While online shopping remains undeniably convenient, many are beginning to wonder: Is it still fun? According to a new study from Criteo, 75% of consumers now see online shopping as purely “functional.” For a growing number of shoppers—particularly younger ones fueling the revival of America’s shopping malls and returning to physical stores—the excitement of browsing online has started to fade. Nearly 80% of online shoppers described the experience as lonely. There’s no one in the fitting room to hype you up, no sales associate offering styles you wouldn’t normally pick for yourself. Just endless scrolling, decision fatigue, and return labels. Often, it starts with tapping on an Instagram ad and ends with an Apple Pay purchase destined to sit in your closet with the tags still on, quietly outlasting the return window. As a result, 29% of shoppers now view online shopping as a chore. More than a third say they miss the joy of discovering something unexpected in a store. Another 78% report feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of options online. If you’ve ever browsed Temu, Shein, or TikTok Shop—with their flashy, chaotic interfaces and algorithm-fed feeds of “crazy low prices”—you’ll likely relate. Only about half of consumers find online shopping to be relaxing or enjoyable. “Today, we no longer ‘go shopping’—we are always shopping—but that hasn’t made the experience more exciting. Instead, online retail has become a functional necessity, optimized for speed but stripped of surprise and spontaneity,” says Marc Fischli, Criteo’s executive managing director. “Our research shows that consumers crave the thrill of the unexpected, yet too often, discovery is being left to chance. Brands that don’t reinject joy into the shopping journey risk fading into the background of a transactional, forgettable experience.” AI could help personalize the online experience and recreate that feeling of stumbling upon something special. In fact, 43% of online shoppers said they wouldn’t mind if retailers used their data to create more personalized experiences. Until then, the doomscrolling continues in search of that elusive dopamine hit.

The world’s largest wooden structure, the Grand Ring, has now been completed. This impressive architectural feat forms a huge circular loop, featuring a walkway that runs along its top. Measuring approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) in circumference, the Grand Ring stands out as a remarkable new landmark. It was created specifically for the Osaka 2025 Expo, an event currently taking place in Japan. The design comes from Sou Fujimoto Architects, who are renowned for their innovative and creative approach to architecture. The Grand Ring serves as both an attraction and a functional space for visitors. Designer: Sou Fujimoto Architects The structure was built using a combination of modern construction techniques and traditional Nuki joints, a Japanese woodworking method that connects pieces without the use of nails or screws. The majority of the wood used is local cypress and cedar, with some Scots pine incorporated as well. This approach not only highlights regional materials but also traditional craftsmanship. Officially certified by Guinness World Records, the structure holds the title of the largest wooden structure in the world. It measures 30 meters in width and has an outer edge diameter of approximately 675 meters. The structure encircles the Expo site and features the Sky Walk, a walkway positioned 12 meters above ground level. The Sky Walk is lined with a variety of flowers, creating a scenic route for visitors. From the walkway, people can enjoy panoramic views of the many Expo pavilions as well as the surrounding landscape, making it both functional and visually appealing. “The Grand Ring is the symbol of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and expresses the concept of Unity in Diversity,” stated the Expo’s press release. “It is constructed using a fusion of modern construction methods and traditional Nuki joints, such as those used in the construction of Japanese shrines and temples. It will serve as the main route of visitor traffic around the Expo site, enabling smooth movement around the site and offering visitors a comfortable space sheltered from the wind, rain, and sunlight.” The Grand Ring was initially designed to be easily dismantled after the event concludes on October 13. However, Japanese authorities are now considering keeping the structure in place beyond the Expo. To explore future possibilities, they are inviting suggestions from residents on potential uses for the Grand Ring. This approach reflects the story of Paris’ Eiffel Tower, which was also originally meant to be temporary for an exposition but became an enduring landmark. The final decision will depend on community input and the structure’s potential value, opening up the possibility for the Grand Ring to remain as a lasting feature in Osaka. The post World’s Largest Wooden Structure Debuts At Osaka 2025 Expo With Potential For Permanent Landmark Status first appeared on Yanko Design.

The charging speed of a race car - with the storage space of a race car

For years, North Korea has been secretly placing young IT workers inside Western companies. With AI, their schemes are now more devious—and effective—than ever.

Macworld Apple’s AirPlay technology makes it easy to stream media from an Apple device to a device such as a speaker or a television. But the wireless connection that AirPlay uses has vulnerabilities that hackers can use to gain control of those devices. Cybersecurity firm Oligo posted a report today that covers vulnerabilities it discovered in the AirPlay protocol and the AirPlay Software Development Kit. The vulnerabilities, dubbed AirBorne, have been patched in the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and other Apple devices through security updates, but third-party products that implement AirPlay likely contain the flaws since it’s up to those third parties to provide software patches for their devices. Oligo states in its report that the “number of third-party audio devices that support AirPlay can be estimated in the 10s [stet] of millions.” To take advantage of the AirPlay vulnerabilities, the hacker must have access to the local Wi-FI network that the AirPlay devices are connected to. While that isn’t a trivial task with a home or business network, it can be if the network is a publicly shared one, such as in a coffee shop. For example, a coffee shop may put AirPlay speakers or a TV on the same network as the one open to its customers. If an AirPlay device is equipped with microphones or cameras, AirBorne can be used by a hacker to spy on users. Airborne allows for a variety of attacks. In one video example, Oligo shows a Remote Code Execution (RCE), where a MacBook is hacked using AirBourne so that whenever the Music app is launched, an AirBourne image opens. Watch the demo below. Oligio also states that CarPlay devices are affected by AirBorne. In the video below, AirBorne is used to gain access to a CarPlay unit and display the AirBorne image. However, because the hacker needs to able to connect to the CarPlay unit by accessing the car’s Bluetooth or USB connection, the risk is low. How to protect yourself from AirBorne Apple has patched the AirBorne vulnerabilities in its devices through OS updates and firmware updates for devices such as the HomePod and Apple TV. Users can update iPhones, iPads, and Macs through Software Update in System Settings. Firmware updates cannot be triggered by the user; they are usually done automatically. Apple releases security patches through OS updates, so installing them as soon as possible is important. As for third-party AirPlay devices, it is up to the manufacturer to provide a driver update. Wired points out that the market is filled with uncertified AirPlay support, which could mean that the manufacturer may not be attentive in updating the software for its device. Macworld has several guides to help keep your Mac secure, including a guide on whether or not you need antivirus software, a list of Mac viruses, malware, and trojans, and a comparison of Mac security software.

Apple provided a brief statement following a ruling from a judge that Apple had violated the anti-steering injunction handed down after the Epic versus Apple trial.Apple disagrees with rulingJudge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple willfully violated an injunction that required the company to throw out its anti-steering practices. The company did offer a new set of rules, but it required complicated linking solutions and a 27% commission.Apple provided a statement to 9to5Mac late Wednesday, which says that it disagrees with the ruling. The company will comply with the order, but will appeal. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Though Xbox’s own hardware marketshare has rapidly and consistently declined in recent years, Microsoft is continuing to see impressive growth. The company has fully transitioned into being a multiplatorm publisher, having released several major first-party Xbox titles for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch over the last year (the former in particular)- and is now reaping the benefits. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed (via Tom Warren on Twitter) in the company’s recent quarterly fiscal briefing that for Q3 of fiscal year 2024-25, which ran from January to the end of March, Xbox was the “top publisher” by pre-orders and pre-installs not only on the Xbox Store, but also the PlayStation Store. Having lined up the likes of Age of Mythology: Retold, Forza Horizon 5, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle for the PS5 in the early months of 2025, that doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Meanwhile, PC Game Pass also saw a 45 percent year-on-year bump in its revenue, while cloud gaming surpassed a collective 150 million hours played by its entire userbase, setting a record and marking the first time that it has seen those numbers. Significantly, across all first-party Microsoft titles on all platforms (so also including PlayStation, Switch, and mobile in addition to Xbox and PC), the company saw over 500 million monthly active users during the quarter. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Xbox for Q3, 2025: • “Ended the Q as the top publisher by preorders and preinstalls on both Xbox and PlayStation Store.” • PC Game Pass revenue up 45% YoY • Cloud gaming new record: surpassing 150 million hrs played for the 1st time this Q pic.twitter.com/xmWBMvrU8E — Tom Warren (@tomwarren) April 30, 2025 Xbox games reach over 500 million monthly active users PC Game Pass revenue up +45% — Derek Strickland (@DeekeTweak) April 30, 2025

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Thursday, May 1st, 2025 Posted by Jim Thacker Lumion releases Lumion 2025.0 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Lumion has released Lumion 2025.0, the new version of its real-time visualisation software.The update introduces a new AI-based render upscaling feature, support for ray traced water and fog, and a new Scene Inspector for navigating complex projects. Lumion has also discontinued its old Standard subscriptions, cut the price of Pro subscriptions, and introduced new Studio subscriptions that include Lumion View, its new SketchUp plugin. An easy-to-use near-real-time tool for architectural visualisation work First released in 2010, and now one of the most widely used renderers for arch viz work, Lumion creates renders of architectural scenes in near-real time.The software is intended to provide architects with little background in visualization with a more straightforward way to create realistic stills and animations than standard DCC apps. Users import building models from other software, either in standard 3D file formats like FBX, OBJ, SKP and MAX, or via built-in live links to major CAD applications. They can then edit materials inside Lumion, set up lighting and weather effects, dress the scene from the accompanying asset library, and create simple camera animations. Lumion 2025.0: Experimental new render upscaling system Lumion 2025.0 adds a new AI-based image upscaling system, aimed at users rendering on lower-end machines.Activating AI Upscale causes Lumion to render at half the target resolution, then use AI techniques – which are performed locally, on the CPU – to upscale the half-size image. As well as reducing total processing time, the workflow is aimed at users with less powerful GPUs, making it possible to “output an 8K ray traced image, even if your hardware does not support it”. The feature is currently still in beta, and may result in loss of detail in fine textures, and does not currently upscale other rendered output, like depth, specular and material ID maps. Ray traced water and environment fog The hybrid ray tracing system introduced in Lumion 2023.0 has been extended to support water and fog.The Water Material now supports ray tracing, with the water surface now appearing in reflections for all of the ray traced materials in a scene, and vice versa. The update also introduces support for ray traced volumetrics, for effects like environment fog. As well as standard light sources, ray traced fog can be illuminated by emissive materials, volumetric lights and the volumetric sun light, and can interact with volumetric clouds. The feature is still in beta, and is described as resource-intensive, with some known limitations. Other changes: new Scene Inspector and library assets Workflow improvements include a new Scene Inspector, for searching for objects, layers and hierarchies in a project, making it easier to manage complex scenes.For performance troubleshooting, the title bar gets a color-coded ‘speedometer’ showing the current fps of the project, with more info displayed when hovering over the icon. Lumion’s accompanying asset library gets 200 new objects, with 68 new nature assets, including seven high-detail photogrammetric trees; plus 14 new materials. The update is compatibility-breaking, so projects saved in Lumion 2025.0 cannot be opened in older versions. Pricing changes: new Lumion Studio subscription, and Standard subscriptions discontinued Lumion has also changed the pricing and licensing for the software.The old $749/year Standard subscription, which provided access to Lumion’s core features and around half the total library assets, has been discontinued. The price of the Pro subscription has been reduced to $1,149/year, down $350/year, although the old floating licenses have been replaced by named-user licenses. However, there is also a new $1,499/year Studio subscription – the old price for Pro subscriptions – that includes a floating license of Lumion Pro, plus a named-user license of Lumion View, Lumion’s new SketchUp plugin. Price and system requirements Lumion 2025.0 is available for Windows 10+. The software is rental-only.One-year subscriptions have a MSRP of $1,149/year for the Pro edition; $1,499/year for the Studio edition. You can find more details in the story above. Both Lumion Pro 2025 and Lumion View are free to students and teachers. The educational editions are non-commercial licenses, and renders from the student edition are watermarked. Read an overview of the new features in Lumion 2025.0 on Lumion’s blog Read a full list of new features in Lumion 2025.0 in the online release notes Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects. Latest News Lumion releases Lumion 2025.0 Significant update to the real-time visualization software adds AI render upscaling, ray traced water and fog, and new pricing and licensing. Thursday, May 1st, 2025 Lumion releases Lumion View for SketchUp New real-time design exploration and visualization plugin lets users generate photorealistic 4K renders inside the 3D design software. Thursday, May 1st, 2025 Kiri Engine 3.14 adds AI-enhanced Lidar scanning Mobile 3D scanning app uses new machine learning techniques to refine Lidar environment scans captured on iPhone and iPad Pros. Wednesday, April 30th, 2025 CLO Virtual Fashion releases Marvelous Designer 2025.0 Big update to the 3D clothing design tool adds a new fur material, new keyframe animation capabilities, and a modular garment library. Wednesday, April 30th, 2025 Chaos releases Vantage 2.8 Real-time renderer gets support for light linking, lens effects, and Shader Execution Reordering on NVIDIA GPUs. See all the new features. Wednesday, April 30th, 2025 Ziva VFX and OIDN creators win Sci-Tech Academy Awards Soft tissue simulation and render denoising system win tech 'Oscars', due to be presented at a ceremony tonight. Check out the other winners. Tuesday, April 29th, 2025 More News Sparseal adds SDF modeling to Uniform 1.4 EZ-Tree is a lightweight free open-source tree generator Substance 3D creator Sébastien Deguy to leave Adobe Download free Houdini tools from SideFX's Project Grot Master FACS Rigging for Facial Motion Capture Unity 6.1: discover 5 key features for CG artists Adobe releases Photoshop 26.6 Chaos releases Corona 12 Update 2 for 3ds Max and Cinema 4D Get 260+ modular Wild West building assets for Unreal Engine Get VFX artist Thomas Marcos' free Blender clouds shader NVIDIA open-sources PhysX's GPU simulation code Hair Cinematic Tool 2.0 simplifies hair shading in Unreal Engine 5 Older Posts

A New Analysis Raises Doubts About Potential Hints of Life Recently Detected on a Distant Exoplanet Astronomers published evidence of possible biosignatures on the planet K2-18b earlier this month, but another look at the data suggests the finding could be statistical noise An artist's concept of K2-18b, the exoplanet at the center of the debate NASA / CSA / ESA / J. Olmsted In mid-April, scientists led by the University of Cambridge in England published a paper detailing potential evidence of life on a distant planet called K2-18b. Now, astrophysicist Jake Taylor at the University of Oxford has published his own analysis of the data as a preprint paper on arXiv that has not been peer-reviewed—and he says those signs may not be there at all. Using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the first study found possible signatures for compounds called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which, on Earth, are only produced by life. Though these could have been generated in non-biological ways in space, the team suggested their detection offered the “strongest evidence yet” of life outside our solar system. Taylor used a basic statistical test to re-analyze the JWST data, rather than looking specifically for DMS and DMDS. “I wanted to not ‘assume’ what molecules would be in the atmosphere,” he writes in an email to Nell Greenfieldboyce at NPR. “I directly analyzed the transmission spectrum that they analyzed in order to have a similar comparison.” Taylor’s own tests came back with data points that looked like flat lines, indicating no detections of molecules. Had the points mapped out bell-shaped curves—called Gaussian distributions—that would have pointed to the presence of molecules. “This indicates that the data does not have the precision, yet, to detect a spectral feature [indicating a particular molecule],” says Taylor to Alex Wilkins at New Scientist. With further research, more convincing signs of life might appear, Taylor tells CBC News’ Nicole Mortillaro. “We definitely would need more observations to get a better signal. And who knows, it might pop out, it might be there. It’s just right now, the signal-to-noise ratio is not definitive.” The exoplanet K2-18b is between the sizes of Earth and Neptune, and it orbits a star roughly 124 light-years away. The Cambridge team suggests it’s a “Hycean” world—an ocean planet with a largely hydrogen atmosphere. But this relates to another of Taylor’s critiques, which he shared on TikTok earlier this month. He argued the researchers should not have compared their detections to how molecules would behave in nitrogen-rich atmospheres like our own and instead should have considered how they would behave in a hydrogen-rich setting. “The data they use are not appropriate for these types of atmospheres,” Taylor said in the video. Nikku Madhusudhan, the lead author of the first study, still stands behind his team’s findings. Taylor’s models, Madhusudhan tells New Scientist, are too simple to reflect the complexity of the real data. “The model itself is unphysical, as I have never seen a physically plausible model that can give rise to the Gaussian peaks and troughs in a transmission spectrum over this wavelength range,” he adds. “There is nothing in this paper that worries me or seems relevant to the discussion about our result. I am only slightly surprised that the bar is so low for a rebuttal!” Madhusudhan adds in an email to NPR. Taylor, on the other hand, tells New Scientist that these simple models are often used to identify chemicals such as sodium in atmospheres. Still, in the Cambridge team’s original paper, they noted that more research will be necessary to verify their findings. They called for “a dedicated community effort in multiple directions—observational, theoretical and experimental,” to test their conclusions. The researchers’ detection reached what’s known as the three-sigma level of statistical significance—or a 0.3 percent chance that the observation is a fluke. In general, a more rigorous five-sigma detection represents a statistically significant finding, writes Brandon Specktor for Live Science. Kevin Stevenson, an astronomer at Johns Hopkins University who was not involved in either study, tells NPR that this re-analysis is important, “because it carries the frustrations expressed by many in the exoplanet community.” “Just like the boy that cried wolf, no one wants a series of false claims to further diminish society’s trust in scientists,” he adds. “Context is important when it comes to science communication, particularly for a hot-button topic like the search for life beyond Earth, and we need to be responsible stewards in that respect.” The full set of JWST data used by Madhusudhan and his team is now public, so more studies like Taylor’s will likely be published in the coming weeks. But perhaps the best way to settle this debate, as astronomers have noted, is collecting more observations. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.