CNN launches a virtual reality news unit

The Cable News Network is going virtual. CNN has announced the launch of a new immersive journalism unit called CNNVR that will produce videos and live streams of major news events, along with a weekly virtual reality experience.

CNN has been experimenting with virtual reality for years, producing more than 50 news stories in 360-degree video. It also teamed up with VR broadcaster NextVR to live stream the full Democratic presidential debate in 2015. In a Q&A on the Time Warner blog, CNN Vice President of Premium Content Video Jason Farkas said virtual reality provides an opportunity for journalists to transport their audience and leave a lasting impression.

“I believe VR is the most powerful tool we have to accomplish that goal,” he said at the time. “The whole experience feels like time-travel: you put on a headset, and suddenly you are somewhere else, feeling remarkably close to the story. You are in the story – or at least your senses tell you that you are. The viewer walks away feeling the emotional impact much more viscerally, and memorably.”

Other outlets have integrated virtual reality into their newsrooms as well. Huffington Post started offering VR videos last year on the web and its mobile apps. Months later, The New York Times began creating its own daily VR content in a feature called The Daily 360. In its so-called 2020 report, the Times said it’s making progress in using a richer mix of journalistic forms, including VR, but it thinks it can do better.

CNNVR’s first story is about the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. During the 5:29 minute video, viewers can rotate the camera 360 degrees to look anywhere they like. They can get a better view of the crowds in a bullfighting arena, for example, or check out a matador’s swanky office. CNNVR’s videos are available on PC (Chrome or Firefox), the CNN app on iOS and Android, Samsung GearVR, Oculus Rift and Google Daydream.

Source: CNN

GDC opens up its arms to the trans community

Two weeks ago, the Trump administration rolled back federal protection for transgender students who wish to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. The act has drawn criticism for not just discriminating against transgendered people, but also putting them in harm’s way. Several Silicon Valley companies have also come forward to decry the rollback, proclaiming their commitment to LGBT rights. At the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco last week, it was clear that the gaming industry shares the sentiment too.

Nowhere was this more evident than at the conference’s registration desk. When attendees arrived to collect their badges, they saw a handful of personal pronoun ribbons that they could attach to their names. The idea is to quickly let people around know how to refer to individuals — whether as a she/her, a he/him, or, if they prefer not to identify with either gender, a them/they. It’s a welcoming gesture aimed squarely at the transgender and non-binary community, where using the wrong pronoun can lead to a feeling of alienation.

The request for gender ribbons came from attendees themselves. Meggan Scavio, the General Manager for GDC, had the idea of incorporating personalized ribbons to add a little flair and color to the normal name badge. So she put out a call on Twitter to ask what sorts of ribbons people would like. “The number one request was overwhelmingly for pronouns,” she said. “It’s cool to see a giant event support everyone.”

Personal pronoun add-ons on conference badges aren’t an entirely new concept. Smaller independent gaming conventions like Indiecade and GaymerX have had them for awhile now, as have a few corporate get-togethers. For example Worldcon, a sci-fi literary convention, and Dreamforce, Salesforce’s annual technology conference, which introduced personal pronoun buttons last year. But GDC is the biggest gaming-related conference to incorporate them, a sign that the practice is becoming more widespread.

“I’m a huge fan of the idea of gender pronoun ribbons,” said Carolyn Petit, Managing Editor for Feminist Frequency, an online video series that brings a critical eye to gender representation in pop culture. Petit also happens to be a trans woman. “It normalizes the idea that gender is ambiguous for a lot of people.”

Sai Timmermann, a game developer who identifies as non-binary and prefers the they/them pronoun, echoes the sentiment. “It’s something that we’ve wanted for awhile,” they said. “Last year’s GDC, there was an effort among some developers to make pronoun pin buttons. And to see it go from a grassroots effort to something that’s readily accessible and out there… it’s a statement from GDC that we want you to feel welcome.”

“I’ve seen a lot of people use the they/them ribbons,” Timmermann continued. “It’s been so great! It’s a great conversation starter for people who otherwise didn’t know who else was out.” Another addition to GDC this year were big signs directing people to gender neutral restrooms. There’s at least one in every building of the Moscone Center. There were guerilla paper signs last year, said Timmermann, but this year, there’s official signage.

GDC has historically been a pretty outspoken advocate for diversity and inclusion. It regularly holds an advocacy track for issues relating to accessibility, LGBT groups and women in gaming. Indeed, there are several prominent and public trans people in the gaming community.

“This is an industry, that more than other industries, tend to have people outside of the traditional gender binary,” said Timmermann. “Because internet culture makes it a safer space to explore your gender and feel comfortable coming out. A lot of us grew up in MMOs and being able to be ourselves in an online space. There’s not that repercussion that if I come out at school, I’m going to get beat up.”

The inclusion of different perspectives is leading to a shift in the industry, said Timmerman. For example, they point out that the winner of the GDC award for Excellence in Narrative this year is Ladykiller in a Bind, a game that’s described as “an erotic romantic comedy about social manipulation, crossdressing, and girls tying up other girls.” “It’s both a queer and kinky game which represents two marginalized, swept-under-the-rug groups,” said Timmerman.

As welcome as the pronouns are, though, Petit said there’s still work to be done. She would really like it if more cisgendered allies wore them too, because it helps put trans people on equal footing. “Most of us as trans people are always going to be on guard,” she said. “We can’t completely move around and feel safe.”

“Gestures like the pronoun ribbons can really normalize the reality that transgender is absolutely as authentic and as real as cisgender,” said Petit. “It’s a very small thing, but it does send a message.”

Click here to catch up on the latest news from GDC 2017!

ACLU and 170 other groups ask the FCC to keep net neutrality

The current FCC administration is determined to end net neutrality whatever the cost, but that isn’t stopping policy groups from making a bid to save it. Over 170 groups (including the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation) have sent a letter urging FCC chair Ajit Pai, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson and Republican Senator John Thune to maintain the 2015 net neutrality order. They believe that treating internet traffic equally is vital to making the internet an “engine of opportunity,” and note that broadband investment is up despite internet providers’ threats to the contrary. It’s also vital to preserving competition and free speech for smaller outfits, the groups argue.

It’s a well-meaning letter. However, it won’t be surprising if the plea amounts to little more than tilting at windmills. Pai is a longstanding opponent of net neutrality, and he’s supported by a government with a very, very strong focus on deregulation. Don’t be surprised if the FCC and Congress ultimately ignore calls to protect net neutrality and push forward with their originally intended agenda.

Via: The Verge

Source: Common Cause (PDF)

Art Coloring Book for Adults offers stress relief, but bring your stylus (review)

Never thought I’d write this, but coloring books are all the rage nowadays. Particularly for adults, the allure of sitting down and quietly & simply filling in intricate drawings with a myriad of colored pencils is at an all-time high. No goal or objectives to hit, this form of informal art therapy is ringing true with thousands if not millions of over-worked, over-stressed adults.

Now developer BLONDEA has come out with an Android app, Art Coloring Book for Adults, that looks to capture the charm and peace that comes with this increasingly popular pastime.

Setup

App setup is pretty simple: download the title from the Play Store. From there you just open and off you go. Upon opening, you are greeted with a simple title screen, where your only option is to press a large “play” button. Once doing so, you are greeted with the main screen where you pick your template to color.

How To Draw

While in this ‘template’ screen, you can pick from a large number of template categories. These categories are:

• Fairies
• Animals
• Skulls
• Floral
• Mandela
• Music
• Places

Each of these categories has 5 different templates within to choose from, with the exception of Animals, which has 3 separate categories for a total of 15 templates.

Once you click on a template you are taken to the drawing screen. Here again the features are pretty spartan. Along the top you have a home button in the center (which takes you back to the templates if you want to pick a new one), and a couple of other buttons which I’ll cover shortly.

Along the bottom you have your palette; a line of colored pencil icons of varying base colors. Once you tap on one, a sub-menu of 11 hues of that color appear, allowing you to pick just the one that suits you. Then you simply tap on the open spaces in our template to begin filling it in.

If you feel you don’t like a color in a particular spot, there is a ‘undo’ button top-left; tapping this erases your last move. Once you’re satisfied with your creation, and if you so choose, you can tap the ‘share’ button top-right, and post it to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

App Experience

The overall experienced was mixed to disappointing for me, for several reasons. The first is that you don’t fully “color” like you would on paper. Instead you just tap each white space and the color fills in automatically. This takes away from the ‘focus’ feeling you can get with a more traditional pencil & paper (or with other apps that let you manually fill the colors in). It makes it rather easy to reduce the satisfaction of the app, I tended to start “mailing it in”.

Secondly, these templates (as you may already know) can be quite intricate, and using this tablet on an 8″ tablet still rendered exact placing of color a pretty tedious task. A user would be well-advised to bring a stylus if they are really serious in completing a template to their true satisfaction.
Also, after using this app on a tablet-sized screen, I can’t imagine even trying on a phone….though I’m sure there’s some common sense in that thought somewhere. 🙂

Overall the app is slow in response to touch, swiping, and tapping. It feels like you are dragging the app along. This alone can get a little frustrating. If it was more responsive I would be willing to give it some more time on my device.

For audio- well, there isn’t any. Really. Just a coloring surface for you to get lost in. I take this as a good thing; I believe some kind of background music would just be distracting. The developer got this right; there are far too many “relaxing” apps that put such focus on intrusive zen-style background music.

Overall

While I appreciate the idea of Art Coloring Book for Adults, the execution leaves a little wanting. If the responsiveness could be increased, it would go a long way to improving the experience.

Also, a notice to the user to bring a stylus to this party would also prevent possible frustrations, though again most users should likely expect that to be an almost-necessity.

If you’d like to give it a try yourself, download Art Coloring Book for Adults from the Play Store here.

Google is offering a new generation of education-oriented Chromebooks

Why it matters to you

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in education, and Google is helping with the introduction of a new Chromebook.

We’ve come a long way since the days of teachers taking away our smartphones in class. Rather, with the help of Google, schools are embracing technology more than ever. And now, noting the “global Chromebook momentum” in a blog post celebrating the success of educational technology in Sweden, Google has announced a new generation of Chromebooks for Education.

“These versatile devices bring even more mobility to a wider range of classrooms worldwide,” wrote Ross Mahon, Google for Education’s Nordics regional manager and Jason Wong, a product manager, “including in the U.S. where, according to Futuresource data, Chromebooks reached 58 percent of device sales in 2016.”

Across the world, more than 20 million teachers and students are now making use of Chromebooks, while more than 70 million use G Suite for Education. These numbers, Google hopes, will only increase with the announcement of the HP Chromebook x360 11 G1 Education Edition, which will be made available in mid-April.

The 360-degree convertible Chromebook is said to feature USB-CTM charging, an optional stylus, and world-facing camera capabilities meant to address the unique needs of educational institutions. And because these devices are meant to be “rugged,” they should be able to withstand even the toughest school conditions.

More: Google dominates K-12 education in the U.S. as Apple falls to third place

 The main goal of this new hardware, as well as the software it contains, is to “help evolve technology usage into one that is anchored in student content creation,” Google noted. Already, creative apps on Chromebooks can be purchased in Sweden and other countries in Europe for a discounted rate, while Chromebook administrations now have the option of approving a library of Android apps and installing them on certain managed Chromebooks.

“The role of technology in education will continue to grow in 2017 as students and teachers share their stories of digital success across the world,” Google concluded. “We’re proud to see Chromebooks at the center of this transformation, powering global classrooms into the future.”

Kuri, the pet-like home robot, responds to new commands, now recognizes faces

Why it matters to you

Kuri is a robot that someday might check in on your pets and kids. Now, it’s busy learning new tricks.

Kuri, the home robot from Bosch-owned Mayfield Robotics, is learning a few new tricks.

For the uninitiated, Kuri is a home robot that is 20 inches tall and 12 inches wide, and that was unveiled by Mayfield Robotics at the Consumer Electronics Show. It’s packed to the brim with technologies like asynchronous motors, a capacitive touch sensor, microphones, speakers, and an HD camera, and has a personality that’s warmer than your average robot. It reacts when you call its name, and it emotes when you tell it to perform a task.

In an update, Kuri is gaining the ability to recognize new phrases. Tell the little robot companion “I love you” and it will respond with an “I love you, too” dance and light show. If you tell it to “go to sleep,” it will close his eyes and enter a low-power mode until you wake it up.

More: Kuri is a smart home robot with a personality that makes it more like a companion

Kuri is also getting better at recognizing sounds and people. Now, when it sees a familiar face, it will react with a “smile,” and follow the person around the room with its eyes.

Mayfield Robotics

Those aren’t the only improvements. A redesigned speaker enclosure boasts improved acoustics, and re-engineered convex-shaped eyes “[help] Kuri to appear even more lifelike” by reflecting light more naturally. And last but not least, a formalized partnership with internet rules engine IFTTT will help the robot interact with smart home appliances and devices.

“It’s a big step forward in making Kuri really act alive in ways that are responding to you, and it feels really warm and friendly when you see it in person,” a Kuri spokesperson said.

More: Switch Bot can mechanically control any switch and button you want

That’s in keeping with the company’s goal — to create a lifelike robot with a sense of empathy. “It doesn’t feel like a robot in the traditional sense,” Chris Matthews, Mayfield’s vice president of marketing, told Digital Trends in November. “It connects to people in a different way than normal tech — it’s very much about what people feel.”

Kuri is on a yearlong development track that is already seeing the robot’s software and hardware improve. “We want to ship a complete product — one that’s useful for everyone,” Matthews said. “We want to build robots that are joyful, useful, and inspiring … [and] we’re working hard to make sure that we’re hitting on those three chords.”

Kuri is available for pre-order at HeyKuri.com with a $100 deposit. It will retail for $700 next year, and ship with a dedicated charging dock.

Google, Patagonia team to save Bears Ears region with new VR video series

Why it matters to you

Bears Ears is one of the most breathtaking regions of the U.S., and now, Google and Patagonia are working together to protect it.

Patagonia has long been in the business of helping you get outside with its outdoor gear, and with its virtual reality technology, Google has gotten pretty good at making you feel like you’re outside, even when you’re inside. Now, the two companies are teaming up to help save a portion of the out-of-doors. It comes in the form of a new website titled This is Bears Ears, and it highlights — you guessed it — the Bears Ears region in southeastern Utah.

The two mesas for which Bears Ears is named are known not only for their breathtaking natural beauty, but also for their importance to five Native American tribes, not to mention their 100,000 or so archaeological sites. The area was recently designated a national monument, but even this federal honor may not protect it. There’s now talk of drilling and mining in the area, which could harm the landscape and all it stands for. But Patagonia and Google are hoping to stop that from happening, and you might be able to help.

More: Check out the White House and Air Force One in VR via Google Arts & Culture

Via a series of interactive, VR short films, you can see Bears Ears for yourself. The first section of the website invites viewers to learn about the culture of the space, which is “written in rocks and sandstone walls.” Six additional films explore the history of Bears Ears, along with cave paintings, dwellings, and other natural ruins. Or you can check out the sport of the region, trail riding, backpacking, and otherwise virtually experiencing the natural wonders of the area.

And finally, when you’ve seen it all, Google and Patagonia urge you to get in touch with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, and tell him to “keep our public lands in public hands and defend Bears Ears National Monument.”

To ensure that as many people as possible are able to experience Bears Ears, each of the 10 videos on the site (as well as the site itself) is optimized for mobile, headphones and VR headsets. The site works on your phone, on a tablet, and certainly via a VR headset. “[The VR technology] highlights the specialness of these areas,” Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario said in an interview with Mashable. “I think it also gives people a sense of the grandeur and the beauty of these lands, and hopefully gets them to love them as much as we do — and as I know the people of Utah do — and will want to protect them.”

You can check out the full site here, and hey, maybe you’ll even be inspired to take a real-life trip to Bears Ears to see everything for yourself.

Google, Patagonia team to save Bears Ears region with new VR video series

Why it matters to you

Bears Ears is one of the most breathtaking regions of the U.S., and now, Google and Patagonia are working together to protect it.

Patagonia has long been in the business of helping you get outside with its outdoor gear, and with its virtual reality technology, Google has gotten pretty good at making you feel like you’re outside, even when you’re inside. Now, the two companies are teaming up to help save a portion of the out-of-doors. It comes in the form of a new website titled This is Bears Ears, and it highlights — you guessed it — the Bears Ears region in southeastern Utah.

The two mesas for which Bears Ears is named are known not only for their breathtaking natural beauty, but also for their importance to five Native American tribes, not to mention their 100,000 or so archaeological sites. The area was recently designated a national monument, but even this federal honor may not protect it. There’s now talk of drilling and mining in the area, which could harm the landscape and all it stands for. But Patagonia and Google are hoping to stop that from happening, and you might be able to help.

More: Check out the White House and Air Force One in VR via Google Arts & Culture

Via a series of interactive, VR short films, you can see Bears Ears for yourself. The first section of the website invites viewers to learn about the culture of the space, which is “written in rocks and sandstone walls.” Six additional films explore the history of Bears Ears, along with cave paintings, dwellings, and other natural ruins. Or you can check out the sport of the region, trail riding, backpacking, and otherwise virtually experiencing the natural wonders of the area.

And finally, when you’ve seen it all, Google and Patagonia urge you to get in touch with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, and tell him to “keep our public lands in public hands and defend Bears Ears National Monument.”

To ensure that as many people as possible are able to experience Bears Ears, each of the 10 videos on the site (as well as the site itself) is optimized for mobile, headphones and VR headsets. The site works on your phone, on a tablet, and certainly via a VR headset. “[The VR technology] highlights the specialness of these areas,” Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario said in an interview with Mashable. “I think it also gives people a sense of the grandeur and the beauty of these lands, and hopefully gets them to love them as much as we do — and as I know the people of Utah do — and will want to protect them.”

You can check out the full site here, and hey, maybe you’ll even be inspired to take a real-life trip to Bears Ears to see everything for yourself.

Keep your shiny new LG G6 safe from damage with the best cases and covers

The LG G6 is a big, powerful phone, but its glass front and back spell trouble if you ever lose your grip. Drop this phone, and there’s a serious risk of cracks, scratches, and other kinds of unsightly damage. The smart play is to get some protection. Pick one of the best LG G6 cases or covers, and you won’t have to worry.

More: LG G6: Our First Take

VRS Design High Pro Shield Series Case ($30)

This LG G6 case has a shock-absorbent, brushed black TPU shell with a smooth bumper, which is available in a choice of five colors. The bumper fits snugly on top and extends a little around the screen to reduce the chance of scratches. It’s thick enough to guard against drop damage from small falls. There are accurate cut-outs for the fingerprint sensor, camera, and ports. The bumper has well-defined button covers for the volume keys.

Buy one now from:

VRS Design

Spigen Tough Armor Case ($18)

There’s no doubt that this chunky LG G6 case adds some bulk, but that’s the price of drop protection you can trust. The malleable TPU is designed to take the sting out of any impact, and it’s encased in a virtually unbreakable layer of polycarbonate. The cut-outs are all present and correct for uninterrupted access to ports, the fingerprint sensor, and the camera. There’s a protective bezel around the screen and chunky button covers for the volume controls. The bonus is a fold out kickstand, which is ideal for propping the G6 up in landscape mode and watching a movie.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Caseology Parallax Series Case ($16)

Here’s another solid, dual-layer case that combines an eye-catching, textured TPU shell with a tough, smooth, polycarbonate bumper. Sloped, recessed openings provide easy access to the fingerprint sensor on the back, and ensure that the case doesn’t interfere with the camera. There are chunky, rounded button covers for the volume keys. Reinforced corners guard against drop damage, and there’s a lip around the screen to keep it from touching down on any surfaces.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Poetic Karbon Shield ($10)

The Poetic Karbon case is one of the newest members of the Poetic Cases family, and it feels like it is barely there. If you don’t like thick cases on your phone, but you still want some good protection, then the Karbon Shield should make your short list. The fit and finish are excellent, and the case feels like it is painted on the phone when you put it on. It may look like a tough case, but when you take it out of the package, you will be surprised how soft it is. Although it fits tightly, the soft shell means it’s also very easy to take off and put on your phone. The raised textures give it a very secure grip, and the Carbon Fiber texture provides a great, modern look.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Presidio Grip ($45)

If you’re looking for a nice, grippy case that looks good, isn’t too thick, and gives you a drop rating of up to 10 feet, then the Presidio Grip from Speck is the case for you. This case has built quite a good reputation, and if you are prone to dropping your phones, you’ll be hard-pressed to find many that do it better than this case. It is built from a special material called Impactium, which not only protects the device itself but also keeps the buttons nice and responsive, even though they’re covered. One of the best things is that Speck backs up this case with a lifetime warranty.

Buy one now from:

Speck

OtterBox Defender($37)

There are few case manufacturers that have built a reputation for rugged cases like Otterbox. This case offers you built-in screen protection to prevent scratches and nicks. The case has three layers: the inner polycarbonate shell, the outer cover, and the screen protector. In addition, all the ports are covered to keep out dust, dirt, and other debris. Otterbox cases go through more than 24 tests, and over 200 hours of testing, so when it comes to extra protection, this case literally has you covered.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Ghostek Atomic 3 Series Waterproof Case ($60)

This case is pricey, but it’s one of the most complex cases included in this list. This case offers complete 360-degree protection of your smartphone. The case has a strong aluminum alloy frame, and it is flanked by raised rubber bumpers on all four corners. The rear is scratch-resistant, and the front has a rubber frame with screen protection. The case doubles down on the camera, adding extra protection for the dual cameras and flash. The USB-C port is also covered. To top it all off, the case is dust-resistant and tested to withstand being submerged in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes. The case comes with Ghostek’s global lifetime warranty, and it comes in black, gold, pink, red, silver, and teal.

Buy one now from:

Ghostek

The WebMD skill for Amazon’s Alexa can answer all your medical questions

Why it matters to you

WebMD is bringing its wealth of medical knowledge to a new form factor: Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.

Alexa, Amazon’s brilliant voice-activated smart assistant, is a capable little companion. It can order a pizza, summon a car, dictate a text message, and flick on your downstairs living room’s smart bulb. But what it couldn’t do until today was tell you whether that throbbing lump on your forearm was something that required medical attention. Fortunately, that changed on Tuesday with the introduction of a WebMD skill that puts the service’s medical knowledge at your fingertips.

For WebMD, the self-coined “leading source of health information” in the U.S., the move from web interface to voice-driven app is a natural progression. “We want to be in the place where we believe computing is going,” WebMD’s vice president of mobile products, Ben Greenberg, told The Verge. “[This] is going to be really helpful in situations where you want to access something hands-free. For example, a mom with her baby. The baby’s got a rash and is on amoxicillin, and there’s poop all over the place and it’s scary. The mom can find out that diarrhea is a side effect of amoxicillin, without having to navigate through a visual interface.”

More: Thanks to Alexa, you can control your home by talking to your smartwatch

The edifying new WebMD app — or “skill,” in Amazon’s lingo — works with Alexa-enabled devices including Amazon’s own Echo, Echo Dot, and Fire TV, and isn’t too different in form and function than the thousands of other Alexa skills in Amazon’s market. It’s enabled by saying, “Alexa, enable WebMD skill,” and you activate it with the phrase, “Alexa, ask WebMD.” It will inform you of a drug’s side effects (“Alexa, ask WebMD to tell me about amoxicillin”), provide a list of treatments for common ailments (“Alexa, ask WebMD how to treat a sore back”), and tell you the basics about diseases (“Alexa, ask WebMD what Lou Gehrig’s disease is”).

If you’ve used WebMD on the web, it’s a trip down memory lane. The Alexa app spouts verbal answers to simple questions about conditions, medical tests, and symptoms. For more complex queries, it tosses the answer in an Alexa app card containing the answer to the question and a URL with additional information. Just like WebMD proper, the Alexa app isn’t perfect — in The Verge’s experience, it had trouble offering treatment advice on headache. And it doesn’t always understand questions the first time — you’ll find yourself repeating, “Alexa, ask WebMD,” more often than you’d like.

More: Could Amazon’s Alexa devices be getting an add-on security camera next?

This Alexa skill is just the start of something bigger. In the future, WebMD hopes to improve the interface and add the ability to ask follow-up questions. “The voice part of it is a crucial investment to where we will be one day,” Greenberg told The Verge. “Our grandkids will make fun of us for ever having used a keyboard.”