A new deal on data transfers between the EU and US has alarmed businesses and privacy campaigners.
The pact, known as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, was announced on Monday by the European Commission. The EU’s executive body concluded that the US offered an “adequate level of protection” for data transfers under the new arrangements.
The framework replaces the Privacy Shield, which the EU’s top court had struck down in July 2020 over concerns that the US didn’t provide sufficient protection against government surveillance.
As a result, companies were forced to move data by using a mechanism called Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC), which can be burdensome to manage. As Meta recently learned, the process could also have costly consequences.
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In June, the Facebook owner was fined €1.2bn for mishandling personal information under SCCs — a record penalty for a breach of the GDPR. Meta described the ruling as “unjustified and unnecessary.”
Under the new framework, companies have been offered hope of clearer, easier data flows for companies. The deal also adds new safeguards, including a new review court for data protection and restricted access to EU data by US intelligence services.
Yet critics say the new arrangements provide insufficient safety. They note that the Fourth Amendment still doesn’t apply to EU citizens, which would protect them from US government spying under existing American legislation.
“[The framework] limits US spy agencies to what is ‘necessary and proportionate,’ but that is little comfort to EU citizens who remember similar promises under Safe Harbour and Privacy Shield,” said Paul Bischoff, consumer privacy advocate at cybersecurity site Comparitech.
Another cause of concern is the possibility of further changes. The privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who previously challenged data-sharing deals between the US and the EU, has already threatened legal action against the new framework.
As a result, businesses must now adapt to yet another set of rules that could also be undone.
“The fact that the agreement has already been successfully challenged twice means there is a real risk it will be invalidated once again, leaving companies further in the dark about how to move forward,” Cory Munchbach, CEO of customer data platform BlueConic.
The challenge from Schrems and his privacy non-profit, noyb (None Of Your Business), could lead the framework to be overturned within a few years.
David Dumont, a lawyer at Hunton Andrews Kurth, who specialises in EU privacy law, warns that businesses need reassurances they can rely on the new rules.
“If the new adequacy decision would, once again, be struck down by the Court of Justice of the EU, organisations may lose faith in the feasibility of a successful EU–U.S. data transfer framework and turn to EU Standard Contractual Clauses as their sole and permanent solution to legitimise data transfers to the States.”
The UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) is extending the deadline for its review of the Microsoft-Activion $69bn merger, in the latest twist of a complex regulatory saga. The cut off date has been moved from July 18 to August 29.
“The Inquiry Group has decided to extend [the period] by six weeks… as it considers that there are special reasons to do so,” the watchdog announced on Friday.
In April, the CMA had initially blocked the takeover, concluding that the purchase would give Microsoft an unfair edge in the country’s nascent cloud gaming market. In May, the US tech giant decided to appeal the decision.
The EU’s later approval of the deal didn’t seem to shake the UK authority. But this week, after a US court ruled against the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) bid to block the merger, the CMA softened its stance. (For context, Microsoft needs approval from the entire UK-US-EU trio to complete the purchase.)
“Microsoft and Activision have indicated that they are considering how the transaction might be modified, and the CMA is prepared to engage with them on this basis,” CMA media officer Billy Proudlock told the Verge. He added that they may choose to “restructure a deal,” which could in turn result in a “new merger investigation.”
For its part, Microsoft has agreed to pause the court appeal. Reportedly, Activision and Microsoft are also considering ceding some control of their cloud gaming business, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke anonymously to Bloomberg.
This could include selling cloud-gaming rights to UK companies in the telecoms, gaming and internet-based computing, or even to private equity firms.
But although things seem to be turning for Microsoft, its battle to strike the largest ever deal in the video-game industry is far from over. It’s still uncertain whether its negotiations with the CMA will bear fruit, and the FTC is appealing the court’s ruling in favour of the merger.
This article was originally published on .cult by Yasas Sri Wickramasinghe. .cult is a Berlin-based community platform for developers. We write about all things career-related, make original documentaries, and share heaps of other untold developer stories from around the world.
As you know, being a tech lead is much more than defining the technical aspects of a project. I’ve found that they tend to worry much more about another aspect they face in their day-to-day:
The difficulty of keeping a solid team for a long period.
It’s a problem that can substantially impact a team’s productivity. Remember, no matter how talented you are in leadership and technical skills, your biggest asset is your team.
In this article, let’s analyse this challenge further and look at what tech leads can do to overcome this problem, including some techniques to try out.
Why do great people suddenly leave software teams?
You may have already noticed that the most extraordinary members of your team are all-rounders in their work. They also have great passion and commitment. But, unfortunately, these are also the people most likely to leave during organisational changes, which can be extremely painful both for the project and morale.
Great team players consider their workplace as their second home and treat their team as part of their family. These types of developers are the ones you count on when things are not quite going the right way.
However, as you’ve probably witnessed, these “A-players” often decide to leave the team on short notice. Most of the time, they don’t even reveal the reason for their resignation. Why is that?
You may tend to consider great team members as perfect individuals and focus only on guiding average and below-average members in your team. Well, A-players also need (and want) mentorship and guidance. Don’t neglect them.
Alternatively, you may see the potential of an individual and you want to see him/her become the best version of their professional selves, which is perfectly fine. But you might set too many expectations for success. This can lead to stress and burnout.
The key is finding the right balance and rewarding great work.
Every team member has their own career goals and expectations. A-players in particular know they can excel and uplift a project anywhere they land. Therefore, they directly or indirectly expect a return from their current leaders. It can be a promotion, salary increase, or recognition for their efforts.
Maintaining a great team
If you want a sustainable solution to keep your team together in the long run, remember that there is no universal formula to follow. But I can give you some suggestions to try out according to your team dynamics and the nature of your project.
1. Don’t overload a great team with work
This may sound counterintuitive but, if you have a team that’s great at conquering new tasks and getting work done, don’t allocate more work to them. Just because they’re great at what they do doesn’t mean they should do ALL of the work. If you don’t ‘protect’ this team you’ll soon lose them in the short term.
2. Find a time to sit with your team members and listen to them
Remember your first days at work? How many doubts you had? How many expectations you had for your future career? Try to understand your subordinates’ perspective. Just being a good and active listener can do wonders for team morale and health. Everyone tends to feel a bit better after unloading.
I wouldn’t recommend a group discussion, instead take each member for a casual one-on-one and LISTEN. You’ll learn a lot about your team this way, things that you would have otherwise never known.
3. Don’t let individual members maintain knowledge silos
In every team, there are few people who are experts in some particular project functionalities. They know every bit and piece of the code and all the pitfalls of the current implementation. As a tech lead, never depend on them in the long run — you can’t expect them to always be there. Instead, arrange knowledge transferring activities to disseminate their expertise among other members. As another option, you can also introduce a knowledge management system (KMS) to the project.
4. Promote your work culture
Always emphasize the team culture that you value within each other, and create a friendly, open work environment. Talk about company procedures, standards, and level of quality that everyone in the team should try to maintain.
When all team members are focused on the same goals and objectives, it’s easier for you to create a long-lasting impact on the project. It pays well to remind the team every so often, cause we all eventually lose sight. I would also suggest that you remind them of how far they’ve really come and all the great work that’s been done.
5. Implement a future proof recruitment plan
When you are on a tight delivery schedule and a team member decides to leave — it’s basically a tech lead’s worst nightmare.
With short notice resignations, you’ll be scrambling to fill the position. With such time constraints, you don’t always get the best candidates, and you don’t really have the luxury to pick and choose.
This is hard because hiring the wrong person is a highly costly mistake.
You have to spend a lot of your and other team members’ time to transfer domain knowledge to newcomers. Also, newcomers will take a considerable amount of time to get up to speed. After everything, if you find that the new joiners’ attitude isn’t aligning with your expectations, you’ve just wasted a lot of hours and resources.
My suggestion is never to proceed with quick recruitments, but plan ahead and follow a recruitment plan. As a tech lead, you can use your network to identify top performers in other companies, including recent graduates from training and academic institutions. This way, if a team member leaves, you already have an idea of who is going to replace them. Also, keep a team onboarding process specific to your team.
Generally, we think it’s always the technical problems that matter the most, but successful tech leads always expect the unexpected!
A wannabe politician says he “has no policies” and will instead use AI to write his manifesto.
Andrew Gray, who wants to become the new Member of Parliament for Selby and Ainsty, UK, will tap machine learning to assess what people want.
“If elected, I will vote in Parliamant [sic] in accordance with the consensus. Simple,” Gray wrote on LinkedIn.
The tool he’s using, Polis, collects and analyses public opinion in real time. The software first attracted attention in Taiwan, where it powers a platform for political debate. Dubbed vTaiwan, the project invites citizens and government to co-create legislation.
Polis has also been used by public authorities in America, Canada and Singapore, and indeed, by Gray. A lawyer in his day job, the 43-year-old also leads the non-profit Crowd Wisdom Project, which taps Polis to crowdsource solutions to contentious problems.
“Having used Polis throughout the UK, I can tell you that there is so much that people agree upon,” said Gray. “I want to find these consensus points and use them as my policies.”
Gray is already running Polis across Selby and Ainsty, where he’s standing as an independent candidate in a by-election in July 20. The seat became vacant when Conservative incumbent Nigel Adams joined Boris Johnson, his close ally, in resigning as an MP.
Incidentally, Gray has also been an activist for the Conservatives — as well as for Labour and the Liberal Democrats. With that level of political indecisiveness, a move to AI-powered lawmaking seems a logical next step.
“If mandated, I will vote for the government, or against, or abstain.
Gray is now using Polis to collect views on statements that are posed. Constituents can also propose further ideas, which can then be voted on anonymously. According to Gray, the tool has already proven it’s up to the task.
“In Harrogate, which is the neighbouring constituency where I live, I deployed Polis AI on the topic of a town centre development, as well as on a Default 20mph question,” he said. “Although both these issues appeared to polarise people, consensuses were easily found. Sadly, the consensuses were given little attention by the council.”
Governance experts have also praised the tool — albeit in limited settings. While the system suits smaller constituencies where there’s pressure on authorities to act, it’s less adept in older, larger, and messier democracies.
Selby and Ainsty’s size and Gray’s faith in Polis could make for a promising testbed, but the deployment would also raise concerns. The general risks around AI transparency, biases, privacy, and accountability are amplified in politics.
Gray, however, wants Polis to disrupt traditional party politics.
“If mandated, I will vote for the government, or against, or abstain. Therefore, by electing me, my constituents are getting more democracy, more power in their hands. Selby and Ainsty will be the country’s bellwether constituency.”
While many of us in Europe take it for granted, access to freshwater today, and in the future, is far from guaranteed. Demand is skyrocketing but supply is diminishing. Many of the ways in which water is used are inefficient and antiquated, and climate change is making the entire problem a lot worse.
Europe just had its most severe drought in 500 years. Industries are being forced to shut down or divert water from other sources to maintain operations, while protests have broken out over shortages, most recently in France and Spain. Experts predict that global freshwater demand will outstrip supply by 40% by the end of this decade.
Water technologies — from pulling water from thin air to transforming saltwater into fresh, and everything in between — will be critical in helping industry and society adapt to this new reality.
Unfortunately, water tech still receives a small fraction of the total climate tech funding. Out of some €50bn invested in climate tech globally in 2021, just €430m — less than 1% — was allocatedfor water tech.
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The good news? There is an emerging cohort of tech startups working to prevent the impending water crisis, and investors are beginning to catch on.
Doing more with less
From source to treatment to tap – a lot of money, energy, and resources go into supplying the water we use each day. Shockingly, up to half of this water is lost due to leaky pipes. Another big chunk is lost due to inefficient use, and in most countries, water is never reused. But as water scarcity increases, so does the need to start doing more with less.
One company catering to an up-and-coming segment of water-conscious homeowners is Sweden-based Orbital Systems. The startup, which has raised€65m to date, has developed a shower system inspired by NASA that reuses water in a closed loop. But don’t worry, the shower is equipped with sensors that detect urine or other unsavoury liquids, which get filtered out before the water is reused — thank god.
The company claims its “shower of the future” saves 90% of water and 80% of energy compared to a regular unit. While the systems aren’t cheap — at $4k (€3,680) a pop — Orbital says that homeowners could save $1,100 (€1,011) per year in water bills.
Orbital Systems’ ‘shower of the future’ can cut water consumption by 90% compared to a regular shower. Credit: Orbital Systems
But you don’t necessarily need hardware to cut water use. Belgium-based startup Shayp’s AI-powered software can detect whether a building is leaky and find the most likely source. Data from the building’s existing water metres gets pulled into the Shayp platform and then AI automatically classifies leaks in order of importance.
Buildings, which are some of the EU’s biggest water users, sign a five-year SaaS contract with Shayp, pay 5% of their water bill and in return, reduce their water consumption by 20% on average. “Buildings can significantly reduce their usage and make huge water and cost savings simply through optimisation – no new infrastructure is required,” says CEO Alexandre McCormack.
Shayp is one of many emerging startups harnessing the power of data to help industry and society manage water more sustainably.
Liquid data
Agriculture accounts for around 70% of all freshwater withdrawals globally, a whopping 60% of which is wasted due to inefficient irrigation and planting methods.
Higher resolution data can go a long way in helping farmers optimise their water consumption and free up more water for other critical uses. Constellr, a spin-off from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, raised $10mn in seed funding in November to do just that.
Constellr’s tech comprises a fleet of microsatellites equipped with thermal and hyperspectral imaging instruments that gather high-resolution land surface temperature data on a daily basis. The data is used to compile heat maps that illustrate crop stress and water availability at a sub-field level, helping farmers predict a drought ahead of time, or adjust their irrigation regimes based on water availability.
Constellr launched its first satellite into space last year. Within the next five years, it aims to save 60 billion litres of water while generating “billions” in gross profits for farmers.
Constellr’s micro-satellites monitor water availability and crop stress from space, helping the world’s most water-intensive industry reduce its impact. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
While Constellr is helping farmers adapt to a lack of water, further north is a startup tapping AI to help businesses and governments deal with too much of it.
Founded in 2020 by a team of Norwegian data scientists and geologists, 7Analytics helps municipalities and businesses better predict flooding — a problem which causes tens of billions of euros in damages each year in Europe alone.
“Our platform can tell you if a flood will occur in your area of interest and issue alerts 72 hours in advance so you can take all the necessary actions to protect employees and assets,” CCO and co-founder Jonas Aas Torland, told TNW in an interview.
Finding new sources
Earlier this year, Elon Musk pronounced water scarcity a “non-issue” because the “world is 70% water” and “desalination is absurdly cheap.”
It’s concerning @elonmusk on @billmaher thinks “there’s plenty of water”, desalination will fix everything. To replace river basin inflows from glacial loss we’ll need ~50x more desal globally, and then in most cases have to pump it 1000+ miles inland: pic.twitter.com/1XFjuswXqa
Yes, Elon, the world is covered in water, but only 0.3% of it is suitable for use. And as for desalination being absurdly cheap? Not so much. Turning saltwater into fresh remains significantly more expensive than sourcing it straight from a river, lake, or under the ground. What the Tesla boss also failed to mention is that desalination is extremely energy intensive, with most plants today being fossil-fuelled.
Luckily, hot countries get a lot of sun and the price of solar power is plummeting, which has given rise to a segment of startups pushing cleaner and cheaper alternatives.
Desolenator, hailing from the Netherlands, has been working on this kind of tech for almost 10 years. Desolenator’s system uses a ‘hybrid’ type of solar panel which is a combination of regular PV and solar thermal technology slated to be four times more efficient than regular panels — bringing down the cost of the final product: fresh water.
Around 300 million people already rely on desalinated water, but the process is capital intensive and mainly fossil-fueled. Solar power could provide a clean alternative.
Desolenator launched its first fully operational solar thermal desalination plant in Dubai last year. The system has a capacity of 20,000 litres per day and can produce potable water at less than $0.02 per litre — and these costs are expected to go down as the technology scales up.
Another option, especially for remote communities, is extracting water from the air — also known as atmospheric water generation (AWG). Records of AWG date back to the Incan empire, which used so-called ‘fog fences’ to capture moisture from the clouds that flow over the Andes Mountains.
Aquaseek, a spin-off from Italy’s Politecnico di Torino and Princeton University, is hard at work bringing a modern touch to this old-school technology. The startup has developed a prototype AWG machine that captures moisture from the air even at very low levels of humidity, like in the desert.
Thanks to two exclusive patents (one held 100% by the Politecnico di Torino, the other shared equally with Princeton University), the machine can extract moisture while consuming much less energy than technologies currently in use.
Fog collection in Alto Patache, Atacama Desert, Chile. Startups are now putting a modern twist on this old-school technology in order to bring freshwater to some of the driest regions on earth. Credit: Nicole Saffie/Wikicommons
Capital flows
Mobilising private investment in this nascent water tech ecosystem will be crucial if we are to bring these solutions into the mainstream. But there are still a number of hurdles to overcome.
“Backing startups with innovations for the so-called ‘water industry’ — meaning drinking water and wastewater utilities — has simply not been an actionable area of investment for VCs,” John Robinson, partner Mazarine, a technology VC specialising in water risk, tells TNW from his office in London.
This is partly to do with the fact that water sold by drinking water utilities, unlike energy, is cheap (for now), and is largely seen as a public good rather than an investment opportunity. Moreover, drinking water is typically managed by public utilities who, says Robinson, “lack an appetite for innovation.”
To get the attention of VC cheque books, Robinson suggests water tech startups broaden their horizons and forge a way in industries where water quality and quantity challenges are a headache, or an operational, regulatory, or branding risk.
While water tech investment is still nowhere near the level it needs to be at, there are glimmers of hope. More and more startups are entering the space, and investment rounds are on the rise. European VCs invested €275m into water tech startups in 2022, up from $135m in 2021.
Water tech-focused funds in Europe, such as Amsterdam-based PuraTerra and Switzerland’s Emerald Technology Ventures are closing bigger and bigger rounds, while across the Atlantic, US-based startup Gradiant became the first-ever water tech startup to reach unicorn status last month after a $225m raise.
Gradiant was co-founded by two MIT graduates, Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Govindan, who have secured no less than 250 patents for their technology, which allows customers to purify and reuse large amounts of water. The startup is tackling all verticals of water treatment — from sewage to toxic chemicals and has already secured big-name clients including chipmakers TSMC and Micron, and carmakers Hyundai and BMW.
“As global manufacturing and supply chains continue to advance, they demand more and more water resources which are increasingly rare and finite,” said John Arnold, Founder of Centaurus Capital, who co-led the record-breaking round alongside BoltRock Holdings.
Back in Europe, things are a little bit more sluggish. Water tech startups on the continent have lower valuations than their US counterparts, and the EU has ringfenced little funding for water technologies, unlike the US with its landmark Inflation Reduction Act.
“Investors are still cautious of betting on water startups,” Gaetane Suzenet, head of the European Water Tech Accelerator, tells TNW. One of the biggest barriers, says Suzenet, is the lack of major exits, which would give investors the confidence to commit.
Five companies have entered the accelerator since it started in 2020. The programme aims to expand this pool to between 25 to 40 companies and make them “European champions.”
“We want to make innovation the norm, explore new financing models, and encourage successful exits to show other startups and investors that water tech is a viable opportunity,” Suzenet says.
Accelerators like this are a step in the right direction but will be a drop in the ocean without increased government support and a change in perspective from the investment community.
While cash for water tech has historically been more of a trickle than a flood, as Europe braces for yet another drought this summer, there has never been a better time for VCs to participate in the growth stories of early-stage water tech companies.
“It’s about looking at the water in a different way,” says Robinson. “Water tech is not just about making utilities more efficient, it’s about preparing industry and society for water-related risks as a result of our new climate reality.”
In a significant first for Europe, Sweden’s privacy watchdog has fined two companies for transferring personal data to the US via Google Analytics. In addition, it is urging other firms to stop using Google’s web statistics tool.
In response to allegations issued by digital rights organisation None of Your Business (NYOB), the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY) audited four companies in total: CDON, Coop, Dagens Indusri, and Tele2.
IMY found that personal data had indeed been transferred across the Atlantic and, alarmingly, without sufficient safeguards in place.
According to the GDPR, personal data may be transferred to third countries outside the EU/EAA area as long as they provide an equivalent level of protection. However, a ruling by the European Court of Justice has determined that the US doesn’t meet the legally required standards.
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The Swedish authority concluded that the four companies have taken insufficient technical security measures to ensure the level of protection required by the EU. As a result, it has issued a fine of €1mn against Tele2 and €25,405 against CDON, as the two firms were found to have the least extensive set of measures.
Furthermore, IMY ordered CDON, Coop, and Dagens Industri to stop using Google Analytics, while Tele2 has already done so voluntarily.
Apart from Sweden, multiple data protection agencies in the EU, including Italy, France, and Austria have found company uses of Google’s tool to be in breach of the GDPR. But Sweden is the first country in the bloc to proceed towards a fine — which could have a ripple effect across the union.
“These decisions have implications not only for these four companies, but can also provide guidance for other organisations that use Google Analytics,” said Sandra Arvidsson, legal advisor at IMY. She also noted that now there’s clarity on the required measures when it comes to transferring personal data to third countries.
A student team from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has set a new Guinness world record for the longest distance driven by a hydrogen car without refuelling.
The student team, called Eco-Runner, succeeded in driving their ultra-efficient city car no less than 2,488.4 km in three days using just one kilogram of hydrogen fuel — equivalent to driving from Berlin to Istanbul. The marathon feat, which took place from 23-25 June, smashed the previous record of 2,055.7 km.
The Eco-Runner student team smashed the current world record by over 400km. Credit: Eco-Runner/TU Delft
The team headed to a race track in southern Germany for the world record attempt, as part of Shell’s annual Eco-Marathon, a competition that challenges students to design, build, and race fuel-efficient cars. Eleven drivers took turns navigating the same 5 km lap in two-hour shifts, totalling 71.5 hours of day and night driving.
Eco-Runner spent the last year designing, constructing, testing, and racing the hydrogen-powered vehicle in a bid to bring home the trophy. It is one of several hydrogen cars developed by the student team in recent years.
The latest vehicle — dubbed the ECXIII — is an ultra-lightweight, compact microcar that tips the scales at just 72 kg thanks to its carbon fibre hull. The vehicle converts hydrogen into electric energy, producing only water vapour and heat as byproducts.
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The ERXIII is the latest in a long line of hydrogen city cars built by the Eco-Runner student team. Credit: Eco-Runner/TU Delft
Eco-Runner sees its tiny hydrogen car as avisionof a future where “all cars are smaller, lighter, and aerodynamic,” with the focus being on “shared mobility” as “people deal with transport more sustainability and efficiently.”
While most of the emphasis in the passenger car segment has been on EVs, the team at Eco-Runner believes that hydrogen-powered city cars also have a place on the tarmac.
“Electric cars are also part of the solution for sustainable mobility, but the electricity grid is already filling up,” said operations manager Eliane van Boxtel. “Electrifying the whole world is not an option. Hydrogen and electric cars go hand in hand. There is no one big winner.”
Representatives for the Guinness World Records supervised the record attempt and officially recognised the achievement.
The recent introduction of Apple’s Vision Pro has ignited a fresh wave of excitement in the extended reality landscape, with industry experts and enthusiasts alike anticipating a surge in the growth and evolution of the XR industry.
This immersive technology (coined “spatial computing” by Apple), which encompasses virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality, is set to experience a significant boost from Apple’s entry into the field.
A New Era in Immersive Technology
The Vision Pro’s unveiling at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) generated a buzz in the XR world. It has triggered both commendations and criticisms from the global XR community, with its future potential and implications for the broader XR landscape hotly debated.
Apple’s Vision Pro is a spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, marking a significant step forward in immersive technology.
According to the company, it uses a “fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible – a user’s eyes, hands, and voice.” This marks a departure from traditional interaction methods, offering a more immersive experience for users.
A panel of global executives from the immersive tech industry weighed in on the device, discussing its potential use cases, and how it would impact the global XR community. The consensus was that the Vision Pro represented a significant leap forward in the development of XR technology, setting the stage for exciting advancements in the field.
The Potential of the Vision Pro
The Vision Pro’s introduction has been described as one of the “watershed moments” for the VR and AR industry. The device with enormous potential is poised to breathe new life into the XR space, with two of the world’s largest tech giants, Apple and Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), now vying for market share.
The Vision Pro’s announcement has spurred conversations and expectations that “spatial computing” will become an integral part of everyday life, much like how other Apple devices have seamlessly integrated into our daily personal and professional lives.
Apple has a remarkable track record of introducing technology that resonates with individuals on a personal level. The company’s knack for creating products that enhance individuals’ lives, work, and well-being has been a crucial factor in their widespread adoption.
Vision Pro: Design and Features
The Vision Pro comes with a clean, sleek design, and high-quality features – a standard we’ve come to expect from Apple. The device is controlled using our hands, rather than external controllers, making it more intuitive and user-friendly.
Apple has prioritized its use cases within its existing ecosystem of apps and content. This strategic move sets Vision Pro apart from its competitors, providing a unique selling proposition.
The device’s hardware is impressive, but its real strength lies in the software experience it offers. Vision Pro introduces a new dimension to personal computing by transforming how users interact with their favorite apps, enhancing productivity and entertainment experiences.
The Impact on the XR Market
The Vision Pro’s introduction has the potential to reshape the XR market. Apple’s entry into the XR space is expected to boost confidence, incite competition, and accelerate advancements in other headsets. This would lead to more people using mixed reality headsets in their day-to-day lives, accelerating use cases for enterprises and industries.
On the other hand, the device’s high price point suggests that it will initially find more success among corporate entities and developers. Companies could use the Vision Pro to create immersive experiences at events, while developers could use it to build innovative apps and content for the device.
At VR Vision, for example, we see enormous potential in the application of virtual reality training for enterprise applications, and the Vision Pro will only enable further innovation in that sector.
It is much safer and cost-effective to operate heavy machinery in the virtual world than in the real world for training. This has applicability across a wide array of industries and use cases and it will be interesting to see just how impactful it truly becomes.
The Vision Pro’s Presentation
Apple’s presentation of the Vision Pro was impressive, ticking many boxes. It showcased significant advancements in hardware and software, demonstrating how the device could offer a hands-free, intuitive experience. The demonstration also highlighted how spatial computing and the new user experience could spur creative content development.
However, some critics felt that the presentation didn’t fully demonstrate the range of VR activities that Vision Pro could achieve. There was a focus on ‘looking and clicking’ functions, which could also be performed on a smartphone. More emphasis could have been placed on the device’s potential for workplace and communication applications.
The Target Audience and Use Cases
The Vision Pro’s high price point suggests that its target audience will initially be businesses and developers. The device could revolutionize workplace training and education, enhancing engagement with learning materials, and streamlining work processes.
For developers, the Vision Pro represents an opportunity to experiment and innovate. Apple’s established App Store and developer community provide a strong launchpad for the creation of apps and content for Vision Pro. These early adopters may not create polished work initially, but their experiments and ideas will likely flourish in the coming years.
The Role of Vision Pro in the XR Market
Apple’s history of developing proprietary technology and working internally suggests that the Vision Pro will likely follow a similar path. The company’s commitment to quality control, unique design processes, and product development control has given Apple devices their distinctive look and feel.
While it’s difficult to predict the future, interoperability between headsets will likely mirror the landscape of Android and Apple smartphones or Mac and Windows computers. The Vision Pro will likely stand out in the market for its unique feel, best-in-class visuals and technology, and intuitive user experiences, maintaining the overall cohesion between various Apple devices.
Enhancing App Development With Unity
The integration of Unity’s development platform with Vision Pro enables developers to leverage the device’s capabilities and create compelling AR experiences.
Unity’s robust toolset offers a wide range of features, including real-time rendering, physics simulation, and advanced animation systems, all optimized for the Vision Pro’s hardware.
This seamless integration allows developers to focus on unleashing their creativity and designing immersive experiences that blur the line between the physical and virtual worlds.
The Vision Pro holds immense potential for a wide range of industries. From gaming and entertainment to education, healthcare, and industrial training, the device opens up avenues for innovative applications. Imagine interactive virtual tours of historical sites, immersive educational experiences, or real-time collaborative design and engineering projects. The Vision Pro’s spatial computing capabilities pave the way for a future where digital content seamlessly blends with our physical reality, transforming the way we learn, work, and entertain ourselves.
Apple’s Vision Pro: A Boost for Meta
Apple’s entry into the XR market could be a boon for Meta. Despite the criticisms and challenges Meta has faced, its headsets have consistently offered the best value in their class, with excellent hardware and a great game library, all at an attractive price.
The introduction of the Vision Pro could force Meta to step up its game, enhancing its software offerings and improving its user experience. The competition from Apple could ultimately lead to better products from Meta, benefiting users and developers alike.
Conclusion
The introduction of the Apple Vision Pro represents a significant milestone in the XR industry. Its potential impact extends beyond its impressive hardware and software features, setting the stage for exciting advancements in the field.
With Apple now a major player in the XR space, the industry is poised for a surge in growth and evolution. The Vision Pro’s introduction could lead to more investment in R&D, a flourishing supply chain, and an influx of developers eager to create innovative experiences for the device.
Undoubtedly, the Vision Pro marks the beginning of a new era in immersive technology, and its impact on the XR industry will be felt for years to come.
John Carmack, legendary programmer and former CTO of Oculus, is known for giving his unfiltered thoughts on almost every aspect of the XR industry. While he departed Meta in December, concluding his “decade in VR,” Carmack is still very interested in the medium, as he recently went hands-on with one of the latest PC VR headsets to hit the scene, the slim and light Bigscreen Beyond.
Bigscreen Beyond is a tethered PC VR headset that uses Valve’s SteamVR tracking standard, which starting at $1,000 for just the headset makes it an interesting value proposition for users already hooked into the SteamVR hardware ecosystem. It’s largely praised for its slim and light profile, which is thanks to the inclusion of pancake lenses and micro-OLEDs, serving up 2,560 × 2,560 pixels per eye at 70 to 90 Hz refresh.
You’ve probably already heard what we think of it though. Now for the master:
“Bigscreen Beyond feels like a prop for a futuristic movie, but it works!” Carmack said in a Twitter thread on Monday. “Far and away the smallest and lightest PC VR headset.”
That’s high praise coming from a key figure in the Oculus genesis story, not to mention co-founder and lead programmer of id Software, the studio behind pioneering ’90s 3D games Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake.
Image courtesy John Carmack
To hear all of Carmack’s thoughts on Bigscreen Beyond, we’ve formatted his tweets below for easier reading:
Bigscreen Beyond feels like a prop for a futuristic movie, but it works! Far and away the smallest and lightest PC VR headset.
As a result of the iPhone based face scanning before ordering, the fit is perfect, with zero light leaks. The custom printed facial interface is comfortable, but not breathable, so it isn’t great for fitness activities.
The prescription lens inserts snap in with magnets and work well. The visuals are a trade off vs Quest Pro. The resolution is clearly higher, but there are more internal reflections in the pancake optics, and the quality falls off more toward the edges. There are parts of the view where screens look fantastic, good enough for actual productivity work, but not across the entire view.
I sorely miss integrated audio. Having to mess with headphones severely impacts the minimalist feel of the headset. I know some people have strong opinions, but I still feel Quest made the right decisions around audio.
The cable to the PC and the tracking base stations are the biggest downside. The magic of stand-alone VR is real, and while some people happily trade it away for the raw power and flexibility of a PC, I wouldn’t recommend any PC VR setup as an entry point to VR.
For people considering an upgrade to a PC VR system, Bigscreen Beyond should be in the mix. I am very happy to see this extreme focus on light weight, and I hope it impacts Meta’s future designs.
In a follow-up tweet, Carmack points to a review from Adam Savage’s Tested, which he says “hits most of my points in more depth.”
In it, Tested’s Norman Chan reports back after having lived with the headset for a month, using a development unit as the office’s primary PC VR headset. Chan shows through-the-lens images, and discusses “the good, the bad, and the weird with this unique approach to high-end bespoke VR,” the video’s description reads.
SPACE BALL is a sports game currently free on Quest that mashes up Gorilla Tag’s movement scheme and the fast-paced gameplay of Rocket League. Indie VR studio 31 Labs announced it’s bringing the game to PC VR headsets next month.
The competitive multiplayer game offers up a number of modes, including Basketball, Soccer and Handball modes, letting players can go 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3 online, or play against bots to practice their skills.
Gorilla Tag and its knuckle-dragging locomotion scheme has definitely influenced Space Ball too, as players move about the field by pushing off the arena floor, also letting you execute boosts mid-air for quicker gameplay.
Space Ball is already available for free on Quest App Lab, but starting July 13th it will be launching for free on Steam Early Access too. It’s still early days for Space Ball, so if you’re looking for a match, you might want to join the game’s Discord (invite link) to find like-minded rocket-gorillas such as yourself.
To see Space Ball in action, check out a full introduction to the game from YouTuber ‘SpookyFairy VR’ for a quick look at gameplay:
Synapse is the latest action game from veteran VR studio nDreams, built exclusively for PSVR 2. While you’ll do plenty of shooting, players are also equipped with a telekinetic superpower that feels great as a core mechanic. But does the rest of the game live up to it? Read on to find out.
Synapse Details:
Available On: PSVR 2 (exclusive) Release Date: July 4th, 2023 Price: $35 Developer: nDreams
Gameplay
Editor’s Note: Gameplay clips may not appear with cookies disabled, click ‘View clip’ to see them in a separate window.
Synapse is a roguelite shooter where you’ll be blasting baddies with a weapon in one hand and controlling a telekinetic force power with the other. The game’s telekinesis ability is finely tuned, relying on PSVR 2’s eye-tracking to target whichever item you’re looking at. Look at a box and pull the trigger and suddenly you’re controlling its movements from afar. Look at an exploding barrel and pull the trigger and now you can toss it over to some enemies before pulling the trigger even harder to make it explode. Oh, and when you eventually get the ability to pick up enemies with your power, you’ll really enjoy launching them into the sky or send them crashing into the ground.
Over many years I’ve wondered why we haven’t seen a major VR game built around a ‘gravity gun’ like mechanic. It seems so natural to want to interact with virtual worlds using interesting physics mechanics rather than just shooting.
Well Synapse definitely proves out the mechanic with a strong core implementation that feels a little bit like magic thanks to the eye-tracking targeting which generally works well (just don’t forget to recalibrate your eye-tracking). It’s undeniably fun to look at an enemy, pick them up, and send them flying to a timely demise.
I also enjoyed the use of a two-stage trigger when it comes to manipulating explosive barrels—a light trigger pull lets you lift the barrel, while a full trigger pull makes it explode. It feels very intuitive while at the same time challenging you to think more carefully in the heat of battle about which object you’re controlling. It can feel effortless to see a barrel on the other side of the room, pick it up, then quickly hover it over to a group of enemies before crushing it to blow them away.
While I was hoping that there would be an increasing number of ways to interact with the environment using telekinesis, there’s little evolution on that front. You can control boxes, barrels, platforms, and (with later unlocks) enemies and grenades. But that’s about it. While the core mechanic feels great, it’s unfortunate that it doesn’t evolve into something more.
In your other hand you’ll start with a pistol which is about as standard as you’d expect, though nDreams adapted the great reloading system from Fracked to give Synapse an even quicker and easier reloading system that works great for the game’s combat pace.
When you’re out of ammo the mag will eject just a few inches out of the gun and then stay there. To reload all you have to do is push it back into the gun. It sounds a little silly, but makes sense in the context of the game’s mind-bending subject matter. And another nice detail (which I can’t recall if the game even explicitly teaches you) is that your hand doesn’t need to be the thing that pushes the mag back into your weapon to reload… you can shove your gun against a wall or a rock to slide it back in too—a clever way to allow for an improvised one-handed reload.
Reloading by pushing your mag against a wall works especially well considering the game’s hand-based cover system (also carried over from Fracked), which allows you to reach out to grab any cover and then use your hand to peek yourself in and out of said cover. It feels really natural and way more immersive than using the thumbstick to slide in and out of cover while crouched behind a wall.
As a roguelite there’s also unlocks to earn; some are temporary buffs that only last for your current run, while others are permanent and will make you better and stronger over time.
Everything I’ve said about the game so far is pretty positive, and warranted. But the game follows a strangely familiar pattern of flaws.
The thing about Synapse is that while the core mechanics (like telekinesis, reloading, and cover) work well, the rest of the game is a largely average wave shooter in the form of a roguelite. Quite unfortunately, many of the same core critiques of Synapse were equally true of nDreams’ last two big games: Fracked (2021) and Phantom: Covert Ops (2020).
It is a classic prognosis for the studio’s big action games at this point—not enough weapon, enemy, and encounter variety to really make the game sing.
For one, the game’s ‘levels’ feel completely homogenous. Combat isn’t meaningfully different from one to the next, which means every level feels essentially the same. Some destructible elements mix things up just a bit, but not enough to make levels feel dynamic and interesting.
And then there’s the mere four enemies: regular soldier dudes, kamikazes, hefty bois™, and one rather annoying flying enemy.
Some of the AI is actually pretty good. Soldier dudes will move around, use cover, flank you, and throw some suspiciously accurate grenades at your feet. Hefty bois will keep you pinned down behind cover, throw objects at you, and charge at you.
Image courtesy nDreams
On the other hand, the exploding kamikaze enemies feel consistently more unfair than anything, considering they usually explode at your feet even after you killed them, thanks to momentum carrying their corpses right into you.
And then there’s the flying enemies which are much more of a nuisance than an interesting threat… and animate so poorly (making them difficult to hit) that I’m not sure if they’re bugged or not.
Luckily my hatred for them made it that much more satisfying when I realized I could use my telekinesis to drop them into searing hot lava for an instant death.
Minimal enemy variety is backed by a lack of encounter and scenario variety. Every level is beaten by killing all enemies on the map; they all seem to spawn fairly randomly and tend to come from all sides, making it feel like a wave shooter most of the time. Not only does the level’s objective never vary, but there’s a real lack of meaningful encounter design, making most fights feel the same.
That’s not to say that Synapse isn’t fun. I enjoyed my first full run through the game, which took about three hours to complete. But from then on out the game asks you to continue doing the same things against the same enemies with the same weapon and abilities—but now at a harder difficulty.
That’s usually how roguelites go, but there just isn’t enough variety in the gameplay or build options in Synapse to reach that engaging feeling of ‘just one more run’ after you’ve completed your first. Even the promise of unlocking more narrative through during subsequent runs isn’t enough considering the narrative is a paper-thin radio drama. nDreams says players can expect to take around 12 hours to complete three runs, each at increasing difficulty, which will reveal all of the narrative. But I have to say that I wasn’t compelled to complete all three. All-in, I probably spent about five hours with the game before feeling like I’d seen it all.
Synapse has a really unique art style that I think they executed very well. The game runs well and generally sounds good too.
There’s no doubt the telekinesis is a more interesting and immersive way to interact with the game than shooting enemies at a distance. Being able to grip enemies with an invisible force, then toss them toward you while firing a flurry of bullets at them mid-air gives a strong feeling of direct control over the game’s virtual world, which helps anchor you to it.
Similarly, using your hand to pull yourself in and out of cover, then slapping your mag against a rock to load it into your gun, feel very ‘hands-on’.
Image courtesy nDreams
Aside from these elements, most of the game is fairly run-and-gun and there’s almost no other up-close interactions (which are the kind that tend to drive high levels of immersion). While the setting is neat (battling inside of someone’s brain, à la Inception), the story had zero intrigue, and served only as a rough premise for the action that unfolds in the game.
Comfort
Synapse is a run-and-gun game that doesn’t offer teleport. Aside from that, the essential comfort options are available, though I’m irked by the game’s implementation of snap turning, which is actually just a quick turn rather than a true snap turn (which tends to be more comfortable); Fracked had the very same issue.
Without teleport and with the expected pace of combat, Fracked might be a challenge for anyone that’s very sensitive to motion in VR, but otherwise feels largely average for comfort in a VR shooter.
One miscellaneous item worth noting here is that the game’s pistol tends to consistently shoot up and to one side, seemingly due to a lack of filtering on the weapon’s movement and the particular way the PSVR 2 controller tends to move in your hand when pulling the trigger in its ‘stiff’ state. This makes the pistol much less accurate than it seems it’s supposed to be.
Let’s face it — climate change is humanity’s greatest screw-up. We’ve known about it for almost a century. The science is clear. And yet, we’ve done nothing. It’s a fking embarrassment.
Now, finally, global leaders are scrambling to clean up the mess. But, even though most of the climate solutions we need already exist, we can’t seem to get our arses in gear to deploy them at the pace and scale required.
In short, the world is heating up, and we are failing to cool it down. Humans emitted more CO2 into the atmosphere last year than ever before (uh…WTF?).
Understandably, leaders are scared shitless. Which is pushing them to explore some pretty dumb, and outright dangerous, ideas. One of their worst brainwaves is geoengineering — AKA playing God with the Earth’s climate. (“Geoengineering” as used here does not refer to carbon removal technologies which are, to the best of our knowledge, pretty legit.)
Some of these proposals include brightening clouds, altering the ocean’s chemistry, or shooting particles into the atmosphere to dim the light of the sun — what could go wrong?
While these proposals might sound like something from a dystopian sci-fi flick, it’s actually remarkably easy, and cheap, to alter the Earth’s climate.
Solar geoengineering is one of the more controversial of these “solutions”. Its most popular derivative, stratospheric aerosol injection, involves shooting dust into the atmosphere to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the Earth’s surface. The tech was inspired by volcanic clouds which have been known to cool the entire planet for years following a major eruption.
Clouds increase the reflectivity of the Earth’s surface. Stratospheric aerosol injection aims to replicate this effect by spraying dust into the upper atmosphere, in hopes to cool the climate. Credit: Woovii/Getty Images
While stratospheric aerosol injection could be remarkably effective in halting global heating, it might open a Pandora’s box of problems. According to a recent UN report, interfering in the globe’s natural climate could damage the ozone layer, alter global rainfall patterns, and cause severe geopolitical tensions.
While proponents say solar geoengineering would be a short-term measure to combat warming, a recent study published in Scientific American suggests that if politicians do decide to shoot dust into the atmosphere they could become dangerously dependent on it for “centuries or more.”
To put enough dust in the atmosphere to curb warming could require tens of thousands of high-altitude flights per year. A sudden halt to this process could cause temperatures to skyrocket, potentially faster than life could adapt, a concept known as “termination shock.”
Then there’s the ethical issue that a techno-fix could take pressure off politicians and businesses to decarbonise as fast as possible.
Simply put, solar geoengineering could be the equivalent of a climate change band-aid.
Despite the risks, last year, the US government set up a five-year research programme exploring ways to reflect more sunlight back into space, setting the stage for further funding into the nascent technology.
Billionaires including Bill Gates, George Soros, and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz have all expressed their interest, while 60 prominent scientists want to conduct small-scale solar geoengineering field experiments.
There’s even a startup, Make Sunsets, that is preselling carbon credits based on its promise to release sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to curb warming.
US startup Make Sunsets was kicked out of Mexico for conducting unsanctioned tests of stratospheric aerosol injection. Several researchers at MIT Technology Review have condemned Make Sunsets, saying its efforts are “wildly premature”.
The precautionary principle — or “if in doubt, leave it out,” to ordinary folks — is one of the fundamental premises of sound environmental decision-making, and one that we ought to heed going forward.
In a potentially positive step, the EU announced this week a call for talks at the “highest international level” on the risks posed by the possible use of climate geoengineering.
“These technologies introduce new risks to people and ecosystems, while they could also increase power imbalances between nations, spark conflicts and raises a myriad of ethical, legal, governance and political issues,” said EU officials in a joint communication on Wednesday.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.
While the EU is taking a precautionary approach, it is not outright against the technologies and seeks to create “rules” for governing them.
Others are taking a harder line.
In a statement issued last year, Frank Biermann from Utrecht University’s Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, warned that “the risks of solar geoengineering are poorly understood and can never be fully known.”
Biermann is the leader of a group of renowned climate scientists calling for a non-use agreement on solar geoengineering. In other words, a worldwide ban on its development.
“Research on solar geoengineering is not the preparation of a Plan B to prevent climate disaster, as its advocates argue. It will instead simply delay and derail current global climate policies,” he said.
“Moreover, the current system of international institutions is incapable of effectively regulating the deployment of this technology on a global scale. Solar geoengineering is no solution.”
I couldn’t agree more, professor. By playing God with the climate we not only risk worsening our predicament, but we also send a dangerous message — that humans can simply engineer their way out of their problems, rather than fix them at the root (think widespread cultural, social, and political transformation).
As Einstein famously quipped: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.”
