soho computers

SOHO Beach House Gets GLITZed!

2011-11-01T01:02:00.001-07:00

Media Stage, Inc just completed the first ever "4D" video projection mapping event for Latin American fashion cable network GLITZ. With assistance from local animators and using two Barco HD 20K DLP Projectors, the company created a six story, '4D' video image collage of live action and computer generated animation for a thousand fashion industry attendees at the world famous SOHO Beach House.

What is '4D'? It is the process of creating 3D imagery and animation, and then "projection mapping" it over an unorthodox architectural surface such as a free standing, six story building. The building virtually comes to life and is referred to as the 'fourth' dimension. For this project, a Media Stage mapping technician built a computer generated model of the Soho Beach House's eastern façade, and filled it with 3D animations. The result was a stunning nine-minute tour de force of Media Stage's expertise in HD projection.

During the presentation the building appeared to collapse, fill with water, and like a Hollywood Transformer, morph into a fully animated, mechanical breathing surface … all to promote the glamorous Project Runway franchise (South America) via truly "augmented" reality. Based on the oohs, aahs, and cheers from the crowd, the presentation was a total success.

The video installation took over 22 hours of non-stop work by the Media Stage, Inc technical crew with content provided by Miami's United Content Providers.

Media Stage, Inc is a leading audiovisual production house with offices in Southern Florida and Puerto Rico. The company offers the extraordinary effects of 4D Projection Mapping and 3D holographic "telepresence" video projection, high definition video; iMag, playback, and recording; a complete in house design center including Vectorworks 2011, Maxedia Media Server and The Lighting Converse 3D Visualizer; theatrical lighting, concert sound, technical/creative consultation and project management.

Source http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/soho-beach-house-gets-glitzed-132929543.html

Automated DJ for Gentlemen's Clubs Debuts

2011-08-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

An automated DJ system for gentlemen’s clubs will debut at the 2011 Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo in Las Vegas on Aug. 21.

CoverJock is a computer-controlled, turnkey DJ system that automates club DJ, announcer and music requirements.

According to CoverJock U.K. Ltd., the new offering provides professional DJ style music management, dancer stage calls, intros, outros and promotions through a remote controlled handheld touch screen computer.

The system also generates daily dancer working schedules, dances performed, number of private dances, duration and more.

The company said the system helps to maximize club profits by reducing or eliminating DJ costs whilst increasing revenue from special offers and promotions.

More than 50 U.K. clubs are currently using CoverJock since its launch six months ago, according to the developers who said club owners have reported a significant increase in revenue after installing the system.

The system requires club owners to pay a set up fee listed at $1,499 and a $499 monthly charge with no long term contracts.

Harvey, the owner of Angels Gentlemen’s clubs in the U.K. said, “Thank you for CoverJock... it’s awesome. Your product has saved us a huge fortune over all of my clubs. We will never go backwards.”

Stephen Bruce, owner of the French Pussy Cat Club in Soho, London added, "CoverJock goes beyond the capabilities of a live DJ.”

Organizers of the Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo will replace the DJ, announcement and music for all of the event’s stage shows and parties with the CoverJock system, the company said.

As part of the global launch, the system’s developers are offering a money back guarantee if the system fails to immediately reduce a club’s costs, increase its revenues, eliminate hassle for the managers/owners and improve the customer experience when installed and used properly.

Source http://newswire.xbiz.com/view.php?id=137244

Publishing Guru Bets on Book-Making Machine

2011-03-31T21:52:00.000-07:00

In an era when e-books and tablets are gaining more traction, one long-time New York City entrepreneur has stepped into the fray with a device that weds digital storage capacity with the old-fashioned printing press: a book-making machine.

Jason Epstein, 83, is admired in the publishing world; he's worked with Nabokov, Mailer and Roth. But since the beginning of his career, Epstein has also pursued innovation in book publishing.

The Espresso Book Machine — a one-ton machine made of 15 feet of Plexiglas and metal that prints and binds custom books — is his invention, and can be found at the McNally Jackson bookstore in Soho. Paper flies off of trays, whirls through wheels and gets piled up in stacks. The book takes shape fast.

"Physical books is the way [great texts] have been preserved and handed down for 5,000 years, and I think that’s not gonna end now," Epstein said.

A bookstore patron, Shagun Mehrotra, recently marveled over the machine. Mehrotra, a published author of books on infrastructure and climate change, said this machine could enable him to become his own publisher.

"If I have a manuscript and there are 450 pages of text, I could print 20 copies and do my book tour," Mehrotra said, adding that many books on highly technical subjects never find more than a few dozen readers.

The idea for the Espresso Book Machine emerged in the late 1990s, as book texts were being digitized. Epstein asked himself who would want to read War and Peace on a computer monitor?

"There had to be a device that would permit you to receive a digital file on demand and create it in the form of a book," Epstein said.

So he set about creating it, seeking investors and buying a patent for a relatively small printing press that could be installed in bookstores. Epstein likened his idea to an ATM for books.

For a time, the machine got a lot of buzz. Time magazine made the Espresso Book Machine invention of the year in 2007.

But so far, the device has made very little impact. There are only around 50 Espresso Book Machines in operation around the world. Epstein admitted it's taken more time than he had hoped to refine the device. But Xerox recently became a partner, and he insists he is poised to sell hundreds of machines in the next few years.

"And then we'll become the largest distributor of books in all languages in the world," Epstein said.

Epstein has grounds for confidence. As a new hire at Doubleday in the early 1950s, he pioneered the creation of trade paperback books after noticing his classmates at Columbia couldn't afford the books they wanted to buy. (At the time, most paperbacks were cheaply made dime-store paperback pulp, but quality fiction and non-fiction was available in hardcover only).

Epstein suggested creating high-quality softcover editions, and his bosses were willing to give it a try. The trade paperback was born.

"Which was wonderful on that occasion. It's never happened again since," Epstein said, adding that publishers have become scared of change.

Americans now spend more than $1.3 billion a year on trade paperbacks.

In the late 1980s, Epstein started another venture, The Reader's Catalog. The goal was to give book-lovers access to the titles that were disappearing from bookstore shelves as emerging superstores put a heavy emphasis on blockbusters. The venture was unprofitable and was eventually sold. Today, it's seen as a precursor to Amazon.com.

People in the book industry revere Jason Epstein, but they are increasingly skeptical his latest innovation will take off. The Espresso Book Machine is bulky, its menu of books limited mainly to backlist and public domain titles and users can't operate the machine on their own – they need help from trained bookstore staff.

On the day WNYC visited, the machine jammed while producing India in World Politics by Taraknath Das. Dustin Kurtz, a McNally Jackson staffer, searched the machine's computer monitor for clues about the problem while customer Dev Krishan got a coffee from the bookstore café.

"It is a treat if it works. And today I think we're having not a very good day," Krishan said. A few minutes later, Kurtz advised Krishan to come back the next day to pick up his book.

Kurtz said jams do happen, but he’s been able to fix most problems quickly.

But the machine has proven to be a hit with customers. More than 1,000 books were printed on the machine in the first four weeks for prices starting at $8 apiece. Kurtz said the main attraction to the Espresso Book Machine is that it is a tool for self-publishing.

McNally Jackson won't disclose the price it paid for the machine.

"We don't have hard numbers on whether it's broken even yet, and I think we're going to have to increase the volume on it before that happens. But we’re aiming for it," Kurtz said.

Source http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2011/apr/01/e-books-grow-rapidly-entrepreneur-makes-bet-paper/

Retailers hope iPad will inspire shoppers

2011-03-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

At a time when shopping has lost most of its glamour, the star power of Apple's iPad has retailers' hearts beating faster.

Merchants from Gucci to J.C. Penney are experimenting with ways to use electronic tablets in their stores to boost sales and dazzle jaded shoppers.

No retailer has the formula quite figured out yet, so most have limited their tests to just a few stores.

But experts predict that within the next year iPads and other electronic tablets will make their way into all manner of merchants, from supermarkets to mattress stores to luxury jewelers.

"Everybody has something in development," said Ken Nisch, chairman of JGA, a retail design firm in Southfield, Mich. "This is not going to be a novelty. It's going to be a sea change in how retailers transact and interact with customers."

Since Apple Inc. unveiled the iPad in April, a spate of retailers including Burberry, Puma, Things Remembered, Converse and Nordstrom, to name just a few, have rolled out tests of tablet computers at select stores around the country. The move is all part of retailers' response to how consumers are shopping everywhere — online, on their smart phones and in the stores.

Retailers are using iPads as mobile catalogs so sales clerks and shoppers can browse inventory not available on store shelves. They are fastening the tablets to counters so shoppers can design their own products. They are arming sales associates with the electronic clipboards to gather customer data. And they are testing the device's potential as a portable cash register.

"It is taking retail outside the four walls to where the customers are," said Sandeep Bhanote, CEO of Global Bay Mobile Technologies, a South Plainfield, N.J.-based mobile retail software firm. "You're talking about changing the way you do business. That's what this is all about."

Make Up For Ever, a unit of French luxury conglomerate LVMH, was among the first retailers to give the technology a try. The cosmetic company set up iPad stations in October at its boutiques inside Sephora stores in New York's Soho neighborhood; Costa Mesa, Calif.; and Las Vegas.

The iPad is fixed to a gondola and allows shoppers to update their Facebook pages, tweet about their shopping experience and access face charts for browsing makeup combinations. Eventually customers will be able to upload a digital photo of their own faces for a virtual makeover.

Jessica Hair-Anderson, a Make Up For Ever store manager in Costa Mesa, said having Apple's hot gadget on the counter adds a "cool factor" that helps attract younger shoppers.

"When people come into the boutique, it's all very new and exciting visually," said Hair-Anderson. "It also makes our jobs easier, because if we are busy with another customer, it gives our clients something to do, so it doesn't feel like they're waiting."

The Make Up For Ever pilots have been successful enough at capturing shoppers' attention that the firm is expanding the iPad stations beyond its three in-store Sephora boutiques to its traditional beauty counters at about 60 Sephora stores nationwide this fall.

"It enables us to create a connection between the brand and a client in the stores where we don't have our own staffs," said Gilles Kortzagadarian, vice president of retail for Make Up For Ever. "We can tell that clients are spending more time in the store and are interacting with the brand, so it can only be good for the business."

Several other iPad pilots are headed to stores, including one from British clothing merchant AllSaints Spitalfields. AllSaints first installed iPads at its U.S. flagship in New York's Soho neighborhood, which opened last year, said Jennifer Walker, vice president of marketing for AllSaints in North America. All new U.S. stores will have the devices as the firm strives to "stay at the forefront of innovative store design," she said.

Things Remembered, the nation's largest retailer of personalized gifts, launched an iPad pilot in November at 26 of its 600-plus stores.

The Highland Heights, Ohio-based company is testing the iPad in different configurations. Some devices are mounted on shelves, while others are located in separate stations in the middle of the store. Shoppers can scroll through thousands of messages and designs for engraving on photo frames, charms and boxes. Later this year, the device will be upgraded so customers can view the completed design before they order.

"We knew we wanted to improve the customer experience and make it more fun to shop for messaging," said Amy Myers, vice president of creative services. "We think it's really going to make it a fun experience, and that's what you want customers to feel when they're shopping. It's a blast."

Likewise, Nordstrom is testing the iPad at its bridal shops and special-occasion dress departments at several full-line stores. Sales associates rely on the iPad as a personal shopper, helping customers search for dresses in colors and styles that aren't available in the store.

The Seattle-based retailer is measuring the iPad's efficiency as a roving cash register at some Nordstrom Rack outlet stores, including a store in Burbank, Calif., that opened last fall. Shoppers were able to purchase products without having to stand in the traditional check-out line, and they could log on to Facebook and tell their friends what they were buying.

"We're now in the process of developing additional mobile capabilities on our sales floor, including testing mobile checkout and equipping our sales people with better tools at point-of-sale," said Blake Nordstrom, president of the department store chain, in a February earnings conference call. "We should be able to implement this on a broader scale later this year, and we will continue to explore ways to make our sales floor more responsive to the mobile customer."

J.C. Penney announced last month that it will roll out iPads to 50 of its fine jewelry departments, giving shoppers access to ring styles, cuts, sizes and metals not in the store and allowing them to compare ring features side by side on the iPad.

Converse and Puma are using iPads in their stores to allow shoppers to design their own shoes. Gucci installed iPad stations temporarily in some stores last fall to showcase its social media site Gucci Connect and to promote its custom handbags.

Deloitte predicts that in 2011 more than 1 in 4 electronic tablets sold will be bought by businesses. And the New York-based consulting firm forecasts the figure to rise in 2012 and beyond. Retailers are among the most likely early adopters of the device, Deloitte said in a January report, projecting that retailers will purchase and deploy more electronic tablets than any other industry this year.

"A picture is worth a thousand words," said Jon Watschke, retail strategist at Kurt Salmon Associates. "So when a salesperson shows a customer the item they want on a brilliant screen like an iPad, that's much more compelling. If someone's on the fence, you can show it on the iPad and say, 'We'll have it delivered to your home tomorrow.' "

To be sure, many retailers aren't ready to bring the iPad into their stores. Nordstrom converted all of its full-line stores to Wi-Fi in November, but an estimated 60 percent of retail companies lack the wireless infrastructure to use mobile technology in their stores, said Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at Miami-based Retail Systems Research.

The iPad's price tag, which ranges from $499 to $829, also is a sticking point as retailers coming out of the recession try to maintain cost controls, analysts said.

Apple has sold nearly 15 million iPads in the first nine months since its April debut, accounting for an estimated 90 percent of the electronic tablet market. But some retailers are waiting for cheaper versions as rival devices from Motorola, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard and others come onto the market.

For now, the cachet of the iPad is resonating most frequently with upscale retailers.

Burberry, the British retailer known for its $1,000 trench coats, has iPads on hand in select stores to allow customers to view its London runway shows and place orders on the spot. And luxury watchmaker Tourneau is developing an iPad as a virtual watch tray for its stores, according to Donald McNichol, vice president of digital for the New York-based company.

"I really see the benefit going first to high-end retail," said Ken Burke, founder of MarketLive Inc., a Petaluma, Calif.-based based e-commerce software firm. "It's going to make for a more intelligent salesperson and a closer relationship between sales associate and consumer. When you walk into the store, the sales associate is going to know a lot about you. All their customer information and buying pattern information will be at their fingertips."

Source http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/CPT-RETAIL-IPADS_4541178/CPT-RETAIL-IPADS_4541178/