People are using AI video generation tools to contribute to an unexpected new viral trend: podcasts featuring AI-generated talking babies. And one of the companies helping artists do this is Hedra. The startup, launched in 2023, offers a web-based video generation and editing suite powered by its Character-3 model, which lets users make videos with an AI-generated character as the focus, as well as transfer styles across images and audio. This is what people are using to make podcast videos like this one, in which an AI-generated dog talks about what it’s like to live with a new baby in the house. We’re not sure how much Hedra has benefited from this trend, but it’s receiving ample investor attention nevertheless: the company on Thursday said it has raised $32 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Infrastructure fund. Its previous investors are participating in the round, and a16z’s Matt Bornstein will join the startup’s board. Michael Lingelbach, the company’s founder and CEO (pictured below), told TechCrunch the startup was inspired by the gap he noticed between companies like Synthesia, which let users superimpose AI-generated avatars over presentations, and startups like Runway, which provide video generation tools for creating short clips. “I thought what if we did something at the intersection of video generation and 3D characters, with long dialogues and better controllability,” he said. Michael Lingelbach, Hedra’s founder and CEO. Image Credits: Hedra Hedra launched its first video model in June 2024, and quickly attracted investor interest, securing $10 million in seed funding from Index Ventures, Abstract Ventures, and a16z speedrun. Earlier this year, Amazon also backed the company through its venture capital arm, Alexa Fund. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW Lingelbach noted that the launch of the Character-3 model in March was a big inflection point (shortly after the company signed its term sheet with a16z), and is now driving a lot of user growth. The startup wants to use fresh cash to train its next model, which it says enables better customization, as well as develop technology to let its AI-generated characters interact with users. The company is now focusing on attracting creators and prosumers, and said it has received inbound interest from marketing departments of enterprises as well. Image Credits: Hedra While Hedra’s own model is centered around character movement and expression, the app lets you employ other models like Veo 2 and Kling for video generation; Flux, Imagen3, Sana, and Ideogram V2 for image generation; and audio models from ElevenLabs and Cartesia for voice generation or cloning. Hedra’s competitors include Captions (also backed by a16z), which is focused more on smartphones; Greycroft-backed Cheehoo, which works with Hollywood studios to create animated features; Synthesia, and HeyGen. Hedra claims the videos generated with its platform have more expressive characters than those made using its competition. a16z’s Bornstein thinks that as the AI-powered video generation space evolves, we will see more tools focusing on characters, motion, voice, editing and the like. “AI companies can produce amazing clips of environments and simple actions. But they can’t generate meaningful dialogue or animation. It’s not just about making a video, it’s about making a story that resonates. This is largely down to the people and characters in the story. That’s exactly what Hedra is building,” he told TechCrunch in an emailed statement.

Elementum 3D, a developer of advanced metal materials and print parameters for additive manufacturing, has been selected as one of the awardees for the Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC) for the U.S. Air Force . The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle has a ceiling of $46 billion and will run through 2031. EWAAC was established to support the Program Executive Officer (PEO) Weapons program and is structured to address air armament-related requirements. The initiative is centered on the Digital Trinity concept, which includes agile software development, open architecture, and digital engineering. It will fund activities such as weapons systems requirements development, research and development, testing and evaluation, production and fielding, prototyping, weapon design, system modeling, and demonstrations. No predetermined funding is allocated upfront; instead, funding will be distributed through interagency collaborations and external agency contributions. Elementum 3D will contribute its knowledge in high-performance materials and additive manufacturing processes to support projects aligned with the Air Force’s digital and armament modernization efforts. The company has developed proprietary technologies including reactive additive manufacturing (RAM), which enables the printing of advanced materials not previously achievable using conventional techniques. Elementum 3D offers a catalog of novel feedstock powders with established printing parameters, as well as custom material development services. Graphic displaying the official emblems of the U.S. Air Force and EWAAC. Image via Elementum 3D. “Our history runs deep with the U.S. Air Force, and we are honored to be part of this contract in support of the U.S. armed forces,” said Dr. Jacob Nuechterlein, CEO and founder of Elementum 3D. “The Elementum 3D team is ready to develop innovative capabilities that align with the nation’s defense needs.” EWAAC is structured to accelerate the acquisition and deployment of armament capabilities through digital acquisition and sustainment practices. The initiative reflects a growing emphasis on reducing timelines for development and integrating advanced engineering workflows across Department of Defense programs. A full list of awardees under the EWAAC contract is available at ewaacportal.com. 3D printed Elementum 3D logo. Photo via Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing. U.S. defense agencies scale up additive manufacturing investments Recent Department of Defense initiatives have expanded federal investment into additive manufacturing (AM) for national security applications. In February, America Makes—the U.S. national accelerator for AM operated by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM)—launched a $1.1 million project under the Allied Additive Manufacturing Interoperability (AAMI) Program. Funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the effort targets qualification standards for laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and aims to address certification, IP management, and secure data transfer across U.S. and UK defense supply chains. The project builds on priorities set by the Regional Sustainment Framework and reflects a growing emphasis on interoperable, qualified AM production in defense contexts. This push has also extended to emerging materials and processes. Supernova Industries Corp, a Texas-based additive manufacturing company, was awarded a $2 million subcontract through the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center’s (DOD IAC) multiple-award contract vehicle. The project, issued under the Manufacturing Capability Expansions and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) Pathfinders portfolio, supports the development of energetic materials using Supernova’s Viscous Lithography Manufacturing (VLM) process. The company has demonstrated fabrication of simulant components such as solid rocket motors and pyrotechnics using high-solid formulations not compatible with traditional printing methods. Supernova Defense & Space partners with the U.S. Department of Defense. Image via Supernova Industries Corp. Ready to discover who won the 20243D Printing Industry Awards? Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to stay updated with the latest news and insights. Featured image showcase graphic displaying the official emblems of the U.S. Air Force and EWAAC. Image via Elementum 3D. Anyer Tenorio Lara Anyer Tenorio Lara is an emerging tech journalist passionate about uncovering the latest advances in technology and innovation. With a sharp eye for detail and a talent for storytelling, Anyer has quickly made a name for himself in the tech community. Anyer's articles aim to make complex subjects accessible and engaging for a broad audience. In addition to his writing, Anyer enjoys participating in industry events and discussions, eager to learn and share knowledge in the dynamic world of technology.

South Korea has once again postponed a decision on whether to approve Google’s request to transfer the high-precision map data it has on the country’s geography to its international servers. In February, Google had requested approval from the Korean National Geographic Information Institute to deploy a 1:5,000 scale map on its app in the country and also transfer that data to its servers abroad, a spokesperson for the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport confirmed to TechCrunch. The government was supposed to finalize its decision within 60 days, by mid-May, but the deadline has now been moved to August 11 as they are still in discussions, the spokesperson said. This is Google’s third request to South Korea on this topic, following previous requests in 2011 and 2016. The tech giant currently uses a 1:25,000 scale map in the country that includes points of interest and satellite images, according to media reports. A 1:5,000 scale high-precision map would offer a more detailed view that would include even the narrowest streets. When South Korean officials rejected Google’s request in 2016, they said an approval would only be granted if the U.S. tech firm sets up a data center in South Korea. The country also asked Google to blur sensitive locations, like national security facilities, on its maps for security purposes. Google has not yet said if it would set up a data center in South Korea. The company operates an array of data centers around the world, including in Asian countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia. Data restrictions by the government have impacted the performance of Google Maps and Apple Maps in South Korea. Foreigners and tourists often struggle to navigate with Google Maps due to the limited information and languages supported, often resorting to using local apps that do not support many foreign languages. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW Local navigation apps such as Naver Maps, TMaps and Kakao Maps are most popular among local users. These apps offer map data at a scale of 1:5,000, and therefore, much more information and detail. Naver Maps, launched in 2002, has about 27 million monthly active users, while Kakao Maps and TMaps have around 11 million and 24 million MAUs, respectively. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Grapezard Member Nov 16, 2017 8,356 Yup, the legendary dogs beasts cats of Johto. Which is your favorite? You got Entei, the Volcano Pokemon. Suicune, the Aurora Pokemon. and Raikou, the Thunder Pokemon.   mopinks Member Oct 27, 2017 32,684 I'm not crazy about any of em but I'll give it to suicune   AgentStrange Member Oct 25, 2017 4,998 None. I take Zoloft. Entei   DanteSparda504 Member Nov 2, 2017 4,829 Birmingham, AL Suicune is my favorite. I think the only forgettable one is Raikou.   Rustyspider13 Shinra Employee Member Nov 16, 2023 3,584 Suicune, there is a majestic nature about it. Never used any of them in battle though.   RochHoch One Winged Slayer Member May 22, 2018 21,257 Can I cheat and say Raging Bolt What a beautifully silly creature  nsilvias Member Oct 25, 2017 29,958 raikou is where its at. entei is a loser   nsilvias Member Oct 25, 2017 29,958 RochHoch said: Can I cheat and say Raging Bolt What a beautifully silly creature Click to expand... Click to shrink... how do you go from sabre tooth dog to a giraffe   Hero Prinny Member Oct 25, 2017 3,826 DanteSparda504 said: Suicune is my favorite. I think the only forgettable one is Raikou. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Thats cause TPC never did anything with it. Entei got a movie & suicine got a movie and a game. They told poor raikou to go kick rocks   Shuckle Member Mar 30, 2018 598 Suicune is the coolest and was really fun to play in Gen 3 I think. Substitute/Calm Mind/Surf/Rest or Ice Beam if I recall was a really powerful moveset.   RochHoch One Winged Slayer Member May 22, 2018 21,257 nsilvias said: how do you go from sabre tooth dog to a giraffe Click to expand... Click to shrink... Alternate timelines that don't make sense, apparently. Must be from an unga bunga Flinstones universe full of dinosaur Pokemon   TheAggroCraig This guy are sick of the One Winged Slayer Member Nov 6, 2017 7,286 Suicune is the best of the GSC legendaries, but Raging Bolt is by far the best of the paradoxes.   DoctorPlayer MD "This guy are sick" Member Feb 4, 2021 2,728 Brazil All 3 of them are great, but Suicune's my favorite.   Foolish Member Jun 23, 2022 1,507 Okay so Raikou has the most fun name to say. Raikou. Hell yeah. Love it. But I don't like its purple hair that runs down its back. Feels excessive to the design and is way too similar to what Suicune has going on. And the tail feels weirder the more you look at it. Entei has the best design of the lot. Simultaneously comes across as both a lion and also some pure fantasy beast. And those black bands on its legs give the impression that it was once shackled in chains, and has now broken free. So good. I think the purple mane on Suicune clashes way too much with its other colors, and I think its face looks weird. And it cursed my childhood for years because I could not, for the life of me, figure out how its name is supposed to be pronounced. Entei >> Raikou >>>>> Suicune  Faiyaz Member Nov 30, 2017 6,599 Bangladesh Entei is the fucking GOAT   mrmickfran The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 33,133 Gongaga Suicune my beloved   Beren One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 4,992 Enter, but that's definitely due to my exposure to the third movie. Suicune is definitely cool and I won't knock anyone for picking that one. Raikou was great competitively but it just couldn't compete. Had no idea what the vibes were.  NetOpWibby Member Nov 15, 2017 75 Carina Nebula SUICUUUUUNE Gimme Pokémon Crystal with Breath of the Wild mechanics and I'm good for a decade.  -Le Monde- Avenger Dec 8, 2017 14,228 My favorite legendary trio. Really hard to choose. Probably Raikou  ForteanMan Member Oct 25, 2017 571 Dongguan, China Think it's Suicune for me largely because of Pokémon Crystal.   StrappingYoungLance Member Oct 27, 2017 7,764 Melbourne, Australia Picking Suicune is for mids.   Bucca Member Oct 25, 2017 5,435 Suicune the GOAT   mnk Member Nov 11, 2017 7,937 Raikou's the only one I like.   Lightsong Member Nov 11, 2022 9,346 Suicune! I also like the dino version:   Dogui Member Oct 28, 2017 10,911 Brazil Suicine is the only not fugly one.   Rocky Road Member Jun 1, 2018 1,006 Suicune is gonna be the most popular due to Crystal, I'm interested in what a straight Entei vs Raikou would be if all the Suicune voters had to vote for one of those two   Buzzkiller_20 Corrupted by Vengeance Member Oct 27, 2017 2,522 I like Entei because of the movie, Suicune design wise, and Raikou because of the bond i had with him in Heartgold. Helped me beat the game and beat Pearl as well when I transferred him over. It's hard to choose which one i like the most, but i think i will give it to Suicune. His design is great and water types are my favorite, so I choose Suicune.   hydruxo ▲ Legend ▲ Member Oct 25, 2017 22,672 They're all about even for me but Suicune has an ethereal vibe to it that puts it over the edge for me   Bishop89 What Are Ya' Selling? Member Oct 25, 2017 42,657 Melbourne, Australia mopinks said: I'm not crazy about any of em but I'll give it to suicune Click to expand... Click to shrink... Exactly this   Stencil Mailing His Own Damn Business Member Oct 30, 2017 13,464 USA I suppose Raikou is a very distant second to Suicune. But Suicune is far and away the coolest and best. Poor Entei.  MimicBox82 Member Jan 9, 2018 5,406 Sweden Suicune is the cutest, so I'll go with that.   HardRojo One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 28,818 Peru Raikou, always. RochHoch said: Can I cheat and say Raging Bolt What a beautifully silly creature Click to expand... Click to shrink... Not whatever this monstrosity is. And yeah, someone's gonna claim "well, that's not Raikou".   Shoichi Member Jan 10, 2018 12,459 favorite typing is water pokemon, so Suicune has been one of my favorites since Crystal.   Tsaki Member Feb 12, 2019 419 youngster: Suicune teenager: Raikou adulthood: Entei  Silver9 Saw the truth behind the copied door Member Oct 31, 2017 1,228 Suicune is a majestic pokemon.   Rouk' Member Jan 10, 2018 9,530 To this day, I still don't understand why Raikou is the least popular   Kneefoil Member Oct 25, 2017 4,945 Entei's the coolest, for sure. Suicune's the most iconic these days, though.   onibirdo Member Dec 9, 2020 3,555 I recently watched ProZD's Pokémon ranking videos. He calls Entei "your angry dad as a Pokémon" which is weirdly accurate.  

Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Good data transfer rate Quiet fan Cons Data rate drops during long, sustained data transfers No operation without fan Our Verdict With its quiet fan and attractive metal casing, the TurboMetal Portable SSD looks great. It offers a good transfer rate, but you can find faster drives. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed200 Euro Best Prices Today: Verbatim Turbometal Portable SSD Retailer Price 145,33 € View Deal €153.25 View Deal €249.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The Verbatim TurboMetal SSD comes in the classic NVMe form factor with a length of around 106 millimeters. The beautifully rounded metal housing is 55 millimeters wide and only 18 millimeters thin. At 150 grams, it is not too heavy despite the metal housing, but it is no lightweight either. As with many USB4 enclosures, Verbatim also relies on cooling with an active fan and cooling slots. The fan is temperature-controlled and starts automatically if the temperature gets too high. Verbatim specifies a USB4 data transfer rate of 3600MBps for writing and 3700MBps for reading. However, we were not able to achieve this on an M3 MacBook Air; in our 4K test with Aja System Test Lite, it was 2664MBps for writing and 3123MBps for reading. Although these are not bad values, the best USB4 drives we have measured so far achieve slightly higher values for writing, but no higher values for reading. A check on the M4 Max Mac Studio showed much better values, with 2869MBps for writing and 3499MBps for reading. In a 30-minute endurance test with the Backmagicdesign Disk Speed Test, the fan started up after ten minutes. The TurboMetal getting too warm was also noticeable after around nine minutes in the data transfer rate, which had dropped significantly to below 1000MBps. Shortly after starting the fan, the temperature of the SSD levelled off again, and the data transfer rate rose to its original value. The runs only when it has to. During the endurance test, the data transfer rate dropped again and again for a short time, only to stabilise immediately. We measured the temperature with DriveDX at around 46 degrees Celsius after using the fan. Once the fan has started, it does not switch off. The TurboMetal Portable SSD is available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities. A USB4 cable around 20 centimetres long is included. The drive comes formatted as FAT32, so Mac users will want to reformat the drive in APFS. The software supplied is only for Windows. Should you buy the Verbatim TurboMetal SSD? The TurboMetal SSD is a rather inconspicuous USB4 drive. The data transfer rates are fine for regular everyday use, but if you depend on speed, some SSDs perform better. The regular dips in the data transfer rate are evidence of a thermal protection mechanism, but in practice, this is unlikely to cause a problem with most applications

News Blades of Fire Demo Goes Live on May 15th The demo lets players experience the initial hours of MercurySteam's next title, with progress transferring when it launches on May 22nd. Posted By Ravi Sinha | On 15th, May. 2025 After promising to release a demo “soon” for Blades of Fire, MercurySteam has confirmed that it will be available on May 15th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. According to the developer on BlueSky, it includes the first few hours of the hack-and-slash action RPG. Your progress will also transfer to the game when it launches next week, which means this is based on the final product. Blades of Fire is available on March 22nd for consoles and PC and focuses on Aran de Lira as he embarks on a quest to defeat Queen Nerea. The latter ascended the throne after her father’s passing and has been on a reign of terror, cursing the kingdom’s steel into stone. Wielding a mystic Forge hammer, Aran can create his own weapons to fight back. The blacksmithing portion is more than just a crafting exercise. It’s a full-fledged system that deeply influences combat and tactics. Head here for more details and check out our feature on the tile. Tagged With: Elden Ring: Nightreign Publisher:Bandai Namco Developer:FromSoftware Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PCView More DOOM: The Dark Ages Publisher:Bethesda Softworks Developer:id Software Platforms:Xbox Series X, PS5, PCView More Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Publisher:Sony Developer:Kojima Productions Platforms:PS5View More Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out! Blades of Fire Demo Goes Live on May 15th The demo lets players experience the initial hours of MercurySteam's next title, with progress transferring wh... Sand Land, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy, and More Coming to PS Plus Extra/Premium Other titles include Soul Hackers 2, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Humankind, Five Nights at Freddy's: Help... EA Motive is Hiring a Level Designer to Create “Major Single-Player Levels” For Iron Man The job listing also reaffirms that Iron Man is being developed using Unreal Engine 5, asking for the applican... Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition is Out Now for $69.99 It includes the base games, Kombat Pack 1, Khaos Reigns, all Kameo Fighters, Shang Tsung, the Premier skins, a... Helldivers 2 is Seemingly Getting a Major Update on May 20 The update, reportedly dubbed Heart of Democracy, revolves around Super Earth being in danger and Helldivers h... Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link Cancelled, Square Enix “Hard at Work” on Kingdom Hearts 4 "It would be difficult for us to offer a service that players would find satisfactory over a long period," the... View More

The last weekend in May is known for barbecues, beaches, and the best Amazon Memorial Day sales. Whether you’re lounging away or traveling over the holiday weekend, the best deals are a click away from arriving at your doorstep. AD editors searched Amazon for the best markdowns on vacuums (and other home appliances), furniture, mattresses, bedding, as well as patio furniture to usher in the summer. We found the best-selling home items already on sale that might even rival some Black Friday deals.Whether you’re looking for smart home gadgets or ways to update your bedroom, read on for Memorial Day deals that will fetch you the lowest price now, at least until Prime Day comes around.Our Top Picks for the Best Early Amazon Memorial Day Sales:Best Mattress Deal: Helix Midnight Luxe Mattress, $2,374 $1,780Hotel-Quality Bedding: Mellanni Hotel Luxury 1800 Sheet Set, $70 $37Best for Birders: Netvue by Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder with Camera, $360 $300An Outdoor Entertaining Essential: Everdure Cube Portable Charcoal Grill, $119 $109Best Vacuum Deal: Dyson V15s Detect Submarine​ Wet Dry Vacuum, $950 $798Browse by CategoryVacuumsPhoto: Terri WilliamsDyson V15s Detect Submarine​ Wet-Dry VacuumThis wet-dry vacuum from Dyson is one of the most versatile model's money can buy—it can be used on hardwoods and carpets with vacuum and mopping functionality. “The beauty of this design is that all of the water is contained in the separate wet roller head, so I can remove it, attach one of the other roller heads, and dry vacuum in other parts of my home,” says contributor Terri Williams, our resident cleaning device expert, in her review. It's a standout for tackling tough stains and picking up debris, and it's designed to cover 1,000 square feet with its 300 milliliter water tank.Levoit Cordless Vacuum CleanerThis Levoit model is “proof that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a good vacuum,” says Williams in her best of Levoit review. Similar to higher-end models, this home cleaning gadget runs for 50 minutes in eco mode and has a serious filtration system. Williams likes that it can go completely flat to clean tricky places such as under the couch. The three LED lights ensure you don’t miss dust as you go. With this low price and superb cleaning power, you can see why it is a favorite.Shark HV322 Rocket Corded VacuumYes, this Shark stick vacuum is corded, but with more than 18,000 five-star reviews, this top-rated machine needs to make its way into your home. Weighing just under nine pounds, it has an extra-large dust cup so you can pick up every last crumb and crumble. Convert it into a handheld vacuum to get into the tight spot between the stair step and the riser or between the couch cushions.Bissell CrossWave HydroSteam Deluxe Wet Dry VacWhen your floors need an extra oomph, the Bissell CrossWave HydroSteam Deluxe is your BFF. Its steam technology helps tackle stubborn messes on kitchen tile and beyond. Use it on a carpet or area rug to give it a light refresh. When it’s time to spruce up the vac itself, the washable filter is easy to maintain.FurnitureMellow Naturalista Classic Platform BedThe simple design of the midcentury modern Mellow platform bed frame makes it easy to assemble. It’s made of solid wood and comes in multiple hues, including pine, cherry, and black. With 8.5 inches between the floor and the frame, you have plenty of storage space too. Bonus: Amazon Prime members get a free two-day delivery.Serwall Foldable Adirondack ChairA Memorial Day sale for outdoor furniture is not something you want to miss. If you don’t have an Adirondack chair, now is the time to snag one. The composite material model by Serwall comes in 12 colorways, including teal, apple green, and sky blue. There is also a cup and mobile phone holder so all your comforts are right there with you. It also folds, allowing you to store these in a neat stack when the season’s over.Poly & Bark Pure-Aniline Italian Leather SofaThe best couches on Amazon are part of the early Memorial Day weekend sales. Poly & Bark is one of our top picks thanks to its sleek, modern corner-blocked frame (made of kiln-dried wood) with pure-aniline Italian leather upholstery. When it ships, all you have to do is attach the legs.Walker Edison Modern Curved Reeded TV StandWhen it comes to buying TV stands from Amazon, you’ve got options and great deals. To help you narrow it down, go for a contemporary design with curves and reeded detail. Choose from mocha or oak options to suit your living room color palette. This one has plenty of storage space and open shelving to display home decor.Bedding & MattressesCasper Sleep Original PillowThe Casper Sleep Original pillow was voted as the best cooling pillow tested by AD editors and contributors. It works for all types of sleepers—back, side, and stomach—and skews on the firmer side. “This is actually my boyfriend’s pillow,” says contributor Madeleine Luckel. “I usually like really soft pillows, while he likes firmer ones. However, I like this product so much that I try to steal it all the time.” One of the reasons she snags it is because it stays cool and “it really is at some indescribable sweet spot in terms of its firmness.” Since the fill is made of a polyester microfiber that’s covered in a cotton cover, it’s also machine-washable.Helix Midnight Luxe MattressSales events are sweeter when you can score 25% off a really, really good mattress, like the Helix Midnight Luxe. According to our best mattresses on Amazon reviews, this one earns the title of “best for back pain.” AD contributor Gaby Ulloa reports that she wakes up “feeling refreshed and well-rested each day” without any back pain whatsoever (something that happens when she sleeps on a new mattress). The hybrid model contains 1,000 individually wrapped coils with targeted pressure to relieve back pressure, help with spinal alignment, and prevent motion transfer. In terms of firmness, it’s about a six on a scale of one to 10.Lauren ArzbaecherLauren ArzbaecherMellanni Hotel Luxury 1800 Sheet SetThis might be the best buy for Amazon sheets. With more than 245,000 five-star reviews, it’s definitely at the top of our list for best Memorial Day sales. Not only are these “lightweight and airy,” sheets a steal, according to contributor Kristi Kellogg, “they've held their shape, color, and softness through dozens of washes.” With 45 colorways to choose from—pastels, florals, and stripes—you have plenty of options to stock up on these super soft and wrinkle-resistant bed sheets.Lane Linen 100% Organic Long-Staple Cotton SheetsLane Linen organic cotton is luxury at a fraction of the price. The breathable fabric is Oeko-Tex certified and feels crisp yet soft. At $40 for a four-piece set, it’s a rare find. We love the polka dot and speckled grey pattern, but you decide as there are 32 colors to choose from. In her review, Kellogg adds, “they haven’t faded or pilled,” even after several years of use.Home AppliancesDyson Purifier Hot+Cool Air Purifier, Heater, and FanAmazon is discounting the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cold by almost 30%, and you don’t want to snooze on this limited-time deal. “This air purifier is definitely a splurge,” says commerce editor and tester Audrey Lee. “Are there other air purifiers out there that work just as well at a lower price point? Probably—but I would say it’s the combination of a high-quality air purifier, fan, and heater that makes this one worth its price.” Lee used the remote control and the Wi-Fi-enabled Dyson Link app to set it up. “The purifier itself works like a dream, and I noticed within a week of use that I felt noticeably less congested,” she says in her air purifier review. “I appreciated that the Hot+Cold has an auto mode, which continuously monitors room temperature and indoor air quality, while also running the fan or heat to the degree of your choosing.” What’s more, it’s also an oscillating smart fan with adjustable airflow, so you can be ready for hot summer days.Netvue by Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder with CameraThe solar-powered bird feeder with a built-in AI gadget that can identify more than 6,000 bird species is an Amazon tech deal you don’t want to miss. It’s made with Forest Stewardship Council-certified bamboo, and the waterproof camera is encased in a carbonized shell so it won’t corrode. Thanks to the night vision feature, you can watch the birdies day and night.Nashia BakerCoway Airmega AP-1512HH(W) True HEPA PurifierAccording to Nashia Baker, senior commerce editor, the quality of Coway Airmega purifier is “second to none.” Baker is a big fan of the auto mode. “This is a favorite feature of mine, as it automatically detects the air quality through three LED light modes: blue (good), purple (moderate), and red (unhealthy),” she says in her review. “Whenever there’s a change in the air quality, like if I’m cooking, the LED light adjusts to either purple or red, and the air purifier picks up its speed to quickly regulate it. Usually in just a matter of minutes, the LED light changes back to blue and the air purifier goes back to a whisper-quiet sound.” If you happen to live in a place where pollen, allergens, and air pollution don’t seep through your doors and windows, the purifier will automatically default to auto mode.Everdure Cube Portable Charcoal GrillWe can’t not include a grill in an Amazon Memorial Day sale roundup. Grill designs come in plenty of options, and we love that this portable version by Everdure Cube is accessible to all (even if all you have is a tiny patio). Lightweight steel is what makes this barbecue grill a perfect pick for a day of grilling at a park or a beach. While it is small, you can still cook up to six small burgers or three small steaks. And cleaning is a breeze thanks to the removable grill rack.

After promising to release a demo “soon” for Blades of Fire, MercurySteam has confirmed that it will be available on May 15th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. According to the developer on BlueSky, it includes the first few hours of the hack-and-slash action RPG. Your progress will also transfer to the game when it launches next week, which means this is based on the final product. Blades of Fire is available on March 22nd for consoles and PC and focuses on Aran de Lira as he embarks on a quest to defeat Queen Nerea. The latter ascended the throne after her father’s passing and has been on a reign of terror, cursing the kingdom’s steel into stone. Wielding a mystic Forge hammer, Aran can create his own weapons to fight back. The blacksmithing portion is more than just a crafting exercise. It’s a full-fledged system that deeply influences combat and tactics. Head here for more details and check out our feature on the tile. ⚔️ Things to know about our upcoming demo! ⚔️🔥 We're launching on May 15th!🔥 We've packed a lot in! Experience the first few hours of #BladesofFire.🔥 Your save data and progress will carry over to the main game at launch! 💬 We can't wait to hear what you think. #ForgeYourLegend— Blades of Fire (@bladesoffire.bsky.social) 2025-05-13T16:03:54.413Z

Triangle Factory is a fast-growing Belgian gaming company that uses Unity to create high-quality multiplayer VR titles like Hyper Dash and their latest game, Breachers. Triangle Factory leverages tools like Cinemachine, Unity Profiler, Game Server Hosting, Matchmaker, Voice Chat (Vivox), and Friends in creating an immersive experience for players. In this blog, Jel Sadones, lead level design/tech art, and lead developer Pieter Vantorre walk us through their Blender-to-Unity pipeline and how they brought their VR tactical FPS title Breachers to life.Unity has been our go-to engine and development environment for over a decade, and we have gone through many workflows over the years for environment modeling and design. That includes using in-engine modeling tools like ProBuilder (which we still use and love for rapid prototyping) and assembling scenes from Prefabs created in other modeling packages. For our current projects though, we’ve landed on a workflow where we model and organize our levels in Blender, and rely on Unity’s AssetPostprocessor to integrate them into our Unity project.In this article, we’ll share with you how we ended up with this workflow and how it supports the kind of rapid design iteration we need for our games.In 2021, we released our first big VR title, Hyper Dash, a fast-paced 5v5 arena shooter. When we started development on the game in 2019, we had a basic Blender-to-Unity workflow that probably looks familiar to many: We simply modeled geometry in Blender, exported our assets as FBX files and manually integrated them into Unity. The manual integration involved several steps:Setting up dynamic objects in the scene such as weapon pickups, spawn doors, capture pointsPlacing colliders to prevent players from walking or teleporting in certain areasSetting up invisible guides to allow bots to behave properlyEtc.This process can work well for smaller projects, but quickly becomes cumbersome as a project scales and evolves. When we started planning the development of our next title, we knew we were going to need a drastically improved workflow.Breachers is a competitive shooter with complex level layouts, subtler gameplay mechanics, more technical systems at play, and a higher level of graphical polish targeting the newest generation of standalone VR hardware. In terms of complexity, it goes several steps further than Hyper Dash, and we quickly felt the effects of this on our workflow.In the prototyping phase, we still relied heavily on Prefabs for dynamic objects, like window barricades for example. These are objects that we place inside window frames to block line of sight between interiors and the outside to prevent teams from seeing each other during the warm-up phase of the game.While testing our prototype, we were constantly moving around windows to improve gameplay, which meant changing geometry in Blender and re-exporting to Unity and then manually moving the barricade objects to match our changes. Many hours were spent flying around Unity’s Scene view, manually checking and fixing these kinds of things. Still, we had more than one playtest where we only noticed during gameplay that something had been overlooked.Obviously, this workflow was not going to give us the ability to quickly iterate on our map designs as we playtested, both internally and as part of our open alpha, where we planned to make one map available for free to get feedback from the community. We were looking forward to all that feedback, but not looking forward at all to the manual effort involved in applying it to our maps.Another potential downside to a Prefab-based design workflow is performance. We mainly target mobile, standalone VR headsets for our games. We want to push the visuals as far as we can, so we need to squeeze every last drop of performance out of our workflow.Assembling levels from Prefabs can be less efficient than creating a watertight mesh in a modeling program. If you snap two modular wall pieces together, you always have an unmerged loop of geometry in between them. With Prefabs, it’s also easy to end up placing a lot of geometry in your scene that isn’t visible (because it’s on the underside of an object, or placed against a wall) but still taking up valuable lightmap space. Over an entire level, those small inefficiencies can add up to wasted performance and diminished visuals.The final issue with Prefabs we want to mention is that it can be easy to break things by applying seemingly innocent changes to the source model in Blender, like renaming an object. As a game or level evolves, you often want to reorganize your assets and give them improved or more consistent names. But renaming an object in Blender and re-exporting it can easily (and without warning) break the overrides and additions made to the object in Unity, leading to regressions.In this simplified example, we have a ventilation grate Prefab and want smoke coming out of it. After importing the mesh into Unity, our artist has added the smoke particle system as a child object and added a surface type component to the Prefab to mark it as being a metal object.Here you can see what happens if we rename our mesh in Blender:When reimporting the mesh with the updated name, Unity can no longer find the old mesh by name, so it removes the object from the model Prefab. Children of this removed object are moved to the root of the Prefab and existing scripts are removed, again leading to manual cleanup work we’d rather avoid.As the prototyping phase for Breachers wrapped up and we prepared to go into full production mode in early 2022, our art and dev teams sat down together and investigated what we could do to remedy these problems. We defined clear goals for our ideal asset pipeline, one that would support the rapid and flexible iteration required for Breachers:All creation and modification of level geometry should happen in Blender.WYSIWYG: What a designer creates in Blender should match the result in Unity as closely as possible.When something is updated in Blender, importing the changes into Unity should happen automatically and not require any manual effort.As mentioned above, our main goal was to have an accurate visualization of the game in Blender – not only properly reflecting how the end result will look in Unity but also how the gameplay mechanics are set up. Gameplay in Breachers not only depends on a level’s layout, but also on dynamic objects (like breachable walls) and invisible elements (like sound volumes and colliders). We want to have all this information visible at the design stage and carried over precisely to Unity.Custom properties are critical to our workflow, and we assign these to objects in Blender. These are then carried over in Unity by the FBX format, so we can read them and run custom logic when our assets are imported into Unity.This gives us a great amount of flexibility, as well as stability. These properties stay connected to objects throughout the pipeline, so we can reorganize and rename things in our levels as much as we want without worrying about things breaking or getting out of sync.Unity has a powerful class called AssetPostprocessor, which allows modifications of assets while they are being imported. This is what we use at import time to parse those custom properties and act on them.Prefab linksWe have a custom property named PrefabLink, which tells Unity the object imported from Blender should be replaced by a Prefab already in the Unity project, while preserving the imported model’s transform. This allows us to place these dynamic objects in Blender while retaining the advantages of Prefabs once they are imported into Unity. The window barricades in the Blender scene above are a good example of this.Surface typesSurface definition is extremely important in Breachers. Walking on a metal staircase sounds different from walking on a concrete floor. Bullet penetration through wood is a lot different than through steel. And each surface type has its own impact effects. Going over each prop in Unity and tagging it as the correct surface type would be extremely time consuming, so we also tackle this at the design stage in Blender by setting custom properties on our geometry colliders.Static flagsAnother important setting for optimization are Unity’s static flags. Setting these correctly can have a profound impact on things like visibility culling, light baking, and batching. Using custom properties in Blender, we can set these on any part of the level, including reusable props, and have that information carry over into Unity across our levels.CollidersLastly, we’d like to share how we set up colliders. Unity has a simple but effective system that automatically detects level-of-detail variants for models when you postfix a model asset name with _LOD0, _LOD1, etc. We were inspired by this and created a similar system for colliders: By simply having geometry with _BoxCollider or _NoCollision in the name, we replace the meshes from Blender with colliders in Unity.As a concrete example, here is a snippet of our LevelSetupPostprocessor that reads custom properties and assigns the right static flags on each imported object:For all of this to work smoothly, we did have to do some work on the Blender side as well.Custom properties are a bit hidden in Blender’s UI and would require artists to manually type out the custom properties each time, which is not a great user experience. Relying on manual text entry would also be very error-prone, undoing much of the advantage of setting things up in Blender in the first place. Moving from a Prefab-based workflow into Blender also made us miss some of the advantages of Prefabs, like having a nice library of objects to browse through and pick from. Luckily, Blender, like Unity, is very flexible and easily extensible.The answer to the Prefab organization problem came in Blender 3.2 with Asset Libraries. This system acts a bit like the Prefab system in Unity: It allows you to create assets in a separate file and then import those into your Blender scene, while changes in the asset file reflect automatically in the Blender scene. Additionally, it ensures that any custom properties or colliders are correctly applied to each instance of this asset in Blender.For Blender, we wrote an in-house add-on to help set up the custom properties in a more clear user interface. This simplifies setting custom properties by just selecting the relevant Blender objects and hitting a button, instead of typing out each property manually.The Bundle Exporter add-on is an open source add-on that we’re using to export all of our FBX files in one click. We modified it to also work with custom properties and updated the UI to have faster exports for our specific needs.Setting up our level design workflow for Breachers took a large time investment initially, but we believe it was the right choice for the project. Also, it was kind of fun!As we’ve built out the game from initial blockouts through alpha testing and the months leading up to the final release, iterating on our levels has been quick and painless. We’ve been able to eliminate overhead and busywork for our designers and artists, while also transferring responsibilities to them that they previously would have needed a developer for.We have been impressed at both Unity and Blender for their ability to integrate with each other this smoothly, and we strongly believe this integration was critical to making Breachers a game we’re happy with and proud to share with the world.Thanks for reading, and enjoy the game!Triangle Factory’s Breachers is now available. Check out more blogs from Made with Unity developers here.