Gizmodo: campaign

Toshiba Advances Bullet-Time to Next Level In Ad Filmed By 200 Camcorders

Kit Eaton — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:45:00 EST

Toshiba's new "timesculpture" advert takes The Matrix's Bullet Time film technique one bizarrely cool step forward by animating within the freeze-frame. It was filmed with 200 Gigashot camcorders arranged on a special rig, recording a mahoosive 20 terabytes of data from which the ad was composed. Check it out—it's like a weird moving Bullet-Time ballet, and then check out the making of clip to learn how it was made.

The ad was created for Toshiba's new low-definition to high-definition upscaling tech built into its LCD TVs, DVD machines and laptops. But it's amazing all by itself: whereas the Wachowski-brothers' technique used static images in Bullet-Time, this new style uses looped video clips, digitally compiled together for the final result. Apparently the 200-cam 14-meter diameter filming rig used "the highest number of moving image cameras ever used in a film sequence" and took three days to just focus up and align. All 200 cameras were triggered by a single remote, and it took four weeks to process the image data. Four weeks! The $4.7million ad's showing in Europe currently. [Toshiba]

ObamaBot Dutifully Hides Aspirations for 2016

Mark Wilson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:30:00 EST

The ObamaBot has been a patient contributor to the Obama presidential campaign. After being assembled for $250, the 6-foot metal and wooden robot took to the streets of Florida waving signs to promote early voting and now President-elect Barack Obama. From a technical standpoint, the robot is apparently "powered by hope," which seems like a...unique...approach to constantly fluctuating energy prices. Bonus shot:

While ObamaBot is happy to work its way up through the Senate and into the White House over the next 8 years, the robot cannot hide that its orange foam head may not represent the peak of anthropomorphic technology nearly a decade for now. But we're only born into life as we are. And this robot is not ashamed of where it came from. [Alligator via Engadget]

What Advertising Pros Think of Microsoft's Campaign

Brian Lam — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 03:12:05 EDT

I love the new Microsoft ads, from Seinfeld to the I'm a PC montage, but I'm no expert. Vanity Fair asked seven advertising pros to comment on Microsoft's campaign. They put answers in cute little old fashioned Windows error prompts. One thought: There are lots of CEOs here, but I'd prefer to see more creative directors share their thoughts. [Vanity Fair]

Scientists Race to Develop Political Bullshit Detector, All Dials Pegged at 11

John Mahoney — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:30:00 EDT

New Scientist today is summarzing the world of political spin detection software—behavioral scientist Paul Ekman claims he can analyze a speech's text for words that indicate untruths and deception. Others look to analyze the tenor of the voice, and facial recognition to spot lies is becoming more of a reality. But unfortunately, much of the bullshit detector tech here seems like it may be drowning a bit in the selfsame goo.

I'm tempted, nay, inclined here to call shennanigans on the simplicity with which the speech-processing algorithm analyzes actual speech:

The algorithm counts usage of first person nouns - "I" tends to indicate less spin than "we", for example. It also searches out phrases that offer qualifications or clarifications of more general statements, since speeches that contain few such amendments tend to be high on spin. Finally, increased rates of action verbs such as "go" and "going", and negatively charged words, such as "hate" and "enemy", also indicate greater levels of spin.

I'm more inclined to subscribe to the newsletter of voice analyst Branka Zei Pollermann of the Vox Institute in Geneva (ah, neutrality). "The voice analysis profile for McCain looks very much like someone who is clinically depressed," says Branka, after running Senator McCain's voice through her software that analyzes "pitch, modulation, volume, and fluency" to generate a unique profile. Obama's varying pitch and tone are on the opposite spectrum, but his furrowed brow tends to project an overly concerned stance.

Check out the research summarized and decide for yourself, but don't miss this gem:

Additionally, McCain's voice and facial movements often do not match up, says Pollermann, and he often smiles in a manner that commonly conveys sarcasm when addressing controversial statements. "That might lead to what I would call a lack of credibility."

[New Scientist via /.]