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Inside the mind-reading dream factory that is Chaotic Moon
For two weeks every March, Austin, TX, transforms into the media playground known as SXSW. Everyone from brands like McDonalds and Budweiser, to indie app developers descend on the city to share ideas big and small, serious and irreverent. Tucked away above a restaurant just off of 5th street, however, is a place where there dreaming never stops. That place is the HQ of Chaotic Moon -- a digital idea factory that seems to exist for one simple reason: "What can we try next?" Naturally, when SXSW sets up around the team, it's the perfect chance to show off their latest ideas, and we got to see what they've been cooking up (and, for once, it's not BBQ).
SXSW's online harassment summit was a peaceful look at an ugly problem
Last fall, the organizers of SXSW thrust themselves into a storm of controversy. The event's organizers cancelled two panels -- one of which was dedicated to delving into the hot topic of online harassment -- because it had received threats of violence. The harassers had essentially shut down a panel to discuss harassment, and SXSW quickly faced intense judgement for it. Media companies threatened boycotts, panel participants were outraged, the whole situation was badly managed. SXSW quickly responded by reinstating the two panels and dedicating an entire day to the subject of online harassment. There were a few more bumps in the road. Notably, the organizers added one of the canceled panels to the online harassment summit, even though it was basically a pro-GamerGate panel that ostensibly had nothing to do directly with the day's subject. That panel was moved, and it felt like SXSW had finally addressed the myriad of issues it created. Today in Austin, the online harassment summit took place, and all told it was a pretty peaceful forum to discuss one of the more important and difficult issues facing the technology community as well as the women and minorities who are frequently harassed when using the internet.
Making your own functioning R2-D2 is a labor of love
Last year at CES, I remember seeing a life-size, fully functioning R2-D2 unit (minus the Leia hologram, sadly). I assumed it was hired out from a professional movie props unit or something similar; now I'm not so sure. Walking around SX Create -- the maker faire section at SXSW -- I bumped into not one, but two equally well-made replicas only to find they were handmade. In fact, there's an entire club -- funnily enough, called R2-D2 Builders -- dedicated to making them. What's more, the models I saw were built using a veritable menagerie of weird and wonderful items, including a good old lazy susan. But that doesn't mean building your own R2 comes cheap, or is a project for the faint-hearted.
Sony shows off its first set of weird and wild Future Labs prototypes
Last week, Sony took the wraps off its Future Lab initiative -- an R&D arm of the company showing off early prototypes of products and gathering feedback to help shape their development process. Today at SXSW, Sony showed off some of those prototypes to the press. As expected, the company had a new type of wearable to show off. It's called "Concept N," and its arc-like design reminded me of some Bluetooth headphone sets out there -- but the device is quite a bit different from a simple pair of headphones.
Bot Party asks: Are robots the future of comedy?
"You're so ugly, you scared the crap out of the toilet." That joke was delivered by a robot called Annabel wearing a sparkly blue prom dress. This is peak SXSW. The reason why Annabel is telling terrible one-liners is simple, if a little odd. Years ago, Arthur Simone, co-founder of Coldtowne Theater in Austin, started an improv show with his dog for a bet. It was a chain of events that would lead him to wonder if you could do improv comedy with a robot. Working with Martin Triplett, founder of Red Sky Robotics, they created "Bot Party" to find out. Annabel's toilet humor might not have Saturday Night Live worried, but it's proof that it's possible. She's also available for weddings.
President Obama urges SXSW audience not to be 'absolutists' on encryption
South by Southwest managed to get a pretty good keynote speaker as it kicked things off today: President Obama. The president sat down with Evan Smith, editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune, for a quick but wide-ranging interview loosely focused on civic engagement in the 21st century. He also spent about ten minutes discussing the ongoing battle between privacy and security as highlighted by the battle between the FBI and Apple. As a practiced politician, Obama avoided coming down too hard on any one side, and he said he wasn't able to discuss the ongoing FBI vs. Apple case at all. But by and large his message was that sacrificing some degree of privacy for the sake of our safety has served the country well for hundreds of years, and he expects we'll figure out a way to do so digitally as well.
Watch President Obama's interview at SXSW Interactive
A US president is about to speak at SXSW Interactive for the first time. President Barack Obama -- who's known to be relatively tech savvy, at least as far as presidents go -- will participate in an interview during a keynote address today at the annual tech fest in Austin, Texas. He'll be discussing civic engagement with Evan Smith, the editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune, though we're guessing the conversation will cover a whole array of topics (perhaps the current electoral race). If you can't be there in person, you can tune in for our coverage here or just watch the whole thing unfold in the livestream embedded below.
We're live at SXSW Interactive 2016!
Hello Austin! Once again SXSW -- the weird and wonderful show for interactive digital technology -- is upon us, and Engadget's here in full force to bring you the best bits as they happen. Unlike other shows that offer the latest phones, TVs or games, SXSW is all about the big ideas, the slightly crazy ideas, and hottest topics in tech. Expect innovative uses for VR, off-beat music installations, buckets of BBQ, and even a visit from the President. We'll be covering it all (minus, perhaps, the BBQ), and you can follow along right here on Engadget. If you want to make sure you don't miss a thing, then you can closely follow all our coverage here, or get the highlights (and behind the scenes fun) via Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat.
Twitch offers a close look at first-person film 'Hardcore Henry'
Hardcore Henry is basically a mix of Jason Bourne, Captain America and Call of Duty. It's an action epic about a man who wakes from near-death in a futuristic laboratory and with no memory of his past. Minutes after regaining consciousness, he embarks on a dangerous mission to save his kidnapped wife from a warlord who plans to create genetically engineered super soldiers. The entire movie is shot in a first-person perspective, directly from Henry's point of view. This perspective twist certainly sounds interesting -- and you can get a closer look at it on Wednesday, February 10th, live on Twitch.
SXSW removes Gamergate panel from online harassment day
The organizers of South by Southwest have been dealing with significant backlash after cancelling a panel dedicated to overcoming the rampant harassment culture that has cropping up around video games in the last few years. Today, SXSW has confirmed that the previously-cancelled "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games" session will be part of its March 12th Online Harassment summit. That summit was created following swift negative feedback over SXSW's decision to cancel the Level Up panel after it received threats of on-site violence. It also announced that it's moving a pro-Gamergate panel off of the online harassment day, as the panel doesn't directly deal with harassment.
BuzzFeed returns to SXSW lineup following online harassment fiasco
BuzzFeed said it would only come back to the South by Southwest festival panel roster if organizers put online harassment back on the agenda, and it's making good on its word. The web firm tells Recode that it's returning to SXSW 2016's lineup now that the event has instituted a day-long Online Harassment Summit. The SXSW team has "moved in the right direction," BuzzFeed says. There's no word yet on whether or not fellow abstainer Vox Media is returning, although it won't be surprising if the online publisher follows suit.
SXSW apologizes, launches day-long Online Harassment Summit
South by Southwest organizers earned the ire of the internet this week after canceling two panels aimed at addressing online harassment and "GamerGate" culture in the video game industry. SXSW canceled the discussions because it received "numerous threats of violence" -- a reason that, to many, gave power to those threats and in fact encouraged continued harassment. Both Buzzfeed and Vox Media swiftly announced plans to skip SXSW entirely unless the panels were reinstated. Today, SXSW Interactive Director Hugh Forrest offered an apology and announced the Online Harassment Summit for March 12th. It's a full-day event that SXSW says will feature people from both of the canceled panels, plus a lineup of additional speakers. SXSW will live-stream the summit all day, for free. However, one panel organizer says she's not on-board with this new solution.
Buzzfeed will skip SXSW unless cancelled gaming panels are reinstated
On Monday, the South by Southwest festival announced that it was nixing a pair of gaming-related panel discussions because a bunch of mouth-breathing, neck-bearded man-children threatened "on-site violence" in response. Tuesday, three Buzzfeed executives -- EIC Ben Smith, President of Motion Pictures Ze Frank and Publisher Dao Nguyen penned a strongly worded letter to the festival, effectively demanding organizers put on their Big Boy Pants and not be swayed by unsubstantiated threats. Otherwise, Buzzfeed would pull its entire staff from the event and at least a half dozen other unrelated panels. Good on you, Buzzfeed.
SXSW cancels online harassment panel, because of harassment
Online harassment is a real world problem, and you don't need to look any further than a cancelled South by Southwest Interactive panel for more reasons why. Citing "numerous threats of violence" the SXSW planning team has annulled "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games" at next March's event according to an email sent to panelists that was obtained by Jezebel. What's more, the festival has cancelled a pro-GamerGate panel, dubbed "SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community," as well. An official statement from the organizers says that since announcing the two panels they've been inundated with threats of on-site violence and in the interest of keeping the marketplace of diverse people and diverse ideas (their words) safe, the best way to do that was simply not act as a venue for the discussions. "Maintaining civil and respectful dialogue within the big tent is more important than any particular session," the statement reads.
Taking gaming into the real world
Playing video games and enjoying the outdoors don't have to be mutually exclusive. Various creative minds have come up with ways to take gaming into real-world environments. Why chill at the crib when you could be out driving a real-life Mario Kart or letting hadoukens fly at Burning Man? We've highlighted just a few of these pioneering projects this week, so head to the gallery for a look at the gaming experiences you've missed by staying home.
Bitcoin's tech could be used to prevent digital gift card fraud
Bitcoin may linger on the fringes of the mainstream, but plenty of companies are casting envious eyes towards the technology that underpins it. Just days after IBM announced a plan to use the blockchain as the basis for its own payments platform, Gyft has said that it's doing the same. The digital gift card company has revealed that it's looking into ways to "tokenize" gift cards and issue them on the blockchain for better theft protection. CEO Vinny Lingham has admitted that the company is a long way away from having a working prototype, but it's clear that Bitcoin isn't going anywhere.
GE at SXSW: tracking brainwaves during BBQ tastings and using a 12-foot smoker
Two things define SXSW: spectacle and smoked meat. GE's managed to meld the two at its BBQ Research Center. Just up the street from the Austin Convention Center, General Electric's research arm set up shop with a 12-foot tall sensor-laden super smoker and a BBQ tasting room called Brain on BBQ. As you might suspect, tasters wear consumer-grade EEG headbands (the Muse variety) to track how their brainwaves change when eating savory smoked meat, tangy coleslaw and sweet banana pudding. GE's going to mine the data from every participant to see if it can glean some useful insight about the nuances of flavors, but really it's just a way for folks to see what's going on inside their noggin whilst chowing down. The whole setup is meant to draw attention to the company's R&D efforts in food and neuroscience, and show that GE's technology can be leveraged to improve most any industry.
The robotic star of 'Ex Machina' is toying with hapless SXSW attendees on Tinder
This post contains spoilers for the movie Ex Machina If you're guaranteed one thing at SXSW, it's that a marketing stunt will play tricks with your stupid human heart. This year, singletons looking for love on Tinder encountered Ava, a 25-year-old New Yorker with a startling resemblance to actress Alicia Vikander. Unfortunately, it's only after you've engaged in a lengthy back and forth that you'll be told that she's not interested in a temporary tumble in Texas. Instead, the whole thing is just a cruel ruse to promote Alex Garland's new film, Ex Machina.
NASA wants your help hunting for asteroids
"Asteroid hunters." It sounds like some Hollywood blockbuster / straight-to-DVD "classic" that already exists, but now you, yes you, can be one... from your PC. NASA has launched a desktop app that recruits civilians to help identify asteroids from telescope photography, helped by a special asteroid algorithm. Scientists announced the desktop app at SXSW during in a panel discussion where they elaborated on how muggles citizen scientists were helping their efforts to identify and tag asteroids. The app is another collaboration between NASA and Planetary Resources. (It's apparently all under a Space Act agreement, which is the coolest act we've heard of in a while.)
Google Now will soon show info from any app
Google Now only displays useful tidbits of knowledge from a handful of your apps right now, but the flood gates are about to fling wide open. Project director Aparna Chennapragada has revealed that Google plans to release a developer kit that lets any of your apps put their data into Now, not just those with special access. It's not clear exactly when this will turn up, but Chennapragada suggests that there shouldn't be collisions between competing software -- your app usage habits will determine which cards appear. While that may be a tad optimistic (it's easy to see two social networks vying for your attention), there's a good chance that Google Now will become a one-stop shop for things you need to know.
