Published: August 8, 2023 8.29am EDT
Alexis souchet, university of southern california.
The big idea.
A breakthrough at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), is utilizing the power of DNA to align quantum rods that may help usher in a new era of enhanced televisions and ultra-realistic virtual reality (VR) devices.
Some modern high-end TVs already make use of the dynamic luminescent qualities of two-dimensional (2D) quantum dots, but finding a way to tap into the superior qualities of their two-dimensional cousins, quantum rods, has remained elusive. However, the researchers behind this latest effort claim that the situation has now changed.
The Secrets of Realistic VR and Star Trek Holodecks May Lie in the Quantum Realm.
This research topic consists of 148 articles on various aspects of brain augmentation contributed by more than 600 authors. At the time of writing, the articles have been viewed online more than 1.3 million times and received plentiful citations in the scientific literature. The topic won the 2017 Frontiers Spotlight Award.
The topic theme, “Augmentation of brain function,” is an umbrella term for the approaches from different disciplines, aimed at the improvement of brain performance in both healthy people and patients suffering from neurological disabilities. Functions of the brain that scientists hope to augment belong to sensory, motor and cognitive domains. Brain enhancements could be achieved pharmacologically or using neurostimulation. Functional improvements can be also achieved with brain training techniques that employ modern technologies like computer games and virtual reality. Furthermore, brain performance can be augmented using brain-machine interfaces (BMIs), the pathways that connect neuronal circuits to external assistive devices, such as limb prostheses, exoskeletons, and communication aids. In addition to sending commands to external devices, BMIs can enable bidirectional communications, where artificial sensory signals are delivered to the brain while information is being decoded from neural recordings.
Even though many of the brain-augmenting ideas sound like science fiction, the topic authors feel optimistic about most of them. The overall consensus is that brain performance can be improved with artificial components, and this approach will lead to practical applications in the not-too-distant future. Many of the techniques covered in the topic, for example BMIs and noninvasive stimulation, have already experienced an explosive development. While expectations are high for the augmentation approaches, philosophers are warning about the ethical issues related to technologies that interfere with the mind, possibly in unpredictable ways. Although some of these concerns seem far-fetched, it is important that ethical standards are kept high as these revolutionary brain-augmenting methods are being developed.
They use a process called DNA origami.
This is according to a press release by the institution published on Friday.
TV screens equipped with quantum rods have the ability to generate 3D images for virtual reality devices. Now, MIT engineers have conceived of a way to precisely assemble arrays of quantum rods in the devices using scaffolds made of folded DNA that allow depth and dimensionality to be added to virtual scenes.
Continue reading “MIT scientists conceive of quantum rods for 3D screens” »
Flat screen TVs that incorporate quantum dots are now commercially available, but it has been more difficult to create arrays of their elongated cousins, quantum rods, for commercial devices. Quantum rods can control both the polarization and color of light, to generate 3D images for virtual reality devices.
Using scaffolds made of folded DNA, MIT engineers have come up with a new way to precisely assemble arrays of quantum rods. By depositing quantum rods onto a DNA scaffold in a highly controlled way, the researchers can regulate their orientation, which is a key factor in determining the polarization of light emitted by the array. This makes it easier to add depth and dimensionality to a virtual scene.
“One of the challenges with quantum rods is: How do you align them all at the nanoscale so they’re all pointing in the same direction?” says Mark Bathe, an MIT professor of biological engineering and the senior author of the new study. “When they’re all pointing in the same direction on a 2D surface, then they all have the same properties of how they interact with light and control its polarization.”
While the device is still in the patent stage, it has the potential to completely change the VR/AR experience.
In an art world conquered by Artificial Intelligence, Claire takes a final stand against the new status quo.
A sci-fi short film created with the help of AI.
Continue reading “The Last Artist — AI Assisted Sci-Fi short film” »
MySpace gave us co-founder Tom right off the bat: join the social network and you started with at least one friend, even if he never interacted with you. Now social platforms like Snapchat and Facebook are using generative artificial intelligence to give us smarter and more engaging friends.
When Facebook parent company Meta reported financial results last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he saw the AI friend as an assistant or coach that “can help you interact with businesses.” Facebook’s AI chatbots will reportedly offer a range of personalities and capabilities, presumably in the hope that at least one will appeal to most if not all Facebook users.
According to Financial Times reporting, Zuckerberg is “spending all his energy and time” on this: a massive shift from the metaverse and virtual reality, his previous idée fixe.
Integrated Biosciences, a biotechnology company combining synthetic biology and machine learning to target aging, in collaboration with researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara, today announced a drug discovery platform that enables precise control of the integrated stress response (ISR), a biological pathway that is activated by cells in response to a wide variety of pathological and aging-associated conditions.
A new publication, “Optogenetic control of the integrated stress response reveals proportional encoding and the stress memory landscape,” authored by company founders and featured on the cover of Cell Systems describes a technique that triggers the ISR virtually using light and demonstrates how the accumulation of stress over time shifts a cell’s reaction from adaptation to apoptosis (programmed cell death).
“In a very real way, our platform puts cells into a virtual reality, making them experience stress in the absence of physical stressors,” said Maxwell Wilson, Ph.D., a co-founder of Integrated Biosciences and Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of California Santa Barbara.
Once this is added to a VR open world, like low-fi, I may never come out!
The Unreal Engine combined with the power of OpenAI’s GPT has opened up a lot of possibilities for the future of video games. This demo created by Replica Studios allows us to directly interact with NPCs. It’s surprisingly good, and gives some insight into where things might be heading.
Continue reading “AI-Powered NPCs: A Game-Changing FREE Demo” »
