May 29
Entering or exiting a Slack workspace may feel a bit unfamiliar, as it’s more involved than simply signing up.
May 29
NVIDIA has unveiled technology called Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) that would allow gamers to speak naturally to non-playable characters (NPCs) and receive appropriate responses. The company revealed the tech during its generative AI keynote at Computex 2023, showing a demo called Kairos with a playable character speaking to an NPC named Jin in a dystopic-looking Ramen shop.
The demo (below in 32:9, the widest widescreen I’ve ever seen) shows the player carrying on a conversation with Jin. “Hey Jin, how are you,” the person asks. “Unfortunately, not so good,” replies Jin. “How come?” ” I am worried about the crime around here. It’s gotten bad lately. My ramen shop got caught in the crossfire.”
Yes, the dialogue is a tad wooden; it seems like ChatGPT might have done a better job. Still, the idea is to show that you could just speak into your headset and an NPC will answer in the proper context, making for a more natural interaction than you’d usually get in such a situation.
NVIDIA made the demo in partnership with Convai to promote ACE, which can run both in the cloud and locally (on NVIDIA hardware, natch). It uses NVIDIA NeMo for building, customizing and deploying large language models that can be customized with lore and character backstories, while using guardrails to protect against inappropriate conversations. It also deploys a speech recognition and speech-to-text tool called Riva, along with NVIDIA’s Omniverse Audio2Face “for instantly creating expressive facial animation of a game character to match any speech track.”
The demo was built in Unreal Engine 5 to show off NVIDIA’s ray-tracing and other GPU features. The visuals are actually more compelling than the AI dialogue, though it’s easy to see how the latter could be improved enormously. NVIDIA didn’t announce any games that will use the tech, but Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl and Fort Solis will employ Omniverse Audio2Face.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nvidias-generative-ai-lets-gamers-converse-with-npcs-124552730.html?src=rss
May 29
Luther Herschel Story is finally coming home after going missing during the Korean War in September 1950.
May 29
How To Turn Any Article Into A Mini-Audiobook With This New Android Feature
Posted in: Today's ChiliGoogle has a nifty Reading mode app for Android that can transform any text article into an audio session. Here’s how to use the accessibility tool.
May 29
I adore Rube Goldberg machines as much as the next puzzle-fanatic, but I never had the pleasure of playing the Goldberg-inspired board game Mouse Trap. As I understand it, the gameplay didn’t matter much. The joy was in building a contraption that, with the crank of a gear, set off a chain reaction in which a marble…
May 29
‘Are We Waiting for S**t to Hit The Fan?’: Former Google Safety Lead Warns of AI Chatbots Writing News
Posted in: Today's Chili
In a few short months, the idea of convincing news articles written entirely by computers have evolved from perceived absurdity into a reality that’s already confusing some readers. Now, writers, editors, and policymakers are scrambling to develop standards to maintain trust in a world where AI-generated text will…
May 29
If you’re in the market for a quality controller without breaking the bank, now might be a good opportunity. Microsoft’s Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller in black is 19 percent off, dropping from $180 to $145. Though it’s not the lowest we’ve seen, it’s still a decent-sized drop from its retail price.
The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 is a solid option for Xbox gamers, regardless of your system of choice, as it’s compatible with Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Windows 10 or 11 devices through Xbox Wireless or Bluetooth. There’s also an option to connect it with an included USB-C cord. You can swap parts like D-pads and paddles, save up to three unique profiles to the controller and explore button mapping options through the Xbox Accessories app. It also holds up to 40 hours of battery life.
Microsoft’s Xbox Wireless Headset is also on sale, down from $100 to $85 — a 15 percent discount. The headphones are compatible across the same systems as Xbox’s wireless controller, such as Xbox Series X|S. Additional features include auto-mute, voice isolation and up to 15 hours of battery life. The headphones have sound technologies like Dolby Atmos and Windows Sonic, with volume control dials located on the left earcup.
The wireless headset is still a good $40 more than its wired counterpart, but if free movement is important to you, the discount certainly helps. If you’re looking to update all your accessories for the summer, the sale brings the total price of the wireless headset and controller to $230 — saving you $50 overall.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-xbox-elite-series-2-controller-is-35-off-right-now-114033199.html?src=rss
May 29
The legislation has been widely condemned by rights activists and others abroad.
May 29
If you’re currently in the market for a tablet with note-taking capabilities, you may have difficulty homing in on the best device suited for your use case.
May 29
JAXA, Japan’s NASA equivalent, has spent decades trying to make it possible to beam solar energy from space – which seems like technology for a far-future space anime. In 2015, JAXA scientists successfully beamed 1.8 kilowatts of power, enough energy to power an electric kettle 50 meters away, wirelessly. Now, a Japanese public–private partnership will attempt to beam solar energy from space as early as 2025. The project involves deploying into orbit a series of small satellites, which will beam collected solar energy to ground-based receiving stations hundreds of miles away.
While this already seems a huge step up from a kettle 50 meters away, it’s just the start of the challenge. Creating a satellite array that can generate 1 gigawatt of power – or about the output of one nuclear reactor – is estimated to cost around $7 billion with current technologies.
– Mat Smith
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The best Memorial Day tech sales we could find
Fire pits, wireless headphones and a pizza oven.
It’s a national holiday, so of course Memorial Day brings a few bargains and deals so you can celebrate those who served in the military by… shopping. Notable deals include $50 off Sony’s excellent WH-1000XM5 headphones, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max back at an all-time low of $35 and Apple’s iPad Air down to $500.
Naughty Dog says its ‘Last of Us’ multiplayer game needs more time
The studio has other games in development, including a new single-player title.
One of the most notable omissions from this week’s PlayStation Showcase was anything from Naughty Dog. Many (including yours truly) expected the studio to reveal more details about its Last of Us multiplayer game, but we’ll need to wait a little longer to hear more.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Naughty Dog said, “We’re incredibly proud of the job our studio has done thus far, but as development has continued, we’ve realized what is best for the game is to give it more time.” As such, it now seems unlikely we’ll hear much about the game during Summer Game Fest (where Naughty Dog offered a first peek at concept art from the project last year).
US judge grants final approval to Apple’s $50 million butterfly keyboard settlement
Payouts will start rolling out soon.
Engadget
A US federal court gave final approval to the $50 million class-action settlement over claims Apple knew about and concealed the unreliable nature of keyboards on MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro computers released between 2015 and 2019. Judge Edward Davila on Thursday called the settlement involving Apple’s infamous butterfly keyboards “fair, adequate and reasonable.” Under the agreement, MacBook users impacted by the saga will receive settlements between $50 and $395. More than 86,000 claims for class member payments were made before the application deadline last March, Judge Davila wrote in his ruling. However, Apple won’t have to admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement agreement.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-japan-will-try-to-beam-solar-power-from-space-by-2025-111516653.html?src=rss
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