In an effort to get both more buyers and more developers on board with the Apple Vision Pro, Apple is launching a new visionOS workshop and appears to be preparing to allow third-parties to sell the headset.Apple has quietly released a new app for determining Apple Vision Pro lens and headband sizesOne year after the Apple Vision Pro was first released to the public, reports of its sales have varied from poor to more positive. Right from the start, though, even Tim Cook was saying that the headset would be too expensive to sell in large volumes and now Apple is trying to get people interested again.It's certainly targeting developers with the specific aim of getting more to launch more content for visionOS. Other than its price, the most consistent criticism of the Apple Vision Pro is that it lacks content. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

For years, iPhone owners have been holding onto their devices longer, but new data suggests that trend is shifting at least for now.iPhone 15 modelsA report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) claims that more iPhone users retired their devices at a younger age in the December 2024 quarter compared to 2023. Specifically, 36% of buyers had owned their previous iPhone for two years or less, up from 31% in late 2023.Meanwhile, fewer users held onto their phones for three years or longer. It's not clear whether the CIRP report looks at iPhone buyers worldwide or just in the U.S. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The journal Technology | Architecture + Design (TAD) has announced the two 2025 winners of the TAD Research Contribution Award. The award was founded in 2020 and recognizes the most outstanding peer-reviewed research published in the journal.TAD is published by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) through Taylor and Francis.Winning projects delved into the possibility of robotics and mixed reality (MR) fabrication strategies and an application of data visualization and circular economy concepts to enable sustainable housing. The two winners for 2025 are:2025 TAD Research Contribution Award 1:Tim Cousin, Latifa Alkhayat, Natalie Pearl, Christopher B. Dewart & Caitlin Mueller for Wild Wood Gridshells: Mixed-Reality Construction of Nonstandard Wood in TAD 7.2: Circularity, edited by Matan Mayer.

The cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL)in Switzerland has shared its lecture poster and list of guest speakers for the spring 2025 terms Get Lectured roundup.Six practitioners will be invited to campus to share their views related to the Housing Vol. 2 theme 'Housing and Reuse.' Organizers from the EPFL explain: "This lecture series explores projects of reuse in which former offices, factories, or houses are transformed or expanded as residential spaces. Each lecture will focus on one building in order to shed light not only on the advantages of reuse but also on its limits and challenges."Lecture poster by Roman Aurelio Karrer and Sandi Gazic, courtesy of EPFLThe scheduled lecturers are: Ltjens Padmanabhan(March 4); Harquitectes(March 18); Inge Vinck (April 1); Menna Agha and Charlotte Malterre-Barthes(April 15); Anna Heilgemeir (April 29); Aviolat Chaperon Escobar (May 13); and BHSF (May 27).Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster an...

Ready at Dawns last major PlayStation-exclusive game, The Order: 1886, seems to have had a potential sequel at work. According to studio co-founder and developer Andrea Pessino, however, Sony turned down the sequel because of the games middling critical reception.In an interview with MinnMax, Pessino spoke about how the studio had pitched a sequel to The Order: 1886, describing it as an incredible sequel. However, Sony passed on it, referring to the move as Ready at Dawn potentially having signed our life away with the sequel.It would have been an incredible sequel, I can tell you that for a fact, said Pessino. We pitched the sequel to Sony regardless of [the critical reception] and, in a way, its better that they passed because if we thought we were going to be screwed before, man, with the sequel, we would have signed our life away.Pessino also revealed details about Ready at Dawns relationship with Sony; since The Order: 1886 was set to be a big landmark title in terms of visual fidelity for the PS4, Sony had insisted on milestones to be met. These milestones were missed, however, when the studio had to work on other aspects of the title, leading to missing out on payments. As such, working on a sequel would have led the studio into a worse position than they already were.We were going to do it just because we wanted to deliver it to the players but we would have been, said Pessino. Terrible budget, budget would be small, we would have been completely at the mercy of any decisions and things because we had no leverage whatsoever.We were not in a position to negotiate a reasonable contract; they could have done whatever. But we wouldve taken it because we wanted a chance to redeem the franchise. All of the groundwork was really, really good, I can tell you that for a fact. There was so much there that just needed to be built on.The Order: 1886 was originally released in 2015. While its short length and limited interactivity played an important part in its middling critical reception, the game still had an interesting story that ended on a cliffhanger. Creative director Ru Weerasuriya had also mentioned the potential for a sequel to the game all the way back in 2016.Curiously, the turn of this last decade saw rumours popping up about a potential PS5-exclusive sequel to The Order: 1886. However, with five years having passed since then, little more has come up about the game.After its work on The Order: 1886, Ready at Dawn worked with Meta to release a slate of VR titles. After the success of VR game Lone Echo, the studio was acquired by Meta, and released Lone Echo 2. Ultimately, however, the studio was shut down last year.For more details about The Order: 1886, check out our review from back when it first came out. We gave it a score of 7 out of 10, praising its impressive visuals but also criticising its over-reliance of quick-time events and the abrupt end to its story.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have announced that Elden Ring Nightreign will launch on May 30th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, PC, and Xbox One. Pre-orders are now live, and theres a new trailer. Check it out below.While the Standard Edition retails for $39.99 and includes the base game, the Digital Deluxe Edition costs $54.99. The latter packs an art book and a digital soundtrack. The Seekers Edition is a physical Deluxe Edition with a SteelBook for PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S exclusive to Europe.Finally, theres the Collectors Edition for $199.99, available physically for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It includes the SteelBook, a hardcover art book, eight Nightfarer cards (representing each playable class), and a 25 cm statue of the Wylder Nightfarer.Of course, pre-orders also get a bonus gesture in the Its Raining! gesture. Stay tuned for updates on the rogue-lite co-op title, and head here for more details on its procedural map generation. You can also learn more about the upcoming network test here.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Originally posted on 11 September 2024, and updated with details of the public beta.Adobe has rolled out the Firefly Video Model, a new AI model that will bring generative AI to the companys video production tools like Premiere Pro, and potentially After Effects.Its capabilities include generating additional audio or video frames from an existing video clip, and generating new video clips from reference images or text prompts.Below, weve compiled our FAQs on the Firefly Video Model, which is now available in public beta on the Firefly web app, and in beta builds of Premiere Pro.What can Fireflys generative AI models currently do?Released last year, Firefly is a suite of generative AI art tools available both as a web application and integrated into Adobe Creative Cloud tools.The underlying AI models were initially geared towards generating still images, and are now integrated into applications including Photoshop and the Substance 3D tools.What are the key features of the Firefly Video Model?The new Firefly Video Model extends those capabilities to moving images, synthesising new video footage from a range of sources in a similar way to platforms like Runway.According to Adobe, its capabilities include Generative Extend, which extends existing video clips, generating new frames at the start or end, or generating extra audio room tone.Image to Video generates clips based on reference stills, or even concept illustrations.Text to Video generates video from text prompts, with the additional option to specify camera properties like camera position, zoom extent and common camera motion types.What kinds of video and animation can the Firefly Video Model generate?Although the Firefly Video Model can generate 2D and 3D animation Adobes initial blog post showed examples of generated footage resembling 3D, hand-drawn and stop-motion animation its main initial use case is more naturalistic video.According to Adobe, it excels at generating videos of the natural world like landscapes, plants or animals.However, the firm also cites a range of other possible uses, including creating FX elements like fire, smoke and dust that could be composited into VFX or motion graphics projects.How good is the Firefly Video Model?Although the Firefly Video Model could potentially generate entire video sequences, current generative video tools struggle to maintain temporal and stylistic consistency in their output.Adobes blog post suggests that its initial use will be to generate supplementary material for projects shot conventionally essentially, generating AI stock footage citing use cases like generating B-roll and missing establishing shots.What user controls does the Firefly Video Model provide?As well as the source image and/or text prompt it supports up to 1,000 characters of text the implementation of the Video Model in the Firefly web app includes built-in controls.Users can select the aspect ratio of the video generated (currently only 16:9 or 9:16), and choose from a range of presets for shot size (ranging from extreme close up to extreme long shots), camera angle (including aerial shots), and camera moves (including handheld shots).What are the limitations of the Firefly Video Model?In the initial public beta, generated clips are limited to 5 seconds in length and 1080p resolution.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/240911_AdobeFireflyVideoModel_GenerativeAI_PremierePro.mp4The Firefly Video Models Generative Extend feature in use in a Premiere Pro project.Which Adobe applications will the Firefly Video Model be integrated in?Although the Firefly tools are available online, Adobe is also increasingly integrating them into its Creative Cloud apps.So far, the only one in which the Firefly Video Model will definitely be included is video editing software Premiere Pro, beta builds of which now include Generative Extend.However, Adobes initial blog post also namechecked compositing app After Effects. The firm has previously shown tech previews of generative AI tools suitable for After Effects.What data is the Firefly Video AI model trained on?Adobe describes the Firefly Video AI model as commercially safe and is only trained on content we have permission to use.Earlier in 2024, the firm updated its Terms of Use to explicitly rule out the use of users content aside from that uploaded to stock content marketplace Adobe Stock to train AI models, following a widely publicised artist backlash.How much does it cost to use the Firefly Video AI model?As with many of the other Firefly services, pricing for the Firefly Video Model is credit-based.Adobe has introduced new pricing to coincide with the public beta. Generating video initially uses 20 credits per second of footage, set to rise to 100 credits per second.The new $9.99/month Firefly Standard plans provide 2,000 video credits per month; $29.99/month Firefly Pro plans provide 7,000 credits per month. Credits are also included as part of Creative Cloud subscriptions.When will the Firefly Video Model become available?The Firefly Video Model is now available via the Firefly web app. Text to Video and Image to Video are both in beta.Read more about the Firefly Video model on Adobes blogVisit Adobes Firefly web app(Includes Text to Video and Image to Video)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 dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.

Skybound Entertainment, owner of The Walking Dead, announced the acquisition of Maple Media from Shamrock Capital.Read More

Inaugural Olympic Esports Games will now take place in 2027"There is now a very clear roadmap to the historic first-ever Olympic Esports Games," says IOC president News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Feb. 12, 2025 The inaugural Olympic Esports Games will now take place in 2027.The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced plans for an Olympic Esports Games in October 2023, and initially announced the first Olympic Esports Games would be held in Saudi Arabia in 2025.Now, however, as EsportsInsider reports, the competition has been delayed to 2027 "due to ongoing concerns about the format and a lack of details on key aspects of the programme by game publishers," as well as issues with financing and logistics.It's thought the competition will be hosted in Saudi Arabia for both the 2027 games and two subsequent Olympic cycles (2031 and 2035).Organisers the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) will also become a Founding Partner of the Olympic Esports Games where, with the IOC itself, it will work to "align national esports ecosystems with broader global standards.""There is now a very clear roadmap to the historic first-ever Olympic Esports Games," said Thomas Bach, president of the IOC."With the Road to the Olympic Esports Games starting this year, the Games are becoming a reality. This is further evidence of the strength of the partnership between the IOC and the SOPC in many areas."Esports featured in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but will not appear in the 2026 event.Saudi Arabia has been more and more active in the games and esports industry over the past few years, having invested $38 billion via its Public Investment Fund. The PIF has stakes in companies including Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Nexon and Capcom.These investments have been controversial due to Saudi Arabia's poor human rights record, most notably on gender inequality and the criminalization of homosexuality, which is punishable by life imprisonment or execution.

One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 tops 4 million sales worldwide | News-in-briefBandai Namco marks milestone confirming native PS5 and XSX editions are on the wayImage credit: One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Feb. 12, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 tops 4 million units worldwide