There’s a connected hearing aid, and it actually sounds useful

With every new gadget seemingly connected to the internet to automate your life, the question arises if a lot of those items are really useful. Now there’s a hearing aid that connects to the Internet of Things, and before you dismiss it, this device seems like it will definitely lend a hand. London-based Oticon announced the Opn: a connected hearing aid that ensures the user knows when someone rings the doorbell, the smoke detector goes off or a baby monitor is chiming. Thanks to TwinLink technology, the Opn doesn’t sacrifice size or battery life for connectivity.

In addition to communicating with household tech, Oticon’s Opn also works with IFTTT’s recipe-based automation. While the company didn’t mention specifics, it’s probably safe to bet users will be able to set up alerts for things like movement detected by an outdoor security camera — just as an example. Of course, the hearing aid’s primary task is helping with listening. Oticon says the compact unit performs sound analysis over 100 times a second and locates sound in any direction while drowning out background noise. This means that keeping up with conversations where multiple folks are speaking won’t be a problem, even in a loud setting. Pricing and availability weren’t mentioned in the announcement, but you’ll probably want to consult an audiologist if you’re interested.

Source: Oticon (PR Newswire)

Soon your drone can avoid collisions using radar

Drones are all fun and games until their rotors casually meet your body. To avoid injuries, lawsuits and costly repairs, techies have built collision avoidance systems so your unmanned aerial vehicle automatically swerves away from people and obstacles. But existing camera-based solutions drain batteries and slow down flight speed when dodging things. Arbe Robotics just won TechCrunch’s first Tel Aviv Meetup and Pitch-Off last night with its own avoidance system, which counters these drawbacks by using radar to guide drones without stunting flight time.
The system consists of a mountable hardware band that scans up to 200 meters in every direction along with software that automatically avoids detected obstacles. If objects larger than a meter enter that radius, the radar system will detect it and automatically move the drone to avoid a collision. Arbe Robotics claims that its solution only uses 5 percent battery life throughout the flight.

Obviously, this is for a civilian solution detecting slow-moving obstacles. DARPA has been innovating a collision avoidance system for drones to dodge speedy things like small aircraft and other drones. Since it’s currently the size of a shoebox, it won’t be coming to small commercial UAVs any time soon. It’s also unclear when Arbe Robotics’ solution will hit the market, but until then, there’s always drone crash insurance.

Source: Arbe Robotics

The struggle to adapt storytelling for virtual reality

Storytelling in virtual reality has yet to take shape. While the simulated world of gaming has proven the visual capabilities of the medium, few have taken a crack at the art of building a compelling narrative.

But now that the battle of the VR headsets is fully underway, a shift is evident. Content studios seem to be getting ready for the next wave of virtual reality. Over the last week alone, major VR studios have announced investments from Hollywood studios that seem indicative of the cinematic experiences to come. Within, formerly known as VRSE, has raised $12.56 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and 21st Century Fox; Felix & Paul Studios has seen $6.8 million in a round led by Comcast and Virtual Reality Company (VRC) got $23 million from Beijing’s Hengzin Mobile Business in exchange for exclusive distribution rights in China.

There’s been a lot of hype and cash flow around VR in the last couple of years. But there’s little insight into what it takes to build a great experience outside of gaming. Can filmmakers turn into VR makers? Will they infuse this immersive format with dramatic storytelling? Or will it remain a simulated world that’s best suited for interactive gaming?

The experience that came closest to immersive cinema was VRC’s The Martian VR Experience at the beginning of the year. It followed director Ridley Scott’s visual cues but unlike other Hollywood companion pieces that came before, this one took on a life of its own. It gave VR headset-wearers the ability to inhabit the film as Mark Watney (the abandoned astronaut played by Matt Damon). The isolation of being stranded and the triumph of being rescued in space made for a powerful experience.

A still from “The Martian VR Experience.” (Image: Virtual Reality Company)

The Martian VR epitomized the dramatic capabilities of the visual medium. Oscar-winning production designer and VRC founder Robert Stromberg infused the experience with a narrative and emotions in a way that hadn’t been successful before. His ability to build the cinematic experience stemmed from his award-winning career in Hollywood.

For well over a decade, Stromberg has been a VFX specialist who has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Steven Soderbergh, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, to name a few. His list of accolades for production design and visual effects includes five Emmys (including Star Trek: The Next Generation and Boardwalk Empire) and two Academy Awards (for James Cameron’s Avatar and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland). Last year he also won three Cannes Lions for What Lives Inside, an Intel and Dell sponsored series that premiered on Hulu.

In light of the new funding for VRC and the buzz around Steven Spielberg’s VR debut with the company that he backs as an advisor, I spoke with Stromberg about what it takes to build compelling narratives in an immersive format.

You made a push for visual effects in the ’90s and now with VRC you’re tackling another visual medium. What drew you to virtual reality and what led to the company?

I’ve been a creative person since I was a small child and I always dreamed of the idea of transporting myself to a world that didn’t exist. Virtual reality allowed me to step into worlds that could be created and that to me was not only magic but a shock: I didn’t think it would be possible in my lifetime. I spent my entire career building worlds for film. When I was doing Avatar, that’s when I started to see the technology changing and we were able to create a 360-degree world. We were making that film with a virtual camera and I knew that it was a matter of time before people would be able to put that in a viewing system that would immerse that person in the world.

I kept my eye on that and went off and directed Maleficent. Around the same time [in 2014] I heard that Oculus was being bought by Facebook. I actually cold-called Oculus, which at the time was just a startup at Irvine. I introduced myself and they invited me down to see what they were up to. It became very apparent to me what the future was going to be. I decided that day to form VRC.

What I recognized at the time was that the technology was going to be there but no one was talking about content. It was the perfect opportunity to step into the world of content and I knew it needed to be symbiotic with the tech for it to work.

Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg and Kim Sinclair with their art direction Oscars for “Avatar” in 2010. (Image: Matt Sayles/AP)

You’ve said before, “The mediums will change, but the storytelling will stay the same.” Does it really stay the same with VR or does the medium require an approach that’s different from the standard format of films?

It’s something brand new, like television was to theater. VR is a cross pollination between what you might consider a live performance and cinematic storytelling. To me it’s something that is in its fledgling stages and I still don’t believe that the nut has been cracked yet. We’re ready to tell stories but how do you do that in VR? A lot of people are pushing that dynamic to find the combination that works for them, including myself. I believe that within months to a year that sort of dramatic storytelling event will happen. A lot of people are doing one-off events, but at VRC what we’re trying to do is create that first sort of fully developed cinematic emotional storytelling content. I believe it’s very close; it’s just a matter of the tech being at a point where we can utilize it in a way that we create true emotions when someone is viewing a story.

What makes a good cinematic VR experience? What are the things to focus on and what are the pitfalls of the medium?

Two years ago, I had to prove to myself that this was a medium you could approach with a cinematic eye. So the first thing I did was created a four-minute dream world with cinematic music and all the bells and whistles. That’s when it struck me that it could be big and dramatic in this new medium. The Martian was on the heels of that. It started as a storytelling vehicle; a condensed version of the film but then we introduced an interactive component. It’s kind of a hybrid -– a cross between an observer and a participant.

I think that’s going to be the definition of how you tell a story: Are you an observer or are you a participant? If you look at it as a stage play, you go to a theater and watch a performance live and you have a choice of where to look on stage. If you were to put yourself on the stage it would be a different experience. You would feel like you were intruding if you were just an observer and if you get right up in people’s conversations you would feel awkward because you would feel like you’re a part of it. We’re doing a lot of psychological tricks with storytelling where you’re a watching a performance as opposed to being part of it or you’re in an interactive setting and you want to see a character in the story.

A still from “There”, a VR experience directed by Robert Stromberg.

The visual medium has extended the capabilities of experiencing things. But in what ways does it limit storytelling and how do you work around it?

Let’s take The Revenant as an example. You’re using the camera as a framing device and using the movement of the camera to get emotion. You have these long extended shots that move from beat to beat that still tell a story. But traditional editing can be jarring if you’re immersed in a world, so that’s one of the things we’re experimenting with: how to transition smoothly but still feel like you’re moving the story along?

There are ways to transition in VR, too, clever ways to sort of move from one experience to the next. With The Martian, I came up with what I call the “boxcutter.” You have 3D images on 3D screens that follow the edit of the film itself and it pushes the story along. It’s sort of a cheat in a way but it is a technique. I think we’re going to find many methods to transition over time. In the last year, the technology has reached a point where we can do things we couldn’t do even two years ago. Live capture, for instance. We’re capturing actual performances from actors and putting them in this world. When we have all the elements in our toolbox then we can dig and find the emotion in the stories. Until now it’s been parlor tricks to say “look at what VR can do!”

(Left to right) VRC co-founders Joel Newton and Robert Stromberg with recording artist Anderson .Paak and co-founder Guy Primus. (Image: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images)

How far are we from seeing long form narratives? What are the limitations with time when you want to immerse someone into a virtual world?

The Martian started out as a 12-minute experience, which ended up being 20 to 28 minutes depending on what you did with the interactive component. What we realized is that people didn’t have a problem in an environment that long. There’s the obvious motion sickness that we’re up against, but overall what we’re trying to do is find what we can do with the camera. How fast can we move it? What are the dos and don’ts of being immersed? What makes people uncomfortable?

One of the biggest things I learned from The Martian was that the brain was so tuned in that you had to make sure the horizon was accurate otherwise your mind tells you something’s wrong. There was one portion where people had an uncomfortable feeling but when we cracked the horizon issue it went away. So everything is still being wind tunnel tested. Over time we’ll learn what does and doesn’t make somebody comfortable. I think maybe there’ll be a rating system for VR where you’ll know going in what level you’re comfortable with. It’ll take shape, but we’re just not in that place yet.

What are you currently working on?

We’re involved with many things but what we’re focused on is high-end content. Something that’s going to be worth monetizing eventually and that’s a whole other discussion about how it will be presented to the masses – whether it’s mobile, Oculus, [HTC] Vive, Playstation [VR]. We’re working with all of those systems to make sure we cover the most territory.

“Over time we’ll learn what does and doesn’t make somebody comfortable. I think maybe there’ll be a rating system for VR where you’ll know going in what level you’re comfortable with.”

We’re working on a project with Steven [Spielberg]. I can’t say what it is yet, but I can say that it’s a series. Going back to the time limitation, I think the first version in terms of storytelling content will be episodic and shorter. We have to be mindful of whose going to be the first adopters? It’s younger people and gamers. When we bring kids in to see the threshold we find that kids can stay in there all day. The first round we’ll be looking at 10- to 12-minute episodes. Eventually when we get into longer formats, I see a version where we introduce the idea of intermissions or breaks, so you have the option to continue or take a break. It worked with films in the old days when they were three or four hours long. It wasn’t only to get popcorn, but to settle. I can see that related to the future content that comes out of VR as well.

What would you say is the general perception of VR in Hollywood? Is it considered a buzzword or is it seen as a more viable medium for storytelling?

I think the biggest thing is that it is a buzzword. When people see it for the first time there’s a wow factor about it. I think we have to be careful. We have to have enough entertainment value and enough content out there for people so it’s an ongoing and growing part of people’s daily lives. We go to the airport and see everybody heads down on their cellphones and laptops and everybody spends hours online. Will this fit into that? It’s all going to depend on compelling content.

Physicists create a ‘quantum ruler’ to measure the universe

A group of physicists from the Russian Quantum Center and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology have come up with a new method of creating a special entangled quantum state, one that could be used as “a high-precision ruler” for measuring large distances with subatomic precision. The technique, described in a new study in the journal Nature Communications, could be used to increase the sensitivity of optical interferometers like the ones used by the LIGO project to detect gravitational waves.

Simply put, LIGO works by splitting a single laser into two beams, which are then recombined. If one of the beams experiences interference like a gravitational wave, it shifts the wavelength and creates a measurable difference between the two beams called an interference pattern. LIGO can currently measure differences “comparable to the diameter of a proton,” the study’s authors wrote in a press release. This new “quantum ruler,” on the other hand, utilizes NOON states of photons, where a multiphoton laser pulse is at two points at the same time. In the experiment, the photons at each point, referred to as “Alice” and “Bob”, are each in an entangled state. When one of their entangled parts experiences interference (in this case, the laser was shot through a piece of darkened glass), it creates a measurable difference from the original NOON state in a phenomenon known as entanglement swapping. That difference can be measured in sizes even smaller than a proton.

While the study conducted this research in a lab, according to lead author and RQC research Alexander Ulanov, the same method could also be used in terrestrial interferometers like LIGO or its space-borne sister instrument LISA.

Chicago decides not to clamp down on ride-sharing services

As is the case in many cities around the world, the debate over regulation of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft rages on. In Chicago, the city council voted down a measure this week that would’ve required fingerprint background checks for drivers and maintain a certain number of vehicles that accommodate handicapped passengers. Uber has already said that fingerprinting won’t help and would most likely cause them to stop offering rides in the city. The council instead plans to study fingerprints for six months before revisiting possible regulations.

In terms of handicapped passengers, services will have a year to begin to offer those types of rides. What’s more, Uber and Lyft drivers will be required to obtain a chauffeur’s license, which can be done online. Cab drivers, on the other hand, must attend class in person to gain the required credentials and those courses are more expensive, according to the Chicago Tribune. The failed measure would’ve also required up-front drug testing and a physical exam, but instead the city’s license commissioner will only require those for driver when a complaint is filed.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has back ride-sharing services in the city despite vocal opposition over fair competition and unfair regulations. Emanuel said that the likes of Uber and Lyft employ 90,000 registered drivers and offer people in Chicago more transportation choices, especially in underserved neighborhoods. Chicago approved a package from taxi unions in 2014 that, among other things, allowed for cabs to have their own app for hailing a ride. The discussion over the services is far from over in the city, especially with the taxi industry’s stance that the new rules do too little to even the playing field.

Apple Releases Safari 10 Developer Beta for OS X Yosemite and El Capitan

Apple today released a developer beta of Safari 10 for OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan users, allowing those who don’t yet wish to install macOS Sierra to test out the upcoming Safari update.

The Safari 10 beta for Yosemite and El Capitan can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center.

Safari 10 for Yosemite and El Capitan does not include all of the same features available in macOS Sierra, like Apple Pay on the web and Picture in Picture support, but a limited number of Safari 10 functions are available, as listed below:

– New Bookmarks sidebar, including double-click to focus in on a folder
– Redesigned Bookmarks and History views
– Site-specific zoom
– Improved AutoFill from your Contacts card
– Reader improvements
– HTML5 and legacy Plug-ins
– Allow reopening of recently closed tabs
– Back closing spawned tabs
– Improved ranking of Frequently Visited Sites
– Web Inspector Timelines Tab
– Debugging using Web Inspector

With OS X El Capitan, Safari 10 supports Safari Extensions and the development of Safari App Extensions, allowing developers to start creating extensions that will eventually be sold through the Mac App Store. Also unique to El Capitan is Spotlight suggestions for Top Hits.

Safari 10 is currently limited to developers, but will be available to public beta testers as part of macOS Sierra this July. The web browser will see an official public release this fall.

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How to customize your Chromebook launcher

Make your Chromebook look the way you like it with these tips.

If you’re using a Chromebook that has Google Play, you might be downloading a bunch of Android apps. If you don’t yet have Google Play on your Chromebook, you’re probably thinking of Android apps you want to install when it comes. With all those apps — and your Chrome apps — you’ll probably want to tidy things up a bit. Here’s how you can do it.

Set your wallpaper and choose a theme

Like your Android phone, your Chromebook has a launcher. It’s not an app that can be replaced with a third-party offering, it’s more like the desktop and start menu you would find on a Windows laptop. We’re not going to dig into the technical details here, but for our purposes, your Chromebook app launcher is your wallpaper, your “shelf” (the taskbar across the bottom) and the app drawer. There’s quite a bit you can do with these to make your Chromebook fit into your flow a little better. Let’s start with the obvious — the wallpaper and the theme.

Changing the wallpaper is easy. Just right click (remember, that’s a two finger tap on the trackpad) and choose “Set wallpaper …” from the menu. You’ll see a new window with a good many bundled wallpapers, and you can use the tabs at the top of it to sort through them. If you would like to use your own wallpaper, make sure it’s in Google Drive or stored locally on your Chromebook and click “Custom.” You’ll be able to choose any image that the file manager can get to. You can also tick the box that says “Surprise me” and you’ll get a random wallpaper from the included images each time you log in to your Chromebook.

If you’re using your own picture for the wallpaper, you can use an image editor to size it to the same dimensions as your Chromebook screen to keep it from stretching or cropping. You can find images the right size through Google image search by choosing the resolution in the Search tools at the top of the page.

To change your theme, click the status area (down by your account picture). Choose Settings > Appearance > Get themes. The Chrome Web Store will open to the themes category, where you can browse through and find one you like. You’ll only see themes that will work with your Chromebook, and to install it you only need to click the Add to Chrome button on the theme’s page in the Chrome Web Store. If you choose a new theme your old one will be uninstalled, and if you don’t want the same theme on every computer you use, you can selectively sync through the settings.

Customize your shelf

You can customize the shelf in a few ways, too. Some folks want the bar on the side of their screen instead of the bottom. Again, right click on your desktop and get to the menu. Choose “Shelf position” and pick where you want the shelf to live. You can put it on the left, the right or keep it at the bottom.

You can also set the shelf to autohide so that it stays out of the way until you move the cursor to the screen edge. Note that if you don’t have any other apps open, the shelf will stay visible.

Finally, you can add shortcuts to the apps you use most frequently on your shelf as well as bookmark web pages there. To add an app shortcut, find the app in your drawer and right click on it. Choose “Pin to shelf” and a shortcut will be placed on the bar. To add a bookmark, in the browser choose More > More tools > Add to shelf.

You can arrange the items on your shelf by clicking and dragging them. To do this on your trackpad, click or tap with one finger, then slide left or right with another finger. When the item is in the position you like just let go of it by removing your fingers from the trackpad.

Add folders to the app drawer

Making a folder is done the same way as Android. All you need to do is drag one app on top of another to create a folder, or drag an app on top of a folder to add it. To name your folder or edit the existing name, open it and click the area under the search bar where it says “Unnamed folder” (or where the existing name is) and type your new name. You can’t add a folder to the shelf, or merge one folder into another to nest them.

A quick tip here — if you are trying a lot of Android apps on your Chromebook, I’ve found it’s handy to make a folder named “Testing” and put them all in there until I decide if I want to keep them or not. This way I know only apps that work to my liking live outside of it, and nothing is there eating my precious disk space.

While there are no complete home or desktop environment replacements on your Chromebook, you can do a lot to make it easier for you to use. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments or in the forums.

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Google Cardboard apps work great on your Gear VR now!

It’s real, and it’s awesome.

Samsung gear VR owners can now use Google Cardboard apps through their preferred headset, instead of having to switch back and forth between a Cardboard viewer and something else. It’s pretty easy to set up, and our friends over at VRHeads have everything you need to get started with every version of the Gear VR. Enjoy!

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