Here’s how Microsoft HoloLens could teach the next wave of doctors
Microsoft is big on using HoloLens to advance science and education, but what will that actually look like? You might have a good idea after today. The company has posted a video showing how Case Western Reserve University would like to use the holographic computer to teach medicine. Students could walk around anatomical models to see how bones, muscles and organs work in the context of a human body without resorting to cadavers. They could also produce simulations that let future doctors fail in a relatively low-stress environment — there’s no live patient here, after all. Although it’ll probably be a while before you have to don HoloLens to complete a PhD, this clip shows that it’s no longer an outlandish concept.
Filed under: Displays, Wearables, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft HoloLens (YouTube)
Engadget’s new buyer’s guide picks: LG’s G4 and a ton of audio gear
It’s been almost two months since we’ve updated our various buyer’s guides, but we’ve made up for lost time by adding a dozen new picks. Most of those are in our portable audio category, with nearly everything replaced with something newer (or better). We’ve rounded out our other categories too, though, with the LG G4 ranking as one of our new favorite phones, and the Fitbit Charge and LG Watch Urbane getting nods in the wearables section. Those are some of the more notable additions, but feel free to poke around — and stay tuned to see what we add next month.
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Wearables, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, LG
Source: Engadget Buyer’s Guide
I played ‘Minecraft’ with Microsoft’s HoloLens
“Try to look straight,” a Microsoft employee tells me in a bright, cheery tone. I’m staring through an unusual pair of binoculars — the kind that’s normally used to test your eyesight in an optometrist’s office. My gaze is locked on the piercing white light inside, but I can feel my sleep-deprived eyes beginning to tire. “Oh, you’ve moved again,” my guide mutters with a hint of disappointment. I’m sitting in a small meeting room deep inside London’s Excel Exhibition Centre, waiting for the distance between my eyes to be measured. It’s not even 9AM, but already the first Minecraft fans are spilling through for the second day of Minecon — a fan convention that celebrates the blocky building game invented by Markus “Notch” Persson. Once an indie darling, the imaginative sandbox title is now a global phenomenon played by millions of children and adults around the world. But today, instead of queuing for pictures with creepers and famous YouTubers, I’m waiting to play Minecraft on HoloLens.
While Oculus, Sony and Valve are busy working on virtual reality (VR), Microsoft is focusing on something else entirely: augmented reality (AR). With the HoloLens headset, you can visualize and manipulate digital images overlaid on the physical world. One of its most impressive showings to date was at E3 in Los Angeles this year, where Microsoft demoed an AR version of Minecraft. The player was able to project the game onto a wall and later place the entire world on a coffee table. Unsurprisingly, the crowd went nuts. Now, here at Minecon, I’ve been given the chance to try the same demo for myself.
Once the distance between my pupils has been calculated, I’m guided into a second room that looks like a library. A comfy sofa is set up at one end, with a perfectly square coffee table in the center. The walls are painted to look like bookshelves, with a few hanging pictures and a clear space on one side where I’ll be projecting the virtual screen.
A rep demos HoloLens’ gesture control at Microsoft’s Build Developer Conference 2015.
HoloLens looks like a product that’s ready to be sold on store shelves. The design is sleek and lightweight, with arched plastic straps that wrap comfortably around your head. There are no wires, no loose-hanging components or anything that normally screams “prototype.” However, I’m unable to simply grab the HoloLens and strap it on. One of Microsoft’s employees is always at my side, telling me where I should be touching it, guiding it over my head and tightening the straps. The adjustments don’t take long, but later, one rep will swoop back in to readjust the device and make sure the visor is at the right height.
The assistance feels a little much, but in fairness, VR headset demos are usually the same. However, the attention to detail does make me a little concerned. Right now, HoloLens doesn’t feel like a device that’s ready for anyone and everyone to strap on themselves.
Holographic 3D makes the screen feel like a window into the Minecraft world.
When the demo kicks in, I can see Minecraft blocks tumbling into the room. As I glance left and right, they’re bouncing off the table, the walls and the Microsoft employees that are watching my every move with trepidation. It only takes a few moments for HoloLens to map everything inside the room — then the fun begins. For starters, I’m shown how to pin the game to a wall and resize it with a couple of voice commands. I’m then handed an Xbox 360 controller and shown how to play the game in a first-person perspective, just as you would in the regular game. Everything is bright, crisp and detailed, regardless of where I’m standing in relation to the wall.
I can use a command to switch to regular 3D, which adds a small amount of depth, or enable holographic 3D, which makes the screen feel like a literal window into the Minecraft world. In this mode, I can walk up to the screen and peek left and right, revealing parts of the level that would normally be obscured by the TV. The effect doesn’t change the gameplay in any meaningful way, but it does help to foster a sense of immersion.
The highlight of the demo is, unsurprisingly, the final gameplay mode where I can place Minecraft on a table. After muttering “place world,” the wooden surface transforms into a blocky sandpit, which quickly gives way to the level I was just playing in. As you probably saw at E3, this is basically a digital, interactive version of Lego. Minecraft is running just as it would on a console or PC, so I can see another player running around the map and interact with the environment. A crosshair sits in the center of my vision and as I adjust my gaze, the blocks become a little lighter to indicate that I’ve highlighted them. I can also shout “lightning strike” at any time to create gaping holes and turn piglets into lethal zombie pigmen. Other voice commands allow me to track fellow builders and change the magnification of the play area. They all work flawlessly and with no noticeable delay.
While I’m playing on the table, I don’t need a controller. In addition to voice commands, I can raise my right hand and extend my index finger to signal a “click.” Bringing my finger down is like clicking on a mouse button; a quick down-up motion selects a block or action, or I can hold my finger in position to drag the world around. Similar to Kinect, this type of motion control can be a little cumbersome. Sometimes HoloLens doesn’t notice my finger, or it fails to track my hand properly as I try to yank the world up for a better view. It doesn’t feel broken, but neither is it particularly accurate or responsive.
Once I had my Minecraft world on the table, I didn’t want to take it off.
At the moment, the sticking point for HoloLens is its narrow field of view: It can only project images into a small widescreen box in the center of the visor. So if you walk up close to the wall or the coffee table, parts of the projection will be cut off. If you glance left and right, you’ll see the images again, but everything in your peripheral vision is gone. It’s a disappointment and hampers the experience. I’m constantly reminded that the “holograms” are an illusion and, as I walk around the room, I find myself walking back and constantly adjusting my position to keep everything inside the box.
At one point during my demo, HoloLens crashes. One of the Microsoft employees quickly scurries into another room — to retrieve a new device or fix the current one, I don’t know — and, within a few minutes, I’m back up and running again. Of course, this is still early hardware and probably has no bearing on the final product, but for transparency’s sake, I think it’s worth noting.
Minecraft demoed for HoloLens at E3 2015.
Make no mistake, HoloLens is an impressive piece of kit. Unlike most VR headsets, all of the AR processing is done onboard the device. Given its polished design, that’s a huge technical achievement. Sony’s Morpheus, for instance, needs a separate, smaller box connected to the PlayStation 4. But the narrow field of view desperately needs expanding. Inside that small frame, HoloLens can create unique and breathtaking experiences. Once I had my Minecraft world on the table, I didn’t want to take it off. But the images need to fill your entire field of vision. Before that’s achieved, I don’t think HoloLens should be sold to the public.
Microsoft has suggested that this is close to final hardware, and I think that’s a shame. Sony, Oculus and Valve’s VR platforms will all be available in 2016, so perhaps that’s put some pressure on Microsoft to release HoloLens sooner rather than later. Even as a “gen one” device for early adopters, there’s really no reason to rush it out the door. HoloLens is unique, and games such as Minecraft will only benefit from a refined user experience.
[Images: Microsoft (Minecraft/HoloLens top image); Bloomberg via Getty Images (HoloLens Build demo); Associated Press (Minecraft/HoloLens E3 demo)]
Microsoft plans 7,800 layoffs, $7.8 billion Nokia write-down
After cutting its workforce by around 18,000 over the past year, Microsoft is readying another round of heavy layoffs. The company will cut 7,800 jobs over “the next several months.” Many of the dismissals will come from Microsoft’s phone business, which joined the company’s newly formed “Windows and Devices Group” in June. As part of the merger announcement, Microsoft also revealed it would say goodbye to the last two major Nokia executives still at the company, Stephen Elop and Jo Harlow, in the near future.
It’s clear that CEO Satya Nadella wants Microsoft to be more focused than it has been in recent years. Nadella inherited a company in transition; its nascent Surface business had only just begun to find its feet, and the Nokia deal (arranged by the previous leadership team) had yet to complete. About that acquisition: Microsoft is writing-down a large portion of its value in the coming months — $7.8 billion — which is essentially a tacit admission that paying so much money for the flailing company was not the most financially sound decision.
At the end of March, Microsoft had 118,584 employees (down from 127,000 in July 2014). Losing another 7,800 represents yet another dramatic change within the company. In the past month, Microsoft has sold some of its Bing maps tech (and employees) to Uber, and also struck a partnership with (Engadget’s parent company) AOL to essentially hand off its display ad business.
In an email to Microsoft employees, Nadella says the company remains “committed to our first-party devices including phones,” but wants to “focus our phone efforts in the near term while driving innovation.” What does that mean? Apparently, it means running “a more effective phone portfolio,” with a narrowed focus of “three customer segments.” It says business customers will get “the best management, security and productivity experiences,” value phone buyers “the communications services they want, and Windows fans “the flagship devices they’ll love.” That suggests we’ll see more low-end Lumias, business-focused services and high-end Surface Pro-style devices in the future.
[Image Credit: Stephen Brashear / Getty Images]
Source: Microsoft
These were E3 2015’s best games
E3 is (thankfully) over, and that means the press that cover the event have recently cast their votes for what they thought were the best games from the show. You know those blurbs on box art saying “winner of over 90 awards” and the like? This is partly where they come from. Collectively known as The Game Critics Awards, the governing body for them is made up of staff from over 30 editorial outlets, including Engadget, that attended gaming’s Paris Fashion Week. For a game to even be up for consideration though, it has to be playable — a stage demo or non-interactive trailer won’t cut it. What’s it mean for you? In the end, a better idea about what it’s like to actually play the biggest games from E3, because we got to go hands-on with them. Without further adieu, the winners are in the gallery below. Spoiler: Fallout 4 was pretty successful.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
Source: Game Critics Awards
Plex’s Xbox One update brings music, playlists and more
There are a host of new features coming to Plex’s Xbox One app. In addition to the standard fare of navigation tweaks, added SmartGlass functionality and bug fixes, the media organizer/caster now allows users to play music through their Xbone. Plex also now offers playlist support for both songs and videos. Plus, there’s no longer need to convert videos either, the service can play back video in Xbox’s native MKV file format. But arguably the coolest new feature is that you’ll finally get real, honest-to-goodness trailers prior to watching your films. It’s as close to the theater experience you can get without having to pay for IMAX and stale popcorn.
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Microsoft
Source: Plex
Attacker who ruined your holiday gaming gets a slap on the wrist
If you were hoping that all of the Lizard Squad attackers who took down the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live last holiday would get their comeuppance… well, you’ll be disappointed. A Finnish court has convicted Julius Kivimäki (aka “Ryan” and “Zeekill”) of a whopping 50,700 charges related to various computer crimes, including data breaches, telecommunication-based harassment and swiping credit card data. It sounds good, but his penalty is limited to a suspended 2-year prison sentence and an order to help fight cybercrime — a trivial penalty in light of his overall damage. Even if you limit Kivimäki’s culpability to the gaming network outage, he was still partly responsible for days of downtime at Microsoft and Sony that frustrated millions of players. While he’ll theoretically stay on the straight and narrow for at least a while, the verdict isn’t exactly going to scare Lizard Squad’s other members into becoming model citizens.
[Image credit: Jean-Jacques Boujot, Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Sony, Microsoft
Via: Daily Dot, GameInformer
Source: Kaleva.fi (translated)
I won’t be playing ‘Halo 5: Guardians’ and here’s why
In the early 2000s, four-player, split-screen Halo was a revelation for my then-girlfriend Jenn (who would later become my wife), her two sisters and me. It was amazing, frantic, swear-filled fun. Controllers were thrown; tempers flared. But that’s all sadly in the past. Last week, Halo‘s current custodian, 343 Industries, revealed that it’s abandoning local split-screen multiplayer and native LAN support for this fall’s Halo 5: Guardians. We knew from earlier reports that local campaign co-op was out of the question, at least at launch, but the Ars Technica report confirms we won’t see any split-screen multiplayer modes or native LAN support. Allow me to repeat: No local multiplayer. None. In a Halo game. For me, and likely many other longtime Halo fans, the news is a bitter pill to swallow.
Look, I get it. I spent a year and a half as a game tester — working alongside some great folks who are actually now part of the hard-working team at 343. Incorporating something like split-screen mode isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. Everything needs to be tested to make sure no single aspect brings the whole game down. It would require an intense amount of resources from engine optimization to level design to tweaking the UI to testing. It’s a big investment to make for something comparatively few Halo players likely utilize these days; for something so niche. And if any studio knows the danger of promising the moon and failing to fully deliver, it’s 343 — the launch of four full games under the umbrella of Halo: The Master Chief Collection proved to be a bit too ambitious and the studio spent months post-launch addressing issues. To successfully launch Halo 5: Guardians, it needs to focus on delivering the most popular and most lucrative aspects of the franchise. And in this day and age of widespread broadband access, split-screen local multiplayer just doesn’t make the cut.
With 343’s goal of fluid, 60fps gameplay, it’s unlikely two-player, let alone four-player split-screen would have been possible without some serious compromises — compromises the studio is evidently unwilling to make. And reports of uneven split-screen performance in Halo: The Master Chief Collection likely made 343’s decision to forgo it a bit easier.
In one Halo 3 match, I brought a sniper rifle to a Brute Chopper/Warthog fight and immediately regretted it.
Beyond all that, I understand the notion that local, offline multiplayer doesn’t give developers the sort of real-time stats and telemetry that online matches provide — data that can be used to improve the existing game and provide insight for future titles. Split-screen multiplayer, in some ways, is a vestige, a throwback to a simpler time when we played games with our friends in person because we didn’t have much of a choice. In my gaming heyday, we didn’t have broadband access. We had to invite our friends over to our house to play Halo… and we liked it. A lot.
Split-screen multiplayer is a throwback to a simpler time when we played games with our friends in person because we didn’t have much of a choice.
2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved was more than a game for me; it was a bonding experience like no game I had played to that point. During one typically intense 2v2 local match, I calmly explained to Jenn that perhaps she should switch from the shotgun during a long-range shootout since it’s a close-range weapon. I considered it a sensible suggestion. Her reply? “Fuck you!” It was a visceral, in-the-moment reaction to a logical, practical suggestion — the kind of impassioned reaction split-screen Halo reliably provided. And it was the kind of interaction that worked so much better in person.
When Jenn’s youngest sister eventually bought her own Xbox, we dabbled in two-screen/multi-room LAN play, a cumbersome setup that amped up the excitement even more (it’s amazing how much more intense Team Slayer gets when you can’t screencheat!) As the years rolled on, we still enjoyed the occasional split-screen and LAN multiplayer session with each successive Halo release. But the Halo of today is a much different beast than the one we grew up with. It’s now a multibillion-dollar machine and 343 Industries is understandably more concerned with a return on investment rather than nice-to-have, but ultimately expendable features.
Using local split-screen co-op and Xbox Live, my wife (right, with rocket launcher) and her sister ride in to save the day.
For the first time in 14 years, Jenn and I are sitting this Halo out.
It’s a decision, however, not without consequences. Case in point: I still don’t have an Xbox One, but I was planning to pick one up in time for Halo 5. It seemed like good timing considering the many, many, many kinks 343 Industries had to work out after Halo: The Master Chief Collection‘s troubled release. I would be jumping back aboard Master Chief’s bandwagon in time to enjoy a mostly functioning collection of all-time favorites and the latest entry in the series. Jenn and I could explore co-op together and occasionally invite friends and family over to pile up on the couch and enjoy some good, ol’ split-screen fun. But last week’s news threw a UNSC Infinity-sized wrench into those plans.
I’m sure Halo 5: Guardians will be a polished, highly acclaimed entry in this long-running series with enough content and features to lure in new fans and keep most longtime disciples happy. But I’ll likely just have to read about it. For the first time in 14 years, Jenn and I are sitting this Halo out.
[Image credits: Microsoft/343 Industries (Halo 5 teaser video)]
What do you want for lunch? Let Tossup from Microsoft help you decide
It seems to be a perennial issue for groups of friends or family – making a decision about when to get together and what to do or where to go. You are probably familiar with the dynamic if you have ever asked the question, “where do you want to go eat?” Invariably the responses come back as a bunch of “I don’t care” or “whatever” responses and if anyone ever makes an actual suggestion, the objections start to pour in. Microsoft is trying to come to the rescue for these situations with a new app called Tossup from their Microsoft Garage unit.
Using Tossup, a user can pose a simple question or propose a small list of choices for consideration. After inviting others to be part of the group, they can cast their votes and the app will handle compiling the results and letting everyone know what was decided. Besides setting up the initial polls, the app is able to pull in information, like restaurant reviews, for users to review. A chat feature is also available and the app is capable of interacting with calendars to help you remember where to be at the right time.
You can grab Tossup from the Google Play Store using the link below.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: What do you want for lunch? Let Tossup from Microsoft help you decide
How the BBC’s Micro:bit came to be
In the early eighties, the BBC started a computing revolution with the launch of the Micro. The heavy, light-brown box, created with help from Acorn and ARM, was designed to complement the broadcaster’s ongoing computer literacy project. It was intended to give children a grounding not only in programming, but also graphics, sound and gaming. In the thirty-plus years that have passed, the BBC has remained committed to educating Britain’s youngsters in the same fields, but never returned to hardware — at least until a few years ago.
In 2012, a small team inside the BBC Learning department began work on a new project aimed at tackling the technology skills gap in the UK. It was the very start of what we now know as the Micro:bit. It was developed with the idea of encouraging children to think about computers and tablets not as things you simply use, but as devices that can be used to create.
The team hacked together prototypes, creating rudimentary circuit boards that demonstrated what they wanted to achieve. But, it looked out of place in a world filled with Raspberry Pis, Arduino boards and other education-focused programmable microcomputers. The BBC knew it couldn’t do it alone, and so had the idea of collaborating with UK partners to put its vision into the hands of one million Year 7 (11- and 12-year-old) students. The response was enormous.
At today’s launch, the BBC counted 29 partners, ranging from manufacturers, software makers, retailers and educators. Microsoft, Samsung, ARM (a company full of executives who cut their teeth on the BBC Micro), the Bluetooth SIG, Element 14, Lancaster University and more have pooled their resources to hold the hands of teachers, children and an emerging young maker community.
Microsoft, for example, has modified its beginner-friendly TouchDevelop platform specifically for the Micro:bit. TouchDevelop lets developers of any skill level create apps for smartphones, tablets or PCs, whether they’re using Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android. For the new initiative, it’ll host the code and projects of all one million developer boards. The Micro:bit supports up to five different programming languages, which include JavaScript, C++ and Block, with Microsoft providing two of them.
The Micro:bit itself hosts 25 red LEDs, all of which can be programmed to display messages, deliver the graphics for games or other feedback. The two push-buttons on its rear can act as inputs for a game controller, or help children create basic rewind and fast-forward buttons on a music player. The built-in accelerometer detects movement, which is perfect for creating programmable “robots,” while a compass tells it which way it’s facing.
Indeed, the BBC’s demonstration area was filled with clever creations. Micro:bits were fixed to all manner of household items, including a frying pan that tells you when to flip a pancake or when your omelette might be burnt. Another company had outfitted a toy car with the BBC microcomputer, letting you drive it around a ready-made track with a smartphone app. One internal BBC project involved modified ping-pong bats that lit up a strip of coloured LEDs when the ball was hit.
The exhibits give a small taste of what is possible with the Micro:bit, but the BBC knows that when the devices reach Britain’s Year 7, the real fun will begin. With a lot of early insight from teachers, the BBC and its partners have created a microcomputer that aligns closely with the curriculum. Before launch, the broadcaster seeded a small number of prototypes to schoolchildren, who created a basic version of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and a pizza tracking bot. With one million units in kids’ hands, the possibilities are infinite.
The BBC’s commitment to openness is key here: the first batch of Micro:bits will reach teachers in September, who will have time to create learning environments ahead of a large-scale rollout in October. Once distributed, the technology will be licenced so companies all over the world can make their own Micro:bits for schools. The BBC has formed a non-profit company to do so, which will also open-source the board’s specifications. Educators will be spoilt for choice: they’ll have access to Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, Micro:bits and others, which can all provide a solid foundation for children to understand more about the technology they use, and perhaps influence the way it’s headed in decades to come.
AIVAnet 