Blogbook
Game marketing’s only getting more creative. Realm Pictures created an interesting interactive experience for IO Interactive, makers of the Hitman 47 game, allowing popular YouTubers like Smosh and the OpTic gaming esports team to ‘control’ a ‘real’ version of Agent 47 through voice commands. The agent, as instructed by the player, went through a detailed set full of actors, items and objectives, much of it was fully interactive (including being able to set fire to stuff, ‘kill’ people, ‘hack’ and fire remote turrets and even ‘remove’ a finger to open a keypad. The Agent could, just like the game, steal clothes, move objects and attack people inside, depending on the orders given by the participants, who were following the character’s movements remotely.
The amount of detail and planning that’s gone into this has been impressive, and the video’s naturally gone viral. To help with the planning, Realm Pictures actually made a full 3D virtual model of the setting and played it through, just to see what route players might take and what they might need to interact with.
Making of video:
The latest, actual Hitman 47 title launched on March 11, and is the game’s first episodic title.
This weekend marked a milestone in AI development: Google’s DeepMind AI, AlphaGo, beat legendary Korean player Lee Sedol, a 9 dan ranked player, at Go, a game which experts felt was a decade away from computer mastery. The score currently stands at 3-1 out of 5, so Lee has already lost the set, but the final game will be played today at around 3pm Australian time. Livestream addresses and links to commentary in various languages are available on the Reddit /r/baduk megathread. DeepMind did this by giving AlphaGo amateur Go game data to look at, and then having AlphaGo play against itself for millions of games. It chooses moves based on which move gives it the highest win probability at the time.
What is Go?
Go, or baduk, or weiqi, is a game with over 2,500 years of history. It is a game that is both simple and complex, played on a 19×19 board with white and black stones, and is one of the oldest board games in the world. It was once considered one of the four essential arts of a Chinese scholar, and is still a game, like Chess, where it’s possible to play fully at a pro level, being massively popular in East Asia. There are still Go academies where children train from ages as young as 5.
Weekend highlights
+ In the first game, it’s possible that Lee Sedol, who thought he would win 5-0 or 4-1, didn’t take the game seriously enough and was taken by surprise.
+ In the second game, AlphaGo played a move that no human player would play, shocking Lee Sedol into leaving the room briefly. Fan Hui, the European champion that AlphaGo had previously beaten 5-0, called it beautiful.
+ Wait, so AlphaGo has beaten a pro before? Yes, but Fan Hui is a 2 dan pro, Lee Sedol is at the top of the game, at 9 dan ranking (though he is not the current top ranked player)
+ How is South Korea taking it? Very, very seriously – the match is front page news in South Korea, where it’s being played at the Four Seasons hotel in Seoul. And after the win:
The moment AlphaGo resigned, an enormous cheer rose from the Korean commentary room and its throng of Korean reporters and photographers. And then came the applause in the English room. A day before, the atmosphere was palpably solemn. But on Sunday, Lee Sedol did find a weakness in AlphaGo. And the mood changed. The human could win after all.
Last game: 15 March 2016 1pm KST. English Newbie Livestream | English Pro Livestream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wFBEaaNIjo
Samsung’s VR headsets help millennials conquer their fears. Via Agency Cheil Worldwide, they got 27 participants to undergo four weeks of VR training to overcome their fears before facing real life applications of their skills.
Fear of public speaking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWkrTrRC2t0
Acrophobia (Fear of heights):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4x35hIdMEs
Via adweek:
Samsung backs up its research—conducted using its own smartwatches to measure heart rates—with stats from the VR lab at the Yonsei University Gangnam Severance Hospital in South Korea. In a study of 82 participants, doctors achieved a 90 percent success rate in reducing anxiety among those with fears of heights and public speaking. Over two weeks in the Samsung program, 87.5 percent of acrophobic subjects saw an average anxiety reduction of 23.6 percent, per tests that accounted for eye movement and self-assessment (along with heart rate). Subjects suffering from glossophobia saw an 18.7 percent reduction in anxiety levels. Those gains aren’t insignificant, but they might also help explain why some participants in the zipline stunt still look like they’re not feeling as good about the whole thing as Samsung might like.
Samsung isn’t the only company in this space. River, a San Francisco startup, has also released simulations via its company Psious to address phobias like flying and arachnophobia. By incrementally training people to confront their fears in a safe setting, they would be better equipped to face it in real life. So far the simulations aren’t entirely immersive, but studies have indicated that VR has been more effective at treating phobias than traditional methods like mental visualisation or photographs. Other applications of VR in this field include IraqWorld, which helps to treat PTSD, and SnowWorld, which helps burn victims manage their pain, and with technology only getting cheaper and more available, no doubt there’ll be more and more great uses in the future, even if the gaming or social part of VR never takes off.
Volkswagen might be having legal troubles right now over its cars, but its Achtung! ad agency has produced another goofy video about a connected dog app. From the agency:
Everything in our world is becoming more and more connected. Last year, Volkswagen demonstrated their typical brand of accessible innovation by introducing a stroller (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-k2suYYXt8) that could brake automatically. Volkswagen continues to showcase their innovation for the people with a film where the newly launched My Volkswagen app is connected, not to a car, but to man’s best friend. A film was made in collaboration with Dutch dog whisperer Martin Gaus about the new app. The film shows the Connected Dog at work: an app connected to a smart cap that allows the dog to be in full control of his life.
Just like the My Volkswagen app, the Connected Dog is designed to make the owner’s life easier. The owner no longer needs to be present to walk the dog. After he remotely unlocks the doggy door, he is able to track the dog through both GPS and a live cam, whilst the application enables the ability to provide the dog with location-specific voice commands and rewards for spotless behaviour (or ‘being a good boy’)
We love fan films, especially gorgeous ones like this Star Wars fan video: “When a team of Jedi Knights stumble upon Maul’s training world, he’s forced to protect his identity and the nature of his training. Fantastic lightsaber battles ensue.” Titled Darth Maul: Apprentice, it was made by German resident Shawn Bu, and it took him a total of 2 years to make. From the film biography:
“We always felt that Darth Maul should have had more screen time,” reads the YouTube video’s biography. “So we wanted to create a film just for him with the best lightsaber fights we could do!”
Darth Maul has always been a bit of a fan favourite character. He appeared in Episode 1 and has appeared in a series of other cartoons like the Clone Wars, and is probably best known for being the character that not only reveals that the Sith still exist as a force in the galaxy, but also the one who kills Qui-Gon Jinn (and gets killed in turn by Obi Wan Kenobi). In the short film, Darth Maul is discovered on a secret training planet by a group of Jedi, whom he promptly takes care of with a series of tightly choreographed lightsaber duels.
The Making of video:
The Star Wars fan film community is a massively creative fandom that even holds its own yearly awards, with industry acknowledgement and support, such as a video message from JJ Abrams. Sites like TIME magazine even list their top favourite fan films.
Casting Call: The Project has 18 actresses read out real (and sexist) casting calls into the camera. Via adweek:
If you needed evidence women are still stymied by stereotypes in ads and shows, look no further than this eye-opening and eye-rolling video.
“Casting Call, The Project” features 18 women reading real casting notices into the camera, with their reactions ranging from raised eyebrows and exasperated sighs to obscenities and abject disgust.
“In our quest to find and create work, we became all too familiar with reading character breakdowns posted on casting call notices via the numerous casting websites (some legitimate and reputable, others, not so much),” wrote the three artists who created the project. “Throughout this journey, we would often share with each other particularly ridiculous, hysterical and appalling casting call notices.”
SpaceX successfully launched a communications satellite over the weekend, and then tried – as before – to land on an ocean barge. The attempt, like the past 4 tries, was unsuccessful, making it Robot Barge “Of Course I Still Love You” 5, Falcon 9 rocket 0. Ocean landings are tricky, but necessary for the future of more efficient space flight. More from Wired:
Despite the failed landing, today’s launch was a success—because the real mission was getting a communications satellite, SES-9, into geostationary orbit. Recent Falcon 9 launches have only targeted low Earth orbit, like where the International Space Station is. But today’s launch sent the satellite into a higher ellipse, locked over a single spot on Earth. Reaching a target altitude of 40,6000 km required greater speeds—8,000 or 9,000 kilometers per hour, compared to previous speeds of 5,000 or 6,000 kph.
Founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk of Paypal and Tesla Cars fame, SpaceX is the first and only privately owned company to return a spacecraft from low Earth orbit. It was also the first company, in 2012, to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station, exchange loads, and return safely to earth. Since then, SpaceX has run several resupply missions to the ISS on behalf of NASA.
The trailer for Loving Vincent is out, an animated film about Van Gogh’s life featuring a staggering 12 oil paintings per second by over 100 painters. With the advent of CGI, even in traditionally hand-drawn animation like Disney’s Princess films and Japanese anime, it’s small wonder that this work of love (and art) is gaining so much buzz. It’s still in progress in Gdansk, Poland, and you can check out their progress via their website, or even get involved:
This is the first fully painted feature film in the world, directed by Polish painter and director Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman (Oscar winner for producing “Peter and the Wolf”). The film is produced by Oscar-winning Studios Breakthru Films and Trademark Films.
The film is about the life and controversial death of Vincent Van Gogh, who is to this date one of the most famous painters who have ever lived. The film features over 120 of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings, and tells his story through his paintings and the characters within them, via interviews and dramatic reconstruction of the events leading up to his death. Every frame is lovingly painted using the same technique as the master himself. The film also has a shop where you can buy merch or a painting of yourself in the Van Gogh style.
Loving Vincent will be released sometime in 2016.
Ariel India’s brilliant new #SharetheLoad campaign has gone viral. Via the Inspiration Room:
Procter & Gamble laundry brand Ariel is running #ShareTheLoad, a campaign encouraging men to take their share of the household chores in India. Launched in 2015, the campaign began with the question, “Is laundry only a woman’s job?”. Ariel laundry packaging was released in the “His and Her” pack. Working with clothing brands, Ariel took the message to wash care labels. A commercial featuring two women reflected on the halting progress being made in household equality. And now, in 2016, Ariel has gone viral across the world with a commercial in which a man writes an apology to his daughter for his failure to challenge patriarchal attitudes to housework. The commercial ends with his own personal action in sharing the laundry load with his wife.
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg called the video one of the most powerful that she’d ever seen. Created by BBDO India, it is the second in the series, with the previous ad airing last year. Since airing, the video has been trending on social media platforms, and has attracted a total of over 3 million views. Josy Paul, the Chief Creative Officer of BBDO mentioned:
“Share the Load is not just a campaign, it’s a movement for change. By raising a mirror to society, the brand is seeking a better world where there’s equality in household chores, specially laundry. We were looking for a deeper message. We felt there’s a need for a bigger story of self-examination, realization and reconciliation. We were looking for something with greater empathy and authenticity… something that more people could relate to. That was our big thing… to create greater understanding and genuine change. The movement going forward will have more elements to help drive behavioural change in the area of laundry. It’s all very exciting.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8T8eWBmls0
Coping with Humans is a hilarious new, sci-fi ad with Carrie Fisher of Leia Skywalker fame.
IBM Watson is a cognitive system that’s ushering in the new era of cognitive business. Recently, a group of battered science fiction bots spoke about their yen to take over the world and their dislike for working with humans. Unlike them, Watson works with humans to outthink competitors, challenges, limits.
What is Watson?
Haven’t heard of IBM Watson? It’s a supercomputer (by IBM) that combines artificial intelligence and analytical software to become a Q&A machine. It was named after IBM’s founder, Thomas J Watson. IBM has been running a series of ads where Watson answers questions from people like Bob Dylan to Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings, who was defeated by Watson in a televised Jeopardy match in 2011.
Via Ann Rubin, IBM’s vp of branded content and global creative:
“We’re focusing on the advertising here, but this is really more than an advertising campaign. It’s a point of view that IBM has, and it’s going across all of our marketing, our internal communications, how we engage sellers and our employees. It’s really across everything that we do. […] You can outthink cancer, outthink risk, outthink doubt, outthink competitors if you embrace this idea of cognitive computing.”
IBM Watson is intended to have applications across healthcare, banking, insurance and retail.