film Archive

  • Iron Man 2: the gadgets (video)

    Iron Man 2: the gadgets (video)

    Posted on May 7, 2010 | No Comments
    When done right, a science fiction or fantasy film will leave audiences with a prescient glimpse into our actual gadget future. Remember the heady pre-iPhone, pre-Pureness days of 2002 when you first saw Minority Report? Staring silently, mouth agape, jonesing for a chance to partake in a multi-touch, transparent display future using nothing but gestures? Well now that Iron Man 2 has been released, we've got another chance to look into the high-tech crystal ball, this time envisioned by a team of artists at Perception who did the design, animation, and visual effects work that turned Tony Stark's transparent LG smartphone (pictured above), touch-screen coffee table, and holographic lab environment into an on-screen reality. The group was compelled by director Jon Favreau and the team at Marvel Studios to keep the UI elements "legible and logical, while still appearing to be several generations beyond the typical user experience." Perception tells us that some of its inspiration was directly attributed to Engadget as it researched near-term technologies for the film's future reality. No doubt, we do see influence from Emblaze's First Else navigation elements and limited color palette as well as Microsoft's InkSeine research at the heart of the doomed Courier UI. And if we're not mistaken, Stark's big ass computing table is almost certainly inspired by Microsoft Surface. Now get past the break and check out Perception's contribution to Iron Man 2, the future of Google search alone is not to be missed.

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    Iron Man 2: the gadgets (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 05:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • DIY: Wooden DSLR shoulder mount

    DIY: Wooden DSLR shoulder mount

    Posted on May 5, 2010 | No Comments
    Most shoulder mounts for DSLR video are strange metal and carbon fiber contraptions, which work I guess. But what if you want something a bit more organic, something that you can make yourself. Here's a shoulder mount that was constructed from a single piece of wood.

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  • New polarizer film to boost contrast of LCDs more than 10-fold

    New polarizer film to boost contrast of LCDs more than 10-fold

    Posted on January 26, 2010 | No Comments
    A Japanese company called Zeon claims it has developed a film for the polarizing plates of LCD screens that boosts picture contrast by more than an order of magnitude. The company is already selling films for those plates to LCD TV makers like Samsung whose screens are based on vertical alignment technology. It produces films for OLED screens, too. Zeon's new, so-called phase difference film, however, is made from Cyclo Olefin Polymer, which makes it suitable for LCD TVs based on in-plane-switching (IPS) technology. Makers relying on IPS technology are Panasonic or Hitachi, for example. The new Zeon film inhibits the diffusion of light from the backlight. As a result, viewers get to see clearer pictures.

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  • Interview: We talk to The Rentals’ Matt Sharp about Songs About Time (Hint: Read if you like fantastic photographs and/or quality music)

    Interview: We talk to The Rentals’ Matt Sharp about Songs About Time (Hint: Read if you like fantastic photographs and/or quality music)

    Posted on October 16, 2009 | No Comments
    I remember these streets, I remember these faces, no one here ever ages/ angels from machines, crowding the streets/ there must be some kind of factory where the angels are made to just be replaced/ I’ve written enough, enough for today Generally speaking I’m a hip-hop guy, but even I can get behind something like “there must be some [...]

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