Business, Coding, Entertainment, Game Development

Indie game publishers are the new indie rock labels

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A new wave of boutique publishers is helping indies create better games.

In 2008, Vivendi, the parent company of Sierra Entertainment, merged with game publisher Activision. The result was a new, monolithic corporation called Activision Blizzard, that was now home to some of the biggest games in the world, like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. At the time, Sierra had a number of upcoming games on its slate, including an exciting heavy-metal adventure from Double Fine, the studio of game design legend Tim Schafer. The game was called Brutal Legend, and it starred Jack Black in the lead role. It was also one of many games to be canceled following the merger. What followed was a protracted process in which EA signed on to publish the game instead, only for Activision to sue Double Fine, followed by Double Fine filing a countersuit. During the toughest moments of game development, those last desperate months when the small details finally come together, Schafer and his team were distracted by legal matters.

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Aviation, Business, Space, Space Flight

Rocket Lab readies its first commercial launch

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Rocket Lab’s Electron booster stands on the launchpad during testing

Following a successful January test launch that saw its Electron booster reach orbit for the first time, Rocket Lab is now getting down to business. The US-based private space firm and its wholly owned New Zealand-based subsidiary have announced plans to go ahead with its first fully commercial mission, with the launch window to open later this month.

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brain-computer interfaces, Breakthrough Thinking, communication, Inventions, Wearables

Computer system transcribes words users “speak silently”

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MIT researchers have developed a computer interface that can transcribe words that the user verbalizes internally but does not actually speak aloud.

The system consists of a wearable device and an associated computing system. Electrodes in the device pick up neuromuscular signals in the jaw and face that are triggered by internal verbalizations — saying words “in your head” — but are undetectable to the human eye. The signals are fed to a machine-learning system that has been trained to correlate particular signals with particular words.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, Business, Housing, Insurance, Space

This data startup uses artificial intelligence to figure out if your roof is in decent shape

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When you first buy a house, your insurance company doesn’t know very much about it or how much insuring it will cost. That’s because it first has to send out an inspector to look at the exterior of your house, take measurements, and check out your roof to see what kind of shape it’s in.

Cape Analytics, a Mountain View-based data analytics startup, aims to change all that. Its API-pipeline can feed an insurance company information about a house’s exterior square footage, roof type, roof condition, changes in a home and more – all thanks to the use of machine learning to analyze aerial imagery.

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Business, Employment, Latest Trend

A new wave of innovation hubs sweeping the world

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Around the world, in places like Barcelona, Paris, Buenos Aires and New York, there’s an exciting new co-location concept spurring innovation: Multi-sector innovation hubs that span a range of business models, ownership structures, and physical layouts. The goal of all is to create a motivating work environment where businesses of all kinds can learn from each other, make connections, develop new skills, and get inspired to reach the next level. Many of the hubs occupy imaginatively repurposed iconic buildings, including museums, warehouses, train stations, navy yards and hospitals, giving new life to underutilized parts of cities that had lost their previous vibrancy. What follows are six of the best global innovation hubs.

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Analysis, Big Problems, Future, Latest Trend

We’re on the Brink of a New Era of Innovation. Will You Survive It?

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It’s better to prepare than adapt because, by the time you see the need to adapt, it may already be too late

One of the most interesting things I discuss in my book Mapping Innovation is what I call the new era of innovation, which will create profoundly new technologies, classes of data and business models. It is likely to be the most important shift we’ve seen in at least 50 years and perhaps in a century.

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Big Problems, Crime, Human Behavior, Law Enforcement

Japan’s prisons area haven for elderly women

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Lonely seniors are shoplifting in search of the community and stability of jail.

Every aging society faces distinct challenges. But Japan, with the world’s oldest population (27.3 percent of its citizens are 65 or older, almost twice the share in the U.S.), has been dealing with one it didn’t foresee: senior crime. Complaints and arrests involving elderly people, and women in particular, are taking place at rates above those of any other demographic group. Almost 1 in 5 women in Japanese prisons is a senior. Their crimes are usually minor—9 in 10 senior women who’ve been convicted were found guilty of shoplifting.

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Electric Automobile, Ford Motor Company, Latest Trend, Tesla

Top 7 plug-in cars listed by price per mile of electric range

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Range is all the rage when it comes to electric cars, but often range comes at a cost.

So, which plug-in cars offer the most miles of electric range for your hard-earned buck? For starters, no plug-in hybrid even came close to making the cut. The Chevy Volt was the front-runner among PHEVs at $626 per electric mile of range, but as you’ll see below, that’s not even in the same ballpark as the Top 7 listed.

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Big Problems, Human Behavior, Intelligence, Life Skills

A third of Millennials aren’t sure the earth is round, survey finds

CBS Local — A new survey has found that a third of young millennials in the U.S. aren’t convinced the Earth is actually round. The national poll reveals that 18 to 24-year-olds are the largest group in the country who refuse to accept the scientific facts of the world’s shape.

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Automation, government, Law Enforcement, Robotics

The robocops are here

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As robotic police head out on the street of Dubai, we look at the technology that’s set to revolutionise law and order.

Visitors to Dubai’s busy shopping arcades may be surprised to find themselves under the protection of a humanoid police robot. Though it has no mouth, the expressionless bot communicates in Arabic and English, and helps tourists navigate the city, as well as connecting them directly with police services via a touchscreen.

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Alternative Transportation, Automobiles, Driverless cars, Electric Automobile

Who’s really going to own autonomous cars?

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Two mega trends are coming together: The Collaborative Economy and the Autonomous World, which means shared mobility from self-driving cars.

Early this year, we published a research report on the Business Models of Self-Driving Cars, and we’ve presented our findings at a number of industry events. A commonly asked question is: “In the future, will we even own cars?” I want to share a few scenarios that are likely to emerge.

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