Flex Logix has two paths to making a lot of money challenging Nvidia in AI
The programmable chip company scores $55 million in venture backing, bringing its total haul to $82 million.
Flex's "NMAX" technology is based on what's known as an "eFPGA," a kind of programmable chip consisting of tons of identical compute elements, called multiplier-accumulators, that perform the matrix multiplications that are the fundamental task in neural networks. The multiplier-accumulators make up a "systolic array," a kind of logic mesh, surrounded by lots of SRAM memory.
The chip is aimed at the "edge," meaning, devices outside the data center, such as self-driving cars or IoT gadgets.
See the full story here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/flex-logix-has-two-paths-to-making-a-lot-of-money-challenging-nvidia-in-ai/
Virtual Land Prices are Booming, and Now There’s a Fund for That
Republic Real Estate, a firm that’s raising money to buy distressed condos in the physical world, is launching an invite-only fund next week aimed at investors seeking to buy virtual land. The venture plans to purchase parcels across several online “metaverses” and develop them into virtual hotels, stores and other uses, with the goal of increasing their value among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
The minimum investment in the Republic Realm Digital Real Estate Fund is $25,000.
This year through March 15, the average price paid per parcel in Decentraland was $2,703 -- more than triple what it was in 2020, according to NonFungible.com, which tracks the sales. Land prices quadrupled in the metaverse called Cryptovoxels, from $821 a parcel last year to $3,895 in the first two and half months of 2021.
See the full story here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-19/virtual-land-prices-are-booming-and-now-there-s-a-fund-for-that
AMC Looks to Virtual Reality to Help Curb Suicides
Two bases in Air Mobility Command are using virtual reality to teach Airmen how to talk to someone who might be suicidal.
AFICC expedited its Small Business Innovation Research program, and within 60 days of the contract being built it awarded Moth+Flame a contract for headsets to be evaluated at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and Travis Air Force Base, Calif., according to an AMC release.
Using the VR headsets, an Airman talks with another Airman in distress in a simulated scenario, asking questions such as, “Do you have a gun in the house?” and “Are you thinking about harming yourself?”
“Actually going through the process of talking to someone with thoughts of suicide is much different than sitting through a PowerPoint presentation,” said Kaitlyn Woodruff, the AFICC contracting officer assigned to the training program, in the release. “It impacts you emotionally and takes the fear out of talking to someone thinking about suicide.”
The contract covers 50 headsets and four training scenarios at the two bases, though only one scenario is currently under evaluation.
See the full story here: https://www.airforcemag.com/amc-looks-to-virtual-reality-to-help-curb-suicides/
Facebook’s Andrew Bosworth on building AR assistants you won’t hate
The company says the assistants of the future need to be more aware of what's happening around them. But how far should the technology go?
See the full interview here: https://www.protocol.com/facebook-ar-assistant-andrew-bosworth
Creator who sold NFT house for $500,000: We’ll be ‘living in an augmented reality lifestyle’ soon
Contemporary artist Krista Kim recently sold an NFT-minted digital house for 288 ether, valued at over $500,000 based on the cryptocurrency’s trading price Wednesday.
The new owner of Mars House, she said, will be able to upload the file into various metaverses -- 3D immersive worlds -- and experience the digital real estate there. She said Mars House represents the “next generation of NFT art.”
Kim sees a central role for NFTs as the so-called AR lifestyle progresses.
“We’re all going to be decorating our environments and our personal space, our fashion,” she said. “Just like tattoos. People express themselves with tattoos. It’s an art form. Well, people are also going to express themselves with digital ... assets and decorative pieces and collectibles, fashion, accessories.”
Kim agreed, saying that “NFTs matched with art has a very strong value proposition because it does appreciate in value over time because it’s a social asset.”
See the full story here: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/17/creator-of-first-nft-digital-house-krista-kim-on-augmented-reality-.html
