Apple launches an augmented reality app to promote For All Mankind on Apple TV Plus
But For All Mankind: Time Capsule is one of the first indications of Apple tying all of its hardware, content, and service ambitions together. It’s an augmented reality app downloaded from the App Store that prompts users to subscribe to Apple TV Plus to watch For All Mankind, with additional content for LIDAR-equipped Apple devices.
It’s the kind of cross-promotional content that spans Apple’s wide array of businesses. It could also offer a glimpse at the kind of integrated hardware, software, and service bundle that Apple could be considering for any future AR devices.
See the full story here: https://www.reportdoor.com/apple-launches-an-augmented-reality-app-to-promote-for-all-mankind-on-apple-tv-plus/
Oculus Co-Founder Invests in VR Startup Nanome
PhilNote: more funding for an established scientific visualization startup. We saw this a few years ago at the OC VR demo day.
The funding round was led by Bullpen Capital with participation from Oculus co-founder Michael Antonov’s Formic Adventures along with other angel investors. Nanome’s VR platform has been there since 2018 and is available on both Steam and Oculus Store. The new funds will be channeled into expanding the VR startup’s team and building new partnerships.
According to Nanome CEO Steve McCloskey, the startup has had a “compelling vision about what scientific collaboration should look like” and its VR platform aims to equip scientists working in various fields such as discovering new ways to combat diseases, addressing climate change and improving people’s lives. McCloskey states that Nanome provides an intuitive virtual interface where scientists can experiment, design and learn “at the nanoscale.” He noted that the new funding will give Nanome the “firepower” to increase its impact, support more research initiatives and continue its work in revolutionizing biotech and scientific research.
See the full story here: http://virtualrealitytimes.com/2021/02/13/oculus-co-founder-invests-in-vr-startup-nanome/
Thought-detection: AI has infiltrated our last bastion of privacy
Research published last week from Queen Mary University in London describes an application of a deep neural network that can determine a person’s emotional state by analyzing wireless signalsthat are used like radar. In this research, participants in the study watched a video while radio signals were sent towards them and measured when they bounced back. Analysis of body movements revealed “hidden” information about an individual’s heart and breathing rates. From these findings, the algorithm can determine one of four basic emotion types: anger, sadness, joy, and pleasure. The researchers proposed this work could help with the management of health and wellbeing and be used to perform tasks like detecting depressive states.
Ahsan Noor Khan, a PhD student and first author of the study, said: “We’re now looking to investigate how we could use low-cost existing systems, such as Wi-Fi routers, to detect emotions of a large number of people gathered, for instance in an office or work environment.” Among other things, this could be useful for HR departments to assess how new policies introduced in a meeting are being received, regardless of what the recipients might say. Outside of an office, police could use this technology to look for emotional changes in a crowd that might lead to violence.
The research team plans to examine public acceptance and ethical concerns around the use of this technology.
See the full story here: https://venturebeat.com/2021/02/13/thought-detection-ai-has-infiltrated-our-last-bastion-of-privacy/
Los Angeles Tech Company Launches World’s First App to Keep You Talking to Loved Ones … Even After You Die
However, YOV is distinct in that it doesn’t seek to create a new, virtual entity, nor create a public persona of someone. YOV seeks to maintain a real-life connection with those closest to us. Utilizing proprietary technology, YOV is the only company creating unique, personality-based personas derived from actual, permission-based communication between two individuals over time— designed to offer one a sense of comfort and connection.
A first-of-its-kind, YOV features:
- Unique virtual personas custom-built for each set of interactions.
- Re-creation of treasured nuances and inflections in interactions with loved ones.
- Seamless user experience that makes communication feel authentic and real.
- Built-in psychological expertise combined with AI to sustain and evolve personas over the long term.
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About YOV
Based in Los Angeles, California, You, Only Virtual, Inc. (YOV) is a digital platform that recognizes the unique bonds between loved ones, and enables authentic, posthumous one-on-one communications.
See the full story here: https://www.prweb.com/releases/los_angeles_tech_company_launches_worlds_first_app_to_keep_you_talking_to_loved_ones_even_after_you_die/prweb17720820.htm?fbclid=IwAR2_icsVipQCnv9-LoCkwveXQskCfvh4OhpMbJiTuU1NhdImZ46hUOrR_SA
Top EU Privacy Regulator Calls for Total Ban on Targeted Ads
Forbes reports that the EDPS further called for “measures to make sure that when attempting to remove illegal or harmful content from their platforms, companies should avoid — ‘insofar as is possible’ — the processing of personal data … [and that] profiling for purposes of content moderation should be prohibited unless the provider can demonstrate that such measures are strictly necessary.”
TechCrunch reports that before the laws can be approved, they will go through “debate and negotiations in the European Parliament and Council … [which] means battle lines are being drawn to try to influence the final shape of the biggest overhaul to pan-EU digital rules for decades.”
Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who decried the ad-tech “data complex,” urged the EU to “double down on enforcement of its flagship General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).”
See the full story here: https://www.etcentric.org/top-eu-privacy-regulator-calls-for-total-ban-on-targeted-ads/
SAG-AFTRA Approves New Influencer Agreement
“The Influencer Agreement was created in response to the unique nature of Influencer-generated branded content and offers a new way for influencers to work under a SAG-AFTRA agreement. We want to be able to support both current and future SAG-AFTRA members in this space and for them to be able to access the benefits of union coverage,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris in a statement to Backstage.
Previously, the union had covered advertising done by YouTubers. This new influencer agreement takes it one step further: it will cover advertising work across all social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, and TikTok.
See the full story here: https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/sag-aftra-approves-new-influencer-agreement-72636/?fbclid=IwAR28bPAi7o0RZR37jLseAnWHWs_3qtbMSqOtbymzPsXIvx4wlDNJvEiZIaE
OpenAI and Stanford researchers call for urgent action to address harms of large language models like GPT-3
“Participants suggested that developers may only have a six- to nine-month
advantage until others can reproduce their results. It was widely agreed
upon that those on the cutting edge should use their position on the
frontier to responsibly set norms in the emerging field,” the paper reads.
“This further suggests the urgency of using the current time window, during
which few actors possess very large language models, to develop appropriate
norms and principles for others to follow.”
...
A paper published last month by Stanford University Ph.D. candidate and Gradio founder Abubakar Abid detailed the anti-Muslim tendencies of text generated by GPT-3. Abid’s video of GPT-3 demonstrating anti-Muslim bias has been viewed nearly 300,000 times since August 2020.
...
Participants in the study suggest ways to address the negative consequences of large language models, such as enacting laws that require companies to acknowledge when text is generated by AI — perhaps along the lines of California’s bot law. Other recommendations include:
- Training a separate model that acts as a filter for content generated by a language model
- Deploying a suite of bias tests to run models through before allowing people to use the model
- Avoiding some specific use cases
See the full story here: https://venturebeat.com/2021/02/09/openai-and-stanford-researchers-call-for-urgent-action-to-address-harms-of-large-language-models-like-gpt-3/
