Kevin Wong
Articles by Kevin Wong
Using Lego therapy for autism
There is no cure for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which affects one out of every 59 children in the United States. One of its most common effects is difficulty with social interaction and everything it entails, like living independently and holding down a job. Children on the spectrum may avoid eye contact, have difficulty reading people's emotions via nonverbal signals and struggle to express their own emotions verbally.
How child-security apps lengthen the reach of parents
My son recently turned 3 years old. Now that he's a "big boy," he wants to explore and run ahead of me, even though he lacks the wherewithal and caution to do so. My instincts, as a first-time father, are to hold onto him for dear life. I can't hold onto my son forever. But there are steps I can take to lengthen my reach before I let go entirely. Via GPS and beacon technology, developers are creating child trackers -- security apps and hardware to address the modern parent's primary preoccupying concern: "Where is my child right now?"
In pursuit of the perfect AI voice
The virtual personal assistant is romanticized in utopian portrayals of the future from The Jetsons to Star Trek. It's the cultured, disembodied voice at humanity's beck and call, eager and willing to do any number of menial tasks. In its early real-world implementations, a virtual receptionist directed customers ('To hear more menu options, press 9'). Voice-typing software transcribed audio recordings. It wasn't until 2011 that Apple released Siri and the public had its first interactions with a commercially viable, dynamic personal assistant. Since Siri's debut with the release of the iPhone 4S, Apple's massive customer base has only gotten larger; the company estimates that more than 700 million iPhones are currently in use worldwide.
A Nanjing Massacre survivor's story lives on digitally
On the morning of December 13th, 1937, Japanese troops pounded on the door of Xia Shuqin's family home in Nanjing, China. Thirteen people had taken shelter under this particular roof: Eight-year-old Xia, her mother and father, two grandparents, four sisters (one, four, 13 and 15 years old), and four neighbors. The Japanese army had ridden into the city on horseback that morning and faced little resistance; the Chinese army had made a full, chaotic retreat the prior evening, December 12th. When Xia's father answered the door, the Japanese soldiers immediately shot and killed him. They bludgeoned and killed her one-year-old sister. They raped and killed her mother. They killed her grandparents. They raped and killed her 13-year-old and 15-year-old sisters. And they bayoneted Xia three times in the arm and back.
How the eSports community cares for injured players
Clinton Loomis, known to many by his online alias Fear, had his first experience of arm pain in Dec. 2013. For more than a decade, Loomis has been a professional esports athlete for Defense of the Ancients (Dota) and Dota 2. At tournaments, his reputation precedes him. He is considered one of the best players in the games' history, with multiple first-place finishes in global competitions, earning him six- and seven-figure sums. Similar to traditional sports, the number of people who play Dota 2 is far greater than the number of people who can make a living from it. Professional gaming requires fine motor precision, encyclopedic knowledge and relentless practice. The average gamer plays video games for five to six hours per week. Loomis estimates that at his professional height, he logged anywhere from eight to 12 hours per day playing Dota 2. A professional gamer like Loomis can average hundreds of actions per minute during those hours.
The unending fight to preserve 'The Last Supper'
In April, Italian marketplace chain Eataly announced it would sponsor the latest effort to preserve Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper. It's the perfect marketing partnership: A food company saves the most famous depiction of a meal for future generations. This excerpt is from its online announcement, titled "Eataly Saves The Last Supper":
Mortal Kombat X and the beauty of gore
In a demo video for the next installment of Mortal Kombat, series staple Scorpion is moments from being decimated by the fatality of D'Vorah – an insect-like woman joining the roster. In her final move, she summons a swarm of flesh eating bugs. They eat two holes into Scorpion before setting on his head. The flesh disappears quickly – his skin eaten away first, inner flesh and then the muscle closest to the bone. In the end, all that remains is his skull and his jawbone hangs off to the left, like a door on a rusty hinge. Adding insult to fatal injury, Scorpion's skull rolls away and D'Vorah crushes it with the heel of her boot. Creative. Disgusting. And yet, strangely beautiful. Mortal Kombat X continues the franchise's grand tradition of a love affair with gore.
Breaking kayfabe: How WWE video games are impacted by the 'Reality Era'
Let's start with a concession: there is a large swath of readers who are hesitant to discuss professional wrestling with any sort of seriousness. It's viewed as a low art form by some, and many others would balk at even considering it art. But even those readers can concede that professional wrestling is a popular form of entertainment. There are very few people, perhaps other than young children, who believe that professional wrestling is real in the way that a boxing match or MMA fight is real. That's not, however, to say that professional wrestling is 'fake,' as some of its detractors deride. The proper term would be 'scripted,' because when a person falls off a 12-foot ladder, it's going to hurt. That pain is real, regardless of whether or not it was pre-determined.