“Probably the worst scenario as a game designer is that players experience something in your VR game that freaks them out so badly, they rip the headset off and refuse to put it back on again. Moreover, because VR is an emotion amplifier, all sorts of negative emotions and fears can become apparent that even the player may not have known about before. “ Read more
Dear young Physicists and Architects: Please, picture a frictionless Wheel that is lowered reversibly in Gravity
Otto E. Rossler
Faculty of Mathematics and Science, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
Abstract
“The local Wapichana monitoring team learned how to build a fix-winged drone from scratch. The team then mounted a GoPro onto the drone, which shot around 500 images of the Shulinab village along a pre-programmed flight path. Using Pix4Dmapper automatic imaging software, the team were then able to recreate a 3D model of their village from the images. The aim, explained MacLennan in a blog post, is to ‘create high-resolution up-to-date imagery at a fraction of the cost of satellite imagery.’” Read more
“Nara is essentially a matchmaking system that finds and understands entities in any data set, from people and places to businesses and abstract concepts, then builds a massive knowledge graph that shows weighted links between those entities. Wilson says Nara inserts users right into that knowledge graph to offer personalized recommendations. Knowing a bit about the user is what allows Nara to light up other things they might like. And the system can scrape public databases to enhance its knowledge.”
“If the humans were controlling Atlas directly from the command center, this would be no big deal, but the MIT team designed for autonomy. So they don’t have a joystick that would make the robot open the door. All the team can do is send their robot the command to find the handle and open it. It’s up to the robot’s software to figure out how.” Read more
What is the metaverse? It’s Philip Rosedale’s second crack at playing god—at least in the virtual sense. Rosedale created his first virtual world, Second Life, in 2002. Now, he and his new company, High Fidelity, are building another world in silica—and this time, they’re thinking on planetary scales.
Speaking at the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR) conference this week, Rosedale said that by harnessing the shared power of home PCs, “We could collectively create a space whose literal scale is comparable to the landmass of the planet Earth.” Sound ambitious? It is, and it isn’t. Read more
GE just 3D printed a jet engine—complete and functioning. It’s a pretty cool trick. The engine, about the size of a football, is a much-simplified version of something you might see on a commercial jet. But as we can’t fully 3D print one of those yet, this simpler design is used on RC planes instead of 747s.
GE is one of several aerospace players experimenting with industrial 3D printing. They’ve been using the tech to make finished parts for real jet engines too. Last year, for example, they said their CFM Leap engine would use 3D printed nozzles. Others, like SpaceX, are likewise using 3D printed parts in their creations. Read more
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the most important technology we’re developing this decade. It’s a massive opportunity for humanity, not a threat. So, what is AI?
Broadly, AI is the ability of a computer to understand your question, search its vast memory banks, and give you the best, most accurate, answer. AI is the ability of a computer to process a vast amount of information for you, make decisions, and take (and/or advise you to take) appropriate action. Read more
