 We're really excited about some new developments at Sci-Fi Labs, which I understand has some new announcements, specifically regarding the TV show The Expanse that came from a science fiction book that Steve is in love with. And I'm here with Matthew Ciavelli. Hi. So, yeah, I am the SVP of digital at Sci-Fi, and we're happy to announce the formation of Sci-Fi Labs this week, and we've got some cool stuff to show off, starting with our Philips lighting integration. So this is something we launched almost two years ago now, and have been refining it ever since. We launched it with Sharknado II. Oh, my God, I love Sharknado II, the best of the Sharknados. And we figured that was the ideal one to launch with, because it was so over the top and we could go really crazy with the lighting. But as we've worked on more serious and more somber shows like The Expanse, it's taken on a more atmospheric sort of bent, but we still use it to amp up action scenes in any of the battles. Oh, you're seeing a lot of good. So while you're watching The Expanse, your Philips Hue lighting system is changing lighting with the environments of something explodes? Correct. Yeah. So what it is is we've got an app that runs on phones or tablets, both iOS and Android. And what it does is it actually listens to the audio program. Oh, I was wondering how you sync it up. Yep. So, and that's the great thing about it. So it'll work if you DVR it, if you're, you know, if you rent it from iTunes because it's locked to the audio. So it works sort of like Shazam, except we not only know what you're watching, but where you are in the show. So now that we have that timeline, we're able to synchronize lighting events to what's happening on screen. And unlike some previous technologies where they were just using, you know, an algorithm or some math to analyze the color on the screen and then change the lighting, we're actually doing these manually. So we have people in our offices in New York building these custom light tracks by hand. So they're really, they're sort of scoring the show with light. So it's been very cool. Yeah. And people have been really, really excited about it. And this is now the third program we've done this for. All right. So we got to keep moving because we have four things to see here. We're walking around a square here. Let's go to the next section. All right. Now we're on the second side. And I am wearing something crazy in my head. What have I got in my head right now? You are wearing a Samsung Gear VR headset. So this works with most of the current model Samsung Galaxy phones and it fits in the headset. And what you're looking at is an app that we launched actually over the summer, initially for Google Cardboard. And that works on iOS and Android, right? Correct. Yeah. So we launched that over the summer for Google Cardboard. We did a giveaway at Comic-Con San Diego. And so we gave out 13,000 pieces of cardboard so people could watch it. And now we're happy to announce today there's a Gear VR version available in the Oculus store. So what does this bring to the movie or to the show, The Expanse? Well, so the interesting thing for us with VR is we had looked at the technology over the years. But we hadn't really, we didn't really have the right property for it. And once The Expanse went into production, we said, look, this is like one of the most visually stunning shows we've ever done. And we've got these great settings and really great visual effects. And wouldn't it be great if we showed the stuff in VR? I'm not sure I want Sharknado 2 with this on. Probably not. Although, you know, it could be kind of fun. So we launched it and the great thing about this is what you're looking at is actually using all of the source files from the visual effects department of the show. So we worked with the visual effects supervisor at The Expanse. And then we worked with a third-party VR vendor to make this 3D VR. And so we're exploring a couple of the ships and space station from The Expanse here in 3D. So it really makes you feel like you're inside the ship. That's crazy. Exactly. So. All right, I'm going to take that off. We're going to move to the next wall. So one of the other things we're highlighting here is the fact that although we love the sort of connected home and VR and 3D printing, but we don't want to ignore the plain old web. And so what you're looking at here is actually a website that was built for The Expanse. And it runs on phone, tablet, desktop. And so all this is just a PC with a touch screen interface here. But you can do it straight on the web. Exactly. So this is just you can go there. I'm actually opening it up on my phone to show you as well. So what this does is this actually takes you through the settings and the characters from The Expanse. And we actually have navigation here to take you through each episode. So because there are so many settings and so many characters to keep track of, it sort of helps along the way. So you're, you know, OK, so episode three, where were they again? And so you can sort of see what's going on through this really. Julie, my oh is. Exactly. And so we've got everything from images from the episode to information about what the state of the United Nations is like in the world of The Expanse. This is tricky because your audience, as the sci-fi channel, is a fairly sophisticated audience. So you need to bring the internet up quite a notch. Exactly, exactly. And that's why we felt like doing a website that was both inspired by sort of the screens and control panels in the show, but also doing a really fun interface. Plus, I understand it's fairly complicated to keep track. Our friend Dorothy turned Steve onto the books. And when she said you needed to have read the book to watch the show, I was like, oh, man, that sounds too hard. But if I can follow along on the internet. Exactly, exactly. And the great thing is, is the authors of The Expanse books are totally in love with this. And they've been tweeting out links to it. So it's great because it's fun to use, but it's also very helpful as a viewer. So this is my favorite part. We're going in the asteroid belt here. So it's a really great, so it's using WebGL and a lot of modern web technologies. Really fast. Yeah, and that's what's great about it. Unfortunately, the cell connection here is pretty bad. I'm waiting for this to load here. We're in the worst part of the globe right now for internet. Yeah, I would hate to see how taxed all the cell towers are here. But it works the exact same way on phone or tablet. And so it's a really smooth, really nice interface. And then the other thing is you can actually go through and view by character and take a look episode by episode. So you can see what this character Naomi did in each episode. So sort of you can go through the highlights of, nope. Don't look at the screen. Don't look at the screen. Exactly. This is really cool. OK, we're updating it every week after the episodes are on Tuesday. Oh, fantastic. OK, we're going to go to side four. OK. So you don't just want to have like your McDonald's happy meal of characters from the expanse. So you guys have done something far, far cooler. Yes. But we all still want the characters. Of course. Of course. So yeah, we're really excited to announce this. We have partnered with MakerBot, who's a 3D printer. Yes, exactly. They manufacture and market 3D printers. They're actually based in Brooklyn, New York. And we have partnered with them to make a number of 3D models from the expanse. And again, these are using original assets from the show. Really? So these are actually simplified versions of the 3D models that you're seeing in the visual effects or the VR. For those just listening, by the way, we're seeing all kinds of rocket ships and little characters and emblems and stuff. Yeah, so we've made some selected chips. Yeah, some of the logos. And we've even got things like we've got a model here of a helmet from one of the spacesuits. And that's actually what's printing here. And so we're showing it off. We're watching it be 3D printed right now. Exactly. So this is really exciting news for us because we know that this is a really vibrant community, a 3D printing world. And we've already had really incredible response. You're right in the nerd space here. I mean, these people are made for you. Yeah, this is deep. This is your village. Exactly, exactly. So all of these 3D models are available for free on Thingiverse, which is MakerBot's 3D model marketplace. And so we have a sci-fi section there with all of these available to download and print for free. No, I don't know much about 3D printers. Can other 3D printers see into this database and you can use these models? Yeah, because we're using standard 3D files, so most 3D printers should be able to handle that. Oh, cool. Because we interviewed some people with a $300 home printer today, and I told them they needed to talk to you guys. Very cool. Yeah, I don't know for sure. But yeah, these are their standard 3D files. Standard files, yeah. Exactly. And you could even open them. I was playing around. You can open them up in Photoshop, or a lot of apps will read them. OK, just play around with them. Exactly, exactly. All right, is there anything else we need to see, or? No. This is fantastic. How does somebody find out about what you're doing here? Just go to sci-fi.com, and we've got more information and access to all of the stuff you've seen here, links to download the apps, and more information on the 3D printing. All right, this is very cool, Matthew. I think I'm going to have to watch the expanse now. Wonderful, thank you.