Zooculus rift — lab animals get their own virtual reality system

Why it matters to you

This lab animal VR platform allows scientists to study animal behavior in more controlled and dynamic environments.

Lab animals can now enter immersive virtual reality environments thanks to researchers in Andrew Straw’s lab at the University of Freiburg .in Germany. Dubbed FreemoVR, the Star Trek holodeck-like system monitors the movements of common lab animals like mice, zebrafish, and fruit flies, projecting photorealistic environments onto a screen to simulate movement in the real world.

“To understand how an animal responds behaviorally to visual stimuli, I always wanted something like the holodeck in Star Trek,” Straw, a neurobiologist at the Vienna Biocenter, told Digital Trends. “Gradually, it dawned on me that a lot of the bits and pieces I had built over the years could be extended and combined to achieve what we now have done.”

Straw and his team arranged as many as 10 high-speed cameras to track the position of the animal as it ventured around the space. Within seconds, the FreeoVR software would project a new image, from digital pillars, checkerboard floors, and even Space Invader aliens. Unlike human VR systems, there is no need for the animals to wear special garments of headgear.

This might sound like a bunch of fun and games but the researchers hope the system will help them study animal behavior in new and unique ways.

Straw and his team found that the animals often responded to the various environments as though they were real. Mice demonstrated caution when the environment depicted a scene suspended up high. Flies flew around the digital pillars, as seen in the video above. And zebrafish showed a propensity to swim after a photo-realistic virtual fish when the digital model matched its swim direction.

“If we do not put the animal’s visual sense in strong conflict with other senses, we do not find any differences between behavioral responses to ‘real world’ versus VR stimuli,” Straw said.

The virtual worlds were not all realistic. Along with Space Invaders, the researchers intend to experiment with more cartoonish and gamified environments, including one that simulates teleportation animals.

“We could test stimuli that would be impossible to create in the real world,” Straw said. “So far fish seem OK with being teleported virtually!”

A paper detailing the study was published this week in the journal Nature Methods.

Ambient music made with eclipse data is out of this world

Why it matters to you

The musical composition offers a new way to experience and appreciate the natural phenomenon.

Yesterday’s Great American Eclipse — which swept across the continental United States from Oregon to South Carolina — was the most watched and most photographed eclipse in history, reports the Associated Press. It was truly a sight to behold.

But researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology devised a way to experience the event not with sight, but with sound, using eclipse data to create an ambient musical composition that depicted the event for people with visual impairment.

Although the eclipse has ended, you can still hear part of the composition here.

“My lab has been turning information into sound for a couple decades, so this is a natural project for us,” Bruce Walker, director of the Georgia Tech Sonification Lab, told Digital Trends. “We often work on projects that help blind individuals get a better sense of what is happening around them.”

Walker and his team, including then-graduate-student Avrosh Kumar, who Walker credited with the creative effort, received a call from AT&T asking them to develop a sort of soundtrack for the eclipse in support of Aira, a device that helps translate the physical world into sound.

The researchers used timing and duration predictions from astronomers to compose a base soundtrack prior to the event. They also reeled through videos of eclipses to get an impression of how witnessing one felt.

“We learned about the changing light levels, the changing temperatures, and associated events like the ‘false dusk’ and ‘false dawn,’” Walker said, referring to the moments during the eclipse when light resembles dusk and dawn, and tricks animals into responding accordingly. For example, birds begin singing and crickets begin chirping.

“In the piece, I wanted to capture the physical process of an eclipse, portray the immensity of it, and the awe of experiencing an eclipse,” Kumar said. “The first section of the piece that starts about 30 minutes before the maximum eclipse is a slowly developing rhythmic movement capturing time. Its tempo increases so slowly that it is almost unnoticeable but every time you pay attention … you feel the change in the environment. While working on this part, I was thinking of the uneventful slow approach of the moon over the sun.”

The musical energy increases about 15 minutes before totality, as the moon’s path over the sun becomes more drastic.

“After this transition you hear a duel between the sun and the moon,” Kumar said, “the harsh sounding sun and the mellow sounding moon.” These two elements compete until totality when all that’s left of the sun is its corona, peeking over the edges of the moon. “Then the sun re-emerges into another hopeful post-eclipsical phase and fades into the day.”

Live musical alterations were added during yesterday’s event to depict changes in brightness and barometric pressure resulting in a truly visceral listening experience.

The Smarter FridgeCam could be your key to reducing food waste

Why it matters to you

Don’t buy a brand-new smart fridge. Just teach your existing fridge a few new tricks with the Smarter FridgeCam.

Sometimes, the only thing your old refrigerator needs to become a smart refrigerator is a camera. But not just any camera — the Smart FridgeCam. Heralded as the first wireless camera that fits inside any fridge, allowing you to see the contents from anywhere thanks to its companion Smarter app, this camera will help you keep tabs on expiry dates, remind you when you’re starting to run low on essentials, and suggest recipes based on what’s available in your fridge. Think of it as having an assistant live inside your fridge.

Set to launch in the United Kingdom in September, the Smarter FridgeCam hopes to address the ongoing issue of food waste. After all, the company notes, British households throw away some 7 million tons of food and drink every year, and more than half of this discarded sustenance is still edible. But this new connected device hopes to help reduce this waste by up to 50 percent while saving users money.

Sure, there are refrigerators that include this picture-taking functionality, not only are these smart refrigerators expensive, but they also require homeowners to, well, replace their entire fridge. But with the Smarter FridgeCam (which costs under $130, by the way) you need only to mount the device inside your existing appliance.

“The supermarkets tell us that the way we shop has fundamentally changed,” Christian Lane, the founder of Smarter, told the Guardian. “People are shopping little and often and using different shops. The more we developed and trialed this technology, the more we found that it could not just help reduce food waste but it also encourages people to shop in a smarter and more efficient way.”

Like many other smart devices, the more you use the FridgeCam, the better it gets at helping you. And not only do your own user habits contribute to the overall effectiveness of the device, but as Lane noted, “Our platform gets smarter by learning from our customer network of FridgeCams. It is similar to how Tesla automatically improves by constantly learning from all the cars on the road.”

So if you’re interested in reducing food waste and saving some money in the meantime, the Smarter FridgeCam might be the connected device for you.

These are the 5 best Nokia 6 cases and covers

Our first look at the Nokia 6 showed us the Nokia brand, under HMD Global, is back in the best possible way and making some of the highest-quality, low-budget Android phones you can find on the market. They have everything you would want from a low-budget phone — great build quality, enough power to run the best Android apps without draining your battery, and software that is as close to stock Android as possible. The Nokia 6 costs $230 in the U.S., but, even though it’s a budget device, you’ll still want to keep it safe and sound. Below, we’ve rounded up the best Nokia 6 cases and covers around.

Incipio DualPro Case ($25)

The DualPro from Incipio is a case that was tested to withstand drops of up to 12 feet. The case consists of two parts. The soft inner core is made of a patented material called Plextonium, which absorbs impact alongside a hard, polycarbonate shell that gives the case its rigidity and scratch resistance. The offering is also relatively slim for a shockproof case. It comes in black, like most cases, and in beautiful raspberry color.

Buy one now from:

Incipio Amazon

Armor-x Shockproof Case + Belt Clip & Carabiner ($30)

The Armor-X is the Swiss army knife of tough cases. The case is made of a soft, TPU bumper that surrounds your phone, and this is reinforced by a rigid, plastic back. The button covers on the bumper feature a raised tactile feel, and the case’s raised edges protect your display from surfaces. This package also includes the X-Mount clip, which rotates so that you can clip the case to your belt or use the included carabiner. There are additional X-Mount accessories, too, including bike and car mounts that you can purchase through the website.

Buy one now from:

Armor-X

Piel Frama Slim Wallet Cover ($62)

Piel Frama is one of our top picks when it comes to leather smartphone covers, and luckily, the company has made a case specifically for the Nokia 6. This new design offers ample protection, while maintaining a slim profile. The cowhide leather is soft, and there are cut-outs for the earpiece so that you can talk with the case closed. The smartphone attaches to a rotating plate, too, so you can rotate your smartphone when you want to take a picture without having to take your phone out of the case. You can also detach and reattach the Nokia 6 as many times as you want without damaging the adhesive properties of the case. The leather currently comes in black, burgundy, and orange.

Buy one now from:

Piel Frama

PDair Leather Holster Pouch ($43)

Some folks prefer to go caseless, but still want to carry their phone in a protective sheath. Thankfully, the PDair holster pouch may be the answer. The holster has a leather-covered belt clip that attaches to your belt. The high-quality material is made of premium, full-grain leather with beautiful stitching, and it comes in nine different colors, including black, pink, red, tan, and brown.

Buy one now from:

PDair

Dretal Soft Brushed Cover ($8)

If you’re looking for a thin and flexible case that offers adequate drop protection, then you may want to consider the Dretal Soft Brushed Cover. Although flexible, the soft TPU in this case is anti-stretch, so you don’t have to worry about the fit as you take the case on and off your phone. The case leaves your phone’s charging and headphone ports exposed, though the volume and power buttons are covered with raised polycarbonate, thus ensuring a more tactile feel. The case features a brushed-aluminum finish that comes in navy, black, red, and gray. You can also get this case with a black, carbon fiber finish.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Meet Cubiio, a laser engraver that can fit in your backpack

Why it matters to you

Laser cutting/engraving is a very cool technology. This new Kickstarter gadget makes it considerably easier to use.

No self respecting “maker” studio should be without a laser cutter/engraver — so that you can carry out your business cutting wood into ultra-precise shapes or etching patterns into leather, all while pretending to be a James Bond villain. A new Kickstarter campaign aims to democratize this technology, courtesy of a diminutive desktop laser cutter that is designed to be incredibly straightforward to use. Rather than demanding users learn how to use complex software, or show Ph.D. levels of expertise when it comes to hardware tinkering, the Cubiio takes the form of a compact plug-and-play cube. Users simply connect it to a PC, Mac, or tablet using Wi-Fi, select the design they wish to cut or etch, position the object they wish to be cut or engraved, and hit “start.”

“Cubiio provides everyone with a glimpse of different ways of living,” Sandy Huang, who handles marketing for Cubiio, told Digital Trends. “People can customize their items in under a few minutes with a simple [tap] on a smartphone. Makers and designers are allowed to experiment with more possibilities than ever. With Cubiio, you can easily engrave or cut paper, leather, wood, plastic, and acrylic. We’ve even tried engraving on the surface of pancakes and macarons!”

The device consists of a semiconductor laser source and two current-driven mirrors which deflect the laser beam along the ‘X’ and ‘Y’ axis. An embedded CPU translates your sketches of engravings-to-be into digital commands to tilt the mirrors at the perfect angle. “To shrink a huge laser machine into your palm is definitely a challenging task,” Huang said. “Starting from scratch, we have designed and tested many prototypes to solve lots of technical problems, such as image distortion and thermal issues.” The problem of image distortion is handled via a custom-designed anti-distortion algorithm.

Cubiio has only been up on Kickstarter for a matter of days, but already it has blown past its funding goal — with $945,372 already pledged against its initial target $25,000. The basic model can be pre-ordered for $379, with higher tiers also available with a protective shield. Shipping will start in November.

Stick-on patch monitors vitals, wirelessly transmits data to smartphone

Why it matters to you

The new biosensor may track health status with the sophistication of clinical equipment.

Engineers have created a new “electronic skin,” which when worn on the body is capable of monitoring vitals like heart beat, respiration, and muscle activity. Developed by researchers at Northwestern University and South Korea’s Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, the stick-on patch could help doctors and patients wirelessly track biometrics, with results sent directly to a smartphone

“We are seeking to build advanced, fully integrated electronic systems – biosensors, amplifiers, wireless communications, power supplies, et cetera – into platforms that have thin, soft, ‘skin-like’ properties as a fundamentally new class of wearable technology,” John Rogers, director of Northwestern University’s Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics who worked on the project, told Digital Trends. “Through intimate interfaces to the skin, these systems can reproduce clinical quality monitors for tracking health status.”

The device Rogers and his team constructed uses soft silicone encasing sensors and small wires, enabling it to stretch, flex, and conform to the body without breaking. By compacting the components into a patch that’s 1.5 inches in diameter, it can fit inconspicuously under clothing. And where previous devices rely on flat sensors, the researchers suggest that their 3D design and weblike coils allow the device to better accommodate the natural shape and movement of a patient’s skin.

“We envision these ‘epidermal’ electronic systems as vehicles for continuous collection of data on physiological health, via data streams that can serve as the basis for actionable information by trained physicians,” Rogers said. He and his team hope to transition from “qualitative measurements of ‘steps’ or ‘activity,’ as enabled by conventional wearables,” to more sophisticated measurements. “That is, measurements that are currently confined to clinical settings or laboratory environments.”

Moving forward the researchers will continue their work with 11 human studies to test the device’s effectiveness.

“The devices are sufficiently robust that they allow practical use on real patients,” Rogers said. “As we begin to understand better the different modes of use and the information content of the acquired data, we will tailor our systems to the most promising applications and then begin to pursue commercial opportunities.”

A paper detailing the research was published last month in the journal Nature Communications.

Linksys built new gaming router from scratch, and it speaks to Killer components

Why it matters to you

Linksys built a new router from scratch specifically for PC gamers and it should be a must-buy for owners of Killer Networking hardware.

During Gamescom, Linksys launched a new networking router built exclusively for serious gamers, the WRT32X. Linksys says it’s the first “true” gaming router built from the ground up for gamers. It was designed in conjunction with Killer Networking to promise up to a 77 percent reduction in peak ping times.

As first introduced during CES 2017 in January, the external view of the new WRT32X looks like a modernized version of the company’s classic WRT54GL router, ditching the black and blue theme for a futuristic space gray aesthetic. Inside, you will find “enterprise-grade” hardware such as a dual-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz, 512MB of DDR3 system memory, and 256MB of local storage for the custom-built firmware.

According to Linksys, the firmware is based on the latest stable release of the Linux kernel. It was custom-designed for this specific router, as was the graphical user interface (GUI). This combo is “wrapped in a design that appeals to gamers,” providing all the settings you need for the optimum gaming performance. There are also network usage statistics that provide you full insight into what is going on with your local network.

The real kicker seems to be the Killer Networking aspect. The router uses the Killer Prioritization Engine (KPE), which can detect all connected products that include Killer Networking hardware. Working together, the router will prioritize important traffic related to gaming and video over the standard traffic used by other devices. If you’re not gaming, then your Killer-based client device will tell the router it is performing a less important activity so you are not always hogging the bandwidth.

“Since network priorities are fully customizable on Killer-Enabled PCs, the KPE on the WRT32X is able to honor those priorities,” Linksys says. “So if the user configures the Killer Control Center to make streaming videos their top priority, the WRT32X will treat those packets like gold and ensure nothing in the home slows down those streaming video networking packets.”

Killer Networking hardware can be found on gaming motherboards, PCs, and laptops manufactured by Acer, Alienware (Dell), Asus, Gigabyte, Lenovo, MSI, Razer, and more. PC gamers who have a Killer-based device will see a new “router” tab in the Killer Control Center when the WRT32X router is detected on the local network. Here you can make changes to the KPE without having to access the router’s firmware.

Here is a more detailed list of specifications:

Processor:
ARM-based dual-core chip at 1.8GHz
System memory:
512MB DDR3
Local storage:
256MB
Ports:
1x Gigabit WAN
4x Gigabit LAN
1x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A
1x eSATA/USB 2.0 port
Spatial streams:
3
Physical antennas:
4 (detachable)
Wireless technology:

Wireless AC Wave 2 MU-MIMO
Maximum Wireless AC speed:
2,340Mbps (3 x 780Mbps)
Maximum Wireless N Speed:
600Mbps (3 x 200Mbps)
Wireless encryption:
WPA2 Personal
VPN support:
PPTP IPSec pass-through
Storage file system support:
FAT, NTFS, and HFS+

The Linksys WRT32X router is available to pre-purchase now online for $300 on Amazon, Best Buy, and Linksys. It won’t ship until September 21, which is when it will be made available through Target, Newegg, Micro Center, and other outlets.

Google introduces ‘Google Enterprise’ with more robust management tools

Google is rolling out new tools for businesses to better manage Chromebooks.

Chromebook usage in businesses has grown in recent years, for a few good reasons. Chromebooks are dead simple to log into and use, and if something does go wrong it’s easy to powerwash them. Google already provides basic management tools for businesses interested in deploying Chromebooks, but soon, admins will have another option. Google has announced a new suite of tools called Chrome Enterprise.

While a lot of businesses may be moving to be 100% in the cloud, most businesses aren’t there yet. For these customers, a Chrome Enterprise license will include support for Microsoft’s Active Directory. This will centralize management of Chromebooks without a business needing to be 100% in Google Cloud. Chromebook Enterprise will also allow businesses to centrally manage all of their devices through VMWare Workspace One. IT administrators will be able to build and deploy a single application to handle all of the virtualization needs for Chromebooks, including Android apps and a virtual Windows environment.

Speaking of Android applications, Chromebook Enterprise will also let administrators manage which Google Play applications an end user can install on their Chromebook, as well as managing which Chrome extensions the user can install. As more and more Chromebooks gain the ability to run Android apps, it’s great to see businesses get options to manage which applications are allowed. Finally, Chromebook Enterprise will feature managed OS updates so administrators can test new version of the operating system before it is rolled out to end users.

Chrome Enterprise will cost a flat $50 per device, which still keeps Chromebooks cost effective for businesses. Google will be hosting a question and answer webinar on August 23 for those interested in learning more about Chromebook Enterprise.

Do you think Chromebook Enterprise would be a good fit for your organization? Let us know down below!

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks
• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums

I didn’t see the eclipse in totality, but it was still pretty great

Like more than a few stories in my life, this is one of procrastination and regret. Yesterday’s total solar eclipse was the first to be viewable from the US in my lifetime, and my hometown of Lincolnville, South Carolina, was right in the path of totality. But I live in New York now, and for a number of reasons, I wasn’t able to travel to see the eclipse in all of its glory. And believe me when I tell you that I was a whiny brat about it — especially as the big day drew closer.

However, a few days before the Aug. 21st event was also when I decided to start looking for eclipse glasses. This was well after everyone had sold out of them and it was probably too late for an online order to arrive. This made me even whinier, because I knew it was entirely my fault. I called dozens of stores in NYC and across Long Island — 7-Eleven, Lowe’s, Walmart and Toys “R” Us — with no luck. I popped into 7-Elevens I came across while driving, and from the employees’ reactions it was clear they had sold out ages ago and I was embarrassingly late in my search.

But my luck changed: My sister in North Carolina had an extra pair that she could mail me. (She clearly doesn’t have the same procrastination gene.)

Of course, I overestimated the speed of the postal service, and the morning of the eclipse, I still didn’t have the glasses. Tracking told me they were at the post office, but if I waited for regular mail delivery they probably wouldn’t get to me until after the eclipse was over. My backup plan was to attend one of the library viewing parties nearby, but I took a shot and called the post office, begging them to pull the glasses out of sorting and let me pick them up instead. They agreed because they’re saints.

So while I was still regretting not being able to see the eclipse in totality, the procrastination part of the saga seemed to have worked itself out just in the nick of time. About an hour before the eclipse was set to begin, I set myself up outside a coffee shop near my apartment in Queens that had a perfect view and outside seating.

Around 1:25 PM, when the eclipse began, I started to look up and also looked around for fellow eclipse watchers. No one. Just me. I was a little disappointed and wondered if maybe I should have gone to that library party instead. But a little later a couple sat down behind me and I could hear them talking about the eclipse. They were checking to see what time it was going peak and trying to figure out some information about this eclipse and eclipses in general. I heard them say they didn’t have glasses and were going to use their phones to see it, something you should only do with a filter. (And yes, at this point I was just straight up eavesdropping.)

I waited for them to say the word “eclipse” loud enough that it wouldn’t be totally obvious that I was listening in and conceivable that I had just overheard them, and then I offered them my glasses. They didn’t realize the eclipse was already viewable, and when they took up my offer and looked, they were blown away. Right at that time, a group of people was walking into the shop and saw that we were using glasses to see the eclipse. They asked if they could use them too; of course I said yes. Our growing gathering then attracted a few passersby who took turns looking up … and suddenly, finally, there was this burst of excitement and wonder and all of my regrets just sort of fell away.

This happened over and over for the next hour. People walking by would see me using the glasses and ask where I got them. I would tell them my story of near disaster and then offer them mine. Everyone took up the offer, and their first look almost always came with a gasp and joy. One person used my glasses, left and came back a few minutes later with someone else he had clearly pulled from work just so she could see the eclipse. She used the glasses and then quickly ran back to wherever she had come from while yelling thanks and waving as she went.

The couple behind me and I kept passing the glasses back and forth into the eclipse’s peak and well afterward. At one point, another woman with glasses showed up and started sharing hers with another small cluster that had formed to use mine. But I noticed another group had gathered down the street and none of them had glasses: Everyone was just using their phones. Since she seemed willing to share her specs, I asked her if she wanted to let the group down the way use hers. (I was set up with my laptop and pretty immobile.) She did, and when they started using her glasses, I could see the excitement from where I was sitting.

At one point, I mentioned that I was a science writer, and the people around me started asking lots of questions about the eclipse, how it works, why this one was special. I still wish I could have seen it in totality, but between the curiosity and the thrill people had when they looked at the eclipse with the solar viewers, it was the next best experience I could have asked for. For a short period yesterday, so many of us were looking up together, both at this coffee shop and across the entire country. People were excited about something totally new to them. They were sharing this experience — the first for many and the last for some — with complete strangers. They were asking questions. They were curious and excited. And really, what more could a science writer want?

This isn’t an “isn’t it great when we all get along?” story or me opining on how we’re bigger than all the turmoil that’s going on around us. This isn’t even a comment on how everyone should trust science a little more. I know that what happened yesterday at that coffee shop and coffee shops, fields, sidewalks and building tops across the country was brief and momentary. It wasn’t evidence that we can heal our country’s wounds anytime soon or that there’s a light in the distance. It was just a really lovely moment, and that’s all.

I’m glad to have experienced the eclipse the way I did. I won’t forget the looks on people’s faces the first time they looked up. And I won’t forget the temporary and spontaneous camaraderie that I experienced with perfect strangers on a sidewalk.

So while there was definitely a hefty amount of procrastination in this experience, there was less regret than I imagined there would be in the end. But you best believe I’m heading toward the path of totality in 2024. I’ll see you there.

Images: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani (black eclipse); NASA/Joel Kowsky (ISS transit)

Hulu’s live TV service is now available on Xbox 360

If you’re still watching Hulu on your Xbox 360, here’s some great news for you. The on-demand streaming service has just expanded its new “Hulu Experience” interface to the almost 12-year-old Microsoft console. The best part is that you won’t have to do a thing — the update will happen automatically. Plus, you’ll have the option to subscribe to Hulu’s live TV plan, currently in beta, right from your console.

You’ll be able to create up to six different profiles, including ones for kids, to keep your viewing habits and recommendations personal. Subscribers to the Hulu with Live TV beta will have unlimited access to the Hulu library with limited commercials, including Hulu originals and movies. Xbox 360 users will also be able to add premium channels like Showtime, HBO and Cinemax and upgrade to a no commercial plan. They’ll also be able to purchase options for a cloud-based DVR and the ability to watch on unlimited screens, just like the rest of Hulu members on other, more modern platforms. These include the Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Xbox One, iOS, Android and Chromecast.

Source: Hulu