Steve Perlman (entrepreneur)

Last updated
Steve Perlman
Born
Stephen G. Perlman
Alma mater Columbia University (BA)
Occupation(s)Electronic engineer and software inventor and entrepreneur
Known for QuickTime, WebTV, pCell, OnLive, Mova

Stephen G. "Steve" Perlman is an entrepreneur and inventor of Internet, entertainment, multimedia, consumer electronics and communications technologies and services. He is best known for the development of QuickTime, WebTV, OnLive, pCell and Mova Contour facial capture technologies. In addition to founding startup companies, Perlman was a Microsoft division president and a principal scientist at Apple Computer. [1] [2]

Contents

While a prolific entrepreneur, his management style has been called into question. [3] [4]

Biography

Perlman built his first computer from a kit during high school in 1976. He designed and built several computers, graphics video systems, modems, displays, audio systems, interface devices and video games, as well as software. He graduated from Columbia University in 1983. [1] [5]

In 1983 and 1984, Perlman designed a parallel-processing graphics system at Atari. At Coleco, Perlman developed a massively-parallel 3D animation chip and a software-based high-speed modem. In 1985 Perlman joined Apple Computer on the development team of some Macintosh multimedia technology including Road pizza, the video codec used by the first version of QuickTime. [2] [6]

In 1990, Perlman left Apple to join General Magic, where he designed its second-generation technology. [2]

In 1994, Perlman cofounded Catapult Entertainment and was its Chief technology officer. Catapult developed XBAND modems for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game consoles that enabled online features for multiplayer video games. [2] [7]

In 1995, Perlman created, cofounded, and was the chief executive of WebTV Networks. WebTV, introduced in 1996, was one of the earliest products to connect the Internet to television. Less than 2 years after it was founded, WebTV was acquired by Microsoft Corporation for $425 million, [8] and renamed as MSN TV. [2] [9] Microsoft's acquisition of WebTV also brought the teams that created the Microsoft TV platforms, including the hardware for Microsoft's Xbox 360. [10]

Perlman left Microsoft in 1999 to found Rearden Steel, later renamed Rearden, Limited, a business incubator for new companies in media and entertainment technology. [2] In 2001, Rearden Steel raised $67 million in venture funding. [11] In 2000, Rearden founded Moxi Digital, Inc., which developed a combination digital video recorder, DVD player, digital music jukebox, and television set-top box. Moxi merged [12] with Microsoft founder Paul Allen's Digeo in 2002.

In 2004, Rearden founded MOVA, [13] which was spun off from Rearden in 2007 as an OnLive subsidiary. MOVA offers motion-capture services in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Perlman as its president. [13] In 2006 Perlman unveiled Mova's Contour, a digital multi-camera system that captures and tracks detailed surface data and textures for post-production manipulation. It was used for 3D volumetric shape capture of Brad Pitt's face in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , [14] which received the 2008 Academy Award for Achievement in Visual Effects [15] for the photorealism achieved in computer-generated reverse-aging of Brad Pitt's face.

In 2007, Rearden spun-out OnLive, which in 2009 announced the OnLive on-demand video game service and MicroConsole TV adapter, with Perlman as its president and CEO. [16] The game service started in June, 2010 in the US and September 22, 2011 in the UK. It was initially offered on the PC, Macintosh and TV via OnLive's MicroConsole, and then on other devices. [17] [18] By December 2011, OnLive's catalog had grown to over 30 games, [19] with about 3 games supporting touchscreen control. [17] In August 2012, OnLive filed for bankruptcy and was sold to one of its investors and Perlman left the company under allegations that his ego had prevented a successful exit for the company. [4] [20] [21]

In 2011, Perlman announced that he and colleagues in a company called Artemis Networks invented an experimental wireless communications system. [22] [23] In early 2014, Perlman launched his Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output (DIDO) technology commercially as Artemis Networks's pCell, promising much higher speeds than existing 4G mobile networks are capable of. The company claimed it could also transmit power.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of video games</span>

The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations on minicomputers and mainframes. Spacewar! was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first such games on a video display. The first consumer video game hardware was released in the early 1970s. The first home video game console is the Magnavox Odyssey, and the first arcade video games are Computer Space and Pong. After its home console conversions, numerous companies sprang up to capture Pong's success in both the arcade and the home by cloning the game, causing a series of boom and bust cycles due to oversaturation and lack of innovation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MSN TV</span> Thin client that used a television for display

MSN TV was a web access product consisting of a thin client device that used a television for display, and the online service that supported it. The original WebTV device design and service were developed by WebTV Networks, Inc., a company started in 1995. The WebTV product was announced in July 1996 and later released on September 18, 1996. In April 1997, the company was purchased by Microsoft Corporation and in July 2001, was rebranded to MSN TV and absorbed into MSN.

GameLine was a dialup game distribution service for the Atari 2600, developed and operated by Control Video Corporation (CVC). Subscribers could install the proprietary modem and storage cartridge in their home game console, accessing the GameLine service to download games over a telephone line. GameLine had an exclusive selection of games, and its pioneering business model eventually gave rise to America Online. Despite being ahead of its time, it wasn't very popular, possibly due to its price of $60 for the hardware, $15 for the membership fee, and $1 per game, which you could only keep for a week.

Sega Meganet, also known as the Net Work System, was an online service for the Mega Drive in Japan and later Brazil. Utilizing dial-up Internet access, Meganet was Sega's first online multiplayer gaming service, and functioned on a pay to play basis. The system functioned through the use of a peripheral called the Mega Modem and offered several unique titles that could be downloaded, and a few could be played competitively with friends. In addition, it shared technology and equipment with more serious services such as the Mega Anser, used for banking purposes. Though the system was announced for North America under the rebranded name "Tele-Genesis", it was never released for that region. Ultimately, the Meganet service would be short-lived, lasting approximately a year before it was discontinued, but would serve as a precursor to the Sega Channel and XBAND services, as well as a predecessor to online gaming services for video game consoles. Retrospective feedback praises the attempt by Sega to introduce online gaming, but criticizes the service for its logistical issues and lack of titles.

The history of video game consoles, both home and handheld, had their origins in the 1970s. The concept of home consoles used to play games on a television set was founded by the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey, first conceived by Ralph H. Baer in 1966. Handheld consoles bore out from electro-mechanical games that had used mechanical controls and light-emitting diodes (LED) as visual indicators. Handheld electronic games had replaced the mechanical controls with electronic and digital components, and with the introduction of Liquid-crystal display (LCD) to create video-like screens with programmable pixels, systems like the Microvision and the Game & Watch became the first handheld video game consoles, and fully realized by the Game Boy system.

A personal computer game, also known as computer game or abbreviated PC game, is a electronic game played on a personal computer (PC) and form of video game. They are defined by the open platform nature of PC systems.

XBAND was one of the first competitive online console gaming networks and was available for the Genesis and Super NES. It was produced by Catapult Entertainment in Cupertino, California. It is the only modem released in America to have been officially licensed by Nintendo. It debuted in various areas of the United States in late 1994 and 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moxi (DVR)</span>

Moxi was a line of high-definition digital video recorders produced by Moxi Digital Digeo and Arris International. Moxi was originally released only to cable operators, but in December 2008 it was released as a retail product. Moxi was removed from the market in November 2011. The former retail product, the Moxi HD DVR, provided a high-definition user interface with support for either two or three CableCARD TV tuners. Arris also offered a companion appliance, the Moxi Mate, which could stream live or recorded TV from a Moxi HD DVR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unity (game engine)</span> Cross-platform video game and simulation engine

Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, first announced and released in June 2005 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a Mac OS X game engine. The engine has since been gradually extended to support a variety of desktop, mobile, console and virtual reality platforms. It is particularly popular for iOS and Android mobile game development, is considered easy to use for beginner developers, and is popular for indie game development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teleplay Modem</span> Unreleased modem prototype for the Nintendo Entertainment System

The Teleplay Modem is an unreleased modem prototype for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) created by Keith Rupp and Nolan Bushnell, designed to eventually provide online play between NES, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Mova Contour is a multi-camera high resolution facial capture system originally developed by former Apple Computer engineer Steve Perlman. It records surfaces digitally, by using fluorescent makeup and stereo triangulation, allowing for very detailed digitization and manipulation. The system captures images which are then used to generate dense per frame surface reconstructions. It then generates a temporally coherent mesh by tracking an invisible random pattern of fluorescent makeup that is applied to the capture surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OnLive</span> Company offering cloud gaming platform and a cloud desktop system

OnLive was a provider of cloud virtualization technologies based in Mountain View, California. OnLive's flagship product was its cloud gaming service, which allowed subscribers to rent or demo computer games without installing them. Games were delivered as streaming video rendered by the service's servers, rather than running on the local device. This setup allowed the games to run on computers and devices that would normally be unable to run them due to insufficient hardware. OnLive also enabled other features such as the ability for players to record gameplay and to spectate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home computer</span> Class of microcomputers

Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific or engineering-oriented computers of the time such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were playing video games, but they were also regularly used for word processing and programming.

Cloud gaming, sometimes called gaming on demand or game streaming, is a type of online gaming that runs video games on remote servers and streams them directly to a user's device, or more colloquially, playing a game remotely from a cloud. It contrasts with traditional means of gaming, wherein a game runs locally on a user's video game console, personal computer, or mobile device.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video games in the United States</span> Overview of the video game system in America

Video gaming in the United States is one of the fastest-growing entertainment industries in the country. The American video game industry is the largest video game industry in the world. According to a 2020 study released by the Entertainment Software Association, the yearly economic output of the American video game industry in 2019 was $90.3 billion, supporting over 429,000 American jobs. With an average yearly salary of about $121,000, the latter figure includes over 143,000 individuals who are directly employed by the video game business. Additionally, activities connected to the video game business generate $12.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes each year. World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025 the American gaming industry will reach $42.3 billion while worldwide gaming industry will possibly reach US$270 billion. United States is one of the nations with one of the largest influential in the video game industry, and video games represent a significant part of its economy. Major publishers headquartered in the United States are Sony Interactive Entertainment, Take-Two Interactive, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, Epic Games, Valve, Warner Bros. Games, Riot Games, and others. For many years, E3, held annually in the US, was considered the biggest gaming expo of the year in terms of its importance and impact. The Game Awards and D.I.C.E. Awards are some of the most respected video game awards in the video game industry. 103 million people watched The Game Awards 2022 event alone. The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is still the largest and most important video game conference for video game developers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Store</span> Digital distribution platform for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and Series X/S

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Online console gaming involves connecting a console to a network over the Internet for services. Through this connection, it provides users the ability to play games with other users online, in addition to other online services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xbox</span> Microsofts video gaming brand

Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, online services such as the Xbox network and Xbox Game Pass, and the development arm Xbox Game Studios. The brand was first introduced in the United States in November 2001, with the launch of the original Xbox console.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microconsole</span> Type of video game console

A microconsole is a home video game console that is typically powered by low-cost computing hardware, making the console lower-priced compared to other home consoles on the market. The majority of microconsoles, with a few exceptions such as the PlayStation TV and OnLive Game System, are Android-based digital media players that are bundled with gamepads and marketed as gaming devices. Such microconsoles can be connected to the television to play video games downloaded from an application store such as Google Play.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is Microsoft's Xbox cloud gaming service. Initially released in beta testing in November 2019, the service later launched for subscribers of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on September 15, 2020. Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming is provided to subscribers of Ultimate at no additional cost.

References

  1. 1 2 Anna Bogdanowicz (December 5, 2006). "Steve Perlman: Getting Real With Animation". The Institute. IEEE. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Steve Perlman: Founder / CEO". Promotional bio on Rearden web site. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Moxi: Jazzy Product, Sizzling Start, Lots of Trouble". Bloomberg.com. 4 March 2002. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  4. 1 2 Sean Hollister (August 28, 2012). "OnLive lost: how the paradise of streaming games was undone by one man's ego". The Verge. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ Christie, Nancy (December 2010). "Steve Perlman '83 Enhances Communication Through Technology". Columbia College Today. Retrieved January 3, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Apple QuickTime Technologies, Innovative Technologies paragraph Archived 2016-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Catapult Entertainment to ship XBAND for Nintendo
  8. ↑ Microsoft Web TV Press Release
  9. ↑ Cade Metz (July 11, 2007). "25 Years of PC Magazine: Year Fifteen 1996". PC Magazine. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  10. ↑ Dean Takahashi (2006). The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: The Real Story Behind Microsoft's Next-Generation Video Game Console. SpiderWorks/Lulu Press. pp. 60–69. ISBN   0-9777842-1-5.
  11. ↑ "Rearden Steel Technologies secures $67 million". American City Business Journals . 2001-04-23. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15.
  12. ↑ Moxi-Digital merger press release
  13. 1 2 MOVA website Archived 2009-04-16 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ "Camera System Creates Sophisticated 3-D Effects (Published 2006)". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2023-04-05.
  15. ↑ Official Academy Awards website
  16. ↑ "About". OnLive corporate web site. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  17. 1 2 VentureBeat's article on OnLive's smartphone and tablet launch
  18. ↑ Forbes article covering OnLive's UK launch
  19. ↑ "All Games". OnLive. Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  20. ↑ Sean Hollister (August 27, 2012). "OnLive founder Steve Perlman is out: investor Gary Lauder assumes control". The Verge. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  21. ↑ OnLive sold to new company, OnLive, amid layoffs: the full story. The Verge. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.
  22. ↑ Blattberg, Eric (June 30, 2011). "Has OnLive's Steve Perlman Discovered Holy Grail of Wireless?". Wired.
  23. ↑ "DIDO, the Shannon Law, and an antenna for every citizen — PolicyTracker: the spectrum management newsletter". Policytracker.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
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