Virtual

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain How confident are you in your judgments and how well can you defend your opinions? Chances are that they will change under the influence of a group of avatars in a virtual environment. Scientists from SWPS University have investigated the human tendency to be influenced by the opinions of others, including virtual characters. …

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Depicting worst-case climate scenarios like expanding deserts and dying coral reefs may better motivate people to support environmental policies when delivered via virtual reality, according to a research team led by Penn State that studied how VR and message framing affect the impact of environmental advocacy communications. …

Apple could introduce an iPhone model in the future with a dedicated touch panel on one edge, according to details from the company's latest patent granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). While several smartphones have previously been launched by other companies with displays that curve towards the edges in an uninterrupted fashion, the iPhone maker's patent suggests the company could introduce a small, discrete display with virtual buttons, similar to the Touch Bar technology that was briefly included on…

When Eric Church announced his plans in 2022 to open a bar in Nashville’s Lower Broadway entertainment district, it was easy to be cynical and assume the venture would follow the homogenized honky-tonk playbook: Lease a building, brand it with the name or likeness of a (mainstream, often male) country star, and serve the masses whiskey and beer while a country band plays “Don’t Stop Believing.” But Church, who never met a Nashville trend he didn’t try to smash, swears that was the last thing he wanted to do with…

Meta Platforms decided against a partnership with Alphabet to use Google's Android XR platform for its virtual and mixed-reality Quest headsets, The Information reported on Friday.Google had suggested that Meta partnered with its new software platform that is being developed for virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed-reality headsets, the report said, citing a source involved in the talks.Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill CoursesOffering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIM KozhikodeIIMK Advanced Data Science For…

Klarna is bullish on bots. One month after taking its OpenAI-powered virtual assistant global, the Swedish buy-now, pay-later company has released new data touting its ability to handle customer communications, make shoppers happier, and even drive better financial results. The app-based AI chatbot already handles two-thirds of all customer service chats, the company said Tuesday—some 2.3 million conversations so far—with the virtual assistant earning customer satisfaction ratings at the same level as human agents.…

Physical Apple Stores could become a thing of the past if Apple Vision Pro becomes more popular and if a new patent filed by Apple is implemented. As spotted by Patently Apple, Apple is exploring the idea of a virtual store for its headsets where users can interact with objects, moving them around and viewing them from different angles. This could mean being able to test out the size of devices like Apple Watches or iPhones. On physically tracking your hands in virtual Apple Stores, the patent says “With an XR system,…

House staging is a significant part of the real estate industry, and while Realtors have traditionally staged houses physically before posting a listing, it’s an expensive and time-consuming process. A startup called Virtual Staging AI is making it possible for Realtors to virtually stage a house with the help of generative AI. Virtual Staging AI, which is part of Harvard Innovation Labs, currently has 4,500 monthly paid subscribers and is looking to transform the real estate and staging industry. The startup…

A young man enters a busy, dimly lit pub in Amsterdam alone to await the arrival of friends. A faint dance beat plays in the background. A drunken man approaches the bar and orders drinks in a loud, obnoxious manner. He proceeds to taunt the newcomer, burp in his face and bark, “What? Am I hitting on you or what?”On a virtual-reality (VR) headset where this scene plays out, a question is superimposed on the screen: “How do you feel at this moment?” The headset-wearer, who is watching the scene from the point of view of…

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Meet the divers trying to figure out how deep humans can go Two hundred thirty meters into one of the deepest underwater caves on Earth, Richard “Harry” Harris knew that not far ahead of him was a 15-meter drop leading to a place no human being had seen before. Getting there had taken two helicopters, three weeks of test dives, two tons of…