A more accessible PS5 controller
Project Leonardo. © Sony Interactive Entertainment.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony pulled the curtain back on Project Leonardo, a PlayStation 5 controller designed to meet the needs of players with physical disabilities. Whereas Microsoft started producing its Xbox Adaptive controller in 2018, PlayStation’s only competing option was the inadequate DualSense. Developed “with key contributions from accessibility experts, community members, and game developers”, the Leonardo controller consists of a single arcade-style joystick and a control ring of eight large, white keys surrounding a massive circular input surface. The keys are customizable, and the device can lie flat without needing to be held. Players will be able to connect a series of existing external accessibility accessories to the four standard 3.5 mm AUX ports. There’s just one thing: this device doesn’t actually exist. Sony says that Project Leonardo is still a work in progress, and is sharing neither release date nor price. Which leaves us waiting, or resorting to the Xbox when patience wears thin.
⇨ YouTube, “Introducing Project Leonardo for PlayStation 5: Perspectives from Accessibility Experts | PS5”
⇨ Ars Technica, Kyle Orland, “Sony announces new controller aimed at gamers with disabilities.”
2023-01-05
Acer goes headlong into indoors cycling
eKinekt BD 3. © Acer.
Work hard, get fit, and save the planet? Acer has the answer for you, ultimate multitasker. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company released eKinekt BD 3, a bike desk that uses your pedal power to generate electricity. Acer is in it for healthier, more sustainable lifestyles. According to the company, a leisurely, hour-long pace of 60 RPM produces a moderate 75 watts. The bike features two USB Type-A ports and one USB Type-C port to plug in devices needing a charge. A mobile app shows users how long they’ve cycled, the number of watts they’ve generated, and how many calories they’ve burned. The eKinekt BD 3 should appear in North America in June, priced at 1,000 USD. How long will you need to pedal to amortize that investment? We’ll leave the math up to you.
⇨ YouTube, “Hands-on with the Acer eKinekt BD 3 | Acer”
⇨ The Verge, Justine Calma, “Acer has a new bike desk for overachievers.”
2023-01-03
Lenovo Yoga Book 9i unhinged
Yoga Book 9i. © Lenovo.
The design of the Yoga Book 9i is ground breaking. Lenovo’s new laptop features two hinged monitors and a detachable Bluetooth keyboard, which gives the device several possible configurations and a large screen surface. Both Yoga Book screens are 13.3-inch, 2.8K touchscreens with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Inside is a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-U15 processor, with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB or 1TB of PCie SSD Gen 4 storage. Three Thunderbolt 4 ports cover the connectivity. A 360-degree rotating soundbar is affixed to the hinge, as with Lenovo’s other Yoga devices. The Yoga Book 9i will launch in June, with a starting price of 2,100 USD.
⇨ Tom’s Hardware, Andrew E. Freedman, “Lenovo Yoga Book 9i has two 13-inch OLED screens.”
⇨ Ars Technica, Scharon Harding, “Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i is an unprecedented laptop for people who hate foldables.”
2023-01-05
ChatGPT kicked out of school
© iStock.
Concerned that the OpenAI tool might compromise students’ learning, the New York City Department of Education blocked its schools’ network and device access to ChatGPT. Department spokeswoman Jenna Lyle said on the Chalkbeat NY website that the ban was in response to potential “negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content.” She added, “while the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success.” Many teachers worry about the potential for cheating, and some claim that it’s impossible to assess students’ writing homework. Other instructors point out that the education system needs to adapt to this new technology in the same way that it adapted to earlier tools such as Google Search and Wikipedia.
⇨ The Verge, James Vincent, “New York City schools ban access to ChatGPT over fears of cheating and misinformation.”
2023-01-05
ChatGPT built into Bing search engine
© iStock.
Microsoft is preparing to launch a version of its Bing search engine that would use ChatGPT’s artificial intelligence to answer some search queries as opposed to just displaying a list of links, according to The Information website. Microsoft's use of a ChatGPT-like feature could help it compete with Google’s Knowledge Graph, a knowledge base used by Google to offer immediate answers that are updated regularly. Another application might be to exploit the ChatGPT context memory, allowing the search engine to better understand the object of a search based on those immediately preceding it. Though ChatGPT could help Bing challenge Google's dominance, Google has already said it won't immediately launch its own version due to “reputational risk” related to bias and factuality problems with existing AI chatbots. This integration could help Microsoft make a profit off the billion dollars invested in OpenAI in 2019.
⇨ The Verge, Tom Warren, “Microsoft to challenge Google by integrating ChatGPT with Bing search.”
2023-01-05
