Turning our attention to MIT’s work, research scientists there developed a machine learning model that can capture how sounds in a room will propagate through the space. By modeling the acoustics, the system can learn a room’s geometry from sound recordings, which can then be used to build visual renderings of a room. ...
At Berkeley’s robotics department, two separate teams are accelerating the rate at which a quadrupedal robot can learn to walk and do other tricks. ...
Work with a potentially more immediate application came earlier this month out of Los Alamos National Laboratory, where researchers developed a machine learning technique to predict the friction that occurs during earthquakes — providing a way to forecast earthquakes. Using a language model, the team says that they were able to analyze the statistical features of seismic signals emitted from a fault in a laboratory earthquake machine to project the timing of a next quake.
“The model is not constrained with physics, but it predicts the physics, the actual behavior of the system,” said Chris Johnson, one of the research leads on the project. ...
Last this week is a note of caution from MIT researchers, who warn that neural networks being used to simulate actual neural networks should be carefully examined for training bias. ...In fact, the MIT team found, neural network-based simulations of grid cells (part of the nervous system) only produced similar activity when they were carefully constrained to do so by their creators. If allowed to govern themselves, the way the actual cells do, they didn’t produce the desired behavior. ...
The Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California (US) has partnered with the leading non-profit KultureCity to make the arena and all of the programs and events that the venue hosts sensory inclusive. ...
The certification process requires the staff at the Crypto.com Arena to undergo annual training imparted by leading medical professionals on how to recognize guests and fans with sensory needs and how to properly manage a sensory overload situation. ...
... Sensory bags, equipped with noise canceling headphones, fidget tools, verbal cue cards, and weighted lap pads, will also be available to all guests at the Crypto.com Arena who may feel overwhelmed by the environment. ...
KultureCity has created over 1,000 sensory-inclusive venues in six countries: This includes special events such as the National Football League (NFL) Pro-Bowl, NFL Super Bowl, Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series, and MLB All Star Weekend. ...
ETC@USC student Challenge; The Future of Themed Experiences kicked off on Saturday October 22, 2022 and ended with 18 3-minute video submissions and 5 winners on Saturday October 29, 2022. Read the details of what the Challenge entailed, watch the videos and Q&A sessions, and see who the students and judges were, at the link.
Created by Elton John and Rocket Entertainment with Roblox creators, and support from Universal Music Group (UMG), the virtual experience is live now. It offers fans a new way to enjoy his catalogue, express themselves through his iconic fashion co-created with the community, and experience the icon's impact on popular culture. ...
... “I've worked in this industry for over 12 years and living in the US I see how the way women, specifically Muslim women, are being represented in the media directly affects how we are being treated and this sometimes causes Islamophobia,” she added.
Telling our story
Bayazid cited the importance of “telling our stories as a Muslim producer and filmmaker” and said she will be talking about the importance of telling the stories of Muslim characters. ...
“We did our project in New York just to share our Islamic culture," she said. "They loved it and they said 'we didn't know all this information because it's very informative.”
“For example, they thought that Islam is a religion of violence. They told us that before watching our VR experiences they thought that women are second-class citizens in Islam and they are controlled by men,” she said.
“It's one of the reasons to educate people and to tell them about our Islamic heritage and culture, to tell our own story and on our narrative,” said Bayazid. “Because we're not going let other people tell our story the way they want. It's our job to tell it the right way.”
With the world's population of geriatric patients increasing faster than enough caretakers can be trained for the difficult job, NJIT Assistant Professor of Informatics Salam Daher thinks augmented reality technology may help close the gap.
Daher and her students are prototyping a digital model of an older person which is aware of its feelings and environment. Existing models only cover physical aspects, so it's opening new ground to have a patient simulator that teaches caretakers about the emotional and psychological aspects of their daily work.
This could attract more people to the field. People who are studying to become certified nurse assistants will interact with the patient through virtual reality or projections. The patient will be controlled initially by teachers and eventually through artificial intelligence. ...
... There is a silver lining, though. You wouldn’t know from the marketing, but VR games aren’t just fun. They’re also funny.
My most memorable moments with the PS VR2 came when the virtual reality tech empowered me to do something weird. Sometimes, the tech was built in a way that allowed me to get up to immersion-breaking mischief: destroying fancy ornamental vases, painting on walls or throwing random objects strewn around the world. (The novelty of picking things up and flinging them did not wear off during my demo).
Just as often, the tech misbehaved in amusing ways. While playing “Resident Evil Village PS VR2,” my in-game hands and head became disjointed from their correct positions and angles as Lady Dimitrescu hoisted me onto two meathooks. Ethan Winters’ sad dad head sank into his chest. Uncharitably, that could be described as a glitch. But truly, I found it very amusing. ...
VR wants to fit into that lineage: more immersion. But because consoles have by and large solved the problem of graphical fidelity and realism, the immersive qualities of virtual reality merely tinker around the edges, mostly producing interactions that are unintentionally funny. Virtual reality is weird and rough around the edges. It doesn’t always work the way it’s meant to, in ways that can surprise and please in equal measure. The sweaty ache to fill a niche our current games and spaces do is confusing to me. It won’t work.
For VR to succeed, it needs to lean into its unique qualities. Right now, its greatest strength is humor.
A user who goes by Jenny showed off the feature in a video for UploadVR
Jenny is part of Helping Hands, a VR sign language community comprised of 5,000 volunteers who teach others how to take advantage of the tech to keep in touch with others in the community virtually.
... I spoke with a bunch of ethical-AI practitioners about the challenges they face in their work, and one thing was clear: burnout is real, and it’s harming the entire field. Read my story here.
Two of the people I spoke to in the story are pioneers of applied AI ethics: Margaret Mitchell and Rumman Chowdhury, who now work at Hugging Face and Twitter, respectively. Here are their top tips for surviving in the industry.
1. Be your own advocate.
2. Slow and steady wins the race. ... Her advice: It’s okay not to engage in every debate. ...“You’re better off focusing on your work, and coming up with something solid even if you’re missing two or three cycles of information hype.” ...
3. Don’t be a martyr. (It’s not worth it.) ... “Your job is not to be paid lots of money to point out problems. Your job is to help them make their product better. And if you don’t believe in the product, then don’t work there.” ...
... Experimental electronic composer Holly Herndon returns today with her own cover of "Jolene" made with the help of her AI-powered vocal deepfake, Holly+. The stripped-down cover was made by feeding a modified score into Holly+ with new harmonies. The result was then generated into Herndon's own voice. Featuring additional accompaniment by Ryan Norris on guitar, the cover is truly impressive in its uncanny likeness, being able to seamlessly reproduce Herndon's dynamic vocal range without wavering. ...
