I have resigned as CEO and Chairman of PlayMotion due to circumstances that arose which would prevent me from being an effective executive for the company. Yes, there is a lot more to it than that, but as I learned a long time ago, some things just don’t belong in print (or type, in the case of a blog). It was a very difficult decision for me to make, considering how vested I was emotionally, mentally, and financially into the company (and more importantly, the people). We achieved a remarkable number of things – despite it all (not the least of which was record revenue/business).

I hope that I have left the company better off than on the day I assumed leadership responsibility for it. In fact, of that, I am confident. I would like to thank all of our employees for their hard work and dedication to the vision. It was a fun ride – brief – but fun.

I took a much needed rest over the past week or so, and have been giving some thought to what I will do next. I have already been approached by several investors and company-founders about getting involved in their startups, and that is pretty exciting. I may start another company, or perhaps pour my passion and energy into one of these existing startups, or maybe even explore some opportunities within the venture capital space (something I’ve been contemplating for a while).

Of course, none of this affects my involvement with StartupLounge (our non-profit organization focused on promoting fast-growth entrepreneurship in the Southeast). In fact, we have two more PitchCamp sessions coming up, and our next flagship networking event will be held on May 21st.

Note: if you’ve emailed me, and I haven’t responded, have patience …. I’m, shall we say, a tad bit behind.

In any event, I’ve learned quite a bit through all of this – as tragic as the ending was. I’m sure it will serve me in good stead down the road. One day, when I am sufficiently away from it all, I will try to capture some of those lessons learned for a blog post …

Cheers.

In actuality, not a lot. But, apparently we both believe that the keyboard will eventually become deprecated in favor of more natural inputs.

Over the past 30 years, computers have changed dramatically in terms of processing power, graphics capability, and storage capacity. However, the one thing that hasn’t fundamentally changed is how we interact with the computer. We are still tethered via keyboards, mice, joysticks, and gamepads. Even the Nintendo Wii, as cool as it is, has you tethered to the experience through a wireless controller.

We’re doing our best to change that at PlayMotion, and in some cases, on a grand scale. Some of our experiences have hundreds, even thousands of simultaneous people collaborating together using natural gestures. We believe that the human body is the ultimate input device. Simply put, the human body is capable of performing movements and gestures that cannot be replicated by a traditional input device.

Gates sees diminished role for keyboards

PITTSBURGH – People will increasingly interact with computers using speech or touch screens rather than keyboards, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said.

“It’s one of the big bets we’re making,” he said during the final stop of a farewell tour before he withdraws from the company’s daily operations in July.

In five years, Microsoft expects more Internet searches to be done through speech than through typing on a keyboard, Gates told about 1,200 students and faculty members Thursday at Carnegie Mellon University.

Gates also said the software that is proliferating in various branches of science, including biology and astronomy must become even more advanced.

“They’re dealing with so much information that … the need for machine learning to figure out what’s going on with that data is absolutely essential,” he said.

Microsoft is trying to establish ties not only with university computer science departments but also with reseachers in other scientific areas “to help us understand where new inventions are necessary,” Gates said.

Gates plans to retire as Microsoft’s chief software architect in July and focus on philanthropy.

Hey Bill, it’s one of the big bets we’re making as well, although I don’t think the next point on the curve is as simple as speech recognition and touch screens. It is probably a complex mix of things, including natural, untethered gesture recognition, one of our areas of interest. Let’s face it – touch screens and speech recognition have been around a long time – granted, the technologies are much better now, but I can still type faster than I can dictate (then type to correct). However, consumers are adopting touch technology now en masse (e.g. the iPhone), as well as speech recognition (e.g. voice dialing capabilities on cell devices, Microsoft’s Sync technology for cars, etc.) But we have already come to expect those technologies … we’ve seen them mature over the years.

In my opinion, the next exciting point on the curve is the nexus of computer vision, gesture recognition and visual immersion. I’ll post some more thoughts on this soon …

Cheers.

Are you a hot shot programmer who is bored writing business applications and mindlessly retrieving database records and spitting them out to users? Do you want to be a contributing force in a highly-visible, pre-venture-backed, early-stage software company that creates full-body interactive experiences with some of the most premier customers in the world, such as Disney, Nike, Red Bull, Google, Atari, and others?

PlayMotion, a leading provider of interactive, full-body video games and interactive experiences is seeking stud software developers to create computer vision-based entertainment experiences.

If you dig video games, and your idea of a fun night out is designing video games, and doing graphics and engine development in Panda3D, OpenGL, Python, and C++, and you have a penchant for pushing the Agile development envelope to the limit, then we want to talk to you.

If you decide to step up to the challenge, you will collaborate with a small, passionate team to create experiences that balance fun, laughter, challenge, visual beauty, and reward… for both single-player and large multiplayer (250+ simultaneous players) environments. We are on the bleeding edge of computer-vision R&D, and we are seeking highly-motivated individuals to join us in our adventure.

If you think you have what it takes, then we want to talk to you.

We are based in Atlanta – a very cool place. Lots of culture, fun, night life, and more important, peaches. Let’s talk.

Cheers.

The other day I spent some time volunteering to teach the kids down at Wheeler High School’s Magnet program. What fun! Of course, as I walked down the hallway toward the office to sign in, I couldn’t help but feel like my life had come full circle. 20+ years later, and there I was, back in the principal’s office. Ha! Thankfully, schools have done away with paddling, otherwise, I’d have had to resort to my old trick about wearing sweat pants under my jeans. Yes, I was a mischievous kid – big surprise – But I digress.

The focus of the class was on “business networking”, and I taught it twice that day, one for each of the Magnet groups. Business networking is a topic that I have become increasingly passionate about over the years, in no small part to my good friends Ricky Steele and Mike Blake. Trying to relate a dry topic such as “business networking” to a group of high school seniors was challenging, but I think I pulled it off.

It was especially rewarding for me, given my recent post about Sam Eisen. It brought some sense of closure for me, as I walked the halls and talked to the kids.

Good kids, great teacher, and a good program down there. Some observations:

• I covered the basic tenets of business networking, how to do it right, how NOT to do it, and tossed in a ton of real-life anecdotes and stories.
• We took an informal survey of the kids in the room, and what their desired post-college careers were. The biggest concentration was in the educational field – a lot of these super bright kids wanted to be teachers or counselors. That brought a smile to my face.
• One kid in each group said they wanted to be an “entrepreneur” – very cool. I invited them to attend our next StartupLounge.com Capital Connections event as an observer – nothing like mingling with other entrepreneurs and investors to get the juices flowing. It would be a great experience for them – seeing the process in action.
• One girl had the best, and probably the most honest answer of them all – “I simply want to be rich.” Getting rich takes hard work, and a plan to succeed, but hey, at least she knows what drives her. Hopefully, she will become an entrepreneur and create the next Home Depot or ISS.
• One girl was an aspiring artist – a very talented one at that – I gave her my card and told her to drop me a line – we use outside artists all the time at PlayMotion. Business networking at its core!
• I don’t have many regrets in life, but boy, it sure would be great if I could go back then, knowing what I know now!

At any rate – it was good fun. Thanks to Dr. Adams and the folks at Wheeler for having me down. I encourage other entrepreneurs and business leaders in the community to give their time to schools as well. Helping to shape these kids for tomorrow’s workforce can be a rewarding affair.

Cheers.

If you will be attending the upcoming NASAGA 2007 conference, I’ll be delivering a cool keynote presentation (I hope!) on the trends surfacing with using interactive technology in the training and development space. The presentation will present my observations from the past (I spent quite a bit of time in the T&D/technology space with Cambridge Technology Partners and DCI), some observations about the present, and an overview of what I think the future holds (based upon current industry drivers). The latter two areas based upon our current work in the education market with clients at PlayMotion.

Link: North American Simulation and Gaming Association

I may turn the presentation into a video cast or something and post here – time permitting. Hope to see you there!

Cheers.

FYI – we are hiring engineers against the profile below. If you or someone you know is interested in working in a cutting-edge Atlanta-based game studio, we’d welcome the opportunity to chat. PlayMotion is an exciting young company, and one that enjoys a marquee client list, including Atari, Nike, Google, Nokia, AT&T, Disney, Red Bull, and others.

Position: Experience Engineer (software)

PlayMotion is seeking a skilled software engineer to create computer vision-based entertainment experiences. PlayMotion creates a large spectrum of interactive entertainment experiences ranging from full-body interactive large displays (projected, LED, etc) for 3-8 players to large networks of massive screens capable of entertaining 250+ guests with games and artistic experiences. In addition to full-body interaction, PlayMotion works with kiosks, novel input devices such as wands, large multi-touch displays and auditory displays. Rather than calling our software creations videogames or toys, PlayMotion uses the term “Experience” to describe the variety of works we produce.

As a PlayMotion Experience Engineer, you will be responsible for the software design and programming of PlayMotion experiences. The task at hand is to write well-designed videogames using our SDK (Python-based, uses Panda3D engine) and our custom C++ based platform. You will work with a small team including Experience Designers and Engineers to create experiences that balance fun, laughter, challenge, visual beauty, and reward… for both single-player and large multiplayer (50+ simultaneous players) environments.

You must be proficient with the following tools and languages:

• Python
• C++
• OpenGL and Direct3D
• Networking (Sockets, or higher level API)
• Multithreading (OpenMP, Windows Threads, Pthreads, etc)
• Windows programming with MS Visual Studio

Above all, we value smart, creative, and driven people with a desire to learn new skills and the tolerance, tenacity and patience to function in a rapidly mutating work environment, dealing with world class customers and major installations.

Relevant skills include:

• storytelling & storyboarding
• foundation in design
• 2d design: PhotoShop & Illustrator
• videogame design

Helpful background experience:

You will work closely with a highly skilled team of visual effects and computer vision programmers, who create the engines upon which you design your experiences. You will also manage interactions with third party content development studios and contract 3d, 2d, and sound artists.

Please visit our website at http://www.playmotion.com in order to see examples of the types of content experiences you will be creating (and beyond!).

If you feel ready, please send your CV and work samples to:

PlayMotion!
ATTN: FunLab Studios
100 North Point Ctr E, Suite 305
Alpharetta, GA 3002

If you have a website you may alternatively email materials, with a cover letter explaining your qualifications, to matt@playmotion.com.

Cheers.

In just a few hours, I’ll board a plane with 3 or 4 others from our team to head from Atlanta to Los Angeles, where we’ll be participating in WIRED’s NextFest. We’ll be joining the PlayMotion advance party which is already on the ground getting everything setup.

This year, we’re demo’ing something very, very cool indeed. Flight of the Pegasus is a demo of our new crowd-based larger-than-life video gaming. Using no props, just your body, you and a group of friends will compete against each other as you fly a Pegasus up Mount Olympus on two large 16 foot tall screens. The course is complete with olive trees, greek architecture, and a screaming Zeus who is hell bent on teaching you to fly one of these things

On the other side of the event, we’ll have an identical setup, with another crowd of folks, and they will compete against the other group. Nothing like using your body to interact with others over distance (I’ll leave you to ponder the profoundness of that).

I’m terribly proud of our team. They’ve worked extremely hard over the past few months gearing up for this event. Couldn’t ask for a better bunch … from slinging code, constructing 3D models, and creating/integrating all the voiceover stuff, they really pushed themselves against a very tight timeline.

I’ll post some photos and video at some point. My schedule is booking up while I’m out there, but I may be able to pull some stuff together during the evenings. Otherwise, I’ll be sure to post some stuff when we get back next week.

At any rate, it should be a ton of fun. At last check, there will be around 60,000 people coming to the show. If you’re heading out to NextFest, stop by and see us! We’ll have one setup on the actual show floor, as well as another in the Lounge area.

Cheers.