Lifeboat Foundation

In case you missed it, Facebook’s annual developer conference started today. At the event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed key details about where the company is going next, specifically focusing on what Facebook is working on in relation to bots, virtual reality, augmented reality, and new communication methods (such as advances they are working on in Messenger).

Oh, and he also said that key details are going to be revealed tomorrow about Facebook’s “direct brain interface.”

The work comes from Facebook’s mysterious “Building 8 (B8),” which has apparently been working on brain-computer technologies for some time. In their recent call for an engineer, B8 states that they are seeking “an experienced Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Engineer who will be responsible for working on a 2-year B8 project focused on developing advanced BCI technologies.”

Continue reading “Zuckerberg: Facebook Is Working on a Brain Interface That Lets You ‘Communicate Using Only Your Mind’” »

“With the VR Ad Service, advertisers only pay for an ad after a user has seen it.”

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Virtual reality has never felt so real.

“VR was everywhere at the Austin festival.”

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““I see a much larger opportunity for collaboration, not just between the universities, but between the universities and the industry.””

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“While most people focus on the compute and graphics requirements for virtual reality, storage is the bigger problem going forward.”

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In the next few years Space X and Virgin Galactic will be sending tourists into orbit and during a brainstorming session for last years SpaceApps Challenge we brainstormed some possible applications for Space Robots.

Last night on the International Space Station Astronaut Thomas Pesquet showed the SPHERES robots testing software that will be used to clean up space junk. Smaller versions of these robots could be developed with multiple ports for a Go Pro Camera linked to a SmartWatch app for Space Selfies or for a Virtual Reality 360 degree recording for the Tourists of their trip. Having wireframed for the Samsung Gear Watch App to be used on the International Space Station and with the advances in technology its easy to see how Siri/ Cortana/ Alexa could be incorporated into a SPHERE type Astromechanical robot to advise of Comms, Timetable scheduling and the other apps that are required for day to day use on the International Space Station. Fun applications that we came up with for the Space Apps challenge was a version of Space- Quidditch and Jedi Training for a SPHERE robot fitted with mini propulsion tanks.

The Annual SpaceApps Challenge is a great way of streching your tech skills and learning new ones. If you would like to host a SpaceApps event the deadline is today:

Continue reading “Robots on Space X and Virgin Galactic Space Tourist Flights?” »

Ugly Lies The Bone, US writer Lindsey Ferrentino’s debut at London’s National Theatre, is more than just a survivor story. It’s a visually arresting meditation on virtual reality exposure therapy.

The therapy was first trialled in 1997 by Albert Carlin and Hunter Hoffman at the University of Washington Human Interface Lab in Seattle. The pair designed a virtual reality environment, Spiderworld, which enabled a phobic individual to safely encounter and interact with the object of their irrational fear – in this case, a 3D-rendered arachnid. After 12 sessions, the subject’s symptoms seemed to.

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The planets were discovered orbiting a dwarf star known as Trappist-1, which is 39 light years from Earth. The international group of researchers claim they will know if life exists there within a decade.