On July 20, 1969, the United States went to the moon. Fifty years later, to the day, I did this moon landing virtual reality thing at San Diego Comic-Con. Which feat is more impressive? I don't know, I'm not a scientist. Jokes aside, the VR experience, created by the company Noitom, is impressive. The firm, which is based in both Beijing and Miami, set up a VR simulation that lets people feel like they are on a lunar mission. The company suits me up with an Oculus VR headset, hand sensors and backpack (which in this case adds to the experience, because my astronaut avatar is wearing a heavy pack). I'm with five other participants in a big open space -- in this case, a cordoned off area of a conference room in San Diego's Omni Hotel -- so we have room to roam. The experience starts aboard a space station. You can fiddle with controls and pull levers. You're led by a flying robot around the environment, and you can interact with other participants. While walking down … [Read more...] about 50 years after Apollo 11, I walked on the moon at Comic-Con
I walked on the moon at Comic-Con, 50 years after Apollo 11
On July 20, 1969, the United States went to the moon. Fifty years later, to the day, I did this moon landing virtual reality thing at San Diego Comic-Con. Which feat is more impressive? I don't know, I'm not a scientist. Jokes aside, the VR experience, created by the company Noitom, is impressive. The firm, which is based in both Beijing and Miami, set up a VR simulation that lets people feel like they are on a lunar mission. The company suits me up with an Oculus VR headset, hand sensors and backpack (which in this case adds to the experience, because my astronaut avatar is wearing a heavy pack). I'm with five other participants in a big open space -- in this case, a cordoned off area of a conference room in San Diego's Omni Hotel -- so we have room to roam. The experience starts aboard a space station. You can fiddle with controls and pull levers. You're led by a flying robot around the environment, and you can interact with other participants. While walking down … [Read more...] about I walked on the moon at Comic-Con, 50 years after Apollo 11
The Simpsons to parody Stranger Things for Halloween special
Every Halloween, The Simpsons honors all things horror with an anthology of short segments called "Treehouse of Horror," featuring the citizens of Springfield in scary situations. This year's "Treehouse of Horror XXX" will parody all three seasons of Netflix's Stranger Things in a segment called Danger Things. At The Simpsons panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, fans got a peek at the Stranger Things parody, which is set in the '80s version of Springfield. Milhouse Van Houten is dragged into another dimension called The Over Under instead of The Upside Down. A bald Lisa Simpson plays Eleven, who tries to save Milhouse. There's also a scene set in the mall just like season 3 of Stranger Things. More Stranger Things Stranger Things reimagined as '80s Magnum, P.I. series we deserve You can actually call Murray Bauman's phone number 15 TV shows to binge after finishing Stranger Things season 3 "Treehouse of Horror XXX" pays tribute to classic horror films The Omen … [Read more...] about The Simpsons to parody Stranger Things for Halloween special
The iPhone 11 rumors are starting to take shape
The latest iPhone 11 rumors are coming to life with more details about the controversial camera bump, thanks to a new video from Unbox Therapy. In this week's Apple Core roundup, we also have more clues about what might be in store in the 2020 iPhone and some bad news about Apple's rumored augmented-reality glasses. Also, Apple celebrated World Emoji day this week with a sneak peek of new emojis coming to your iPhone in iOS 13. Now playing: Watch this: New iPhone 11 mock-up looks deceptively real 8:08 An iPhone 11 clone in the fleshThe iPhone 11 mock-ups seem to be getting more realistic as we inch closer to Apple's next launch event in September. This week, Lewis Hilsenteger from Unbox Therapy posted a video in which he shows a real-life representation of what the iPhone 11 will look like based on all the rumors we've seen so far: a three-camera array on the back and a similar design to the previous XS models. We've seen a lot of 3D mock-ups of the iPhone 11 with … [Read more...] about The iPhone 11 rumors are starting to take shape
Google bought my friend’s face for $5
My engineer friend George is taking a break to work on himself.Personally, I've always liked him the way he is, but he insists that he could and should be better. More on privacy Oakland follows San Francisco’s lead in banning facial recognition tech Microsoft Office 365: Banned in German schools over privacy fears Woz wants you to get off Facebook right now Apple's Tim Cook: Silicon Valley has created privacy-violating 'chaos factory' Did I mention he's an engineer?So he spends his time taking esoteric self-help classes and sitting around New York, watching his fellow humans help themselves to the joys of summer life. Occasionally, people come up to him and chat. Last week, one of those people wanted to buy his face. "I was sitting in the park on a sunny day, enjoying the weather and I see a few guys walking around approaching people with phones like they're taking a survey," he told me.Market researchers, you might think. Or perhaps Scientologists. Well, the next … [Read more...] about Google bought my friend’s face for $5