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The Windows 10 Creators Update is now live
After much beta testing and new feature additions, Microsoft's Windows 10 Creators Update is finally rolling out today. You can read more about all the new stuff in our preview, but if you want to get it as soon as possible, you have two options. You can either wait for it to hit your machine, which could take months, or use the Update Assistant and get it now. Just beware that with the latter option, you'll want to pay rapt attention to the privacy screen -- otherwise, it will reset your carefully chosen settings to the default ones.
This laser-powered drum machine is a stunning work of art
We're big fans of homemade instruments, synthesizers and other noise makers here at Engadget. Russian artist Vtol created a massive laser-powered drum machine installation as part of Earth Lab, a joint project between the Polytechnic Museum Moscow and Ars Electronica Linz. Vtol describes the huge instrument as "an autonomous light-music installation," and it's certainly provides a neat visual to complement its noise making. The setup is officially called "Divider" and it uses seven lasers that pass through fans to send a light signal for generating sound. The laser beams are altered by high-speed fans with a photo sensor on the end monitoring the presence or absence of light.
With Kinect, I made a Grimes remix just by moving my hands
When it comes to electronic music, it's easy to see the ties between art and technology. In fact, that's pretty much the entire goal of Moogfest, a music festival that celebrates more than just its synthesizer roots. At this year's event, Microsoft teamed up with Moogfest to create an interactive installation that allows attendees to remix Grimes' "Realiti" by pushing on a mesh panel. Kinect cameras track a person's hand gestures to control different parts of the song.
Art exhibit turns tweets into a colorful sphere of emotion
Even if you see thousands of tweets per day and all the emotions that go with them, that's just a tiny fraction of Twitter's total traffic. A new art project wants to help you grasp the joy or fury expressed by all of the users around the world at once. The Fuse Studio's "Amygdala" installation at the CUBO Centro Unipol in Bologna, Italy crunches up to 30 tweets per second and translates each into one of six emotions: Happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, amazement or fear.
Watch a wild light show controlled by textile punch cards
German artists from Lab Binar have created an elaborate light show exhibition set in an abandoned textile factory. It's aimed at showing the "schizophrenia" of the textile industry -- the beauty of fabrics versus the brutality of making them. The trippy production (below) was created for a textile museum in Auburg, Germany, and is divided into two parts. The first features a noisy score using samples of the original weaving machines and staccato, black and white projected images. The second, set to Kraftwerk-style synth music, shows colorful fabrics created in the factory between 1806 and 1988.
Prana: an LED exhibit that breathes with you
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-462590{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-462590, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-462590{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-462590").style.display="none";}catch(e){} As you step into the shimmering globe of 13,000 LEDs, a sensor detects your presence. It reacts to the rise and fall of your lungs and illuminates the sphere of suspended lights called PRANA. The signal from the chip works its way to a computer that's loaded with custom javascript. The program triggers a variety of light effects – from pitch dark to sparkling lights – that fall in sync with your breathing to wrap you in a hypnotic glow. "Breathing is something that powers the body but you can't see it or detect it in very many ways," says Ben Hughes, managing creative director of B-Reel New York, the creative agency that created the experience. "PRANA is an attempt to visualize the unseen energy of our bodies and augment it in a really interesting way."
EVE Online speeds up game installation and access
To "get people into the game quicker," CCP is smoothing out the download and installation process for EVE Online. This new method of deployment is scheduled to go into service at the start of 2015. This means that the installation package will go from a 7GB download to a zippy 200MB one instead. Once that game client is up and running, it will then download the rest of the game's resources as needed. "On a fast connection you probably won't notice much of a difference -– load times may be slightly longer at times. As you play more, more resources will be cached and fewer and fewer need to be downloaded. The client will be smart about pre-fetching resources it expects will be needed soon," the team said.
This art project turns primitive smoke signals into ones and zeros
An art installation from the Koln International School of Design aims to give us a feel for the ethereal radio waves we take for granted every day. Binairy Talk, created by Niklas Isselburg and Jakob Killian, uses a sound generator and pulsing device to fire smoke rings at a laser sensor. Those are interpreted by a computer as either ones or zeros, with the resulting messages displayed on a screen. That may seem like a cumbersome way to say "hello," but the idea is to use an ancient, tangible system like smoke signals to "create awareness as to how much data and information constantly surrounds us." High minded concepts aside, it's also pretty cool -- check the video below.
Artist uses over-sized pixels to keep an eye on London's pedestrians
Folks strolling past the Welcome Collection's venue in London may have an eery feeling that they're being watched. Well, that's because they are. And not just by a government's prying eyes, but with 650 over-sized pixels that render their own set of gazing peepers. Peter Hudson's Eye Contact is on display in the buildings front windows, observing the passers-by all day long with ocular footage from nearly 70 volunteers. At night the eyes close for rest -- unless a set of sensors detect the occasional nocturnal pedestrian. The installation is meant question our reliance on digital screens and the manner in which they influence interaction. "Eyes are both a symbol of perception and an instantly recognizable human feature, so by presenting them through a heavily pixellated video display, I'm challenging the usually fluid process of recognition," Hudson explained. Londoners can expect for the screens to keep watch on them for the next year.
PS4 disc install trials: Knack playable in seconds, Killzone under 3 minutes
At a New York event yesterday, Sony demonstrated install speeds - the time from the point the disc is inserted, install is initiated and play can begin - for retail versions of two PS4 launch games: Knack and Killzone: Shadow Fall Knack, the action-adventure game from PS4 architect Mark Cerny, will take only tens of seconds before play can begin after priming the installation, Kotaku reports. Killzone: Shadow Fall will take a bit longer to reach play, Polygon reports, because there is an unskippable introduction movie and mandatory profile set-up. Guerrilla Games Managing Director Hermen Hulst told Polygon it takes under three minutes total to get into gameplay. Sony outlined the launch limitations of its PS4 console last month. All retail PS4 games will have to install data to the console's 500GB hard drive, which can be manually swapped out should the need for more space arise. The PS4 won't let users store data on an external hard drive or memory stick.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 Xbox 360 online issues resolved in latest patch
Konami issued a new title update for the Xbox 360 version of Pro Evolution Soccer 2014. The patch resolves the game's ongoing issues with online play, in which players were unable to download a data pack required for the game's online modes. The publisher noted that the full 11-vs-11 online mode is in beta, and "will be available in the coming weeks." Konami plans to launch a new data pack update in November that will feature updated rosters as well as "over 800 player face updates." PES 2014 will receive "further DLC updates," which Konami plans to announce "shortly."
Konami issues apology for Xbox 360 Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 online issues
Konami has issued an apology to owners of the Xbox 360 version of Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 for errors related to the game's online features. Some users report being unable to download a required data pack to activate online multiplayer, and instead have been greeted with an error message claiming the "download file is broken." Konami Digital Entertainment President Shinji Hirano said the publisher "would like to apologize to any users who have been unable to enjoy PES 2014 online and would like to reassure fans we'll be fixing the issue as quickly as possible." An update on Konami's European support page for the particular online problem noted that the publisher is "still in discussions with Microsoft trying to understand what might be causing this," and recommended that players attempt to download and install data pack 1.00, as "some players have reported intermittent success" in doing so. Konami added that it plans to update its support page on Monday with more information.
Google opens Web Lab at London's Science Museum, because 'the internet is incredible'
Still unable to resist its techno-philanthropic urges, Google has just unveiled the Web Lab at the Science Museum in London. Paid for entirely with Google juice and constructed in a basement area that was previously used for storage, the exhibition consists of five experiments that help us to "discover the power of the internet while we're on the internet." That might sound cheesy, but we've had a good play with each installation and they're actually very well thought out and accessible -- although, if you're already a hyper-connected nutcase then you might find it more appropriate for friends and family. We won't give too much away in case it spoils your fun, but you can get a flavor from the attached promo video we saw back at Google I/O, plus our gallery and the PR after the break. In any case, it's safe to say that each experiment involves creating and sharing media in a way you've never tried before. What's more, everything you do is stored in a little personal account in the cloud that you can access using the unique "lab tag" shown in the photo above. (Incidentally, all those symbols floating around in the background represent other individuals who are also currently participating in the project -- which ought to give you some idea of the overall premise.) The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow, is free to enter and follows the same opening hours as the main museum -- although the lab's online dimension will remain active for a distinctly un-British 24-7-365.%Gallery-160661%
Alt-week 7.8.2012: Solar flares, trapping dark matter, and life-sized Lego trees
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. This week we swing by some superhero news, look at how solar panels might shape up in the future, explore a Lego forest and see how to grab dark matter just using some household gold and strands of DNA. Not only that, we discover how the sun likes to celebrate the fourth of July with its own firework display. This is alt-week
It's art, baby: cover your walls in discarded QWERTY keys
Have you ever looked at your bedroom wall and felt that it was a few thousand keys short of the perfect decoration? This is the thought process of artist Sarah Frost, who has taken plethoras of keys from discarded QWERTY keyboards and covered walls with them. The masterpieces range in size from a single wall to entire rooms, consisting of parts procured from sources like individual homes, small businesses, government offices and Fortune 500 companies. Check out her website below for more information, or feel free to gaze upon one of these walls-o'-keys in person at the James Hotel at the James Hotel on Grand Street in New York City, where a permanent installation has been set up. Rent and the Statue of Liberty be damned, we know this is why you're pining to go to the Big Apple in the first place, right?
T.I.M. has a taste for passers-by, also fava beans and a nice chianti (video)
Art school -- incubator of tomorrow's next great visionaries, or think tank for the Robot Apocalypse? Sorry folks, but this latest Arduino frankenconcept looks to be working against Team Humanity. Part of Art Institute of Chicago BFA student Daniel Jay Bertner's recent oeuvre, the Tracking Interactive Mechanism (or T.I.M., for short) uses a webcam operating OpenCV to follow gallery-traipsing gawkers' faces, and respond to their movements. Careful, though. T.I.M. here bites, or at least makes virtual attempts to pierce your flesh thanks to a hidden photocell mechanism triggered by a viewer's proximity. There's just one thing Daniel left out of his wall-mounted, predatory cyborg installation -- the requisite Hannibal Lecter soundboard. Jump past the break to see this nightmarish, mixed media concept in motion.
Tetris played on 6-foot LED matrix, controlled by DDR mat
Watching two people play Tetris against each other is only slightly more entertaining than watching your stoner friends duke it in marathon Tekken sessions (read: not entertaining at all). But, we guarantee the video after the break is more interesting than it sounds. A trio of MIT students recreated the classic falling block game with six-foot tall arrays of LEDs (no cutesy Russia-inspired graphics here) and passed control duties off to a pair of Dance Dance Revolution mats. Look, just check out the video below and, if you're the ambitious type, you can get the code to create your own Tetris installation at the more source link. [Thanks, Russell]
Artists hack Sony Ericsson's Xperia phones to see the unseen universe, use fire as a flash
For most of us, cellphones are for texting, calling and maybe the occasional tweet, but what happens when you hand them over to some of the world's most creative minds? Giving hackers, artists and intellectuals free reign to mess with the various Xperia phones, Sony found out just how capable its handsets really are. Using a few tweaks and hacks, artists were able to create an installation that breathes fire when you snap a photo, a remote-controlled boat with GPS and a bike that uses colored lights to spell out secret words only visible when captured on camera. When Sony asked astrophysicist Joshua Peek to give it a go, he took full sky maps and telescope image data to build an app with an up-close view of electromagnetic patterns in the sky. To round out the project, musician Annabel Lindquist composed a song based on the sounds of Paris she recorded with an Arc. Now, if they could just mod one to avoid dropped calls, we'd be all set. Videos of their ingenuity in action after the break.
Waste Landscape installation reminds us why CDs weren't that great (video)
For most people, the term "waste landscape" may evoke images of desolate industrial zones, toxic sewage leaks, or Phish concerts. But architect Clémence Eliard and artist Elise Morin took a slightly more digital approach to the concept, constructing their undulating Waste Landscape installation from 65,000 unsold (and unwanted) CDs. To do this, the pair sewed the discs together by hand, before blanketing them over dune-like wire constructions inside the Centquatre -- a Parisian art space that, appropriately enough, was once a funeral home. The result is an array of sloping, shimmering hills that emerge from the floor like disco ball pimples, creating a space that the artists not-so subtly compare to an oil spill. It's a pretty sobering reminder of the environmental fingerprint archaic technologies can leave behind, but Eliard and Morin's story has a happy ending. When the exhibit comes to a close, every single CD will be recycled into polycarbonate. Spin past the break to see a video that'll make you wanna give your iPod a hug.
BlackBerry PlayBook gets arrested, finds itself toggling light bars in a police car (video)
Look, there's no question that Canada looks out for its own, but if you reckoned that it also let everything slide... well, think again. One D&R Electronics has apparently thrown a BlackBerry PlayBook into a Canadian Dodge Charger, signified by a red maple leaf and the oh-so-distinct use of the word "ayeouuut." Put simply, the 7-inch slate has been coded up to flip on the overhead / side lights, search police databases for names and faces, accept commands wirelessly from an in-car keyboard, and even be fully detachable for those times with mobility is of the utmost importance. You know, like playing Angry Birds while waiting in line to cross the border. Head on past the break to have a look, won't you? [Thanks, Dan]
