MACH system from MIT can coach those with social anxiety
Plenty of people out there have a serious phobia of public speaking and there are tons of other disorders, such as Asperger’s, that severely limit a person’s ability to handle even simple social interactions. M. Ehsan Hoque, a student at the MIT Media Lab, has made these subjects the focus of her latest project: MACH (My Automated Conversation coacH). At the heart of MACH is a complex system of facial and speech recognition algorithms that can detect subtle nuances in intonation while tracking smiles, head nods and eye movement. The latter is especially important since the front end of MACH is a computer generated avatar that can tell when you break eye contact and shift your attention elsewhere.
The software then provides feedback about your performance, helping to prep you for that big presentation or just guide you out of your shell. Experimental data suggests that coaching from MACH could even help you perform better in a job interview. What’s particularly exciting is that the program requires no special hardware; it’s designed to be used with a standard webcam and microphone on a laptop. So it might not be too long before we start seeing apps designed to help users through social awkwardness. Before you go, make sure to check out the video after the break.
Via: Far East Gizmos
Source: MIT
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Ask Engadget: help me tame my home network!
We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Daniel, who needs our help to tame his home network. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
“My home network is a mess. It used to be simple, after all, you’d just need a modem to connect to your ISP and a router. Lately, however, I’ve been adding more components like a NAS, a Z-Wave bridge, a 3G microcell and a computer for telecommuting. All of these things need a wired connection, which means I’m going to need to buy an eight-port switch sooner rather than later. As consumer hardware isn’t designed to be uniform and stackable, I’m now living in a mess! What I’d like to know is how others have tidied up — did you find an off-the-shelf cabinet or do I need to start building something on my own?”
Here’s where we turn the question over to you, our loyal Engadgeteers, to help solve and spread some peace through the gadget ecosystem this Saturday night. If you’ve tamed your own out-of-control home network, share your experiences below.
Filed under: Networking
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Mobile Miscellany: week of June 10th, 2013
If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, the Lumia 925 touched down in Germany, a popular RSS client for Android broke free of its Google Reader shackles and BBM Channels received some sorely needed features. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that’s happening in the mobile world for this week of June 10th, 2013.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
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ASUS K009 tablet reaches Bluetooth SIG with Snapdragon 600 mention, tiny photo
Well, isn’t this odd? ASUS’ mystery K009 tablet surfaced at the FCC with hints of a Snapdragon S4 Pro inside, but the 7-inch slate just received a Bluetooth SIG certification with marketing copy that suggests there’s a Snapdragon 600 instead. We don’t know whether this hints at a quiet upgrade, a variant or merely some confusion, although we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a speedup. The filing may have also shown the K009′s appearance, if barely — a miniscule photo points to styling like that of the Nexus 7 or the MeMo Pad series. While the tablet isn’t any closer to release without evidence of a ship date, it’s less likely to catch us off-guard.
Via: Android Central
Source: Bluetooth SIG
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Engadget Podcast 348: E3 and WWDC wrap-up – 06.15.13
E3 and WWDC are complete, so we set aside an hour to highlight the big announcements from both events in this week’s episode of the podcast. Tim joins the same club as our Senior HD editor, Richard Lawler, by reserving both the Xbox One and PS4, while Brian and Peter wonder what a world with “NintenDroid” and Mario on iOS would be like. Don’t delay — drag your pointer down below to hear it all for yourself.
Hosts: Tim Stevens, Peter Rojas, Brian Heater
Producer: Joe Pollicino
Hear the podcast:
Filed under: Gaming, Podcasts, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
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Major Nelson takes Xbox One questions, says banned users will 'absolutely not' lose games
E3 is over, but Microsoft still has a long way to go to answer questions from gamers about its new Xbox One console, particularly when it comes to the effects of DRM. Director of Programming of Xbox Live Larry Hryb aka Major Nelson takes on the most upvoted ones from posters in Reddit’s games section in this video interview with Chloe Dykstra. One question that seems to have a clear answer is whether banned users will lose access to any games they’ve activated, as he stated “Absolutely not, you will always have access to the games you purchased.” That goes against a previous response from the Xbox Support twitter account, although that may have been the result of confusion between the Xbox One and Xbox 360 policies. A question with no satisfying response yet however, is what gamers can expect years down the road if Xbox One’s authentication servers are shut down. Major Nelson followed up with a response in the comment thread that “I’ll get the real answer, I just don’t know it yet.”
Interestingly, the question he wished more people would have asked is about the “family package” and, we assume game sharing with a single account, after previously bringing up its cloud library as one upside to the new DRM setup. Tracking back to the original debut’s focus on the console’s HDMI input and TV overlays he mentioned using snap mode to watch TV while gaming, or getting Xbox Live notifications and jumping “instantly” to a game while watching TV. A similar crowdsourced interview was planned with the PlayStation team, but cancelled. Major Nelson says he will address more questions leading up to launch and is planning an ask me anything session later, so keep your (many) inquiries at the ready.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
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Alt-week 6.15.13: Chris Hadfield's retirement, invisibility cloaks and dino-bird feathers
Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.
What goes up must eventually come down, and shortly after landing on Terra Firma from his last of three ISS missions, Chris Hadfield has resigned from the Canadian Space Agency. That leaves us to wax poetic on his legacy of space education and other oddities, while we also make goldfish disappear and admire dinosaur plumage. Welcome to alt-week.
Filed under: Science
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Wacom Cintiq 13HD review: a space-saving pen display for designers
When Wacom teased a tablet-sized device a few months back, our curiosity was immediately piqued. However, the next reveal from the pen-wielding-peripheral company was actually the Cintiq 13HD — a product more in line with the outfit’s existing displays. We guess we’ll just have to keep waiting patiently for that truly mobile input device. For now, though, the 13-inch pen display sports that tablet form factor, but remains a dedicated tethered peripheral for artists, designers and photographers. While the device still offers the capable, user-configurable ExpressKeys and mighty Cintiq pen, are the omission of touch gestures and the need to remain wired to your desktop or laptop dealbreakers? Read on to see what we discovered.
Gallery: Wacom Cintiq 13HD review
Filed under: Peripherals
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Smartisan OS goes pre-alpha, available for international Galaxy S III only (video)
You may recall that a Chinese startup dubbed Smartisan promised to offer its first custom Android ROM on June 15th. Well, the time has come and the company stuck to its word, but there’s a catch: the software is currently still in pre-alpha status, so it’s neither stable nor speedy — definitely not recommended for daily use just yet. That said, the release apparently includes most of the features demonstrated at the three-hour-long launch event.
The other catch is that you’ll need an international Samsung Galaxy S III (i9300, WCDMA) plus Windows (presumably non-RT) to flash this early version of Smartisan OS. If you’re game then head to the source link for the download and the instructions (but in Chinese). If not, you can wait for the upcoming release for the HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S II, Xiaomi Phone 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note II. Or you can just wait for Smartisan’s very own phone due next year, if you don’t mind testing your patience.
Update: Someone’s already made a quick hands-on video in Chinese. We’ve got it right after the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Via: Engadget China
Source: Smartisan
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