, leaks, and cyber-sabotage usually associated with information warfare. It reinvents reality, creating mass hallucinations that then translate into political action.

today’s Russia, by contrast, the idea of truth is irrelevant. On Russian ‘news’ broadcasts, the borders between fact and fiction have become utterly blurred.

there is one great difference between Soviet propaganda and the latest Russian variety. For the Soviets, the idea of truth was important—even when they were lying.

федеральной целевой программе «Укрепление единства российской нации».

В мае первые 23 организации такого типа получили первые 1,1 млрд руб.

в 2015 г. в рамках ФЦП еще 958 млн руб. будут выделены на создание духовно-просветительских центров. Весь бюджет ФЦП на 2015 г. составляет 1,4 млрд руб.

Сегодня нижняя палата парламента приняла  в первом чтении поправки в закон «О средствах массовой информации»,

запрещается «владеть, управлять или контролировать прямо или косвенно (в том числе через подконтрольных ему лиц или посредством владения более 20 процентов долей (акций) любого лица)

ограничение с 1 января 2016 года предполагается ввести для «иностранного государства, международной организации, а также находящихся под их контролем организаций, иностранных юридических лиц, российских юридических лиц с иностранным участием, иностранных граждан, лиц без гражданства, граждан Российской Федерации, имеющих гражданство другой страны».

Теперь биоинженеры из Тафтского университета (США) сумели в лабораторных условиях искусственно получить действующую ткань, подобную настоящему мозгу

Ткань не только содержит белое и серое вещества, но и способна функционировать в течение более двух месяцев.

В ходе экспериментов биологи подтвердили, что полученная ими ткань обладает свойствами настоящего живого мозга: имеет соответствующий метаболизм и электрическую активность, проводит сигналы и аналогичным образом реагирует на механические травмы

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hologram USA and its CEO, Alki David, say the hologram infringed on its patented system to project 3D images on stage

Launched last week, Hanx Writer turns your iPad into an old-fashioned typewriter, offering a pseudo-analog typing experience. The bangs of key presses, hard returns and the chimes that sound when you reach the end of a new line now sit alongside modern conveniences 

If the fabric is placed in light for 24 hours, any dirt, bacteria, or stain--even coffee or red wine--automatically goes away, thanks to a chemical reaction triggered by the light.

So far, preliminary tests have shown that the material is safe. Tests have also shown that the coating is durable

We are currently working toward transfer of the technology to the industry." A self-cleaning sweater might only cost 1% more than usual.