 |
|
|
|||||
If theres one thing that sucks the fun out of darts, its the mandatory math you have to do in order to work out how well youre doing. Thats the malady British manufacturer Target Darts, making its first trip to CES, is solving with its Omni automatic scoring system, saving your beer-drenched brain. Omni is a halo that magnetically attaches to a compatible board, equipped with four 1080p cameras and an LED light strip. When you throw your darts, the system uses computer vision to identify where they ended up on the board. From there, the scores will be represented on a nearby computer or tablet, and can even be output to a big TV in the vicinity. Even better, is that you wont just have your score tracked, but youll hear a pre-recorded voice telling you how many points you need to score on your next throw, just as you see in a professional match. Omni isnt out just yet, but when it launches, players will be able to use it in conjunction with Target Darts' existing Virt camera. Thats a pair of webcams one facing the board, one facing the player that enables darts fans to play against real people online either with friends, or with similarly-ranked strangers. During the various shelter-in-place orders in force during the COVID pandemic, the UK's professional darts league actually operated like this for several months. Amusingly one star player, Gary Anderson, was unable to take part in a tournament because his home Wi-Fi wasn't fast enough to keep up. Target Darts Omni scoring system will start shipping on January 31, and in the UK is priced at 449.95 (around $556). If youd like to pick up a model in the US, youll have to find a reseller, a list of which is available on the companys website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/target-darts-is-bringing-tech-smarts-to-the-game-183015898.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
WeWalk introduced a new version of its smart cane for people with visual impairments at CES 2025, bringing a redesign that addresses many of the first models shortcomings and adds AI features and more advanced sensors from TDK. Its positioned as an alternative to the traditional foldable white cane. Co-founder Kursat Ceylan, who has been blind since birth, says Smart Cane 2 can make mobility easier and safer, offering features like turn-by-turn navigation and obstacle detection, along with a ChatGPT-powered voice assistant that puts on-demand information in users hands without the need for them to also juggle a smartphone. The WeWalk Smart Cane 2 has a slimmer handle than its predecessor, which should make for a more comfortable grip, and the company says its now about as lightweight as a standard white cane. It has tactile buttons to be more user-friendly, doing away with the touchpad of the previous model that some people found to be difficult to use. Ceylan says it can be used in different weather conditions, not just when its warm and dry (WeWalk describes the new cane as rainwater-resistant). You can fold and unfold it when you need it. There's a speaker, a microphone, obstacle detection technology and a flashlight to make visually impaired people more visible at night. And also it has motion sensors in itself to provide a more accurate navigation experience, Ceylan explained. Under the hood, the WeWalk Smart Cane 2 has an ultrasonic time-of-flight sensor, an inertial measurement unit with six-axis motion tracking, a pulse density modulated microphone and a barometric pressure sensor from electronics company TDK. When it detects something ahead, it alerts the user with both haptic and audio feedback, according to Ceylan. He demonstrated this in the very cramped, noisy environment of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and I was able to hear over the crowd when the cane told him he was approaching an obstacle in this case, a carpeted step marked with yellow and black tape that I saw multiple CES attendees stumble over during our conversation. It also can connect to headphones via Bluetooth. Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget Paired with your smartphone, it can give navigation instructions and information about your surroundings, as well as public transportation options. You can hear the names of stores and restaurants you are passing by, he says. In Starbucks, where he isnt able to read the menu, he says he might ask the assistant if they sell chocolate croissants. You don't need to hold your smartphone anymore while you are going somewhere, Ceylan said. You can put it into your pocket and then you can get all the information through your WeWalk smart cane. There is a smartphone interface for those who want to use it, though, which he held up through the demo so I could see what was going on on the other end. Unlike the vast majority of products Ive encountered at CES this year that seem to include AI or ChatGPT for no real reason other than the fact that they can, this actually felt like a situation where it makes sense and could even be pretty beneficial. Since its brand new, we dont yet know how all of this will translate to real-world use. Pre-orders are now open for the WeWalk Smart Cane 2, and the first wave is expected to start shipping before the end of this month. There are two price models: $850 for the smart cane plus a subscription for the voice assistant that costs $4.99 per month, or $1150 altogether with no additional subscription fee for full use of the AI. WeWalk Smart Cane 2 is available internationally. The London-based startup also has a partnership with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) that kicks off in February, when the organization will start using the WeWalk Smart Cane 2 for its cane training program. The goal is to gather meaningful data for instructors so they can really understand how people are using mobility canes (AI-enabled or otherwise), and help them get the most out of the tools. That, Ceylan says, is so important, because the better you get around, the better you engage in life. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/the-wewalk-smart-cane-2-could-be-one-of-ais-few-good-use-cases-at-ces-2025-182020074.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
A Florida man pleaded guilty today, began a Department of Justice press release published on Tuesday. In this case, the ever-infamous Florida Man is none other than Ted Farnsworth, the former CEO of MoviePass parent company. His plea comes fewer than four months after another MoviePass leader, former CEO Mitch Lowe, entered a guilty plea of his own. Farnsworth pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and another of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Hell face a maximum of 20 years in prison for the former charge and up to five for the latter. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled later. The DOJ charged Farnsworth, 62, with scheming to defraud investors in MoviePass former parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics (HMNY). The agency accused him of making false and misleading representations of HMNYs and MoviePass business to artificially inflate stock and woo investors. If that sounds familiar, its because former MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe pleaded guilty to the same charges in September. Lowe reportedly agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and regulators as part of his plea, a detail one can imagine tightened the vise on Farnsworth leading up to his plea. MoviePass subscribers paid the company $9.95 monthly for what were supposed to be unlimited movie tickets with no blackout dates. Farnsworth and Lowe told investors the business plan was tested and sustainable and would at least break even if not turn a profit from subscription fees alone. On top of that, they used buzzwords like big data and artificial intelligence to claim they could alchemize subscriber data, transforming it into profit. But according to the DOJ (and logic), that was never the case. Instead, it was a marketing gimmick to lure in new subscribers and pump HMNYs stock price. Farnsworth falsely claimed that MoviePass cost of goods (the number of tickets each subscriber bought with their subscription) naturally declined over time, which was in line with his publicly stated expectations. But the DOJ says that was because the company directed MoviePass employees to throttle subscribers who used the service to buy the most movies, preventing them from getting what was promised from their unlimited memberships. That aligns with reports from 2019 that employees were ordered to change the passwords of frequent moviegoers. Unsurprisingly, the company lost money from the plan. A downward spiral commenced, MoviePass and its parent company declared bankruptcy in 2020 and the pair of Florida men in charge of the too-good-to-be-true scheme have admitted their guilt in a federal court. The company has since been resurrected with a new business model after co-founder Stacy Spikes bought its scraps in 2021.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/former-moviepass-head-pleads-guilty-to-securities-fraud-180603455.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||