Lifeboat Foundation

The technical skills of programmer John Carmack helped create the 3D world of Doom, the first-person shooter that took over the world 25 years ago. But it was level designers like John Romero and American McGee that made the game fun to play. Level designers that, today, might find their jobs threatened by the ever-growing capabilities of artificial intelligence.

One of the many reasons Doom became so incredibly popular was that id Software made tools available that let anyone create their own levels for the game, resulting in thousands of free ways to add to its replay value. First-person 3D games and their level design have advanced by leaps and bounds since the original Doom’s release, but the sheer volume of user-created content made it the ideal game for training an AI to create its own levels.

Continue reading “An AI Created New Doom Levels That Are as Fun as the Game’s Original Ones” »

Yamaha today announced the ninth generation of its enthusiast-focused Aventage Series of AV receivers.

Ranging in price from $600 to $2,200, the new RX-A 80 Series comprises six models slated for roll-out between May and July, three of which employ artificial intelligence to achieve a “clearer, more engaging listening experience.”

Yamaha says its new Surround: AI technology analyzes audio characteristics such as dialogue, sound effects, and channel balance in real-time, compares the data to a reference database of movie scenes, and makes adjustments to enhance the sound field. Potential enhancements include making dialogue more intelligible in scenes with a lot of background noise. The feature is offered on the three top models, all due out in July: the 7.2-channel RX-A1080 ($1,300), 9.2-channel RX-A2080 ($1,700), and 9.2-channel RX-A3080 ($2,200).

Continue reading “Yamaha Launches AI-Infused RX-A 80 Receiver Series” »

How a simplistic keyboard-mashing game recruited thousands of players—for physics!

The scene in a normally quiet neighborhood on Hawaii’s Big Island is like something out of an overwrought disaster movie: volcanic fissures have opened up, spraying smoke and hot lava in the air where just last week there was a road and people’s backyards.

On Friday morning, Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim told reporters that two homes have been destroyed by the lava.

Eruptions began in the rift zone to the east of the Kilauea volcano Thursday, prompting evacuations of the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivisions in Puna on the island’s southeastern corner.

Continue reading “Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano Erupts, Flooding Streets With Lava, Destroying 2 Homes” »

Holiday in space anyone?

Getty images CARLOS CLARIVAN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Space travel was once something only seen in Sci-Fi movies or experienced by trained astronauts. But now, the possibility of journeying to the stars for us mere mortals is becoming increasingly likely.

Continue reading “The world’s first space travel agent has opened in the UK” »

What do you get when you mix science fiction with music and some of the most powerful and important social issues to date? You get Janelle Monáe’s highly anticipated short film (or as Monáe astutely calls it ‘Emotion Picture’) Dirty Computer, which accompanied her new album by the same name.

A futuristic celebration of queer love, black and female power, and the nonconforming individual identity!

Continue reading “Janelle Monáe’s ‘Dirty Computer’ Short Film Speaks Truth to Power” »

Tour the ISS to catch up with the astronauts and hear their testimonials about what it feels like to watch Earth from space every day.

The National Geographic Channel has one major treat coming up for its viewers, reports Space.com.

Continue reading “See The First-Ever 3D Virtual Reality Film Shot In Space, Courtesy Of National Geographic [Video]” »

The Carbonite-2 spacecraft can resolve moving cars, lorries, boats and planes from a height of 505km.

Contrary to certain sensationalist articles declaring that video games are harmful, there is, in fact, growing evidence that playing video games may have a positive effect on cognitive health, particularly in older people [1].

Today, we will be taking a look at the scientific evidence to see if brain training or hitting your favorite video game titles could help keep you healthy as you age.