philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Are Blockchain Networks Living Organisms?

IN BRIEF

• Blockchain networks meet most of the traditional criteria for life.
• Their combination with artificial neural network (ANN) based artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to the creation of a distributed blockchain organism.
• Such a cybernetic organism could exhibit unique features: directed evolution, the ability to self-improve or an unlimited lifespan.

Conclusion

On the surface, calling a virtual blockchain network based on pure numerical relations a living organism seems absurd. However, on closer examination, it turns out that it meets most of the traditional criteria of what is alive and organic.

The obvious fact that blockchain is not a biological organism need not be seen as an imperfection. On the contrary, its non-material components represent the potential advantage and progress that blockchain technology can bring to the understanding and applications of such traditional concepts as an information carrier, evolution, inheritance, emergence, or self-organization.

Harnessing the unique properties of blockchain networks and combining them with artificial intelligence based on artificial neural networks could lead to a breakthrough. 

The result could be a unique organism – a public, blockchain-based, distributed virtual machine. It would potentially be capable of directed evolution, rapid self-improvement, and unlimited lifespan. Alternatively, it would go far beyond human cognitive abilities and intelligence.

See the full story here: https://beincrypto.com/are-blockchain-networks-living-organisms/

USE VIRTUAL REALITY TO PREPARE MARITIME CREWS FOR TERRORIST AND PIRACY ATTACKS

In the maritime industry, the unexpected and ongoing attacks at sea require a different way of thinking and a different point of view on safety and procedures. Already, maritime simulators have become one of the most advance forms of education across the world. Even the most experienced professionals are regularly trained in such simulators on emergency operations, demonstrating a renewed emphasis on operator training. VR-training software is an efficient and easy alternative to face-to-face training.

Selina Robinson is a Teaching Fellow in Forensic Investigations at the University of Portsmouth. Her areas of research lie with maritime security in cruise ships and the use of XR simulations in education and training. Previous work experience involves counter terrorism and crime scene investigation. 

Dr. Amy Meenaghan is a lecturer in Psychology in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth. Her background is in the use of virtual reality to understand offender decision making. She is currently working on various VR projects within the field of Criminal Justice, with a focus on optimizing such technologies to benefit education, training and crime prevention initiatives.

See the full story here: https://cimsec.org/use-virtual-reality-to-prepare-maritime-crews-for-terrorist-and-piracy-attacks/

Avegant Introduces The World’s Smallest LED Light Engines For Augmented Reality

Avegant today announced its latest products -- the AG-30L 30º and AG-50L 50º LED light engines. Avegant's 30º AR light engine uses proprietary illumination technology to dramatically reduce engine volume and weight while preserving efficiency and MTF. The next generation Avegant light engine, the AG-50L, enables a larger field of view and a more immersive AR experience for users while maintaining the compact, light glasses form factor made possible by the AG-30L product.

A limited supply of engineering samples of Avegant's AG-30L light engine will be available in late 2021. Engineering samples of Avegant's AG-50L light engine will be available in early 2022. Mass production is anticipated to begin in 2023.

See the full story here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avegant-introduces-the-worlds-smallest-led-light-engines-for-augmented-reality-301370226.html

VIRTUAL REALITY PUTS DRUG RESEARCHERS INSIDE THE MOLECULES THEY STUDY

Drug discovery is less like finding a key to fit a lock—a familiar but misleading analogy—and more like finding a dance partner who can match your moves, as scientists at U.K.-based biotech company C4X Discovery Holdings PLC put it.

C4X is designing small molecules to find drugs for treating cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company is developing its own VR platform, 4Sight, to help make drug-molecule visualization faster and easier.

Nanome, which was founded by experts in nanoengineering, electrical engineering, human-computer interaction and VR, is working to develop an AI assistant that can guide users through their VR experience. Its virtual assistant could ask scientists, for example, if they want to see more or less atomic detail or additional chemical interactions. 

For now, Dr. von Salm says she is pleased to stand in a virtual room and visualize her compounds without having to rely so much on imagination or computer renderings.

“Even for the best people who have a really amazing imagination, you’d put them in this room, and they’d be in awe,” she says.

See the full story here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/virtual-reality-puts-drug-researchers-inside-the-molecules-they-study-11631023212

4 Things GPT-4 Will Improve From GPT-3

... GPT-3 was brute-force trained in most of the Internet’s available text data. But it wasn’t explicitly taught to do these tasks. The system is so powerful that it became a meta-learner. It learned how to learn. And users could communicate with it in plain natural language; GPT-3 would receive the description and recognize the task it had to do. ...

Disclaimer: GPT-4 doesn’t exist (yet). ...

GPT-3 is big. GPT-4 will be bigger. Here’s the reason... GPT-3 isn’t just more powerful than GPT-2, it is differently more powerful. There’s a qualitative leap between both models. ...

GPT-4 will perform better few-shot multitasking... GPT-4 could be the proof that language models can learn multitasking from a few examples almost as good as we can. ...

GPT-4 won’t depend as much on good prompting ... Tech blogger Gwern Branwen ... calls this way of interacting with GPT-3 prompt programming. We can give GPT-3 a written input and it’ll know which task it has to perform. ... However, Gwern warns that the results of these tests can vary in quality. The reason is that prompt programming involves sampling. And sampling can “prove the presence of knowledge but not the absence”....

GPT-4 will have a larger context window...The beta API allows the user to input a text 500–1000 words long — the context window — for GPT-3 to do something with it. This means the system can’t continue a half-written novel or complete the code for a large program. ...

See the full story here: https://towardsdatascience.com/4-things-gpt-4-will-improve-from-gpt-3-2b1e7a6da49f

Job Simulator Creator OwlchemyLabs Reveals its Next VR Project, Cosmonious High

Cosmonious High is a high school for aliens that features a quirky cast of characters as well as various interactive features guaranteed to keep you busy throughout the game. You will play an alien that has crash-landed into the high school during the first days of class. You will be mastering how you can unlock and deploy special powers to help repair the school and return it to its previous state.

Cosmonious High will be the biggest VR world unveiled by Owlchemy Labs so far. The game features a dynamic set of characters capable of responding to natural gestures such as fist bumps and high-fives. The game has been designed as one big interactive playground with the school being filled with a number of mysterious malfunctions that need to be sorted out although you must also ensure that you attend class as you are a student in the game.

There is a lot happening in Cosmonious High including the crashing of meteorites via the walls, the random breaking out of fires, and even your hands magically adapting to a number of situations such as turning into water so as to put out the flames. The game is not all about work as players also have the freedom to explore the school and also chat with their students in the Grand Hall. They can also head to Chemosophy and do some experiments.

Cosmonious High is set to launch in Spring 2022 to Oculus Quest and SteamVR headsets.

See the full story here: https://virtualrealitytimes.com/2021/09/05/job-simulator-creator-owlchemylabs-reveals-its-next-vr-project-cosmonious-high/

The best virtual reality porn games, and how to play adult VR

See the full story here: https://mashable.com/article/best-vr-porn-games

seeing the invisible: ai weiwei, el anatsui + more exhibit AR works at gardens across the globe

See the full story here: https://www.designboom.com/art/seeing-the-invisible-ai-weiwei-el-anatsui-exhibit-ar-works-botanical-gardens-09-04-2021/

LionGaming CEO: “Our blockchain technology can be toggled on/off for each bettor”

Blockchain technology has become a buzzword that is thrown around frequently, not only in the context of cryptocurrency but in conversations about digital transactions in general. Most recently, DraftKings announced its NFT marketplace which breathed new life into the discussion regarding what role blockchain will play in fantasy sports and sports betting in the future. 

One company that has incorporated blockchain technlogy in its sports betting and casino solutions is Lion Gaming, a company based in Canada that caters for U.S. sportsbook and casino operators. We asked CEO Duncan McIntyre a few questions about their technology to learn about how Lion Gaming helps solve the most pressing issues the industry faces, and how they use blockchain to improve the betting experience and security for bettors here in the U.S. and overseas.

See the full story here: https://usbettingreport.com/interviews/liongaming/

Surveillance Towers set up along US-Mexico border

...

creating an invisible border wall.

The high-tech watch poles known as Autonomous Surveillance Towers are powered by solar energy and use artificial intelligence to detect movement along a two-mile radius, sending the information in real-time to agents patrolling the area.

And they’re now being installed at different points along the nearly 2,000 miles of the US-Mexico border.

... The ASTs were developed by Palmer Luckey, the 28-year-old founder and designer of Oculus VR and Oculus Rift.

... “Most of our [recent] apprehensions have come from this tower,” said Freeland, pointing at El Paso Sector’s newest AST, which sits on a high remote patch of scrub where the borders of Texas, New Mexico and the Mexican state of Chihuahua meet. The camera has been in operation for only the last two weeks.

... US Customs and Border Patrol, which plans to deploy 140 of the cameras to create a virtual wall along the border.

... Luckey, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, is marketing the towers that use a network of interconnected cameras and sensors through Anduril Industries, the defense technology startup he founded in 2017.

Anduril did not respond to messages seeking comment.

See the full story here: https://sportsgrindentertainment.com/surveillance-towers-set-up-along-us-mexico-border/