Apartment prices didn't move much in November, but they may slide in early 2025.Landlords tend to cut prices during the winter, and some are even giving unusual perks.Here are 12 cities where rent is affordable and on the decline.Fewer people are moving during a seasonally slow stretch in the rental market, but those who are looking for a new apartment soon may be in luck.Rent was flat or down across the US in November, a recent report from real-estate site Zumper found. The cost of one-bedroom apartments was little changed for a fourth straight month at $1,534, while two-bedroom setups were modestly cheaper, down 0.4% from October at $1,902.These findings suggest that the long-standing stalemate on price between landlords and tenants is dragging on, though the path of least resistance may be lower later in the coming months."Most renters who were planning to move this year have already done so, and property owners tend to price down units to fill vacancies before the holidays," Zumper's team wrote in the report.So, while softer demand and limited apartment supply have offset each other, property managers hoping to be fully booked may have to cut prices or get creative with concessions. One such perk unusual as it may sound is free groceries for a year, Zumper researchers noted."We anticipate that national rents will continue to see modest declines through the rest of this year and likely into the beginning of next year as well," Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades said in a statement for the report.Even if renters score savings this winter, apartment prices remain 2.3% to 2.5% higher than they were a year ago, according to Zumper. However, that's still below the official inflation rate of 2.6% and well under the 4.9% jump in the shelter price index. Zumper If price growth continues to fade next year, interest rates should tick down, and mortgage rates would follow suit. That would be a boon for homebuyers, though renters could also benefit since more people buying houses would likely mean less intense competition for apartments."Easing inflationary pressures could drive further declines to national rent prices and pave the way for additional interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve," Zumper researchers wrote.12 cities with attractively priced apartmentsAlthough the national rate for one-bedroom rent didn't budge this month, there are a dozen midsize or large US cities where apartments are reasonably priced and heading down.Below are the 12 cities where rent was at least $250 cheaper than the national median price of $1,534 in November and less expensive than 12 months ago. Along with each market are its year-over-year and month-over-month rent changes and its median rent, the savings compared to the national median, and its rank among the 100 top US real-estate markets.

I've been fighting with my health insurance company a lot lately. The mundane billing disputes are exactly the type of situation that, theoretically, AI should make easier. That, however, is not what's going on. The first point of contact is the AI-powered online virtual assistant, which asks what it can help me with but has, thus far, never been able to actually help. After some back and forth, it directs me to an allegedly real person who's supposed to be better equipped to handle the matter. A lot of the time, I get referred to a phone number to call instead. Once I call that number, I'm presented with a new robot this time, one that talks. It's not any better at understanding my problem than the typing robot, but it's also not so sure I'm ready to get to an agent just yet. Yes, it understands I'd like to speak with a representative, but why don't I explain what about first? As my frustration grows, I can hear my voice rise to a Karen-level pitch I swore I'd never use.By corporate America's (sometimes dubious) telling, AI is basically the answer to everything, including customer service. Businesses say it's the way to unlock efficiencies and improve customer "journeys" so people can solve their problems and get what they need on their own, and fast. The bigger, though less advertised, focus is how AI can save companies money and cut costs, whether by helping human assistants or, in likelier scenarios, reducing the need for human assistants at all. Corporations have long seen contact centers as cost centers, and ones they're constantly looking for ways to reduce."It's a lot of work, and it's expensive to think about customer experience and design your AI in a way that's going to be an enjoyable experience," said Michelle Schroeder, the senior vice president of marketing at PolyAI, which creates AI-based voice assistants. "And most companies that are thinking about cost cutting and the AI revolution are not really thinking about the customer."Simply put, the AI still doesn't work that well. Many of these chatbots and virtual support agents are not ready for prime time. People don't want to use them, but they have to anyway."Companies are operating in the dark, in some sense. They have this idea that this technology is going to provide them with cost savings," said Michelle Kinch, an assistant professor of business administration at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. "They don't exactly know how to deploy it."At the moment, customers are the guinea pigs in companies' experimentation with AI. We're the ones navigating the mishaps, overcoming the hurdles, and serving as case studies for what works and what doesn't. The hope is that all this testing will pan out, and the AI will get better as time goes on. But that's not the only outcome possible. We may just be consumers, standing in front of a chatbot, begging to talk to a real person forever.Consumers are already suspicious of the whole chatbot thing. A recent Gartner survey found that nearly two-thirds of customers prefer that companies don't use AI for customer service. The main reason for their concern was that it would make it harder for them to reach a person. They also worried it would take jobs and give the wrong answers. A J.D. Power survey found bank customers aren't sold on AI. Some academic research indicates that when consumers hear "AI," it lowers emotional trust, and that consumers evaluate service as worse when it's provided by a bot versus a human, even when the service is identical. People think automation is meant to benefit the company as in, save money and not them.When we do have that acute need to talk to a person, the chatbot becomes a hurdle.Many of them use AI in their daily lives, to some extent, like using ChatGPT to research a product or ask a question about a warranty, said Keith McIntosh, a researcher at Gartner. They're just wary in a customer-service setting that it won't do the trick. "They know the tools can work, but they're just worried that service organizations will use it to just block access to a person and probably do not trust yet that the technology will actually give them a solution," he said.Companies need to reassure customers that they're actually using AI to deliver a solution they can use in a self-service way and offer a clear path to an agent when necessary, he said. That sounds nice, but that's often not the reality. It's tough, if not impossible, to get a real person on the phone in a way that can be deeply frustrating and anxiety-inducing."When we do have that acute need to talk to a person, the chatbot becomes a hurdle," Kinch said.Even setting aside the cost savings for companies, there are clear reasons that AI should be a good fit for customer service. When people reach out to a company, it's often with the same basic questions when is my package arriving, where are my tickets, what is the balance on my checking account? Generative AI chatbots are good at distilling this sort of simple information and packaging it in an easy-to-read, conversational way assuming they're not making stuff up."Most companies have tiered operations where they have tier-one, tier-two, tier-three support in increasing complexity, and that tier-one support is typically the sort of high-volume, low-complexity type questions," said Jason Maynard, the chief technology officer of North America and Asia Pacific Zendesk, a customer-service platform. "We're already seeing some customers that are really successful at automating a lot of what has been typically like their tier-one operations."He pointed to DraftKings, which has millions of players, many of whom have basic questions about where to find their bonuses or how to work a promotion that would be expensive and inefficient for a human to answer on a case-by-case basis. It would be an "untenable cost" for the size of their brand, he said.What gets more complicated is when people get up the ladder into tier-two and tier-three issues. When "Where is my package?" becomes, "You say my package is here and keep sending me a picture the FedEx guy snapped of the delivery, which shows of my package is clearly missing," the robot's in a pickle. (A former coworker is in such a situation now.)"Customer experience is so much more complicated than people realize," said Chris Filly, who heads marketing at Callvu, a customer-experience company. "The customer-service team has to deal with an infinite number of potential issues that come up across all these different touchpoints, all these different customer types. It's very, very complicated to make sure that every node in that network has perfect information from everything else."No system, AI-driven or otherwise, is going to be perfect. But weighing on the corporate decision of what counts as "good enough" is money. Maynard, from Zendesk, spends a lot of time with chief operating officers and chief customer officers in his position, and they're under pressure to cut costs. They "know they're under the microscope," he said some CFO reads a story about how a company cut 700 jobs using AI support agents, and they shoot over an email asking, "Why aren't we doing that?""We're in a macroeconomic environment where there's just much more scrutiny on costs these days for any organization," Maynard said, adding that thanks to increases in interest rates, there's a "real focus on profitability, and that puts pressure on margins."This creates some misaligned incentives. Companies are inclined to implement AI broadly even if it's not appropriate and will make their customers miserable. They may see the immediate dollar signs they save by moving to an automated system but they don't see the consumer on the line shouting at the AI agent and pleading to talk to a human."They tend to view contact centers as a cost center, not as a profit center, and the only thing you want to do in a cost center is reduce cost," said Jeff Gallino, the CEO of CallMiner, a software company that focuses on conversation intelligence and customer experience. "They're not looking for transformative, they're looking for incremental."I recently found myself watching a panel at a conference hosted by Fortune magazine that was focused on unlocking the economic potential of AI, featuring executives at companies such as Santander and Siemens. The consensus was that AI was inevitable bank tellers are out, robots are in, and everyone is just going to have to get used to it, including begrudging consumers who are often on the unfortunate end of it. Rodney Zemmel, a senior partner at McKinsey, said consumer acceptance is coming. "It's amazing how many people in the US were dead against any form of facial recognition until it saves them two minutes in the Delta security line in the airport," he said, or were "massive privacy advocates and for a free pizza online will give away all their personal information." As long as the benefits are there, people will come around to it.That sounds lovely, except for a lot of consumers, the benefits aren't that evident yet, or at least not enough to outweigh the drawbacks. AI looks like just another measure companies put in place to boost their bottom lines. The bull case is that the AI gets better over time, that five years from now, the virtual agents will be lifelike enough that nobody can tell the difference, and we'll just be chatting away with robots all day to solve our problems. At the moment, companies are building the AI-enabled plane, in a sense, while flying it. Eventually, the plane will be built: The models will be trained, they'll have the right data, and there will be best practices in place for deployment.People are not enjoying that experience right now.Maynard compared the current moment to building a website in 1999 everyone's guessing at what this is supposed to look like, but eventually, they'll figure it out. "That transition, we're just very, very early in it, and like all technology changes, it's sort of like things that you think are going to happen really fast tend just to proliferate out into the broader economy and have people adopt them and all these things, it just takes longer than anyone expects," he said."People are not enjoying that experience right now," Gallino said. "I very strongly believe that they will enjoy the experience probably soon."Filly, from Callvu, said that a survey his company conducted on attitudes toward AI in customer-service settings shows consumers are coming around on it and are more willing to give it a chance. Still, they prefer to deal with a live agent in most situations."The honest truth is that the data is getting better, that there is hope that this will all resolve itself," he said. "We know that there are certain aspects of customer service that AI is doing well. Now, how long before the state-of-the-art AI makes it into that chatbot that's annoying the heck out of you? It might not be there yet."The bear case is that significantly better doesn't come. There are no guarantees that this will all just work itself out. The conventional wisdom in business is that if customers have a bad experience, they'll vote with their pocketbooks and go elsewhere. But many industries are uncompetitive, and you can't easily pick up and walk away from your health insurer or your cable company. What's more, if every company has a mediocre AI experience, the bar might just be lowered across the board.Many companies don't prioritize customer service and contact centers. They're a necessity, but the goal is to make them as cheap as possible."Everybody says, 'Oh, this is just going to get better naturally, and then thus conversational AI will get better naturally.' There's two huge flaws with that," Schroeder, from PolyAI, said. For one thing, Google Home and Alexa have been around for years, and they're not wizards. "Even that is, still years later, not getting the difference between 15 and 50," she said. That's a "dealbreaker" for a good conversation. "The second thing is that most of these companies are thinking about conversational AI purely as an efficiency play and as a cost savings and human replacement," she said. If the point of the AI isn't to do a good job, then why would it?Companies' new favorite way to make or, rather, save money, is making consumers slightly more miserable. Hopefully, that will change, eventually. We've just got to wait and see.Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

Latest Nintendo Switch 2 rumours discuss announcement date and release monthGameCentralPublished November 25, 2024 11:56amUpdated November 25, 2024 3:41pm The rumourmill has reset (Nintendo)A new round of Nintendo Switch 2 rumours has begun but theres still a sliver of hope the new console could be announced this year.As you may have noticed, the rumours about the Switch 2 being announced in October and November did not prove correct. Whether that means all the many different sources were wrong or Nintendo changed their plans is not clear, but the fact remains they promised to unveil their new console before April next year.They never said anything about when Nintendo would release it but the assumption has always been either late spring/early summer or autumn 2025. Although the latter risks happening at the same time as GTA 6, which even though its not related will split mainstream attention in a way Nintendo probably doesnt want.That means a reveal in January or February is now the most logical assumption, with a release sometime between March and May. That also means anyone can say exactly that and pretend they have an inside source telling them as much, which is what seems to be happening on social media at the moment.A particularly bizarre post on the Famiboards forum is written in code and is primarily concerned with rumours that remakes of Pokmon Black and White (the second generation to be released on the DS) will be an early priority on the Switch 2, which isnt much of a stretch.Technically, neither is the other supposed revelation, which states that, Ounce will announce in January 2025, and release in March. Ounce being the supposed codename for the new console.Theres no reason to think the person behind this information isnt just making it all up but their suggestion is one of the most likely outcomes and seems to be supported by another rumour from over the weekend. Does this mean March is now the most likely release date? (X)Streamer Stephen Georg claims that he received a business email about an unnamed new game that included the following text: rolling out Q1 2025 on PC (Steam), Xbox One & Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch(es)!The implication is that whatever the game is will be released on the Switch successor and that it will be out by at least March.Its actually common for third party publishers to tease a new console before its officially announced, as happened with Ubisofts Watch Dogs and its subsequent release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.More TrendingIn fact, another publisher has already hinted at a release on the Switch 2, with a trailer for Playtonics Yooka-Replaylee making it plain that they intend to support the new format.Does that mean that they, or anyone else, knows exactly when itll be released, or announced? At this point major publishers almost certainly do, so the question is how far down does that knowledge go?While January is a good guess for when the unveil might happen theres still a very small chance that Nintendo could announce the Switch 2 this year, although if they did it would likely only be a tease.Theres some speculation that could happen at The Game Awards on December 13, but while Nintendo has occasionally used the event to showcase their games theyve never made an announcement that important before. Maybe theres a chance of a tease next month? (The Game Awards)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

But scientists are racing to find out

Those Wicked cameos surprised fans of the original Broadway musical with a show-stopping moment that was more than blink and youll miss it. If like us, youre OG cast die-hards, it was more like a blink away all the tears experience if you happened to catch the film over its opening weekend. Wicked director Jon M. Chu revealed how he was able to produce a magic trick like no other: sneak in original Broadway Elphaba Idina Menzel (Frozen) and Galinda Kristin Chenoweth (Descendants) to feature in an extended and updated version of One Short Day, the song in which the witch besties (played in the movie by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, respectively) arrive in the Emerald City.The question for us was, how, and how much are they willing to do in it, and how much can the story itself handle it? Because theyre such iconic people and especially to these roles, Chu told the Hollywood Reporter.In his movie, Menzel and Chenoweth appear as troupe actresses portraying the wise ones of Oz who musically perform the history of the Grimmerie book of magic and how the Wizard came into the possession of such a powerful artifact. It was like a mania. [We said], Lets make them the biggest stars of Oz. Lets make them this iconic legends of Oz on the stage show, and let them present the history of Oz. They would be the wise women of Oz. It just seemed to make sense. And [composer] Steven Schwartzit might have actually come from him from my memorysaid, I know exactly how to do it because we needed some information about the story of the history of Oz, plus it would be them, so it would be more meaningful.Image: Wicked The Musical YouTube Chu recounted how they shot under the cover of a rainy night in London, the moment they sang the songs and got their iconic moments in that, it was beautiful. And what was cool about the day was, I think it was really healing for everybody. I said, This is in honor of you. This whole us making this movie is an honor of you because we want you to experience what we got to experience when we first saw it, when I went to the theater before it went into Broadway, what it felt like to watch Elphaba and Glinda steal our hearts, you have never got to experience that. And now we get to do that for you. It was moving for Wickeds new stars to witness. Ari is crying the whole time. Cynthia was crying the whole time. There was a lot of love on that set that day. And so Im so grateful for them to come out there. I was not involved with the deal-making. I have no idea what it took to get them there. All I knew is they were down and willing. We just had one day to do it. And it was worth the massively kept secret, I openly wept at their appearance and cheered when Menzel did her signature Defying Gravity belt and Chenoweth her Glinda high notes.Winnie Holzman, the musicals book writer, also appears in the scene as an Emerald City Ozian residentand Stephen Schwartz plays the announcer guard who tells Glinda and Elphie, The Wizard will see you now! Wicked Part One is now playing in theaters. Part Two arrives November 21, 2025. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

This Christmas, all the cool kids are going to suck. Suck blood, that is, when they go to see easily the darkest wide release this holiday season, Robert Eggers Nosferatu. It stars Bill Skarsgrd as the evil Count Orlok, an immortal vampire whose control over a young couple (Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp) throws a whole town into chaos. Local theaters might be chaos too thanks to a promotional tie-in to the film. Focus Features has revealed its teaming with select theaters (its unclear which, specifically, so check your local one) to release a special popcorn bucket for the film. Its of Count Orloks coffin. You see a glimpse above, see a little video here, and heres a better image. The Nosferatu popcorn bucket Focus Though themed popcorn bucks have long been a thing, the trend saw a huge surge in 2024 with the release of the sexually charged bucket for Dune: Part Two. That shined a new spotlight on subsequent buckets from films such as Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and gave Marvel an excuse to make its own sexually suggestive bucket for Deadpool and Wolverine. The buckets have continued since, most recently with one for Gladiator II that uses augmented reality.This Nosferatu bucket is where its at though. A prop from the movie, translated to a popcorn receptacle with a shape that can actually hold popcorn. Were all about it. Plus, with tickets now on sale for the holiday thriller, Focus is having some extra fun too. For example, sold-out seats on Fandango show up as coffins for the film. How macabre is that? Well have more from Nosferatu in the coming weeks. For now, where does this rank among 2024 popcorn buckets for you? Let us know below. Co-starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, and Willem Dafoe, Nosferatu opens on Christmas Day. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Save this picture!La Valiente Focaccera + Maz / OHIO Estudio. Image Cortesa de OHIO EstudioCreating spaces for social interaction involves design processes aimed at countering the individualization of people by fostering bonds and connections between them. While advancements in information and communication technologies provide new tools that optimize the development of certain activities and functions, their societal impact often tends to increase individual practices, such as remote work, virtual fitness activities through apps, or the digital consumption of goods, services, and events, among others. From architecture and interior design to urban planning, many emerging practices face the challenge of consolidating spaces for social interaction through design strategies, uses, and natural connections that prevent the replacement of physical space with virtual alternatives.As Andrea Cutieru asserts, architecture has the potential to set the stage for casual encounters and social interactions. By fostering relationships and sharing experiences, contemporary interior design can integrate various disciplines to enhance community well-being in both shared, flexible spaces and intimate, private ones. From gastronomic venues to residential interiors, the dialogue between materials, organizational logic, furnishings, and even connections with the natural environment takes center stage in todays architectural landscape. This approach aims to strengthen interpersonal relationships while adapting to potential future changes.Save this picture!In Argentina, several emerging architectural practices focus on developing proposals that minimize environmental impact, contribute to natural resource conservation, repurpose materials for extended use, and preserve certain preexisting elements. These efforts aim to foster community engagement with current issues while promoting social interaction across generations. OHIO Estudio, Estudio Tecla, noma estudio, Mutar, and Muro estudio are five women-led Argentine practices that center their work on exploring and interpreting various design strategies focused on creating meeting and interaction spaces that are flexible, adaptable, and aligned with contemporary needs. Related Article The Architecture of Social Interaction In conversation with them, we posed the following question for reflection: Given the current trend toward societal isolation and the individualization of certain practices, what tools could be developed to foster community engagement? How can design influence the creation of spaces for different generations? Keep reading to discover their answers. OHIO Estudio: "Not Everything Can Be a QR Code"Fela Navia from OHIO Estudio: From our practice, we study current trends and analyze the actors interacting with the spaces we create. Thats why we say goodbye to routine: we live in an overstimulated, nomadic society with a rapid need for change. Nowadays, people value the freedom to choose a space to work in that isnt an office. Most prefer to move between different gastronomic spaces, sharing the place with others, even if the primary purpose isnt necessarily to interact. Weve also noticed a growing desire to be more involved in processes. This is reflected in the return of bars and open kitchensspaces that invite participation in the experience. Additionally, a new sensitivity toward mental and physical health is emerging, where connection with nature and practices like mindfulness play a crucial role. Not everything can be a QR code.Save this picture!This dichotomy between technological overexposure and the return to physical and mental well-being presents an interesting landscape for understanding our role as designers and architects. Even when we dont intervene, people transform spaces into what they truly need, as in the case of cafs turned into coworking spaces.So, is the isolation of societies a decision or a consequence of the lack of response from design and architecture?Save this picture!The tools we can develop to foster community engagement translate into the creation of flexible, sustainable, dynamic spaces that evoke emotion. Multifunctional spaces aligned with contemporary interests. From both public and private practice, we can promote mixed-use programs. For example: gastronomic spaces with coworking areas and workshop zones, plazas with community gardens that interact with wellness and contemplation areas, aiming for a balance between technology and nature; platforms in various neighborhoods offering internet access, charging stations, and furniture adaptable to all generations and accessibility needs; and artistic interventions in parks with pop-up markets, attracting people of all ages.Save this picture! Mutar: "Are we Living More and More Alone?"Lucila Ottolenghi, Natalia Kahanoff, Luciana Casoy, and Florencia Lopez Iriquin, founding partners of Mutar: Community engagement arises from interaction, from the bonds that are formed. This leads us to ask how we can create new scenarios for these encounters to happen, breaking away from the anonymity inherent in modern urban life. As a first step, it seems essential to start by questioning and challenging the conventional ways in which we design cohabitation, in order to envision alternative possibilities.Save this picture!We have certain questions: Are we living increasingly alone? Is the domestic space a dangerous place? For whom? How can we create intersecting spaces? What activitiescaregiving includedcan we or do we want to collectivize?These questions lack a single answer, but we are interested in exploring ways to address them across the various scales in which we work. At the most intimate scale, we focus on rethinking isolated and binary spaces by questioning how housing has functioned as a device for representing and reproducing the sexual division of space, perpetuating structural inequalities regarding gender roles. At an intermediate scale, we ask how to foster interaction among neighbors. On a broader scale, we consider how activities historically confined to the interior of the home could be integrated into potential urban infrastructures for community care.Save this picture!We do not intend to romanticize the encounter between inhabitants as a conflict-free ideal but understand it as necessary to break away from that logic of isolation. Far from projecting spaces from a binary perspective (public-private, open-closed, etc.), we are interested in working with gradients of intimacy and responding with flexible strategies to accommodate the greatest diversity of subjectivities. Transforming walls into sieves and understanding housing as a small portion of the city. noma estudio: "Adaptable, Flexible Spaces Can Serve as Bridges Between Generations"Camila Btesh and Leila Matzkin, founding partners of noma estudio: Regarding the question, we believe that interior design and architecture can counteract current isolation trends, especially during a time when home office setups have transformed the relationship with workspaces. In our practice, we aim to design both residential spaces and shared work areas that foster a balance between privacy and community. This is achieved by creating shared spaces for work and leisure while also addressing the need for individual areas to accommodate video calls or managerial roles that require privacy.Save this picture!We incorporate noble and classic materials to ensure the durability and timelessness of our projects. These materials not only provide an aesthetic that transcends trends but also create warm and welcoming environments, encouraging people to share spaces designed for communal use. At the same time, these spaces allow individuals to leave their personal imprint through objects and decorative elements that can evolve, supported by a timeless foundation. We firmly believe that adaptable and flexible spaces can serve as bridges between generations, promoting a sense of belonging and shared responsibility for the environment.Save this picture! Estudio Tecla: "Facilitating a Balance Between Productivity and Social Connection" Valentina Rivarola and Leila Mihura, founding partners of Estudio Tecla: We believe that the pandemic, technological advancements, the fast pace of life, and insufficient public spaces have gradually reduced interpersonal interaction over the years. Additionally, virtual work and a culture of hyper-productivity push us to prioritize individual performance, sidelining community life. These factors have negatively impacted social cohesion and well-being, driving us further apart as individuals and reinforcing a society oriented toward productivity.Save this picture!To reverse this trend, architecture could propose solutions that address this new work and social paradigm. Creating well-equipped public spaces where people can work outside their homes while sharing the environment with others would be a crucial first step. These spaces, which could exist in public and private domains, would help balance productivity with social connection. We believe this could foster a virtuous cycle where individuals feel more motivated to leave their homes and build relationships in shared work settings.Save this picture!These spaces should be flexible and adaptable to the evolving dynamics of society and rapid technological advancements. Designing areas with modular furniture, access to technology, and multifunctional uses will allow these spaces to meet various needs over time, ensuring they remain relevant and appealing to people. MURO estudio: "We View the Design Process as Interdisciplinary, Interactive, and Participatory"The team from MURO estudio: In the studio, we understand the design process as interdisciplinary, interactive, and participatory. From the inception of projects, we strive to enrich them with the perspectives of clients, consultants, and team members. The results are far more rewarding when created collaboratively.Save this picture!As architects, we are constantly seeking to generate spaces that inspire enjoyment, family life, and community. Spaces that foster connection. Design serves as the framework through which these connections can be encouraged.Flexibility is a characteristic that we consider fundamental when proposing spaces for interaction. These spaces should support diverse activities, catering to individuals with varying interests, needs, ages, and backgrounds. Spaces that can adapt to different routines and attract engagement.Save this picture!Looking to the future, new technologies and tools such as artificial intelligence will surely open new pathways to create spaces that mutate and engage new generations. Spaces different from those we conceive today.This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Women in Architecturepresented by Sky-Frame.Sky-Frame is characterized by its empathic ability to take on different perspectives and points of view. We are interested in people and their visions, whether in architecture or in a social context. We deeply care about creating living spaces and in doing so we also question the role of women in architecture. From the arts to the sciences, women shape our society. We want to shed more light on this role, increase the visibility of Women in Architecture and empower/encourage them to realize their full potential.Initiated by Sky-Frame, the "Women in Architecture" documentary is an impulse for inspiration, discussion, and reflection. The film's release is on November 12, 2024.Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.

Design Strategies for Increasing BiodiversitySave this picture!Land bridges provide safe passage for wildlife while connecting habitats. Gathering Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. Image Scott ShigleyThe world has lost 60 percent of animal populations since 1970. This staggering decline reflects the growing pressures on ecosystems, from habitat destruction to climate change. And 1 million species now face threats of extinction. As these problems continue to escalate, the importance of preserving biodiversity and restoring ecosystems becomes clearer.The term biodiversity which means the variety of all life on Earth is new to many. But it has been present in the work of landscape architects for decades.There are key ways we can increase biodiversity: Related Article Exploring the Legacy of Modernism in Landscape Architecture Save this picture!PreserveThe simple importance of preserving biological life cannot be overstated. Much of the developed world's historic response to impacting ecosystems has been mitigation. Yes, before it was a term used in reference to climate change.It means that if you impact an ecosystem for whatever you want, all you need to do is relocate and recreate it in another location. No big deal, right?! Wrong.Ecologists and biologists know that this is not as simple as it sounds. There are many difficulties, resulting in a low success rate for ecosystem regeneration.The preservation of Sacred Groves around the world can serve as inspiration for our efforts. They are areas of natural forest that contain rare collections of plants and animals. They are preserved by local communities due to their religious beliefs. Focusing on them holds great potential for the preservation of biological diversity and ecological functions and maintaining cultural ritual and belief systems.Sacred Groves have historically been a shared resource connected to culturally-based conservation strategies. They are where people engage in practices combining botanicals, ritual, music, and dance that call upon natural energies, cultivating awareness.As cities densify, the preservation of these places is increasingly threatened. But urban nature is at the root of many spiritual traditions so they must be protected.Save this picture!RestorePreservation is best, but we should take every opportunity to restore ecosystems where we can.Working with ecologists and biologists is key to understanding the nuanced details from soil regeneration to species selection, and planting arrangements that support habitable conditions.We can apply some key strategies, like incorporating native plants, flower- and food-producing species, and structural diversity in terms of plant arrangement. These are outlined in ASLA's Climate Action Field Guide and the Climate Positive Design Toolkit.These approaches are evident in Tract's project, Penguin Parade Visitor Center. After acquiring the Summerland Estate in Phillip Island, Victoria, a landmark conservation decision in Australia, the historic peninsula was carefully planned to enhance and restore native wildlife habitat. Home to the renowned Penguin Parade, the project applied a "first principles" approach to design, significantly expanding habitats and adding new penguin viewing facilities. (See image above)The focus was on creating a memorable experience when penguins return from the sea to their burrows. From specially designed viewing platforms, guests can get a closer look at the penguins without interfering with their natural routines. The boardwalks are thoughtfully integrated into the natural surroundings and incorporate a lighting design that provides a safe viewing experience.Save this picture!Connect and CreateHarkening back to Richard Foreman's Land Mosaics, a book still on my shelf since landscape architecture grad school, I am reminded of the simple terms that outline the interconnection of habitats.Habitat "patches" are areas of suitable habitat for species, while a "corridor" is a narrow strip of habitat that connects isolated habitat patches. Continuity and connectivity of corridors are critical to maintain, create, or restore healthy and resilient ecosystems.Freeways, highways, and roads fragment and disrupt wildlife habitats, damage natural systems, and endanger both people and animals. In the U.S., 1 to 2 million wildlife-vehicle collisions occur each year, which has resulted in $8 billion in damages and around 200 human deaths from deer-related accidents.To address these issues and reconnect fragmented habitats affordably, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation introduced the Animal Road Crossing (ARC) International Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Design Competition.The 'Hypar-nature' Wildlife Bridge by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates is a unique single-span habitat bridge that uses prefabricated concrete modules. This connection extends the existing habitat across the bridge and over the traffic below by creating a vaulted structure with distinct habitat bands that create multiple zones to safely guide a variety of animals across.The design includes forms that are easy to replicate and produce in a cost-effective way, minimize site disruption, and adapt to changing migration patterns.These strategies are already part of many landscape architects' practices. But we are now more aware of the need to measure, monitor, and track our impacts.Save this picture!MeasureIn 2020, the Montreal COP15 paved the way for adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, setting four goals, including protecting at least 30 percent of the world's land and ocean by 2030.Other initiatives have emerged, including supporting the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration through biodiversity-positive projects that achieve at least 10 percent biodiversity net gain (BNG). This is in line with the UK's mandate for a 10 percent increase from pre-development biodiversity levels. All of these are targets in ASLA's Climate Action Plan.The recently launched Pathfinder 3.0 now guides landscape designs on biodiversity. Projects can have positive or negative impacts.We must prioritize these goals in our designs: Protect existing ecosystems Restore native and ecologically appropriate ecosystems Design planting based upon the plant communities and habitats of the local eco-region Project teams should include ecologists to make field observations of a pre-construction site and provide nuanced information and guidance. To encourage biodiversity-positive planning, design, and engineering, the new Pathfinder 3.0 includes some basic biodiversity impact calculations outlined in a Methodology Report and User Guide.As always, this is a work in progress, and there is much more to be done. But one step forward is the first step in making positive change.This article was originally published on The Dirt.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorPamela ConradAuthorCite: Pamela Conrad. "Design Strategies for Increasing Biodiversity" 26 Nov 2024. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1024021/design-strategies-for-increasing-biodiversity&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

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Project Files: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116738422 . This is the 134th episode of the new tutorial series on Action RPG game using Gameplay Ability System. Here we are going to create motion matching database using sword and shield animations and use it for locomotion animations instead of the blendspace we have been using before. Here I will show you how to setup motion matching animations pose search database from scratch h and how to integrate it with the existing animation blueprint. Animations are sponsored by: https://www.ramsterzanimations.com/ https://www2.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/greatsword-anims Full Playlist : Action RPG series with gameplay ability system: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNTm9yU0zou7XnRx5MfBbZnfMZJqC6ixz // ! https://www.patreon.com/codelikeme Patrons will have access to project files of all the stuff I do in the channel and other extra benefitsJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClb6Jh9EBV7a_Nm52Ipll_Q/join Like my facebook page for more content : https://www.facebook.com/gamedevelopersclub/ Follow me on twitter : https://twitter.com/CodeLikeMe2 Follow me on reddit : https://www.reddit.com/user/codelikeme #CodeLikeMe #unrealengine #ue5 #ue4 #indiegamedev