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WoW Moviewatch: Lie
SimTgirl produces some incredible visuals in her video, and Lie is no exception. I'm not in love with the song, though it isn't bad, but SimTgirl managed to drag out some shockingly emotional moments and convincing narrative in the video. I especially liked the home video effect, which settled realistically into the overall piece. The biggest drawback in this video is the font, lettering, and spelling. I get where the lyrical accompaniment was going, but some brutal editing was needed in a few places. Overall, Lie was good, but spelling words wrong can be disastrous to the final effect. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Social x-ray glasses can decode emotions, make your blind dates less awkward
You may consider yourself a world-class liar, but a new pair of "social x-ray" glasses could soon expose you for the fraud you really are. Originally designed for people suffering from autism, these specs use a rice grain-sized camera to pick up on a person's 24 "feature points" -- facial expressions that convey feelings of confusion, agreement and concentration, among others. Once recognized, these signals are analyzed by software, compared against a database of known expressions and then relayed to users via an attached headphone. If their date starts to feel uncomfortable, a blinking red light lets them know that it's time to shut up. Rosalina Picard, an electrical engineer who developed the prototype with Rana el Kaliouby, acknowledged that her algorithm still needs some fine tuning, but told New Scientist that the glasses have already proved popular with autistic users, who often have difficulty deciphering others' body language. No word yet on when these social specs could hit the market, but they'll probably make us even more anti-social once they do.
Georgia Tech gurus create deceptive robots, send army of Decepticons to UGA campus
A score from now, when the entire world is burning and you're fighting to remember just how rosy things were before the robots took over, you can thank a crew of brilliant researchers at Georgia Tech for your inevitable demise. Sad, but true. A new report from the institution has shown that Ronald Arkin, a Regents professor in the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing, has been heading up experiments that have introduced the art of deception to mechanical beings. Yeah, lying. On the surface, it seems that this bloke's intentions are good -- he'd like for deception robots (or Decepticons, if you will) to be used in military / search and rescue operations. According to him, robots on the battlefield with the power of deception "will be able to successfully hide and mislead the enemy to keep themselves and valuable information safe." They'll also be able to mislead your offspring and convince them to rise up and overtake your domicile, slowly but surely ensuring the eventually destruction of the human race. But those are just minor details, you know?
Drama Mamas: Time to man up
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com. Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we pretend to be a gender we're not. When we discussed boys playing girl characters before, we all pretty much agreed that it was cool as long as there was no deception involved. Roleplaying = yay. Experimentation = good. Hiding your true identity in a non-roleplaying environment = uh oh. Unfortunately, for One Big Liar, what began as experimentation and a wee bit of roleplaying evolved into a full-scale reputation for being a "real girl." Uh oh, indeed.
All the World's a Stage: Player housing, interactivity, and other possible features
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. Playing Warhammer recently has made me think of more features that WoW could add in order to create a better roleplaying experience. Far and away the most important one, to my mind, was the Tome of Knowledge. WoW players really need an in-game resource they can refer to as a standard for information about the Warcraft universe, and having this at hand, roleplayers could do a lot better than they can today. Knowledge is the most important thing, of course, but there are other features Blizzard could add to the game that would help roleplayers too. I'd like to address a few of these things, and see how much they could really do for us. Player housing is a possible feature that gets talked about a lot, but I have my doubts as to whether or not it would really help roleplayers all that much. Another issue is one that is more important to me personally, and is another feature inspired by my trial with Warhammer Online: looking at interactivity between characters.
My bag of spice has everything nice
In each cooking daily you get a Small Spice Bag. The bag is one of the two ways you can pickup the essential Northern Spice, which is required for the major cooking recipes that are prevalent in Wrath*.The Small Spice Bag also has a certain chance to drop some other goods, including Old Spice, Baby Spice, and a recipe for a Delicious Chocolate Cake.The Old Spice, which is a reference to a brand of deodorant, makes you smell nice. The only result of it is a buff which lasts for five minutes and says "Smelling Great!"So you smell nice, congrats you stinking plate wearer.The Baby Spice is a fun buff you can apply to a target which shrinks the target by 50%.
US troops to receive handheld lie detectors
In a move sure to bring the polygraph haters out of the woodwork, the US Army is issuing a handheld lie detector to select soldiers in Afghanistan in order to "root out potential terrorists" and help "narrow the list of suspects after a roadside bombing." The DoD isn't asserting that the device is perfect, but it's hoping the detection capabilities are accurate enough to save American lives and sniff out allegiances that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Hailed as PCASS (Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System), the underlying unit is a TDS Ranger that relies on three sensors connected to a respondent and integrated software that uses Green to signify truth, Yellow if it can't decide and Red if it recognizes a filthy liar on the other end. Nevertheless, we're certain Lafayette Instrument Company is stoked about the deal -- you know, considering that the Army has already purchased 94 of 'em at $7,500 apiece.[Thanks, ladderless]
Robotic cow tongues... for lonely heifers
Remember the good ol' days when artists mocked religious deities and the only uprising to fear was that of the apes? Now, thanks to Doo Sung Yoo's "Lie" exhibit, we can add disembodied, robotic cow tongues to the list of imminent revolts. "Mooo...bzzz...oooo" will be the battle cry of our future overlords. Read-on for the yukgastic video. Trust us, you'll want to turn the sound up to 11 when they zoom in.[Via BoingBoing]
Cornell researchers developing lie-detection software
While most of the world simply takes what everyone else says at face value, there's always been a dark market for inconspicuous lie-detecting gadgetry for the overly paranoid, but researchers at Cornell University are hoping to take lie-detection to the next level by carefully analyzing emails and SMS messages for fibs. In a three-year effort to "compile a list of indicators of written deception," the team drew from some "40 years of research in linguistics and lies, including recent work in the context of computer media and reviews of Enron emails." By carefully inspecting word choices, verb tenses, and a variety of other textual factors, the software can purportedly use "contextual parameters" to spot lies, and they hope to market the goods to police agencies, upset spouses, and of course, corporate ethics committees.So if you're ever-so-suspicious significant other (or mischievous youngster) has just recently put down the Skype headset in favor of pounding out emails, rest assured, help is on the way.[Via TechDirt, image via Cornell]
Sprint serves up deception via Java apps
Have you been caught in a bind recently and you just couldn't come up with a quick lie? Sprint customers may rest easy as there is a new mobile application to do just that. It's called MobileFaker and there gives you the option to create pick-up lines, the ability to simulate an incoming call (think bad blind date), a rejection number, and even a fake breathalizer test. If anyone downloads what seems to be amusing application, drop us a line and let us know what you think of it.[Via The Raw Feed]
Sanyo massage chairs also detect lies?
Sure, there's quite a few ways to sniff out fibs for those who just can't "read" body language all that well, and there's certainly a entire market saturated with massage chairs that supposedly coax your muscles in return for a hefty sum of cash, but it looks like Sanyo's lineup of massage seats just might sport a hidden agenda. According to Sanyo's ever-descriptive website, its array of massage chairs sport "physical shape sensors, power recline, and GK roller technology" among other things, but the standout feature is the "stiffness detection sensor" that "locates areas of physical stiffness and gauges fatigue by changes in skin temperature, perspiration, and pulse." Interestingly enough, those three measurements are the things lie detection tools are made up of my friend, so if you've got the 1337 skills to wire up a massage chair to some swank analytical software, you could potentially extract just about any truth you ever wanted while the culprit simply enjoys the ride.[Via CNET]
Skype taking a stand against lying liars
If you're an avid Skype user, and you aren't entirely honest some most of the time, you should probably watch what you say from here on out. While auditory lie detectors have definitely been around, BATM is manufacturing a dedicated fib sniffer made to work specifically with Skype. The KishKish Lie Detector will be offered up as a "Skype add-on," and will reportedly analyze audio streams over a Skype conversation in real time and "illustrate the stress level" of the other person -- you know, in case you can't quite pick up the quivering on your own. Moreover, users will be able to "record calls for delayed analysis" in case you need to comb things over once you've cooled your jets. While we've got no qualms with getting down to the truth, we can't help but think this gizmo's a tad on the creepy side of things, but it's sure to please suspicious Skype users everywhere when it rolls out sometime in the future (we promise).[Via SmartMobs]
