For all those harried by the lack of privacy on flights or cafes while working on their laptops these days, Israeli startup Sightful has a nifty solution in the store. Using augmented reality (AR), the company is taking on the challenge of protecting privacy by projecting a display in front of the user’s eyes and away from everybody else’s.
Laptops are a boon for users who need the mobility of a workspace and do not want to be confined to an office desk. Even after years of innovation in smartphone and tablet design, a laptop is still something that users go to when they need to do some serious work.
However, working with a laptop comes with its own drawbacks. There is a trade-off that users need to make with regard to the size of the screen and weight that needs to be carried around everywhere and even if one is ready to carry the extra load, the bigger screen makes information visible to all prying eyes.
Sightful’s solution is quite insightful, to say the least, and addresses both the weight and privacy issues associated with laptops.
The end of laptop displays?
Sightful is calling its solution the Spacetop and uses AR glasses to project 100 inches (254 cm) of the screen visible only to the wearer. This is being done with two 1080p displays and the projection experienced will be similar to the resolution of a full 2K real-world display.
Unlike Zuckerberg’s highly ambitious bet of taking work to the metaverse in the future, Sightful is offering users a chance to take it private in the world now. Since the technology leverages AR, the display is overlaid over the user’s environment, and ensure that the user remains grounded in his surroundings and does not miss something important.
In comparison to a conventional laptop, a Spacetop is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset and Adreno 650 GPU. It will also feature 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, use Wi-Fi 6, and support Bluetooth 5.1.
These specifications are similar to those used on smartphones these days. Spacetop won’t be running Windows but use its own operating system instead which is based on open-sourced Android.
Instead of laying different windows on top of each other, Spacetop OS allows them to be opened side-by-side on the virtual screen, which it refers to as a “Canvas”.
In the absence of a conventional display, the Spacetop will weigh around 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg) and is reported to cost $2,000. Currently, there is no date for when the Spacetop will be available but there is no upfront payment to sign up for the device either. If you are ready to wait, this is a practical solution that could solve your work woes.
In a departure from previous rudimentary attempts, researchers from the City University of Hong Kong, Beihang University in China, and other institutions have developed a sophisticated method to incorporate smell into interactive entertainment, particularly virtual reality (VR). Their groundbreaking approach involves a wireless, wearable device that can provide complementary aromas to enhance the virtual world users are immersed in.
Published in Nature Communication, the researchers emphasize that as VR technologies continue to advance, creating a seamless 3D virtual environment becomes crucial for establishing a cutting-edge social platform. They highlight the significance of olfactory sensations, alongside visual, auditory, and tactile experiences, in exerting both physiological and psychological effects on humans.
The connection between smell and memory is well-established, making the inclusion of scent in virtual worlds a logical progression. By creating a comprehensive “smell-scape,” users can further suspend disbelief and immerse themselves more deeply in the simulated reality.
The researchers state, “Olfaction plays a significant role in human perceptual experiences, which is equally important to visual and auditory feedbacks. As one of the typical five senses, olfaction has shown a crucial influence in shaping human lives, as most aspects of daily life are associated with smells emanating from manmade materials, industries, transportation, household products, and more.”
By leveraging this innovative wearable device, the researchers aim to enhance the VR experience and create a more holistic sensory engagement for users. As technology continues to evolve, incorporating scent into interactive entertainment holds great potential for further enriching the immersive capabilities of virtual reality.
Does smell-o-vision have a chance with modern audiences?
While it might be tempting to impune the attempt to create a scent-generating wearable for virtual reality immersion, it’s not really that dumb an idea when you think about it.
VR is all about plunging you deep into a virtual space that by virtue of the technology can seem very real to anyone who has tried it, and along with hearing and haptic touch feedback, having an olfactory experience in VR would certainly add a new layer of immersion, if it can shake the fetters of its more silly past attempts.
Still, given the power of VR to craft powerful, never-before-experienced sensations for users, there is always room for improvement. After all, what good is there in creating a virtual rose bush if there’s no way to smell the roses?
The once-promising Metaverse, a technology that aimed to immerse users in a disorienting video-game-like world, has met its demise after being abandoned by the business world, despite being just three years old.
Born in 2021 when Facebook rebranded to Meta, the capital-M Metaverse drew inspiration from the movie “Tron” (1982) and the video game “Second Life” (2003). Its grand entrance captivated the tech industry and became a strategy to impress Wall Street investors. However, despite the initial hype, the lack of a coherent vision for the product ultimately led to its downfall. The tech industry swiftly shifted its attention to the more promising realm of generative AI, leaving the Metaverse behind.
Now consigned to the graveyard of failed ideas within the tech industry, the Metaverse’s short-lived existence and ignominious demise serve as a glaring indictment of the very industry that birthed it.
Ultimate Assurance
The Metaverse, as proclaimed by Mark Zuckerberg, was touted as the future of the internet. With a glitzy promotional video accompanying his name-change announcement, Zuckerberg promised a future where seamless interaction in virtual worlds would become the norm. Users would have the ability to “make eye contact” and feel as if they were physically present in the same room. This immersive experience was presented as a grand vision for the future. However, these lofty promises created sky-high expectations that the actual technology failed to fulfill.
One of the challenges faced by the Metaverse was its acute identity crisis. While Zuckerberg spoke passionately about it being a vision that spans multiple companies and the successor to the mobile internet, he struggled to articulate the fundamental business problems that the Metaverse aimed to solve. The concept of virtual worlds and interacting with digital avatars has existed since the late 1990s, but Zuckerberg’s one tangible product, the VR platform Horizon Worlds, did not provide a clear roadmap or a compelling vision. As a result, the Metaverse’s conceptual development remained stagnant, and the media’s portrayal of its future often bordered on unrealistic and irresponsible, with promises of billions of users and significant financial transactions without a clear value proposition or compelling reason for users to embrace the technology.
A high-flying life
The inability to define the Metaverse in any meaningful way didn’t get in the way of its ascension to the top of the business world. In the months following the Meta announcement, it seemed that every company had a Metaverse product on offer, despite it not being obvious what it was or why they should.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella would say at the company’s 2021 Ignite Conference that he couldn’t “overstate how much of a breakthrough” the Metaverse was for his company, the industry, and the world. Roblox, an online game platform that has existed since 2004, rode the Metaverse hype wave to an initial public offering and a $41 billion valuation. Of course, the cryptocurrency industry took the ball and ran with it: The people behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT company conned the press into believing that uploading someone’s digital monkey pictures into VR would be the key to “master the Metaverse.” Other crypto pumpers even successfully convinced people that digital land in the Metaverse would be the next frontier of real-estate investment. Even businesses that seemed to have little to do with tech jumped on board. Walmart joined the Metaverse. Disney joined the Metaverse.
Despite Zuckerberg’s obsession with the Metaverse, the tech never lived up to the hype.
Companies’ rush to get into the game led Wall Street investors, consultants, and analysts to try to one up each other’s projections for the Metaverse’s growth. The consulting firm Gartner claimed that 25% of people would spend at least one hour a day in the Metaverse by 2026. The Wall Street Journal said the Metaverse would change the way we work forever. The global consulting firm McKinsey predicted that the Metaverse could generate up to “$5 trillion in value,” adding that around 95% of business leaders expected the Metaverse to “positively impact their industry” within five to 10 years. Not to be outdone, Citi put out a massive report that declared the Metaverse would be a $13 trillion opportunity.
A brutal downfall
In spite of all this hype, the Metaverse did not lead a healthy life. Every single business idea or rosy market projection was built on the vague promises of a single CEO. And when people were actually offered the opportunity to try it out, nobody actually used the Metaverse.
Decentraland, the most well-funded, decentralized, crypto-based Metaverse product (effectively a wonky online world you can “walk” around), only had around 38 daily active users in its “$1.3 billion ecosystem.” Decentraland would dispute this number, claiming that it had 8,000 daily active users — but that’s still only a fraction of the number of people playing large online games like “Fortnite.” Meta’s much-heralded efforts similarly struggled: By October 2022, Mashable reported that Horizon Worlds had less than 200,000 monthly active users — dramatically short of the 500,000 target Meta had set for the end of 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported that only about 9% of user-created worlds were visited by more than 50 players, and The Verge said that it was so buggy that even Meta employees eschewed it. Despite the might of a then-trillion-dollar company, Meta could not convince people to use the product it had staked its future on.
But the Metaverse was officially pulled off life support when it became clear that Zuckerberg and the company that launched the craze had moved on to greener financial pastures. Zuckerberg declared in a March update that Meta’s “single largest investment is advancing AI and building it into every one of our products.” Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, told CNBC in April that he, along with Mark Zuckerberg and the company’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, were now spending most of their time on AI. The company has even stopped pitching the Metaverse to advertisers, despite spending more than $100 billion in research and development on its mission to be “Metaverse first.” While Zuckerberg may suggest that developing games for the Quest headsets is some sort of investment, the writing is on the wall: Meta is done with the Metaverse.
Did anyone learn their lesson?
While the idea of virtual worlds or collective online experiences may live on in some form, the Capital-M Metaverse is dead. It was preceded in death by a long line of tech fads like Web3 and Google Glass. It is survived by newfangled ideas like the aforementioned generative AI and the self-driving car. Despite this long lineage of disappointment, let’s be clear: The death of the Metaverse should be remembered as arguably one of the most historic failures in tech history.
I do not believe that Mark Zuckerberg ever had any real interest in “the Metaverse,” because he never seemed to define it beyond a slightly tweaked Facebook with avatars and cumbersome hardware. It was the means to an increased share price, rather than any real vision for the future of human interaction. And Zuckerberg used his outsize wealth and power to get the whole of the tech industry and a good portion of the American business world into line behind this half-baked idea.
The fact that Mark Zuckerberg has clearly stepped away from the Metaverse is a damning indictment of everyone who followed him, and anyone who still considers him a visionary tech leader. It should also be the cause for some serious reflection among the venture-capital community, which recklessly followed Zuckerberg into blowing billions of dollars on a hype cycle founded on the flimsiest possible press-release language. In a just world, Mark Zuckerberg should be fired as CEO of Meta (in the real world, this is actually impossible).
Zuckerberg misled everyone, burned tens of billions of dollars, convinced an industry of followers to submit to his quixotic obsession, and then killed it the second that another idea started to interest Wall Street. There is no reason that a man who has overseen the layoffs of tens of thousands of people should run a major company. There is no future for Meta with Mark Zuckerberg at the helm: It will stagnate, and then it will die and follow the Metaverse into the proverbial grave.
Chinese company Tencent Cloud has launched a “digital human” production platform that can be used to answer questions in live streams and much more.
Available in half-body and full-body formats, these high-definition digital humans can be readied in just 24 hours for a fee of 1,000 yuan (US$145). Essentially, the company has launched Deepfake-as-a-Service, (DFaaS), The Register reported.
The recent rise in the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has raised fears of making fake content difficult to distinguish from real. Interesting Engineering has previously reported how AI-generated images of former US President Donald Trump went viral on the internet after news emerged that was likely to be arrested.
Even before the world is ready to wrap its head around such imagery, Tencent has pushed the boundary even further with its AI-generated videos.
How does Tencent’s service work?
As per media reports, the service needs three minutes of live-action video of the individual and 100 spoken sentences for training the digital human. Once the 1,000 yuan fee is paid, the company can create the digital human in 24 hours, and it is available in English and Chinese.
The company is looking to make a fully automated “AI+ Digital Intelligent Human Factory” platform where individuals can simply use self-service to order digital humans. Additionally, the service also allows certain elements, like the background and the tone of the individual, to be customized. It also promises that the digital human will not have flat intonation and a single speech rhythm.
Five styles of digital humans are also available to choose from, 3D realistic, 3D semi-realistic, 3D cartoon, 2D real person, and 2D cartoon, and where required, the digital human can be trained on customized questions and answers to make it an effective but deepfake chatbot.
Based on Chinese market requirements, the deep fake creation could likely be used to run live-stream infomercials, a popular form of advertising in the country. However, Tencent also believes that it could create doctors, lawyers, and other professionals using this technology.
Although AI-generated imagery is difficult to spot from real ones, AI-generated videos are still some distance away from absolutely believable. But for a relatively low fee, Tencent’s service could likely end up flooding the internet with a lot of deep fakes.
Chinese regulators require providers of such AI platforms to ensure that they are not used for illegal purposes. However, in the US, when lawyers claim that statements made in 2016 could be deep fakes, then one can only imagine the mess such a service will cause in the future.
Guess countries need to move quickly on regulating AI before the problem spins the world out of control.
The concept of the metaverse has been around for a while now, but it was Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement last year that brought it to the forefront of public consciousness. With the rebranding of Facebook as Meta, it became clear that the company had big plans for the metaverse, and the rest of the world took notice.
Initially, the interest in the metaverse was intense. Companies across all sectors were eager to invest in this new world and give us a glimpse of what they had in store. From fashion labels to tech giants, everyone wanted to be a part of the metaverse.
However, as time has gone on, the hype around the metaverse has died down somewhat. Many questions remain about what the metaverse will look like, how it will function, and who will be the ones to build it. And while it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new world, it’s important to consider what we stand to lose if the metaverse fails to live up to expectations.
One of the biggest potential losses if the metaverse fails is the opportunity for a more immersive and inclusive online experience. With the metaverse, there is the potential for a world that is more than just a collection of websites and social media platforms. Instead, it could be a fully realized digital world where users can interact with each other and with digital objects in real-time. If the metaverse fails to deliver on this promise, we will miss out on the chance to create a more dynamic and engaging online experience.
Another potential loss if the metaverse fails is the chance to redefine the way we work and socialize. As more and more people work remotely, the metaverse could offer a way for people to connect and collaborate in ways that are more engaging and productive than traditional video conferencing tools. Similarly, the metaverse could offer a way for people to socialize and connect in a way that goes beyond the limitations of current social media platforms. If the metaverse fails, we will miss out on the opportunity to create a new way of working and socializing that could be more fulfilling and effective than what we have now.
Finally, if the metaverse fails, we will miss out on the economic opportunities that it could bring. The metaverse has the potential to create an entirely new economy based on digital goods and services. From virtual real estate to digital clothing, there are countless opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses to create value in this new world. If the metaverse fails to materialize, we will miss out on the chance to participate in this new economy and create new jobs and industries.
In conclusion, the metaverse represents a tantalizing vision of a new digital world, but there are still many questions about what it will look like and how it will function. However, if the metaverse fails to live up to its promise, we will miss out on the chance to create a more immersive, inclusive, and dynamic online experience, to redefine the way we work and socialize, and to participate in a new digital economy. As such, it’s important that we continue to explore and invest in the metaverse, even as we acknowledge the risks and uncertainties that come with any new frontier.
Meta’s Horizon Worlds is still floundering, but the company is trying a new hook to lure users: Missions.
The company on Tuesday released an update on the virtual world, introducing “quests” users can undertake to earn in-game rewards for their avatars, such as new outfits.
“We will continue to roll out this feature in the coming weeks and more people will have access to check it out in Giant Mini Paddle Golf, a new Horizon world where players play mini-golf across a tropical island landscape,” the company wrote.
At launch, players of the minigame will have six quests they can complete. The option to take part in these is currently limited, but Meta says it hopes to roll out the option to a larger audience in the weeks and months to come.
More mini-games are on the way to Horizon Worlds, which could mean more quest options. The company has said it plans to release 20 new “experiences” in the virtual world that are built by third-party studios in the near future.
Meta has continued to sink money into its metaverse initiative, but people who have spent time in Horizons haven’t stuck around, including Meta employees. And the founder of Oculus, who sold his VR startup to Meta in 2014 has lambasted Horizons, saying “I don’t think it’s a good product”.
Horizons saw a peak of about 200,000 active users in late December. Meta’s hoping to hit 500,000 by the end of June. As part of that effort, the company has reportedly considered lowering the age requirement from 18 to 13. Government officials have warned the company against doing that, citing the company’s “documented track record of failure to protect children and teens”.
Google already launched an earthquake alert system for Android last year. The feature rolled out around the globe in regions with higher risks of earthquakes first.
Google user got notification about Earthquake in Pakistan 15-20 Seconds before.
A powerful jerks felt in Islamabad, Peshawar, and several other cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir recently, sources reported.
Foreshock were also felt in Charsadda, Peshawar, Batgaram, Swabi, Swat, and other cities of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Several cities of Punjab, including Lahore, also felt tremors.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department stated that a 6.8 magnitude earthquake was reported in the Hindu Kush region at a depth of 180 km.
According to a report, the Chinese video-streaming company Bilbili took to the skies to celebrate the first anniversary of the release of Japanese role-playing game Princess Connect Re:Dive. Hundreds of drones took over Shanghai’s night sky on 17 April with a light show that ended with a giant QR code, a symbol of China’s booming digital economy and consumerism.
The QR code is ubiquitous across China, used for everything from adding friends on messaging apps to paying for groceries at markets, ordering at restaurants, and even giving to panhandlers.
During the show staged above Shanghai’s scenic waterfront promenade, the Bund, 1,500 illuminated drones formed into the game’s logo and characters before transforming into a floating QR code that links to its homepage. A photo of the QR code went viral on Twitter on Sunday, prompting reactions ranging from amazement to disgust.
The brilliant aerial dance of the drones brought the characters of the role-playing game to life and narrated how the game worked.
A Columbian Court has hosted its first legal trial in the metaverse and wishes to do the same with virtual reality. As per details, the Columbia Magdalena Administrative Court conducted a legal hearing in the metaverse over a traffic dispute; the court magistrate said that it feels more real than a video call.
Details On First Legal Hearing in Metaverse
According to the media, the first legal hearing in Metaverse was conducted in Spanish and the hearing was heard using Meta’s Horizon Workrooms. The magistrate instructed participants to secure Oculus Quest 2 eyeglasses and configure their avatars in advance for the two and half hours proceeding. Moreover, the first legal hearing in metaverse was also live-streamed on YouTube.
The magistrate instructed participants to enter a verification code to prove their identities; all the participants appeared in avatars with the magistrate wearing a black legal robe; she described the experience as amazing “This is an academic experiment to show that there it’s possible… but where everyone consents to it, (my court) can continue to do things in the metaverse,” she said.
Metaverse to Modify Social Lifestyle
According to a survey on metaverse, 69% of the respondents believe that the metaverse will modify social lifestyles due to the approaches taken for entertainment and activities. Cathy Hackl, the author of ‘Into the Metaverse’ said that the physical world side of the metaverse will come in the next 10 years. She said that socialization will be deeply impacted by the metaverse.
The Metaverse refers to a virtual reality space where users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other participants in real-time. It is a concept often associated with a fully immersive and interconnected digital universe, where people can engage in various activities, such as socializing, working, gaming, creating, and exploring. It typically incorporates elements of augmented reality, virtual reality, and the internet to create a shared and persistent virtual world that goes beyond traditional two-dimensional online experiences. The vision of the metaverse is to provide a highly immersive and interactive environment where individuals can have a sense of presence and engage in diverse virtual experiences that mimic or transcend aspects of the physical world.
Brief History
The term Metaverse is derived from the Greek words ‘meta’ (beyond) and ‘verse’ (universe). Consider it a universe beyond reality that will be capable of replacing every activity in our lives.
The word “metaverse” originally appears in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science-fiction novel Snowcrash, which depicts a future in which millions of individuals interact in a cyberspace environment using virtual avatars. This notion was popularized further in Earnest Cline’s 2011 sci-fi novel Ready Player One, in which ordinary individuals strap on VR headsets and log into a virtual world to play out their imaginations.
Later in the early 1990s, a firm called Sega launched VR gaming devices, such as the SEGA VR-1 motion circular, which aimed to provide exciting experiences for arcade gamers. All of these technologies are thought to be the origins of the metaverse, however, the metaverse became popular among the general public once Facebook announced its rebranding to the Meta.
Technology in Metaverse
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR): VR and AR technologies play a crucial role in creating immersive and interactive experiences within the metaverse. VR headsets, like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or Valve Index, provide users with a fully immersive virtual environment, while AR devices, such as Microsoft HoloLens or smartphone AR capabilities, overlay digital elements onto the real world.
3D Modeling and Animation: Creating the virtual environments and objects in the metaverse requires 3D modeling and animation tools. Software like Blender, Autodesk Maya, or Unity’s 3D modeling features enable artists and developers to design and build lifelike virtual assets.
Game Engines: Game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine provide the foundation for developing interactive experiences in the metaverse. They offer powerful tools for rendering graphics, physics simulations, scripting, and creating interactive gameplay mechanics.
Networking and Cloud Infrastructure: The metaverse relies on robust networking and cloud infrastructure to enable real-time interactions and seamless experiences across different users and devices. Technologies like cloud computing, edge computing, and distributed networking protocols facilitate the scalability, reliability, and synchronization required for a shared virtual world.
Blockchain and Digital Assets: Blockchain technology, with its decentralized and transparent nature, can be utilized in the metaverse for secure ownership and trading of digital assets. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can represent unique virtual items, artwork, or virtual real estate within the metaverse, allowing users to buy, sell, and collect digital possessions.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI plays a role in creating dynamic and intelligent virtual characters or NPCs (non-player characters) within the metaverse. AI algorithms can enable realistic behavior, natural language processing for interactive conversations, and procedural generation techniques for generating diverse and lifelike virtual environments.
Social Platforms and Communication Tools: Social platforms and communication tools, such as Discord, Zoom, or VRChat, provide the means for users to interact and socialize within the metaverse. These platforms facilitate voice and text communication, community building, and shared experiences among users.
