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A spokesperson from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has confirmed that Apple has acquired face motion capture software developer Faceshift, TechCrunch reports. Though Apple hasn’t disclosed its strategic objectives, it seems likely that Faceshift’s technology can enhance several Apple products.

“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” was Apple’s stock comment. However, the previously rumored acquisition has been confirmed, and it appears that several Faceshift employees are now working for Apple.

Note: You might be interested in ‘10 reasons why Apple stock is underpriced

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What if our universe is something like a computer simulation, or a virtual reality, or a video game? The proposition that the universe is actually a computer simulation was furthered in a big way during the 1970s, when John Conway famously proved that if you take a binary system, and subject that system to only a few rules (in the case of Conway’s experiment, four); then that system creates something rather peculiar.

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Welcome to #24 Avatar Technology Digest! We provide you with the latest news on Technology, Medical Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence the best way we can. Here are the top stories of the last week!

1) Did you know that Disney does more than shoot box office hits and sell toys to your kids? They also have a very active Research Department that specializes in a variety of applications that can be used throughout the Disney empire. And now another interesting innovation has come out of the Research Department, as they have developed a method for generating those 3D printable robots without the need for time and energy-consuming work at all.

2) Being able to identify problems with a person’s body without subjecting them to invasive procedures is the fantasy of all Star Trek doctors. There’s even a prize offering a fortune to anyone who can effectively recreate the tricorder technology out in the real world. Now, Stanford scientists think that they’ve developed a system that, in time, could be used to spot cancerous tumors from a foot away.

3) Technology is all around us, but what happened to the robots we dreamed of as kids? The ones who could be our friends and members of our family. The robots who were as smart as our smart phone, but could walk and talk and learn and engage with us, in a way no smart phone ever could. We think the Human-like household robot Alpha 2 by Ubtech Robotics could finally be that robot, and with your support, we can make Alpha 2 a reality.

4) Imagine playing a virtual-reality boxing game, complete with a menacing opponent aiming a haymaker at your head. You get your gloves up in time to block the punch, but you feel no impact when it hits, breaking the otherwise immersive experience.
Researchers in Germany have developed Visual reality technology for an armband that lets you feel impact from virtual interactions.

TV Anchor: Olesya Yermakova @olesyayermakova
Video: Vladimir Shlykov www.GetYourMedia.ru
Hair&Make-up: Nataliya Starovoytova

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It‘s older, but interesting!


The year is 2050 and super-intelligent robots have emerged as the masters of Earth. Unfortunately, you have no idea of that fact because we are immersed in a computer simulation set decades ago. Everything you see and touch has now been created and programmed by machines that use mankind for their own benefit. This radical theory, demonstrated in numerous books and science fiction films, has been, and is currently regarded by science as possible; Moreover, scientists are taking this theory to a cosmic level and even believe that if only one extraterrestrial civilization in the universe go the technological level to “emulate” an entire “multiverse,” then even our probes and space telescopes, which are out there exploring the universe, belong to that “creepy simulation.”

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, author and host of the Closer to Truth program, recently explored this theory in an episode where he interviewed several scholars, including Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, who argues that the scenario presented in the movie The Matrix might be true, but “instead of brains connected to a virtual simulator, own brains would also be part of the multiverse simulation.”

Taiwanese PC manufacturer Asus says it’s building an augmented reality device and aims to release it next year. According to a report from CNET, Asus CEO Jerry Shen confirmed the plans during an earnings call on Wednesday, arguing that augmented reality or AR will be more useful than virtual reality. “You can make a real setting meld together with yourself and the AR portion,” said Shen. “Internally, we are talking about how to prepare.”

Unlike VR, augmented reality doesn’t show you a completely fabricated view, but instead overlays digital elements onto the real world. The current frontrunner in this nascent field is Microsoft’s HoloLens, which the company has shown off in a range of impressive demos. However, the HoloLens is hampered by a number of problems, including bulkiness, constrained viewing angles, and a high price tag, with Microsoft releasing a $3,000 HoloLens developer kit in the first quarter of 2016. (By comparison, Samsung’s Gear VR, a virtual reality headset powered by the company’s smartphones, became available for preorder this week for just $99.) Asus has previously hinted that it might build its own version of the HoloLens, but as a company best known for its budget laptops, tablets, and smartphones, we wouldn’t expect it to match Microsoft’s price.

Despite the lack of unknowns surrounding Asus’s announcement, it’s still interesting to see a company align itself with augmented, rather than virtual, reality. The Verge’s Adi Robertson has argued that the complete immersion of VR makes it difficult for multitasking, and that augmented reality, by comparison, is more practical. Asus apparently agrees. “We think AR will be very important for people’s lives,” said Shen according to CNET. “It should be next year when we come out with a product.”

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