Why the Condition College, PA space is a sensor technologies warm location

November 1, 2023 Audrey

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You don’t notice them, but they’re always there — measuring, monitoring, helping you live a safer, more convenient life. Sensors have become widely used in manufacturing and are now commonplace in homes and personal items, from smartphones to cars to smart-home devices like robot vacuums, lights, thermostats, cameras and more. Sensors now track human health data, just like they track the health data of heavy equipment and machinery in factories.

In Happy Valley, sensors play a role in our research and business ecosystem, with extensive sensor research taking place at Penn State and several established sensor companies growing or starting up in the area.

Here’s why some local experts believe Happy Valley has an affinity for sensor technology and how they see them changing the world for the better.

Why Happy Valley is a sensor technology hot spot

For KCF Technologies, the “why” behind the company’s Happy Valley headquarters is clear. This is where the company got its start and there were never plans to grow anywhere else.

As Sean Buda, vice president of marketing, explained, KCF Technologies came out of Penn State research more than two decades ago. At that time, the company’s three founders, all Penn State researchers, including current CEO Jeremy Frank, were working on wireless vibration sensors for various government agencies.

As the sensors proved applicable in a broad range of applications, KCF’s reach expanded to more industries. As the company grew, it relied on adding more Penn State talent.

“When I started with KCF two-and-a-half years ago, I would say at least 70% of our company was from Penn State. Now, that continues to diversify, coming out of [the COVID-19 pandemic], as we become more of a global player,” Buda noted. “We’re operating on six different continents, with over 600 manufacturing locations, as we scale our business.”

Still, its global reach doesn’t tempt KCF to relocate. The company is deeply embedded in the Penn State community, through athletics sponsorships, internship programs and high quality of life for its employees. Buda has an optimistic outlook on continuing to grow as a global business from central Pennsylvania.

“Every June, we hold an industry-wide manufacturing event in Happy Valley and, last year, we had 250 people attend from around the world,” he said. “State College is becoming an easier place to do business, with some great venues… If we were to do this… 10 years ago, it wouldn’t have been quite as easy.”

Another sensor innovator with a strong Penn State connection is Larry Cheng, Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State. We’ve covered Dr. Cheng’s research many times in the past, including his work on wearable sensors that could change health care for good.

Cheng credits Penn State’s unique interdisciplinary approach to research in aiding him

‘Giving computer systems a sense of smell’: the quest to scientifically map odours | Science

November 1, 2023 Audrey

“Did you at any time consider to measure a scent?” Alexander Graham Bell the moment requested an audience of graduands at a superior school in Washington DC.

He then quizzed the in all probability perplexed class of 1914 as to whether they could explain to when 1 scent was twice the power of an additional, or evaluate the variation in between two unique odours. Eventually, even though, he came to the issue: “Until you can measure their likenesses and big difference, you can have no science of odour,” Bell reported. “If you are bold to obtain a new science, evaluate a smell.”

At the time, experts experienced an knowing that the seem and sight of Bell talking on the stage could be described in phrases of vibrations in the air and unique wavelengths of gentle, but there was no equivalent way of describing the odours in the air that working day in May possibly. The mechanics of smell were being a secret, and in quite a few methods they however are. “Unlike seem or vision – in which the wavelength and amplitude evidently map to perceptual properties like tone frequency, colour or intensity – the romantic relationship in between a chemical’s construction and the fundamental perception is not comprehended in olfaction,” points out Douglas Storace, assistant professor of neuroscience at Florida Point out College.

“The 1st issue to bear in mind is how minimal interest and do the job has happened in olfaction compared to other fields,” claims Alex Wiltschko, main government of olfactory AI startup Osmo, as he recalls the significant neural science textbook he was supplied as a PhD university student. “I took callipers and measured the width of the paper which is employed to instruct eyesight and hearing. It’s about 3 quarters of an inch for eyesight. It is about a half an inch for listening to. It’s probably 30 web pages – a couple of millimetres – for scent.”

Osmo’s said intent is to “give computer systems a sense of smell”, since though we have realized to digitally encode sights and sounds, we have no way of executing so for scents. Wiltschko and many others are making an attempt to change that, and usher in a new period of olfactory science, by mapping how we understand odours.

A woman sniffing a scent strip in a laboratory — Osmo is functioning to figure out the standard features of odour. Photograph: Ben Hider/Osmo

The human nose is fundamentally a chemical detector. When we scent a cup of espresso, for occasion, we are sniffing up the unstable natural and organic compounds (VOCs) that it has produced into the air. “These smaller VOCs bind to specific olfactory receptors, and this binding basically triggers an electrical sign that goes to the mind,” describes Cecília Roque, an associate professor of chemistry at Portugal’s Nova School of Science and Technological innovation.

There are very good causes to want to replicate that approach with machines. Some VOCs – these as contaminants in food stuff or carcinogens these as benzene – can be unsafe and

The new worst gaming trend: killing our favorite games to replace them with sequels

November 1, 2023 Audrey

There used to be a game called Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. You might’ve heard of it—one of the most popular games of all time, played by hundreds of thousands of people every day for over 10 years, the reason every shooter has gun skins now. Anyways, Valve deleted it last month and replaced it with Counter-Strike 2.

That is absolutely wild to think about. One of the biggest games of our time has essentially been swept under a rug, or more accurately, banished to the properties tab of CS2 with broken matchmaking and nothing but community surf servers left to maintain a pulse.

Years of living in the live-service era have conditioned us to embrace change in our favorite games. We herald the arrival of reworks that transform how games are played, celebrate when longtime bugs are finally squashed in patches, and sometimes have to accept the permanent removal of features we like.

Sometimes we’re happy about changes, sometimes we rail against them. But what happened with CS:GO and Overwatch—entire games being swallowed up, diminished, or outright deleted in favor of a sequel—is not good for anything, except keeping costs down at some of the biggest and most successful publishers and developers. It’s a nightmare for PC gaming preservation and a huge disappointment for the dedicated players who keep these games funded in the first place.

Some of the biggest games of our time are being wiped off the internet for no good reason, and it’s time to raise the alarm.

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The worrying trend of throwing games into the virtual incinerator once their sequels come around began with Overwatch 2. Blizzard spent three years failing to accurately explain what a sequel to its live-service FPS would look like, which in retrospect probably happened because Blizzard itself wasn’t quite sure either. At first, Overwatch 2 was to be a completely separate full-priced game with a singleplayer campaign, co-op missions, and multiplayer backwards-compatible with Overwatch 1. We all know how badly the PvE stuff went down, but as we learned more about Overwatch 2 over three years, Blizzard began to indicate it saw no distinction between Overwatch 2 and its predecessor.

Overwatch 2 character Moira wearing Lilith skin facing camera with her hands held up — (Image credit: Tyler C. / Activision Blizzard)

It happened slowly:

November 2019: Overwatch 2 is announced as a separate game that would coexist with Overwatch 1.
November 2019: In an interview, then-game director Jeff Kaplan says Overwatch 1 and 2 will eventually merge to maintain competitive parity. This does not come up again for years, and Blizzard continues to market Overwatch 2 as its own product.
March 2022: Blizzard changes its mind, decides to decouple Overwatch 2’s PvE and PvP content so it can release the game sooner. This confuses everybody. It’s still not clear which parts of Overwatch 2 will be paid content, and if all PvP content is compatible with Overwatch 1, what is the point of having an Overwatch 2?
April 2022: Overwatch 2 holds its first PvP beta, and we notice that not only does Overwatch

Outfest Halts Programming, Postpones Legacy Awards Amid Hollywood ‘Financial Climate’

November 1, 2023 Audrey

The LGBTQIA+ arts and amusement firm Outfest has announced the postponement of the Legacy Awards to 2024 and the suspension of programming, citing struggles amid the present “financial climate” of Hollywood.

Outfest’s board of directors unveiled a statement on the decision.

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“To make sure that Outfest endures and thrives for the future 40 a long time in its main mission to champion LGBTQIA+ storytellers and make opportunities, the Board of Administrators has produced the complicated determination to scale back again our operations for the up coming a number of months,” reads the statement.

Most of the organization’s workers will have to go on leave although it pauses programming.

The message proceeds, “Like other nonprofit companies, Outfest has been seriously impacted by the economic weather of the media and enjoyment field. This indicates the business will regrettably also have to initiate leaves for the greater part of our workers, though we humbly target on generating a monetary design that prioritizes programming that serves our neighborhood, a supportive surroundings for our personnel, and ultimately protects the corporation.”

In late September, the fest’s government director Damien Navarro took a depart of absence amid layoffs, and Zackery Alexzander Stephens became performing govt director.

Even though the WGA strike was just lately settled, the SAG-AFTRA strike carries on, and industry personnel keep on to be economically impacted by both equally.

The statement also acknowledges their staff’s final decision to unionize: “The Board proudly supports the staff’s proper to unionize and has delivered the team with a letter recognizing their union, which includes acquiring attained out to locate a day to fulfill. It is our continued precedence to honor the team as we forge a effective route ahead.”

Shirley MacLaine and Trace Lysette had been slated to be honored at the postponed Legacy Awards. In addition to these situations, Outfest curates a virtual arts and media queer record museum, fosters artist progress, hosts a producers lab and organizes the annual Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Competition, among other programming.

The board of directors concluded their assertion by composing, “We are optimistic this will give the greatest position for the organization to finally make sure Outfest’s festival and programming are in a position to go on to help LGBTQIA+ filmmakers.”

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‘Marvel’s Spider-Gentleman 2’ most effective go well with tech upgrades and gizmos

November 1, 2023 Audrey

Marvel’s Spider-Gentleman 2 lets you swing via the streets of New York as each Peter and Miles, but the two aren’t solely exclusive. Particular updates are shared in between them in Spider-Guy 2, and you’ll want the ideal match tech updates and gizmos if you want to defeat their rogue galleries and preserve New York.

In this information, we’ll split down the ideal go well with tech updates and gizmos in Spider-Guy 2. This will consist of a assortment of upgrades throughout the Wellness, Hurt, Target, and Traversal groups, in advance of we outline the greatest devices and updates that you can get.

’Marvel’s Spider-Person 2’ most effective accommodate tech upgrades

Beneath, you will find the most effective go well with tech updates in Spider-Gentleman 2:

Self-assurance Increase (Health and fitness)
Air Marshal (Hurt)
Excellent Sight (Concentrate)
Focused Strike (Target)
Acrobat (Traversal)
Lively Spider (Traversal)

Self-assurance Boost

With the Self-confidence Increase fit enhance outfitted, you are going to slightly recover when carrying out a Excellent Dodge. Great Dodges are the previous-2nd dodges that you can bring about by evading an enemy assault when your spider-perception alterations from white to blue. Efficiently executing a Excellent Dodge will mechanically hearth a web at the attacking enemy, blinding them for a brief minute, but Confidence Improve will also deliver that more well being raise that you may need to get back again in the struggle.

Spider-Man 2 screenshot showing the Confidence Boost suit tech upgrade, against a backdrop of Peter and Miles in their respective suits. — Spider-Gentleman 2. Credit score: Insomniac Games

Air Marshal

Juggling enemies in the air in the course of beat is amazingly vital in Spider-Gentleman 2, as it generates a lot more Focus than standard assaults and provides you house to keep away from attacks from other enemies. With the Air Marshal fit update, attacking enemies in mid-air will also deal greater harm, producing it the great way to defeat any enemies that you arrive throughout.

Ideal Sight

Having harm when your health is critically low could eliminate you, but Excellent Sight offers you the fantastic way out of this sort of hazardous conditions. With this go well with tech upgrade, time slows just right before having an assault at important health and fitness, providing you an prolonged interval in which to react and dodge away. This only occurs when for each fight come across, but it features a a lot-required next likelihood when factors are sensation dicey.

Spider-Man 2 image showing the Perfect Sight suit tech upgrade, against the backdrop of Miles hanging down and Peter crawling on the floor. — Spider-Man 2. Credit score: Insomniac Game titles

Centered Strike

Concentration is a source that you’ll achieve by attacking enemies in Spider-Male 2, and you can expend it through fight to carry out powerful Finisher moves or to mend. It is vitally significant, and Concentrated Strike is a simple accommodate tech up grade that will grant 10 for each cent more Target from your skills. That could possibly sound compact, but it all adds up and will come in useful when you need to have to heal in a pinch.

Spider-Man 2 image showing the Focused Strike suit tech upgrade, against the backdrop of Miles hanging down and Peter crawling on the floor. — Spider-Man 2. Credit score: Insomniac Online games

Acrobat

Acrobat is a Traversal suit