April 20, 2018

Ray Kurzweil’s “The Power of Ideas to Transform the World is Accelerating” Featured Session at SXSW 2018 [Video]

“The strategy that makes the most sense is to try to practice the values that we espouse and hold dear in our social and political systems to begin with. . . AI is really an amplification radio of human judgements, human policies, and human ideas.”

At the 2018 SXSW Featured Session, The Power of Ideas to Transform the World is Accelerating editor-in-chief of Mashable, Jessica Coen, leads a conversation with optimistic futurist and a Director of Engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil, about the rapid advancement in technology that we are experiencing across all fronts, but notably in artificial intelligence.

Much of the conversation focuses on Kurzweil’s optimism about future technologies, and many of Coen’s questions provide a platform for Kurzweil to elaborate on the mental, physical, and economical labor that technology already performs and the great potential of these technologies in the near-future. Kurzweil’s prediction in the late 90’s that AI would pass the Turing test, an intelligence test for a computer, by 2029 provides a prime example of his ambitious stance on the speed of technological development. From this viewpoint, he discusses how other emerging technologies will potentially affect the human experience over the next 30 years.

“When this teenager in Africa spends $75 for a smartphone, it counts as $75 of economic activity, despite the fact that it’s literally a trillion dollars of computation and communication circa 1965, a billion dollars circa 1980. It has millions of dollars of free information apps. . . one of thousands is an encyclopedia much better than the one I spent thousands of dollars for as a teenager. . . we don’t count all these fantastic productivity gains, because a dollar is still a dollar.”

Watch the video above for the full 2018 SXSW Featured Session The Power of Ideas to Transform the World is Accelerating, where innovative futurist and author Ray Kurzweil talks about the accelerating pace of technological advancement and previews his upcoming book Danielle: Chronicles of a Superheroine. Learn from a diverse group of thought leaders at SXSW – browse more 2018 Keynotes, Featured Sessions, Red Carpets, and Q&A’s on our YouTube Channel.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, recaps, announcements, and stay tuned for information on SXSW 2018.

Watch Now

2018 Teaser Photo by Jesus Aleman

The post Ray Kurzweil’s “The Power of Ideas to Transform the World is Accelerating” Featured Session at SXSW 2018 [Video] appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Interactive

April 20, 2018

Gaming is just the beginning. Here are 8 innovative ways VR is being used today

Steven Spielberg’s movie adaptation of Ready Player One is introducing virtual reality to a whole new audience. Want to know how VR is being used in the world right now? Here are eight ways.

The post Gaming is just the beginning. Here are 8 innovative ways VR is being used today appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source: Digital Trends VR

April 19, 2018

SXSWfm 2018 Showcasing Artist Interview: The Marías

At SXSW 2018, SXSWfm was given the opportunity to interview Los Angeles indie band The Marías. Before their show at Palm Door, Maria, Josh, Edward, Jesse, and Carter discussed how the band formed, musical inspirations, and how they are similar to a smoothie. Read an excerpt of the interview below, and listen to it in full on our Mixcloud.

Listen to SXSWfm Interview with The Marías

The Marías Interview Highlights

Is this your first time at SX?

Maria: It is. It’s The Marías first time at SX.

What brought you guys here? Why was it important for you guys to come?

Maria: I think we just kind of wanted to branch out from LA. We haven’t played a lot of shows outside of LA and this is out first tour. And Austin and SX just seem like the perfect stop along our tour, and it’s just great being here with all of the other artists. We are excited to play.

Let’s take it back. How did you guys meet and form?

Carter: I can speak to meeting Maria. It was super serendipitous. I had just moved to Los Angeles from New York and was scrambling to find stuff to do out here. And I had done some teaching and Maria hit me up on reverb.com or something. I had put “I can teach theory! I will teach you theory!” It wasn’t quite that desperate, but it didn’t scare Maria off. It was a couple lessons in and she said “my boyfriend and I are putting a band together, do you know anybody that plays bass?” And I was like “well yeah I do – I could be definitely down.” And then going up and meeting Josh was like it was an instant hook up for me. I remember “Only In My Dreams” was the first song I had heard and we played just the three of us and I was like, oof – I have to be a part of this.

Edward: I actually met Maria when I moved back from New Orleans four years ago at a chance meeting through a mutual friend. And I’ve known Josh since the beginning of high school, and a year after I met Maria, Josh ended up bringing her to one of our friends houses. So that was a coincidence. And then Jesse I’ve known since high school, and I met Carter when we started the band.

Maria: I was playing a solo show at this place called The Kibitz Room next to Canters Deli in Los Angeles. Josh was running sound, and afterwards, he came up and said that he really liked the set the songs and that he wanted to record some of them. So we got together and then the rest is history.

Jesse: Josh and I had been playing in bands since we were ten, so that’s just something we’ve been doing for a long time. And then all of the other stories you just heard happened, and then this band formed about a year and a half ago.

How would you describe your sound to new listeners?

Maria: Somebody had asked us if we could describe our music as a fruit, what would we pick? And we picked passionfruit.

Why?

Maria: Because it’s really tasty. I said guava and passionfruit. But I think [our music] is just really dreamy and psychedelic, but also funky and bringing all of our… influences together to make it something special.

Josh: Taste is definitely the main adjective I would [use to] describe The Marías. It’s a group effort to blend sounds together, rather than “Yeah my tone’s fucking awesome. I don’t know what he’s doing over there, but my tone is great.” There is none of that. It’s really just all of us together, blending our tones.

Carter: We’re a smoothie.

A passionfruit, guava smoothie.

Tune in to hear the full interview with The Marías below. Keep checking our Mixcloud page in the coming weeks as more interviews with 2018 SXSW Showcasing Artists are released. You can listen to SXSWfm 24/7 via our online player.

Listen to SXSWfm Interview with The Marías

2018 Showcasing Artist, The Marías – Photo by Shelby Magness

The post SXSWfm 2018 Showcasing Artist Interview: The Marías appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Music

April 19, 2018

Low-cost Ghost AR headset promises MacOS multitasking on steroids

Ghost is a more affordable augmented reality (AR) headset allows you to create infinite MacOS windows that hover around you in virtual space. Get ready to take multitasking to the next level!

The post Low-cost Ghost AR headset promises MacOS multitasking on steroids appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source: Digital Trends VR

April 19, 2018

There’s an entire photo studio in your phone with this AR app

Ready to experiment with lights, or pre-visualize a shoot? Photo Studio AR is an augmented reality app, from a developer with both Hollywood and Snapchat experience, that allows users to place models, lights, and props into a scene.

The post There’s an entire photo studio in your phone with this AR app appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source: Digital Trends VR

April 19, 2018

A sensor-packed exosuit lets you fly a drone by pretending to be one

Researchers in Switzerland have developed a smart superhero-style exosuit which allows users to pilot a drone by pretending to be one. Let’s just hope you’re not too shy to use it in public!

The post A sensor-packed exosuit lets you fly a drone by pretending to be one appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source: Digital Trends VR

April 19, 2018

Ezra Klein on How To Break An Industry – Featured Session at SXSW 2018 [Video]

In How To Break An Industry, Vox co-founder and editor-at-large Ezra Klein discusses a common thread that links what is wrong in Congress to Silicon Valley and on Wall Street to the media and beyond. Klein looks at the wrongdoing found in each as the faults of individuals, but notes that individuals respond to the systems they’re part of, and it’s the systems that are broken. Klein explains how we’ve designed industries with incentives that make even good people act badly, and what we can do about it during his Featured Session at the 2018 SXSW Conference.

“I think we need to question some things that are pretty fundamental in the industries we’ve come to take for granted and even in the way we approach and interact with the world.”

Klein gets into the specifics when talking about why things operate they way the operate. With each new industry he gives us the problem at hand, the incentive, and the rationalization. “The intensity the audience feels towards something, becomes a measure of its importance.” As a member of the media, Klein’s insight into that particular industry was interesting to note. He states the following:

• The Problem: Clickbait, polarization, reactiveness, speed over depth
• The Incentive (in most digital cases): Traffic, engagement
• The Rationalization: Covering what shares vs covering what matters

During the closing session Q&A, an audience member asked, “Do you have any hope for the future?” Klein responded with, “Here’s the thing, it’s weird. Everything is terrible, an also it isn’t…” Klein mentioned he had been reading many books about democracy and how they say it’s worse now than ever before. “It’s not, even in this country it is not. It is not worse than it was fifty years ago. This country disenfranchised massive portions of the electorate for basically its whole history.” Klein went on to say, “So do I have hope for the future? I do. I actually think our system in many ways, though under a lot of stress right now, is getting better.”

Watch the video above for the full How To Break An Industry Featured Session with Ezra Klein. Browse more 2018 Keynotes, Featured Sessions, Red Carpets, and Q&A’s on our YouTube Channel.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage and 2019 updates.

Photo by Chris Saucedo/Getty Images

The post Ezra Klein on How To Break An Industry – Featured Session at SXSW 2018 [Video] appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Music

April 19, 2018

Christiane Amanpour and Kara Swisher on “Sex & Love Around the World” at SXSW 2018 [Video]

At SXSW 2018, CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour sat down with Recode Executive Editor Kara Swisher for a conversation on sex, love, travel, journalism, and the state of the media.

Now celebrating 35 years at CNN, Amanpour has built her career from the front lines of war-torn countries and the living rooms of world leaders. However, her talk at SXSW didn’t focus on her illustrious career but rather her new series, executive produced by Anthony Bourdain, Sex & Love Around the World. “I have done depressing all my career. It is nice to have a break and see a real slice of life that we often don’t focus on,” said Amanpour on-stage.

“Young people are bursting out of the confines of their culture, of their context, of their religious morays, particularly young women…while the #MeToo movement in the West is happening, it’s quietly been happening around the rest of the world. Not defined by #MeToo, but by education and economic empowerment. The future of these countries will be built on the backs of women. – Christiane Amanpour*

Amanpour’s series, Sex & Love Around the World, focuses on shifting landscapes of sex and love in its varied manifestations around the globe covering topics from bondage in Berlin and BDSM communities in India to the non-existent dating scene in Shanghai. During their conversation, Swisher prompts Amanpour to deep dive into some of the wildest stories from her world travels in creating the series and also extracts many perennial truths and takeaways.

“We as women are not going to have totally satisfied lives unless men are also on our side.”

During the Featured Session, Amanpour expresses her thoughts on freedom of the press around the globe, the #MeToo movement, and gender relations. She discusses how the current political climate inspired her series to focus on gender issues and global politics.

“We are in an existential moment right now. We are at peril and risk if we cannot tell the difference between truth and lies.”

Sex & Love Around the World highlights the inequality that exists between genders and encourages open dialogue on female sexuality internationally.

Watch the video above for the full Christiane Amanpour on Sex & Love Around the World Featured Session. Browse more 2018 Keynotes, Featured Sessions, Red Carpets, and Q&A’s on our YouTube Channel.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage and 2019 updates.

Watch Now

Christiane Amanpour & Kara Swisher – Photo by Kaylin Balderrama

The post Christiane Amanpour and Kara Swisher on “Sex & Love Around the World” at SXSW 2018 [Video] appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Music