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The story of Kurzweil Educational Systems.

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 05:00:02 +0000

In libraries and rehabilitation centers in the late 1970s, rumors would sometimes surface about the new and almost unbelievable Kurzweil Reading Machine. The size of a washing machine and more expensive than a home in the suburbs, this remarkable invention by Ray Kurzweil sounded like science fiction to many. A blind person could put a printed page on the glass and slowly, very slowly, the machine would interpret and read the page aloud. Accuracy was not stellar, but the machine could actually read! Of course, the machines were so expensive that only libraries and other institutions could purchase them.

Only 25 years after Ray Kurzweil’s fantastic breakthrough, the company that bears his name and benefits from his insights as technical consultant and chairman emeritus is going strong. Today, Kurzweil Educational Systems is selling reading solutions at a fraction of the cost (and size) of that 1976 piece of furniture. The products sold today by Kurzweil Educational Systems have come a considerable distance in technological evolution, and the company itself has undergone perhaps as many changes. Sales were up 30% in 2002, and enhancements to Kurzweil’s two chief products are being delivered at an impressive pace.

A company of its own.

The company that began as Kurzweil Computer Products has changed names + ownership over the decades. In 1980, it was purchased by Xerox and renamed Xerox Imaging Systems (XIS). Under that banner, Kurzweil developed 5 generations of the original Kurzweil Reading Machine. Priced at about $22,000 in the early 1980s. Also in the 1980s, the Kurzweil PC/KPR product was launched. This product comprised a flat-bed scanner, a dedicated DECtalk synthesizer board, and DOS-based software that allowed the user to “read” with an already existing computer. In 1992, the Reading Edge — a stand-alone and almost-portable reading machine was launched. At less than $6,000, a Kurzweil reading machine was finally falling into the range of possibilities for many consumers who were visually impaired.

Caption: The Reading Edge.

When Xerox began decreasing the size of its XIS division, Ray Kurzweil, Aaron Kleiner, Michael Sokol, and Jerry Elkind took steps to form a new company. (They were soon joined by veteran engineer, Stephen Baum, and now vice president of sales, Forrest Dobbs.) In January 1996, Kurzweil Educational Systems was born, and later that year, first one and then the other of Kurzweil’s now-flagship products were released.

In 1998, the company was purchased by Lernout & Hauspie (L&H) Speech Products, foreshadowing a change that could have been devastating. Under the umbrella of L&H, the Kurzweil division was languishing. “It became clear that L&H would not be pushing Kurzweil products forward,” says Cindy Johnson, Kurzweil’s vice president of marketing. “We were selling products despite the lack of investment by L&H, but it became clear that the company would have to buy itself back.”

Many from the Kurzweil team joined forces to buy the company back. With the help of additional investors— including Ray Kurzweil and many of the company’s 75 resellers throughout United States and Canada—the mission was accomplished. Meanwhile, L&H was attracting media attention for scandals of embezzlement, fraud, and bankruptcy, indicating that the foresight of the Kurzweil group could not have been more serendipitous. It took more than a year to complete the transaction, but by November 2001, Kurzweil Educational Systems was its own company once again—and thriving. “We’re not quite an employee-owned company,” Johnson explains, “but we’re very close to that.”

The Many Faces of Reading

Although the product has changed dramatically in size, appearance, capability, and configuration, Kurzweil has been doing pretty much the same thing all along: developing computer products that provide access to the printed word to those who have problems reading standard print. With the formation of Kurzweil Educational Systems in 1996, that mission flourished and expanded. “The first version of Kurzweil 1000 was probably the first reading program to ship with its own software speech, FlexTalk,” recalls Baum, the chief technology officer who has been at the center of developing most of the company’s products since the mid-1980s. “It also had a great OCR engine, ExperVision, which brought really great accuracy.”

In October 1996, at the Closing the Gap conference in Minnesota, Kurzweil unveiled the Kurzweil 3000, a product targeted to those who struggle with print for reasons other than vision. People with learning disabilities have embraced this technology, which assists with reading, writing, and learning.

Caption: The Kurzweil 3000 at Landmark College.

Johnson estimates that more than half the company’s current sales are generated by the Kurzweil 3000. Speaking text while highlighting it, offering a variety of fonts and contrasts, and providing students with built-in aids for making notes, reviewing material, taking tests, and more, the Kurzweil 3000 is now popular with students in the fourth grade and up, as well as among graduate students and professionals. At Landmark College in Putney, Vermont—the nation’s only accredited college exclusively for high-potential students with learning disabilities—it is now routine to equip every incoming freshman with the Kurzweil 3000 on his or her laptop computer.

Two-part Harmony

The company’s two products—the Kurzweil 1000 (for users who are visually impaired) and the Kurzweil 3000 (for users with learning disabilities)—coexist harmoniously, sometimes converging, sometimes parallel, and sometimes borrowing from one another. The staff of 30 (about half of whom are engineers) includes some people who focus exclusively on the Kurzweil 1000, some who work only on the Kurzweil 3000, and a few who work on both products. In version 7.0 of the Kurzweil 1000, for example, which was released in summer 2002, one of the new features to generate particular excitement was the e-book feature. With this efficient addition, users can go online directly from Kurzweil 1000 in search of electronic books. The program searches three large repositories of electronic books and then downloads the desired title, which can then be opened and read in the Kurzweil program. While many enhancements to the product have come directly from customers’ suggestions, Baum admits that this outstanding addition was actually rooted in a few engineers’ constant obsession with tweaking of the software.

“We were really impressed with File Ferret,” a piece of shareware the engineers had discovered, he recalls. “It was a really cool piece of software that could go out on the web for you, find whatever you were looking for, and download it.” The e-book search was the task they ultimately assigned to this fascinating little program. “We really liked the idea of avoiding a browser,” Baum says in regard to streamlining the process.

John Mattioli, a lead engineer with the company who is also a user of the Kurzweil 1000, agrees. “I thought at first that the e-book feature was nice for new users,” he says, “but I personally was happy surfing the web, going to Bookshare.org or other sites, and finding what I needed.” Then one day, he was in a hurry and used Kurzweil’s e-book feature to download some reading for a trip. “I’ll probably never do it any other way now,” he says. “It took four or five steps down to two. You can go online, download the book, and transfer the file to a portable device—all from one location.”

It is not surprising, then, that the e-book feature is now being added to the Kurzweil 3000 as well. Still, premier features in one Kurzweil product are not always desirable in the other. As Baum points out, the two populations of customers have distinctly different preferences and needs. “When we were with L&H, we developed a high-quality speech called RealSpeak,” Baum cites as example, “but it was really a much bigger deal for people with learning disabilities than for blind users. It is really natural speech, but slow; blind users tend to prefer accuracy and fast responsiveness and are more interested in getting the information than in speech quality.”

Honey, I Shrunk the Reading Machine!

Since 1976, Kurzweil’s product for reading has been reduced from the size of a washing machine to software that can be installed on any laptop. The price has dropped from approximately $100,000 (not actually for sale at that point) to about $1,000. Capabilities, however, have grown just as dramatically in the other direction. Today, the Kurzweil 1000’s speed and accuracy are many times higher than that of the original cumbersome appliance and, perhaps more significant, the product not only reads with astonishing accuracy, but performs a multitude of other tasks as well. Version 7 of Kurzweil 1000 offers such additional features as a photocopy application, a fax application, and the ability to edit and manipulate files and e-mail portions directly from the Kurzweil program itself; the program can also open files in virtually any popular format and can go online to fetch electronic books and then translate them (or any other file) into Grade 2 braille. “The best thing that’s happening,” Mattioli sums it up, “is probably the integration of functions, the crossover stuff, having multiple features all in one place.” No one at Kurzweil is saying what is on the drawing board for the next updates, but asked for a blue-sky rendition of what would make the product even better, Mattioli comes back quickly with a great idea. “Everybody knows that scanning is a drag,” he says. “We do it all the time because we have to—but it would be great if there were a way to get around it.”

Scanning a book without having to turn all those pages? The idea sounds like science fiction, but then, so did the first washing machine-sized invention of the man whose name is on the products that thousands of people now depend on and love.

AFB | www.afb.org/aw/4/2/14856

Singularity grp.

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 06:00:50 +0000

Singularity grp. was co-founded in 2008 — a collaboration between entrepreneurs Peter Diamandis MD + Ray Kurzweil. The group aims to inspire the next generation of leaders — students, creatives, scientists, researchers, technologists, and business executives — to create products, programs, and companies that have impact. The goal is to positively affect 1 billion people within 10 years.

The name Singularity is taken from a concept that Ray Kurzweil uses to describe a future point in human history. The singularity is a period of time — in the near future — when computers become so capable that their abilities will rival or surpass humans.

Kurzweil Applied Intelligence co.

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 05:00:53 +0000

I astarted Kurzweil Applied Intelligence, Inc. in 1982 with the goal of creating a voice activated word processor. This is a technology that is hungry for MIPs (i.e., computer speed) and Megabytes (i.e., memory), so early systems limited the size of the vocabulary that users could employ. These early systems also required users to pause briefly between words… so…. you…. had…. to…. speak….. like…. this. We combined this “discrete word” speech recognition technology with a medical knowledge base to create a system that enabled doctors to create their medical reports by simply talking to their computers. Our product, called Kurzweil VoiceMed (now Kurzweil Clinical Reporter), actually guides the doctors through the reporting process. We also introduced a general purpose dictation product called Kurzweil Voice, which enabled users to create written documents by speaking one word at a time to their personal computer. This product became particularly popular with people who have a disability in the use of their hands.

Just this year, courtesy of Moore’s Law, personal computers became fast enough to recognize fully continuous speech, so I am able to dictate the rest of this book by talking to our latest product, called Voice Xpress Plus, at speeds around a hundred words per minute. Of course, I don’t get a hundred words written every minute since I change my mind a lot, but Voice Xpress doesn’t seem to mind.

We sold this company as well, to Lernout & Hauspie (L&H), a large speech and language technology company headquartered in Belgium. Shortly after the acquisition by L&H in 1997, we arranged a strategic alliance between the dictation division of L&H (formerly Kurzweil Applied Intelligence) and Microsoft, so our speech technology is likely to be used by Microsoft in future products.

Kurzweil Computer Products co.

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 05:00:53 +0000

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— contents —

~ the company history
~ historic photos

the HISTORY | of Kurzweil Computer Products co.
by Ray Kurzweil

intro |

In year 1974, computer programs that could recognize printed letters — called optical character recognition (OCR) — were capable of handling only one or two specialized type styles. I founded Kurzweil Computer Products that year to develop the first OCR program that could recognize any style of print — which we succeeded in doing later that year.

So the question then became: what is it good for? Like a lot of clever computer software, it was a solution in search of a problem.

The inspiration.

I happened to sit next to a blind gentleman on a plane flight. And he explained to me that the only real handicap he experienced was his inability to read ordinary printed material. It was clear that his visual disability imparted no real handicap in either communicating or travelling.

So I found the problem we were searching for — we could apply our ‘omni-font’ (any font) OCR technology to overcome this principal handicap of blindness.

We didn’t have the ubiquitous scanners or text-to-speech synthesizers that we do today, so we had to create these technologies as well. By the end of 1975, we put together these 3 new technologies we had invented:

omni-font optical character recognition (aka: OCR)
charge coupled device flat-bed scanners (aka: CCD)
text-to-speech synthesis

… to create the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind. The Kurzweil Reading Machine (KRM) was able to read ordinary books, magazines, and other printed documents out loud — so that a blind person could read anything they wanted.

The launch.

We announced the Kurzweil Reading Machine in January 1976, and it seemed to strike a chord. All the evening TV network news shows carried the story. And famed reporter Walter Cronkite used the machine to read aloud his signature sign-off — ‘And that’s the way it was. January 13, 1976.’

Shortly after the announcement, I was invited onto the Today Show — which was a little nerve-wracking since we only had one working reading machine. Sure enough, the machine stopped working a couple of hours before I was scheduled to go on live national television.

Our chief engineer frantically took the machine apart, scattering pieces of electronics and wires across the floor of the set. Frank Field, who was going to interview me, walked by and asked if everything was okay. “Sure Frank,” I replied. “We’re just making a few last minute adjustments.” Our chief engineer put the reading machine back together, and still it didn’t work. Finally, he used a time honored method of repairing delicate electronic equipment and slammed the reading machine against a table. From that moment, it worked just fine. Its live television debut then proceeded without a hitch.

Stevie Wonder heard about our appearance on the Today Show, and decided to check out the story himself. Our receptionist was skeptical that the person on the other end of the line was really the legendary singer, but she put the call through to me anyway. I invited him over, and he tried out the machine. He beseeched us to provide him with his own reading machine, so we turned the factory upside down to hurriedly finish up our first production unit (we didn’t want to give him the prototype we used on the Today Show, as it still had a few battle scars). We showed Stevie how to use it, and off he went in a taxi with his new reading machine by his side.

We subsequently applied the scanning and omni-font OCR to commercial uses such as entering data into data bases and into the emerging word processing computers. New information services, such as Lexis (an on-line legal research service) and Nexis (a news service) were built using the Kurzweil Data Entry Machine to scan and recognize written documents.

In 1978, after years of scrambling to raise funds for our venture, we were fortunate in attracting interest and investment from a big company: Xerox. Most Xerox products transferred electronic information onto paper. They saw the Kurzweil scanning and OCR technology as providing a bridge back from the world of paper to the electronic world, so in 1980 they bought the company. You can still buy the OCR we originally developed, suitably updated – it’s now called Xerox TextBridge, and continues as a market leader.

— notes —

omni = all
CCD =
OCR =

TV = television

Kurzweil Music co.

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 06:00:28 +0000

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about |

Kurzweil Music was founded in 1982 by entrepreneur + inventor Ray Kurzweil. At that time, he was working with blind music legend Stevie Wonder — developing an automated reading machine for the visually impaired. During their collaboration, the inspiration for a Kurzweil digital musical instrument was born. Wonder wanted a way to re-create the perfect tones of his grand piano, without transporting it to venues across the world.

In year 1983 Kurzweil Music released the K250 electronic synthesizer keyboard. It was the world’s 1st digital musical instrument that could realistically emulate the sound of a grand piano. In Over the next 25 years, the company released in a series of digital keyboards at the pinnacle of music tech — at that time. Some of the products: the K2000, the PC88x, and K2500. Technically they were far ahead of their time. Still valued today for their sound range, and played by high-profile music artists world-wide.

The company’s successful PC3 family of keyboards are used by the biggest names in the music industry — like Andrew Lloyd Weber, Roger Waters, the Who, Earth Wind + Fire, the Boston Pops, Amanda Palmer, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, and Weird Al Yankovic.

The dedicated team includes hardware, software, and sound engineers — most are also professional or amateur musicians. The company builds on its innovation legacy in the music tech industry, now owned by the company Young Chang, under the umbrella of Hyundai.

The Singularity Is Near movie available

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:44:55 +0000

Is the singularity near?

“Well, some amazing changes that are fantastically big and fantastically fast are coming our way,” says noted futurist Alvin Toffler in the much-anticipated movie, The Singularity Is Near: a true story about the future, available today.

The Singularity Is Near stars Ramona, played by NCIS star Pauley Perrette, a superintelligent avatar (artificial-intelligence- based, human-like virtual person) created by AI wizard Ray Kurzweil (played by himself). Ramona desperately wants to be accepted legally as a human, but faces immediate shutdown by the authorities.

So she turns to (who else?) famous civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz (played by himself) and seeks coaching by Tony Robbins (also played by himself) to discover what it means to be human.

These dramatic scenes punctuate an investigation of our amazing future by Kurzweil in dialogue with 19 “big thinkers,” who explore the impacts of the rapidly accelerating amazing technologies ahead, enriched with animations and graphics.

The movie is available exclusively through store.singularity.com via downloading, DVD, or deluxe box set (including the feature film and more than three hours of bonus material, behind-the-scenes footage, and extended interviews).

Director: Anthony Waller (Mute Witness, An American Werewolf In Paris, The Guilty)
Producers: Ray Kurzweil, Ehren Koepf, and Toshi Hoo
Executive Producer: Martine Rothblatt

A Terasem Motion Infoculture presentation in association with KurzweilAI.net, based on Ray Kurzweil’s New York Times best-selling book The Singularity Is Near.

Kurzweil Music Systems | The Kurzweil Music story: It all started with Ray

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:00:40 +0000

The story of Stevie Wonder’s technical challenge to Ray Kurzweil that ultimately motivates the inception of Kurzweil Music Systems.

Related:
Kurzweil Music Systems

Keys to Success — Earth, Wind & Fire’s Myron McKinley

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:42:17 +0000

Myron McKinley, musical director for Earth, Wind & Fire discusses his long history and appreciation of Kurzweil musical instruments. Myron explains his method of alternative use of the PC3 K Series slider controls.

Ray Kurzweil receives National Association of Music Merchants Lifetime Achievement Award

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:06:07 +0000

Ray Kurzweil and Joe Lamond, CEO of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), on stage at the NAMM Breakfast of Champions, January 19, 2012 in Anaheim, CA. (credit: National Association of Music Merchants, David Livingston)

At the 2012 NAMM show on January 19, 2012, National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) President and CEO Joe Lamond presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ray Kurzweil — best selling author, inventor and futurist in fields such as optical character recognition, text to speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments.

Lamond also presented NAMM’s Music for Life Award to Stevie Wonder, honoring him for his “brilliant musical contributions and talent that is cherished by people all over the world.”

Ray Kurzweil noted, “Stevie and I collaborated to create the first computerized musical instrument that could realistically recreate the piano and other orchestral instruments,” leading Kurzweil to found Kurzweil Music Systems in 1982.

“I have been blessed to have known two people — Ray Kurzweil and Steve Jobs,” said Wonder, and he cited the contribution of both to enriching our lives with technology.

(credit: National Association of Music Merchants)

The NAMM Show, one of the largest music products trade shows in the world, opened January 19 at the Anaheim Convention Center, welcoming an expected crowd of 90,000 musical instrument manufacturers, retailers, associates and their invited guests from all over the world to the industry’s annual gathering.

Founded in 1901, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), is the trade association for the $18 billion global music products industry.

NAMM | Ray Kurzweil and Joe Lammond at NAMM’s Breakfast of Champions

NAMM | In this video, Ray Kurzweil, CEO, Kurzweil Technologies, sits down with NAMM CEO & President Joe Lamond to explore the process of innovation. Ray shares his remarkable perspective and ideas with the audience, and in doing so, sparks NAMM members to think how these breakthroughs can be applied to improving their businesses and relate to their future chance of success and indeed their lives. During the Breakfast of Champions, Joe Lamond presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ray.

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) honored Ray Kurzweil with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 NAMM Breakfast of Champions on January 19, 2012 in Anaheim, CA. (credit: National Association of Music Manufacturers, David Livingston)

NAMM Lifetime Achievement Award previous recipients
previously named NAMM’s Hall of Fame

“Recognizing excellence and leadership in the music industry”

Leo Fender — 1987
Philip Werlein IV — 1987
Hartley Peavey — 1988
Manny Goldrich — 1988
Vito Pascucci — 1988
Armand Zildjian — 1989
Henry Steinway — 1989
Lee (Lawrence) Berk — 2004*
Al Kowalenko (retirement from MIAC) — 2009 presented at MIAC Show
Ray Kurzweil — 2012

* Presented to Lee Berk in January 2004 as he retired from Berklee College of Music. He was awarded the Music for Life Award in 1995.

SU startup Getaround featured in Good magazine’s infographic ‘What does tomorrow look like?’

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:05:47 +0000

Singularity University startup Getaround was featured in Good magazine’s roundup “The GOOD 100,” in an interactive infographic exploring the question “What does tomorrow look like?” See the infographic here. From their magazine issue: “The Next Big Thing.”

Good | What does tomorrow look like? To assemble our second-ever GOOD 100 list (check out the first here), we surveyed culture and politics to pick out trends and seemingly minor moments that tell us where we’re all headed, together.

The big picture is pretty exciting. We’re taking action, not just sitting around. We’re going small-scale to make a big impact. We’re returning to things that worked a long time ago but haven’t worked for quite a while — the street protest, printed matter, local manufacturing — and adapting them. We’re finally taking our kindergarten teacher’s advice and learning how to share. And even though we’re kind of over the idea of material possessions, we’re more excited than ever to learn how to make stuff. We’re doing all of this simultaneously, because the world is too complex and broken and beautiful and exciting to tackle one thing at a time.

Here are 100 glimpses of the immediate future, in a unique interactive experience thanks to our partner Fiat. What’s the new Apple? The new unpaid internship? The new Adderall? The new black? We’ve got your answers.

Senstore wants to make a tricorder that monitors the entire body

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:19:38 +0000

What a great place that Singularity University is. Smart, motivated people coming together to make the world a better place through technology. This past summer a group of talented students put their heads together to tackle the Global Health grand challenge. What they came up with was a hardware platform built into a t-shirt for which developers might design sensory applications.

Out of that one platform sprung a company, Senstore, which is bent on building a platform versatile enough to support hardware as diverse as apps for an operating system. I got a chance to speak with Senstore co-founders Antony Evans and Rachel Kalmar about their vision, what challenges they face in achieving it, and how their technology will impact healthcare of the future.

After building the platform at SU, Evans and Kalmar took it to Startup Weekend, an intense 54-hour workshop to develop marketable technologies, and tasked engineers with turning their hardware into a body sensor. What resulted was a device called Live Home Free that an elderly person who lives alone could wear. If they’ve fallen and they can’t get up, the device detects the abrupt change in movement/posture, and signals to their families or primary care givers that something is wrong. The team built the device in the allotted 54 hours and received top prize for the Health vertical.

But rather than simply build a better LifeCall, Live Home Free was a kind of proof-of-principle that the team hopes will lead to a hardware platform on which others can build sensors to monitor the body. Senstore was founded with the explicit goal of putting “a health sensor device on every body.” Live Home Free will be the company’s first commercially available product, but their sights are set on a device that does more than detect falls. What they want to build is a medical tricorder that monitors the entire body.

We’ve covered Scanadu’s tricorder, against which Senstore’s will go head-to-head in theQualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE. But, if Senstore’s vision is realized their tricorder promises to be much more powerful. Scanadu’s tricorder will be non-invasive, non-sampling, non-contact, and non-cooperative, meaning solutions will be reached with minimal effort for the patient. In contrast, Senstore hopes to build a tricorder that gets its hands dirty. Incorporating a lab-on-a-chip feature like the one tested in Rwanda to detect HIV and syphilis would require taking blood samples, and would obviously require patient cooperation. They would also like to measure cardiac function to detect signs of a heart attack before it strikes. Right now this requires an echocardiogram, not a feasible option for large-scale screening of the population. A DIY tricorder would be cheaper and vastly more convenient so patients could potentially check their heart every single day from home. The tricorder could also provide a more sensitive tool for detecting signs of stroke. So-called ‘silent strokes’, which occur without any outward symptoms and thus go unnoticed by the people who suffer them, affect one in four people age 65 and older. […]

A personal message from Peter Diamandis | Official launch of the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:44:17 +0000

Dear SU and KurzweilAI family and friends:

I’m very pleased to announce the launch of the $10M Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize. I had a chance to announce live on stage this morning at CES, during the opening keynote. Details below. I hope we’ll have a number of SU teams and Kurzweil readers enter to compete!

— Peter

The X Prize Foundation and Qualcomm Foundation today announced the launch of the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE, a global competition to revolutionize healthcare.

In this competition, teams will leverage technology innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence and wireless sensing –– much like the medical Tricorder of Star Trek® fame — to make medical diagnoses independent of a physician or healthcare provider.

The goal of the competition is to drive development of devices that will give consumers access to their state of health in the palm of their hand.

The $10 million prize purses will be awarded to the team that develops a mobile platform that most accurately diagnoses a set of 15 diseases across 30 consumers in three days. Teams must also deliver this information in a way that provides a compelling consumer experience while capturing real time, critical health metrics such as blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature.

The winning solutions will enable consumers in any location to quickly and effectively assess health conditions, determine if they need professional help and answer the question, “What do I do next?” when it comes to their health.

X Prize Foundation CEO, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, joined the Chair of the Qualcomm Foundation and CEO of Qualcomm, Dr. Paul Jacobs, during the keynote presentation today at CES in Las Vegas to announce this exciting advancement.

The desire to provide consumers real-time data regarding their own health is of personal interest to both Drs. Diamandis and Jacobs. “There is a dire need to improve access to healthcare globally and provide consumers with an opportunity to be active participants in their own health,” said Dr. Diamandis. “The Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize will incent the creation of technologies that can empower the consumer with the ability to decide when, where and how to seek health information and care.”

Click here to learn more about this exciting new competition. Also, “Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to continue to receive the updates in this exciting competition and the resulting technical advancements in our efforts to revolutionize humanity.

TRICORDER is a trademark of CBS Studios, Inc. Used under license.

__________________

Peter H. Diamandis, M.D.
Chairman/CEO, X Prize Foundation
www.xprize.org

ABC | Justin Bieber on a Kurzweil piano performing at Times Square 2012 ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:00:02 +0000

Source: ABC

Meet Blio: A video introduction of the Blio e-reader

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:12:46 +0000

You can learn more about Blio here (Blio.com) and here (MeetBlio.com).

Transcendent Man: A look back since the debut

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 02:17:16 +0000

One of the most controversial documentaries of our time has been available for digital download for several months now, yet many in the mainstream are still unacquainted with the ideas, concepts, opportunities and challenges presented by the coming Technological Singularity.

Perhaps this shouldn’t be too surprising, many of us live in the mundane, harsh reality of the now. Day to day life, war, debt, unemployment, death and taxes are difficult enough to grapple with without taking time out to contemplate the vast implications of a Technological Singularity predicted to emerge sometime between 2029 to 2050. Such a thing to the average man or woman can seem so distant, it may as well be ten thousand years away.

Despite the fact that many of the emergent technologies related to the Singularity hold the prospect to solve or (at the very least) reduce the severity of many of the major world problems we face; public interest in one of the most transformative ideas of our time remains lackluster. […]

Transcendent Man movie blowout August 3 — Ray Kurzweil, Steve Wozniak, Michio Kaku, and many more!

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:31:45 +0000

The future is coming to the 49 out of 50 of the United States (sorry, Wyoming). On August 3rd, Transcendent Man: A Conversation About the Future will be appearing in 500+ theaters across the country.

This LIVE broadcast panel discussion will focus on accelerating technologies, the future of humanity, and the Singularity. The star-studded panel includes powerhouses like futurist Michio Kaku, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, inventor Dean Kamen and many more. Barry Ptolemy, director of the Transcendent Man documentary will be on hand, as will the subject of that film, Ray Kurzweil.

There’s also a long list of “special guest appearances” including Bill Maher, Suzanne Somers, Al Gore, Quincy Jones, and Elon Musk. In other words, this is going to be a massive event, and a great debate on what the future should and will hold. Check the listings on Fathom Events for tickets in your area and watch the trailer for the August 3rd nationwide screening below. Transcendent Man has been gathering momentum since its premiere more than two years ago. Could this event propel the film, and the concept of the Singularity, into the mainstream? […]

Chris Gore’s Transcendent Man DVD review

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 04:34:13 +0000

announcement | Transcendent Man Live with Ray Kurzweil — a special one-night movie event

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 06:15:21 +0000

Transcendent Man: A Conversation about the Future with Ray Kurzweil, produced by NCM Fathom, Ptolemaic Productions, and Therapy Studios, will be simulcast to select movie theaters nationwide from Lincoln Center in New York City on August 3rd, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, and 8:00 p.m. Pacific (tape-delayed).

To buy tickets to a screening near you, watch the trailer, or get more information, please visit NCM Fathom here.

Based on the critically acclaimed film documentary Transcendent Man — which explores the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil — the live event will feature exclusive, extended excerpts from the film and a celebrity discussion panel.

Ray Kurzweil will give a special presentation on accelerating technology and its impact on civilization, followed by an all-star panel discussing the future of humanity, the merger of man and machine, and the imminent end of aging and disease, ushering in an era of extreme longevity and human potential.

The event will feature Deepak Chopra (live via Teleportec), filmmaker Barry Ptolemy, Apple Inc. cofounder Steve Wozniak, physicist Michio Kaku, technology entrepreneur Tan Le, and inventor Dean Kamen. With pre-recorded remarks from former Vice President Al Gore, Suzanne Somers, Quincy Jones, Bill Maher, Elon Musk and others.

Viewers are invited to submit a question in advance (to be answered by participants on event night) on the Transcendent Man Facebook page or Twitter (hashtag: #tmlive).

“Ray Kurzweil’s theory that human life will be interconnected with machines and computers within the next several decades is fascinating people worldwide,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of Fathom. “This special live event will give audiences a chance to hear directly from the celebrated inventor and a world renowned panel about the theory of immortality and the progress being made in that regard right now.”

Kurzweil to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday and Real Time with Bill Maher Friday

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:48:52 +0000

Ray Kurzweil will appear on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday, June 16 and HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, June 17 to promote the critically acclaimed documentary film Transcendent Man. Check network links for local show times.

Transcendent Man, by director Barry Ptolemy, focuses on the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil. The film is available on DVD in stores nationwide (Best Buy and Barnes & Noble); for order at Amazon.com, WalMart.com, BestBuy.com, and BarnesandNoble.com; and on Netflix (DVD and “Watch Instantly”).

The DVD includes more than two hours of exclusive additional footage, with deleted scenes, extra interviews, and the Q&A with Kurzweil and Ptolemy after the film’s world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Transcendent Man is also available for downloading on iTunes and Movies On Demand (both without the extra two hours).

A letter from Ray Kurzweil | Supporting an endeavor that will benefit over one billion people within 10 years

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:02:46 +0000

Dear friends,

I’d like to request your support for an endeavor that will benefit the lives of over one billion people within 10 years.

As you may know, I’m the co-founder and chancellor of Singularity University (SU), now in its third successful year. Each year, SU assembles an international class of the brightest graduate students — top achievers from diverse disciplines and backgrounds — to participate in our unique Singularity studies program.

Over the course of our curriculum, students learn about the game-changing technological and scientific breakthroughs that are shaping society, and that will dramatically alter humanity’s future. Armed with new tools for tracking, analyzing, engaging, and innovating in this space, our graduates emerge from the program as future leaders. Their applied knowledge will impact world affairs and economies, research and development, foundational sciences, entrepreneurism, the media and culture — broadly steering the coming era of ever-accelerating growth. SU challenges students to exploit innovation to solve humanity’s grand challenges.

The students and faculty of the inaugural Singularity University summer graduate studies program in 2009. (credit: Dave Lauridsen)

Our students exhibit incredible dedication. Traveling from over 30 countries, they come together at our Silicon Valley campus for one purpose — to leverage exponentially advancing technologies to improve the lives of over 1 billion people worldwide.

Recruited from among 2,000 applicants for their academic achievements, leadership skills, and spirited humanitarianism — 80 selected students will soon convene for our 10-week summer program to innovate solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges: poverty, energy, security, education, space, and global health.

SU is a non-profit institution backed by NASA, Google, Cisco, Nokia, Autodesk, Kauffman Foundation and ePlanet Ventures.

These organizations cover the baseline operating costs. But we need your help to raise scholarships for these top students to attend our Graduate Studies Program. Please consider donating to help us assemble this amazing group from around the world. For those who contribute $100 or more, you’ll be given a chance to win a free Executive Program ($7,500 value) at the SU campus in Silicon Valley.

Please visit the following website for more information: Singularity University Scholarhsips on Crowdrise

Help us get this next generation of leaders to SU, so that they can launch the breakthrough businesses, innovations, and interdisciplinary understanding that will address the world’s grand challenges.

With my sincerest thanks,
Ray Kurzweil

Harry Knowles’ DVD picks and peeks: Transcendent Man

Tue, 24 May 2011 23:48:10 +0000

Hey folks, Harry here with a new DVD column and things are a bit different this week with some of the titles, and I’m betting that will at least continue with next week’s amazing series of titles. I think you’ll enjoy some of the surprises this week.

Ray Kurzweil is an interesting as hell fella. Imagine a practical William Gibson or Phillip K Dick. Now, he’s technically not a science fiction author… except that he kind of is. He predicts technology. Anticipates it. He’s one of the foremost futurists around, and has worked with countries around the globe, Presidents, Corporate minds. He pushes the people that create technology to create new technologies. And he’s been a leader in the field for about 40 or more years. And he believes that huge changes are coming in the next 15-20 years. Look at your cellphone. Think about what it does, now just think back 3 years ago. […]

Computers soon will overtake us, Ray Kurzweil predicts in Transcendent Man, new on DVD

Tue, 24 May 2011 02:55:00 +0000

When will computers attain consciousness and surpass humans? Genius inventor Ray Kurzweil calls this event the Singularity, and he pinpoints it at 2029. In this startling 2009 biodoc, he shares his theories about technology’s exponential acceleration.

Critics call him a crackpot, while he calmly makes his predictions based on past events. Don’t be scared, he urges, just be ready to become bionic or risk being left behind. […]

Transcendent Man review

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 04:53:41 +0000

Cinetalk Reviews YouTube channel | A review of the documentary about the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil.

announcement | Film Transcendent Man screens at the Palace of Fine Arts

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:20:51 +0000

Screening details: Transcendent Man will screen at San Francisco’s historic Palace of Fine Arts on April 14, 2011, at 8:00 pm. The screening will feature a special introduction by Ray Kurzweil and post-screening Q&A with director Barry Ptolemy and Ray Kurzweil.

Transcendent Man, the critically acclaimed documentary by director Barry Ptolemy, explores the life and ideas of renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil. The film follows Kurzweil as he travels the world, sharing his incredible vision of a future in which we merge with machines and vastly extend human longevity and intelligence — all within the next 30 years.

For more information and to purchase tickets please visit: TranscendentMan.com

Exclusive interview with Barry Ptolemy, director of Kurzweil documentary Transcendent Man

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:59:52 +0000

How do you get everyone to sit up and pay attention to the idea of the Singularity? Make it entertaining. No doubt about it, Transcendent Man is that and more. Barry Ptolemy’s documentary on Ray Kurzweil explores the philosophy, personal history, and predictions of one of the world’s most prominent futurists.

It’s a great film, and a wonderful look at the potential forces that may decide the fate of humanity. I recently had a chance to speak with Ptolemy about Transcendent Man, how making this movie has shaped his life, and his future projects. […]

Indie spotlight: Transcendent Man

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:15:35 +0000

For a very important reason, Transcendent Man begins with death. It’s a theme that pervades the entire discussion of technology, the future, and the direction that humanity might be headed in. After all, it’s that fear of death that propels us forward to delaying it, and, if Ray Kurzweil has his way, defeating it.

If the idea of scientifically-created immortality (as opposed to the philosophical or Pearly Gate variety) seems outlandish, it’s only one of several put forth by Kurzweil in the film. Fortunately, it’s a movie about much more than just his predictions. It would be the dullest mind-blowing experience if it were, but instead of focusing too much on the science, the documentary creates a portrait of the man making the claims — complete with his failings and warmth.

One version is a genius inventor who created a way for the blind to read. The other is a man haunted by the spectre of his father and debilitated by the thought of his own end.

Having read Kurzweil’s The Age of Spiritual Machines, the detail gaps were filled in a bit, but knowing his work seems markedly unnecessary to following the movie. At a certain point, the information is meaningless. The list of hopes and prophesies for the future are a pure distillation of humanity, but it’s far more interesting to watch Kurzweil standing over his father’s grave or perusing the storage unit of his father’s effects to see the true personal anchor to that ever-elongating list.

As far as objectivity, this is firmly Kurzweil’s movie. He’s the main talking head, and his words are even blown up as kinetic typography to drive home the point (and to make the talking head element a bit more dynamic). There are counterpoints offered from brilliant minds, but not quite enough to bring things back to an even keel. Fortunately, it’s not nearly as one-sided as documentaries seem to have been since Michael Moore proved you could make money from sensationalism. […]

We are ‘eight doublings away’ from meeting all the world’s needs with clean energy

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 08:54:27 +0000

Some dismiss Ray Kurzweil as a quack. His predictions of a future sound like plotlines from the nuttiest sci-fi films. According to Kurzweil’s theories, by around 2029 information technology will become more sophisticated than the human brain, and by 2045 what he calls “the Singularity” will occur — information technology will have advanced to the point at which people can become immortal by downloading their consciousness onto nanobots, which can race around the world and infuse other bodies or inanimate objects with human consciousness.

Kooky sounding indeed. Last week, however, at the D.C. premiere of Transcendent Man, hundreds of people gathered to hear Ray Kurzweil and see a documentary about him and his theories. While this may sound more like science fiction than actual science, the man did invent the musical synthesizer, created a device that uses optical character recognition to help blind people read, predicted the year and month in which a computer would defeat a human at chess, and has 17 Ph.Ds. Kurzweil has even received the National Medal of Technology, the highest medal the president can bestow for pioneering new technologies, from three separate U.S. presidents. So let’s not dismiss him just yet. […]

Lisbeth Kaufman caught up with futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil at the Washington, D.C. premier of his film Transcendent Man. You can listen to the short interview here.

Charlie Rose interview with Kurzweil, Ptolemy postponed again

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 01:05:57 +0000

UPDATE | March 8, 8:00 p.m. EST: Due to breaking news on the situation in Libya, Charlie Rose decided to postpone airing the Kurzweil/Ptolemy interview. We’ll let you know when the interview is rescheduled to air. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Transcendent Man movie ranks as #2 documentary on iTunes in U.S.; Kurzweil, Ptolemy slotted for CNN Monday

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:33:10 +0000

Transcendent Man, the film about the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil by director Barry Ptolemy, now ranks as #1 documentary in sales on iTunes in Canada, and #2 in the United States, after Waiting for Superman.

Transcendent Man is also listed in the top 20 in customer ratings among all movies on iTunes in the United States, as of March 5. The film was rated five stars by 86 percent of customers.

Kurzweil and Ptolemy are scheduled for an interview Monday on CNN Newsroom at 1:45 p.m. EST.

Film screenings are scheduled for March 10 in Washington, D.C. (at Sixth and I Historic Synagogue), March 21 in Boston (Coolidge Corner Theater), April 5 in London (The Science Museum IMAX Theater), and April 14 in San Francisco (Palace of Fine Arts). DVD release date is May 24.

More info: Transcendent Man website, related KurzweilAI news.

Collection of photo stills from the film Transcendent Man

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 10:09:53 +0000

A collection of photo stills from the film Transcendent Man, which is now screening at select locations and is available for download on iTunes and video on demand.

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Transcendent Man film trailer

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 07:48:53 +0000

Transcendent Man introduces the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil, the renowned futurist who journeys the world offering his vision of a future in which we will merge with our machines, can live forever, and are billions of times more intelligent…all within the next thirty years.

Visit the film’s official website here for more information, and for current screening times and digital downloads.

Futurist Ray Kurzweil being interviewed on Charlie Rose on PBS tonight, discussing documentary Transcendent Man

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:45:36 +0000

Ray Kurzweil, the guy who popularized the idea of a technological “singularity,” where computers and robotics and genetic engineering eventually become so sophisticated and powerful that humans become super-powered, immortal cyborgs that we currently aren’t able to even imagine, will be on TV tonight. Kurzweil will be chatting with Charlie Rose about the documentary film Transcendent Man, which chronicles Kurzweil’s controversial ideas and life.

The movie had previously only been shown at individual screenings around the country (none in the Dallas area), but just a few days ago became available for purchase on DVD and digital download. You can watch the trailer or buy the movie here. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I did read Kurzweil’s most recent book, The Singularity is Near, and it’s one of the most interesting things I’ve ever read. Tonight’s interview with Rose will air in the Dallas area on KERA (channel 13) at midnight tonight. Well, technically I guess that’s tomorrow morning. But whatever. Whatever you want to call it, I’ll be watching.

The outcome of Singularity is unknown: futurist Ray Kurzweil greets sold out crowd

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:02:52 +0000

The prolific technology guru Ray Kurzweil that foresaw the expansion of the Internet, the possibilities of services such as YouTube, and invented the synthesizer, graced the Westside for two nights for the screening of his documentary, Transcendent Man. Nearly selling out both nights, Angelenos flocked to see a coveted appearance by Kurzweil at the Laemmle’s Royal Theater Feb. 16 and 17.

The crowd Thursday night filled with a range of young and middle age viewers, who were treated to a opening monologue and extensive Q&A after the screening. Kurzweil said the film closely represents his ideals and does not blur his intentions in ways that can be perceived by outside media.

Kurzweil has been compared to Nostradamus for his spot-on predictions of technology and the future, as well as been likened to a lunatic. The theory of singularity suggests a complete merger of human and machine that will create super intelligent, immortal beings. The philosophical and spiritual ramifications are great as viewers contemplate what it means to be human and our role on this planet.

Audience members lined up half way down two isles to get their chance to ask questions— he is known for catering to fans and does not skimp on his answers. When asked about the ramifications of longer life span and greater population if life spans are extended towards infinity, he rebuked the illusion that resources are limited. Food sources will only continue to be produced more efficiently and “unfortunate” practices such as factory farming will be eliminated.

“The reason that space seems limited is because people live in these inventions called cities,” he said. “Anyone that has taken a train lately knows there is plenty of space.”

The documentary is cinematically thoughtful with sweeping shots of the stars and visual graphs that track the technological timeline onscreen are thanks to work of director Barry Ptolemy. The film captures the optimism of Kurzweils’s views about the benefits technology will have for the human race, as well as featuring more than a few voices who are all too aware of how higher intelligence may not look kindly on its inferior creators. Everyone can agree that the outcome of singularity by definition is unknown.

Collection of photo stills from the upcoming film The Singularity Is Near

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:19:34 +0000

A collection of photo stills from the film The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil, starring Pauley Perrette.

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Review: The Transcendent Man

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:49:12 +0000

At Ethan Kurzweil‘s kind invitation, my wife, son and I attended a screening of The Transcendent Man at the Tech Museum. This brilliant documentary chronicles some highlights from the life of futurist Ray Kurzweil, who was there with the film’s director Barry Ptolemy to answer questions. The film succeeds at several levels, and in ways that recursively support one another (reminiscent of Doxiadis’ LogiComix or Hofstadter’s fugue-ish essays on fugues).

The Science

On its surface, The Transcendent Man explores the science behind Kurzweil’s prediction of a Singularity event, as Kurzweil authored in The Singularity Is Near. Kurzweil has observed that new technologies – ranging from the printing press to Google – themselves enable us to develop newer technologies even faster. So the pace of innovation is always accelerating, yielding an exponential curve of discovery. Kurzweil produces data that extends Moore’s Law to bits shipped, social connections made, and many other metrics of information technology. Extrapolating from historical trends, we will within two decades manufacture the powerful computers we carry today in sizes no larger than a blood cell. […]

Imaginary Foundation director spotted at Transcedent Man screening

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:07:02 +0000

Transcendent Man is a remarkable new documentary about the life and ideas of futurist Ray Kurzweil (the subject of Time magazine’s cover article this week). Rumor has it that the director of The Imaginary Foundation was spotted at the film premiere in Los Angeles this Wednesday, but he slipped into a wormhole before anyone could snap a photo. A fan did, however, get a couple shots of Imaginarian Extraordinaire Jason Silva sporting his Multiverse shirt and handing a deck of All-Star Pattern Seeker trading cards to Kurzweil.

Director Barry Ptolemy, Raymond Kurzweil, actress Heather Graham, Jason Silva. (Image: The Imaginary Foundation)

About the Imaginary Foundation

The Imaginary Foundation is a think tank from Switzerland that does experimental research on new ways of thinking and the power of the imagination. They hold dear a belief in human potential and seek progress in all directions. The small clandestine team is headed up by the mysterious “Director,” a 70-something Uber-intellectual whose father founded the Dadaist movement. Avoiding direct publicity, the team has sought clothing as an unlikely vehicle for bringing their ideas beyond the academic realm and into popular culture.

In his vision for the Imaginary Foundation, the Director knew that the human mind has more than one mode, that indeed it has an “ecology” of being. He knew that imagination, intuition, inspiration are basic to psyche. . . . A philosophy of research began to form: imagination as fundamental to all learning; artistic making as a model of integrating vision, materials, structure, and imagery. “What makes true vision is the poetry of life and the richness of nature.” The Foundation’s basis has been a strong sense of community, free inquiry, creativity, and the experimental spirit. Over the years the Foundation has generated a critical mass of creative people in many different fields, for whom it’s been a catalyst for experimentation and innovation. “The Imaginary Foundation is a crazy and magical place, and the electricity of it’s members seems to make for a wonderfully charged atmosphere, so that sometimes before sessions one becomes excited and a little anxious, as though a thunderstorm were sweeping in.”

Also see:
The Imaginary Foundation website

Cyborgs, the wave of the future: The Transcendent Man screens next week

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:01:26 +0000

It’s those times when all meat starts to taste like chicken and the rum and Coke you ordered tastes like Froot Loops, that the notion there is just a glitch in the Matrix starts to seem like a possibility. The sci-fi scenario of robots running amok is not just a thing for the books, according to the theory of singularity, and a documentary called the Transcendent Man.

Transcendent Man explores the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil the inventor of the first CCD flat bed scanner and the author behind the best-selling book, The Singularity is Near. He has been compared to Nostradamus for his predictions of technology and the future or likened to a lunatic.

The theory of singularity doesn’t merely blur the line between human and machine, but incites the complete unity of the two that will create superintelligent, immortal beings. To a more ominous point, technology will advance at such a rapid rate that humans will have no choice but to merge with the same advanced technology we have created. By the 2030s, he furthers there will be no clear difference between man and machine intelligence. Death will be a distant memory. […]

The immortal ambitions of Ray Kurzweil: a review of Transcendent Man

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:17:56 +0000

A documentary about Ray Kurzweil’s belief that technology could conquer mortality reveals the futurist’s emotional life but fails to question his bold claims. Against a swirling montage of cosmic birth and destruction, and newsreel-style stills from his personal history, the celebrated inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil sits in silhouette, contemplating death. He broods over mortality’s toll in waste and pain, and the hopelessness and loss that people must experience in their last moments of life. “It’s such a profoundly sad, lonely feeling that I really can’t bear it,” he admits. Then, cheerfully, he adds, “So I go back to thinking about how I’m not going to die.”

That opening sequence of Transcendent Man, the new documentary by director Barry Ptolemy that profiles Kurzweil and his ideas, neatly distills the sometimes jarring predictions and preoccupations of its subject. The film is about Kurzweil’s belief that within just a few decades technology will allow human beings to transcend the physical and intellectual limitations of their biology. It also paints Kurzweil as a brilliant man who has personally always risen above the skepticism and misunderstanding of his doubters.

Cleverly edited and entertaining, Transcendent Man is unfortunately also too starstruck and reverent toward Kurzweil for its own good. It wants in part to be a movie about ideas, but frustratingly, it refuses to truly challenge any of those it raises — whether supportive or critical of him. Given that the film’s theme is the salvation or destruction of the human race, its lack of commitment to a perspective other than innocent wonder is unsatisfying.

Tony Robbins Tweets Transcendent Man

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:45:58 +0000

(Image: Robbins Research International, Inc.)

World-renowned and respected self-help, organizational, and peak-performance guru Tony Robbins Tweets Transcendent Man, the movie.

Thought leaders like Robbins from all fields are seeing the power of ever-accelerating advances in technology and science, and planning for the profound impact of that quickening on human society today and tomorrow.

Tony Robbins is on the lookout for game-changing ideas and tracking the trends that will affect society — Follow Tony Robbins on Twitter, Facebook, and his website.

Visit the Transcendent Man website for screening dates and to purchase tickets.

@tonyrobbins: Ray Kurzweil’s documentary selected one of top 10 of the year: http://transcendentman.com/

@tonyrobbins: My friend Ray Kurzweil’s Transcendent Man selected one of top 10 documentaries of the year. LA. Screening 2-16&17 must see! he is the world greatest futurist-pure genius – sold out in NY, SJ, Boston.

@tonyrobbins: Check out my friend Ray Kurzweil on the cover of Time. His film has it’s LA premier feb 16 & 17th

@tonyrobbins: What does the future hold for us? check out trailer from the man who has been most accurate predictor in our lifetimes.

For updates: http://twitter.com/#search?q=%40tonyrobbins%20kurzweil%20

About Tony Robbins, from www.TonyRobbins.com | Life on your terms: peak performance, turnaround & maximum results. For over 30 years, Anthony Robbins has dedicated his life to modeling the most successful people in the world. Through access to their experience, he has discovered and simplified the core distinctions and strategies that can be applied immediately to measurably improve the quality of your life. We invite you to take the first step now.

Transcendent Man tickets still available for L.A. February 16, 17

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 06:00:56 +0000

Screening details: Tickets are still available for the upcoming Los Angeles screening of Transcendent Man, at the Laemmle Royal Theater on February 16 and February 17, 2011.

Click here for tickets to the February 16, 2011 screening, at 8:00pm, followed by a Q&A with director Barry Ptolemy and Ray Kurzweil.

Click here for tickets to the February 17, 2011 screening, at 8:00pm, followed by a Q&A with director Barry Ptolemy and Ray Kurzweil.

The event will include an 8:00pm presentation by Ray Kurzweil, followed by the screening of the film, and post-film Q&A with director Barry Ptolemy and Ray Kurzweil. For more information please visit: TranscendentMan.com.

At the movies: future of technology documentary screening in Santa Monica

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 20:15:24 +0000

The scenario of super-intelligent robots as a part of our everyday life (and even ourselves) is not just a thing for the sci-fi books and movies according to the theory of singularity, the subject of a documentary called the Transcendent Man, which explores the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil.

Inventor of the first CCD flat bed scanner and the author behind the best-selling book, The Singularity is Near, Kurzweil has been compared to Nostradamus for his predictions of technology and the future — or dismissed as a lunatic. But the documentary illustrates that his predictions aren’t so far fetched. The theory of singularity doesn’t merely blur the line between human and machine, it forecasts the complete unity of the two.

By the 2030s, Kurzweil predicts we will have the technology to synthetically recreate all functions of the human brain. He furthers that eventually, this synthetic intelligence will advance at such a rapid rate that humans will have no choice but to merge with the same technology we have created. These merged, super-intelligent beings will be able to store and “backup” their consciousness (much like a computer today) and in doing so will become immortal entities, leaving death as a distant memory.

Transcendent Man film to be released in February, digitally in March 2011

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:34:40 +0000

Almost two years after it premiered, Transcendent Man is finally making its way to widespread distribution, though maybe not in the way we expected. Barry Ptolemy’s look at the life and beliefs of Ray Kurzweil is a documentary film that explores concepts of digital reincarnation, personal hubris, and most importantly, the Technological Singularity.

Ptolemaic Productions recently announced that the film will be making a tour through major markets starting February 3rd, with a return to New York City.

From there the movie will proceed to San Jose, LA, DC, Boston, London and Toronto. Kurzweil will be on hand at each destination, giving a talk about his belief in the Law of Accelerating Returns. While a seven city tour isn’t shabby, it’s too bad the movie won’t receive widespread theatrical release. For most of us the first chance we’ll have to see the film is its digital distribution on iTunes and OnDemand starting March 1st, or its eventual DVD release on March 24th. It’s unclear if Transcendent Man is the vehicle that will bring the concept of the Singularity to the mainstream, but it’s still a great film that’s well worth watching. […]

Futurist Kurzweil goes worldwide with Man: Docu on tech advances gets multicity tour

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:42:22 +0000

In the latest push for alternate distribution, indie docu Transcendent Man is slated for a multicity global tour beginning Feb. 3, followed by a digital release March 1.

The tour, which begins in New York and ends in London on April 5, will include a Q&A with author Ray Kurzweil, whose tome The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology provides source material for the docu.

Directed by Barry Ptolemy, Transcendent chronicles the life and ideas of Kurzweil, whose book focuses on technological change in society and the idea of humans transcending biological limitations.

Docu is produced through Ptolemy’s shingle Ptolemaic Prods., along with Therapy Studios, which provided editorial, design and post-production services.

“I reached two powerful conclusions after reading The Singularity Is Near,” Ptolemy said. “The first was that this was the most profound book I had ever read, and the second was that as a filmmaker I had to turn these ideas into film.”

Transcendent, which had its world preem at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, will use a social media marketing campaign in conjunction with the tour. Pic’s digital distribution will go through partners iTunes and Media-on-Demand, followed by a DVD release on May 24.

WME Global and Music departments brokered the distrib pacts on behalf of the filmmakers, in addition to booking the U.S. tour. Other cities include L.A., Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Jose, CA.

2011 Graduate Studies Program team projects announced

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:58:50 +0000

Each summer, the Graduate Studies Program class (GSP) is challenged with “Ten to the Ninth Plus” team projects — a highlight of the ten week program. The students spend several weeks working toward the goal of developing ideas and solutions that have the potential to positively impact at least one billion people within ten years. Teams from GSP09 and GSP10 have already made significant progress. This year, GSP11 students will choose one of six “grand challenge areas” to focus their projects, and we are excited to share them. The challenge areas (in no particular order) are:

Education Many of the world’s critical problems have a common root in ignorance, and educational technologies provide an unprecedented opportunity to reach billions of people, and build a future characterized by informed dialog, foresight, and systems that work. How can technology be used to provide personalized education to the world’s developing areas?

Security In a world plagued by wars, terrorism, and crime, nations seek many different kinds of security for their citizens, as well as freedom from fear and corruption. How can exponential technology be used to address and improve global security issues?

Energy Our civilization fundamentally depends on energy, and we need to make a rapid transition from low-efficiency systems and high dependence on fossil fuels, to high efficiency systems and cost-effective renewable fuels. How can exponential technologies be used to provide humanity with low-cost and abundant energy to meet their needs for prosperity?

Global Health There are large and growing discontinuities between current knowledge of public health and medicine and its effective application around the world – millions suffer and die from preventable diseases, and the entire world remains at risk of pandemics. How can technology be used to provide billions with low-cost, ubiquitous healthcare, and help to identify and prevent pandemics?

Poverty Living standards have increased significantly in the past two centuries, but more than 20% of the world today lives in extreme poverty — unable to access resources that address their problems. How can exponential technologies be leveraged to create new jobs and wealth to alleviate poverty?

Space The grand challenge of space includes abundant energy and material resources, a planetary-scale network of sensors and systems measuring global conditions, and a vast, open frontier for exploration – but humans haven’t yet built industrial-strength solutions to realize these opportunities rapidly and cost effectively. How can the vast and abundant energy and material resources of space be used to address many of humanity’s grand challenges?

These areas were chosen because they are among the most pressing global grand challenges. And, based on the caliber of applications we’ve reviewed and students already selected, the class of GSP11 will be some of the most ready to develop the future-focused and innovative solutions required to effectively address each area. As always, we look forward to working with GSP11 to addressing these areas, and to help shape a more positive future!

knfb to demo new, full-color, audio-enhanced e-book content on Blio at CES

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 10:01:44 +0000

Media demonstrations, interviews with Ray Kurzweil available Thursday, January 6, at 3:30 p.m., in the Microsoft booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

K-NFB Reading Technology, creator and developer of Blio, will bring to life new, enhanced e-book content, including well-known children’s titles, on Thursday, Jan. 6 at the Consumer Electronics Show. K-NFB founder Ray Kurzweil will be demonstrating full-color, studio-quality audio titles on the Blio e-reading software at 3:30 p.m. in Microsoft’s booth (#7144).

Additionally, K-NFB will show an updated version of Blio (version 2.1) that will be released Jan. 17, as well as Blio content on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.

Blio, the brainchild of futurist Ray Kurzweil provides access to the largest library of PDF-based, image-rich e-books, including children’s books and cookbooks. The free application (which can be downloaded at www.blio.com) works across device platforms and preserves the original layout and colors of books, while offering advanced capabilities that deliver the most engaging, interactive digital reading experience.

Media are welcome to experience demonstrations of well-known children’s books and other enhanced content on Blio and to interview Ray Kurzweil on Thursday, Jan. 6 from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. in the Microsoft booth (#7144) located in the South Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

What

Enhanced content demonstration on Blio
Interviews with Blio inventor Ray Kurzweil

Where

Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas Convention Center, Microsoft booth (#7144)

When

Thursday, Jan. 6: 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Contacts

Todd Graff, tgraff@ctpboston.com / 617.309.0401
Alexandra Paparsenos, apaparsenos@ctpboston.com / 617.412.4000
Mike Angelo, mangelo@knfbreading.com / 781.690.9999

Source: knfb Reading Technology

Related:
Blio

Kurzweil stronger than ever for new year, debuts new products at NAMM 2011

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:53:17 +0000

Kurzweil Music Systems will be showing off a wide array of exciting new products at the 2011 NAMM show in Anaheim this year. With strong new additions to both our home and pro lines, we’re expecting even more traffic than we saw during last year’s successful show.

Kurzweil pro products will be shown at the large American Music and Sound booth, located in a prime spot on the main floor (booth # 6464). Along with the new PC3K and SP4-7, we’ll be unveiling the new 88 note SP4-8, which features Kurzweil’s best sounds taken from the PC3 in a lightweight (38lbs!) enclosure.

On the home digital piano side, we’ll be at the Young Chang booth on the second floor (booth # 207C). New products include the sleek, elegant CUP-2 (compact upright) as well as the very nicely priced Mark Pro 10. Both pianos include sounds taken directly from our acclaimed PC3 pro line.

During the evenings Kurzweil and AM&S will be hosting events at our suite on the 5th floor of the Hilton Hotel, which is adjacent to the convention center. We expect a number of high profile artists to be stopping by in addition to dealers and international distributors.

For more information please contact:
Kurzweil Sales, 800.431.2609
sales@kurzweil.com

Kurzweil PC3 OS V2.0, a whole new instrument

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:35:44 +0000

Kurzweil Music Systems is proud to announce the release of OS V2.0 for the PC3 line. Included are many new features and over 200 new presets, many of which are the result of direct input and feedback from our customers.

V2.0 demonstrates our continued focus on the concept of non-obsolescence by design and our commitment to our customers, which lasts long after a Kurzweil keyboard is purchased.

One major improvement is the new Intuitive Info feature, which enables the PC3 to provide visual feedback in the display whenever a controller (slider, button, wheel, etc.) is used, letting the player know which parameter is being affected and by how much in real-time.This interactive user interface has been designed to make you feel like you’re using a musical instrument, not just a piece of hardware.

The PC3’s synthesis engine has undergone a few notable enhancements. Several new V.A.S.T. DSP oscillators have been added along with the ability to edit both keymaps and samples in ROM, opening up even more sonic possibilities than ever before.

“No one else in the industry supports their customers like this,” says Mike Papa, National Sales Manager for American Music and Sound. “Over two years after the initial release, the PC3 continues to evolve, improve and grow, letting our customers know that we are committed to non-obsolescence by design.”

The Kurzweil PC3X (Image: Kurzweil Music Systems)

New presets include acoustic pianos, synths, pads, FM electric pianos, over 100 new drum kits and a comprehensive collection of pipe organ stop settings. Both our KB3 tone-wheel organ simulator and rotary effects have been improved and have been receiving strong positive feedback from our beta testers.

As we move forward with future projects, Kurzweil customers can be safely assured that we will continue to support them and that we’re all in this together, for the long haul.

Download the PC3 OS v2.0 here

For additional info contact:
Kurzweil Support, tele 310.355.8052
Email: support@kurzweil.com

PC3X Overview: The Ultimate Performance Controller Keyboard

With a sleek new look on the outside, and an arsenal of Kurzweil’s latest cutting edge chip technology under its hood, the 88-note PC3X delivers 128 voices of incredible sound quality along with a host of powerful, easy to use features. The PC3X is Kurzweil’s ultimate performance controller keyboard, with an enormous collection of stunning sounds combined with comprehensive real-time controller functions. In addition to our renowned Triple Strike Grand Piano, the PC3X features hundreds of new sounds; basses, drums, guitars, and synths suited for every style and taste, along with a collection of flawless vintage keyboard emulations, KB3 Mode and over 250 orchestral and string section programs.

The PC3X’s new Dynamic V.A.S.T. architecture is a huge step forward in synthesis, the fruit of several major strides we’ve made in improving processing power, flexibility and user-friendliness. Good news for synth enthusiasts – we’ve seamlessly integrated our legendary VA-1 Virtual Analog Synthesizer into the new system! For good measure we include an unlimited-track sequencer with 960 PPQ resolution and more effects processing power than our acclaimed KSP8 processor, making the PC3X a full blown music production workstation.

Add in USB, flash xD card port, a newly designed keyboard action, and a new intuitive user interface, and you’ve got the next generation of Kurzweil instruments. It’s a performance controller. It’s a synthesizer. It’s a workstation.

Paul McCartney with a Kurzweil synthesizer on “Saturday Night Live”

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 03:09:53 +0000

Paul McCartney and his band perform on NBC’s Saturday Night Live with a Kurzweil synthesizer on stage, aired on December 11, 2010. Season 36, episode 9. Paul Rudd hosts Saturday Night Live with musical guest Paul McCartney.

Also see:
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” official website
Video of Paul McCartney’s “Saturday Night Live” performance on Hulu

Paul McCartney on stage with a Kurzweil synthesizer, on “Saturday Night Live” in December 2010. (Image: NBC Universal, Inc.)

A legacy of non-obsolescence by design

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:31:28 +0000

Click here to view the new Kurzweil PC3K8 brochure, which opens as an Adobe pdf.