Stuff South Africa

Light Start: Nyan Cat sells super high, AI helps crickets dry, AR glasses worn by some guy and Metallica asks Twitch, “Why?”

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Leaked concept videos show Samsung’s idea for AR glasses

The idea of augmented reality glasses is one that feels like it belongs in the far-flung future and yet more and more companies are beginning to pursue the idea. In a series of leaked videos, posted by notable leaker WalkingCat, Samsung is seemingly developing something called The Glasses Lite, AR glasses that will allow users to watch videos, chat with friends and even get work down all by sitting some lenses on the bride of their nose. One of the videos was just dedicated to showing off everything The Glasses Lite can do, even highlighting a tint mode that turns them into sunglasses, while the other video went more in-depth on the work front.

Titled “The Next Wearable Computer”, the video discusses how work can be conducted using AR glasses. The highlights include a virtual workspace, holographic calls and even 3D simulations like something you’ve no doubt seen in Tony Stark’s workshop. It’s all a little too far fetched for us right now and while these videos do genuinely seem authentic, one has to believe such a product is a long way off. Still, the video of the man using The Glasses Lite in his own home (presumably) is ridiculous. Can you imagine just hanging out in your lounge wearing sunglasses? Ridiculous.

Source: Engadget[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Metallica sure sounded weird at BlizzConline this weekend…

Ah, the dreaded DCMA strike. Something so often misunderstood and abused on the internet that Twitch would rather make itself look like a fool than risk being struck down by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Over the weekend, Metallica graced the virtual stage of BlizzConline to wrap up the evening’s presentation but certain viewers were left very confused. While the band’s beloved “For Whom The Bell Tolls” was played on the official Blizzard stream and Blizzard’s YouTube channel, viewers on Twitch Gaming were graced with the sounds of… well, not Metallica. In fact, it wasn’t even metal. It sounded more like the ambient forest music you’d expect to hear in a cheap fantasy game.

Thus is the state of Twitch as the streaming platform chose to replace Metallica’s music with stock audio to avoid a potential DCMA. Twitch has been notorious for not monitoring or maintaining consistent rules for the DCMA process. As for Metallica, it’s more than a little ironic as the lawsuit the band filed against music-sharing website Napster over a decade ago is considered to be one of the starting points of the DCMA legislature. Twitch is obviously embarrassed about the dub as the VOD of BlizzConline has been removed from the site but you can still see it in all it’s glorious hilarity here.

Source: The Verge [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Keen on eating crickets? AI can now farm the crunchy morsels

Scientists have said numerous times that the way to solve world hunger is to simply eat things we don’t want; these include worms, tomatoes and crickets. Crickets are probably the best option as the protein within them almost equals that of traditional meats and their environmental footprint is remarkably low. The process of scoffing down a plate of crickets might become much easier as a team of engineers lead by Aspire Food Group is in the process of developing the first automated manufacturing for cricket farming. Yum!

It’s a fairly robust development project too as the process will include automation, robotics and full-on AI to control the process. The AI, developed by DarwinAI, will be doing a load of heavy lifting, including monitoring such minute details as videos of the crickets just going about their day to day lives while also constantly optimising the environment for optimal cricket growth and reproduction. “One example is fluctuating the environment based on input signals to maximize cricket yield. Operators can leverage the insights from our system to adjust critical variables, like humidity control,” said DarwinAI CEO Sheldon Fernandez.

The manufacturing plant will open in 2022 and aims to produce around 20,000 metric tons of cricket-based products every year.

Source: TNW[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Remastered “nyan cat” art sold for roughly $605K

The world of fine art auctions is a strange place but you know how you make it even weirder? Introduce cryptocurrency and rainbow cats. Auction company Christie’s is hosting its first-ever auction of digital-only artwork with the help of NFT (non-refundable tokens) and while the actual event has kicked off yet, there’s already been a tremendous sale. A remastered version of the famous and beloved Nyan Cat animation by Chris Torres has sold for the equivalent of $605, 382.

We say equivalent because the NFT process allows buyers of products to more accurately verify the original owner or creator of a digital item, which is obviously essential for digital artwork. The buyer of the Nyan Cat animation spent 300 Ether, a cryptocurrency that uses  Ethereum blockchain, to own the spruced-up version of the meme. “…thanks for believing in Nyan Cat all these years. I hope this inspires future artists to get into #NFT universe so they can get proper recognition for their work!”, tweeted out Chris Torres after the sale was concluded.

Source: Engadget[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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