Tag Archive for: How To Kill An Hour

Deepfake Dancing

Deepfake Dancing – Drop A Beat!

A few months ago there was the scandal revolving around Deepfakes. The tech that is a more intelligent version of faceswapping, was used to insert celebs into naughty videos. The latest way that this artificial intelligence tech is being used? Dancing. Deepfakes dancing is here and you can be the best dance in your town! (In video form at least) It uses AI to read someone elses dance moves and then copies them on to your body.

The tech is developeed by 4 researchers at UC Berkley. They wrote in a paper posted on arXiV that their system is made up of a number of steps. Firstly a video of the want to be dancer is recorded, a separate programme then analyses the moves and compiles them into a stick figure. The want to be dancer is recorded for around 20mins for the quality of transfer to be useable. Then a source video is found and a stick figure made of their movements too!  Then the swap happens. The stick figure (non dancing one) is attached to the movements of the dancing stick figure. Boom. You are now a dancer. A capabale one too.

Deepfake Dancing

Deepfake Dancing

 

Limitations

The programme is working very hard to smooth the movement of the stick figures. The reason behind this is so that upon completion the dancers don’t jerk around too much. Plus there programme is also retracing the non professional dancers face to ensure realism.

However, for the Deepfake Dancing programme to work effectively, loose clothing cannot be worn, they have to wear tight fighting clothing. As The Verge are reporting, in the video above, there is some visual artefacts. Joints of the target and source dancer don’t 100% match up. The software seems to not be able to keep up with small complex movements either for example a hand flipping from back to front.

(The Verge)

Despite all this Deepfake Dancing sounds super cool. But like most tech it could be used in a negative way! It will be interesting to see how this tech plays out and how it will be used by all in the future!

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour why not sign up to our newsletter! Simply click here to get a dose of How To Kill An Hour in your inbox each and every week!

Listen to the latest episode of How To Kill An Hour here!

Amazon Go

Amazon Go launching another store!

In what seems like a move to eradicate all jobs for customer advisors everywhere. Amazon are launching another Amazon go store. After the succesful launch of it’s first cashier-less store in Seattle in December 2016.

It’s second store will too open in Seattle and launched earlier this month. It’s part of the gradual roll out across America with other Amazon Go stores looking to open in LA, San Francisco and Chicago.

Amazon’s second store will be a smaller venue. It won’t feature a working kitchen like it’s main store. Neither will it include a liquor section. The smaller store is more aimed toward the office workers. Therefore will focusing on offering it’s customers baked goods and ready to go meals. Plus it’s own Blue-Apron-Like meal deals. It’s open from 7AM-7PM Monday – Friday and is situated on 5th and Marion in downtown Seattle.

Amazon Go: A Re-Cap.

Amazon Go is the world’s first cashier-less ‘regular’ store. It allows customers to enter the store by scanning a code on their app on a smartphone. You are then tracked by Amazon within the store by a ton of cameras above you. Amazon will then bill you when you take items off the shelves directly to the account which you used to enter the store. Therefore nulling the need fo a cashier. Verge are reporting that the cameras within the store are so smart they can even distinguish between three Amazon employees who dressed in Pikachu costumes to simulate robberies.

Would you use this if it was brought to the UK? What worries do you have or do you just see this as a way as us moving forward with technology? We shall see what the future holds for the jobs of many many people. However, some could argue that it’ll create more jobs?

(Verge)

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour why not sign up to our newsletter! Simply click here to get a dose of How To Kill An Hour in your inbox each and every week!

Lego Technic Car

LEGO do the IMPOSSIBLE?! The LEGO Technic Car

A week ago, Lego seemingly teased something that nobody could ever think could become reality. But we all imagined as a kid. a LEGO Technic Car. Who in their right mind would want to build a LEGO Technic Car? Think of all the intricacies that it will need. The moving parts. Not forgetting an engine?

Well LEGO have built a whole city in Windsor, producing a car is nothing short of impossible for them. While many of us remain skeptical it certainly seems that way. Afterall, LEGO got us thinking after a rather teasing tweet last week:

LEGO are teasing a working proper car that’s in similar shape to a Bugatti Chiron. Looking at the pieces it seems as though they’re the correct size. LEGO do make some spectacular creations so it’s not too far outside the realms of possibility for them.

Using the hashtag #BuildForReal, LEGO are putting a lot on the line here. Even if it’s just a marketing stunt, by saying ‘For Real’ it gets people expecting and can’t be letting people down!

However….it seems as though LEGO are proving everybody wrong…..

It looks like they have done the impossible, well hats off to them, because it certainly got us interested! It was a very long week waiting for LEGO reveal, what they had actually created. Many thought it was just a 1:1 replica. But they proved us wrong, they proved everyone wrong! It really is a LEGO Technic Car!

Nothing is impossible with Lego Technic! LEGO have once again gone above and beyond to amaze us all. We are seriously impressed.

(Gizmodo)

Now, let’s just go and dig out our LEGO Technic and see what we can come up with…..

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour why not sign up to our newsletter! Simply click here to get a dose of How To Kill An Hour in your inbox each and every week!

What do you think of the show? Let us know via our contact page!

 

Windows 95

Windows 95 Lives Once AGAIN!

Windows 95 is BACK! Plus you can put it on your Mac too! What was once a powerhouse in home computing is now used as an indicator of what’s possible on modern computing devices.

We’ve seen the triumphant Windows 95 loaded on to just about anything these days. From an Apple Watch, an Android smartwatch, and the Xbox One. However the Verge are reporting that you can now run the ancient OS on an app on Mac OS, Windows and Linux. Guess the phrase “there’s an app for that” really does cover everything!

A developer from the awesome guys over at Slack, Felix Rieseberg is the man behind the web app. The nostalgia inducing app is based on an existing web project that currently supports Windows 95, 98, amongst others. You can use the Windows 95 web app, just like you did before. Play Minesweeper (how many hours was killed with THAT!?) or even use word pad. Only programme that doesn’t work is Internet Explorer.

Download it here it will work on both macOS and Windows. It’ll only take up a small amount of RAM when using it too, the Verge are reporting that it takes up 200MB

(Verge)

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour why not sign up to our newsletter! Simply click here to get a dose of How To Kill An Hour in your inbox each and every week!

Like the show? Let us know via our contact page!

Streets of Rage 4

Streets of Rage 4 on the way?!

An How To Kill An Hour favourite, Streets of Rage is coming back, better than ever! (We do love ourselves Streets of Rage. Check out our Raging Justice play through here!)

Streets of Rage 4 is on the way courtesy of Dotemu and Lizardcube in partnership with Sega.  Developers of Streets Of Fury, which was released in 2015 which used digitized graphics, Guard Crush Games will also have a hands on involvement in the game.

Plot

Fans of the game will be well aware of the characters that users will be utilising.  You will take on Axel and Blaze in ” “an entirely original arcade-style romp”, which will of course feature the same gameplay that you’re used to.

However, there will be new fighting mechanics and an original story. It’s a direct sequel to 1994’s Streets of Rage 3 and will feature some hand drawn visuals. Which is different to many games out there and we’re definitely looking forward to seeing it in action!

History Lesson

Sega’s hugely successful Streets of Rage franchise started life in 1991 on the Sega Genesis. It was then followed up by a duo of sequels in 1992 and ’94. It was mainly popular for it’s infections game mechanics and Yuzo Koshiro’s music!

However what consoles that Streets of Rage 4 would be coming to was not announced. Nor was a release date. We’ll keep an eye out for it!

Strange Brigade

Strange Brigade: Exclusive Play Through

Strange Brigade: Play Through

We’ve given Strange Brigade a play through and one thing that we will say afterwards is: Fun! This game is fun, fun, fuuuuun!! It’s very enjoyable by yourself defeating hordes of the undead. However, get a crew together and this levels of excitement and enjoyment go through the roof!

From the very start Strange Brigade is very charming with it’s friendly narrator (with his over the top British upper class dialect) and it’s 1930’s setting. The graphics draw you in to a world that is full of might magic and mystery. Yet at the same time having an underlying notion of danger when the undead appear. You know you’re in danger! Yet the locations are so pretty!

What makes Strange Brigade different to many other co-op games available today is that the levels and the game will change slightly depending on the numbers in your team. More enemies, lots of twists and turns with the levels and even the puzzles take it up a notch if you have a friend with you. Depending on who you have in your team, the chests that are scattered around the levels are there to help you. You can either share them out amongst yourselves. Or if you have a slightly unhelpful teammate (as we saw in our playthrough!) it can be a little competition to get the loot first. However we will say defeating the undead is a lot easier if you work together! Don’t horde the loot!

Characters

There are a range of characters to choose from, whilst the weapons stay the same no matter who you choose. It’s the taking of souls within the amulet where the separation between each of them is apparent. The game focuses heavily on the ‘amulet’ the small device that collects souls from the undead. Each character has their own special ability with how they utilise the amulet and the souls that they harvest. We found it a lot of fun cycling through the characters and witnessing the abilities for ourselves. We suggest you do the same, it would be such a shame to spoil it for you here!

Levels

There are a total of 9 levels to complete, each with their own areas to unlock via collection of coins. Though some will also require your brain to unlock via puzzles! Making for quite the exciting experience.  Plus the levels are interactive too, shoot various things to help defeat enemies. Shoot ropes to knock down blocks or shoot orbs to bring up a huge saw!

Horde Mode

Horde mode is also incredible amounts of fun, simply see how long you can last as a character taking on streams of enemies. The difficulty gets harder and harder as you progress so make sure you utilise the environment and collect those souls!

 

What is Strange Brigade?

Strange Brigade is your next favourite game! That’s what it is!

Strange Brigade takes users to places that they have never been before. The Plot? Well, simply there are four remote corners of the British Empire. What these remote corners entails no one knows as the shadows linger at their deepest. Who knows about these places the best? The servants of The Crown do and there are some supernatural beings that exist in these places!

Therefore it’s time to introduce the Strange Brigade! It is here where users are taken on an exotic safari, it’s dangerous and few dare to even embark on such an adventure. Why? As few return! As you go along this treacherous safari, you encounter civilisations that have once been forgotten by society, yet they’re fantastic within their own right, all while being shrouded in mystery! Go on adventures that take you to dark tombs and battle unimaginable evil!

Strange Brigade: Plot

You take on one of four adventurers or explorers. Each of the characters available to you have their own special powers, weapons and even tactics! The campaign takes you across a 1930’s era landscape and play with up to 4 friends along this action packed safari! However, as with many exotic plots, be aware of fighting armies of mythological characters that have been unleashed by an ancient Egyptian ruler: Seteki The Witch Queen. She’s so evil she has been wiped from hieroglyphs! So beware! To help you along the way there are secret caves around the safari. Why are these so special? Well within these caves there’s buried riches. Find these to help you along the way!

WIN A COPY OF STRANGE BRIGADE SPECIAL EDITION BY CLICKING HERE!

Purchase Strange Brigade by clicking here!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter by clicking here!

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay

Our friends over at IGN got a chance to check out Cyberpunk 2077 recently and they shared some Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay on their YouTube channel. Boy oh boy does it look good! (Though bare in mind that the footage you are seeing is from a work in progress game so all is subject t0 change. That being said it gets us excited for the release of this truly beautiful game! Bare in mind though that this game will most likely be an 18+. So the footage above is going to be very violent, use swear words,  nudity and show a lot of gore! Even though this is pre-release the graphics are clean, sharp and beautiful, which is ironic considering the scenery.

Gameplay Features

Cyberpunk 2077 is a first person RPG and we got a glimpse into how this will be incorporated in to the game. It’s CD Projekt Red’s level of detail that impressed us from the offset. Even when creating a character, the choices you make upon creation of their backstory will affect how the story will unfold going forward. IGN’s Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay shows the team take the role of a female character on her quest to find a missing person. Viewing the 48minute gameplay demo highlighted how fluid the cutscenes to gameplay is, making it feel somewhat like a movie.

The story seems very intriguing to us and we felt really immersed and we were only watching! Tasks are displayed in the top right hand corner which is very handy and easy to follow. Whilst there is no multiplayer revealed for Cyberpunk 2077, this looks like one stellar single player experience!

 

More Info

Developer CD Projekt Red describe Cyberpunk 2077 as an ““an open world, narrative-driven role-playing game” so essentially this game, as beautiful as it looks, is a first person role playing game. A first person role playing game that is also open world and narrative driven. We are liking the sound of this already! Fallout fans listen up! As even though the game is in first person, the game is said to offer players, plenty of chances to see what your character looks like. Consequently IGN pointing out that the game is a First Person RPG and not an FPS. While this is an action game, don’t expect lots of bang bang action 24/7.

Furthermore we are liking the route that this game is taking, making sure to emphasise the fact that it’s not just a shooter and it seems like there is a HUGE focus on storytelling. That’s what we got from the trailer, the trailer looked very movie like and we cannot wait to get our hands on it!

Plot

Users are playing as “V”, who is a “hired gun on the rise” within the Cyberpunk violent metropolis, Night City. Judging from the trailer we are getting a Matrix/Ready Player One vibe to the game. Going more indepth on the character customization, CD Projekt Red promises a “robust character creator” which will allow platers to choose things such as gender, appearance class and even their characters backgrounds. However, choose wisely as the choices that you make now, will affect and influence how the game plays out.

Yet much like regular RPG’s players are encouraged to interact with the various residents of Night City. Users do this via a dialogue system, which in turn will navigate the Cyberpunk 2077 narrative. With CD Prokekt Red stating that “difficult decisions will ripple through the entire game” (Polygon)

Listen to Marcus and Julia discussing this on the show by clicking here!

So, why not pre-order Cyberpunk 2077 by clicking here!

Also covered this game in one of our E3 specials listen it by clicking here!

Episode 293 Dane Baptiste

Robot peer pressure

Robot Peer Pressure

According to a study published by the journal of Science Robotics, researchers from Germany and the UK demonstrated that children are susceptible to peer pressure by robots.  Scarily the findings, say the researchers that as robots and AI’s become more and more intergrated into our lives, we as humans need to be careful how they influence us. Especially the young. As it can be stated that the AI and robots could change the way that we act. Our entire behaviour could be changed by Robot peer pressure.

Authors of the paper were asking:

“if robots recommend products, services, or preferences, will compliance […] be higher than with more traditional advertising methods?”

The researches made an effort to note that robots are being introduced to plenty of other places where social influence could be important. These social environments include places of health care, education and security.

The paper was a study of a social experiment on social conformity. It’s slightly been adjusted for the modern day robotics environment. It’s called the Asch experiment.

Asch Experiment:

The experiment was that there was no correct answer to the ambiguous autokinetic experiment.  How could we be sure that a person conformed when there was no correct answer?

Asch (1951) devised what is now regarded as a classic experiment in social psychology, whereby there was an obvious answer to a line judgment task.  If the participant gave an incorrect answer it would be clear that this was due to group pressure.

Aim: Solomon Asch (1951) conducted an experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform.

Procedure: Asch used a lab experiment to study conformity, whereby 50 male students from Swarthmore College in the USA participated in a ‘vision test.’ Using a line judgment task, Asch put a naive participant in a room with seven confederates. The confederates had agreed in advance what their responses would be when presented with the line task.  The real participant did not know this and was led to believe that the other seven participants were also real participants like themselves.

asch (1951) line study of conformity

Groupthink

Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line (A, B or C) was most like the target line. The answer was always obvious.  The real participant sat at the end of the row and gave his or her answer last.

There were 18 trials in total, and the confederates gave the wrong answer on 12 trails (called the critical trials).  Asch was interested to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view. Asch’s experiment also had a control condition where there were no confederates, only a “real participant.” (Simple Psychology)

 

The test is used to illustrate how humans can be influenced by groupthink. To the point where people will deny even the most obvious of facts.

One of the cards used in the original Asch test. Participants had to say which line on the right was closest in length to the line on the left.

Image: Creative Commons

Group Influence

In the experiment Asch invited 50 males students to take part in the line vision test. They were all asked to sit around a table. They were then shown a line on a chart next to a group of three other lines in varying lengths. Each labled A, B, Or C. They were then asked which line is the closest in length to the first. While the answer is obvious only one participant is ‘real’ the rest are actors.

The actors would all vote for an incorrect answer, the test was done to see if group responses can influence someone. In the test, the real one. The person who isn’t an actor would 1/3rd of the time cave to social pressure. Giving the same wrong answer as those before them. (The real participant, always would answer last) Over the course of 12 different tests 75% of participants conformed at least once while a quarter never conformed to social pressure.

Robot Peer Pressure

It is here where scientists wanted to see if it would work with Robots. Tony Belpaeme, a professor of robotics at the University of Plymouth, looked to repeat this experiment with humans/robots. With both adults and children to see what the outcome would be.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Adults didn’t feel the need to follow the example of the robot peer pressure. However, when the children were involved with the test, they wre much more likely to cave to social pressure from the robots.  “When the kids were alone in the room, they were quite good at the task, but when the robots took part and gave wrong answers, they just followed the robots,” said Belpaeme.

 

Images showing the robot used (A); the setup of the experiment (B and C); and the “vision test” as shown to participants (D).

Photo by Anna-Lisa Vollmer, Robin Read, Dries Trippas, and Tony Belpaeme

Results

The Verge are reporting that although robot peer pressure and the susceptibility of the children that’s most shocking, it’s also the fact that adults weren’t swayed which is also significant. As it goes against the theory in sociology known as “computer are social actors” (CASA) The theory deems that humans tend to interact with computers as if they are humans. The results of the 1996 study highlights that there are limits to this theory.

Belpaeme though was unswayed by this, as he stated that they were ‘expected’ as the robots that they used in the experiment were ‘too toylike’ to be influential to the adults. After the experiment the adults were quizzed and they informed researchers that they though the Robots were malfunctioning or weren’t intelligent enough to correctly answer.

As a result Belpaeme suggests that if they were to undertake the experiment again, with more impressive robots, the results may be different.

Human behaviour around robots

The Verge are reporting that while this experiment doesn’t prove the CASA theory, it does highlight human behaviour when it comes to robots. Previous studies have proved that we’re more likely to enjoy interacting with robots that are more human like. Or those that reflect the same personality as us.

We as humans even stereotype robots based on their perceived gender, as shown by the virtual assistant. (Which begs the question, why do nearly all of them have female names, Siri, Cortanta, Alexa?) Social instincts are also affecting our behaviour when talking to robots. It’s been said that we find it more difficult to turn off robots if they’re begging us not to.  Another study even suggested that we are better at paying attention if we are being watched by a robot that we perceive as mean.

Children Vs Adults

The report means that it’s children whom are more likely to give in to robot peer pressure. While researchers warn that adults aren’t immune. The dynamic between us and robots is something that we need to pay attention to. Even more so as AI is getting highly sophisticated. A good example of how easily we can be swayed by social pressure is the personal data scandal from Cambridge Analytica. If combined with social AI, it could be very messy. Belpaeme states ‘This technoligy will be used as a channel to persuade us, probably for advertising’. However it could also be used in a merciless manner.

While robot peer pressure can be used for good, such as educational settings to in still good learning habits, furthermore there’s evidence that robots can help develop social skills in autistic children.

(Verge)

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter by clicking here!

Apple Health

Apple Health Improvements

According to a new job listing Apple are working on improving their health data. Apple Health may soon be a lot more deeper than it is currently according to job listings that are undearthed by CNBC. It is said that Apple are working on a dedicated health chip. A dedicated health chip that will help improve the way that it processes biometric data from it’s array of devices. Apple currently design their own custom chops for iPhone and it’s rumoured to be doing the same for the Macs as early as 2020. That being said that Apple Watch is powered by a custom S3 chip. Yet if the report is to be believed future Apple Watches will include a specific special Apple Health chip to improve health data reporting.

Job Listings

CNBC are reporting that the new job listings will promote Apple’s indications towards health data. It could be that a chip that will be solely responsible for processing data for the heart rate for example, alongside helping to improve battery efficiency as there are two chips doing the work instead of one. Consequently it could be one better chip that simply helps share it’s workload better, thus, improving battery life.

The Verge are reporting that one listings read (before they were removed)

“We are looking for sensor ASIC architects to help develop ASICs for new sensors and sensing systems for future Apple products. We have openings for analog as well as digital ASIC architects.”

“Help develop health, wellness, and fitness sensors.” 

How will it be used?

Verge are reporting that they aren’t aware if Apple are looking at integrating better health tracking and monitory features or sensors into its existing chip. Or if it’s interested in developing a custom chop that would work in tandem with other hardware components. Apple currently uses a custom optical sensor for measuring your ticker. Consequently a new chip could work with the existing sensor to help process the data more efficiently.

The A11 Bionic chop thats in both the iPhone X and 8, contain a special Neural Engine. This chip is dedicated to helping speed up AI related tasks such as Animoji and FaceID. A new Apple Health chop could work similarly. It could be responsible for the standard computing tasks in addition to health ones. When this new chip may come to fruition?  It may not be for some time as the Verge are reporting that the listings are newer.

 

(Verge)

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter by clicking here!