AI adds background noise to Google Street View scenes

Google Street View is a great way to imagine you’re somewhere else, walking the streets of a bustling foreign city or making your way through a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood. Now, thanks to a project from Nao Tokui, it’s become even more immersive. He’s put together a feature called Imaginary Soundscapes that creates background noise based on what you’re looking at in Google Street View. It’s a soundtrack for your virtual walks that was first identified by the Tumblr user Prosthetic Knowledge.

Imaginary Soundscapes works by using two different neural networks. One is able to identify the content within the different Street View images, while the other can pinpoint audio and separate the sounds and acoustics of the environment. Tokui has put both together for this project; the two neural networks can find open source audio and play it in the background, based on what you’re looking at in Google Street View. For example, on an residential street in a busy Washington, DC, urban neighborhood, I heard an imagined soundtrack of buses, cars and people chatting as they walked by.

You can give it a try yourself at Imaginary Soundscapes’ website; it only works on PC in Chrome and Firefox, though I was able to access it in Chrome on a Mac. By default the site takes you to a random location. You have a choice to input your own street address or visit another random place. The sound will play automatically.

It’s not perfect, of course. Fast Co.Design points out that in the quiet, grass-filled fields of Tokyo Stadium, there are the sounds of cars zooming by. Regardless, it’s a pretty cool AI. You can go more in depth into how it works at the creator’s Medium post and a short paper for a workshop on Machine Learning and Design.

Via: Fast Co.Design

Source: Imaginary Soundscape, Medium

Live from Samsung’s CES 2018 press conference!

Samsung press conferences rarely disappoint, and we’re hoping that’ll be the case today — the company’s big CES 2018 keynote is about to kick off, and we’ll be bringing you all the news live. Samsung hasn’t made too many pre-CES announcements, aside from a couple laptops, so most of what’s coming here should be a surprise. But we know we’ll see some massive, beautiful TVs as well as some home appliances that are “smarter” than they have any right to be. But the story will likely be how all of Samsung’s devices play well together and make up an ecosystem throughout your home. And who knows, we may even end up with a Galaxy S9 sneak peak. Stay tuned — the event kicks off at 5PM ET / 2PM PT, and we’ll bring you all the news right here.

LG Display’s giant rollable OLED TV is indistinguishable from magic

LG Display managed to showcase a hand-rollable OLED screen a few years ago at CES, but it was clearly in its early prototype stages. Sure, exciting but also distant. Now, the world’s first rollable 65-inch 4K OLED display offers a more realistic (yet still kinda crazy) use for OLED tech that’s flexible — something that we’ll probably see in a few — probably premium — TV models in the next few years.

Now, 65 inches isn’t the biggest TV at CES, or even at LG Displays showroom. (In fact we got to stare lovingly at a monstrous 88-inch 8K OLED in the same room). It is however, the only one that can roll itself into a box a fraction of the size.

Like smartphones in the last few year, the bigger our TVs get, the more unwieldy they become: Many of these huge screens are a hassle to install / get delivered / move — rollable OLEDs are one way to keep our screens huge and our door frames intact.

Yep, it’s still a prototype, but LG Display explained that this particular tech demo is closer to real consumer devices than the aforementioned 88-inch 8K OLED.

Even at this prototype stage the screen subsidiary of LG is showcasing multiple modes for the rollable. Beside the typical, full 65-inch screen, it’s got a more cinematic 21:9 ratio option and a slender notification panel that can house weather info and act as a music player when you don’t need the screen up front and center. Naturally, there’s the viewing angle benefits, deep contrasty blacks and rich color gamut: It’s business as usual as far as OLED quality goes. Once unfurled and upright, you wouldn’t think this was any different to LG’s on-sale OLED TVs.

Getting to this size from the smaller prototype shown in 2015 meant ensuring the screen itself was hardier and tougher, while still maintaining the flexibility needed to roll up. There’s a lot more tension acted on the screen as you add inches to its size, so the company had to figure out ways to strengthen the slender layers that make up an OLED screen. This new disappearing screen is the fruits of that labor.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

CES 2018: Kohler’s New Sensate Kitchen Sink Faucet and DTV+ Shower System Will Support HomeKit

Kohler at CES 2018 this week has introduced a collection of new smart kitchen and bath products based on its new Kohler Konnect platform, which itself is based on Microsoft’s Azure internet-of-things cloud solutions.

A spokeswoman for Kohler told MacRumors that its Sensate touchless kitchen faucet and DTV+ shower system will be the first of the Kohler Konnect products to support Apple’s HomeKit platform for smart home accessories.

Kohler’s Sensate faucet allows you to turn the water on and off or dispense water to a measured volume, such as an eight-ounce cup or a large pot, with simple voice commands or touch-free motion-based interactions.

The faucet also monitors your water usage and lets you track the consumption using an upcoming Kohler Konnect companion app.

Meanwhile, the DTV+ showering system enables homeowners to create and automate personalized showering experiences. The Kohler Konnect app allows you to, for example, create and manage presets for sound, water, steam, and lighting.

With an optional bridge, you can use voice commands to access those presets, or use the system’s wall-mounted interface, to adjust water temperature, and control shower heads, music, lighting, steam, and shower duration.

HomeKit compatibility should enable both products to be controllable with Siri or Apple’s Home app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

Kohler’s other new smart home products integrated with its Kohler Konnect platform include its Verdera mirror with built-in Amazon Alexa, Numi intelligent toilet, PureWarmth toilet seat, and PerfectFill technology for bathtubs.

Kohler said the Verdera mirror with Amazon Alexa will be available for purchase from March 2018 in the United States. The other new Kohler Konnect products are planned for release later this year. Pricing has not been disclosed.

The Home Depot sells Kohler’s existing Sensate faucet and DTV+ shower system sans Konnect for $523 and $794 respectively in the United States.

Tags: HomeKit, CES 2018, Kohler
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Control front door security from your phone with the Nest x Yale Lock

Nest is proving that it is anything but a one-trick pony, now that it expanded its portfolio to not only contain smart thermostats but a new smart lock, too. At CES 2018, the Alphabet-owned company announced a new smart deadbolt developed in conjunction with Yale Locks and Hardware. Meet the Nest x Yale Lock, heralded as the first Works with Nest product controlled using the Nest app.

The keyless touchscreen deadbolt allows users to lock and unlock a door from just about anywhere, and create passcodes to manage access for family members, friends, and guests. Keycode access can be revoked at any time to ensure security, and homeowners can even create schedules for certain guests, so that certain passcodes only work at certain times. Of course, all of this functionality can be controlled by the Nest app, which also displays a history of who has entered through a Nest x Yale Lock-protected door, and when.

“Yale and Nest collaborated closely to develop a lock that brings a new level of security, convenience, and insight to the front door,” said Jason Williams, president, ASSA ABLOY U.S. Residential Group, which includes Yale Residential. “With this product, we are bringing to market a lock that takes full advantage of Nest’s leading ecosystem and extends its capabilities with useful product integrations.”

Integrated with other members of the Nest family, the Nest x Yale lock can be paired with Nest Secure to disarm Nest’s alarm system. Alternatively, pairing the lock with the Nest Hello video doorbell will allow you to see who’s at the door, and remotely grant them access (or not).

Claiming easy installation that requires only a screwdriver, bringing the Nest x Yale lock into your home should be pretty straightforward. As far as security is concerned, Nest says that remote access is secured via layers of bank-level encryption technology. And if your power or Wi-Fi fails or your app malfunctions, you will still be able to open the Nest x Yale Lock using the touchscreen. And if lock batteries drain, the deadbolt can be opened by touching a nine-volt battery to the terminals at the bottom of the lock.

The Nest x Yale lock will be available for pre-order in February, and delivery is slated for March.

Editors’ Recommendations

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PC power level under 9,000? You can still run ‘Dragon Ball FighterZ’

Arc System Works’ Dragon Ball FighterZ releases later this month, and it’s shaping up to be one of the best games to ever use the license. It will be coming to both Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but it is also releasing on PC, and publisher Bandai Namco has revealed just what kind of a rig you’ll need to run it. Luckily, you’ll be just fine even if your power level is less than 9,000.

Bandai Namco shared a full specifications list on Twitter, revealing the minimum and recommended CPU, GPU, and RAM you’ll need to run the game — it’s compatible on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

You’ll have to have at least an AMD FX-4350 or Intel Core i5-3470 in order to run Dragon Ball FighterZ, and it’s recommended you have at least an AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or Intel Core i7-3770. The Ryzen 5 1400 isn’t an expensive processor, only costing about $160.

For your GPU, you also shouldn’t need to make an upgrade. It’s recommended that you have a Radeon HD 7870 or GeForce GTX 660 installed. Both are several years old and have just 2GB of VRAM, and the game is playable with 1GB of VRAM.

As long as your PC isn’t old enough to drink, you’re going to be fine on RAM, as well. Dragon Ball FighterZ only requires 4GB of RAM, with 8GB recommended. The game also requires DirectX 11 as well as a DirectX-compatible sound card.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is the first Dragon Ball game we’ve seen to truly match the visual style of the manga and anime series. It’s a three-on-three tag-team fighting game developed by the studio responsible for Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, so you can expect high-level competitive play once the game releases. The game features its own story mode, and its roster of characters covers just about everyone you’d ever want to fight in the universe, from Vegeta and Piccolo to Android 18 and Dragon Ball Super‘s Beerus. Stages include Planet Namek, the Sacred World of the Kai, and the Cell Games Arena — with several attacks lifted straight from the anime, you’ll be able to re-create your favorite moments.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on January 26.

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LG updates its thin and light gram 15 notebook with 8th-gen Core, Thunderbolt 3

We applauded LG’s gram 15Z970 notebook for its incredibly thin and light chassis that still managed to pack in strong performance and an excellent display. Now that Intel’s excellent eighth-generation Core processors are hitting the mainstream, LG has taken the opportunity to update its flagship 15-inch notebook with both better performance and some nice design touches.

LG gram 15Z980

Key Specs

Intel 8th-gen Core CPUs

Up to 19 hours of battery life

2.42 pounds

USB-C with Thunderbolt 3

Nano-carbon magnesum alloy

MIL-STD 810G certification

While LG hasn’t provided too many details about the machine, we can tell from the pictures that the notebook maintains its basic design but with some notable changes. It utilizes a nano-carbon magnesium alloy material that’s allowed LG to meet the MIL-STD 810G certification for durability and use in harsh environments. The webcam that was uncomfortably placed under the display for an up-the-nose view has been relocated to above the display where it belongs.

The LG gram 15Z980 retains the former model’s very light 2.42 pound chassis, which we found extremely comfortable to carry around for a notebook with such a large 15.6-inch display. By packing in Intel’s very efficient and high-performance quad-core eighth-generation CPUs, LG can now boast significantly faster performance along with greater efficiency. The company is promising up to 19 hours of battery life, which is in line with some other newly introduced systems.

LG has also managed to squeeze in a second solid state drive {SSD) slot for increased storage space. The details aren’t specified, but LG does give hope that the slower SATA SSDs in the previous generation have been replaced with the faster PCIe SSD specification, which would provide a nice boost in performance to go with the newer, faster CPUs.

Finally, the LG gram 15Z980 fixes one of our complaints with the earlier model. While its predecessor was limited to a USB-C 3.1 port, the updated machine offers Thunderbolt 3, which greatly improves the notebook’s peripheral support and long-term viability. It can also charge external devices such as smartphones.

LG hasn’t yet provided pricing or availability information for the gram 15Z980. When it does arrive, it will maintain LG’s distinction of offering one of the thinnest and lightest full-size notebooks you can buy.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Refreshed LG Gram laptops head to North America in January for CES 2018
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• HP Spectre 13 (2017) review

Jabra’s Elite earphones give you a direct line to Alexa while you’re on the go

Listening to your tunes while on the go is great, but we’re increasingly becoming accustomed to being listened to — usually by a voice assistant. So it makes sense that Jabra has moved to includen oice assistant compatibility in its expanded Elite line of wireless earphones.

The company has announced three new models: The $170 Jabra Elite 65t, the $190 Jabra Elite Active 65t, and the $100 Jabra Elite 45e. The “t” designation indicates a “true wireless” model, i.e. no cords at all, while the “e” designation stands for “earbud,” even though that description would seem applicable to all three models.

The Elite range are designed to give you easy access to Alexa‘s on-the-go capabilities, but they’ll work with “all major voice services,” according to a company press release, including Google Assistant and Siri. They’re also intended to be used with the Jabra Sound+ app (iOS/Android), which lets you customize the way the earphones sound.

Jabra is backing the Elite lineup with a two-year warranty against water and dust ingress, while the Elite Active 65t gets additional coverage for sweat ingress. At only $10 more that Apple’s AirPods, the Elite 65t might be just the ticket for those who want a fully wireless experience but don’t want to be tied to Siri, while the Elite Active 65t makes for an interesting option for fitness-tracking buffs, thanks to its built-in accelerometer.

We came away from our time with the company’s Elite Sport earbuds very impressed, so we’re excited to see how Jabra has moved things forward with these new Elite products. The Elite 65t will be up for sale sometime in the first quarter of 2018, while the Elite Active 65t and Elite 45e won’t hit shelves until April.

Uber, Volkswagen enlist Nvidia’s powerful Xavier chip for autonomous cars

Nvidia kicked off CES 2018 on a high note by introducing an autonomous machine processor named Xavier. Designed to help self-driving cars merge into the mainstream, Xavier is billed as the world’s most complex and advanced system on a chip (SoC).

“In the future, every car will be self-driving. There will be 100 million cars built each year, millions of robotaxies, and several hundred thousand trucks. All of it will be autonomous. On top of this, what will define the driving experience is the artificial intelligence (AI),” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang promised during a press conference in Las Vegas.

He pointed out Xavier is, by far, the most complex project Nvidia has ever embarked on. Without getting too technical, the processor relies on nine billion transistors to monitor information sent by the numerous sensors required to make a car drive itself safely and smoothly. “It can never fail because lives are at stake. And it has to make the right decision, running software the world has never known how to write,” Huang explained.

Nvidia will place Xavier at the center of Pegasus, an AI computing platform built to power level five (fully autonomous) vehicles. It’s built on two Xavier processors and a pair of next-generation GPUs. It handles 320 trillion operations per second; in simpler terms, it delivers the performance of a trunk full of PCs in an apparatus no bigger than a license plate.

Xavier will reach the market this quarter, a little over a year after it was announced, and Nvidia has already received numerous orders. Aurora, the start-up company founded by former Google engineer Chris Urmson, will leverage Xavier’s capacities to develop the level four and five self-driving platforms it will supply to car companies. Volkswagen and Hyundai are currently working with Aurora, and we expect more companies will announce a partnership in the coming months.

“Nvidia Xavier is a key element of Aurora’s computer, delivering the performance needed to power self-driving system,” Urmson said in a statement.

Xavier will help Volkswagen bring the production version of the I.D. Buzz concept to the market. Expected to arrive in 2022, the retro-inspired electric van will offer a high level of autonomy. It’s safe to assume the technology will trickle down to other upcoming members of the German company’s lineup, including more electric cars. AI tech from Nvidia will also continue to power Uber’s ever-growing fleet of self-driving cars and trucks in the coming years.

Nvidia’s venture into the automotive industry doesn’t end there. The company also announced it has teamed up with German components manufacturer ZF and Chinese tech giant Baidu to develop a mass production-ready autonomous vehicle platform specifically for the Chinese market. That involves dealing with the chaotic traffic on Chinese roads, a task that’s easier said than done. Designed for mass production, the platform uses Nvidia’s Xavier chip, ZF’s ProAI car computer, and Baidu’s Apollo Pilot.

Plug-in program expands Ricoh Theta V capabilities for new 360 tools

Ricoh’s flagship 360 camera could soon see expanded features beyond what even Ricoh can imagine — on Monday, January 8, Ricoh announced the Ricoh Theta V Partner Program, which opens up the camera to third-party add-ons for expanded features. The company shared the expansion during the Consumer Electronics Show.

The new program allows other companies to develop their own add-ons for the 360 camera by allowing access to the application program interface and software development kit. A new Ricoh Theta V marketplace will allow users to download those expansions. The company is also opening up tools and support for developers.

The kind of extra features the camera gains will depend on those developers. One example of expanding the camera’s capabilities is the plug-in developed by Ricoh and pre-installed that allows a smart device to control that 360 view when viewing footage on a standard TV screen.

“By opening the platform for application development, we are enabling the Ricoh Theta V to be a constantly evolving product. For this reason, we are very excited about the new partner program,” Wataru Ohtani, corporate associate vice president and general manager of Ricoh’s Smart Vision Business Group, said in a press release. “The Ricoh Theta V Plug-in Partner Program will enable third-party companies and developers to create custom features and services. Our goal is for consumers and businesses alike to benefit from Ricoh Theta V and to become a standard platform for the 360-degree imagery.”

Ricoh was one of the first companies to launch a consumer 360 camera in 2013, but the Theta V brings 4K and surround-sound compatibility to the line as well as low-energy Bluetooth. Using a similar design that’s shaped more like a TV remote than a camera, the V added advanced features to the line and enhanced the image quality over the company’s less expensive options such as the Theta SC. The Theta V is the first 360 camera that uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a feature that Ricoh said at the launch would open up possibilities for third-party apps along with options directly from Ricoh. With today’s launch, that capability is now available for developers.

The Ricoh Theta V retails for $430.

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