Tag Archives: Heads

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Citizens Urged to Take Precaution as Tropical Storm Alice Heads towards the Virtual World Whyville.com: The Consequences of Global Warming Demonstrated in the Virtual World to Encourage Kids to Learn More about This Important Issue

PASADENA, Calif. (PRWEB) June 26, 2007

    Tropical Storm Alice is intended to raise awareness of global climate issues and is associated with the opening of the new Whyville Climate Center, which is sponsored by Penguin Young Readers Group, the publisher of Al Gore’s young adult book, “An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming” (Viking Children’s Books/Rodale Books $ 16.00; 208 pages; Ages 11 up). The Climate Center will serve as the focal point for the discussion and further educational activities, while significant virtual rainfall continues for at least another 12-36 hours. This will result in widespread flooding and destruction throughout Whyville, with considerable rubbish and debris littering the virtual world. Whyville’s citizens will need to join together in a massive clean up effort to restore their environment over the next several days.

The arrival of the tropical storm coincides with a new effort to educate Whyville’s citizens about global climate issues. According to a survey conducted on the site in May 2007, 77 percent of responding citizens said that they were aware of the concept of global warming. However, only 50 percent felt they could be a part of the solution.

The Climate Center’s initial activities will focus on changes in the levels of greenhouse gases in the Whyville atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide. In the center’s CO2 Lab, citizens will be able to document increases in carbon dioxide in the virtual atmosphere from the site’s creation in 1999 to today. Traveling back in time, Whyvillians will sample CO2 levels from each year and look for correlations with specific human activity. Information on historical events in Whyville, including the rate of population growth and introduction of new industries, will be obtained from the Whyville Times (the newspaper of Whyville, with articles written by kids). Citizens will also be able to propose hypotheses and debate consequences in bulletin boards within the Climate Center.

“The objective of this activity is not to prove any particular association between greenhouse gases and the climate, in general, or our first tropical storm in particular,” said Dr. James Bower, CEO of Whyville. “Instead, we want to help kids understand the complexity involved in the growing international debate on these issues and get them involved in that discussion, since we already know that they care.”

Activities in the Whyville Climate Center will also support citizen involvement in solving the problem of greenhouse gas emission. Each citizen will be assigned their own carbon footprint calculator in order to assess their individual contribution to rising CO2 levels in the virtual world. The size of their footprint will increase, or decrease, depending on the personal choices they make, such as the number of virtual accessories they produce in Whyville’s avatar factory, the number of trips taken around the world in the warp wagon, the number of times they teleport to the moon or mars, or even which types of foods they choose to eat. Whyvillians who substantially reduce their impact will be recognized with a distinctive green badge for their avatar and will even be able to trade their carbon credits to other Whyvillians for “clams,” Whyville’s virtual currency.

“We know from our surveys that Whyvillians are concerned about environmental issues, but don’t believe that they can do very much to have an impact themselves,” said Dr. Jen Sun, president of Whyville. “This activity is intended to address both the complexities of this issue, as well as provide examples of ways that our kids can get involved – not only in our virtual world but also in the real world.”

Over the coming months, this new climate education activity will continue to unfold, impacting Whyville and its citizens in parallel to developments on this important issue in the real world.

About Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) is the U.S. affiliate of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children’s trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks including Berkley Books, Dutton, Frederick Warne, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Grosset & Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin, Philomel, Plume, Puffin Books, Riverhead Books and Viking, among others. The Penguin Group is part of Pearson (FTSE: PSON; NYSE: PSO). Pearson is an international media company with market leading businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing. For more information, visit http://www.pearson.com.

About Whyville

Whyville.com is the only learning-based virtual world for today’s digital kids. Whyville offers a seriously fun extension of 8 to 15-year-old kids’ real lives, giving them ownership of and participation in creating their own experiences. Named for the founding principle that asking why is the true basis of learning, Whyville citizens safely chat, earn currency, design avatars, play games, create projects, eat, govern and much more. Parents and teachers approve of Whyville because of its multiple levels of safety protection including proprietary technology and staff monitoring. For sponsors, Whyville integrates popular brands and institutions by following its learning-based principles of encouraging Whyville citizens to engage in experiential interactions relevant to today’s digital kids.







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Bonfire Labs :30 Spot for RICOH THETA 360 Makes Heads Spin During Womens British Open

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) July 17, 2014

Creative content agency Bonfire Labs’ new :30 television spot, “Beauty Is All Around,” created for RICOH THETA 360˚ camera, made its U.S. debut this past weekend during the Women’s British Open on ESPN. The spot, which debuted as a digital 3-minute concept video on Sept. 5, 2013, made such an impact that Ricoh chose to take it from online to broadcast. The spot has already aired in Japan, and now begins its national American run.

The :30 spot can be viewed and embedded here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tDT6-m4BAY&feature=youtu.be.

Ricoh first approached Bonfire Labs in early 2013 to help launch their amazing new camera called the RICOH THETA, which shoots a 360˚ (spherical) image.

The agency’s assignment was to engineer a tagline, website, concept/inspirational video, and a how-to video for the worldwide launch. Working with the Ricoh product team in both the U.S. and Japan, Bonfire was challenged with introducing the product in a way that was as innovative as the product itself.

Bonfire rose to the challenge by incorporating the street appeal of freestyle public art in a 360˚ environment. Bonfire secured a large studio to provide a blank slate for acclaimed muralist, Sirron Norris, to express his art. Over a two-day period, Sirron prepped and painted the space. The process was seamlessly captured using the RICOH THETA, with the assistance of a tiny robot, the “roboTap 3000,” that Bonfire Labs created to generate a time-lapsed image capture of the artistic process.

The resulting video displayed the ease of use and visual appeal of the camera while piquing the interest of its intended target audience with cool, creative subject matter.

Starting with a live action “concept” video, the animated “how to” video and continuing with a responsive design for the micro site, Bonfire’s campaign tagline “Beauty Is All Around” informed all the creative for the launch.

“The original digital creative for this spot resonated with Ricoh’s target audience,” said Carey Crosby, Executive Producer at Bonfire Labs. “Our team worked to hard make sure the broadcast creative made as much of an impression on audiences as the longer online version did.”

The original online creative for “Beauty Is All Around” can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Q6ac5NVgU.

Credits

Client: Ricoh

Agency: Bonfire Labs

Executive Producer: Carey Crosby

Editor: Mahoko Kuramasu

Creative Director: Marcus Park

Studio: Bonfire Labs

Producer: Stephanie Hornish

ABOUT BONFIRE LABS

Bonfire Labs is a Creative Content Agency in San Francisco, enriching the value of brands by creating powerful content across all media platforms. The company boasts a unique capability, combining leadership in concept as well as project execution, with a solid foundation in technology. This results in exceptional content creation from beginning to end. Bonfire’s capabilities include ideation, brand development, live-action production, editorial, finishing, motion design, post-production, web design and digital signage. Recent clients include Google, Apple, Facebook, Ricoh, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Motorola and Meyer Sound.

http://www.bonfirelabs.com







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Audio Spotlight’s Sound Beam Turns Heads At The Smithsonian Future Is Here Festival in Washington, D.C.

Watertown, MA (PRWEB) June 13, 2014

Holosonics‘ Audio Spotlight speakers sound like the stuff of science fiction: they produce a narrow beam of sound with the same precision as a flashlight. At any point inside the beam sound is clear and present, literally surrounding the listener’s head, while just a single step or two outside the narrow coverage area sonic bleed is nearly inaudible. Harnessing the miniature wavelengths of an ultrasonic carrier, and relying on entirely different physics than traditional loudspeakers, Holosonics’ Audio Spotlight system is literally capable of providing sound where you want it, and preserving the quiet where you don’t.™

The Audio Spotlight technology was a perfect fit for the spirit of The Smithsonian’s Future Is Here Festival, an annual celebration and exploration of science, technology, culture and the arts gathered around the exciting, elastic theme of future technology. Focused on motivating young people in science, guest speakers Deborah Berebichez of Science Channel’s Outrageous Acts of Science and Kari Byron of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters used the Audio Spotlight speaker to pan the audience, giving those in attendance a truly unique listening experience.

As Berebichez explains, “We discussed the physics of sound and demonstrated the futuristic effect of Holosonics’ Audio Spotlight speaker by beaming the popular Pharrell Williams song ‘Happy’ to the audience. Having never experienced anything similar before, people laughed and applauded as the beam of music passed by their heads, and the excitement could be felt in the room.”

To help relate the benefits of Holosonics’ directional speakers, Byron and Berebichez referenced Hollywood’s science fiction blockbuster ‘Minority Report,’ which included scenes where actor Tom Cruise was singularly targeted on a public sidewalk with personalized retail advertising announcements. The futuristic concept was based directly on Holosonics’ Audio Spotlight technology, and adding controlled sound to digital signage or in-store product displays are already two of the more popular applications for their directional speakers.

Kari and Debbie discussed other practical applications where controlled sound is of particular benefit, such as museums, galleries, and trade show exhibits, kiosks, waiting rooms, offices, and healthcare facilities, and even assisted listening for the hard of hearing. As the technology continues to mature and evolve, they expect Holosonics’ speakers could one day be found in every household, allowing families to split-screen TV’s and listen to different programming from opposite sides of the same couch, or to help a slumbering partner sleep more comfortably in peace while their spouse watches TV beside them in bed.

Kari shares, “The Holosonic speaker is a perfect example of how today’s innovations can impact our daily lives for years to come. It was great to demonstrate the power of the Audio Spotlight technology to a science-minded audience.”

About Holosonic Research Labs, Inc.

Holosonic Research Labs, Inc., a pioneer in directional acoustics, develops and manufactures the Audio Spotlight® directional sound system. Founded in 1999 by MIT graduate Dr. F. Joseph Pompei, Holosonics’ Audio Spotlight technology is used in a wide variety of applications including museums, libraries, offices, reception areas, retail displays, trade shows and retail kiosks. The world’s top organizations and companies use the Audio Spotlight directional sound system to beam sound to their listeners… and preserve the quiet.™