Connect with us

Technology

The Roddenberry Archive brings every iteration of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise bridge to life – with William Shatner, Terry Matalas and John de Lancie

Published

on

The Roddenberry Estate and OTOY unveil beautiful and fully realized recreations of Gene Roddenberry’s iconic Starship Enterprise bridge across time and space – with testimony from Star Trek luminaries including William Shatner.

LOS ANGELES, April 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Roddenberry Estate and OTOY are proud to share the next phase of their multi-decade collaboration on the Roddenberry Archive – capturing Roddenberry’s lifetime of works for future generations to explore with quiescent historical accuracy and holographic immersion.

As a coda to the epic conclusion of Star Trek: Picard, the Roddenberry Archive team is is presenting its largest set of iconic Star Trek digital archive works to date, organized in a new web portal – bridging the legacies of all three major eras of Roddenberry’s Star Trek – with help from William Shatner (Star Trek), John de Lancie (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Terry Matalas (Star Trek: Picard) 

Today’s release allows fans to see the many dozens of evolutionary iterations of the famous Starship Enterprise bridge, across every epoch of Star Trek’s history. Each bridge is presented in the timeline as a 1:1 scale “in-universe” 360 recreation.

John de Lancie, who has portrayed Gene Roddenberry’s beloved character ‘Q’ since 1987’s Star Trek: The Next Generation premiere, narrates a deep dive exploring the evolution and legacy of the Starship Enterprise bridge – from its inception in Pato Guzman’s 1964 sketches, through its portrayal across decades of TV shows and feature films, to its latest incarnation on the Enterprise-G – as revealed in the final episode of Star Trek: Picard.

The combined documentary and exploratory online experience brings the legacy and history of the iconic starship Enterprise to life through meticulous recreations of the filming sets used for production as well as “in-universe” life size, functional immersive virtual interiors. Audiences exploring the Starship Enterprise bridge can see working turbolifts and consoles – and immerse themselves as if they were living in the Star Trek Universe.

The recreations were produced for the Gene Roddenberry Estate, and overseen by iconic Star Trek artists, including Denise and Michael Okuda, authors of The Star Trek Encyclopedia, Daren Dochterman, Doug Drexler and Dave Blass.

For a limited time, the Roddenberry Archive portal is testing an experimental technology preview on desktop web browsers, allowing fans to walk onto the bridges of the Enterprise and explore them in every detail, all from an instantaneous live stream available on the web page.

Accompanying the interactive bridge experiences and evolution documentary film, is a series of 2023 featurettes exploring Star Trek’s behind-the-scenes production process with commentary by Star Trek luminaries sharing Gene Roddenberry’s vision for the iconic film and TV franchise.

The first featurette teases William Shatner’s hours-long testimonial for the Roddenberry Archive, captured holographically within a perfect recreation of the 1979 USS Enterprise bridge. The legendary icon shares his memories, aspirations and intentions in bringing Captain Kirk to life in 1965, portraying his death in 1994 – and his personal views on the future he envisions for this beloved character, including visualizations of form his 1995 novel “Ashes of Eden”.

The second featurette includes interviews with leading cast and crew, including: James Conway, Director, Star Trek: The Next Generation; David Livingston, Producer / Director, Star Trek: The Next Generation; David Gerrold, Program Consultant, Star Trek: The Next Generation; Andrew Probert, Consulting Senior Illustrator, Star Trek: The Next Generation; Herman Zimmerman, Production Designer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Terry Matalas, showrunner, Star Trek: Picard; and Dave Blass Production Designer, on Star Trek: Picard.

The release of the immersive Enterprise recreations and documentary testimony is accompanied by a new 765874 concept video, touching on elements from William Shatner’s “Ashes of Eden” novel and Star Trek: Picard’s resurrection of the Enterprise-D. Actors Mahé Thaissa and Lawrence Selleck return to explore these iconic themes from the history of Star Trek. A life size physical prosthetic Arex was created for the production, bringing the much beloved character from Star Trek: The Animated Series to life, not just in CG, but also in live action.

The archive has completed work on bringing Majel Roddenberry’s voice to life, based on phonetic recordings she made in 2008, with the goal of adding her signature vocalization to the archive.

Numerous environments and set recreations are continuously being studied and worked on by the Roddenberry Archive for future updates covering production work from the ‘The Cage’ pilot onwards, as well as a full and complete 1:1 scale recreation of the entire interior of the original USS Enterprise, featured in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

“The Roddenberry Archive portal gives the public a first glimpse into the many years of incredible work done by the archive’s world class production team both in preserving Gene Roddenberry’s legacy in tandem with visually documenting 60 years of Star Trek history in quiescent detail” said CEO of OTOY and Roddenberry Archive, Jules Urbach. “Through new technology, we can bring audiences back in time as if they were there on set during the making of Star Trek, providing a window into new dimensions of the Star Trek universe,” added Urbach. The team’s efforts to capture Star Trek history in full lifelike detail with the highest degree of historical accuracy is an important milestone in preserving Gene Roddenberry’s vision for future generations to explore and see, through the lens of those that worked with him.”

“Over multiple decades, we have been exploring the frontiers of new technology to how we might document my father’s vision, work and ideas in ways that can be experienced by generations yet to come” said Rod Roddenberry, President of Roddenberry Entertainment. “The Roddenberry Archive is not just a way to honor my father’s legacy, but my mother’s, Majel, as well. She voiced the Enterprise computer for decades. In 2008, before she left us, she meticulously recorded her voice phonetically, with the intent to preserve it for some future technology to bring it back to life. We waited 15 years, and today I am so proud to have her voice, just as I remember it, welcoming visitors to the Roddenberry Archive portal”

About OTOY Inc.

OTOY Inc. is the definitive cloud graphics company, pioneering technology that is redefining content creation and delivery for media and entertainment organizations around the world. OTOY’s Academy Award®-winning technology is used by leading visual effects studios, artists, animators, designers, architects, and engineers, providing unprecedented creative freedom, new levels of realism, and new economics in content creation and distribution powered by the cloud. For more information, visit www.otoy.com.

Additional Resources:

Read more about The Render Network here.Follow OTOY on Facebook and Twitter.


 

 

 


View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-roddenberry-archive-brings-every-iteration-of-star-treks-uss-enterprise-bridge-to-life—with-william-shatner-terry-matalas-and-john-de-lancie-301810271.html

SOURCE OTOY Inc.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

LONGi advocates for accelerating the energy just transition through green innovation at COP29

Published

on

By

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — On November 11th, the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change kicked off in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The conference focused on how to fairly and effectively allocate climate financing resources, ensuring that every penny can be used to its maximum effect, helping countries achieve low-carbon economic transformation and enhance climate resilience.

At this critical moment in the global fight against climate change, as an advocate, practitioner, and leader in sustainable development in the global clean energy field, LONGi actively participated in COP29, advocating for the promotion of energy equity through green innovation. This marks LONGi’s sixth consecutive participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

On November 15th, LONGi in collaboration with Deeprock Group, hosted a special event titled “SOLAR FOR ALL — The Key to Tackling Climate Change: Green Innovation Accelerates Just Energy Transition” at the “Biosphere 3” Solutions Pavilion in the Blue Zone of COP29. The event showcased LONGi’s latest scientific and technological achievements and project progress in the field of clean energy. Additionally, LONGi participated in a roundtable forum attended by representatives from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, China Electricity Council (CEC), Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), World Economic Forum (WEF), Energy Foundation (EF), and relevant NGOs. At the forum, LONGi shared its stories about “Energy Equity” and discussed how to help climate-vulnerable regions enhance their climate resilience.

Solarization of the Emergency Stockpile in Uzbekistan Completed

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and LONGi, a leading global solar technology company, have completed a groundbreaking project to solarize the UNHCR Regional Humanitarian Logistics Hub located in the Termez Cargo Centre in Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan.

The project, part of a wider UNHCR-LONGi climate action partnership, marks a significant step towards ensuring a sustainable energy supply for logistics that support refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) across the region and beyond.

The solarization has transformed the Hub into a critical operation powered by clean energy. With the installation of high-efficiency solar panels, a substantial amount of renewable energy will be generated each year, reducing the Hub’s reliance on the grid and significantly lowering its carbon emissions.

“This transition to clean energy – a milestone in greening our supply chain globally – not only provides a renewable, reliable and cost-effective power source for the critical work that the Termez Supply Hub supports in the region, but also demonstrates UNHCR’s strong commitment to environmental sustainability,” said Shoko Shimozawa, Director of UNHCR’s Division of Emergency, Security and Supply (DESS).

The 700kW solar photovoltaic powerplant is expected to generate around 989,993kWh of electricity annually, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 495 metric tons per year. It will also result in significant annual electricity savings, which will benefit local energy infrastructure by reducing operating costs and allowing for reinvestment in further sustainable initiatives.

“By solarizing the Hub and partnering with UNHCR, LONGi is able to provide more efficient, reliable, safe and sustainable energy solutions for refugees around the world, accelerating the global energy transition and promoting energy equity,” said Dennis She, Vice President of LONGi. “Our vision is to promote a global energy transformation using BC (back-contact) solar technology, solving the electricity problem for people who are often without access to basic services, helping refugees to safeguard their rights and live in dignity.”

This partnership sets a precedent for future projects that aim to promote renewable energy adoption and improve the lives of vulnerable populations.

A milestone in UNHCR’s efforts to achieve climate neutrality across its operations, the solarization of the Hub paves the way for further collaboration that draws on the skills and expertise of the private sector. And by investing in renewable energy solutions, alongside strong partners, UNHCR is not only reducing its environmental impact but also building resilience and ensuring a sustainable future for refugees and IDPs.

The Hub, which has served as UNHCR’s regional emergency preparedness and response stockpile since 2021 primarily for the Afghanistan response, will be incorporated into UNHCR’s global stockpile network in 2025. This network, currently consisting of seven UNHCR stockpiles, enables the organization to respond to emergencies anywhere in the world by delivering core relief items (CRIs) – like blankets, mattresses, solar lamps and kitchen sets – to up to 1 million people who have been forced to flee their homes within 72 hours of an emergency being declared.

Turning emergency stockpile operations net carbon-neutral is a critical priority for the sustainability of UNHCR’s work. And the success if this pilot in Termez paves the way for similar projects around the globe.

Accelerating Global Energy Equity with Leading Photovoltaic Technology

Dennis She believes that energy equity lies in providing clean, affordable, and non-discriminatory energy services for all of humanity. However, there is currently a huge disparity in per capita energy consumption levels among countries worldwide, with the top 20% of economies consuming about 80% of the global energy. At the same time, approximately 11% of the global population still lives in darkness without electricity, and about one-third of the population cannot use clean energy for cooking, with energy poverty directly affecting local economic development and the improvement of people’s quality of life. In addition, the uneven distribution of global energy resources and limited affordability also constrain the realization of energy equity on a global scale.

With the deepening implementation of global carbon neutrality goals, clean energy represented by photovoltaics will gradually become the backbone of the global energy transition. In particular, the technological and manufacturing attributes of photovoltaics continuously enhance their cost competitiveness, rapidly driving the process of energy transition.

Solar energy is more widely and abundantly distributed globally than traditional fossil fuels, and it is more beneficial to developing countries. As a new type of clean energy, photovoltaic (PV) power generation has seen a rapid decrease in the cost per kilowatt-hour with the continuous development of photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaics have become the most economical source of electricity in the majority of countries and regions worldwide. Their sustainability, affordability, and characteristics of fairness and security provide an excellent solution to help achieve global energy equity.

As a global leading solar technology company, LONGi calls for global energy equity and has been driving global energy transition in all aspects, reducing the costs for people on the path to carbon neutrality. This allows more people around the world, especially those in developing and underdeveloped countries and regions, to enjoy affordable clean energy and achieve energy equity. In 2022, Dennis She first advocated for global energy equity at COP27, calling for the allocation of limited resources to the popularization of renewable energy and urgent climate actions.

In the future, a new round of energy revolution centered on new energy will be accelerated, and the beautiful vision of a zero-carbon future will be realized sooner based on equal and economical distribution of clean electricity. At that time, light will be brought equally into every corner of the world, providing inclusive clean energy for all regions under all scenarios, truly achieving “SOLAR FOR ALL,” and the world will have unlimited possibilities for sustainable development.

SOURCE LONGi

Continue Reading

Technology

/C O R R E C T I O N — Oman Investment Authority/

Published

on

By

In the news release, FUTURE FUND OMAN LAUNCHES FIRST WAVE OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS WORTH OVER US$ 2 BILLION, issued 20-Nov-2024 by Oman Investment Authority over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that the sentence, should read , Other major partnerships include the IDG Oman Fund, developed in collaboration with IDG Capital, an international investment firm with a global footprint and extensive experience in China, focusing on ICT rather than , Other major partnerships include the IDG Oman Fund, developed in collaboration with China’s IDG Capital, on ICT as originally issued inadvertently. The complete, corrected release follows:

FUTURE FUND OMAN LAUNCHES FIRST WAVE OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS WORTH OVER US$ 2 BILLION

MUSCAT, Oman, Nov. 22, 2024 /CNW/ — Future Fund Oman (FFO), the latest investment initiative under Oman Investment Authority (OIA), has announced its first batch of approved investment projects. With a combined value exceeding US$ 2 billion, these projects include US$ 1.6 billion committed by foreign investors and US$ 571 million contributed by FFO. The investments are expected to create more than 1,600 direct employment opportunities, marking a significant step forward in Oman’s economic diversification and development strategy.

The approved projects span ten key sectors, including technology, manufacturing, tourism, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. In addition, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups will play a prominent role, with investments targeting food, health, financial technology, e-commerce, and more. This comprehensive approach reflects FFO’s commitment to fostering innovation and growth across a broad spectrum of industries, ensuring that both large-scale ventures and emerging businesses contribute to Oman’s economic progress.

Mulham Al Jarf, Deputy President for Investments at Oman Investment Authority, stated that these projects underscore the Fund’s dedication to fulfilling its strategic objectives. These include stimulating local economic growth, fostering collaboration with the private sector, attracting foreign investments, and creating opportunities for Omani businesses and job seekers. He emphasized that these projects represent just the beginning of FFO’s efforts since its establishment in January 2024.

Among the approved projects are transformative initiatives that position Oman as a leader in innovative industries. Notable projects include the United Solar Polysilicon Plant in the SOHAR Port and Freezone, which will be one of the largest polysilicon production facilities in the world and the first of its kind in the Middle East. This facility will produce 100,000 tonnes of polysilicon annually, a critical component for renewable energy industries such as solar panel manufacturing.

Other major partnerships include the IDG Oman Fund, developed in collaboration with IDG Capital, an international investment firm with a global footprint and extensive experience in China, focusing  on ICT, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. Additionally, FFO has also partnered with EW Partners to establish the EWP Oman Fund, which targets key sectors such as ICT, energy, tourism, and agriculture.

Future Fund Oman is also supporting a range of SMEs and startups in partnership with fund managers like Tanmia, ITHCA, Omantel, and Cyfr Capital. These include IO Kitchen, an innovative cloud kitchen featuring over 30 virtual brands; Bima, an online insurance brokerage service; and Qpay, the first licensed Omani entity offering a “buy now, pay later” service. Other groundbreaking projects include BcLear Aligner, an AI-powered solution for dental braces; Nashid, a blockchain-based digital identity platform; and Antom, a digital financial platform that enhances the capabilities of Oman’s fintech ecosystem.

FFO was established in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance with a capital of $5.2 billion, allocated over five years from 2024 to 2028. The Fund strategically excludes investments in oil, gas, and real estate, focusing on growth-oriented sectors aligned with Oman’s Vision 2040.

Interested investors are invited to submit proposals through the dedicated platform, https://futurefund.om/futurefund/

Media Contact:

Fahad Al Toubi
+968 24745781
Fahad.AlToubi@oia.gov.om
www.oia.gov.om

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2563379/FFO_Investment_Projects.jpg

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/future-fund-oman-launches-first-wave-of-investment-projects-worth-over-us-2-billion-302311714.html

SOURCE Oman Investment Authority

Continue Reading

Technology

China Matters’ Feature: How High-Quality Development Is Shaping China’s Future

Published

on

By

BEIJING, Nov. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — China has entered a transformative phase in its economic evolution, prioritizing sustainability and innovation over rapid growth. This strategic shift, known as high-quality development, represents a fundamental change aimed at ensuring long-term prosperity while addressing global challenges.

 

The latest episode of Keywords to Understand China features Jason Smith, host of the Bridge to China Podcast and a foreigner with permanent residence status in China, discussing this pivotal concept. “High-quality development means enhancing people’s lives, improving social equity, and fostering technological breakthroughs,” Smith explains.

China’s achievements in high-quality development are wide-ranging. Its Tiangong space station, equipped with cutting-edge solar energy and oxygen recycling systems, stands as a testament to its advanced engineering, surpassing the retiring International Space Station. Notably, China also became the first nation to land a rover on the moon’s far side, collecting and returning lunar samples that are now showcased in Beijing’s National Museum.

Beyond space exploration, China is a leader in artificial intelligence and green technologies. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, China files more AI-related patents annually than any other country. This reflects its commitment to innovation as a cornerstone of economic transformation.

Workforce development is another critical area. The National Bureau of Statistics reports that the average education level of Chinese workers now exceeds 11 years, with over 60 million classified as highly skilled. Meanwhile, universities in China dominate global STEM rankings, according to Nature magazine, further solidifying the country’s reputation for fostering talent.

Smith notes that China’s high-quality development is about balance: “It’s not just about competing globally; it’s about improving quality of life domestically while contributing to global progress.”

As nations face mounting environmental and economic challenges, China’s approach provides a roadmap for integrating innovation with sustainability.

View more via YouTube: https://youtu.be/48um73JN9Gc

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/china-matters-feature-how-high-quality-development-is-shaping-chinas-future-302314044.html

SOURCE China Matters

Continue Reading

Trending