Egg’s work with Radical Media on productization and new IP, and IP analysis project for one of their directors, Chris Milk, borne new capture technology for cVR.
Client:
Radical Media (Chris Milk | Here Be Dragons)
While working for Radical Media on a broader international “project” of traveling entertainment (still under NDA), CEO Jon Kamen asked we review the recent “VR” work of one of their directors, Chris Milk from the Beck Hello Again “VR” experience to see if there was any hard IP that could be protected. Indeed, Milk’s work was so progressive, all stakeholders from Hudson Rouge (agency) to end-client Lincoln Motors even argued over who could present the work at the Sundance Film Festival.
Milk had commissioned 360 Heroes to design both a circular camera rig (made from GoPros), and to put together essentially two binaural microphones in a head with ears to record multi-dimensional sound. EGG’s Ren Moulton already had a good basis in both film, having worked for Francis Ford Coppola and involved in VR 1.0 development as a post-graduate in the Bay Area, but also in advanced recording tech, having designed a general wave recording device, called the Omnia-phone based on what was seen as noise in sonograms, but which was actually undistinguished (audio and light) waves.
Having spent a couple of years prior in researching the area to patent the function behind said device, he took the lead on the Radical IP project having been well-versed in the specific technical-IP crossover space. Ren names Milk’s new device as a “multi-axial” sound recording device (and a multiaural mic), and started researching related development and prior art to see where there might be an opening for Milk’s ownership.
Two months later, after reviewing over 200 core patents, and 500 related development projects and published patents, Moulton found one originally filed in Japan, but recently filed in the U.S. with the Japanese priority date for simply “multi-directional audio recording device” that was granted the broad claim of “beyond binaural and stereo sound recording.”
After discussing this with Radical and Milk, EGG (via Ren) suggested doing some further front-end development and design to integrate a multi-axial audio recording device into what he called a “HMR,” a play on HMDs, or “Head Mounted VR Displays,” but being a “Head Mounted Recorder.” It could go beyond the industry standard or 360 video (to sphere video) in the process, and as a specific implementation would be patentable.
Ultimately, Omnia, based on the IP assigned was a technology and VR product innovation company. Milk wanted to focus on VR content, and the Omnia founders felt the best use of development funds (and investment) was not in making movies, and not creating one-off “professional” VR cameras (given the current video/film camera market – from a unit sales perspective – can be counted in the tens of thousands) for a founder’s own use. Milk is doing great work at his company Here be Dragons, Omnia’s focus is on what it believes is the future of “mass VR content”, through enabling the general consumer to use “point and click” 3D sphere-video cameras to produce and share millions of videos a year in “reality VR” versus the handful of short 360 films and 3D video games released annually, the long-term capacity issue for those related industries, and thus the constraint in mass consumer adoption of VR headset purchases.
