Category Archives: Singularity

As Moores Law begins to slow, the search is on for new ways to keep the exponential rise in processing speeds going. New research suggests that an exotic approach known as lightwave electronics could be a promising new avenue.

While innovation in computer chips is far from dead, there are signs that the exponential increase in computing power weve gotten used to over the past 50 years is starting to slow. As transistors shrink to almost atomic scales, its becoming harder to squeeze ever more onto a computer chip, undercutting the trend that Gordon Moore first observed in 1965: that the number doubled roughly every two years.

But an equally important trend in processing power petered out much earlier: Dennard scaling, which stated that the power consumption of transistors fell in line with their size. This was a very useful tendency, because chips quickly heat up and get damaged if they draw too much power. Dennard scaling meant that every time transistors shrank, so did their power consumption, which made it possible to run chips faster without overheating them.

But this trend came unstuck back in 2005 due to the increased impact of current leakage at very tiny scales, and the exponential rise in chip clock rates petered out. Chipmakers responded by shifting to multi-core processing, where many small processors run in parallel to complete jobs faster, but clock rates have remained more or less stagnant since then.

Now though, researchers have demonstrated the foundations of a technology that could allow clock rates one million times higher than todays chips. The approach relies on using lasers to elicit ultra-fast bursts of electricity and has been used to create the fastest-ever logic gatethe fundamental building block of all computers.

So-called lightwave electronics relies on the fact that its possible to use laser light to excite electrons in conducting materials. Researchers have already demonstrated that ultra-fast laser pulses are able to generate bursts of current on femtosecond timescalesa millionth of a billionth of a second.

Doing anything useful with them has proven more elusive, but in a paper in Nature, researchers used a combination of theoretical studies and experimental work to devise a way to use this phenomena for information processing.

When the team fired their ultra-fast laser at a graphene wire strung between two gold electrodes, it produced two different kinds of currents. Some of the electrons excited by the light continued moving in a particular direction once the light was switched off, while others were transient and were only in motion while the light was on. The researchers found that they could control the type of current created by altering the shape of their laser pulses, which was then used as the basis of their logic gate.

Logic gates work by taking two inputseither 1 or 0processing them, and providing a single output. The exact processing rules depend on the kind of logic gate implementing them, but for example, an AND gate only outputs a 1 if both its inputs are 1, otherwise it outputs a 0.

In the researchers new scheme, two synchronized lasers are used to create bursts of either the transient or permanent currents, which act as the inputs to the logic gate. These currents can either add up or cancel each other to provide the equivalent of a 1 or 0 as an output.

And because of the extreme speeds of the laser pulses, the resulting gate is capable of operating at speeds in the petahertz, which is one million times faster than the gigahertz speeds that todays fastest computer chips can manage.

Obviously, the setup is vastly larger and more complex than the simple arrangement of transistors used for conventional logic gates, and shrinking it down to the scales required to make practical chips will be a mammoth task.

But while petahertz computing is not around the corner anytime soon, the new research suggests that lightwave electronics could be a promising and powerful new avenue to explore for the future of computing.

Image Credit: University of Rochester / Michael Osadciw

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New Logic Gates Are a Million Times Faster Than Those in Today's Chips - Singularity Hub

Nearly three billion years ago, oceanic mats of cyanobacteria, called blue-green algae, transformed Earths atmosphere by converting carbon dioxide into the oxygen we complex animals breath. In their time on the planet, theyve survived five mass extinctions with naught but light and water. And now, in a small tank on a windowsill in England, this billion-year-old bit of biotechnology is lending its expertise to a relative rookie.

The tank, constructed by Cambridge scientists, is about the size of a AA battery and has four plastic windows set into a simple aluminum frame. Inside, a colony of algae take in sunlight and convert it to food by way of photosynthesis. In the process, they produce a small electrical current, which makes its way to electrodes in the aluminum frame. To these, the researchers attached a low-power computer chip programmed to run in cycles45 minutes on and 15 in standbyand left this curious apparatus to its own devices for six months.

To their surprise, it chugged along continuously and without complaint.

We were impressed by how consistently the system worked over a long period of timewe thought it might stop after a few weeks but it just kept going, said Paolo Bombelli, a Cambridge biochemist and first author of a paper on the work.

In addition to being a simple power source built from readily available parts and materials, the system runs day and night (in contrast with solar power). The algae, the team thinks, overproduces food during the day, so it continues to happily munch away, and produce electricity, through the night. Although the paper addresses their findings from just that first six-month period, their algae-powered-computer has now been running continuously for a year (and counting).

Its a pretty nifty trick, but some scaling is probably in order. The system produces a tiny amount of current. The chip, an Arm Cortex M0+ commonly used in Internet of Things applications, sips just 0.3 microwatts an hour to perform very basic calculations. As The Verge notes, if your average laptop uses around 100 watts an hour, youd need millions of these algae energy harvesters just to check your email or zone out in a Zoom meeting.

But the researchers arent targeting laptops. Rather, they believe future iterations would find a niche application powering the billions or trillions of simple sensors and chips making up the Internet of Things. These might take measurements of local conditions in remote locations, for example, or they might be able to charge a small device.

[Scaling] is not entirely straightforward. So putting one on your roof isnt going to provide the power supply for your house at this stage, senior author Christopher Howe told New Scientist. Theres quite a bit more to do on that front. But [it could work] in rural areas of low and middle income countries, for example, in applications where a small amount of power might be very useful, such as environmental sensors or charging a mobile phone.

But there is room for improvement. There are thousands of species of cyanobacteria, and the team have found some produce more current than others. Also, in prior research, the team genetically modified cyanobacteria to more efficiently produce electricity.

Other benefits are more immediately apparent. The needed materials are recyclable, cheap, and scalable. Whereas batteries and solar cells are dirty to produce and require materials that arent always readily availablelike lithium and rare earth elementsaluminum, plastic, algae, and water are more easily procured with less mess. The team has even tested out a model of the system reusing common plastic water bottles.

The hope is this kind of system could be replicated hundreds of thousands of times to power edge devices and potentially be commercially viable in five years. Whether that proves true remains to be seen, but it seems we may need alternative forms of power regardless. The team estimates running trillions of devices on lithium-ion batteries would require triple the lithium produced each year. And as Stewart Brand recently toldThe New York Times, progress is all about adding options.

In any case, wouldnt it be suitable if the organism that gave us the air we breathe ends up, among other things, helping us measure and keep it pristine too?

Image Credit: Paolo Bombelli

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This Algae Powered a Computer for a Year With Just Water and Sunlight - Singularity Hub

Youve probably heard the term the Great Resignation in the last year or so, as millions of people reportedly quit their jobs during the pandemic. Hospitality was one of the hardest-hit industries, and multiple sectors of the economy felt (and are still feeling) the pain. Trucking wasnt spared, and its been a blow to a crucial piece of the supply chain that was already experiencing labor shortages before the pandemic. Starting salaries for long-haul truckers are as high as $100,000, and even so, companies are having trouble filling cabs.

One solution? Trucks that drive themselves.

Volvos Autonomous Solutions (VAS) division announced earlier this month that it will soon launch a hub-to-hub autonomous transport solution in North America. The service has been designed to serve shippers, carriers, logistics service providers, and freight brokers. Logistics provider DHL already signed up to pilot the program in partnership with VAS. The company says its working on additional partnerships with customers from other business segments, and will use feedback from pilot program participants to adapt the autonomous service to each segments needs.

Today, the increasing demand for freight is outgrowing capacity and solutions must be bolder, safer, smarter and more sustainable to move the world forward, said Nils Jaeger, president of Volvo Autonomous Solutions.

VAS worked with driverless hardware and software specialist Aurora Innovation on the driving systems for its trucks, retrofitting long-haul sleeper cabs with the companys Aurora Driver. Just this week, Aurora announced an expansion of its autonomous freight pilot with FedEx in Texas, adding a new route between Fort Worth, in the states northeast, and El Paso, which is southwest right on the border with Mexico. At around 600 miles, the new route more than doubles the distance of the existing route, which ran 240 miles between Dallas and Houston. While the Dallas-Houston route reportedly ran every night, the El Paso-Forth Worth route will run once a week.

Autonomous trucks have increasingly been taking to the roads over the last couple years, with Texas emerging as the epicenter of driverless trucking thanks to its mild weather, extensive highway network, and comparatively lax regulatory environment. Though theyre already being called driverless or autonomous, the trucks do still have safety drivers on board who take over for non-highway driving, and theyll likely continue to have them for the foreseeable future. But the self-driving software will eventually reach a level of sophistication that allows a driver to nap for a few hours during long stretches of highway, thus enabling longer uninterrupted mileageor at least, thats the goal.

Given the supply chain backups and labor shortage issues were seeing right now, solutions like this will not only be welcome, but necessary to keep the gears of the logistics and shipping industries grindingand to get you your packages on time, stock your supermarkets shelves with fresh produce, and get that furniture you ordered months ago to your door sooner rather than later.

Sasko Cuklev, head of on-road solutions for Volvo Autonomous Solutions, said, We are built on the conviction that we can address the constraints the transportation industry faces and contribute to building a better society by offering scalable, autonomous freight capacity that can unlock new ways to move goods.

Image Credit: Volvo Autonomous Solutions

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Volvo and DHL Are Partnering on Hub-to-Hub Autonomous Trucking - Singularity Hub

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DNSFilter today announced the appointment of Colin Britton as Chief Operating Officer and Dave Raphael as Chief Product Officer. The executive appointments come on the heels of DNSFilters continued growth and increasing scale, as the company doubled its headcount over the past twelve months.

At DNSFilter, were transforming the way the industry thinks of DNS security, said Ken Carnesi, Co-Founder and CEO, DNSFilter. Were at an exciting point in our companys evolution, and Im pleased to welcome Colin, Dave and all our recent executive hires to the team. Colin and Daves guidance will be a critical asset as we continue to scale and deliver innovative solutions to protect millions of end users from falling victim to todays advanced cyber threats.

As a growth-stage operator, strategist and technologist, Colin Britton brings over 20 years of experience to DNSFilter, spanning SaaS, big data, and technology. Prior to joining DNSFilter, Mr. Britton served various growth roles at organizations including Teamviewer, LogicNow, now a part of N-Able, and Devo. As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Britton will be responsible for guiding strategic growth and ensuring operational excellence.

In the remote work era, security that works quickly, effectively and wherever end users choose to connect is paramount, added Mr. Britton. DNSFilters unique approach to DNS security is scalable across multiple use-cases from consumer to major enterprises and managed service providers and Im excited for the opportunity to further execute the companys strategic priorities and drive sustainable growth.

Dave Raphael is a seasoned, hands-on executive leader, builder and investor with over 20 years of experience in software development and application security. Previously, Mr. Raphael was Managing Director of Engineering at Singularity Venture Partners and Senior Director, Chief Architect for MSP at SolarWinds. As Chief Product Officer, Mr. Raphael will lead product management, engineering, threat research, and design of the companys AI-powered DNS security solution.

With a single application using hundreds, if not thousands, of domains, its become increasingly difficult for security teams to monitor their network and easy for cybercriminals to exploit, noted Mr. Raphael. I look forward to leveraging my deep understanding of both the underlying technology and the broader security landscape to continue delivering innovative, AI-based DNS threat protection to the market without losing any of the magic thats made DNSFilter into the company it is today.

The company also announced the appointment of Mark Bliss as Senior Vice President of Marketing, Brendan Spooner as Vice President of Engineering, Mandy Cole as Vice President of HR, and Cathlin Sullivan as General Counsel.

DNSFilter expects to grow its headcount by 50% in 2022. To learn more about remote career opportunities, please visit: https://www.dnsfilter.com/careers.

About DNSFilterDNSFilter is redefining how organizations secure their largest threat vector: the Internet itself. With 70% of attacks involving the Domain Name System (DNS) layer, DNSFilter provides AI-powered security via DNS that uniquely identifies 60% more threats than competitors on an average of seven days earlier, including zero days. Over 15K organizations and managed service providers trust DNSFilter to protect millions of end users from phishing, malware and advanced cyber threats.

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DNSFilter Appoints Colin Britton as Chief Operating Officer and Dave Raphael as Chief Product Officer - Business Wire

Some 252 million years ago, the world was going through a tumultuous period of rapid global warming.

To understand what caused it, scientists have looked to one particular event in which a volcanic eruption in what is now Siberia spewed huge volumes of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. However, there is evidence the climate was already changing before this. Sea surface temperatures had increased by more than six to eight degrees Celsius in the hundreds of thousands of years leading up to the Siberian outpouring. Temperatures increased again after it, so much so that 85 to 95 percent of all living species eventually went extinct.

The eruption in Siberia obviously made a mark on the planet, but experts remained puzzled about what caused the initial warming before it. Our research reveals Australias own ancient volcanoes played a big role. Prior to the event in Siberia, catastrophic eruptions in northern New South Wales spewed volcanic ash across the east coast. These eruptions were so large they initiated the worlds biggest ever climate catastrophethe evidence for which is now hidden deep in Australias thick piles of sediment.

Our study, published last week in Nature, confirms eastern Australia was shaken by repeated super eruptions between 256 and 252 million years ago. Super eruptions are different to the more passive Siberian event. These catastrophic explosions spewed massive amounts of ash and gases high into the atmosphere.

Today we see evidence of this in light-colored layers of volcanic ash in sedimentary rock. These layers are found across huge areas of NSW and Queensland, all the way from Sydney to near Townsville.

Our study has identified the source of this ash in the New England region of NSW, where the eroded remnants of volcanoes are preserved. Though erosion has removed much of the evidence, the now innocuous-looking rocks are our record of terrifying eruptions. The thickness and spread of the ash produced is consistent with some of the largest volcanic eruptions known.

At least 150,000 km of material erupted from the northern NSW volcanoes over four million years. This makes them similar to the supervolcanoes of Yellowstone in the US and Taupo in New Zealand.

To put it into perspective, the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which obliterated the Italian city of Pompeii, produced just three to four km of rock and ash. And the deadly Mount St Helens eruption in 1980 was about one km.

The Australian eruptions would have repeatedly covered the entire east coast in ash meters thick in some places. And a massive outpouring of greenhouse gases would have triggered global climate change.

Ancient sedimentary rocks provide us with a timeline of the environmental damage caused by the eruptions. Ironically, the evidence is preserved in coal measures.

Todays coal deposits in eastern Australia show ancient forests used to cover much of this land. After the super eruptions, however, these forests were abruptly terminated in a series of bushfires over some 500,000 years, 252.5253 million years ago.

Typically the plant matter accumulated in swamps and was then buried under sediments. The burial process provided heat and pressure which enabled the conversion of the plant matter into coal. Without the forests, there was no plant matter to accumulate. The ecosystem collapsed and most animals became extinct. The subsequent eruptions in Siberia only exaggerated the devastation started by Australias supervolcanoes.

And this collapse of ecosystems was not limited to Australia, either. The catastrophic event affected all of the ancient continents. It had a substantial influence on the evolution of life which eventually led to the rise of the dinosaurs.

Australias super eruptions were a key marker of change in the ancient world. As we look to achieving a more habitable climate in the future, who knew the clues to environmental catastrophe lay buried beneath our feet?

Acknowledgement: we would like to thank our colleague Phil Blevin from the Geological Survey of New South Wales for his contribution to this work.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image Credit: ELG21 / 1625 images

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How a Volcanic Bombardment in Ancient Australia Led to the World's Greatest Climate Catastrophe - Singularity Hub

...a Star Performer in the IDP market, one of only four vendors from a total field of 36, to achieve this distinction...

"We are proud to repeat as a Top Contender in the annual report, and our Star Performer recognition illustrates the success of Singularity Systems in meeting the demanding IDP needs of a large variety of enterprise organizations, including those in Financial Services, Banking, Insurance, Manufacturing, Energy and Healthcare."

Leaders of automation programs eager to find an IDP solution seek three critical capabilities delivered by the company's platform, SinguAI:

"Singularity Systems' SinguAI platform is capable of processing structured, semi-structured, and unstructured documents and complex data types including borderless tables, grouped fields, and low-quality images," said Ashwin Gopakumar, Practice Director, Everest Group. "Its investments in distinctive capabilities, such as its Intelligent Data Simulator, AI Pathfinder, and transfer learning, combined with its rapid growth in the market have helped Singularity Systems emerge as a Star Performer and Major Contender on Everest Group's Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022."

Click here to obtain a complimentary copy of the report courtesy of Singularity Systems.

Everest Group defines Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) as any software product or solution that captures data from documents (e.g., email, text, PDF, and scanned documents), categorizes, and extracts relevant data for further processing using AI technologies such as computer vision, OCR, natural language processing (NLP), and machine/deep learning. These solutions are typically non-invasive and can be integrated with internal applications, systems and other automation platforms. Adoption of IDP solutions can help enterprises achieve cost savings, improve their workforce productivity and enrich the employee and customer experience.

About Singularity Systems

With its world-class team of scientists and developers, Singularity Systems has pioneered new AI techniques that have modernized and democratized intelligent document processing. The company provides SinguAI, an Artificial Intelligence platform enabling enterprises to transform their raw data into actionable insight. Enterprise leaders use SinguAI to efficiently convert high-volume unstructured content into machine-readable data, enabling real-time decision-making and powering improvements in customer experience and operational agility. Serving a global customer network of top-tier organizations in banking, insurance, healthcare, energy, and other data-intensive industries, Singularity Systems is headquartered in Princeton, NJ's Einstein's Alley.

SOURCE Singularity Systems Inc.

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Singularity Systems Named a Star Performer in Everest Group's Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Peak Matrix Assessment 2022 - PR Newswire

On June 10, BTS will release an anthology album titled Proof. The albums tracklist includes new songs, some of the bands hit singles, solo and sub-unit tracks, and unreleased demos. Leading up to the albums release, BTS will be releasing teasers for Proof. On May 16, Big Hit Music shared a teaser featuring V of BTS. In the teaser, V shared why he included BTS songs Singularity and 00:00 (Zero OClock) on Proof.

Proof is made up of three CDs. The second CD includes solo songs and sub-unit tracks personally selected by Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook.

In a teaser for Proof called Proof of Inspiration, V explained why he chose the songs Singularity and 00:00 (Zero OClock) for the albums second CD.

I chose Singularity and 00:00 (Zero OClock) for this album, Proof, V narrates in the teaser video. I tended to think of Kim Taehyung, and artist V as being separate and thought that I had to choose one or the other, as visually portrayed in the Singularity music video. That was when I thought hard about who I was as a person, and I felt a bit confused.

He continued, Artist V performs on stage, and enjoys himself with ARMY, but Kim Taehyung spends ordinary days with family and friends. Now Im able to accept both sides of myself, but also keep them separate. Ive lessened the burden of thinking so much, too, just like how the day resets at midnight. But I think all this time I spent pondering is the Proof that made me who I am today.

RELATED:BTS: Lizzo Has J-Hopes Phone Number and Says He Does Not Leave You on Read

The tracklist for the first Proof CD includes some of BTS most popular songs and a new song called Yet to Come, which is also the lead single on Proof.

BTS curated the tracklist for the second CD, and each member picked a solo song by a band member and a sub-unit track. The second Proof CD also includes a new song called Run BTS.

Proof CD No. 2 tracklist:

RELATED:5 K-Dramas Recommended by BTS for Fans to Watch

The third CD for Proof will include previously unreleased songs, demos of BTS songs, and a new song called For Youth.

Different Proof of Inspiration videos by the members of BTS will be released through May 22. Big Hit Music will also share concept photos for Proof and music video teasers for Yet to Come leading up to the albums release.

Proof and a music video for Yet to Come will be released on June 10.

RELATED:BTS:Jungkook Thinks the Bands Grammy Awards Rehearsal Was Better Than Their Performance

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BTS: V Explains Why He Chose 'Singularity' and '00:00 (Zero O'Clock)' for the 'Proof' Tracklist in a New Teaser - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Brinks (NYSE:BCO Get Rating) and Singularity Future Technology (NASDAQ:SGLY Get Rating) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.6% of Brinks shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.2% of Singularity Future Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Brinks shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Singularity Future Technology shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

This table compares Brinks and Singularity Future Technologys net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Brinks and Singularity Future Technologys gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Brinks has higher revenue and earnings than Singularity Future Technology.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Brinks and Singularity Future Technology, as provided by MarketBeat.

Volatility & Risk

Brinks has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Singularity Future Technology has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Brinks beats Singularity Future Technology on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brinks (Get Rating)

The Brink's Company provides secure transportation, cash management, and other security-related services in North America, Latin America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers armored vehicle transportation of valuables; automated teller machine (ATM) management services, such as cash replenishment, replenishment forecasting, cash optimization, ATM remote monitoring, service call dispatching, transaction processing, installation, and first and second line maintenance services; network infrastructure; and cash-in-transit services. It also provides transportation services for diamonds, jewelry, precious metals, securities, bank notes, currency, high-tech devices, electronics, and pharmaceuticals; vault outsourcing and money processing services; and services related to deploying and servicing intelligent safes and safe control devices, as well as cashier balancing, counterfeit detection, account consolidation, electronic reporting, check imaging, and reconciliation services. In addition, the company offers technology applications, including online cash tracking, cash inventory management, and other web-based tools. Further, it provides bill payment and collection services; prepaid cards and corporate debit cards; and security system design and installation services that include alarms, motion detectors, closed-circuit televisions, and digital video recorders, as well as access control systems comprising card and biometric readers, electronic locks, and turnstiles. Additionally, the company offers monitoring services; and security and guarding services to protect airports, offices, warehouses, stores, and public venues. It serves banks and financial institutions, retailers, government agencies, mints, jewelers, and other commercial operations. The company was formerly known as The Pittston Company and changed its name to The Brink's Company in May 2003. The Brink's Company was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

About Singularity Future Technology (Get Rating)

Singularity Future Technology Ltd. develops solutions for interconnected AI networks in the revolutionized AI and Blockchain suppl management area and establishes crypto mining pools. The company also operates as logistics and ship management services company. It serves customers worldwide with its shipping logistics and agency needs. The company was formerly known as Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. and changed its name to Singularity Future Technology Ltd. in January 2022. Singularity Future Technology Ltd. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Great Neck, New York.

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Brink's (NYSE:BCO) and Singularity Future Technology (NASDAQ:SGLY) Head to Head Contrast - Defense World

The world of gaming has expanded beyond our computer screens, spilling into the wider world of entertainment. For The Drums Gaming Advertising Deep Dive, Kairos Groups Drew Townley looks at how gaming is outgrowing its old parameters and where its taking the world next.

Gaming has moved away from being a single market targeted at those who love video games. Its becoming a core foundation on which all entertainment is being built, enfolding musicians, artists, actors and everything else you can imagine.

The Witcher is a popular fantasy Netflix series that first aired in 2019. It quickly made its way into the top 10 most-viewed Netflix shows; season one alone racked up over 541m hours of views in its first 28 days. What a lot of people dont know, however, is that The Witcher is an adaption of a fantasy gaming series that is developed and published by CD Projekt.

This isnt the first time weve seen a film adaption of a well-loved gaming series. Casting back twenty years, we saw Angelina Jolie star in the Tomb Raider films, which were based on the popular adventure game franchise Tomb Raider.

Netflix isnt just making TV shows based on games; theyre also making games based on TV shows. In its strategy to become an entertainment provider, rather than just another streaming service, Netflix introduced Netflix Gaming in November 2021. One of the first games it launched was Stranger Things: 1984 a retro adventure game based in the time between seasons one and two of the hit Netflix series.

Not only is gaming influencing TV and film; more recently, it has started to impact the music industry. The way we consume music and live entertainment is changing as the digital world continues to evolve.

In 2020, American rapper Travis Scott hosted a nine-minute concert in Fortnite. It was an experience that would have been difficult to create in the real world at one point, Scott was the size of Godzilla.

The concert was a huge success, with 12.5 million people logging on to the game just to witness the music event, surpassing the record-breaking success of American music producer Marshmellos Fortnite concert (10 million attendees).

Could video game festivals and concerts pave the way for the future? They certainly dodge some issues around travel and accessibility, which is genius for a post-Covid world.

Its no surprise that gaming has integrated with music and film, considering that it has generated more revenue than both those markets combined.

Gaming is now the largest sector in the entertainment business, with a worth of $176bn in 2021 thats bigger than Hollywood. Its easy to see why everyone is keen to find a way into this market.

The landscape of the entertainment industry will continue to be influenced by gaming media. Why? Gaming breaks down that barrier between consumer and creator, allowing entertainment to become truly interactive.

No longer will film and music be single-faceted sources of entertainment. Now, theres a new layer where consumers can engage with the content they choose, which is so important in the ever-increasing age of interactivity.

As the possibilities continue to grow, the demands of consumers will too. Gone are the days when you simply watched a movie or listened to your favorite song. Now consumers want to play the storylines of their favorite TV show in a game and immerse themselves as the characters, or attend a music festival in a digital world where they can hear their favorite artists new songs without leaving their home.

One thing that is for certain: in that exciting future, gaming will be spearheading it all.

For more on all the different ways brands can advertise in gaming, from virtual billboards to product placements, social lenses and even games of their own, check out The Drums Gaming Advertising Deep Dive.

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Gaming's Singularity: How Games Media Is Taking Over The World - The Drum

BTS star V has learned to "accept both sides" of himself on new album 'Proof'.

The K-pop superstars are set to release a three disc anthology collection - including three original songs - next month, including 'Singularity' and '00:00 (Zero O'Clock)', which he chose with the former holding a special place for him.

In a clip shared on Big Hit Music's Twitter this week - which was translated from Korean into English subtitles - he said: "I tended to think of Kim Taehyung and the artist V as being separate and thought that I had to choose one or the other, as visually portrayed in the Singularity music video.

That was when I thought hard about who I was as a person and I felt a bit confused.

"Artist V performs on stage, and enjoys himself with ARMY. But Kim Taehyung spends ordinary days with family and friends.

The song - which is actually performed solo by V - appears on the band's 2018 album 'Love Yourself: Tear'.

Years later, V is in a position where he doesn't feel the need to keep both sides "separate".

He explained: "Now Im able to accept both sides of myself, but also keep them separate.

Ive lessened the burden of thinking so much, too, just like how the day resets at midnight. But I think all this time I spent pondering is the proof that made me into who I am today.

'Proof' is set to be released on June 10, with the third disc only available on CD as part of the full package.

'Singularity' will appear on the anthology collection's second disc, which features the group's deeper cuts from their records, rather than the huge hit singles included on the first disc.

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BTS star V has 'learned to accept both sides of herself' - Inside NoVA