Ask somebody from the United States to list different genres of video games, and you’ll probably get responses like platformers, first-person shooters, role-playing games, and so on. One response you probably won’t get is visual novel. Although many visual novels are released in Japan every year, only a very select few ever make it to the United States, and they do not tend to sell particularly well. The genre might be very popular in one country, but it’s almost unheard of in the rest of the world.

A screenshot of “Katawa Shoujo,” which is one of the few visual novels available in English.

So, let me introduce you to the visual novel genre. To put it simply, it’s an interactive story. Text along the bottom of the screen pushes the narrative along. You, the player, are able to communicate with different characters in the novel, and you are often given choices as to where you go, what you say, and what you do. Multiple endings are a common feature, so a person usually needs to play the game many times if they want to experience every path possible.

One example of a somewhat popular visual novel that has been translated into English is “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney” for the Nintendo DS. In it, players investigate crime scenes, where they interact with different witnesses, and then go to court to prove the defendant innocent. In the process, some moments are funny, others touching, and still others are suspenseful, creating a huge spectrum of emotions in the reader. The game developed such a cult following in the United States that Capcom also translated the rest of the series into English.

However, that’s just one visual novel series—hundreds of other visual novels stay in Japan. Why are there so few visual novels in America? There are three major roadblocks that prevent companies from translating visual novels into English.

Roadblock No. 1: Many Visual Novels contain Erotic Content

For the most part, whenever people debate video games and censorship, they’re discussing violent content. Individuals outside of the video game industry are often shocked to see the gruesome detail that goes into the bloodshed found in games like “Mortal Kombat.” However, another thorny issue is the presence of sex in certain games.

People are appalled that prostitutes can be found in the “Grand Theft Auto” series. The “hot coffee mod,” a softcore porn scene accessible in one of the games through hacking, raised all sorts of controversy. Simply put, blatant sexuality might be even more volatile territory for video games than violence is.

And that almost immediately prevents a huge chunk of Japanese visual novels from reaching the United States. In Japan, sexuality isn’t nearly as taboo as it is in most countries, so many visual novels are unapologetically erotic. Ones referred to as “dating simulations” often involve a guy befriending a girl and then, well, doing more than just being friends with her. These scenes are usually uncensored, though in some games where the sexual content is relatively sparse, censored versions are available.

The visual novel “Your Diary” features sexual content that intensifies as the game progresses.

But even with censorship, the erotic subset of visual novels wouldn’t survive in the United States. For one thing, since the age of consent in Japan is 13, it’s relatively common for erotic scenes to occur between high school students—just imagine how many furious news stories you’d hear if a game like that made it to the United States!

And even if a magical force field could be placed round these games to shield them from political controversy, the video game industry itself would not be eager to support them. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft never allow games that are rated AO—or adults only, 18 plus—to be released on their consoles, meaning that erotic, visual novels could only be found on PCs. On top of that, many retailers refuse to sell these games, further limiting the audiences they’ll be able to reach.

But there are plenty of tame visual novels out there, so why aren’t they coming on over to the United States? Well, there are many other barriers to entry.

Roadblock No. 2: Visual Novels are Costly to Translate

Visual novels are much more difficult to translate than the average video game. The primary reason is that they’re novels—there’s simply a lot to translate. Many of the games involve at least a dozen hours of reading, resulting in far more text than a gameplay-oriented experience.

For the video game “Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love,” one of the few visual novels to receive an official English release, the translators at NIS America had over 700,000 lines of text to deal with, according to the magazine Nintendo Power. To put that in perspective, a 300-page novel printed as a standard-sized book has about 10,000 lines in it.

Although “Sakura Wars” takes about 20 hours to read once, the reason its line count is so astronomically high is that the player is often given three different things to say, each one resulting in a different path for that conversation. And with six endings based on how those many choices pan out, it’s only inevitable that the translators have one heck of a job in store for them. Such a large amount of text isn’t uncommon for a visual novel, especially since most feature branching storylines.

The player has just a few seconds to decide what to say in “Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love.”

And let’s remember two other things. Firstly, the game has to be translated well if it’s going to be any fun to read. Although dry translations can get by in action-oriented games where the story is just an excuse to get the player playing, the same isn’t true of visual novels. If there is a lot of English and awkwardly-worded phrases, the translation is not going to be worth reading. In humorous titles, the translators must also be careful that, for every pun lost in translation from the Japanese, a new one is put in its place in English.

Secondly, many visual novels feature voice acting. Although some gamers actually prefer subtitles, claiming that Japanese voice acting allows the game to stay true to its roots, many people want English voices. That’s why the people behind “Godzilla” did more than slap English subtitles onto their film. But for visual novels, which have trouble reaching wide English audiences, it can be difficult to cover the costs of voice acting. And, like the translation itself, the English voice actors have to be top-notch if they’re going to immerse the players into the story. So, when NIS America decided to do English voiceovers for 100,000 lines of “Sakura Wars,” they had to make sure they picked the dub actors well.

Unfortunately, the company has openly stated that the American release of “Sakura Wars” didn’t sell nearly enough to cover the translation costs. Why didn’t it receive more sales despite its wild popularity in Japan? And why is this commonplace for visual novels?

Roadblock No. 3: Western Gamers often want Different Things out of their Games than Eastern Gamers do

This is arguably the biggest roadblock: the West and the East prefer different kinds of games. Let’s begin by noting that, although the first-person shooting genre is one of the most popular in the United States right now, the same isn’t true of Japan, as sales figures provided by VGchartz.com reveal.

In 2011, among the top 100 selling games in Japan, you’ll only find three first-person shooters, and the first one, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4,” is ranked 35. Games with lots of emphasis on the story, such as role-playing games and visual novels, are much more prominent.

On the other hand, in the United States, 21 of the top 100 selling games for 2011 are first-person shooters, and three of them are in the top 10! And “Modern Warfare 4” isn’t in spot 35—it’s number one. So, clearly, the two countries have very different tastes, although they can bond over their shared love for “Super Mario” games, at least.

Basically, Japanese gamers seem to prefer more story-oriented solo games over action-oriented multiplayer games. Many American gamers thrive on competition, trying to earn more achievements than their friends so that they can have a nice, high “gamerscore” to show off online. But in visual novels, there is no competition with other players. There are no reflexes involved. The style of gameplay is almost completely different from what Americans expect out of their games.

Will the United States ever get more Visual Novels?

In light of all of this, it’s questionable that the visual novel scene will ever take off in America. After all, it’s been booming in Japan for decades, so it’s had plenty of time to make its way to the states.

Of course, a few visual novels have made it to the United States. For the most part, visual novels released in the states have had two things in common: they fall into the mystery genre, and they are produced on handhelds. The aforementioned “Ace Attorney” series falls into this camp, as do games such as “Hotel Dusk” and “999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors,” all released for the Nintendo DS. Since they were released for a handheld, they had very little voice acting to localize, reducing costs for the translators. And since they are more suspense-oriented than the typical visual novel, they have been able to garner decent sales among gamers in the United States.

In the “Ace Attorney” series, cross-examinations require thoughtful logic from the player.

There is certainly hope for more visual novels to reach the states. Particularly, some mainstream games now feature stories that are deep and interactive, much like you would expect in a visual novel. For instance, in the critically-acclaimed and top-selling “Mass Effect” series, the decisions the player makes can influence which characters survive through the story. Oftentimes, the player is required to make difficult sacrifices or morally ambiguous choices. Although there is still plenty of typical gameplay, the fact that gamers are expecting more out of stories might help visual novels along.

Hopefully, a large enough number of Americans will find that video games do not require intense, reflex-testing moments to be entertaining. Games can tell moving stories where you get to decide your fate and form relationships with interesting characters.

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Communication has evolved several times through the years with the most recent transformation due to the boom in technology. Our grandparents communicated through letters, our parents communicated through rotary telephones and our generation communicates through text messages and social media outlets.

Being that we live in a fast-paced world everything must be communicated in a way that takes the least amount of time. This is when abbreviated words become useful. The use of technology has become second nature to us. We rely on it so much now that if we were to forget our laptops or cell phones we feel like part of our life is missing. Technology is great because we are able to rely on it for just about anything, from keeping in touch with friends to using Google to find where the best martini lounges are. Even television shows have become accustomed to using abbreviations to make it easier for viewers to memorize the shows’ name. Television shows like Good Morning America and American Idol have abbreviated their names to GMA and AI.

Credit: Ambro freedigitalphotos.net

But what is the downside to all of this? The reliance on technology is causing many of us to lose that valuable practice of actually thinking about how to spell words. University of Washington English professor Jane Lee said, “I hesitate to say that [technology is] making students lazy, exactly. I don’t think that this is really the problem—rather, it’s my sense that the increase in technology-based communication, like texting, means that students get far less practice with writing in a non-casual manner.”

“They write quite a bit—it’s just in a different context than an academic one,” Lee continued. “In that sense, the text-language becomes second nature to them in ways that ‘traditional’ English does not.” The issue isn’t so much technology, but the practice in spelling we are losing.

Now that adults have adjusted to many of the text message abbreviations in order to keep up with what their children are saying, texting and social media may be causing an evolution in the English language. Lee sees this as a move toward yet another evolution of language.

“I do think texting, and other forms of shorthand and casual communication, is here to stay, and I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a negative thing,” Lee said. “I do, however, wish that students were able to practice more than a casual form of writing more frequently.” Since the rise of technology, people have had to adapt to this new movement. The decline of actual handwritten work is causing a majority of people, not only students, to forget the ability to spell.

“I happen to think that language and communication are bound to change—and that it’s necessary, and desirable, to develop our senses of what it means to ‘write well’ along with this change,” Lee said of technology changing the future of writing. “I don’t necessarily have a personal investment in a ‘correct’ form of English I think needs to be guarded. But as we’re still utilizing this English in an everyday context, I do think it’s important to be proficient in it, while also keeping up with new forms of writing.” Change is natural for language but we must not forget the difference between formal writing and writing for entertainment, such as when using media outlets.

The underlying issue could also be that technology gives us the ability to get answers quickly. High school teacher Steven Hall gives an example using a situation from his classroom. “Students are used to getting exactly what they want when they want it. Today I had a boy, frustrated because he ‘couldn’t find the answers’ and ‘why don’t you just help us?’ The answers were right in the paragraph in front of him—he didn’t want to read it. He wanted me to just tell him the answer.”

The way to fix the issue of the students’ mentality of wanting the answer immediately is to keep up the expectations of their work. Hall said if we raise the expectations at the university level we will have no choice but to up the expectations at the high school level to be able to keep up.

“The future of academic writing will only become less formal if universities begin to accept informal writing,” Hall said. “High schools will tailor their instruction to meet the entrance expectations of universities and, perhaps more importantly, to standardized state testing requirements.”

As an English major, I find it difficult to let go of some of the structure of the English language when using technology to communicate. After studying the structure of the act of writing and being tested on my skills, it at times feels as if all my studying means nothing now. I must admit that I still spell out all of my words when writing a text message or Facebook status and cringe when I see abbreviated words or misused words. I know that the technology boom has not yet ceased and there is still more to come, therefore I must grow accustomed to this trend of abbreviations and perhaps even start using some technology lingo as well.

The post Nvate Commentary: Is Technology Affecting Our Ability to Spell? appeared first on Nvate.

This week the contestants designed a portable, one-person shelter that can protect an individual from extreme forces of nature. First, heavy wind blew the shelter to simulate a hurricane. Next, fire blast the shelter. Finally, water was shot at their creations. The judges showed these forces acting upon a miniature building for demonstration. Every element tears away at the structure—the water blast practically destroys it.

Not even the third little piggy could stand up to the big bad wolf’s giant Super Soaker.

In the Blueprint Challenge, the engineers come up with conventional ideas and some outlandish ones, such as a suit of armor akin to those the ancient Romans wore. However, the judges pick Alison Wong as the runner-up because her design is creative and lightweight. Amy Elliott is, once again, the winner of the Blueprint Challenge. Her design would be like a turtle shell that could fit in a backpack.

This week, the red team consisted of Elliott, Joe Caravella, Gui Cavalcanti, Corey Fleischer and Dan Moyers. The blue team consisted of Wong, Joel Ifill, Tom Johnson, Andrew Stroup and Eric Whitman.

Before sending the teams off, host Kal Penn threw a few more twists into the challenge. This portable shelter must be deployed by one member of the group in under five minutes, and it must fit inside a relatively large backpack. A 180-pound dummy inside each shelter measured the amount of G-force exerted on it, the temperature around it, and its oxygen levels in order to help the judges pick a winner. The teams had three days and $4,000 to complete their projects.

The Red Team’s Preparation

Elliott picked Cavalcanti to be on her team because she wanted to show him her collaborative leading style in contrast to his top-down approach used last week. Cavalcanti, however, continues to show his arrogance by telling the cameras that he’s the “best mechanical designer” and can easily prove he has better ideas than the others do. To his credit, the team does end up following his model, which consisted of 16 folding panels that made a cone shape—the foundation of the shelter. Inside, there is a suspended swinging seat for the dummy, and the panels were wrapped in a thermal-protection blanket.

After picking the design, they build a functional prototype that impresses the judges. At first, Elliott is impressed with how well the team is working together and Cavalcanti is being more of a “team player” this time around. Moyers even says that this is favorite team so far—he hasn’t gotten in anyone’s face.

During the last few minutes of the final day, the team is struggling to fit everything inside the bag. Moyers is so nervous that he actually leaves and sits alone, his forehead pressed up against a wall. However, they manage to fit everything inside the bag, and Elliott zips it up in literally the last second of workshop time.

The Blue Team’s Preparation

Like Elliott, Wong takes a collaborative approach in managing her team, but Johnson believes they are taking too long as they discuss the pros and cons of everyone’s designs. Johnson believes he has to step up and be the “ass kicker” to get the team moving. Their final design combines Wong and Johnson’s ideas. It’s an octagonal tent made of a steel frame. The dummy sits in a hammock seat, and his weight should help stabilize the structure in wind and water. The low-dome tent is coated with a canvas covering and heat-resistant material.

The team divides up tasks and gets to work. Since most of their materials don’t arrive until the end of the second day, Johnson believes they will not complete their challenge. However, he’s surprised to find that everyone works hard and as a team the final day, bringing everything together. Although Johnson’s not for it, Stroup convinces the team to add an inflatable raft, which is filled with carbon dioxide, to the base of the tent. This is to help absorb the force of the wind and water. They get everything assembled and fit it inside the bag.

The Test: Save the Dummy

The teams feel confident as they prepare to have their designs tested. Moyers of the red team and Stroup of the blue team set up their respective shelters. Although Moyers finishes first, Stroup completes his team’s shelter with over a minute to spare.

The blue team is fired.

First, the heavy wind is blown at each team’s shelter. Although the cloth on the shelters went up and down , and the overall structure shakes a little, both teams survive the wind just fine. I’m happy to see that the teams are starting to build stuff that works.

But, the blue team’s shelter doesn’t go through the fire and flames as well. Some of the flaps at the bottom of the structure came untucked, allowing smoke and fire to get inside. To make matters worse, it seemed that the canvas covering under the heat-resistant material had caught on fire. However, the red team is able to endure the fiery trial just fine thanks to its firm, thermal-protection blanket—nothing gets inside.

Then the water jets came into play. As soon as they’re turned on, the blue team’s shelter was shot back and slid all the way to a nearby building. It seemed the Hydro Pump was super effective because the inflatable raft was destroyed by the fire that snuck in during the previous round. The water gun landed a critical hit on the red team too. Their shelter was shot back, and it even falls apart. The dummy remained attached to only the roof as it slid down the pavement.

Well, at least the red team’s dummy is clean now.

Upon closer inspection, the judges find that the red team failed the water test because the screws of the hinges holding the panels together were too small and had no washers, so the panels tore apart. With the blue team, the fire made it under their tent and melted the inflatable raft, which released lots of carbon dioxide into the air. A human could not have survived the fire in their shelter. Without the inflatable raft, the water challenge was doomed to fail. It makes me wonder if things would have turned out differently had they done the tests in a different order.

Burt Dalton, the man behind the special effects of “Total Recall” and “Star Trek,” is the guest judge this week. He announced that the red team wins because they passed two tests while the blue team passed only one.

Interestingly, Ifill has no say in who the weakest link was because he was eliminated, so he steps off to the side. Although the judges dislike Stroup’s inflatable raft idea since it released carbon dioxide into the air, they eliminate Wong due to her ineffective leadership style. The judges are looking for a leader who can balance collaboration with executive steering. This is the second time, though, that a team leader has been eliminated, so I stick by my opinion that winning the Blueprint Challenge is risky.

However, Elliott has been a team leader twice and proved herself competent both times. If she ends up making a serious mistake sometime down the road, I hope the judges take her past successes into account. I’d like to see her win due to her good teamwork skills and smart engineering. Plus, I wouldn’t mind seeing a female win a competition in engineering, which is stereotyped as a man’s field. I should also point out that Elliott comforted Wong as she cried after the elimination, which I thought was very kind.

Next week, the contestants will have to build a robot that is capable of performing various track and field events. This sounds like the hardest challenge yet, so I’m expecting many days to work in the shop and a big, meaty budget. It’s also the first challenge where electronics take center stage, so it will be interesting to see who the strongest minds are.

To watch the full third episode, visit the “Pure Genius” website.

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“Sui Generis,” a revolutionary game in production after a successful and newsworthy Kickstarter campaign, does justice to its Latin name, “of its own genius.” The gaming community is hailing this product as truly unique, an imaginative and thought-provoking first of its kind.

This is a screenshot from “Sui Generis.” Credit: Bare Mettle Entertainment

A conceptual video game by Bare Mettle Entertainment, the small-business entity under the dominion of the game’s brain-father, Madoc Evans, “Sui Generis” melds the best of many types of RPGs and delivers something entirely new to boot—a dynamic, almost unbelievably diverse digital world based, to a ridiculously exacting degree, around the physics of light, movement, and force.

According to Forbes’ enthusiastic report, this remarkable engine and the code that powers it is all is the work of Evans, who is also the face of “Sui Generis’” Kickstarter pitch. As Evans describes in the 10 minute video, the incredible new engine aims at a nearly-unbounded experience which defies the usual, linear plot at the heart of most video games. “Sui Generis’” Kickstarter page describes that, “‘Sui Generis’ is not about running around killing hordes of enemies in order to collect experience points. It is about exploring a world and being involved in major events there.”

An “Obsessively Realistic” Brave New World

The Kickstarter video reveals the visionary quality of the game’s graphics. Light, weather, and body appearance are all intensely detailed and obsessively realistic within the world of “Sui Generis.” Characters are generated, as described in the Kickstarter video, using such intricate dynamics such as individual muscle contractions. In an insanely detailed open-world setting, everything from formation of clouds to the movement and arrangement of stars is charted to be strictly accurate. In the mind-blowing, pre-alpha demo video, the process of a thunderstorm is demonstrated with astounding detail such as the locational frequency of lightning flashes and the sound of the resulting thunder clap.

This is a screenshot from “Sui Generis.” Credit: Bare Mettle Entertainment

When a hero strikes at an ogre, for instance, the springing mace may get snagged on the enemy. The force of the blow determines if the hero staggers, tumbles, or succeeds in delivering his blow. The actual physics of collisions dictates these interactions, Evans describes in the pitch video. The game strives to operate along accurate physical laws to a highly ambitious degree. The Kickstarter video demonstrates this, first, by tossing a few tables across a room into one another and describing the intricate physical processes simulated in that small action.

“Sui Generis” describes its PC, open-world game as a “deep customization [in] a believable world [where there is] complete freedom of choice,” according to the game’s website. “Advanced AI and a hugely interactive game world are capable of supporting almost anything you can think of.”

Nonlinear Plotline Means Player Creates the Gaming Experience

The world of “Sui Generis” is unique in another way. A dynamic and nonlinear plotline creates what the Examiner excitedly dubs a “write your own gaming experience.” The world of “Sui Generis,” unlike most mainstream RPGs, does not wait upon the player to set the plot’s events into motion. There is no casual wandering from one computer-generated character to another triggering the events of quests and missions that drive the plot forward. Instead, the world of the game functions on its own. The player has a novel choice as the game’s hero as they can choose to become involved or to simply let the major events of the world drift by them, according to Forbes’ report.

The Kickstarter describes, “What exactly you do and how you do it is entirely up to you,” according to Kickstarter. “The world is carefully designed to be believable and have a life of its own. Events will take their course and may take a turn for the worse if you don’t get involved.” Refusing to get involved in these world events, though, may lead to “disastrous consequences.”

This is a screenshot from “Sui Generis.” Credit: Bare Mettle Entertainment

“The game will not end but the world may become a very inhospitable place,” according to Kickstarter. “Even if you try your best you may not succeed, the game does not revolve around completing tasks and progressing stages of the plot. Success [and] failure are of equal value, the aim is to have fun.”

Not only is the plot less systematic, but the skill levels amassed by characters throughout the game are less stratified as well, Forbes describes. Instead of discrete levels there is a “natural progression,” as Kickstarter calls it, where “there are no classes, but rather countless possible builds with diverse and interesting qualities.”

Moving into Development

Bare Mettle Entertainment stated on its website, which itself is undergoing a promising overhaul, that “Sui Generis” will be under development for 18 months following the game’s Kickstarter success. That places the game’s potential finalization somewhere in the realm of April or May 2014.

The game’s online presence on Twitter and Bare Mettle Entertainment’s own insider forum mean that throughout this process “Sui Generis” will be a visible object of gamers’ curiosity. The game’s website still accepts PayPal pledges and contributors are able to access the “exclusive development videos” and, in the website’s words, “some sweet rewards.”

“Sui Generis” seems to be building itself into a highly communal apparatus which gamers hope will grow into a revolutionary and exemplary new product.

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Although James Cameron’s 2009 film “Avatar,” which is set in 2154, seems like a far stretch from reality, the first steps toward experimenting with robot surrogates have been taken. Avatar technology will prove to be able to forever change what science can accomplish for humanity.

Of the many definitions of avatar, the online free dictionary contains a derivative that is the most relevant today, “a movable image that represents a person in a virtual reality environment or in cyberspace.”

Recent precedents have proven that avatar-related technology has evolved into “movable entities” representing another person, rather than just an image. Experimentation has ranged from virtual reality avatars and telepresence avatars to mind-controlled avatars.

Mind-Control Avatar

In July 2012, ExtremeTech reported that Tirosh Shapira, an Israeli student, was the first person to ever control a humanoid robot by thought alone. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, Shapira commanded the robot surrogate at the Beziers Technology Institute in France, some 1,250 miles away from where he was stationed in Israel.

The image shows Tirosh Shapira’s brain signals and the robot he is controlling. Shapira is controlled the robot by thought alone.

“When Shapira thinks about moving forward or backward, the robot moves forward or backward; when Shapira thinks about moving one of his hands, the robot surrogate turns in that direction,” according to ExtremeTech.

This breakthrough in avatar technology was made possible by a functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, scanner—a complex, expensive piece of equipment used to measure brain activity. “The fMRI read [Shapira’s] thoughts, a computer translated those thoughts into commands, and then those commands were sent across the Internet to the robot in France,” according to ExtremeTech.

Human and Animal Interaction through Telepresence

In October 2012, Science Daily reported on a study that involved a man and a rat interacting with one another using robot avatars.

According to Science Daily, “The researchers define ‘beaming’ as digitally transporting a representation of yourself to a distant place, where you can interact with the people there as if you were there. This is achieved through a combination of virtual reality and teleoperator systems.”

The man and the rat were situated in separate facilities, and tracking data allowed for their avatars, placed in the same room, to interact. The man controlled a rat avatar, and the rat controlled the human avatar, according to Science Daily. By reversing the avatar roles of the rat and man, scientists anticipate it will lead to learning new insights about human-animal interaction.

Artificial Intelligence used to Help the Ill or Disabled

Though avatar surrogates haven’t hit the market, and are far from affordable to the average middle-class citizen, technology entrepreneurs have completed innovate projects that have allowed for a select few disabled or ill persons to have the benefit of being able to own a robotic surrogate to aid them in their daily life.

Fox News reported on a relatively new telepresence project called NetHead, created by Peter Wilford after he broke his hip riding his bike.

“On his computer, Wilford installed eye-tracking software. When he looked at someone in a meeting, the NetHead looked in the same direction,” according to Fox News. “Audio software amplified the voice of whoever was speaking; something the human brain does naturally. The system will eventually relay information back to the remote computer about the tone of the room and even whether everyone is laughing at a joke.”

This is an Anybot in an office. Credit: The Anybots website

According to Fox News, other telepresence robots have hit the market, such as the MantaroBot and the Anybots, with the Anybots retailing for $15,000. Another robot inventor, Robert Oschler, is working on Robodance 5, and plans to retail it at $600, according to Fox News.

Robot Goes to School

Elementary school student Devon Carrow is too sick to be physically present at school, and so instead, a 4-foot-tall robot attends school in his place.

The VGo robot makes it possible for Devon Carrow to attend school, even though he can’t be there physically.

“The robot senses stairs and stops, but even they aren’t insurmountable because, at 18 pounds, the robot is light enough for a teacher to lift,” according to the Maine Sun Journal. “Before moving forward, Devon scans the camera downward to make sure he won’t run into a classmate who might be crouching to tie a shoe.”

The robot is called VGo, is made by Verizon, and is worth $6,000. The robot is covered by the district’s budget, according to the Maine Sun Journal.

Transhumanism: On the Brink of Immortality

An article entitled, “First Gene Therapy Successful Against Aging-Associated Decline: Mouse Lifespan Extended up to 24 percent With a Single Treatment,” proved that the therapy may be—after much work—successful in doing the same with humans.

If treated with gene therapy early in a mouse’s lifespan, the lifespan of the mouse can be extended, as well as increase their health. This is achieved by replacing the telomerase enzyme—which is responsible for aging—with a DNA-modified virus. In this way, the therapy is able to “reset the biological clock,” according to Science Daily.

For anti-aging therapy in humans, it is essential that a non-pathogenic virus is used to alter cells. “Although this therapy may not find application as an anti-aging treatment in humans, in the short term at least, it could open up a new treatment option for ailments linked with the presence in tissue of abnormally short telomeres, as in some cases of human pulmonary fibrosis,” according to Science Daily.

It’s likely the vast majority of Americans won’t be wowed about these kinds of breakthroughs until robot avatars go to the commercial market. But a promising pattern of technological progression has begun. With small but promising advancements, robot avatars may very well be ubiquitously available during our lifetime.

The post The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: What’s Going on Now appeared first on Nvate.

Have you ever been caught in a situation when on the day of a big job interview or a date you look in the mirror and see a blemish waving back at you? In a frantic state you reach for the quick fix—foundation, concealer, blush, eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick. Your face is what you first present yourself with, and therefore, you want to make it as perfect as possible. But in doing so you may be causing more damage than good.

This is an example of irritant contact dermatitis.

Ever wonder what really goes onto your skin when you apply foundation, blush, or eye shadow? Or what it does to your skin? Makeup looks great when it is applied, but the effects of its application can be ugly if certain precautions are not taken. Many people use makeup to cover up imperfections such as blemishes or rashes, but what if the same makeup we are using to cover up skin issues is what is causing them?

Skin is the most exposed organ of the human body which is why we should take better care of it. Makeup is made of different types of chemicals which can cause allergic reactions to the skin. Irritant contact dermatitis is a mild allergic reaction where the skin feels an itchy or burning sensation, according to Discovery Fit and Health, and allergic contact dermatitis is a more serious allergic reaction to certain chemicals causing itching, swelling, or blisters.

To prevent skin irritations aesthetician for the Polyclinic in Washington, A. Morgan, recommends using “mineral makeup as it is non-comedogenic and works great on inflamed skin, as well as adding mild sun protection. It is better for acne and sensitive skin.”

“[We should] look up the ingredients to see what [makeup is] made up of,” makeup artist and founder of Beauty and the Brush, Malia Miglino, said. “Many people are allergic to Red Dye 40 and do not know it. A lot of makeup contains this dye, so if you notice that you are having issues this could be one of the reasons.”

This is an example of allergic contact dermatitis.

Imagine your nose being clogged with chemicals making it impossible to breathe well. Our skin works the same way, but instead of a nose there are thousands of little pores all over the skin. It is these pores that allow the skin to breathe. “Primers such as facial and eye shadow primers contain silicone which creates a coating over the skin, sealing it from sweat, making your skin un-breathable,” Miglino said.

Makeup such as foundation and powders are in direct contact with the skin causing chemicals to clog the pores resulting in breakouts. A helpful tip to keep in mind is to use clean application tools because as makeup builds up on brushes, bacteria is attracted to the brush. It is this bacterium that causes breakouts. Also, “pick an appropriate formulation for your skin and you can always ask for help from a good aesthetician,” said Morgan.

How to Choose the Right Makeup for Your Skin Type

Knowing your skin and what it likes and does not like is a good tip to keep in mind when searching for the right makeup.

Being in the makeup business, Miglino has come across countless makeup brands—having experienced some negative side effects when using a very popular, well-named brand. “I have found that MAC foundations, specifically their Studio FX makeup, have a tendency to make people break out and also have a cakier texture when applied making fine lines more apparent.”

Credit: Ambro freedigitalphotos.net

She also pointed out that on her clients she likes and always tries to use “oil-free products, mainly because it helps to fight against any breakouts and the end result is a less oily makeup application.”

“If you have oily skin, do not get products containing oil. If you have dry skin make sure you’re using products with moisturizer,” advises Miglino. “My tip to everyone is if you’re going to spend a lot of money on name brand makeup put most of that money into your foundation.”

If you are less trusting of mainstream makeup products, try Neutrogena, Clinique, or Bare Minerals, which have grown in popularity with their acne-fighting products. Miglino said these products have their perks. “Foundations that boast that they help against breakouts usually contain sialic acid which is what is in most acne-fighting creams.”

Miglino recommends using the Bare Minerals brand blush and eye shadows. However, she discourages the use of Bare Minerals foundations as they do not give much coverage. “I think the only useful mineral products are the blushes because they are light and blend easily and the eye shadows because they are so highly pigmented.”

Ultimately, makeup can be a fun thing to experiment with, but we must know what we are putting on our skin and how it can affect us. Before indulging in any new brand of makeup, know your skin and what causes it to have negative reactions. Less is more but, if you absolutely must wear makeup regularly, remember to always wash your face before going to bed “as your skin repairs itself at night,” according to Morgan, and drink lots of water to keep your skin hydrated. Your skin is like your nose and surely you would not enjoy sleeping with a clogged nose. Therefore, you should not enjoy sleeping with clogged pores.

The post Is that a Blemish? Makeup and Its Relation to Skin Irritation appeared first on Nvate.

Type in “how to play ‘Free Fallin’ on guitar” in the YouTube search engine and about 358,000 results turn up. Most within the guitar playing community consider Tom Petty’s classic tune a beginner’s song to learn with its basic three-chord strumming. But sift through the first page of search results and at least three different versions instructing a how-to of the same song exist from an assortment of amateur and professional guitarists.

The difficulty of determining the correct way to play can be instantly frustrating when starting off, especially to those who just picked up a guitar for the first time. Try searching “online guitar lessons,” and Google spits back 12 million options. Where to begin!

How to Find the Best Guitar Lessons Online

The advent of online video streaming with high-speed Internet provides a multitude of lesson options for people with the incapability of taking in-person lessons or for those who merely enjoy the convenience of not leaving home. However, the enormous quantity of free video tutorials and pay sites can make choosing the most effective guitar lessons harder than learning the instrument itself.

“Teaching yourself guitar is much easier with free videos and tab sites now than it used to be but can definitely create some bad habits,” said Kyle Richey in an email response. Richey is the creator of LessonsReview.com, a site devoted to reviewing different guitar lesson platforms including pay sites and DVD sets.

Richey, who has 15 years playing experience, said he wanted to create a website that helps others looking to learn guitar choose the best lessons. Although Richey finds that some free online lessons can prove to be effective learning tools, he also believes the freebies lack consistency.

Credit: RTP411 freedigitalphotos.net

“I found pretty quickly that most of them are either not professional instructors, or they were trying to get me to pay for lessons so they only included the ‘tip of the iceberg’ with each topic,” Richey said. “Having more structure with organized lessons helps to keep you pushing forward and learning new skills.”

Richey soon began using other guitar lesson options, which includes paid membership sites. He now reviews similar sites using what he calls an “unbiased spreadsheet algorithm” that considers factors such as lesson quality, video quality, instructor quality, support, convenience, and structure of the website. Richey said he tries to tour each site from the student’s perspective, and that anyone motivated to learn guitar should consider three things when shopping for guitar lessons: quantity, quality, and organization. According to him, websites need to have enough lesson material for continual learning, high-definition video capability with good camera angles, and organized lessons, which help a student progress.

Based on Richey’s metrics, the top-rated website for inspiring guitar players to take online lessons is JamPlay.com. At JamPlay, members pay a monthly fee that gives them access to thousands of studio-recorded video lessons taught by professional musicians. In three phases of learning, instructors begin with the guitar basics, slowly progress into song playing, and branch off into advanced-style techniques. Outside of the lessons, JamPlay is an entire social community for guitarists who can create personalized profiles and participate in online forums to discuss topics such as musical influences, songwriting, and concerts with other members.

Despite the ability for guitar lesson sites to dazzle with an extensive amount of videos, it’s the user who ultimately must stay engaged in the material and the structure of the lessons, which can be challenging to people who appreciate individual attention. Sure, sites like JamPlay hold live sessions where attendees can communicate with instructors via a chat feature. Many of these websites, however, lack the in-person element of instructors observing and evaluating a student’s hands for proper fingering technique.

One-on-One Lessons via Skype

Perhaps Andrew Morrison capitalized on the two-way visual deficiency of other online pay sites when he began giving guitar lessons through webcam services like Skype. Morrison, who has taught guitar for over 25 years, said he found using webcam for live lessons advantageous by providing availability to students who have a difficult time traveling to his guitar shop and for others who don’t live near an instructor to take private lessons.

“I think the problem is people become insecure,” said Morrison over a Skype interview. “They’re not sure if they’re doing it right or not, so that’s where the private teacher can say ‘strum it like this or play it like that.’”

This is an example of what a Skype guitar lesson can look like. This is a student taking a lesson with Francisco Burgos. Credit: Francisco Burgos

Morrison finds webcam lessons similar to in-person lessons. Instead of following along with tabs and chords on a sheet of paper sitting on a music stand, he says that he simply emails his students the information for them to follow along right on their computer screen. “I feel like it’s just the same as having them in the room with me,” Morrison said.

The only drawback to Skyping, Morrison admits, is the difficulty of playing along with students because of video and audio delays. Until Internet speeds increase, he still uses a webcam device to observe a student strum and transition in between chords, something not generally done in real time with other online lesson sites.

In the end, the effectiveness of any online guitar-learning format depends on the aspiring guitar player. Skill level, motivation, and commitment all factor into whether someone wants to comprehend advanced music theory or impress a couple people at a campfire with an incorrect version of “Free Fallin.”

To read guitar lesson reviews, visit Richey’s LessonsReview.com.

For more information on Skype guitar lessons with Morrison, visit his website.

The post Picking through Online Guitar Lessons: What Works and What Needs Tuning appeared first on Nvate.

The second episode, original airdate May 8, opens with a unique twist. Apparently the eliminated contestants will still be participating in every build. As the competition winds down, the judges will pick one capable “wild card,” who will then have a second chance at winning. Joe Caravella, who was eliminated last week, is confident that he can make a comeback. The wild card aspect certainly adds suspense to the show, and allowing the contestants to return prevents the teams from shrinking—smaller teams would mean less interesting builds.

After explaining this concept, host Kal Penn launches into the goal for the week. In the 1980s, during the Red Scare, the United States made a missile defense system called “Star Wars” that would shoot missiles out of the air should the Soviet Union attack the United States. It’s like shooting a bullet with a bullet. It didn’t quite work though, and yet the engineers will be making something similar this week. Each team will be inside a bunker, and they have to shoot down missiles fired at them.

Credit: Pilgrim Studios

Dismissed contestant Caravella is not allowed to participate in the Blueprint Challenge since he was eliminated, so anyone booted out won’t have the opportunity to be a team leader. I believe this is to Caravella’s advantage, though. Last week, he seemed knowledgeable when it came to the math and such, but he wasn’t leadership material. I’m also beginning to wonder why someone would want to win the Blueprint Challenge in the first place. No prize is given to the winners, and they’re the most likely to be blamed if something goes wrong. It’s probably safer to be just another worker on the team.

This week, Gui Cavalcanti won the Blue Print challenge with his clever design. It is similar to toys that shoot propellers into the air. His plan is to launch a giant propeller and knock the missile out of the air with that. The runner-up spot goes to Eric Whitman, whose net design also seems feasible.

This week, the red team consists of Whitman, Caravella, Corey Fleischer, Dan Moyers and Andrew Stroup. The blue team consists of Cavalcanti, Amy Elliott, Joel Ifill, Tom Johnson and Alison Wong. Caravella was chosen last.

This time, the teams will have five days in their shop and $20,000 to spend.

The Red Team’s Preparation

Since Whitman’s net plan will not work upon further inspection of the math behind it, Moyers proposes that they shoot balls out of long tubes using air pressure. He tests it out, and it looks quite effective. He and Fleischer have different ideas for controlling the air pressure with valves, and Fleischer almost buys the supplies needed for his idea before Moyers is able to test his own. This infuriates Moyers, especially since Fleischer forgot to help him test his prototype. Tension between him and the rest of the team rises each day, but they are able to complete their project by working up to the very last second.

Moyers is convinced the other team members will call him the weakest link just because they’re mad at him, but he believes he took on the leadership role Fleischer failed to uphold. They did, after all, use many of his ideas. I think he’ll be eliminated the next time his team loses. Although he clearly knows his stuff, he needs to figure out how to control his temper and do the whole “team thing” if he’s going to be fully competent in this game, and in the real world.

The Blue Team’s Preparation

Cavalcanti, the team leader, instantly decides that his crew will be following his idea of shooting a propeller at the incoming missile. He assigns different jobs to everyone, which frustrates Ifill and Elliott since they have ideas to contribute too. When Elliott talks to Cavalcanti at the living quarters that night, she tells him that five minds are better than one, so they need to pool all their ideas. However, Cavalcanti believes that Elliott just needs to see how a real team functions; in his words, “hierarchy works.”

As the team works, Cavalcanti accuses Ifill of doing whatever he wants rather than following the plans laid out, which results in errors such as welding some pieces incorrectly. Meanwhile, Elliott complains that she feels like a “shop monkey” since Cavalcanti won’t listen to anyone else, and Ifill and Wong feel the same way. The judges believe that their design is wild and exciting, but it might not be practical. However, the blue team is able to finish with three hours to spare.

The Test: Stopping the Missiles

Three missiles will be fired at each team’s bunker one-by-one, and whichever team manages to shoot the most out of the air wins.

This is the blue team’s firing device. It fails to work at all.

The blue team is up first. When they try to launch the propeller at the incoming missile, it just falls to the ground. Needless to say, it fails to stop the missile. Wong points out that Johnson is furious—he even calls it the most embarrassing moment of his life. And since he’s 50 years old, he’s had plenty of time to be embarrassed. The team blames this error on Ifill, who didn’t screw in the propeller tightly enough.

The second time, the team makes sure the propeller bolt is super tight. However, it again fails to launch, this time because they blow a fuse from making the propeller spin too quickly. With the third missile shot, the propeller doesn’t launch—again. This time, they realize that the metal clamps on it are simply too heavy to launch, which seems like a glaring oversight to me.

This is the red team’s firing device. It nearly missed taking down a missile on the launch’s third attempt.

This challenge doesn’t treat the red team well either. For the first shot, their trigger doesn’t work due to electrical issues, which Moyers believes is Whitman and Stroup’s fault. The second time, their bullets fire properly, but they don’t fly high enough to take down the missile. And the third time, the bullets barely miss the missile.

Once again, both teams have failed to complete the challenge at hand. This is rather disappointing since the whole point of the show is to see engineering ingenuity at work, but we’ve seen nothing but mistakes so far. How is that supposed to inspire future thinkers?

However, the judges decide that the red team wins this week since it at least managed to fire projectiles, something the blue team failed to do. To my surprise, Elliott is the only member of the blue team that considers Cavalcanti the weakest link since he failed to use their most valuable resource—their brains. Almost everyone else blames Ifill due to his silly oversights.

The two regular judges as well as guest judge Bobak Ferdowsi, who was the flight director of NASA’s Curiosity rover, deliberate. They announce that Ifill is being eliminated because he failed to assert his ideas strongly enough and couldn’t keep up with the pace of the competition. However, Ifill is convinced that he’ll “come back swinging” as the wild card.

I believe the judges made a huge mistake this week. Yes, Ifill failed to screw the propeller bolt on tightly enough the first time. However, the two remaining launches completely failed as well, and that sure wasn’t his fault. Ultimately, it was Cavalcanti’s poor design decisions and inability to listen to his teammates that doomed the blue team. The fact that the propeller’s metal clamps were too heavy meant it would have never launched properly.

Next week, the contestants will have to build a shelter capable of protecting human life from various extreme conditions. This could be quite interesting due to the obvious practical implications of what they’re designing. Hopefully someone makes something that actually works!

To watch the full second episode, visit the “Pure Genius” website.

The post “Pure Genius”—Fire at Will, Don’t Miss the Missile appeared first on Nvate.

In recent years, gas, grocery, insurance, and a number of other normal American expenses have radically increased. According to Yahoo News, a new car, which was once an American staple item, is now out of reach for many American families.

With the growing economic pressures in the United States, many Americans as well as people abroad, overlook the environmental and political dangers that could endanger the world.

What is the Doomsday Clock?

This is the Doomsday Clock.

Since its creation in 1947 by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago, the Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock that lets us know how close we are to a global disaster, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ official website. The most recent official announcement was recorded at five minutes to midnight on Jan. 12, 2012, according to the website. It was the closest we have ever been to a figurative global disaster. Of course, that does not mean that you should be running for the nearest bomb shelter. Instead, it means that certain events have caused the probability of danger to increase. In the case of the most recent announcement, the Doomsday Clock timeline on the website stated it was the lack of global political action to address growing nuclear warfare threats and global climate change.

What Causes the Clock to Move?

The idea that we are five minutes to midnight may seem terrifying to those who don’t know much about the clock. One of the main reasons the clock was so close to midnight, according to the Atomic Scientists, is the alarming regional conflicts in the Middle East, northeast Asia, and south Asia. While it is true that nuclear weapon threats are a reality, the thing to remember is that the clock is only a symbol. It’s like the Smokey the Bear forest fire level signs you see in parks. Basically, it’s warning you when humanity is being careless and just how high that level of carelessness is.

But just what kinds of threats drive the clock? There are three basic threats—nuclear, climate change, and biosecurity. Nuclear threats are probably the most we hear about today, with a recent threat to test nuclear weapons in North Korea, as reported by Yahoo News. The United States was the target.

According to the Doomsday Clock Overview, “the nuclear age dawned in the 1940s when scientists learned how to release the energy stored within the atom.” Two uses were immediately conceived, “an unparalleled weapon and a new energy source. Today, with several countries such as Britain, France, Russia, and the United States continuing to modernize their arsenals, many believe a second nuclear age is coming.”

Climate change is another issue that occurs often in the media. Nowadays we more than often overuse fossil fuel technologies which, in turn, harm the climate. Fossil fuels contain high levels of carbon, which is the main danger to us and the Doomsday Clock Overview states that today the concentration of carbon dioxide is at its highest in 650,000 years. The overview goes on further to state that even if the emissions of gas were immediately stopped the extra gases already in the atmosphere would continue to change the characteristics of the Earth for hundreds of years.

Biosecurity refers to our war against various diseases. Of course, this is a very good thing. Diseases such as polio have long since been cured and without medical science we would perhaps still be rampant with syphilis like in the early days of humanity when people were uneducated and slept with anyone they wanted. Unfortunately, there is a downside to all of this. If these advanced technologies fall into the wrong hands, then dangerous pathogens can be released. This is a fear that also controls the clock.

There is a silver lining at least. The clock may be moving forward now, but it also has the ability to go backwards as well. For example, according to the Doomsday Clock timeline, in 1963 the clock went from seven minutes to midnight to 12 minutes to midnight. This occurred when the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty. This treaty put limits on atmospheric nuclear testing.

What Can Be Done?

This year the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board decided to keep the clock at five minutes to midnight. Alarmed by this, the board sent an open letter to President Barack Obama on Jan. 14, 2013. The letter expressed grave concerns over the issues of nuclear weapons, securing fissile materials—materials left over from making weapons—and climate control. The scientists stated that 2012 was the hottest year on record for the United States. The letter to Obama can be viewed here on the bulletin’s website.

It’s true that normal citizens can’t do much when it comes to nuclear warfare or biosecurity. But there are always things that can be done to help the environment. Numerous things, though small, are always better than nothing at all—save energy, pick up trash, boycott products that use too much fossil fuel. The best thing that can be done is to be aware.

The post How Far are We from Catastrophe? The Doomsday Clock and What it Signifies appeared first on Nvate.

Credit: Antoinette Kordic

Tracey M. Romero

Given the title of The World’s Greenest Hotel by Skal International, Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers in Denmark strives to show that sustainable living is not only possible, but can be a four-star experience for the customer while still being profitable for the business. One of their missions is to offer their guests a “vacation with a clear conscience.”

The key, of course, is implementing the right innovations. As the first Danish hotel to sign the U.N. Global Compact, which asks businesses to work with the United Nations to engage in “enlightened global business,” they have committed to being 100 percent sustainable right from its conception. To do that, they use energy saving techniques throughout the hotel.

Energy Saving Techniques and Green Practices

Crowne Plaza Towers is the first hotel in Denmark to have a carbon dioxide-neutral building as well as the first groundwater-based cooling and heating system. They also boast Northern Europe’s largest solar park built into the hotel’s structure.

The groundwater-based cooling and heating system, Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage, or ATES, is housed in the basement of the hotel. There are three cold water wells and three hot water wells that run the system. Cold groundwater is used for cooling the guest rooms during summer, and the heat that is given off during this process is recycled to heat the hotel in the winter. A variable airflow system, or VAV, is then used to regulate how much heat or air goes to individual rooms to reduce waste of energy.

The biggest hot spot for waste in any home or business is the kitchen. To counteract that from happening, the Crowne Plaza Towers has many strategies in place. According to their website, they buy organic and locally whenever possible and work with their suppliers to maintain green practices in all of their transactions.

This is the hotel’s urban garden.

One way they keep a low carbon footprint is by scheduling food delivery three times a week instead of once or twice a day, which is typical in the hotel business. Also, by grinding up all food scrapings and sending them to a biogas plant, the waste is turned into fertilizer. On one of the hotel roofs, the chef is even cultivating his own urban garden. All the cooking equipment uses the latest in induction technology, which allows stoves and ovens to be heated quicker and to be turned on and off instantaneously causing less heat waste.

Sustainable practices don’t just stop there, though. In the bedroom, soap and shampoo bottles are all made of biodegradable ingredients like corn and starch. Forty percent of the furniture in each room is made of recycled material.

“We’ve insulated, we’ve saved water, we recycle food, even the shampoo bottles are made of starch, so from the inside to the outside, the hotel is made so that it can be as green and as sustainable as possible,” Antoinette Kordic, director of communications for the hotel, shared in an email. “So this means that we use less than half the energy that another totally modern hotel would use.”

“The way we run the hotel is more expensive than conventional hotel business, but we feel that more and more tourists and business people choose us because of our green and sustainable profile,” Kordic said regarding the challenges of being 100 percent sustainable. “So we expect this challenge to decrease over the years.”

Allan L. Agerholm, managing director and co-owner of the hotel, recently discussed the European Union’s policy on corporate social responsibility, or CSR, on Ledelses TV. “CSR is a broad description of the way a business should behave toward its different stakeholders, both internal and external and the local environment,” he said. “It is our ability to make a small contribution in making a difference.”

Agerholm points out that CSR is also good for the bottom line of a business. “To me, it is big business. Decisive action becomes a competitive advantage,” he said.

The Crowne Plaza Towers is situated in the perfect city for its green passions. When the hotel was built in 2009, Copenhagen was preparing to host the UN Climate Summit. And although responses to the summit were lukewarm at best, Copenhagen has situated itself as an environmentally-conscious city. According to the official website of Denmark, it has even bid to become the world’s first carbon-neutral city by 2025.

To learn more or book your own vacation with a clear conscience, visit the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers website.

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