From The Des Moines (Iowa) Register
(http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050422/BUSINESS04/504220381/1029/BUSINESS)

Economy

Ames firm immerses itself in 3-D technology

Micoy develops a camera that takes viewers from ‘watching to experiencing’ as videos will surround them.

By FRANK VINLUAN
REGISTER BUSINESS WRITER
April 22, 2005

Ames, Ia. – Everyone knows what it’s like to watch an image on-screen. Joe Stevens can make people feel as if they’re in the middle of it.

Stevens’ company, Micoy , brings new meaning to 3-D video. A Micoy camera can capture multiple angles in everything from sports to museum exhibits, yielding a field of vision up to 360 degrees.

“It’s just like being there,” Stevens said. “The difference is (going) from watching to experiencing.”

The 3-D images come from a patented sphere-shaped camera comprising 84 lenses. Stevens calls the technology “true immersive video.” It’s the visual equivalent of surround sound, Stevens said.

On Lisacast today is Don Pierce from Micoy! Listen in and log in to chat live with me.

Lisacast is covering two exciting conferences upcoming — DrupalCon and eComm

DrupalCon is the official Drupal unconference that attracts the most talented open source developers and innovative web shops in the world and brings them together to share knowledge, make decisions on the future of Drupal, and get to know each other in person.

It’s also the premiere opportunity for Drupal users to learn what they can do with Drupal, find partners for future projects, and meet the people behind the code.

The conference is designed for both developers and Drupal users. The first three days of the conference will be about learning, while the last day will be about doing – that’s when everyone works together to push code and documentation forward.

DrupalCon is a volunteer run, nonprofit conference. Here’s an interview with Lullabot’s Jeff Robbins.

Last year’s Emerging Communications conference (eComm) broke new ground and created a revitalized forum attracting 300 people and 80 speakers from 15 countries. The upcoming eComm promises to build upon that foundation to create the only forum dedicated to defining and profiting from the post-telecom era.

Topics (so far) will include:

* Voice and Video Evolution
* Open Spectrum
* Communications Enabling Business Processes, Especially B2C
* New Forms of Contactability and Connectability
* Mobile Social Networking (MoSoSo)
* Open Handsets & the Open Ecosystem
* Social Computing and the Social Web
* Convergence of Media with Personal Communications
* Open Communication Platforms
* Leveraging Cloud Computing
* Towards 4G Wireless
* Emerging Markets

Hear an interview with the conference organizer, Lee Dryburgh.