Pixels and Place

Pixels and Place
Author: Kate O'Neill
Publisher: Ko Insights
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2016-06-03
Genre:
ISBN: 9780692732267

The distinction between "online" and "offline," between "digital" and "physical," once seemingly unambiguous, has begun to blur thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and personal location data, ad and experience targeting, connected devices, wearable technology, the Internet of Things, and additive capabilities like 3-D printing. The biggest business opportunities for innovative experiences, according to digital marketing expert and "tech humanist" Kate O'Neill, will come from blending the physical and digital worlds intentionally to create a meaningful and integrated human experience. And to do that, we must recognize that human motivations connect these worlds through a transactional data layer, and create experiences with respect for the humanity represented by that data. In looking at the opportunities presented by the convergence of physical and digital, O'Neill also examines the underlying meaning of place, as well as the abundant metaphors of place already in use in digital experience, and how we can shape our audiences' experiences more meaningfully in alignment with our own business objectives. Executives, strategists, marketers, city planners, and anyone who creates experiences for humans will take away valuable insights from this book.

Flickering Pixels

Flickering Pixels
Author: Shane Hipps
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2009
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310293219

"The methods change, but the message stays the same." This saying is the guiding light for faithful Christians in a changing world. But author Shane Hipps reveals the error in this thinking. Instead he demonstrates how changing the methods always changes the message. He shows us the hidden power of technology to shape our faith in unexpected ways.

A Biography of the Pixel

A Biography of the Pixel
Author: Alvy Ray Smith
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0262542455

The pixel as the organizing principle of all pictures, from cave paintings to Toy Story. The Great Digital Convergence of all media types into one universal digital medium occurred, with little fanfare, at the recent turn of the millennium. The bit became the universal medium, and the pixel--a particular packaging of bits--conquered the world. Henceforward, nearly every picture in the world would be composed of pixels--cell phone pictures, app interfaces, Mars Rover transmissions, book illustrations, videogames. In A Biography of the Pixel, Pixar cofounder Alvy Ray Smith argues that the pixel is the organizing principle of most modern media, and he presents a few simple but profound ideas that unify the dazzling varieties of digital image making. Smith's story of the pixel's development begins with Fourier waves, proceeds through Turing machines, and ends with the first digital movies from Pixar, DreamWorks, and Blue Sky. Today, almost all the pictures we encounter are digital--mediated by the pixel and irretrievably separated from their media; museums and kindergartens are two of the last outposts of the analog. Smith explains, engagingly and accessibly, how pictures composed of invisible stuff become visible--that is, how digital pixels convert to analog display elements. Taking the special case of digital movies to represent all of Digital Light (his term for pictures constructed of pixels), and drawing on his decades of work in the field, Smith approaches his subject from multiple angles--art, technology, entertainment, business, and history. A Biography of the Pixel is essential reading for anyone who has watched a video on a cell phone, played a videogame, or seen a movie. 400 pages of annotations, prepared by the author and available online, provide an invaluable resource for readers.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
Author: Jason Schreier
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2017-09-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0062651242

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “The stories in this book make for a fascinating and remarkably complete pantheon of just about every common despair and every joy related to game development.” — Rami Ismail, cofounder of Vlambeer and developer of Nuclear Throne Developing video games—hero's journey or fool's errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today's hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous. Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age: Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart. Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.

Practical Computer Vision with SimpleCV

Practical Computer Vision with SimpleCV
Author: Kurt Demaagd
Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2012
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1449320368

Learn how to build your own computer vision (CV) applications quickly and easily with SimpleCV, an open source framework written in Python. Through examples of real-world applications, this hands-on guide introduces you to basic CV techniques for collecting, processing, and analyzing streaming digital images. You'll then learn how to apply these methods with SimpleCV, using sample Python code. All you need to get started is a Windows, Mac, or Linux system, and a willingness to put CV to work in a variety of ways. Programming experience is optional. Capture images from several sources, including webcams, smartphones, and Kinect Filter image input so your application processes only necessary information Manipulate images by performing basic arithmetic on pixel values Use feature detection techniques to focus on interesting parts of an image Work with several features in a single image, using the NumPy and SciPy Python libraries Learn about optical flow to identify objects that change between two image frames Use SimpleCV's command line and code editor to run examples and test techniques

Jim Blinn's Corner: Notation, Notation, Notation

Jim Blinn's Corner: Notation, Notation, Notation
Author: Jim Blinn
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2002-07-16
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0080509606

The third entry in the Jim Blinn's Corner series, this is, like the others, a handy compilation of selected installments of his influential column. But here, for the first time, you get the "Director's Cut" of the articles: revised, expanded, and enhanced versions of the originals. What's changed? Improved mathematical notation, more diagrams, new solutions. What remains the same? All the things you've come to rely on: straight answers, irreverent style, and innovative thinking. This is Jim Blinn at his best - now even better. - Features 21 expanded and updated installments of "Jim Blinn's Corner," dating from 1995 to 2001, and never before published in book form - Includes "deleted scenes"—tangential explorations that didn't make it into the original columns - Details how Blinn represented planets in his famous JPL flyby animations - Explores a wide variety of other topics, from the concrete to the theoretical: assembly language optimization for parallel processors, exotic usage of C++ template instantiation, algebraic geometry, a graphical notation for tensor contraction, and his hopes for a future world

Artificial Intelligence and Evolutionary Algorithms in Engineering Systems

Artificial Intelligence and Evolutionary Algorithms in Engineering Systems
Author: L Padma Suresh
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 846
Release: 2014-11-25
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 8132221354

The book is a collection of high-quality peer-reviewed research papers presented in Proceedings of International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Evolutionary Algorithms in Engineering Systems (ICAEES 2014) held at Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kumaracoil, India. These research papers provide the latest developments in the broad area of use of artificial intelligence and evolutionary algorithms in engineering systems. The book discusses wide variety of industrial, engineering and scientific applications of the emerging techniques. It presents invited papers from the inventors/originators of new applications and advanced technologies.

FF DOT: The Pixel Art of Final Fantasy

FF DOT: The Pixel Art of Final Fantasy
Author: Square Enix
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2022-08-16
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1506735061

A hardcover volume that showcases the intriguing evolution of pixel art from the Final Fantasy series! Containing detailed sprite sheets that showcase the pixel composition of Final Fantasy's beloved characters, maps of Final Fantasy's most popular highlighting tools used by the developers, and a special interview with Kazuko Shibuya, the character pixel artist for the Final Fantasy series, FF Dot is a one of a kind product that immerses readers into an iconic aspect of the Final Fantasy experience. Dark Horse Books is proud to collaborate with Square Enix to bring fans FF Dot: The Pixel Art of Final Fantasy, translated into English for the first time. This localization of the original Japanese publication holds nearly 300 pages of colorful pixel art, and is an invaluable addition to any Final Fantasy fan's collection.

From Pen to Pixel

From Pen to Pixel
Author: Patrizia Fortini
Publisher: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2021-01-31
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 8891319481

Efforts to build, rebuild and maintain the Forum Romanum, Rome's historic urban epicenter, are likely as old as the place it self - some 2800 years. As a result the historic significance and archaeological richness of the Forum cannot be overestimated. Despite its many changes the Forum Romanum's survival today represents an outstanding example of cultural heritage continuity. Its highest possible protection status among monuments conservation agencies in Italy and its early listing on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1980 are testaments to this. Due to its remarkable physical survival, the Forum Romanum has been the object of extensive research, documentation, restoration and preservation efforts over the past two centuries especially. The sophistication of these measures evolved to include a wide range of expertise. Lay interest among antiquarians and architects in Rome's past from the Renaissance through the eighteenth century was supplanted by the emerging new disciplines of archaeology, architectural restoration and museology. From the late nineteenth century corresponding advancements in archaeological method and conservation theory and science were increasingly applied. From this time on as well, expectations for preserving and presenting the Forum Romanum were high, the famous site being a matter of intense Roman pride, political interest, and serving as a must see' destination for visitors to Rome. Leading historians, archaeologists and conservators have been central to the story of the Forum's survival and interpretation. While numerous noted antiquarians and historians preceded him the architect and archaeologist Giocomo Boni (1859-1925) was unusual, even prescient, in his approach and treatment of the place during his tenure as director of excavations of the Forum Romanum from 1898 until 1925. His combined talents as an architect, archaeologist and conservator set a standard at the time for careful research, thorough documentation, and responsible conservation measures. The sponsors of the DHARMA conference have wisely chosen to focus on archaeological research and conservation in the Forum during Giacomo Boni's tenure since his work reflects early best practices' in researching, preserving and interpreting such places. To frame the discussion some precedents and influences of the work of Giacomo Boni are offered.