Brandon Powers’ Post

LOTS to unpack in today's #WWDC so here are some quick thoughts: -VisionOS: They've added a much needed gesture to activate the menu. I was also very excited about their partnership with Canon who will now have a spatial video lens. You can then edit that video in FinalCut and upload to Vimeo. This clear pipeline will make the format significantly more accessible for creators and consumers. -iOS/MacOS: I'm most intrigued by being able to control your iPhone from your Mac! I feel like this could be very helpful for my fellow phone addicts to disrupt dark patterns that emerge when you pick up your phone. -Airpods: My choreographer brain was stimulated when seeing the new nodding gestures to interact with Siri. This is such a great example of how technology is choreographing our body and environment, and why I'm passionate about my Embodiment Design method to take better care of how we use our bodies to interact with technology. -AI: Apple has shown their branding mastery again in their approach to AI. They BARELY said "AI" during the entire keynote and one of the only times they did was when referring to it pejoratively when discussing other companies bad privacy conditions. For Apple it's all about "Apple Intelligence," which they called "AI for the rest of us." They made AI extremely personal and all about YOU. Now will it work? The media is going to call it all AI so the naming conventions may not stick, but I think the approach is a winner. What are your thoughts on today's Keynote? #apple #AI

Extremely impressed with ILM Immersive's new MARVEL "WHAT IF?" immersive story experience for the Apple Vision Pro. Trying to a new format to share my thoughts via video. Watch below to hear about how this experience explores interaction, narrative, and form. Looking forward to hearing your feedback and what you think of the experience. https://lnkd.in/et-NwXpP #applevisionpro #immersive #marvel #VR #MR

We had a successful touring stop for Kinetic Diffusion in Charlotte this past weekend in partnership with Blumenthal Arts and Charlotte Symphony for their event, MERGE. We shared our Photo Booth version of Kinetic Diffusion in the lobby for folks to explore while taking a break from the concert. In this installation, guests learn about AI image generation in a fun embodied way by exploring and writing different prompts and moving in the world they co-created. They even get to record a video which is sent to their email. We had over 400 prompts generated in just two evenings! It's fascinating to see the "vibe" of the prompts shift from city to city and event to event. We saw lots of interest in anime, fantasy characters, and club culture (naturally) in Charlotte. MERGE brought the worlds of EDM and the Symphony together for a unique collaborative concert featuring luscious visuals and an opportunity to be up close with the musicians in a new setting. It was a fantastic example of how to build a bridge between audiences and offer new context for performance. Can't wait to bring our installation to more places!

There's one major industry that will benefit from the AI explosion that we don't talk enough about: theatre. I want to offer some perspective on how pivotal this moment is for the form. Let me know what you think. #AI #theatre

Here’s another look at KINETIC DIFFUSION, Aaron Santiago and I’s AI dance project. In this sequence, dancer and AI become partners as the visuals are rendered in real time through a camera feed and manipulated to have a choreographed delay. This project is all about leaning into the limitations and bleeding edge possibilities of AI image generation and applying them to choreographic principles. In this case, mirroring and canon fit the bill perfectly. I’ll be in Paris next week pitching the project at New Images. #AI #dance #immersive

Some thoughts from my first experience with the #AppleVisionPro broken down by macro reflections, biggest wow moments, and technical details: Macro Reflections -While I'm quite optimistic about this device, the visual quality is so good that it genuinely left me glad it was so expensive and thereby less accessible to young people. The digital assets are so clear and delicious to your eyes that I'm concerned the impact it will have on people wanting to wear the headset a lot. -That being said, I felt WAY less isolated in it than any other headset. Apple is doing its magical Apple mixture of UX and hardware to deliver an extremely comforting and playful experience. Biggest Wow Moments -The Encounter Dinosaur experience literally made me gasp. And that's as someone who wears headsets all the time. The brilliant choice to lean into objects emerging from flat screens to emphasize 3D oppose to dropping visitors into fully immersive environments is extremely unique and not what anyone saw coming. This feels much more familiar and surprising all at once. This experience delivers on the promise of the infamous Magic Leap whale demo. -My other WOW moment was using the Disney+ app. This is a fantastic example of what developers can do with the headset when given special access. The 3D movies look phenomenal, especially in the theatrical environments, where the lights automatically dim as the film projects large in front of you. -Spatial videos are nuts. The combination of realism + volumetric video + the edge blur is spectacular. It truly feels like a great way to relive moments or event just give someone a better sense of what it felt like to be somewhere. Technical Details -I found the headset weight to be no issue. -The headset feels extremely high end. I love the knob to tighten the strap. -The passthrough felt less impressive than I was expecting considering the hype. But it's not just the passthrough quality that makes it feel "like eyesight," it's the digital assets and way they fade into view that make you not care about the fact that you're looking at passthrough. -I have had a massive headache for the last 24 hours since wearing it. The eye strain is REAL. What are your thoughts if you've tried it or your questions if you haven't?

Over the last few months, I have been working with Blair Russell for his new musical, Salem, to create a unique new approach to a 29-hour reading: what we called the Open House. This presentation is a prime example of how my company, constellation, believes we can reimagine how we introduce theatrical brands to the industry and audiences. Instead of a standard 29-hour reading presentation, we shared a 30-minute showcase of material from the show, alongside a digital hub to listen to demos and watch a trailer to get to know the writers, and an experiential installation powered by augmented reality designed to introduce you to the sound and world of Salem. Visitors scanned paintings and objects to collect fragments of lyrics to unlock demos from the show. We don’t have to use the same strategies over and over again, especially when they’re not working to engage audiences. My DMs are open if you want to explore how we can bring your brand to life with immersive design. #immersive #augmentedreality #ar #broadway

In 72 hours this studio will be transformed into an experiential installation powered by augmented reality. My company, constellation, is building the activation for new musical, “Salem,” to introduce audiences to the world of the show for the first time. It is part of a larger event which will invite audiences to experience a short showcase of material from the work. In the theatre world, a “29 hour reading,” a developmental union contract, is often the first way producers share new shows with the industry. While we are using that structure to rehearse with the actors, the presentation will be far from ordinary. I can’t wait to share how it looks later this week!

It’s really fascinating to see the reactions in the comments here. I think there’s a conversation happening between two sides that aren’t quite talking about the same thing. As an artist, I completely believe in the importance of humans in making art. It is essential. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t use technology in order to create our art. AI, like a drill or paintbrush, is a tool. It is an intelligent tool. I do think it’s important for artists to learn the possibilities of collaborating with AI because I think most will realize that it can be their collaborator and supercharge their creativity more than be their competitor. Now all that being said, we need to have serious conversations about regulation and copyright in the AI space. We shouldn’t be stealing art to train our models and we shouldn’t be forcing artists to work with a tool they don’t want to use. So that’s where the two conversations stand, they are certainly connected, but they are also unique in their own ways. #aiart #ai