BBP! Introduces VFX For All
1 April 2009 – Film goers and game players will soon have a whole new way of looking at the world thanks to radical new realtime VFX sunglasses technology being introduced by Biff Bang Pow!, a new knowledge-based, satisfaction-oriented start-up based in Peterborough.
The glasses, dubbed Eye Candy, work by overlaying realtime special effects sequences over real life events. Wearers can thus add explosions to everyday events such as making a cup of tea, dinosaur rampages to mundane tasks such as popping out for lunch, or even complete alien visitations to something as simple as taking the dog for a walk.
And while it perhaps sounds gimmicky, according to company founder Tiberius J Kirk, it addresses a serious psychological need in today's Web 2.0/Film 3.0/Reality 1.0 world.
“Research is finding that people who immerse themselves in violent gaming or Hollywood blockbusters for any length of time experience profound sensory deprivation and a psychological disconnect when they decouple themselves from their media ingest and return to what we refer to as the 'normal world',” he says. “We call this Sensory Grieving. By wearing Eye Candy, however, they can augment reality, and the default setting is that the glasses 'dial down' the vfx augmentation over a couple of days. For example, explosions become smaller, dinosaurs turn from raptors to vegetarians, and aliens come in peace rather than wanting to take over the world and enslave humanity as a food source. After a couple of days, when they have been parachuted back to the so-called 'normal world' with a soft landing, they can then remove the glasses and get on with their lives without experiencing any residual trauma.”
The glasses, which also feature ear buds for realtime soundtrack delivery, are powered by sept-core processors and the latest generation Graphics Processing Units, which, along with batteries, are carried along in a separate backpack. Glasses and backpack send and receive data via Bluetooth, and a handbag model for fashion-concious female wearers is also in development.
Interest in the glasses is widespread and not just confined to the entertainment community. “We have even had calls from religious groups who want to be able to use the technology to pixellate out body parts so that their members can walk along beaches without fear of seeing something sinful,” says Kirk.
The Eye Candy glasses will go on sale this Summer. Pricing to be announced.
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