Last year, MACK Books published Architecture from Below, which anthologized writings by the French Brazilian architect, theorist, and painter Sérgio Ferro. (Douglas Spencer reviewed it for AN.) Now, MACK follows with Design and the Building Site and Complementary Essays, the second in the trilogy of books dedicated to Ferro’s scholarship. The following excerpt of the author’s 2023 preface to the English edition, which preserves its British phrasing, captures Ferro’s realization about the working conditions of construction sites in Brasília. The sentiment is likely relatable even today for young architects as they discover how drawings become buildings. Design and the Building Site and Complementary Essays will be released on May 22. If I remember correctly, it was in 1958 or 1959, when Rodrigo and I were second- or third year architecture students at FAUUSP, that my father, the real estate developer Armando Simone Pereira, commissioned us to design two large office buildings and eleven shops in Brasilia, which was then under construction. Of course, we were not adequately prepared for such an undertaking. Fortunately, Oscar Niemeyer and his team, who were responsible for overseeing the construction of the capital, had drawn up a detailed document determining the essential characteristics of all the private sector buildings. We followed these prescriptions to the letter, which saved us from disaster. Nowadays, it is hard to imagine the degree to which the construction of Brasilia inspired enthusiasm and professional pride in the country’s architects. And in the national imagination, the city’s establishment in the supposedly unpopulated hinterland evoked a re-founding of Brazil. Up until that point, the occupation of our immense territory had been reduced to a collection of arborescent communication routes, generally converging upon some river, following it up to the Atlantic Ocean. Through its ports, agricultural or extractive commodities produced by enslaved peoples or their substitutes passed towards the metropolises; goods were exchanged in the metropolises for more elaborate products, which took the opposite route. Our national identity was summed up in a few symbols, such as the anthem or the flag, and this scattering of paths pointing overseas. Brasilia would radically change this situation, or so we believed. It would create a central hub where the internal communication routes could converge, linking together hithertoseparate junctions, stimulating trade and economic progress in the country’s interior. It was as if, for the first time, we were taking care of ourselves. At the nucleus of this centripetal movement, architecture would embody the renaissance. And at the naval of the nucleus, the symbolic mandala of this utopia: the cathedral. Rodrigo and I got caught up in the euphoria. And perhaps more so than our colleagues, because we were taking part in the adventure with ‘our’ designs. The reality was very different — but we did not know that yet. At that time, architects in Brazil were responsible for verifying that the construction was in line with the design. We had already monitored some of our first building sites. But the construction company in charge of them, Osmar Souza e Silva’s CENPLA, specialized in the building sites of modernist architects from the so-called Escola Paulista led by Vilanova Artigas (which we aspired to be a part of, like the pretentious students we were). Osmar was very attentive to his clients and his workers, who formed a supportive and helpful team. He was even more careful with us, because he knew how inexperienced we were. I believe that the CENPLA was particularly important in São Paulo modernism: with its congeniality, it facilitated experimentation, but for the same reason, it deceived novices like us about the reality of other building sites. Consequently, Rodrigo and I travelled to Brasilia several times to check that the constructions followed ‘our’ designs and to resolve any issues. From the very first trip, our little bubble burst. Our building sites, like all the others in the future capital, bore no relation to Osmar’s. They were more like a branch of hell. A huge, muddy wasteland, in which a few cranes, pile drivers, tractors, and excavators dotted the mound of scaffolding occupied by thousands of skinny, seemingly exhausted wretches, who were nevertheless driven on by the shouts of master builders and foremen, in turn pressured by the imminence of the fateful inauguration date. Surrounding or huddled underneath the marquees of buildings under construction, entire families, equally skeletal and ragged, were waiting for some accident or death to open up a vacancy. In contact only with the master builders, and under close surveillance so we would not speak to the workers, we were not allowed to see what comrades who had worked on these sites later told us in prison: suicide abounded; escape was known to be futile in the unpopulated surroundings with no viable roads; fatal accidents were often caused by weakness due to chronic diarrhoea, brought on by rotten food that came from far away; outright theft took place in the calculation of wages and expenses in the contractor’s grocery store; camps were surrounded by law enforcement. I repeat this anecdote yet again not to invoke the benevolence of potential readers, but rather to point out the conditions that, in my opinion, allowed two students (Flávio Império joined us a little later) still in their professional infancy to quickly adopt positions that were contrary to the usual stance of architects. As the project was more Oscar Niemeyer’s than it was our own, we did not have the same emotional attachment that is understandably engendered between real authors and their designs. We had not yet been imbued with the charm and aura of the métier. And the only building sites we had visited thus far, Osmar’s, were incomparable to those we discovered in Brasilia. In short, our youthfulness and unpreparedness up against an unbearable situation made us react almost immediately to the profession’s satisfied doxa. Unprepared and young perhaps, but already with Marx by our side. Rodrigo and I joined the student cell of the Brazilian Communist Party during our first year at university. In itself, this did not help us much: the Party’s Marxism, revised in the interests of the USSR, was pitiful. Even high-level leaders rarely went beyond the first chapter of Capital. But at the end of the 1950s, the effervescence of the years to come was already nascent:  […] this extraordinary revival […] the rediscovery of Marxism and the great dialectical texts and traditions in the 1960s: an excitement that identifies a forgotten or repressed moment of the past as the new and subversive, and learns the dialectical grammar of a Hegel or an Adorno, a Marx or a Lukács, like a foreign language that has resources unavailable in our own. And what is more: the Chinese and Cuban revolutions, the war in Vietnam, guerrilla warfare of all kinds, national liberation movements, and a rare libertarian disposition in contemporary history, totally averse to fanaticism and respect for ideological apparatuses of (any) state or institution. Going against the grain was almost the norm. We were of course no more than contemporaries of our time. We were soon able to position ourselves from chapters 13, 14, and 15 of Capital, but only because we could constantly cross-reference Marx with our observations from well-contrasted building sites and do our own experimenting. As soon as we identified construction as manufacture, for example, thanks to the willingness and even encouragement of two friends and clients, Boris Fausto and Bernardo Issler, I was able to test both types of manufacture — organic and heterogeneous — on similar-sized projects taking place simultaneously, in order to find out which would be most convenient for the situation in Brazil, particularly in São Paulo. Despite the scientific shortcomings of these tests, they sufficed for us to select organic manufacture. Arquitetura Nova had defined its line of practice, studies, and research. There were other sources that were central to our theory and practice. Flávio Império was one of the founders of the Teatro de Arena, undoubtedly the vanguard of popular, militant theatre in Brazil. He won practically every set design award. He brought us his marvelous findings in spatial condensation and malleability, and in the creative diversion of techniques and material—appropriate devices for an underdeveloped country. This is what helped us pave the way to reformulating the reigning design paradigms.  We had to do what Flávio had done in the theatre: thoroughly rethink how to be an architect. Upend the perspective. The way we were taught was to start from a desired result; then others would take care of getting there, no matter how. We, on the other hand, set out to go down to the building site and accompany those carrying out the labor itself, those who actually build, the formally subsumed workers in manufacture who are increasingly deprived of the knowledge and know-how presupposed by this kind of subsumption. We should have been fostering the reconstitution of this knowledge and know-how—not so as to fulfil this assumption, but in order to reinvigorate the other side of this assumption according to Marx: the historical rebellion of the manufacture worker, especially the construction worker. We had to rekindle the demand that fueled this rebellion: total self-determination, and not just that of the manual operation as such. Our aim was above all political and ethical. Aesthetics only mattered by way of what it included—ethics. Instead of estética, we wrote est ética [this is ethics]. We wanted to make building sites into nests for the return of revolutionary syndicalism, which we ourselves had yet to discover. Sérgio Ferro, born in Brazil in 1938, studied architecture at FAUUSP, São Paulo. In the 1960s, he joined the Brazilian communist party and started, along with Rodrigo Lefevre and Flávio Império, the collective known as Arquitetura Nova. After being arrested by the military dictatorship that took power in Brazil in 1964, he moved to France as an exile. As a painter and a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble, where he founded the Dessin/Chantier laboratory, he engaged in extensive research which resulted in several publications, exhibitions, and awards in Brazil and in France, including the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1992. Following his retirement from teaching, Ferro continues to research, write, and paint.

By JENNIFER CHAMPAGNE House of the Dragon expands its dragon-filled world in its second season, offering more large-scale battles and heightened aerial warfare. (Image courtesy of HBO) The 2025 Emmy race for outstanding visual effects is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in years with major genre heavyweights breaking new ground on what’s possible on television. As prestige fantasy and sci-fi continue to dominate, the battle for the category will likely come down to sheer scale, technical innovation and how seamlessly effects are integrated into storytelling. Returning titans like House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power have proven their ability to deliver breathtaking visuals. At the same time, Dune: Prophecy enters the conversation as a visually stunning newcomer. The Boys remains the category’s wildcard, bringing its own brand of hyper-realistic, shock-value effects to the race. With its subtle yet immersive world-building, The Penguin stands apart from the spectacle-driven contenders, using “invisible” VFX to transform Gotham into a post-flooded, decaying metropolis. Each series offers a distinct approach to digital effects, making for an intriguing showdown between blockbuster-scale world-building and more nuanced, atmospheric craftsmanship. Sharing the arena with marquee pacesetters HBO’s The Last of Us, Disney+’s Andor and Netflix’s Squid Game, these series lead the charge in ensuring that the 2025 Emmy race isn’t just about visual spectacle; it’s about which shows will set the next benchmark for visual effects on television. The following insights and highlights from VFX supervisors of likely Emmy contenders illustrate why their award-worthy shows have caught the attention of TV watchers and VFX Emmy voters. The Penguin, with its subtle yet immersive world-building, stands apart from the spectacle-driven contenders, using “invisible” VFX to transform Gotham into a post-flooded, decaying metropolis.  (Image courtesy of HBO) For The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power VFX Supervisor Jason Smith, the second season presented some of the Amazon series’ most ambitious visual effects challenges. From the epic Battle of Eregion to the painstaking design of the Entwives, Smith and his team at Wētā FX sought to advance digital world-building while staying true to J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision. “The Battle of Eregion was amazing to work on – and challenging too, because it’s a pivotal moment in Tolkien’s story,” Smith states. Unlike typical large-scale clashes, this battle begins as a siege culminating in an explosive cavalry charge. “We looked for every way we could to heighten the action during the siege by keeping the armies interacting, even at a distance,” Smith explains. His team introduced projectiles and siege weaponry to create dynamic action, ensuring the prolonged standoff felt kinetic. The environment work for Eregion posed another challenge. The city was initially constructed as a massive digital asset in Season 1, showcasing the collaborative brilliance of the Elves and Dwarves. In Season 2, that grandeur had to be systematically razed to the ground. “The progression of destruction had to be planned extremely carefully,” Smith notes. His team devised seven distinct levels of damage, mapping out in granular detail which areas would be smoldering, reduced to rubble or utterly consumed by fire. “Our goal was to have the audience feel the loss that the Elves feel as this beautiful symbol of the height of Elvendom is utterly razed.” The SSVFX team helped shape a world for Lady in the Lake that felt rich, lived-in and historically precise. (Image courtesy of Apple TV+) One of most ambitious effects for Season 4 of The Boys was Splinter, who has the ability to duplicate himself. The sequence required eight hours of rehearsal, six hours of filming, for one shot. The final effect was a mix of prosthetic cover-up pieces and VFX face replacement. (Image courtesy of Prime Video) The Penguin, HBO Max’s spinoff series of The Batman, centers on Oswald ‘Oz’ Cobb’s ruthless rise to power, and relies on meticulous environmental effects, smoothly integrating CG elements to enhance Gotham’s noir aesthetic without ever calling attention to the work itself. “The most rewarding part of our work was crafting VFX that don’t feel like VFX,” says VFX Supervisor Johnny Han. Across the series’ 3,100 VFX shots, every collapsing freeway, skyline extension and flicker of light from a muzzle flash had to feel utterly real – woven so naturally into the world of Gotham that viewers never stopped to question its authenticity. Zimia spaceport, an enormous hub of interstellar commerce in Dune: Prophecy. The production team built a vast practical set to provide a strong scale foundation, but its full grandeur came to life in post by extending this environment with CG.(Images courtesy of HBO) The second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power refined its environments, which elevate Middle-earth’s realism. (Image courtesy of Prime Video) Some of the series’ most striking visual moments were also its most understated. The shift of Gotham’s seasons – transforming sunlit summer shoots into autumn’s muted chill – helped shape the show’s somber tone, reinforcing the bleak, crime-ridden undercurrent. The city’s bridges and skyscrapers were meticulously augmented, stretching Gotham beyond the limits of practical sets while preserving its grounded, brutalist aesthetic. Even the scars and wounds on Sofia Falcone were enhanced through digital artistry, ensuring that her past traumas remained ever-present, etched into her skin. The series wasn’t without its large-scale effects – far from it. Han and his team orchestrated massive sequences of urban devastation. “The floodwaters were one of our biggest challenges,” Han notes, referring to the ongoing impact of the catastrophic deluge that left Gotham in ruins. One particularly harrowing sequence required simulating a tsunami tearing through the streets – not as an action set piece, but as a deeply personal moment of loss. “Telling Victor’s story of how he lost his entire family in the bombing and floods of Gotham was heartbreaking,” Han says. “Normally, you create an event like that for excitement, for tension. But for us, it was about capturing emotional devastation.” Perhaps the most technically intricate sequences were the shootouts, hallmarks of Gotham’s criminal underbelly. “We programmed millisecond-accurate synced flash guns to mimic dramatic gunfire light,” Han explains, ensuring that the interplay of practical and digital elements remained imperceptible. Every muzzle flash, every ricochet was meticulously planned and rendered. The ultimate achievement for Han and his team wasn’t crafting the biggest explosion or the most elaborate digital sequence – it was making Gotham itself feel inescapably real. He says, “Nothing was more important to us than for you to forget that there are 3,100 VFX shots in this series.” The challenge for The Residence was making one of the most recognizable buildings in the world feel both immersive and narratively engaging. (Photo: Erin Simkin. Courtesy of Netflix) Bringing the universe of Dune to life on TV for HBO’s Dune: Prophecy requires a delicate balance of realism and imagination, grounded in natural physics, yet awe-inspiring in scale. Dune: Prophecy looks to challenge traditional fantasy dominance with its stunning, desert-bound landscapes and intricate space-faring visuals, uniting the grandeur of Denis Villeneuve’s films with the demands of episodic storytelling. Set thousands of years before the events of the films, the series explores the early days of the Bene Gesserit, a secretive order wielding extraordinary abilities. Translating that power into a visual language required technical innovation. “Kudos to Important Looking Pirates for the space folding and [Lila’s] Agony work,” says VFX Supervisor Mike Enriquez. No Dune project would be complete without its most iconic inhabitant, the sandworm. VFX Producer Terron Pratt says. “We’re incredibly proud of what the team at Image Engine created. Precise animation conveyed this creature’s weight and massive scale, while incredibly detailed sand simulations integrated it into the environment.” Every grain of sand had to move believably in response to the worm’s colossal presence to ensure the physics of Arrakis remained authentic. Floodwaters play a significant part in the destruction of Gotham in The Penguin. One particularly harrowing sequence required simulating a tsunami tearing through the streets. (Image courtesy of HBO) American Primeval integrated visual effects with practical techniques in creative, unconventional ways. The massacre sequence showcases technical mastery and pulls the audience into the brutal reality of the American frontier. (Photo: Justin Lubin. Courtesy of Netflix) For the Zimia spaceport, an enormous hub of interstellar commerce, the Dune: Prophecy production team built a vast practical set to provide a strong scale foundation. However, its full grandeur came to life in post. “By extending this environment with CG, we amplified the scope of our world, making it feel expansive and deeply impactful,” Pratt explains. The result was a sprawling, futuristic cityscape that retained a tangible weight with impeccably amalgamated practical and digital elements. Wētā FX sought to advance digital world-building for Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power while staying true to J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision. (Image courtesy of Prime Video) Visual effects extended beyond character work for Lady in the Lake, playing a key role in the show’s immersive world-building. (Image courtesy of Apple TV+) For House of the Dragon VFX Supervisor Daði Einarsson, Season 2 presented some of the HBO show’s most complex and ambitious visual effects work. The Battle at Rook’s Rest in Episode 4 was a milestone for the series, marking the first full-scale dragon-on-dragon aerial battle. “We were tasked with pitting three dragons against each other in an all-out aerial war above a castle siege,” Einarsson says. Capturing the actors’ performances mid-flight required a combination of motion-controlled cameras, preprogrammed motion bases with saddles and LED volume lighting – all mapped directly from fully animated previsualized sequences approved by director Alan Taylor and Showrunner Ryan J. Condal. On the ground, the battlefield required digital crowd replication, extensive environment extensions, and pyrotechnic enhancements to create a war zone that felt both vast and intimately chaotic. “In the air, we created a fully CG version of the environment to have full control over the camera work,” Einarsson explains. Under the supervision of Sven Martin, the Pixomondo team stitched together breathtaking aerial combat, ensuring the dragons moved with the weight and raw power befitting their legendary status. Blood, weapon effects and period-accurate muzzle flashes heightened the intensity of the brutal fight sequences in American Primeval. The natural elements and violence reflected the harsh realities of the American west in 1857. (Image courtesy of Netflix) The Residence brings a refined, detailed approach to environmental augmentation, using visual effects to take the audience on a journey through the White House in this political murder mystery. (Photo: Jessica Brooks. Courtesy of Netflix) Episode 7 introduced Hugh Hammer’s claim of Vermithor, Westeros’ second-largest dragon. Rather than breaking the sequence into multiple shots, Einarsson and director Loni Peristere saw an opportunity to craft something exceptional: a single, uninterrupted long take reminiscent of Children of Men and Gravity. “It took a lot of planning to design a series of beats that cohesively flowed from one into the next, with Hugh leading the camera by action and reaction,” Einarsson says. The sequence, which involved Hugh dodging Vermithor’s flames and ultimately claiming the beast through sheer bravery, was technically demanding. To achieve this, the team stitched together five separate takes of Hugh’s performance, shot over two separate days weeks apart, due to the set needing to be struck and rebuilt in different configurations. VFX Supervisor Wayne Stables and the team at Wētā ensured the transitions were imperceptible, uniting practical and digital elements into a continuous, immersive moment. “The Dragonmont Cavern environment was a beautiful, raised gantry and cave designed by [Production Designer] Jim Clay and expanded by Wētā,” Einarsson says. Then Rowley Imran’s stunt team and Mike Dawson’s SFX team engulfed the set in practical flames so every element, from fire to dust to movement, contributed to the illusion of real-time danger. For Einarsson, the most significant challenge wasn’t just in making these sequences visually spectacular – it was ensuring they belonged within the same world as the quiet, dialogue-driven moments in King’s Landing. “The aim is for incredibly complex and spectacular visual effects scenes to feel like they belong in the same world as two people talking in a council chamber,” he states. Every dragon, flame and gust of wind had to feel as lived-in as the politics playing out beneath them. Season 4 of The Boys delivered the fully CG octopus character, Ambrosius. A challenge was crafting a believable yet expressive sea creature and keeping it grounded while still embracing the show’s signature absurdity. (Image courtesy of Prime Video) In The Penguin, Gotham isn’t just a city; it’s a living, breathing entity shaped by destruction, decay and the quiet menace lurking beneath its streets. (Images courtesy of HBO) The Boys continues to defy genre norms, delivering audacious, technically complex effects that lean into its hyperviolent, satirical take on superheroes. For The Boys VFX Supervisor Stephan Fleet, Season 4 delivered some of the Amazon Prime show’s most dramatic effects yet, from the self-replicating Splinter to the fully CG octopus character, Ambrosius. Splinter, who has the ability to duplicate himself, presented a unique challenge. Fleet says, “His introduction on the podium was a complex motion control sequence. Eight hours of rehearsal, six hours of filming – for one shot.” Splinter’s design came with an added layer of difficulty. “We had to figure out how to make a nude male clone,” Fleet says. “Normally, you can hide doubles’ bodies in clothes – not this time!” The final effect required a mix of prosthetic cover-up pieces and VFX face replacement, requiring multiple iterations to make it work. Ambrosius became one of The Boys’ most unexpected breakout characters. “It’s fun making a full-on character in the show that’s an octopus,” Fleet reveals in a nod to the show’s absurd side. “As much as possible, we aim for a grounded approach and try to attain a level of thought and detail you don’t often find on TV.” While the battle for outstanding visual effects will likely be dominated by large-scale fantasy and sci-fi productions, several standout series are also making waves with their innovative and immersive visual storytelling. Netflix’s The Residence, led by VFX Supervisor Seth Hill, brings a refined, detailed approach to environmental augmentation, enhancing the grandeur of the White House setting in this political murder mystery. “Using visual effects to take the audience on a journey through an iconic location like the White House was really fun,” Hill says. “It’s a cool and unique use of visual effects.” One of the most ambitious sequences involved what the team called the Doll House, a digital rendering of the White House with its south façade removed, exposing the interior like a cross-section of a dollhouse. Hill explains. “Going back and forth from filmed footage to full CGI – that jump from grounded realism to abstract yet still real – was quite tricky,” he says, adding, “VFX is best when it is in service of the storytelling, and The Residence presented a unique opportunity to do just that. It was a big challenge and a tough nut to crack, but those creative and technical hurdles are a good part of what makes it so rewarding.” “We were tasked with pitting three dragons against each other in an all-out aerial war above a castle siege. In the air, we created a fully CG version of the environment to have full control over the camera work.”—Daði Einarsson, VFX Supervisor, House of the Dragon The Battle at Rook’s Rest in Episode 4 of House of the Dragon Season 2 was a major milestone for the series, marking the first full-scale dragon-on-dragon aerial battle. (Image courtesy of HBO) Season 2 of House of the Dragon presented some of the most complex and ambitious visual effects work for the show to date. (Photo: Theo Whiteman. Courtesy of HBO) For Jay Worth, VFX Supervisor on Apple TV+’s Lady in the Lake, the challenge was two-fold: create seamless effects and preserve the raw emotional truth of a performance. One of the most significant technical achievements was de-aging Natalie Portman. “It seems so easy on paper, but the reality was far more challenging,” Worth admits. Worth had tackled de-aging before, but never with the same level of success. “For me, it is simply because of her performance.” Portman delivered a nuanced, youthful portrayal that felt entirely authentic to the time period. “It made our job both so much easier and set the bar so high for us. Sometimes, you can hide in a scene like this – you pull the camera back, cut away before the most expressive parts of the dialogue, or the illusion breaks,” Worth explains. In Lady in the Lake, there was nowhere to hide. “I think that is what I am most proud of with these shots. It felt like the longer you stayed on them, the more you believed them. That is a real feat with this sort of work.” Skully VFX handled the de-aging. “They nailed the look early on and delivered throughout the project on this difficult task.” Working alongside Production Designer Jc Molina, the VFX team helped shape a world that felt rich, lived-in and historically precise. “We were entrusted with the most important part of this show – do we believe this performance from this character in this part of her journey? – and we feel like we were able to deliver on this challenge.” On the other end of the spectrum, Netflix’s American Primeval, under the guidance of VFX Supervisor Andrew Ceperley, delivers rugged, visceral realism in its portrayal of the untamed American frontier. With brutal battle sequences, sprawling landscapes and historical re-creations that interweave practical and digital effects, the series stands as a testament to how VFX can enhance grounded, historical storytelling. Ceperley says, “The standout is definitely the nearly three-minute single-shot massacre sequence in the forest episode.” Designed to immerse the audience in the raw, chaotic violence of the frontier, the scene captures every brutal detail with unrelenting intensity. The challenge was crafting invisible visual effects, enhancing practical stunts and destruction without breaking the immersive, handheld camera style. “The sequence was designed to be one shot made up of 10 individual takes, shot over seven days, seamlessly stitched together, all while using a handheld camera on an extremely wide-angle lens.” One of the most complex moments involved a bull smashing through a wagon while the characters hid underneath. Rather than relying on CGI, the team took a practical approach, placing a 360-degree camera under the wagon while the special effects team rigged it to explode in a way that simulated an impact. “A real bull was then guided to run toward the 360 camera and leap over it,” Ceperley says. The footage was blended with live-action shots of the actors with minimal CGI enhancements – just dust and debris – to complete the effect. Adding to the difficulty, the scene was set at sunset, giving the team an extremely limited window to capture each day’s footage. The massacre sequence was a prime example of integrating visual effects with practical techniques in creative, unconventional ways, blending old-school in-camera effects with modern stitching techniques to create a visceral cinematic moment that stayed true to the show’s raw, historical aesthetic. “Using old techniques in new, even strange ways and seeing it pay off and deliver on the original vision was the most rewarding part.”

It’s been more than two decades since scientists finished sequencing the human genome, providing a comprehensive map of human biology that has since accelerated progress in disease research and personalized medicine. Thanks to that endeavor, we know that each of us has about 20,000 protein-coding genes, which serve as blueprints for the diverse protein molecules that give shape to our cells and keep them functioning properly.Yet, we know relatively little about how those proteins are organized within cells and how they interact with each other, says Trey Ideker, a professor of medicine and bioengineering at University of California San Diego. Without that knowledge, he says, trying to study and treat disease is “like trying to understand how to fix your car without the shop manual.” Mapping the Human CellIn a recent paper in the journal Nature, Ideker and his colleagues presented their latest attempt to fill this information gap: a fine-grained map of a human cell, showing the locations of more than 5,000 proteins and how they assemble into larger and larger structures. The researchers also created an interactive version of the map. It goes far beyond the simplified diagrams you may recall from high school biology class. Familiar objects like the nucleus appear at the highest level, but zooming in, you find the nucleoplasm, then the chromatin factors, then the transcription factor IID complex, which is home to five individual proteins better left nameless. This subcellular metropolis is unintelligible to non-specialists, but it offers a look at the extraordinary complexity within us all.Surprising Cell FeaturesEven for specialists, there are some surprises. The team identified 275 protein assemblies, ranging in scale from large charismatic organelles like mitochondria, to smaller features like microtubules and ribosomes, down to the tiny protein complexes that constitute “the basic machinery” of the cell, as Ideker put it. “Across all that,” he says, “about half of it was known, and about half of it, believe it or not, wasn't known.” In other words, 50 percent of the structures they found “just simply don't map to anything in the cell biology textbook.”Multimodal Process for Cell MappingThey achieved this level of detail by taking a “multimodal” approach. First, to figure out which molecules interact with each other, the researchers would line a tube with a particular protein, called the “bait” protein; then they would pour a blended mixture of other proteins through the tube to see what stuck, revealing which ones were neighbors.Next, to get precise coordinates for the location of these proteins, they lit up individual molecules within a cell using glowing antibodies, the cellular defenders produced by the immune system to bind to and neutralize specific substances (often foreign invaders like viruses and bacteria, but in this case homegrown proteins). Once an antibody found its target, the illuminated protein could be visualized under a microscope and placed on the map. Enhancing Cancer ResearchThere are many human cell types, and the one Ideker’s team chose for this study is called the U2OS cell. It’s commonly associated with pediatric bone tumors. Indeed, the researchers identified about 100 mutated proteins that are linked to this childhood cancer, enhancing our understanding of how the disease develops. Better yet, they located the assemblies those proteins belong to. Typically, Ideker says, cancer research is focused on individual mutations, whereas it’s often more useful to think about the larger systems that cancer disrupts. Returning to the car analogy, he notes that a vehicle’s braking system can fail in various ways: You can tamper with the pedal, the calipers, the discs or the brake fluid, and all these mechanisms give the same outcome.Similarly, cancer can cause a biological system to malfunction in various ways, and Ideker argues that comprehensive cell maps provide an effective way to study those diverse mechanisms of disease. “We've only understood the tip of the iceberg in terms of what gets mutated in cancer,” he says. “The problem is that we're not looking at the machines that actually matter, we're looking at the nuts and bolts.”Mapping Cells for the FutureBeyond cancer, the researchers hope their map will serve as a model for scientists attempting to chart other kinds of cells. This map took more than three years to create, but technology and methodological improvements could speed up the process — as they did for genome sequencing throughout the late 20th century — allowing medical treatments to be tailored to a person’s unique protein profile. “We're going to have to turn Moore's law on this,” Ideker says, “to really scale it up and understand differences in cell biology […] between individuals.”This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Cody Cottier is a contributing writer at Discover who loves exploring big questions about the universe and our home planet, the nature of consciousness, the ethical implications of science and more. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and media production from Washington State University.

Tear up the court in NBA 2K25, survive a horror-filled manor in Alone in the Dark, combo your way through a future world in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and take on some sci-fi adventures in Destiny 2: The Final Shape with June’s PlayStation Plus Monthly Games lineup. Let’s take a closer look at each game.  View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image NBA 2K25 | PS4, PS5 Stack wins, raise banners and make history in NBA 2K25. Command every court with authenticity and realism Powered by ProPLAY, giving you ultimate control over how you compete. Play anywhere, as you define your legacy in MyCAREER, MyTEAM, MyNBA and The W. Express your personality with an extensive array of customization options and explore an all-new City, where opportunity awaits behind every door. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Alone in the Dark | PS5 Alone in the Dark is an atmospheric reimagining of 1992’s ground-breaking survival horror of the same name. In 1920s America, Emily Hartwood recruits private detective Edward Carnby to aid in the search for her missing uncle. Their hunt leads them to Derceto Manor, a home for the mentally fatigued in the gothic American South that hides a dark secret. Play as either Edward or Emily as they explore Derceto and discover horrors that defy explanation. You’ll have to brave the shadows, solve environmental puzzles and survive chilling encounters with murderous creatures if you’re ever going to make it through this nightmare. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Bomb Rush Cyberfunk | PS4, PS5 Start your own cypher and dance, paint graffiti, collect beats, combo your tricks and face off with the cops to stake your claim to the sprawling metropolis of New Amsterdam. In this action-adventure platformer, Red is a graffiti writer who lost his head and instead has a cyberhead. In search of his roots he joins the Bomb Rush Crew, Tryce and Bel, who are aiming to go All City. Together they slowly discover who it was that cut off his head and how deep Red’s human side is linked to the graffiti world. All three games will be available to PlayStation Plus members on June 3 until June 30.  View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Destiny 2: The Final Shape | PS4, PS5  The Final Shape looms – a nightmarish calcification of reality into the Witness’s twisted design. Embark on a perilous journey into the heart of the Traveler, rally the Vanguard, and end the War of Light and Darkness. This Destiny 2 expansion* includes the new story campaign, new Prismatic subclass, three new Supers, a new destination and new weapons and armor to collect.  *Destiny 2: The Final Shape is available to PlayStation Plus members May 30. Requires the base game of Destiny 2, available on PlayStation Store, to play.  View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Last chance to download May’s games PlayStation Plus members have until June 2 to add Ark: Survival Ascended, Balatro and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun to their game library. 

Got a project that’s too wild for this world? Submit your conceptual works, images and ideas for global recognition and print publication in the 2025 Vision Awards, June 6th marks the end of the Main Entry period — click here to submit your work. What does the future of architecture hold? How will tomorrow’s buildings look, feel, and interact with the existing human-made environment? Which innovations are primed to help us reduce the footprint of construction, improve liveability, and redefine our idea of and relationship to space? These are the questions Architizer’s Vision Awards look to answer (or, at least offer some suggestions in lieu of concrete answers). Dedicated to the planned and unbuilt, which may or may not ever be, nominations represent one of our most unique human traits — the ability to imagine possibilities and impossibilities, to dream big and think well into unchartered territory. Unbuilt architecture, whether it is planned for construction or destined to remain on “paper,” should be more present in a newscycle of press releases for recently constructed or newly opened buildings. Indeed, many of the ideas presented in such projects directly respond to emerging crises exacerbated by our continued reliance on 20th-century practice’s approaches and materiality. Meanwhile, the evolution of architectural visualization allows architects to develop their wildest ideas and to communicate their boldest visions with more clarity and urgency than ever before. Kyathos I Mass Timber Arena by KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm, Βεΐκου, Galatsi, Greece Many studios are looking to re-write the script with high tech innovations that simply would not have been possible in the recent past, or emphasize the urgent need to get back to traditional building styles that utilize natural resources and passive principles in a bid to bring down carbon emissions and other outputs with negative environmental impact. The Kyathos Mass Timber Basketball Arena proposal does both. It’s fitting that we should look at this concept in spring 2025. The Osaka Expo recently opened in Japan and features the largest free-standing wooden structure ever built. The Grand Ring encases the event site and a section of its coastal waters with a circumference of 61,035 square meters (656,975 square feet). To us, it reflects what is possible when modern engineering meets one of the world’s most sustainable materials. Likewise, realizing a size previously unthinkable with wood, Alexander Kitriniaris’ KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm‘s plans for this Greek sports stadium offer a new vision for the athletic facility typology.  Kyathos I Mass Timber Arena by KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm, Βεΐκου, Galatsi, Greece Employing a composite timber load bearing system, the project — commissioned by Galatsi Municipality — comprises a main court, spectator stands, internal mezzanine and gallery running the perimeter, changing rooms for athletes and referees, toilets, offices, and auxiliary spaces. Its total surface area is 4,000 square meters (43, 055 square feet), all of which complement the location. Designed for the site of an older, smaller wooden gymnasium, which fails to meet modern standards and is scheduled for demolition, the aesthetics reflect the surrounding Mediterranean flora grove. The name Kyathos refers to a type of painted pottery cup popularized in ancient Greece. The design of this was based on the petals of a milkweed belonging to the Euphorbia genus of plants. The countryside in this region is home to around forty such species, making the entire building an ode to indigenous nature and culture that has been here for millennia. When realized, it will stand in sharp contrast to the stereotype of arenas and stadiums most fans across the world have grown accustomed to, which often seem to have landed in situ, from another district if not planet. Kyathos I Mass Timber Arena by KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm, Βεΐκου, Galatsi, Greece Above the main court level, the building’s structure is composed entirely of engineered wood, including glue-laminated timber, cross-laminated timber, and plywood. A timber support frame wraps the indoor gymnasium in a precise 45-by-30-meter (148-by-98 foot) rectangular grid. The roof is formed by ten identical isostatic frames. Symmetrical in design, these triple-arched assemblies combine beams and posts, reinforced where necessary by discreet metal connectors and stiffeners. Overhead, a lightweight polymer roof — waterproof, UV-resistant, recyclable, and printable — ensures durable protection while minimizing weight. In the renderings, an elegant lattice-like pattern, calls attention to these delicate considerations. At the heart of the design, the firm’s plans and visualizations emphasize, lies a bioclimatic structural shell (pictured below), conceived to provide constant shade while optimizing natural ventilation, daylighting, and passive cooling. Meanwhile, rainwater collected from the roof and shaped surfaces is reused for on-site irrigation, supporting the lush Mediterranean flora of the existing grove. Kyathos I Mass Timber Arena by KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm, Βεΐκου, Galatsi, Greece This year, Saudi Arabia has begun working towards the World Cup 2034. Set to be held in November that year due to the incompatibility of regional climate and international football — or football at any level — the environmental price tag for this edition of the planet’s biggest soccer tournament is likely to be huge. While recent years have seen major strides taken to improve the impact of competitive sports, with last year’s Paris Olympics achieving more than 50% carbon reduction compared with the previous two Games, there are clear differences in what’s needed to host matches in cities like Jeddah and Riyadh. Not to mention the ultra-futurist urban experiment, NEOM — a metropolis that doesn’t exist yet.   Even during winter months, average temperatures across the desert state sit at a very hot 29°C. Humidity is high in coastal areas, while frost and snow are not uncommon overnight on higher ground. While it’s too early to tell the footprint of the vast mega-stadiums we’ve been promised for the competition, heating and cooling requirements are almost certainly going to be immense. We are, after all, experiencing a surge in global temperatures year-on-year and an increase in weather extremes of all kinds, and this will have significantly worsened in another ten years. More so, whether we’re powered with renewables or dinosaur fossils, high energy consumption of all types is not sustainable in the real sense.  Kyathos I Mass Timber Arena by KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm, Βεΐκου, Galatsi, Greece Analyzing the legitimacy, authenticity and suitability of Saudi Arabia as a World Cup host nation is a conversation for another time. Perhaps another publication. But the fundamental point is we urgently need to rethink and reprioritize non-essential undertakings for the sake of the climate and our planet. When seen through this lens, the plans for Kyathos in Greece act as a symbol of progress and sets benchmarks for a future in which we acknowledge the need for our passions to be in balance with the Earth, rather imposing upon it. The fact this is achieved through an homage to a history in which we were more aligned to nature, and associated materials, but also utilizes modern engineering techniques and manufacturing methods of those materials, only accentuates the masterful vision behind this design.  Given the number of projects that will be designed between now and the stadium’s project 2028 construction date, and the ever-increasing concentration of carbon in our atmosphere, its urgent that we begin celebrating such plans now — while they’re still plans — rather than waiting for the design to become a physical building. After all, architecture starts before you put two bricks together (or, in this case, two pieces of timber). Learn More About Vision Awards Got a project that’s too wild for this world? Submit your conceptual works, images and ideas for global recognition and print publication in the 2025 Vision Awards, June 6th marks the end of the Main Entry period — click here to submit your work. The post Hoop Dreams: Greece Tips Off a New Vision for Arena Architecture appeared first on Journal.

It’s only fitting that Austin-based hospitality group Bunkhouse Hotels should dub its new Houston locale, Hotel Saint Augustine, after Saint Augustine. The fourth-century theologian was canonized as the patron saint of printing because of his extensive writings on and early dissemination of the catholic faith. The new locale situates near the Menil Drawing Institute. Augustus Chapman Allen was one of the founders of the Texas metropolis in which there’s an abundance of Saint Augustine grass. Though references to surrounding history and ecology abound, the hotel forms as an inward-facing urban retreat, tastefully outfitted with near monastery-like qualities juxtaposed by pops of contemporary color and texture. Award-winning local architecture firm Lake Flato programmed Hotel Saint Augustine as a cluster of five two-story structures that reflect the proportioning of the neighborhood but that also delineate a series of cloistral courtyards. The open air porches that connect these decidedly modernist buildings imbue the destination with a residential feel. Lushly planted gardens emerge from these voids as they give way to meandering pathways. Fellow Texas firm Ten Eyck teamed up with the John Fairey Garden to cultivate a series of complementary plants for the site: eyelash sage, dwarf rock palm, and blue rabbit’s foot fern. New York and Wyoming-based interiors practice Post Company – in collaboration with Bunkhouse’s internal design team – outfitted the interiors with the same duality in mind. Drawing inspiration from the notable art museums – mostly named for the influential de Menil family – the scheme champions a clever yet not bombastic intermixing of old and new elements; a touch of surrealism. Tying together a carefully sourced selection of distinctive furnishings is a tightly curated program of minimalist artworks. With different lounge and retail display vignettes demarcated by soaring sheer curtains, the main lobby takes on the appearance of what one might imagine as a collector’s home. A burled walnut and Calacatta Viola marble reception desk plays off of bright red lacquered shelves with glowing back-lit panels. Deep blue walls and ceilings, as well as dark black glazed ceramic tile floors in the adjoining bar, helps hotel guests and hospitality visitors escape the bustling city right outside. Antique mirror panels help extend the verdant greenery of the internal gardens indoors. When it comes to dining and drinking options, Augustine Lounge and Listening Room are joined by the Michelin Guide-recommended Bar Bludorn. Premiere all-day restaurant, Perseid – named in honor of Houston’s long history as an epicenter of space exploration – is a quintessential neighborhood bistro. Throughout this offering, ombre dipped wall treatments and hand painted, texturally abstracted murals help to scale down the space. Art Deco inspired pendants hang above. The 71 suites comprise a diverse range of accommodations: from the compact 200-square-foot Petite Queen guest rooms to the Ateliers with private outdoor spaces. Monochromatic blues, deep reds, sages, and mustards delimit the bed while the same approach to furnishings found in the public areas carries through. The difference: much richer velvet drapes juxtapose dark ebonized wood oak flooring. Oversized sculptural luminaires skew the more intimate scale of these suites. “Honoring Houston’s artistic and cultural heritage, Saint Augustine alludes to the legacy of John and Dominique de Menil, who were tastemakers, art collectors, and human rights activists that shaped the city into the cultural nexus it is today,” says Tenaya Hills, Bunkhouse Hotels’ senior vice president of design and development. “In line with our ethos of creating community-driven experiences, Hotel Saint Augustine will also celebrate Houston’s history of unexpected pairings and cutting-edge culture through programming and partnerships, and plans to partner with neighboring non-profits to build lasting relationships with organizations working to further responsible growth in Houston,” says Hills. What: Hotel Saint Augustine Where: Houston, Texas How much: Rooms start at $300 Design draws: An urban retreat made up of separate buildings with cloister-like courtyards and lush greenery. Eclectic yet cohesive interiors that at once honor the cultural clout of the surroundings and allow guests to retreat for a while. Book it: Hotel Saint Augustine Go virtually on vacation with more design destinations right here. Photography by Nicole Franzen and Julie Soefer.

NVIDIA and Taiwan’s manufacturing ecosystem, including Delta Electronics, Foxconn, TSMC and Wistron, are showcasing this week at COMPUTEX in Taipei the crucial role digital twins play in accelerating industrial AI. These electronics, semiconductor and robotics manufacturing leaders are using Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) and NVIDIA Omniverse libraries and blueprints to develop physically based digital twins. This is transforming factory planning by unlocking new operational efficiencies and accelerating the development, testing and validation of autonomous robots and robotic fleets. Many of these manufacturers are also extending the digitalization of their factories to the real world, using the NVIDIA AI Blueprint for video search and summarization (VSS) — now generally available and part of the NVIDIA Metropolis platform — to deploy video analytics AI agents into their operations and drive additional automation and optimizations in defect detection and other operations. Taiwan Manufacturers Optimize Planning and Operations With Simulation and AI Agents  Taiwan’s leading electronics and semiconductor manufacturers are using digital twins, physically based simulation and AI agents to optimize existing operations and vastly accelerate the planning and commissioning of new factories. Foxconn is leading the way. At its Taiwan facilities, Foxconn engineers rely on the Fii Digital Twin platform, developed with OpenUSD, Siemens and Omniverse technologies, to design and simulate robot work cells, assembly lines and entire factory layouts. These digital twins connect to material control systems and use Autodesk Flexsim, NVIDIA cuOpt and NVIDIA Isaac Sim to enable engineers to simulate and dynamically optimize the flow of materials, equipment, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated guided vehicles, and other robots and humans. By developing a standard digital twin model for their factories, Foxconn can quickly migrate and easily reconfigure its designs and plans for new factory deployments. Foxconn is using the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T N1 model, the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T-Mimic blueprint for synthetic manipulation motion generation and NVIDIA Isaac Lab to train industrial manipulator arms and humanoid robots for performing complex tasks such as screw-tightening, pick and place, assembly and cable insertion. Foxconn robotics developers use the Mega NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint to simulate and test large robotic fleets comprising AMRs, manipulators and humanoid robots before deploying them in facilities. To accelerate analysis and decision-making, Foxconn engineers use their digital twin platform to conduct thermal assessments of POD rooms across different scenarios. By connecting their digital twins to the Cadence Reality Digital Twin Platform and integrating NVIDIA PhysicsNeMo frameworks, teams can conduct thermal simulations 150x faster, reduce thermal risks and identify energy-saving opportunities. Using the Omniverse Blueprint for AI factory digital twins, Foxconn can simulate and test GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchips in liquid-cooled PODs to replicate the conditions of an AI factory. Credit: Foxconn The company is also deploying video analytics AI agents using the VSS blueprint from NVIDIA Metropolis for real-time video analysis and insights in live production scenarios. TSMC is collaborating with an AI-powered digital twins startup to optimize the planning and construction of its new fabs. TSMC taps into an AI engine and applications built with Omniverse libraries to transform traditional 2D computer-aided designs into rich, interactive 3D layouts of their complex facilities, including specialized areas like clean rooms. Credit: TSMC Visualizing these optimized layouts in a digital twin allows planning teams to proactively identify and resolve equipment collisions, understand system interdependencies, and assess impacts on space and operational key performance indicators. This AI-driven approach is enhanced by NVIDIA cuOpt for optimization and reinforcement learning with NVIDIA Isaac Lab, enabling the generation of intricate, multilevel piping systems in seconds — a task that traditionally requires substantial time and effort. This enables engineers to virtually validate complex pipe routing and drastically reduce design revisions, ultimately streamlining the entire fab development process. TSMC also uses vision language models and vision foundation models to improve automated defect classification workflows — boosting efficiency to classify wafer product defects for engineers to pinpoint potential root causes for the issues. Beyond the use of digital twins and vision AI, TSMC also taps into NVIDIA CUDA-X software libraries and NVIDIA GPUs to accelerate its entire semiconductor chip design workflow — from lithography with NVIDIA cuLitho to semiconductor process simulation. Wistron teams drive operational efficiencies, optimize layout planning of their plants, and train robots and workers with the Wistron Digital Twin (WiDT) platform. The platform is powered by software from Autodesk, Cadence and Microsoft and taps into NVIDIA AI and Omniverse libraries. By connecting the WiDT platform to generative AI tools and real-time data from surface mount technology machines and shopfloor control systems, operations teams can visualize real-time dashboards to quickly diagnose and improve machine and plant performance. Wistron robotics developers use the platform, and its integration with NVIDIA Isaac Sim, to simulate and test robotic arms. With a simulation-first approach, teams reduced the time needed for each arm to assemble parts on the production line by 12 seconds. Credit: Wistron The Wistron digital twin platform also uses the VSS blueprint to create and curate training videos for teaching workers how to perform and manage complex tasks and scenarios. The platform uses NVIDIA Cosmos Tokenizer to help teams analyze and break down worker actions on the production line and improve standard operating procedures. This approach is enabling Wistron to accelerate onboarding, improve worker productivity and ensure safety. Wiwynn uses AI-enabled digital twins built with Omniverse technologies to optimize factory layouts, simulate production, integrate cobots and enhance quality control through improved inspection and analysis. These solutions have driven significant manufacturing and logistics innovation and efficiencies. Pegatron’s PEGAVERSE and PEGAAi platforms equip engineers and factory managers with digital twins that support many use cases, including factory planning, predictive maintenance, process optimization, resource planning, remote monitoring and quality control. Teams also use the platforms to build visual AI agents to help workers perfect complex assembly tasks. These AI agents, developed with the NVIDIA AI Blueprint for VSS and NVIDIA Metropolis, have enabled Pegatron to augment assembly processes, reduce labor costs by 7% and decrease assembly line defect rates by 67%. Kenmec and MetAI are using Omniverse technologies and the Mega NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint to build physically accurate digital twins for simulating, testing and deploying warehouse automation solutions. Together, the teams virtualized the entire Chief Smart Logistics Center, creating a full-fidelity simulation environment that brings together physical dynamics, real-time controller logic, AI-driven testing and optimization — all within a simulated environment. GIGABYTE operations teams are using digital twins developed with Omniverse libraries and connected to live IoT data from the manufacturing floor to improve operational monitoring of production systems. By visually flagging anomalies, including equipment issues and delays, the digital twins help teams quickly identify issues, conduct root cause analysis and take corrective actions. Quanta Cloud Technology engineering, operations and logistics teams collaborate using digital twin solutions built with Omniverse to accelerate factory planning. Digital twins provide these cross-functional teams with access to the latest design data, enabling them to provide immediate feedback on proposed layouts, which leads to optimized workflows and improved space utilization. Teams can further extend collaboration sessions to external customers and suppliers so they can remotely contribute to design reviews and validation. Credit: Quanta Manufacturers Embrace Digital Twins to Accelerate Robotics Development In addition to creating the future in manufacturing, Taiwan manufacturers are using digital twins, powered by Omniverse libraries and blueprints, to develop the next wave of AI-enabled robots. Delta Electronics is using Isaac Sim to optimize electronic component production and to simulate, train and validate its entire range of industrial robots — from AMRs to industrial manipulators. Credit: Delta Electronics The company is transforming its expertise into a service by designing a cyber-physical integrated classroom to be launched soon in Taiwan, where customers learn to use the DIATwin platform to simulate and integrate Delta’s industrial equipment and robots to ensure a more effective implementation into their own production lines. Credit: Techman Robot Techman Robot is advancing intelligent automation at Volkswagen’s Transparent Factory. Using Isaac Sim, Techman’s AI Cobots learn to operate on GESSbot AMRs in physically accurate simulations to perform real-time assembly, inspection and adaptive manipulation tasks with precision. By simulating robot behavior and workflows virtually, Techman Robot has reduced the time to program robots by 70% and improved robot productivity by 20%. Credit: Foxlink Foxlink is using the Isaac GR00T N1 model to add generalized intelligence and autonomy to its industrial robots used in manufacturing facilities. Solomon’s AI vision solution, powered by NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator CUDA-X acceleration libraries, is helping Inventec significantly accelerate its robotic server inspection process by boosting complex motion planning speed by up to 8x and reducing errors by 50%. Kudan is integrating its Visual SLAM technology with Isaac Perceptor CUDA-X acceleration libraries into NexAIoT’s AMR, NexMOV-2. This integration uses advanced 3D perception and navigation, enabling them to navigate complex, unstructured environments such as manufacturing, logistics and healthcare facilities with greater precision and reliability. MSI is powering its industrial robots with the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin module to perform a variety of tasks, from pick-and-place and material handling to delivering payloads inside large warehouses and facilities. Credit: Adata In healthcare, Adata and Advantech are jointly using Isaac Sim, Isaac Perceptor and Jetson Orin to develop AMRs for disinfecting hospitals. This collaboration has reduced deployment time by 70% and made the disinfection process 3x faster. Ubitus is also using the Isaac platform to train G1 humanoid robots to deliver medical checkup materials and specimens, helping alleviate labor shortages in hospitals. Learn more by watching the COMPUTEX keynote from NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and attending sessions at NVIDIA GTC Taipei, running through May 22. See notice regarding software product information. Featured image courtesy of Quanta (top left), Wistron (top right), Foxconn (bottom left), Pegatron (bottom right).