NEWS
►OpenAI has responded to Musk's lawsuit by releasing his old emails. Elon Musk, who sued OpenAI for violating its non-profit mission and chasing profits, allegedly wanted the organisation to merge with Tesla when it was starting to plan its transition into a for-profit entity in order to accomplish its goals. That, or get full control of the company, OpenAI said in a blog post. The organisation responded to Musk's lawsuit by publishing old emails from 2015 to 2018 when he was still involved in its operations.
►Lufthansa Aviation Training (LAT) and 3Spin Learning develop AI-Supported Crew Training with Apple Vision Pro. In close cooperation with Apple and Darmstadt-based 3Spin Learning, LAT is taking crew training to a new dimension. The jointly developed application will initially focus on soft skills training. As the world's first application in the field of aviation training, a de-escalation training specifically for Vision Pro has been realised.
►Meta is building a giant AI model to power its ‘entire video ecosystem’. Tom Alison, the head of Facebook, said part of Meta’s “technology roadmap that goes to 2026” involves developing an AI recommendation model that can power both the company’s TikTok-like Reels short video service and more traditional, longer videos.
►Eye tracking via sonar: Researchers hope to make VR headsets more efficient. Researchers at Cornell University in New York have developed prototypes of a sonar-like technology that could replace cameras for tracking eye movements. It uses tiny speakers that emit sound for each eye at frequencies above 18 kHz. These are beyond the hearing range of most people. The sound is directed at the face, reflected, and picked up by four microphones on each side of the headset. An algorithm the researchers call GazeTrak then interprets these sound waves to determine the direction of the wearer's gaze.
►Astronauts are now using Virtual Reality headsets to enhance their experience aboard the International Space Station. The integration of VR technology with an updated stationary bike allows the crew to cycle their favourite routes on Earth while working out in low Earth orbit. This adds a touch of familiarity to their daily routines, and helps combat feelings of isolation, enhancing mental well-being during long expeditions in space.
►Mixed reality technology being used at London Health Sciences Center (LHSC). A new mixed reality research project is taking x-rays to a whole new level at London Health Sciences Centre. “The HoloLens technology allows those virtual screens to be placed wherever the physician wants. Kind of maintains the contact between the physician and the patient,” explained Jonathan Collier, an interventional radiology technologist. Wearing a special mixed reality headset, Collier looks at and manipulates a volume rendered virtual model, or hologram, of an anatomised brain aneurysm.
►Claude 3's most powerful 'Opus' model has 'near-human' abilities in some benchmarks. Anthropic, the company formed by several ex-OpenAI employees, claims its new Claude 3 language model outperforms ChatGPT and Google's Gemini in several key industry benchmarks. It even hit "near-human" levels on some tasks, the company wrote in a blog.
►Ultraleap is bringing haptic touch to cars and VR headsets. In May 2019, Ultrahaptics and Leap Motion became Ultraleap. Founded by a pair of University of Bristol students three years after Leap Motion, Ultrahaptics harnesses ultrasound waves to create tactile feedback. The technology is being focused on two initial verticals. The first is automotive, using a console-based speaker that fires upward to deliver a sense of tactility to in-car heads-up displays. This will be accomplished through direct partnerships with carmakers. The second is XR, which is where Leap Motion’s technology comes into play. The joint company is working to integrate the two into a device that gives you tactile feedback as it tracks your hands. The resulting product would be one that would bring a sense of weight to the virtual landscape.
PERSPECTIVE
►The Best Vision Pro Accessories & Why You’ll Want Them. Vision Pro Case, Protector Shell, Lens Cleaning Pen, Battery Holder, Prescription Lenses, Headstraps. There are a number of things we’re still waiting to see come from the regular ecosystem of accessory creators, including docks, headstraps, silicone facial interfaces, and more style accessories.
►Read 1000 Books per Year with ChatGPT. This set of prompts allows you to “read” books in 1/100th of the time it takes to read them with a concept coined as tailored conversational summarisation. But don’t expect to replace fully reading a book; this is for conceptual capture only.
►The women in AI making a difference. Discover the remarkable women who are an integral part of the AI revolution.
