Over the last 24 hours, you might have missed electronic glasses that auto-focus for you, Google's $4 million contribution to immigration organizations, and Gap's augmented reality dressing room app.
Electronic glasses auto-focus on what you're looking at
They're not pretty, but prototype eyeglasses from University of Utah scientists could make progressive lenses obsolete for older people. Using electronically-activated lenses and infrared distance meters, they can focus automatically on whatever you're looking at, whether it's far or close up. Once perfected, the device could eliminate the need for multiple pairs of reading or driving glasses for folks with presbyopia or farsightedness.
The 'Fallout 4' visual upgrade demands a monster PC
Fallout 4 is already a good-looking game (insofar as a nuclear wasteland can look good), but Bethesda is about to kick things up a notch with its High-Resolution Texture Pack that will add an absurd level of visual detail for PC players. You'll need a meaty setup to do it justice, however: The developer recommends at least a 2015-era desktop Core i7 chip, 8GB of RAM, and a monster graphics card -- you should have either a GeForce GTX 1080 or (until Bethesda pulled mention of it) the as-yet unreleased AMD Radeon RX 490. Oh, and 58GB of storage hanging around for all that new art.
Google donates $4 million to fight Trump's executive order
In the midst of employee work stoppages and walkouts in protest of Trump's recent executive order restricting travel and immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries, Google donated $4 million to the cause. The money came in equal parts from the company and its employees, for distribution to the ACLU, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee and the UN Refugee Agency.
Razer buys Nextbit
After buying up Ouya and THX, the next acquisition on Razer's list is ...Nextbit? The gaming PC bros have decided they need something in the mobile space and promise that this acquisition will help Nextbit deliver on its cloud-connected smartphone dreams. Nextbit immediately shut down sales of its Robin Android device, but it says updates will continue to roll out through February 2018.
Gap envisions a future with augmented-reality 'dressing rooms'
Until recently, technology has never played a major role in Gap's business strategy. But as the company struggles with declining sales, it's trying to find creative ways to engage with customers. That's where Gap's "DressingRoom" app comes in. Built in collaboration with Google and San Francisco-based startup Avametric, it uses augmented reality to let shoppers "try on" clothes without having to step into a store. After you add information such as her height and weight, DressingRoom places a virtual 3D model in front of you and lets you see how different items would fit. Then, the company hopes, buy them.
Four hours with 'Horizon Zero Dawn'
Jessica Conditt took a four-hour trip into the robot-dinosaur-infested world of Horizon Zero Dawn and came away very impressed. On the PS4 Pro, it will render in not-exactly 4K 2160p checkerboard, and debuts a brand new engine "with built-in tools for artificial intelligence, physics, logic and world-building." The player's character, Aloy, is on a quest to learn about her mother in the remnants of a long-dead, technologically reliant society, but all we know so far is that it's going to be a long wait for the game's February 28th release date.
Hyperloop pods finally hit the test track
This weekend in Texas, 27 teams put their Hyperloop pods to the test. After qualifying through the Hyperloop Design weekend, their actual prototypes took a run on SpaceX's 1.25-kilometer test track. Only three teams passed all the tests and got a chance at a run with the track depressurized and vacuum sealed, sending their magnet-levitated boxes flying at over 50km per hour.
But wait, there's more...
- What's on TV (other than the Super Bowl): 'Powerless,' '24: Legacy' and 'Santa Clarita Diet'
- Study offers best evidence yet that we're in a holographic universe
- Meet Gita, your personal cargo robot from the makers of the Vespa
- Explosions may be the answer to mass-producing graphene