Electronics

I'm a computer scientist and a bad Christmas shopper. Over the weekend, I wondered whether AI systems might be able to help me out.... Read more

When it comes to digital access and internet technologies, some languages are still more equal than others. Speakers of majority languages, who type in English or text in Korean, assume their message will be transmitted accurately. But Indigenous language communities don't share this same confidence.... Read more

After revealing that it was the target of a sweeping hacking campaign, the federal government issued a public service announcement this week urging the public to use "end-to-end encryption" in order to better secure its digital communications.... Read more

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems tend to take on human biases and amplify them, causing people who use that AI to become more biased themselves, finds a new study by UCL researchers.... Read more

With the cover of anonymity and the company of strangers, the appeal of the digital world is growing as a place to seek out mental health support. This phenomenon is buoyed by the fact that more than 150 million people in the United States live in federally designated mental health... Read more

The metaverse is the next frontier in digital evolution and consists of digital spaces where people socialize, play, learn and spend money.... Read more

Attributing human traits to machines is nothing new, but with the rise of generative artificial intelligence, anthropomorphism is taking on a new dimension. This trend raises crucial philosophical and ethical issues, while redefining our relationship with technology.... Read more

An AI model that creates images as the user types, using only modest and affordable hardware, has been announced by the Surrey Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence (PAI) at the University of Surrey.... Read more

A team from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), in collaboration with University College London (England) and the University of California, Davis (U.S.), has found that smart TVs send viewing data to their servers. This allows brands to generate detailed profiles of consumers' habits and tailor advertisements based on their... Read more

A new coding tool will help make it easier for children to portably program a popular educational micro-computer on the fly. Researchers from Lancaster University's School of Computing and Communications working in partnership with researchers at Microsoft have evaluated a new programming tool called MicroCode.... Read more

The rapid advancement and adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the field of communications. AI-powered tools can now generate convincing text, images, audio and video from textual prompts.... Read more

Generative models, artificial neural networks that can generate images or texts, have become increasingly advanced in recent years. These models can also be advantageous for creating annotated images to train algorithms for computer vision, which are designed to classify images or objects contained within them.... Read more

Japanese electronics giant Sony is set to celebrate 30 years since it launched the PlayStation console, the little gray box that catapulted the firm into the gaming big league.... Read more

The PlayStation has been a colossal consumer hit, but three decades ago, its creator Ken Kutaragi struggled to convince both game-makers and his bosses at Sony that his console would be a winner.... Read more

Since 1994, PlayStation's five consoles have changed video game history. From the development of the controller to scuffles at stores to Saddam Hussein's military, here are five interesting things to know:... Read more

It's time for the holidays, which means robust family conversations and seemingly never-ending courses of food. But for the more tech-savvy among us, the journey home could also mean we'll be called on to provide a backlog of tech support to parents, grandparents and other family members.... Read more

By providing flexibility services to renewable energy systems, consumers can both help in balancing power grids and receive financial benefits. Hosna Khajeh's doctoral dissertation from the University of Vaasa, Finland, introduces new methods that enable the efficient utilization of energy users' flexibility resources in distribution and transmission networks.... Read more

When legendary Canadian game studio Bioware released Dragon Age: The Veilguard this fall, it was supposed to be a redemption story.... Read more

Chinese tech giant Huawei on Tuesday unveiled its first smartphone equipped with a fully homegrown operating system, a key test in the firm's fight to challenge the dominance of Western juggernauts.... Read more

Earlier this year, a Hong Kong finance worker was tricked into paying US$25 million to scammers who had used deepfake technology to pretend to be the company's chief financial officer in a video conference call. Thinking the images on screen were his colleagues, the financier authorized the multimillion-dollar transfer to... Read more

Every day, millions of people share more intimate information with their accessories than they do with their spouse.... Read more

A new book has outlined why public institutions should recognize a new human right to free internet access and what such a right could look like.... Read more

From family photos stored on the cloud to social media posts cataloging life's pivotal moments, to music, art and stories we create and share online, the digital world is infused with representations of who we are.... Read more

A small team of AI researchers at Adobe Inc., working with a colleague from Auburn University and another from Georgia Tech, has developed a small language model (SLM) that they claim can be run locally on a smart phone with no access to the cloud. The group has written a... Read more

The gender of avatars in action role-playing games could affect how people play, according to new research from Nottingham Trent University (NTU).... Read more

Virtual reality and the metaverse are setting the stage for new ways to watch sporting events. A new study from the University of Georgia suggests that users value the unique virtual interactions with others offered by digital events.... Read more

Video games have always been a showcase for new technologies. They help create new audiences and new markets. In the 1990s, computer parts manufacturers advertised the speed of their video cards in terms of the frames they could render per second of popular video games like Quake.... Read more

Can e-participation build acceptance and strengthen the democratic legitimacy of infrastructure planning? A new study by the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change evaluates the use of e-participation technologies in the context of the German energy transition for the first time.... Read more

The Institute of Psychology at the University of Freiburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE conducted a joint study on the social acceptance of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). The conclusions showed that the acceptance of integrated photovoltaics in urban areas is generally very high and that PV on... Read more

The federal government has quietly shelved plans to introduce local requirements for Australian screen content on streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+.... Read more

Scientists from the University of Surrey are teaching artificial intelligence models to re-light different body types and clothing without the need for 3D modeling. This may have a positive impact on the film, television and gaming industries in the near future.... Read more

Within the next decade, Australia's retail sector could see a major overhaul, with companies taking up space in the metaverse to create brand awareness and to provide shoppers with a novel purchasing experience, according to a study published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change.... Read more

Think back to a time when you needed a quick answer, maybe for a recipe or a DIY project. A few years ago, most people's first instinct was to "Google it." Today, however, many people are more likely to reach for ChatGPT, OpenAI's conversational AI, which is changing the way... Read more

Smart homes are intended to make life easier, but logging into individual devices is often still an onerous task. Researchers from ETH Zurich have investigated how everyday routines could be used for secure and user-friendly authentication—with no need for cumbersome passwords.... Read more

The growth of extended reality technology means new enhanced measures are needed to protect people's privacy, a new study says.... Read more

Once confined to rectangular screens, chirpy plumber Mario and pointy-eared Princess Zelda are popping up in theme parks and toy stores as Nintendo goes all out to win non-gamer fans.... Read more

A study from the IT University of Copenhagen reveals a high rate of non-compliance in social media advertising for gambling-like loot boxes in video games, with only 7% of ads disclosing their presence as required by UK advertising regulations and EU consumer protection law.... Read more

Fitness apps have revolutionized the way we approach health and exercise. They provide users with the ability to track their workouts, monitor their progress towards fitness goals and share achievements with a like-minded community. However, these benefits come with significant privacy and security risks, particularly regarding the disclosure of users'... Read more

As governments worldwide move to restrict teenagers' access to smartphones and social media, a fierce scientific debate has erupted over whether these digital technologies actually harm young people's mental health.... Read more

Around 95% of UK households will be able to watch television over the internet by 2040, new research has revealed. The national proliferation of fast broadband and smart TVs, and the allure of subscription-based services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, have driven the huge change in television delivery... Read more

The Australian government announced on Thursday what it described as world-leading legislation that would institute an age limit of 16 years for children to start using social media, and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.... Read more

Japanese video game maker Nintendo's chief said Wednesday that Switch console sales were still going strong, while he promised its successor is coming.... Read more

Journalists have long used newspapers, radio, television, magazines and, more recently, the internet to entertain and inform the public on the stories that matter most. But what if there's a richer, more compelling and interactive way to share and address real world issues?... Read more

On a train or bus, or just standing in a queue, the most common sight these days is the muted glow of a screen, and the flickering thumbs of people lost in the endless scroll on their smartphones.... Read more

Social virtual reality games and apps such as VRChat, AltspaceVR and Rec Room are immersive 3D experiences that let people with disabilities—both visible and invisible—try activities that might not be available to them in the non-virtual world.... Read more

A step toward improving online music education by developing an AI tool that can recognize musical notation is described in a paper published in the International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing.... Read more

For some television viewers, size apparently does matter.... Read more

Apps such as Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze can tell drivers when they are approaching speed cameras or random breath testing stations. Countries such as Germany, France and Switzerland have banned apps from displaying these enforcement locations.... Read more

Despite recent economic headwinds, the video game industry continues to be one of entertainment's most profitable businesses.... Read more

Hearing loss is irreversible and the most common work-related injury worldwide. Prevention is the only way to tackle this issue. But who has not been annoyed by how foam earplugs make a rock concert sound muffled and bass-heavy? or struggled to hear a colleague when wearing bulky ear protectors in... Read more