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Orphan Black is ending, but how far has human cloning come? - The Verge
MUMBAI: Bank account holders in Nalasopara are waking up to debit card cloning in the past few days, with over 50 customers losing around Rs 10 lakh to the fraud.
Nalasopara police in the west and Tuling police station in the east have registered cases of skimming (card cloning) between August 2 to 8. In most cases, victims received SMSes of cash withdrawals though they didn't withdraw money from an ATM and had their cards with them. While cases under section 420 (cheating) of the IPC and sections 65(d) and 66(k) of the Information Technology Act have been registered against unknown persons, police suspect the withdrawals were done from outside Maharashtra.
In Nalasopara, on August 4, businessman Ravindra Dhimre (51) was woken up by an SMS at midnight. He was shocked to learn Rs 70,000 was withdrawn from his Union Bank account. Dhimre rushed to look for his debit card which he found was intact in his wallet. Dhimre then approached the police.
In the next few days, around 40 victims approached police with similar complaints, with cash involved varying from Rs 7,000 to Rs 70,000. The total amount lost to skimming so far in Nalasopara (West) alone is to Rs 8.01lakh.
In Nalasopara (East), a 46-year-old man lost Rs 20,000 to skimming. The victim received an SMS of the withdrawal.He was in possession of his debit card and had not made any withdrawals in the past few days. Investigating officer N K Patil said so far around 15 victims have approached the police, adding most victims lost money between August 2 to 8.
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Over 50 Nalasopara residents lose Rs 10 lakh to debit card cloning - Times of India
In a scientific first, researchers have created piglets that could possibly one day provide organs for human transplants. Though the science is still early, it's a big step forward in the quest to use pig organs to help the hundreds of thousands of people every year who await organ transplants.
In a report published Thursday in the journal Science , scientists from Harvard University, the biotech company eGenesis and several other institutions were able to use gene editing and cloning to create virus-free piglets that could potentially be used in the future for human organ transplants. As the New York Times reports , researchers have wanted to explore using pigs as organ sources in the past, but plans were thwarted by the fear that viruses from the pigs, called retroviruses, could infect humans through the transplants.
In the new report, scientists detail how they took pig cells and edited them using the gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to target and hinder their virus-related DNA. They then cloned those edited cells and developed an embryo. Those embryos were implanted into sows and then became piglets.
As STAT reports, out of 37 piglets, all were born without retroviruses. Not all were brought to term, and some were killed so the scientists could check how their organs were developing, but today, 15 piglets are still alive.
Study author George Church, a geneticist at Harvard and founder of eGenesis, told the Times he thinks that pig-to-human transplants could happen within two years. However, other researchers argue that it could be years before scientists even know if pig organ transplants are safe.
[ New York Times]
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Scientists are Getting Closer To Using Pig Organs For Human Transplants - TIME
August 11, 2017 A new paper from Duke molecular genetics and microbiology shows how pathogenic Cryptococcus fungi evolved from having many sexes to just two through 50 million years of gene swapping. Credit: Kara Manke
Biologically speaking, nearly every species on Earth has two opposite sexes, male and female. But with some fungi and other microbes, sex can be a lot more complicated. Some members of Cryptococcus, a family of fungus linked to human disease, can have tens of thousands of different mating types.
In a study appearing early online Aug. 11 in PLOS Biology, Duke researchers have mapped the evolutionary turning point that transformed the pathogenic form of Cryptococcus from an organism of many sexes to one with only two. They found that during evolution, a reshuffling of DNA known as translocation brought together separate chunks of sex-determining genes onto a single chromosome, essentially mimicking the human X or Y chromosome.
Surprisingly, they've shown that these crucial translocations occurred at the centromeres, the twisty ties that hold together chromosomes at the center of an x-shaped pair. These regions of the chromosome are so dense that they were once thought to be removed from recombination.
"Recombination at the centromere doesn't have to happen frequently, it just has to happen often enough that it punctuates the evolution of the organism," said Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, senior study author and professor and chair of molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine. "With each translocation, the genome is altered again and again, until you have evolved an entirely new species."
Scientists have been studying the evolution of sex chromosomes for more than a century. In the 1960's, Japanese-American geneticist and evolutionary biologist Susumu Ohno proposed a theory in which the genes determining sex first arose at various spots scattered across the entire genome, but over time were "captured" on the sex chromosomes. In humans, those chromosomes go by the familiar X and Y; in birds, they are known as Z and W; in moss, they are called U and V.
Regardless of the name or species, Heitman contends that some universal principles could govern the evolution of all sex chromosomes. He and an international team of researchers focused on the last common ancestor of the human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans and its nearest sibling species, a non-pathogen called Cryptococcus amylolentus.
In C. amylolentus, dozens of genes at two different locations on the chromosomes control what's called a tetrapolar, or four-part, mating system. At one location or locus known as P/R, genes encode pheromones and pheromone receptors that help the fungus recognize compatible mating types. At the other locus, called HD, genes govern the development of sexual structures and reproductive spores.
The researchers sequenced the entire genome of C. amylolentus, mapping the location of all the genes as well as the centromeres on each of the organism's 14 chromosomes.
They found that the genomes had undergone quite a bit of rearrangement since the two species shared a common ancestor, at least 50 million years ago. For example, chromosome 1 of C. neoformans contained pieces of four different chromosomes from C. amylolentus, providing evidence of multiple translocations, some within the centromere.
"That was very surprising. The dogma has been that recombination is repressed in centromeric regions," said Sheng Sun, PhD, lead study author and assistant research professor at Duke University School of Medicine.
In the 1980's, a seminal paper by Duke colleague Tom Petes demonstrated recombination could occur across the centromeres in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but some attributed the finding to a quirk of the favored model organism with its tiny point centromeres. But since then, other studies have emerged suggesting that the phenomenon was wider spread.
In this study, the researchers showed that in Cryptococcus amylolentus, the ancestral state, the P/R locus resided on chromosome 10 and the HD locus on chromosome 11. But in Cryptococcus neoformans, the evolved state, those loci ended up in one place. According to their model, multiple translocations deposited the two sex determinants on the same chromosome, with a centromere in between. Subsequent rearrangements put P/R and HD next to each other. The result was an organism with a bipolar mating system, much like the male and female sexes that embody most species.
"In any kind of model like this, you are thinking about what could have been the organization in the last common ancestor, which is now extinct so you can't know definitively," said Heitman. "But in each of these lineages, there are multiple evolutionary events that have occurred, and you can use genomics to turn back the hands of time and deduce the trajectory."
Heitman says their study suggests that other researchers should actively look for translocations, both in the expected locations as well as within centromeres. These chromosomal rearrangements are a common cause of birth defects and cancer in humans.
He and his colleagues are currently investigating whether similar translocations occur in the evolution of sex chromosomes in other fungal families, such as Ustilago and Malassezia.
Explore further: Evolution of the Sexes: What a Fungus Can Tell Us
More information: "Fungal genome and mating system transitions facilitated by chromosomal translocations involving intercentromeric recombination," Sheng Sun, Vikas Yadav, R. Blake Billmyre, Christina A. Cuomo, Minou Nowrousian, Liuyang Wang, Jean-Luc Souciet, Teun Boekhout, Betina Porcel, Patrick Wincker, Joshua A. Granek, Kaustuv Sanyal and Joseph Heitman. PLOS Biology, Early online Aug. 11, 2017. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2002527
Journal reference: PLoS Biology
Provided by: Duke University
Fungi don't exactly come in boy and girl varieties, but they do have sex differences. In fact, a new finding from Duke University Medical Center shows that some of the earliest evolved forms of fungus contain clues to how ...
For more than a decade, a rare but potentially deadly fungus called Cryptococcus deuterogatti has taken up residence in the Pacific Northwest and Vancouver Island. Unlike its cousin Cryptococcus neoformans, which mostly infects ...
In butterflies, sex is determined by chromosome differences between males and females. But unlike in humans with the familiar X and Y, in butterflies, it is the females that determine the sex of offspring.
As cells divide, some of their DNA is rearranged, spurring the emergence of new traits that can dictate whether a species survives or flounders. But some stretches of DNA appear to be so crucial to the basic functioning of ...
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have uncovered the evolutionary mechanisms that have caused increases or decreases in the numbers of chromosomes in a group of yeast species during the last 100-150 million years. The ...
(Phys.org) -- Fruit flies are commonly used in genetics research because their lifespan is short, they are easy to breed in the laboratory, and mutants are widely available. There are about 1,500 known species. Now a new ...
Biologically speaking, nearly every species on Earth has two opposite sexes, male and female. But with some fungi and other microbes, sex can be a lot more complicated. Some members of Cryptococcus, a family of fungus linked ...
(Phys.org)A team of researchers with the University of Pennsylvania has uncovered the means by which squid eyes are able to adjust to underwater light distortion. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group ...
Scientists at the Universities of Oslo and Liverpool have uncovered the secret behind a goldfish's remarkable ability to produce alcohol as a way of surviving harsh winters beneath frozen lakes.
The gene-editing technology called CRISPR has revolutionized the way that the function of genes is studied. So far, CRISPR has been widely used to precisely modify single-celled organisms and, more importantly, specific types ...
While hundreds of circular RNAs (circRNAs) are abundant in mammalian brains, one big question has remained unanswered: What are they actually good for? In the current issue of Science, Nikolaus Rajewsky and his team at the ...
In the cells of palm trees, humans, and some single-celled microorganisms, DNA gets bent the same way. Now, by studying the 3-D structure of proteins bound to DNA in microbes called Archaea, University of Colorado Boulder ...
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Scientists map sex chromosome evolution in pathogenic fungi - Phys.Org
The Rock is many things to many people: movie star, pro wrestling legend, television star, real big huge guy, cool dad, marketable celebrity, highest-paid dude on the planet, and fella who feels he needs to go to space to use Siri. Oh, and maybe hes going to be the President of the United States soon. I mean, the guy can punch an earthquake in the face or whatever, so hes as good a choice as any.
Last week, the man that some people know as Dwayne Johnson revealed on Instagram that he was evolving his iconic Brahma bull tattoo, which looked pretty cool in 1999, but is maybe slightly behind the times now. (Especially compared to his other, amazing quarter-sleeve of work on his left arm.) Some fans noticed the work already peeking up from his shoulder in older Instagram posts, suggesting that despite the video announcing he was getting work done, the process had already begun. Pretty sneaky, Rock.
Indeed, the big ol tattoo (which ended up being a complete cover-up, despite world famous tattoo artist Nikko Hurtados site claiming he doesnt do cover-ups, but you always just do what the Rock tells you to do) took several sessions, and we can finally see the finished product. It is pretty incredible, and probably not at all what most people were expecting.
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The Rock Unveiled The Evolution Of His Brahma Bull Tattoo, And It's Mind-Blowing - UPROXX
August 11, 2017
How do initially benign forms of cancer evolve to become aggressive? In a quest to answer this long-standing question, an EU project has studied the growth and clonal evolution of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL)a blood and bone marrow cancer that mostly starts asymptomatic but can become very aggressive over time.
Cancer evolution is a complex process. Whilst we know that tumour growth is enabled by a continuous process of clonal expansion, genetic diversification and clonal selection, there are still many open questions related to this process. Answering them could be the key to preventing tumour progression and relapses.
According to Dr Michaela Gruber, whose research was funded under the CLL_INCLONEL (Identification and functional dissection of key genetic events in early chronic lymphocytic leukaemia) project, CLL is a valuable model for studying this process due to its high prevalence, initially slow progression and easy access to samples.
Dr Gruber studied the clonal dynamics of a cohort of 21 CLL patients, who were recurrently sampled from diagnosis until the time of first treatment. Her objectives were to identify events leading to disease progression using next-generation sequencing of patient samples. She also developed in vitro models to assess the functional impact of these genetic events on B cell biology, studied their impact on CLL and gathered valuable information on the effects of drugs on potential CLL sub-populations.
Dr Gruber agreed to discuss the project's outcomes and how they could one day lead to individualised diagnostic and therapeutic management of CLL.
What kind of knowledge did you aim to gather from this project?
The key aim of this project was to gain a better understanding of the early dynamics of growth and clonal evolution, as cancer progresses from diagnosis to the need for treatment. CLL is a highly informative model system for studying such natural cancer growth patterns: It typically has a relatively indolent beginning, with potentially long timeframes (in the order of years) before treatment becomes necessary.
Why is it so important to better understand clonal evolution? How can it help prevent tumour progression and relapse?
Insights from recent cancer sequencing studies indicate that the occurrence and expansion of cancer-driving mutations follows a specific sequence. Certain mutations generally appear to occur early in the disease and could be cancer-initiating. Other mutations tend to occur late and appear to have variable impact on tumour expansion. Moreover, different cancer sub-types show different patterns of mutations.
Together, these findings indicate that it could be possible to anticipate the specific evolutionary potential (i.e. plasticity) of a patient's cancer, which actually fuels progression, treatment resistance and relapse. Based on such understanding, therapeutic strategies could be shaped directly against this plasticity of cancer. This would be a major milestone towards overcoming current obstacles to cancer cure.
What would you say were the most important findings from the project?
Our data show that key mutations driving the progression of CLL are established very early in the course of the disease, years before symptoms warrant treatment initiation. For the first time, we were also able to quantify the impact of individual sub-clonal driver mutations on in vivo tumour expansion.
Another important discovery is that of clearly distinguishable growth patterns among patients, both globally as well as on a sub-clonal level. Finally, our data indicate that different patients have different potentials for clonal evolution and growth, and that these patterns remain throughout the entire course of the disease up to the event of relapse.
Can you tell us more about the genome editing technologies you employed?
Suitable experimental models are much needed in order to test the functional impact of observations made in CLL sequencing studies. Thus, we employed novel genome editing strategies, initially using TALENs and then switching to the recently emerged and more easily programmable CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Thanks to the latter, we established an array of isogenic B cell lines, which are used to test the molecular impact of mutations on cellular biology andmost importanttreatment response.
What are your plans now that the project is completed?
We have initiated several follow-up projects in Vienna, which aim to integrate an understanding of epigenetic modifications and tumour microenvironments, as well as their role and dynamics in CLL evolution.
What do you hope will be the impact of the project on future diagnostics and treatments?
Our hope is to establish cancer evolution as a predictable process. With sufficient understanding of the forces that drive evolution and selective advantages of sub-clonal mutations, we hope to develop prognostic schemes that anticipate individuals' evolutionary trajectories.
Treatments based on these schemes would directly aim to target the cancer plasticity that underlies progression, treatment resistance or relapse. CLL provides us with a unique opportunity to better understand cancer evolution. The conceptual insights about cancer that can thus be gained from CLL would have a high potential for being translated across other haematologic and solid malignancies.
Explore further: Follicular lymphoma: A tale of two cancers
More information: Project page: cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/186119
Follicular lymphoma (FL), the second most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is a largely incurable disease of B cells, yet in many cases, because of its indolent nature, survival can extend to well beyond 10 years following ...
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RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11)
Drift Evolution is one of the newest events at Reno's annual Hot August Nights, but it's quickly becoming one of the most popular.
Custom vehicles take turns drifting around a track at the Reno Livestock Events Center.
The event started in 2016, but this year, organizers said they sold out of participation passes about a month and a half before Hot August Nights started. They said they had to turn some drivers away because they didn't have enough space.
The cars featured at Drift Evolution are much different than the typical classic vehicles most people picture when they think of Hot August Nights. Many of them were built in the '90's and have been customized specifically for drifting.
Tickets to get into the Livestock Events Center are $10. Pit passes are an additional $10-- those allow access to talk to the drivers, see the drift cars up close, and take a lap as a passenger on the track.
Drift Evolution is happening through Saturday, August 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CLICK HERE to learn more.
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Drift Evolution puts modern spin on Hot August Nights - KRNV My News 4
Professor of Biological Science David Houle
Small, seemingly insignificant mutations in fruit flies may actually hold clues as to how a species will evolve tens of millions of years in the future.
Thats the focus of a new study by a Florida State University researcher who raised 200 generations of fruit flies to examine how they changed both in the short and long term. What he found was quite surprising.
Small mutations in the wing of fruit flies the drosophilids predict up to 40 million years of evolution for this common household pest. The research was published today in the journal Nature.
The main point is mutation thats happening now affects long-term evolution, said Professor of Biological Science David Houle. How this happens is not clear. Some scientists believe that the supply of mutation is what guides evolution. Others have suggested that the same processes that shape long-term evolution also shape mutation.
Houle set out to investigate if there were parts of the fruit fly that couldnt mutate or evolve and how quickly other parts did so.
We wanted to see how the effects that mutation produces are related to evolution, Houle said. We were surprised that there was a very tight relationship.
Fruit flies are considered an ideal species for scientists to investigate unsolved problems in evolution and genetics because it is easy to breed more than 20 generations each year. Their wings are also easy to measure, so scientists can easily identify even small changes.
Its a convenient system to investigate complex parts of an organism, Houle said. Ive always been interested in evolutionary process, whats going on and whats limiting it. Its the nuts and bolts.
By examining fossil evidence and conducting DNA sequencing, Houle and his colleagues knew that fruit flies had been around for roughly 40 million years. They also suspected that the pattern of mutation could have remained constant over that time period.
It is often true that some things evolve very slowly, and its reasonable to conclude that mutational patterns may be one of those things, he said. The important thing is that the pattern of past evolution did not necessarily have to be similar to mutation. We were surprised at how similar they are.
To measure the rate of mutation and evolution, Houle and co-author Kim van der Linde of the Tallahassee-based Animal Genetics Inc. gathered almost 120 different species of flies by collecting them from nature or obtaining them from other scientists. Van der Linde studied how these flies were related to each other.
Houle then raised 200 generations of fruit flies it takes four years to breed that many generations and then individually raised some of the flies to see what, if any, changes occurred in the wings of the flies. In total, the researchers measured more than 50,000 fly wings in the course of this study and found changes in the overall shape of the wing, such as the ratio of width to length and vein locations.
Some types of changes evolved at a higher rate than others, such as the ratio of wing width and length. These evolutionary changes were also the most common mutational changes.
Through these observations and sophisticated statistical modeling, Houle and his team were able to determine that the small mutational changes occurred in the same pattern as evolution throughout the entire group of fly species.
The findings are likely applicable to how other plants and animal species evolved, Houle said. But they also are predictive of the next 40 million years of evolution as well, he added.
What we are doing is more accurately known as a retrodiction using something from the present to predict past events, Houle said. Of course, we can now make a prediction that Drosophila will evolve in this pattern in the future, as well.
This work was funded by the National Science Foundation.
Other authors on the paper are Thomas Hansen of the University of Oslo, Norway, and Geir Bolstad of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. Hansen is a former member of the FSU faculty, and Bolstad was a postdoctoral researcher at Florida State in 2013.
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Fruit fly mutation foretells 40 million years of evolution - Florida State News
Middle school students across the country today participated in a live interactive broadcast of NASA astronaut Jack Fischer operating satellites developed by Aurora and MIT aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The basketball-sized, battery operated satellites were controlled using computer code written by the students as part of the Zero Robotics summer learning program.
Founded by MITs Space Systems Laboratory and run in partnership with Aurora and the Innovation Learning Center, Zero Robotics is a robotic programming competition for middle and high school students. Students learn to write software to autonomously control the SPHERES satellites aboard the ISS. Each year, the Zero Robotics competition challenges students to address a real spaceflight operational scenario.
Aurora is proud to partner with MIT on this innovative and engaging STEM-education program, said John Langford, Aurora Chairman and CEO. Zero Robotics has introduced thousands of students over the years to the wonders of spaceflight and robotics. With this next generation of scientists and engineers at the helm, the future of NASAs space program looks exceptionally bright.
Aurora built the SPHERES satellites and has partnered with MIT on the Zero Robotics program since its inception in 2008. Over the years, Auroras involvement has evolved to encompass competition coordination support, student mentoring, instructor education, and curriculum development.
This years middle school finals comprised of 13 teams hailing from 12 U.S. states and Russia. Zero Robotics is also open to high school students, with a tournament held each year between September to December for students grades 9-12. The Middle school competition is sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the Northrop Grumman Foundation, and NASA. To learn more about the Zero Robotics program and to view results from todays competition, visit http://www.zerorobotics.mit.edu. To learn more about Auroras SPHERES program, visit http://www.aurora.aero/SPHERES.
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Aurora and MIT Celebrate Nine Years of Student Robotics Program Success - sUAS News
The 100,000 orange robots that glide through Amazon warehouses and the thousands of Amazonians who build, program and use them are part of the evolving relationship between humans and their tools that awakens new possibilities but also new fears.
NORTH READING, Mass. Every day is graduation day at Amazon Robotics.
Heres where the more than 100,000 orange robots that glide along the floors of various Amazon warehouses are made, and taught their first steps.
Here they practice their first pirouettes. And heavy lifting too, as they twirl while hauling fabric shelves filled with cinder blocks.
And finally once theyve been given the green light by their makers about 38 robots assemble in a tight four-row formation and in orderly fashion wheel themselves up onto pallets that will be shipped to one of the 25 Amazon warehouses that employ automatons.
Amazon staffers call it the graduation ceremony, and it takes place several times a day.
Its a proud-mama moment, an Amazon spokeswoman said, during the first visit to the facility by a reporter since the e-commerce giant bought the former Kiva Systems in 2012. So far this year the company has graduated about 55,000 robots.
These robots, and the thousands of Amazonians who build, program and use them, are laying out the next episode in a very old story the evolving relationship between humans and their tools.
From the sharp stones wielded by our early ancestors to the internet, every step along the way has awakened new possibilities, and new fears too.
Now, its the turn of robotics, a discipline that after decades of experimentation and recent big leaps in artificial intelligence has finally reached a maturity that allows mass deployment.
Were at an inflection point the ability of robots to be useful at a low-cost point, said Beth Marcus, a robotics expert and startup founder who recently joined Amazon Robotics as a senior principal technologist.
This latest wave of automation has spurred anxiety among scholars and policymakers. They warn it might contribute to a growing economic divide, in which workers with more education or the right skills reap the benefits of automation, while those with inadequate training are replaced by robots and increasingly left out of lucrative jobs.
Its not a novel concern: Spinning jennies, which revolutionized the weaving industry, sparked similar resistance in 19th century England. And in the 1960s, the U.S. government created a task force to study the impact of technology on livelihoods. If we understand it, if we plan for it, if we apply it well, automation will not be a job destroyer or a family displaced, President Lyndon Johnson said at the time.
History has shown that, over time, job losses in rapidly advancing sectors are offset by gains in other activities spurred by a growing economy.
That perspective doesnt quell contemporary concerns. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has proposed taxing robotsto pay for other jobs, such as teachers. Some scholars also seem to be losing faith in the old playbook.
Theres never been a worse time to be a worker with only ordinary skills and abilities to offer, because computers, robots and other digital technologies are acquiring these skills and abilities at an extraordinary rate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee wrote in their 2014 book, The Second Machine Age.
In a recent report, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that technology is contributing to the disappearance of middle-skill jobs, both in manufacturing and in clerical work, even though it helps create both highly skilled and low skilled positions.
Amazon is the modern poster child for automation, and not only because of the orange warehouse robots. Its machine-learning software lets the company predict customer behavior. New retail concepts, such as the Amazon Go convenience store in downtown Seattle, heavily rely on sensor technology in an effort to do away with the need for cashiers.
Amazon is also working hard to have drones deliver items to peoples homes, a move that may replace a lot of delivery drivers.
But automation certainly hasnt slowed down Amazons colossal appetite for people. The companys payroll expansion has long exceeded revenue growth: In the quarter ended last June, its workforce grew by 42 percent to 382,400 jobs, versus sales growth of 25 percent.
Its hard to say, in the case of Amazon, how many potential human jobs have gone to the robots, or inversely, how many new positions have been created to handle this new feature of working life.
But Amazon says that warehouses equipped with robotics typically see greater job creation with more full-time employees, due to the increased volume of orders these centers can handle.
Amazon also says automation has meant the creation of desirable, high-skilled jobs designing robots and teaching them how to do things, as well as middle-skilled jobs such as repairing the robots, or simply focusing on more sophisticated warehouse tasks while letting machines do the boring stuff.
Marcus says that there are plenty of tasks humans will monopolize for a long time.
There are many things humans do really well that we dont even understand yet, Marcus said.
Amazon Robotics facility, in suburban Boston, was first established by Kiva Systems, a company founded on the concept of flipping warehouse logistics around. Instead of having workers walk to products, it sought to bring items to the workers. The solution: flat, wheeled robots called drive units that navigate a warehouse by reading stickers on the floor, all while carrying merchandise on their back.
Amazon bought Kiva in 2012 for $775 million in cash and started introducing the robots into its warehouses in 2014.
Since then, the robotics facility stopped selling to other customers, while its orange robots, now in their fourth generation, have come to play an important part in Amazons operations. In fact, robotics seem to be more important to Amazons bottom line than to other tech giants also making big bets in the field, such as Google, experts say.
For Amazon, its mission critical, said Pedro Domingos, a machine-learning expert at the University of Washington.
Tye Brady, the chief technologist for Amazon Robotics, noted that the e-commerce behemoth is in a unique spot.
We have the ability, through our automation and our robotics, to change the real world by immediately deploying the most recent advances throughout the companys widespread footprint, he said in an interview.
Brady, who joined Amazon two years ago after a two-decades-long career in aerospace and robotics, said that in his ideal vision of the future, society might look a little bit like the original Star Wars movie, in which humans and robots coexisted happily, with the latter capably helping humans lead more purposeful lives. Our machines will allow us to focus on what we want, he said.
A few steps into the Amazon Robotics building, a small sign warns visitors in jest to please not feed the robots.
Some 500 employees work in the facility, mostly engineers and scientists, as well as technicians who assemble the robots. The hardware side is led by Parris Wellman.
As a kid he wanted to build cars, and went on to earn a mechanical-engineering degree at the University of Pennsylvania. There, studying under prominent roboticist Vijay Kumar, Wellman discovered robots. After a Ph.D. from Harvard and a few years in biotech and in medical devices, he joined Amazon Robotics, returning to what he calls his first love.
What he likes about the opportunity is that he can build something and deploy it en masse pretty quickly.
Another interesting aspect of the work, he said, is that the roboticists get plenty of feedback from the warehouse associates who will be dealing directly with the robots. For example, associates helped designers pick out the color of the new lightweight fabric shelves that the robots carry: yellow, because that makes it easier to see the items they carry.
And it was a maintenance worker at a warehouse who designed, and patented with Amazons help, a metal rod that staffers use to push inactive robots around the factory floor (its easier than picking up the 750-pound robots).
Innovation is not restricted to a particular set of people, Wellman said.
In addition to hardware engineers, the facility employs software developers who animate the drive units throughout the Amazon empire. People dont realize Amazon Robotics has a huge software stack, says Jill Sestini, a developer who was Kiva Systems 30th employee when she joined in 2006.
That software prowess got a huge boost after the Amazon acquisition because of the proprietary technology the new owner brought to the table, she said.
The current job of the Boston-area native who builds motorcycles as a hobby, and comes from a family of amateur craftspeople who made their own furniture is to oversee the interfaces that allow the robots to interact with humans more easily.
One of her projects: an app on a Fire tablet that lets warehouse workers without highly advanced computer skills control the drive units when they fail or an item falls in their path. Hundreds of tablet-toting warehouse workers across the 25 highly automated warehouses operated by Amazon now have that ability.
Brady, the Amazon Robotics chief technologist, says the roboticists efforts have brought a more than 50 percent increase in storage efficiency at the Amazon warehouses that employ robots. That means they can contain more items in a smaller space.
These warehouses are also where Amazon figures out how people and machines can work together as in a beautiful symphony, according to Brady.
One of these centers is in DuPont, Pierce County, a warehouse dedicated to mid-size and large items, where 500 humans work alongside hundreds of robots. There the automatons have the run of the core of the warehouse, a maze brimming with metal shelves stocked with merchandise.
They operate in a different space from the humans, who are mostly on the outskirts of the facility. But they work together in an elaborate, seemingly seamless dance.
The robots bring empty shelves out from the depths of the warehouse to a person who loads them with individual items unpacked from pallets as they arrive at the distribution center. The robot then races back into the interior of the facility, putting the shelf back in its place. The automatons can lift up to 3,000 pounds.
When an order comes in, a human operator in another part of the warehouse calls up an item from a computer. A robot will then wheel out the shelf containing the item, which the human will pick out and place on a conveyor belt.
The interaction with the robotic workforce has created new types of roles.
Barry Tormoehlen, a former electrician and conveyance mechanic, is one of a dozen people at DuPont who do preventive maintenance on the drive units, wipe them down every once in a while and fix them when needed.
Over time, Tormoehlen has learned to recognize the individual units, which each have a number and a maintenance history of their own. The collaboration between these robots and humans has created a local folklore.
Workers have painted some of the robots to give them personality: A robot with fiery flames on its sides is known as the devil drive. Another, decorated by warehouse workers in blue and yellow instead of the usual orange, is dubbed The Minion, after animated characters who have the same color pattern.
During a recent visit to the DuPont center, 29-year old Ashley Parks, a former medical assistant from Yelm, Thurston County, stowed newly arrived items of various shapes and sizes onto a shelf atop The Minion.
They kind of dance around you, she said of the automatons, adding that they make her more efficient in her job.
As for fears of one day losing her job to a machine, she seemed nonchalant. I dont think theyre going to take away our jobs, she said. They stay on their side, I stay on my side.
The rest is here:
Amazon's robots: job destroyers or dance partners? - The Seattle Times
Mouni Roy is perhaps one of the most successful actresses in Indian television at the moment. She began her career with the iconic TV show, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and then went onto do Naagin 2, which was a huge hit. The actress is also known for her amazing dance skills which she has proved in herlatest video thats gone viral on social media.
In the new video, the actress dances with such grace that for a moment we forget that the song hasnt been originally picturised on her. Seen wearing a beautiful olive green salwar kameez, the actressis seen gracefully dancing to the popular song Tere Rashke Qamar from Ajay Devgn and Ileana DCruzs upcoming film, Baadshaho. She looked absolutely ravishing in the outfit that she also wore during the Raksha Bandhan ceremony at actress Aamna Sharifs residence.
We always knew that the actress had a strong fan following. But, that belief was further strengthened after her insta story, in which she captured the dance, got shared on various social media platforms within moments of her uploading the video. (ALSO READ:Mouni Roy And Ravi Dubey Cant Stop Singing Praises For Each Other)
Check out the video below
Meanwhile, on the work front, she was recently spotted with her favourite star, Salman Khan, shooting for the upcoming reality show, Bigg Boss 11, that will be showcased a month in advance than usual. She will also be seen making her Bollywood debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Gold, produced by Ritesh Siddhwani. We will also get to see actors Amit Sadh and Kunal Kapoor in pivotal roles in the movie.
Read the rest here:
Mouni Roy's Version Of Baadshaho Song Rashke Qamar Will Blow Your Mind Away - India.com
Security firm Carbon Black awoke to a damning report Wednesday morning about a severe flaw in one of its top software products: Sensitive corporate data from some major companies -- clients of Carbon Black -- have been found on multi-scanner services.
The report from DirectDefense, a managed security strategies provider, ties the data leak to an API key that the company claims belongs to Carbon Black Cb Response, a next-generation anti-malware endpoint detection and response tool.
Cb Response is responsible for leaking hundreds of thousands of files comprising terabytes of data, according to the report.
[Join Your Peers at HIMSS Healthcare Security Forum! Register Today]
Researchers sampled 100 files and identified leaks in several major companies, including: a large streaming media company, a social media company and a financial services business.
The leak contains a wide range of company data: cloud keys, single sign-on passwords, two-factors keys, customer data, proprietary internal applications like custom algorithms and trade secrets, app store keys, internal usernames, passwords and network intelligence and customer data.
DirectDefense left impacted company names out of the report to protect identities. However, the researchers did contact all customers found on the database.
The leaked data exist primarily around various executable formats (we havent seen evidence of this in documents or pdfs yet), the report authors wrote. However, if handled incorrectly, even executables can easily contain serious data leakage of information that can be hazardous to a companys security posture.
Carbon Black provides security tools to a wide range of companies, almost 2,000 customers globally -- including those in the healthcare industry.
The issue stems from data collected about potential threats that are aggregated into a central location to be later analyzed by researchers. Carbon Black separates the good files from the bad files to prevent harmful files from running.
However, it relies on whitelisting to ward off threats -- forcing Carbon Black to continuously analyze a rapidly increasing pool of data. DirectDefense researchers said the issue is when the security firm encounters new files from clients and is unsure of whether a file is good or bad -- it sends the file to a secondary cloud-based multi-scanner to be scored.
Translation: All new files from clients are uploaded to Carbon Black at least once. The result of gaining access to the multiscanner would allow a hacker to also gain access to the files submitted to the database.
Welcome to the worlds largest pay-for-play data exfiltration botnet, the report authors wrote.
And to make matters worse, the report wasnt able to definitively conclude whether this flaw is specific to Carbon Black. What the researchers do know is that Carbon Blacks prevalence in the marketspace and the design of their solutions architecture seems to be providing a significant amount in data exfiltration.
Carbon Black customers should review the data being collected through the Cb Response product and evaluate the type of data that exists on the network. Those concerned about third-party access, like healthcare organizations, could also utilize disabling cloud uploads. But keep in mind that it will negatively impact security, as new files cant be scored.
In a blog post, Carbon Black Co-founder and CTO Michael Viscuso said: Theres an optional, customer-controlled configuration (disabled by default) that allows the uploading of binaries (executables) to VirusTotal for additional threat analysis.
This option can be enabled by a customer, on a per-sensor group basis, he continued. When enabled, executable files will be uploaded to VirusTotal, a public repository and scanning service owned by Google. We appreciate the work of the security research community.
Carbon Black was not informed about the issue brought to light by DirectDefense before it was published. Specifically, Viscuso explained that DirectDefense asserts that this an architectural flaw in all Cb products.
But this is exclusively a Cb Response feature not included in Cb Protection or Cb Defense, said Viscuso. Its also not a foundational architectural flaw. Its a feature, off by default, with many options to ensure privacy and a detailed warning before enabling."
This post was updated to include comments from Carbon Black CTOMichael Viscuso.
Twitter:@JessieFDavis Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com
Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn
Read more from the original source:
Carbon Black may be leaking terabytes of customer data (UPDATED) - Healthcare IT News
Remember when Pahlaj Nihalani said that he might pursue legal action against filmmakers for showing films abroad without a CBFC certificate? It's okay if you don't, because it's just one of the several incomprehensible rants the Censor Board chairman goes on every now and then.
But here's the thing: the Censor Board has zero control over what is shown in film festivalsand they just admitted it.
Responding to an RTI application I filed, the CBFC said that it has "no jurisdiction" over films being exhibited in festivals, either in India or abroad. So much for 'clamping down'.
Keep this in mind: the Censor Board regulates films that are exhibited theatrically in India. This means that it has absolutely no control over film festivals or even overseas distribution. Why is then Pahlaj Nihalani rattling his sabers?
This is not the first time he has contradicted the organization he heads. He has frequently complained about producers uploading uncertified trailers of their film on YouTube, but the Censor Board has admitted in another RTI response to me that it has no authority to regulate what filmmakers upload to the Internet. Notably, it has also admitted it has no jurisdiction over content that is streamed on platforms such as Netflix and Hotstar.
As if these contradictions weren't enough, let's look at the one easily found in Nihalani's own films. As a filmmaker, he routinely got away with making films featuring sexualized content that the CBFC today keeps a tight lid on.
Then there was the Mirror Now incidentNihalani claimed that if the news channel was able to get 100,000 viewers to approve of the word 'intercourse' in a trailer of the film Jab Harry Met Sejal, he would clear it.
Later, he was cornered for a good few minutes in an awkward silence by one of the channel's reporters. They had managed to get those votes. And yet, he said nothing. So I filed another RTI.
In response to this RTI, the Censor Board said, pretty stiffly: "CBFC certifies films as per the Cinematograph Act, 1952, and Certification Guidelines 1991 laid down under it by the central government."
It's safe to assume that the Cinematograph Act does not really allow the chairman to make censorship decisions based on unscientific polls held by news channels on Twitterand yet, he was able to make that bold demand, in really formal and contract-like language, and shy away when it backfired.
The problem with Nihalani's proclamationsand his almost Trump-like inability to enforce themis not with the statements in themselves; but in the fact that an individual like him is allowed to head the Censor Board in the first place.
The CBFC's name stands for the Central Board of Film Certification, not Censorship. But under Nihalani, the Board has taken a reckless and unguided slide down the path of censorship, only to have many of those decisions reversed.
In his first few weeks into the job, Nihalani circulated a ridiculous list of swear words that he said would no longer be allowed even in films certified for adults. Following the list's leak, and the criticism that followed, even from within the Censor Board, the circular was put on hold.
Then there's the long list of films that the Censor Board rejected that were later cleared by the courts or by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. Take Udta Punjab, which the CBFC demanded undergo over 70 cuts, including removing all instances of the word 'Punjab'. The absurd decision was overturned by the Bombay High Court, which let the film pass with one cut.
Take Haraamkhor, a film depicting a teacher who takes advantage of a vulnerable teenage girl; the Censor Board rejected the film because "teachers are revered people in society", never mind that the film was highlighting how some of them abuse that reverence.
The FCAT cleared the film with two minor cuts and an on-screen disclaimer.
Most recently came Lipstick Under My Burkha, which the Censor Board rejected for being too 'lady-oriented'. The FCAT again cleared the film with cuts.
From these events, it becomes clear that the Censor Board has no idea what it's doingits chairman frequently makes threats and orders he has no power to execute. It rejects films on flimsy grounds that are later overturned by the FCAT and courts. It has even stopped uploading records of the increased number of cuts films have to endure these days.
Why should a Censor Board that seems to have no idea on how to do its job; whose decisions are consistently challenged and overturned; which is headed by a man who has no idea what it is and isn't allowed to do; continue to be allowed to run unchecked with the authority to regulate what Indian people can and cannot see?
Also see on HuffPost:
6 Times Anushka Sharma Nailed It While Speaking About Censorship
View original post here:
Exclusive: In An RTI Response, Censor Board Says It Cannot Do ... - Huffington Post India
Figure 01: Global Boat Steering System Market Size Forecast (US$ Mn) & Y-o-Y Growth, 20162025
Figure 02: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 20172025
Figure 03: Global Boat Sales Rate vs. Global Boat Steering System Market Value Y-o-Y Growth, 20162025
Figure 04: Global Automobile Production Growth Rate vs. Global Boat Steering System Market Value Y-o-Y Growth, 20162025
Figure 05: Global Boat Park Growth Rate vs. Global Boat Steering System Market Value Y-o-Y Growth, 20162025
Figure 06: Global Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Propulsion System, 2017 & 2025
Figure 07: Global Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison by Propulsion System, 20172025
Figure 08: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Inboard Segment, 20172025
Figure 09: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Outboard Segment, 20172025
Figure 10: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Sterndrive Segment, 20172025
Figure 11: Global Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index by Propulsion System, 20172025
Figure 12: Global Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Steering Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 13: Global Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison by Steering Type, 20172025
Figure 14: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Manual Steering Segment, 2017 and 2025
Figure 15: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Hydraulic Steering Segment, 2017 and 2025
Figure 16: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Electric Power Steering Segment, 20172025
Figure 17: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Electro-Hydraulic Steering Segment, 20172025
Figure 18: Global Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index by Steering Type, 20172025
Figure 19: Global Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Sales Channel, 2017 & 2025
Figure 20: Global Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison by Sales Channel, 20172025
Figure 21: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Segment, 20172025
Figure 22: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Aftermarket Segment, 20172025
Figure 23: Global Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index by Sales Channel, 20172025
Figure 24: Global Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Boat Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 25: Global Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison by Boat Type, 20172025
Figure 26: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Small Segment, 20172025
Figure 27: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Mid-Size Segment, 20172025
Figure 28: Global Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity by Large Segment, 20172025
Figure 29: Global Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index by Boat Type, 20172025
Figure 30: Global Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Region, 2017 & 2025
Figure 31: Global Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison by Region, 20172025
Figure 32: North America Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 20172025
Figure 33: Latin America Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 20172025
Figure 34: Europe Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 20172025
Figure 35: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 20172025
Figure 36: Middle East & Africa Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity,
Figure 37: Global Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index by Region, 20172025
Figure 38: North America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Country, 2017 & 2025
Figure 39: North America Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison, by Country, 20172025
Figure 40: North America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Country, 20172025
Figure 41: U.S. Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 42: Canada Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 43: North America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Propulsion System, 2017 & 2025
Figure 44: North America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Propulsion System, 20172025
Figure 45: North America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Steering Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 46: North America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Steering Type, 20172025
Figure 47: North America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Sales Channel, 2017 & 2025
Figure 48: North America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Sales Channel, 20172025
Figure 49: North America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Boat Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 50: North America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Boat Type, 20172025
Figure 51: Latin America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Country, 2017 & 2025
Figure 52: Latin America Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison, by Country, 2017-2025
Figure 53: Latin America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Country, 2017-2025
Figure 54: Brazil Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 55: Mexico Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 56: Rest of Latin America Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 57: Latin America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Propulsion System, 2017 & 2025
Figure 58: Latin America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Propulsion System, 20172025
Figure 59: Latin America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Steering Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 60: Latin America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Steering Type, 20172025
Figure 61: Latin America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Sales Channel, 2017 & 2025
Figure 62: Latin America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Sales Channel, 20172025
Figure 63: Latin America Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Boat Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 64: Latin America Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Boat Type, 20172025
Figure 65: Europe Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Country, 2017 & 2025
Figure 66: Europe Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison, by Country, 20172025
Figure 67: Europe Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Country, 20172025
Figure 68: Germany Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 69: Italy Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 70: France Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 71: U.K. Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 72: Spain Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 73: Nordic Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 74: BENELUX Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 75: Poland Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 76: Russia Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 77: Rest of Europe Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 78: Europe Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Propulsion System, 2017 & 2025
Figure 79: Europe Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Propulsion System, 20172025
Figure 80: Europe Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Steering Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 81: Europe Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Steering Type, 20172025
Figure 82: Europe Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Sales Channel, 2017 & 2025
Figure 83: Europe Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Sales Channel, 20172025
Figure 84: Europe Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Boat Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 85: Europe Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Boat Type, 20172025
Figure 86: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Country, 2017 & 2025
Figure 87: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market, Y-o-Y Growth Comparison, by Country, 20172025
Figure 88: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Country, 20172025
Figure 89: Spain Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 90: Nordic Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 91: Spain Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 92: Nordic Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 93: Spain Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 94: Nordic Boat Steering System Market Absolute $ Opportunity, 2017-2025
Figure 95: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Propulsion System, 2017 & 2025
Figure 96: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Propulsion System, 20172025
Figure 97: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Steering Type, 2017 & 2025
Figure 98: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Steering Type, 20172025
Figure 99: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market, BPS Analysis By Sales Channel, 2017 & 2025
Figure 100: Asia Pacific Boat Steering System Market Attractiveness Index, by Sales Channel, 20172025
The rest is here:
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Market: North America ...
Virtual Marketing 360 is your one stop to market and promote your business in Virtual Reality. This is a HUGE marketing tool that we can help with creating content for your website, social media, marketing campaigns and/or an upcoming sales presentation. We offer the opportunity to Step Inside the picture and immerse your customers in our 3D Interactive Virtual Reality experience.
Virtual Marketing 360 wants tohelp showcase your business, facilities, venues and/or properties that will impress your customers by our insane new marketing tool. Our technology works seamless with all Social Media platforms and our clients LOVE this! Show clients and potential customers that your marketing program is more effective than the competition by working with Virtual Marketing 360!
Our virtual reality tours can show an ideal 360-degree perspective of any environment regardless of industry or application. As virtual reality becomes easier and more accessible, companies of all types are taking advantage of this technological breakthrough.
Virtual environments can transport your customers from their daily routine to digital worlds that are either real or abstract. Virtual reality tours enable interior design firms to showcase their most successful projects, tour rooms of a commercial real estate property or display panoramic views of any environment whatsoever with only a VR headset.
Public and private universities and colleges can take advantage of this technology to present various areas of interest around campus to prospective students worldwide. The hospitality business can use Virtual Reality to display their featured rooms or help with their Special Events team to sell space.
Experiences such as these completely transform how the consumer interacts with brands and how marketers will reach their audience. Its an easy 4step process that any customer can do.
STEP 1: CLICK LINK TO EXAMPLE VR TOURS ON MOBILE DEVICE
STEP 2: PRESSENTER VR
STEP 3. TURN PHONE SIDEWAYS AND PLACE INTO VR HEADSET
STEP 4: WELCOME TO VIRTUAL REALITY!!
View original post here:
PHOENIX -
Doctors at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix want to use virtual reality headsets to ease the pain of women in labor.
"Educated moms are looking for an experience that really doesn't involve having to take medications in labor -- or epidurals -- or inhale gases, said Dr. Michael Foley. They just want to make it as natural as possible.
Foley leads the team planning a pilot program at the hospital. The videos being considered show soothing beach scenes and out-of-this-world visualizations.
What this does is facilitate your journey to that happy place, which is kind of nice, Foley said.
Its not just for fun.
Foley told ABC15 women will use the virtual reality headsets anywhere from ten to thirty minutes before childbirth. Research shows it drastically reduces the need for narcotic medications before, during and after, he said.
"The pain's there but you're distracted in a way that you don't need the medication.
Banner plans to begin the pilot program in October. They are still deciding who will be eligible to participate.
Link:
Hospital hopes to ease labor pain with virtual reality - ABC15 Arizona
ELLSWORTH, Maine (WABI) Danielle Nelson, co-owner of Rush Hour Gaming said "My husband and I opened the Escape rooms in December and then we wanted to do a gaming aspect of the business we wanted to do something new and different that people couldn't do all the time at home and so that's when we stepped into the virtual reality.
We have a variety of games we really try to be family friendly so we have some fun for all ages."
"We have Arizona Sunshine for the zombie apocalypse lovers."
"We were excited to be like the first in the state to offer this.
"The Omni Vertex is super cool and you actually can get a workout while you're playing because you get totally into it and you really feel like you're in that moment.
You want to be harnessed in and you have to wear special shoes but you're safe you're not going to fall you're not going to get hurt."
"You can also have birthday parties or corporate parties team building and things like that."
"We have two very unique escape rooms we created them ourselves and you actually have a furnished and themed decor room according to the theme that you go in and you have to see like how is this room a puzzle in order to escape the room."
"So we just thought this would be a fun way to have something new to do in the community."
See the original post here:
DUBLIN, August 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The "Global Virtual Reality Ecosystem, 2017" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.
A general overview of Virtual Reality is given and its relevance to business in 2017. Applications of VR in recent years which offer new opportunities and value propositions are listed for each industry, with a case study analysed. Strategies for navigating Virtual Reality as a enterprise software or IT services company are assessed and the imperative for both to invest and experiment is explained.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a set of technologies with create immersive experiences through digital simulation. VR exists on a spectrum of digital experiences from reality to full digital immersion. Breakthroughs in computing performance, hardware economies of scale and 3D expertise have enabled a resurgence of VR's promise in recent years, and 2017 could mark the beginning of VR's hockey stick growth trajectory.
Companies across vertical industries are testing and implementing different applications of VR from pure branding exercises through to training and customer service optimization. The Healthcare, Defense, Manufacturing and Automotive sectors have plenty of historical experience with simulation technologies including VR. However, the current wave of software innovation, low price point for hardware and growing developer ecosystem bring radical new possibilities at a much lower cost.
There are many unexplored opportunities in VR across training, media and simulation. Each industry may find new solutions to their own unique challenges. Experimentation is key to finding the biggest opportunities for innovation. This dynamic may be led by content and media platform producers over single-product startups, given the efficiency benefits of reused assets and optimizations for realism in VR. Facebook and Google have already made bold strides towards this future with Social VR application experimentation and YouTube experience respectively.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction to Virtual Reality
3. Virtual Reality Hardware, Development, and Distribution
4. Virtual Reality Content and Industry Applications
5. Key in Virtual Reality
6. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action
7. The Last Word
Companies Mentioned
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ll5j92/global_virtual
Media Contact:
Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
SOURCE Research and Markets
http://www.researchandmarkets.com
Original post:
Milpitas Unified School District classrooms with the aid of virtual reality technology, have become portals for students to experience the Apollo Mission to the moon alongside Neil Armstrong, to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex up close or to visit parts of the country and world they have only read about.
What used to be two-dimension viewing experiences through photos or video are now fully immersive learning experiences, allowing students to literally step into events, like watching former President Barack Obama giving a speech at Yosemite National Park last summer.
Last summer, Milpitas Unified acquired $6,000 worth of virtual realty technology. The district then began what Chin Song, the districts director of technology services, calls the research and development phase of implementing virtual technology as a supplemental tool to teaching. During the last school year, the technology was taken into classrooms on an on-call basis. Song expects the number of requests to use the technology to increase with this school year, which begins Aug. 17.
Song explained that there are two versions of virtual reality being used: Oculus, a fully immersive experience which pairs a powerful computer with handheld controls; and Google Cardboard virtual reality, which requires a phone to be put into a visual unit for a partially interactive experience.
The acquisition of the units was basically on the idea that virtual reality and augmented reality will be the next phase of computingso having that immersive nature of getting information and ideas and also connecting people, Song said in an interview with the Post. He added it will also broaden how students think and view things, when they go from seeing things as two-dimensional on a page or screen to three-dimensional around them, the learning opportunities are just fantastic.
Since last summer, a few teachers have used Occulus virtual reality, while teachers at multiple sites have used the cardboard virtual reality in some way, additionally several teachers have had Google Expeditions, where entire classes are able to take a virtual field trip, Song said.
With Occulus, in which one person puts on a headset and can use different applications on a computer to immerse in different experiences, one application in particular interested the special education department in Milpitas Unified and William Burnett Elementary School student Gianna Ciardella. An application that simulates the visual and auditory experience of someone with autism.
Ciardella, who wants to be an elementary special education teacher when she grows up, teamed up with the special education and technology departments in February to introduce her classmates to what it is like for a person with autism to process incoming sensory information.
This was meant to supplement a sensory tool kit that she created as part of her class genius hour, where students create something useful. The toolkit includes a variety of items to support students with autism in the classroom with noise-cancellation headphones and a number of fidget toys, among other things.
Marissa Ciardella, program manager for student services and special education in the district and step-mother to Gianna, said it was the districts hope to bring more of these experiences districtwide in order to better understand students and their peers with disabilities. She said the use of virtual reality technology to provide experiences like the one showing just one of the experiences of someone with autism, could do wonders to help further understanding and create empathy districtwide.
Ciardella said while school districts in the past have aimed to keep students with disabilities separated from general population students, districts like Milpitas are aiming to be inclusive.
Inclusive practices are embracing community and including students with disabilities in general education classrooms, Ciardella said.
As the virtual reality technology gets better and more efficient Song said the use of virtual reality in classrooms will become wide-ranging and more prevalent.
We are still very much in the research and development stage, what value we will get out is a combination of the software that is available and how our teachers are able to tie that into their instructional practices, Song said.
Read more:
Milpitas: Virtual reality technology take students to a land far, far away - The Mercury News
Image: samsung
Mobile virtual reality isn't going away any time soon, so you might as well get on board before you get left behind.
In March, the Samsung Gear VR headset received a game-changing software upgrade and a shiny new controller, allowing users to finally bring their hands into the game and have the immersive experience they deserve.
From front-row seats at your favorite concert to sailing through the middle of the ocean, the Gear VR headset lets you immerse yourself in the 360-degree environment. You can even create your own stories and share them within Samsung VR.
The software upgrade of the Gear VR Headset, which is powered by Facebook's Oculus, saw improved resolution and increased battery life, making for a more respectable gaming experience. It also introduced a serious new Oculus browser, which lets you view the web from within the VR experience, and a next-level avatar editor. (Check out Mashable's full review here).
The addition of the handheld controller improves the entire experience, as it seamlessly responds to your movement in VR. So basically, every move, every turn, even pointing and lifting, is naturally connected. The intuitive reactions make for a real and organic experience.
The headset is compatible with Galaxy devices, from the Note5 to the S8+, so you just have to place your device into the headset and youre ready to start exploring. Mashable's Editor-at-Large and chief technology expert, Lance Ulanoff, stated in his review: "If you own a modern Samsung Galaxy phone, this is the VR gear for you."
The future is now and it's time you caught up. Buy the Samsung headset and controller here for $112.84.
View original post here:
Transport yourself into the world of virtual reality with the Samsung Gear VR headset - Mashable