NEWS
►Nvidia: US tech giant unveils latest artificial intelligence chip. Nvidia has unveiled its latest artificial intelligence (AI) chip which it says can do some tasks 30 times faster than its predecessor. Nvidia said major customers including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI are expected to use the firm's new flagship chip in cloud-computing services and for their own AI offerings.
►US sues Apple for illegal monopoly over smartphones. The Department of Justice claims Apple has maintained an illegal monopoly over the smartphone market by locking in customers and making experiences worse for rival products.
►A more budget-friendly version of the Meta Quest 3. Earlier this month, VR Panda teased a “Quest 3 Lite” on X (formerly Twitter), and now the leaker has returned with a render of what the headset will reportedly look like.
►Canon’s new VR prototype products. Canon has unveiled three new prototype Virtual Reality products at The Photography & Video Show in Birmingham UK. Canon’s Imaging Product Marketing Lead, David Parry said, “the new lenses should lower the barrier to entry and make recording Virtual Reality [VR], mixed reality [XR] and augmented reality [AR] footage much more accessible".
►AR and VR Headset Shipments Poised for Strong Rebound in 2024, IDC Reports. Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset shipments are forecasted to surge by 44.2 percent, reaching 9.7 million units in 2024, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset Tracker. This resurgence is attributed to the introduction of new headsets like Apple’s Vision Pro, coupled with improving macroeconomic conditions worldwide.
►BBC considers building in-house AI model. Britain's national broadcaster the BBC is drawing up plans to build and train its own artificial intelligence model using its text archives. A BBC executive told a parliamentary committee earlier this month the organisation was looking at generative AI as a tool to support its production process and assessing a possible unilateral or partnership arrangement on training a model.
►Sony is reportedly pausing PSVR 2 production to clear excess inventory. After producing in excess of two million units of its latest virtual reality headset, Bloomberg is reporting that Sony is hitting pause on production to try and shift its unsold inventory. The PlayStation VR2 launched last February for $549 as an accessory for the PlayStation 5, but IDC data suggests that shipments have declined each quarter since. Bloomberg suggests that the problem is a lack of content for the headset.
►xAI open sources base model of Grok, but without any training code. Elon Musk’s xAI has open sourced the base code of Grok AI model, but without any training code. The company described it as the 314 billion parameter Mixture-of-Expert model on GitHub. In a blog post, xAI said that the model wasn’t tuned for any particular application such as using it for conversations. The company noted that Grok-1 was trained on a “custom” stack without specifying details. The model is licensed under Apache License 2.0, which permits commercial use cases.
► Saudi Arabia launches metaverse platform to explore cultural heritage. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture has launched a new platform designed to immerse users in the rich tapestry of the Kingdom’s cultural heritage. “Cultural Universe” invites visitors to travel through the timeline of Saudi history from its inception in 1727 to the present day, Saudi Press Agency reported.
► EHang starts selling flying taxis on Taobao. Chinese drone maker EHang Holidings opens new tab has started selling its EH216-S model flying taxi on Taobao for 2.39 million yuan ($332,060).
►UK Universities Secure $5.7M Funding For Cutting-Edge VR Training In Healthcare. Several UK Universities will receive $5.7 million in funding from Innovate UK and the Office for Life Sciences for VR training in vaccinations and medicine. The UK is stepping up to become a leader in the use of VR in healthcare.
►German theater turns Schönberg's opera "Erwartung" into a VR game. The mono-opera "Erwartung" by Arnold Schönberg has been transformed into a VR game by the Staatstheater Augsburg. The technical component was realized by Heimspiel GmbH, which has already realized other works in VR in the past. The opera has been available for PC VR via Steam for $9.99 since February 19, 2024.
PERSPECTIVE
► AI Will Replace You, Period. And You Can’t Be Ready. This technology has the potential to revolutionize every aspect of society, from labour and education to healthcare and beyond, by vastly outperforming human capabilities in terms of efficiency and possibly creativity.
►Virtual Reality could be a tool for early detection of Alzheimer's disease. A new study from the University of Cambridge has investigated the use of Virtual Reality in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease.
