Tag Archives: ART

PR Newswire

The Society For The Promotion Of Japanese Animation Announces First Ever Anime Expo Lite – A Virtual Japanese Pop Culture Event

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FREE Livestream Event to take place July 3 & 4

SANTA ANA, California, May 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is thrilled to unveil its plans to offer Japanese pop culture fans from around the world an opportunity to experience all things anime from wherever they are with Anime Expo Lite. This FREE two-day livestream event will begin on July 3, proclaimed Anime Expo Day by the City of Los Angeles in 2015, and continue through July 4.

The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation announces first ever Anime Expo, a Free virtual Japanese pop culture event July 3 & 4, 2020.
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation announces first ever Anime Expo, a Free virtual Japanese pop culture event July 3 & 4, 2020.

Anime Expo Lite will feature content from industry partners such as Bushiroad, Crunchyroll, Pony Canyon, VIZ, and more!  More exclusive content will be announced in the coming weeks.

SPJA has also revealed the key art that was planned as the program guide cover for the since cancelled Anime Expo 2020, which now features the Anime Expo Lite logo instead. The AX mascot characters Ai and Xeno are pictured with the cast of The World End With You.

“We are excited to be able to parlay the traditional Anime Expo into a virtual experience. Since 2017, AX has been livestreaming select panels as well as from the convention floor, so it is a natural transition for us to produce a virtual event. As everything in 2020 is different, we see a unique opportunity to be able to share our passion for Japanese pop culture not only with those that would have attended AX but now with any anime fan no matter where they live,” said Ray Chiang, CEO of The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, AX’s organizer. “With our Anime Expo Lite line-up, we know fans will find plenty of events and special guests to entertain and keep them engaged.”

Fans can expect to see:

  • Special Guests, including artist/character designer Yoshitaka Amano
  • Panel discussions with industry leaders
  • Industry announcements
  • Live content
  • Pre-taped content from global partners
  • Q&As
  • Giveaways

For more information, and to keep up-to-date on Anime Expo Lite announcements, please sign-up here https://mailchi.mp/anime-expo/ax-lite-updates.  

For 29 years, AX has been the preeminent event featuring the newest anime films, television series, fashion, video games, manga, dance, music concerts, exhibitors and exclusive convention merchandise, all combined to deliver unforgettable experiences to fans of anime and Japanese pop culture. AX will return to the Los Angeles Convention Center July 2-5, 2021. For more information regarding Anime Expo please visit www.anime-expo.org.

About SPJA

SPJA is a non-profit organization dedicated to popularize and educate the American public about Japanese entertainment and pop culture, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. For more information, please visit www.spja.org.

About Anime Expo

Anime Expo (AX) brings together fans and industry from Japan, the US, and all over the world for the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America. Taking place every year since 1992, Anime Expo features the best in Japanese entertainment, music, fashion, and video games. For more information, visit www.anime-expo.org.

Photo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/the-society-for-the-promotion-of-japanese-animation-announces-first-ever-anime-expo-lite-a-virtual-japanese-pop-culture-event.jpg

PR Newswire

Pininfarina to Launch AutonoMIA, a Responsive Driving Experience for the Mobility of the Future

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TURIN, Italy, May 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Pininfarina’s 90th anniversary celebrations focus on the value that have guided it since its foundation: designing the future.

Pininfarina’s responsive User Experience for the mobility of the future.
Pininfarina’s responsive User Experience for the mobility of the future.

A leader in automotive design and engineering, the Turin-based company further expands its offering to automotive customers through the conception, design and realization of User Experiences, in the form of a highly responsive, multi-sensorial on-board experience demonstrator, named AutonoMIA.

AutonoMIA is an immersive exploration of how technology, from AI to 5G, from display to haptics, from sensors to natural interfaces, can be leveraged to reenchant the driving experience. It is a tool that designers will use to continue iterating on the thinking on the future of driving. The different parties build knowledge on the data extracted from its usage. But AutonoMIA is also an asset that can be leveraged, customized and developed further for Pininfarina’s clients.

AutonoMIA was made possible thanks to several new strategic partnerships.

The main collaboration is with ART. The Umbrian company made available its experience in creating user interfaces for automotive cockpits, and provided its highly advanced and customizable infotainment platform. ART provided all of AutonoMIA’s hardware and developed all the needed middleware.

In turn, the application layer was designed in close cooperation with and developed by Siili_auto, a leading Finnish automotive software development company.

The seats and all the padded parts were supplied by ARAS.

“AutonoMIA”, explains CEO Pininfarina, Silvio Pietro Angori, “shows how Pininfarina may combine experience design with creative technology, reinventing the on-board experience at a time when digitalisation, connectivity, data and artificial intelligence are substantially redefining mobility. With its Experience Design team and Partners, Pininfarina today helps its customers through mobility experiences which are getting more and more digital“.

AutonoMIA is an experience designed to adjust and respond to people and contexts of use, leveraging the different interface elements it builds on to create a multi-sensorial and responsive experience that creates magic, strong meaning and positive impact in and around the car. Among others, AutonoMIA revisits notably the function, position, individual and combined use of screens inside the car.

In the future, AutonoMIA will be able to build on the true augmented reality experience provided by Pininfarina’s partner WayRay and its advanced holographic, full-color head-up display technology and new applications for autonomous driving, urban mobility and infotainment.

Pininfarina's responsive User Experience for the mobility of the future.
Pininfarina’s responsive User Experience for the mobility of the future.

Photo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/pininfarina-to-launch-autonomia-a-responsive-driving-experience-for-the-mobility-of-the-future-2.jpg
Photo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/pininfarina-to-launch-autonomia-a-responsive-driving-experience-for-the-mobility-of-the-future.jpg
Logo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/pininfarina-to-launch-autonomia-a-responsive-driving-experience-for-the-mobility-of-the-future-1.jpg

PR Newswire

Priceless Artifacts in Iraq Protected Against Theft Using New SmartWater ‘Forensic Fingerprinting’

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LONDON, May 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Hundreds of thousands of priceless artifacts in several museums in Iraq have been protected from the threat of theft and looting by marking them with a unique invisible code, in a new security protocol that is to be made available around the World to protect ‘at risk’ museums, historic and archaeological sites.

Invisible to the naked eye, SmartWater glows yellow under UV black light.
Invisible to the naked eye, SmartWater glows yellow under UV black light.

Funded by the British Council, approximately 273,000 artifacts held in two Iraqi museums have been protected using this new approach. The project allows the priceless objects to be traced back to the site they were stolen from, making it easier for law enforcement agencies to prove theft, thereby creating a powerful deterrent to would-be thieves and traffickers.

The innovative project, led by renowned archaeologist Professor Roger Matthews at the University of Reading, utilizes a specially prepared SmartWater forensic liquid to attach a unique chemical signature onto museum objects. The solution is invisible to the naked eye, only detectable under UV black light and scientists only need to recover a speck of SmartWater to prove which location the artifact was stolen from, the date the solution was applied and by whom.

Tests by scientists at Reading University established that the forensic liquid causes no damage to stone, pottery, metal, or glass and can withstand intense heat, harsh solvents, and extreme environmental conditions for decades. All the costs of R&D were funded by the SmartWater Foundation, the not for profit arm of The SmartWater Group, one of the World’s fastest growing risk management companies.

Professor Matthews said: “The items in the museum collections we worked with are priceless, with regards to the immense cultural value they offer to Iraq. This initiative effectively gives objects a chemical fingerprint, allowing them to be traced if they fall into the wrong hands. Moreover, it provides law enforcement agencies with the necessary evidence to arrest and prosecute those found in illegal possession of artifacts.”

The artifacts include inorganic pieces from all periods of Iraq’s past; stone-age axes to Neolithic pots dating back to 7000 BC when the world’s first agricultural villages were being established. In 2003, and during the ISIS occupation of Mosul between 2014 and 2017, items like this were frequently looted from museums, later resurfacing on international antiquity markets.

The problem of theft of artifacts from museums, archaeological and historic sites is growing, with temples in India being targeted, as well as archaeological sites in South America. In the USA, Native American sites are at risk, particularly the remote burial grounds that can be an easy target for thieves.

Colette Loll, Senior Advisor to the SmartWater Foundation, the not for profit arm of the SmartWater Group. said: ‘Due to their SmartWater forensic signature, these important museum collections are now traceable and can be repatriated if stolen or trafficked. We are essentially putting the art market on notice – forensic markers present a real risk to sellers AND buyers of stolen artifacts.”

Phil Cleary, CEO of the SmartWater Group said “We’re delighted that we’ve been able to support the implementation of this important initiative in Iraq, as it is totally aligned with our mission to reduce the risk of  theft, wherever it occurs.”

Notes to Editor:

Photo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/priceless-artifacts-in-iraq-protected-against-theft-using-new-smartwater-forensic-fingerprinting-1.jpg  
Logo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/priceless-artifacts-in-iraq-protected-against-theft-using-new-smartwater-forensic-fingerprinting.jpg 

PR Newswire

WeChat is Taking Museums to the Cloud

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SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Since the outbreak of the pandemic, major museums, galleries and expositions across the United States have been forced to cancel events and close their doors. This has put a lot of pressure on the industry as a whole. Within this environment, WeChat has teamed up with 11 museums in the U.S. to create an innovative “Museum in the Cloud” experience, allowing would-be museum-goers to digitally visit participating museums from their homes.

The partnership is wholeheartedly supported by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

“We are very happy to support WeChat’s initiative to help digitalize the museum experience, as it also connects to the American Alliance of Museum’s vision of building ‘A world informed and enriched by thriving museums,'” said Arthur Affleck, the Vice President of Development of AAM. “The museum Mini Programs will enable Chinese audiences to tour American museums remotely from across the ocean, and help in bringing the world closer together under this special timing.”

These 11 museums are among the first partners to join WeChat’s travel solutions initiative – WeChat go. The partner museums span the East and West Coasts of the U.S. and include the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Autry Museum of American West, Guggenheim, Museum of the City of New York, Brooklyn Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, Walt Disney Family Museum, Telfair Museums, Aquarium of the Pacific and Lowell Observatory. From modern to ancient arts, aquariums to observatories, the participating museums run the gamut of curated collections.

Aimed at Chinese visitors, the Mini Programs being launched by the museums offer free public resources such as guided audio tours, video materials, introductions of pieces in the collections and interactive games. It is hoped that these resources will help Chinese museum-goers better understand the collections and offer them a more engaging experience, while allowing them to strengthen cross-cultural understanding even during social distancing.

MoMA Shows Users the Cream of the Collection

The MoMA Mini Program developed by the New York Museum of Modern Art, offers Chinese language explanations and audio guides for some of the museum’s finest pieces. Anna Temkin, MoMA’s Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, even takes it upon herself to relate precious works such as Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and Monet’s Water Lillies to digital visitors.

Aside from these more practical functions, the MoMA Mini Program has two other bonus functions – “Find Your Match” and “Rewards”. “Find Your Match” was developed taking inspiration from dating software. Works of art pop up and users can swipe left or right depending on whether they like the piece or not.

Screenshots of the MoMA Mini Program
Screenshots of the MoMA Mini Program

Meanwhile, “Awards” encourages user engagement by giving them tasks to complete, through which they can win prizes such as exclusive wallpapers, MoMA postcards and membership draws.

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco Turns Users into Collectors

In order to offer users a more engaging experience, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco equips three other functions, including introductions of the collections, museum guides and fun, interactive achievements for users to complete. After opening the Mini Program, users are led around the museum on a Private Tour by Dr. Jay Xu, Director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. No matter how far users are from the museum geographically, they can feel like they’re right in the museum.

If a certain piece of the collection catches users’ eyes during their tours, they can add it to “My Display Case” and take a brief quiz. If the user answers successufully, they can obtain a “Collection Certification” from the Asian Art Museum and become an “Expert Collector.”

Screenshots of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum Mini Program
Screenshots of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum Mini Program

“The world is changing,” notes Dr. Xu. “But one constant is the desire for connection. WeChat serves as one of the Asian Art Museum’s most important portals—24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across oceans and continents—for engaging our global communities to 6,000 years of art and culture. WeChat empowers us to creatively embrace change, inspire new audiences with new ideas, and share our most compelling stories from the past to the present, stories that spotlight our common humanity and connect art to life.”

The other 9 museum Mini Programs also being launched have incorporated museum introductions and basic visitor information like opening hours, pricing and reminders. The applets will also offer Chinese language explanations of key exhibit pieces and collection files, along with unique photo frames designed exclusively for the various museums. These digital portals will provide Chinese users and tourists real-time services and a rich “Museum in the Cloud” experience.

In addition to these Mini Programs, all-Mandarin arts and cultural platform Move the Mind (MTM) is also unveiling its own Mini Program to provide a one-stop outlet for the Chinese cultural tourist. MTM’s Mini Program will collate key information on arts and cultural institutions, and connect to other museum applets to encourage users to explore deeper and further. Accessible through MTM’s WeChat account, the Mini Program will add value to its readers’ viewing experience, encouraging them to actively engage with global arts and culture.

A Digital Escape to the Museums in the Cloud

Even though museums are temporarily unable to open and public gatherings have been restricted during the pandemic, WeChat is supporting the AAM to help 11 US museums bring a brilliant historical and cultural experience to users by opening the doors to the “Museum in the Cloud”. At the same time, it also helps to show other museums and cultural institutions how they can give themselves a “modern makeover” to create a more engaging and personalized experience that attracts new visitors, both digitally and offline.

Interested in collaborating with WeChat go? Send us emails at wechatgo@tencent.com 

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200430/2790992-1-a?lang=0
Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200430/2790992-1-b?lang=0