Category Archives: Transhuman

A hallmark of cyberpunk science fiction is human augmentation leading to transhumanism. We may still be several decades (or even centuries) away from true transhumanism, but augmentation in the form of wearable tech is already in its infancy. To celebrate Wearable Tech Month here at Hackster, we rounded up some of the most interesting wearable research from the past few years.

First, lets look at new developments that refine todays wearable tech. The current consumer wearable tech market is full of smartwatches and fitness trackers, but those dont exactly feel like something out of a cyberpunk movie. These new developments, however, push us a little closer in that direction.

This Skin Patch Acts Like a Battery-Free Fitbit

This wearable provides data about its users vitals. It gathers that data by analyzing the users sweat, which contains valuable information in the form of chemical signatures. It doesnt require a battery because it receives power in the same way as NFC (Near-Field Communication) devices: wirelessly from radio waves in the air. It is disposable and affordable, but can still analyze sweat volume, pH levels, lactate, glucose, and electrolyte concentration.

Oneras Bio-Impedance Patch Uses Machine Learning to Detect Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a very common disorder that many do not take as seriously as they should. Diagnosing sleep apnea today requires a sleep study in which the patient must wear a bulky and uncomfortable array of sensors overnight. To make diagnostic sleep studies less unpleasant, Onera Health developed this bio-impedance patch. The patient wears this unobtrusive patch on their chest and it gathers data by passing a small current through their chest. A deep learning model analyzes that data and is able to diagnose sleep apnea with 73% accuracy a rate that should improve with better model training.

Caltech Developed a Sweat-Powered E-Skin Patch to Monitor Your Health

Similar to the first patch, this wearable e-skin monitors a users health by analyzing their sweat. But this patch differs in how it receives power. Instead of relying on radio waves from an external source, this patch uses the sweat itself to generate electricity. Sweat contains lactate, which this patch can convert into a tiny electrical current. It is a very small amount of power, but the researchers claim that it is enough for the e-skins sensors and a Bluetooth transmitter.

Epicore Biosystems' Wearable Hydration-Monitoring Gx Sweat Patch Launches Alongside Companion App

Everything weve covered so far is still in development, but this Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch is on the market right now you can even buy it at your local Dicks Sporting Goods store. The patch is passive and contains no electronic components. It relies on a chemical reaction that correlates with hydration level. That chemical reaction causes a color change in the patch. A companion app provides an accurate analysis of the color change, helping users determine their exact hydration status.

As we move further from the current state of the consumer market and towards new territory, we find a new class of wearable HMIs (Human-Machine Interfaces). These HMIs facilitate interesting new ways for us to interact with technology and have a lot of potential alongside emerging mixed reality advances.

This Patch Turns Your Skin Into a Multi-Touch Controller

This patch is a bit like a wearable laptop touchpad. Like the touchpad on your MacBook, it can detect touches at multiple points. But its developers at Germanys Saarland University designed the patch to be worn on the users palm. The prototype patch connects to a Raspberry Pi Zero single-board computer (SBC) strapped to the users wrist. The result is a wireless, wearable touchpad that the wearer can use to control their smartphone, virtual reality headset, and more.

This Wearable Patch Could Give ALS Sufferers the Ability to Communicate More Effectively

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease causes sufferers to lose muscle control, which makes it difficult for them to communicate and to interact with technology. But even people with advanced ALS retain some small amount of muscle control, especially of their facial muscles. This patch, worn on the face, can detect miniscule muscle movements. A machine learning model analyzes those movements and determines what expression the user is attempting to make. It can only detect three facial expressions, but users can chain those together in unique combinations to communicate more complex ideas.

Wearable Brain-Machine Interface Could Help the Disabled Control Wheelchairs Wirelessly

Those with ALS and other mobility-affecting conditions also have trouble controlling their wheelchairs. This electroencephalography (EEG) brain-machine interface has a traditional scalp sensor, an e-skin nano-membrane electrode, and a wearable Bluetooth transceiver. It sends EEG data via Bluetooth to a tablet or computer up to 15 meters away. A deep learning neural network then interprets the EEG data and provides control commands to an electric wheelchair, letting the user navigate without the assistance of a caretaker.

Synthetic Skin Could Add a Sense of Touch to Prosthetics

Prostheses are already very cyberpunk, thanks to our modern robotic technology. But even the best prosthetic limbs dont provide much feedback to the wearer. This new synthetic skin could change that. Magnetic beads embedded in the soft, flexible skin cause measurable changes in a magnetic field in response to pressure. That gives the skin a sense of touch. This technology is suitable for robots now, but needs more development for prosthesis use so that wearers can perceive the signals coming from the e-skin.

The Somatic Data Glove Is a Wearable Keyboard/Mouse for Our Cyberpunk Future

This is a prototype that you can build right now, courtesy of Zack Freedman. It is a glove-like wearable that detects each fingers position as well as overall hand movement. The idea is that wearers can use the glove to perform actions on a connected computer by completing D&D-esque somatic hand movements. But while the prototype hardware is ready, software implementations are not. However, enterprising developers with programming skills can try their hand at creating software interfaces for this Somatic Data Glove.

All wearable devices face a similar challenge: where to get power. The last thing consumers want is another device that they have to charge every night. Thats why researchers are developing technology that can passively harvest enough energy to power wearable devices.

New Wearable Magnetic Patch Converts Your Movement into Electricity

This patch relies on simple electromagnetic principles. If you pass electric current through a coil of wire, you generate a magnetic field. But the opposite is also true: if you move a magnet through a coil, you generate electric current. This patch utilizes that effect to turn body movement the stretching and twisting of skin into usable power. The patch contains microscopic magnetic particles in a flexible silicone matrix. Stretching or twisting the patch causes the magnetic particles to move within the matrix, inducing current. The patch generated up to 4.27mA per square centimeter of material, which is enough to power very efficient devices.

Wearable Device Turns the Human Body Into a Useful Battery

Human bodies produce waste heat as a byproduct of metabolic processes. Heat is, of course, energy. By harnessing that waste heat, we can harvest energy that would otherwise be lost to the air around us. This wearable patch does so with a thermoelectric generator (TEG) on a small scale. TEGs generate electricity in the presence of a temperature differential. They usually work at large scales, such as to utilize waste heat from power plants. But in this case, the TEG uses the difference in temperature between to wearers skin and the ambient air to generate electricity.

Its time for the projects that really feel like they came straight out of a Neal Stephenson novel. These are the wearables that scream cyberpunk in bright, neon letters on a backdrop of a rainy dystopian city.

Wearable Textile Creates Extra Layer of Muscles

When you think of human augmentation, you probably imagine enhanced cybernetic muscles that let people lift cars or jump over houses. This Myoshirt is as close as we can get with current technology. It is a vest and sleeve system that adds an artificial motor-retractable tendon to the users arm, giving them the ability to lift more weight. It is useful for people who lack natural muscle strength and people who need to lift more than normal.

This Wearable Could Make The Matrix-Style Skill Downloads Possible

The Matrix is likely the most well-known cyberpunk movie in existence. In a very memorable scene, protagonist Neo is able to download the knowledge to perform kung-fu. Such a thing is possible with this wearable indirectly at least. This forearm-mounted device stimulates muscles with electricity, causing them to contract. By controlling the electrical stimulation, it is possible to force the wearer to perform a predetermined series of hand movements. Theoretically, the device would allow people to complete tasks with their hands as if they already had the trained muscle memory to do so.

ElectroDermis Makes Wearable Electronic Patches Comfortable and Aesthetically Pleasing

Cyberpunk isnt just about technology, it is also about aesthetics. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University realized that and created electronic patches that people would actually want to wear. The simple truth is that people are less likely to use ugly devices. That is especially true when they have to wear those devices. Thats why ElectroDermis looks cool. Many of the technologies mentioned in this article would work with the ElectroDermis design ethos and would have a much better chance at widespread adoption, because humans care about style.

What is your favorite emerging wearable technology? Let us know in the comments!

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The Wearable Cyberpunk Future on the Horizon - Hackster.io

There are a lot of weird creatures lurking in the exhibition Grossly Affectionate now at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and it is hard to tell exactly what they are.

Some are cushy, if not quite cuddly, like the plush animal-like objects Jennifer Pettus makes out of various recycled fabrics and a few unexpected odds and ends, like human hair, napkin rings and faux fur.

Some are downright difficult to stomach, like Cristobal Ceas The Extended Thing, an installation that pairs three-dimensional sculptures of internal body organs with digital prints of what appear to be more body organs intestines, and things that look like kidneys, hearts and veins.

And some are just plain out of this world, like the installation by the artist who goes by the name Mr. Hanimal, which features three sculptural beings, each with the size and bearing of a small dog, that appear to have thumbs for heads and to use fingers as feet.

Nothing in this show is easy to describe in words or categorize in the usual way we talk about humans, animals and other souls that inhabit physical bodies, and that is the goal of Grossly Affectionate. It wants to challenge us to rethink our perceptions of the living form, refusing to allow easy descriptors like race, gender, flora, fauna, earthling, alien, beautiful, ugly or anything else.

The timing is just right, of course. We are living in an age of trans-human awareness, where races mix, genders blur and DNA can be altered. Its a fabulous moment in history where people and things that did not formerly fit in are finally being recognized and slowly to some, too-rapidly to others accepted.

As jarring and unattractive as the exhibit can be, Grossly Affectionate recognizes the beauty in all of this, but also the challenges it presents for how we understand and communicate with each other. These are confusing times for everybody, and anyone who struggles to avoid using incorrect pronouns or mis-gendering their neighbors or talking too-clumsily about ethnicity, disabilities, medical conditions, sexuality, age or other markers fully understands the situation.

Rather than being confrontational, though, this show offers a place to relax, even to laugh and acknowledge we are all morphing together.

And it succeeds because the work is fully committed. The images and creatures the seven artists present have an irresistible sincerity to them, a realness that begs you to consider their essence and to appreciate it, no matter how difficult they can be to figure out.

Pettus three-dimensional objects are good examples. As you first encounter them they come off like the kind of squishy things you want to touch and hold satiny, quilted cushions or playthings that belong in domestic settings.

But Pettus, who uses mostly recycled textiles that she finds at garage sales, gives them their own individual agency, and quirkiness, and moves them firmly out of the typical comfort zones. She uses pretty colors and patterns but mixes them in awkward ways. She gives them humanoid or doll-like forms, but holds back on symmetry so it can be difficult to put the picture together. They seem to have one arm or leg, and awkward lumps and head shapes, and clawed feet. The titles she gives them confuse their biographies even more. One is called Flotsam, another is Pussyfooted.

Artist Kate Casanova indulges in similar contrasts, though she seems to specialize in mixing different densities of materials. She combines hard and soft things, solids and fluids, stiff plastic and pliable mesh.

Her piece No-show Blister Breath evokes a monster from a low-budget sci-if movie with plastic, blister-pack bubbles all over its surface that make it look like it has multiple eyes. She sets it up on two concrete blocks that stand in as legs.

Grossly Affectionate continues through Sept. 5 at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St., Boulder. Info: 303-443-2122 or bmoca.org.

The contrasts in her work serve as metaphors for the contrasts in all beings, especially humans. Made of skin, bone, blood and organs, are we hard or soft, wet or dry, delicate or durable?Or, as this show posits, grotesque or lovable?

Like Pettus offerings, Casanovas works are not hideous, just unique and they ask us to recognize the uniqueness of all beings.

The other artists have their own ways of expressing this idea. Estevan Ruiz Cicatriz is a collage of 18 close-up, black-and-white photographs of those round scars many people have from inoculations meant to prevent smallpox. They can be hideous, yet we know these crater-like marks save lives. Each has its own shape, but they document a common frailty and ability to persevere that cuts across social categories.

The same goes for Ceas disembodied organs, and another piece, by Sam Grabowska, which resembles oversized and exposed ribs. The works come off as raw, but there is something honest about them. We hide these things because they repulse us, but better to see them and to understand that this is the stuff we are made of, and to use them to highlight the fact that these internal elements supersede notions of gender, race and even species.

Pamela Meadows, who curated the show, was wise to balance that seriousness with some more whimsical work, including Daisy May Collingridges series of photos featuring people wearing quirky, pillowy costumes that confuse the inside of our bodies with the outside. Her fleshy clothes look like anatomical drawings come to life, and it is impossible to discern if the people wearing them are male or female, old or young. They simply ask us to consider how bodies move and relate to each other.

And then there are those quadri-pedal thumbs Mr. Hanimals walking hands, which are rendered in yellow, blue and pink. They are the ultimate Grossly Affectionate objects, a little creepy, for sure, but in an odd way, relatable and very human. As humans, we learned to walk together on our evolutionary journey to the top of the food chain and those opposable digits are the things that set us apart from almost every other living thing on the planet

In a sense, they are our essence, more than any label or category we might assign ourselves or each other. We are just thumbs, weird, lurking thumbs.

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This Boulder art exhibit is beautiful and ugly all at once - The Denver Post

WISeKey Announces the Launch of The Code to The Metaverse an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event

TransHuman Code Authors, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson Introduce The Code to The Metaverse at Davos Event

Geneva and Zug Switzerland, May 31, 2022 WISeKey International Holding Ltd (WISeKey, SIX: WIHN), a leading cybersecurity, IoT and AI company, announced that its CEO and founder, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson, Executive Managing Director, M&A at Generational Equity, introduced their latest project, The Code to The Metaverse at Davos event.

In the bestselling 2019 book, The transHuman Code, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson offered a carefully curated take on the essential conversations that will determine if technology will upgrade or undermine our humanity. Born at Davos event, through multiple conversations and workshops, fittingly, it could be argued that the books origin was decentralized.

At unprecedented speed, the expanding frontier of the Metaverse is now stretching well beyond its Second Life gaming roots, said Mr. Fergusson at the launch event. In the most dramatic technological innovation of the last decade, we are truly at the threshold of our future lives as we build the bridges between our physical universe and the Metaverse.

However, the founding premise of The transHuman Code still holds true as we venture into the unknown of the Metaverse, said Mr. Moreira. Firstly, that the Human is greatest technology of all and, most importantly, that it is paramount to keep humans at the center of gravity in this technological revolution.

In a series of events at the 2022 annual Davos gathering of business, policy and philanthropic leaders, Moreira and Fergusson announced the sequel to The transHuman Code with the creation of the new groundbreaking multi-media platform - The Code to The Metaverse. Through the interactive series, participants, viewers and readers will be invited backstage into the laboratories and into the Metaverse to experience their future in this 3D virtual realm.

To provide a glimpse into whats coming, the authors engaged 6 Metaverse pioneers to discuss how the rapidly evolving gateways into and tools for the Metaverse will transform our personal, professional & social life experiences in ways unimagined. Joining Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson were:

Offering exclusive insights and announcing dynamic initiatives, the contributors all echoed a common theme: The Metaverse will have a dramatic impact on how we socialize, work, and learn in the future. At the forefront of the collective agreement, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson aligned with the esteemed technology innovators on the premise that all people be able engage safely and with confidence in the Metaverse so that we as individuals, are respected and treated fairly on all virtual platforms.

About WISeKeyWISeKey ( WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large-scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI, and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping todays Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an installed base of over 1.6 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens, etc.). WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the leading edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKeys Swiss-based cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit http://www.wisekey.com.

Press and investor contacts:WISeKey International Holding LtdCompany Contact: Carlos MoreiraChairman & CEOTel: +41 22 594 3000[emailprotected]

WISeKey Investor Relations (US)Contact: Lena CatiThe Equity Group Inc.Tel: +1 212 836-9611[emailprotected]

Disclaimer:This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance, or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey

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WISeKey Announces the Launch of "The Code to The Metaverse" an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event - GuruFocus.com

(Clockwise from lower left to right) Tunic (Image: Andrew Shouldice), Card Shark (Image: Devolver Digital), Elden Ring (Image: Bandai-Namco), Kirby And The Forgotten Land (Image: Nintendo), The Quarry (Image: 2K Games)Graphic: Allison Corr

2022 has been a quieter year for gaming than most; outside a few high-profile releasesand one massive, medium-sweeping bulldozer courtesy of FromSoftwaremajor releases (at least, from the big-budget studios) have been few and far between.

But that, of course, only calls for deeper curation, and so The A.V. Club is here with a look at the best games published in the first half of 2022, whether smaller indie titles, Elden Ring, or big-budget games forced to exist in the unfortunate shadow of Elden Ring. Our list runs the gamut from open world epics to small-scale emotional adventures, and from obscurity-soaked love letters to the latest adventures of everyones favorite pink vore monster. But all our picks are united by one thing: These were the games we likedand whyin the first half of 2022.

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The 10 best games of 2022 (so far) - The A.V. Club

Elon Musk is a consummate Technocrat and Transhumanist who seeks the merging of technology and the human body with the ultimate purpose of achieving immortality. His Neuralink project experiments with Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) literally puts silicon in your skull and connects it to the outside world. TN Editor

Your brain, with a USB-C port in it. Thats Elon Musks vision for Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI). In a controversialJuly 2019 white paperhe claimed that his companyNeuralinkhad taken a huge step towards building a scalable high-bandwidth BMI system that would let the human brain stream full broadband electrophysiology data to a network, using a combination of ultra-fine polymer probes, a neurosurgical robot that sews them into the brain, and custom high-density electronics.

A single USB-C cable provides full-bandwidth data streaming from the device the paper noted: the device having been stitched, in theory, to your cerebral cortex. Neuroscientists were varying shades of intrigued, appalled and dismissive: the custom hardware would only pick up noise, they suggested: interpretation of brain waves simply wasnt that advanced; the ethical issues were pronounced; the body would reject this level of intervention; where was the peer review of the paper?

A year later, Musk has promised a Neuralink update.

This was cryptically announced by Musk in July 2020, with theTweets: If you cant beat em, join em Neuralink mission statement and Progress update August 28. Tendays ahead of the reveal, we decided to take stock of Neuralinks works and the ongoing discussion around the potential of BMI; speaking to a range of specialists in the sector about where the work was going and how realistic Musks vision was.

Neuralink began as a way to advance the technology of BMI: described by one organisation, the Mayo Clinic, as a technology that acquires brain signals, analyses them and translates them into commands that are relayed to output devices that carry out desired actions. (Many observers suspect that the pending update will have to do with the analyse them part of that statement, and Musks if you cant beat em statement refer to his well-documented concerns about the power of AI.)

These desired actions could be how to move a wheelchair without the use of your arms or how to control bionic limbs: It is plausible to imagine that a patient with spinal cord injury could dexterously control a digital mouse and keyboard wrote Musk in the 2019 paper. When combined with rapidly improving spinal stimulation techniques, in the future this approach could conceivably restore motor function. High-bandwidth neural interfaces should enable a variety of novel therapeutic possibilities.

While this might be the starting point for Neuralink, the ambitions of those working closely on BMI include, for some, the hope that technology could eventually to be used to connect the human race via a bona fide neural network; allowing people to communicate using thoughts and images rather than words, and even give over their motor function to others, with their consent*. The ideas behind this have their roots in a dizzying transhumanism. Meanwhile, very physical issues have remained a hurdle

The most commonly used invasive BMI chip, the Utah Array, comprises an electrode with tiny, incredibly sharp silicone needles, that are pushed into the brain, after some skull has been cut away. There are less invasive ways of collecting data on brain activity but in general terms, the more invasive the technology, the more data from the brain scientists can catch. Neuralinks tech is similar, but designed to gather even more data on how the brain works. The electrodes are long threads rather that short needles, allowing it to follow contours, and sewn into the brain rather than placed on top.

(Musks robot can accurately sew six sensor threads, or electrodes, per minute into the human brain, via small holes in the skull: The robot registers insertion sites to a common coordinate frame with landmarks on the skull, which, when combined with depth tracking, enables precise targeting of anatomically defined brain structures. An integrated custom software suite allows pre-selection of all insertion sites, enabling planning of insertion paths optimised to minimise tangling and strain on the threads.)

These sorts of advancements in BMI have been largelyavoided by neuroscientists at any significant scale due to their invasiveness; although testing on rats and chimpanzees is happening. The consequences of getting things wrong are significant. As Dr Henry Marsh, a leading English neurosurgeon, warned in one interview after the initial paper was published: The brain does not heal in the way bone and muscle and skin heals. Every time you cut the brain you damage it, and it wont recover

However, there are varying degrees of damage depending on the materials used. Co-founder and CSO of full stack neural interface platformBIOS, Oliver Armitage, explained the differences to Computer Business Review as follows: With the existing material, when youre using stiff materials like silicone, silicone substrates and metals, the finer and pointier and deeper into the tissue you go, the more damage you create. With some of the newer technologies based on soft polymer electrodes, that trade-off [between invasiveness and accuracy of data] doesnt really hold anymore.

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Transhuman Elon Musk: Your Brain Will Get Its Own USB-C Port

The grass is certainly looking greener on the other side at this particular moment, with the contrast of edge highlighting rectangles for untold hours being held up to making my stabby guys stab a bunch of elves. Anyway, lets hop in the bed of an Impulsor and get this antique on the roadshow:

SRMs Road to the Roadshow: US Open Seattle 2022: Part 6: Transhuman in the box: This grunge pun gimmick thing is really overstaying its welcome isnt it

On my first step of SRMs Return to Hovertank Hell, I built an Impulsor. Ill be straight up, this hover El Camino is markedly more user friendly than its bigger Repulsor cousins. Theres a handful of multi-hover plate panels instead of the 15 or so individual hover plates on a Repulsor, and that means a lot less time filing down mold lines. The instructions did have a few mistakes, calling out the wrong numbers for pieces at least twice and on occasion showing parts attached out of order. Building the whole thing took maybe an hour and a half, and thats with the extra Black Templars doodads I glued on. I do wish there was a techmarine gunner on the Impulsor like there is on the big boi tanks, but thats one less thing to paint I guess. None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who paid attention to the last edition and a half of the game, but I was painting smol Black Templars until 2019 so what do I know.

Why was I painting Black Templars Sternguard in 2019? Why???. Credit: SRM

When it came to actually painting the Impulsor, it was a pretty straightforward affair. Notably smaller than a Repulsor, my hope was that it wouldnt take as long as the RepEx. My primer also decided not to be hydrophobic this time, so paint actually stuck to the model! Painting a black tank black is exponentially more tedious when it takes 2-3 coats just to stick.

Impulsor WIP. Credit: SRM

I left off the hover plates, the canopy armor, the shield dome, missile turret, and the pair of cupola hatches. I glued those last few to 25mm bases so I could hold something while I painted them. I committed to the missile launcher because it seemed like the most interesting weapon option of the bunch, and I have a gut feeling the orbital strike relay is never going to be anything but a novelty option. Im not gluing the top armor plate down so if I want to run this cheaply, I super can, or I can swap in the cupola stubber from my RepEx. With vehicles and other expensive models like this, versatility is always the best way to go. Lastly, I painted the hover plates separately, which is a kinda messy affair, but it was a fine way to spend a rainy crafternoon.

The last touches were transfers and weathering. I plastered as many transfers as I could reasonably jam on there, but the top looked a little barren. I did something I feel like I saw Matt Hudson do in White Dwarf years and years ago and slapped a Templar cross on top of one of the cupola hatches. Since its got a crenelated shape I hit it with Micro-Sol a few times to soften it, then gently cut my way through the gap between the hatches with a sharp x-acto knife. Lastly, I hit it with a smidge of black paint from beneath so the loose flaps of cut transfer wouldnt show. Weathering was just a quick sponging of Rhinox Hide, some dashes of Stormhost Silver, and a few drybrushes of various neutral browns. Altogether it wasnt the most arduous painting experience in the world, but it certainly felt like it transitioned from model I decided to paint to project almost immediately.

Black Templars Impulsor. Credit: SRM

Any competitive player will use some athletic metaphor like getting your reps in and I myself am guilty of using this wholly adequate turn of phrase. Unfortunately for me, this has been less getting my reps in and more answering the regular gymgoer question of how much can you bench? only to weakly reply 35 pounds. You see, Ive been enjoying Age of Sigmar far more than 40k lately, making this whole event (and NOVA afterwards) a bit of a farce. Ive only got time for a single 40k game before heading out and I should probably write a list, as my flight is in 71 hours at time of writing.

Ive got 303 Power Level of Templars, and will need both 50 and 100PL lists for the event. Named characters are out, as this is Crusade and should be my own story, not theirs. My first priority will be to fit in every Primaris thing I have, and then from there add in small bois to fill things out. The exception will be my Techmarine, as theres quite a few vehicles in here that are gonna need tuning up. From there, Ill make sure my army is legal by adding and removing units accordingly, and go on from there. Listbuilding isnt my strong suit, and I typically build an army based more on vibes than on anything more concrete like math or competitive data.

Black Templars Crusaders, sans Neophytes on this occasion. Credit: SRM

Is this a vehicle-heavy list in an edition notoriously unfriendly towards vehicles? Yes. Will it do well? Probably not. Will I have fun going 2-4 in this event? Hopefully! I wish I could jam a Chaplain in there, but Marshal Siegward has been my Templar commander since I first started this force in 2017, a Techmarine is gonna be necessary for this motor pool, and a Crusade without The Emperors champion just seems foolhardy.

Dont talk to me or my son ever again. Credit: SRM

With a flight coming up alarmingly soon, a stack of homework still to be done for this event, and altogether too little time to actually get a game in before I bounce, Im afraid this is the last article in this series before hitting Seattle itself. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for one last pained grunge pun made for my amusement and my amusement only, and my recap of the event.

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us atcontact@goonhammer.com.

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SRMs Road to The US Open Seattle Part 6: Transhuman in the Box

Elon Musk's expeeriments with Artificial Intelligente just took a wild turn that leaves us puzzled, to day the least. Last year, he had previously presented the Tesla Bot. A humanoid-shaped robot with capabilities that came from his car technology company. He promised to deliver the first actual prototype before the end of 2022 and begin production on a moderate number of models for sale in 2023. But what shocked us even more is Optimus, a perfected humanoid robot that will have the capabilities to have the personality of its owner. If you buy one of these robots, you will be able to download many of your traits to it and make it behave like you do. Sounds creepy but that's where technology has gotten us thus far.

During an interview with Business Insider's CEO, here's what Musk said: "Humanoid robots are happening. The rate of advancement of AI is very rapid. Optimus is a general purpose, sort of worker-droid. The initial role must be in work that is repetitive, boring, or dangerous. Basically, work that people don't want to do. We could download the things that we believe make ourselves so unique. Now, of course, if you're not in that body anymore, that is definitely going to be a difference, but as far as preserving our memories, our personality, I think we could do that. Humanity has designed the world to interact with a bipedal humanoid with two arms and ten fingers. So if you want to have a robot fit in and be able to do things that humans can do, it must be approximately the same size and shape and capability."

Although Optimus still seems like a project for the future, the Tesla Bots are hitting the market in 2023. Knowing how quickly Elon Musk tends to grill his workers, we completely believe in his time frames for delivery. At 5-foot-8 and 125 pounds, the Tesla Bot will have similar capabilities to the actual cars. It will basically be a walking computer who will also be able to perform physical activities. In its face there's a screen that will present all the information the owner needs. Physically, they will be capable to deadlift 150 pounds and carry about 45 pounds. However, they will walk painfully slow at only 5mph. Although these mechanical limitations were put in place on purpose in order to remain unable to harm humans. The future is here, we only hope it's not a Skynet scenario where robots take over the world.

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Elon Musk unveils Optimus: A humanoid robot where you will ... - Marca

WISeKey Announces the Launch of The Code to The Metaverse an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event

TransHuman Code Authors, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson Introduce The Code to The Metaverse at Davos Event

Geneva and Zug Switzerland, May 31, 2022 WISeKey International Holding Ltd (WISeKey, SIX: WIHN), a leading cybersecurity, IoT and AI company, announced that its CEO and founder, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson, Executive Managing Director, M&A at Generational Equity, introduced their latest project, The Code to The Metaverse at Davos event.

In the bestselling 2019 book, The transHuman Code, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson offered a carefully curated take on the essential conversations that will determine if technology will upgrade or undermine our humanity. Born at Davos event, through multiple conversations and workshops, fittingly, it could be argued that the books origin was decentralized.

At unprecedented speed, the expanding frontier of the Metaverse is now stretching well beyond its Second Life gaming roots, said Mr. Fergusson at the launch event. In the most dramatic technological innovation of the last decade, we are truly at the threshold of our future lives as we build the bridges between our physical universe and the Metaverse.

However, the founding premise of The transHuman Code still holds true as we venture into the unknown of the Metaverse, said Mr. Moreira. Firstly, that the Human is greatest technology of all and, most importantly, that it is paramount to keep humans at the center of gravity in this technological revolution.

In a series of events at the 2022 annual Davos gathering of business, policy and philanthropic leaders, Moreira and Fergusson announced the sequel to The transHuman Code with the creation of the new groundbreaking multi-media platform - The Code to The Metaverse. Through the interactive series, participants, viewers and readers will be invited backstage into the laboratories and into the Metaverse to experience their future in this 3D virtual realm.

To provide a glimpse into whats coming, the authors engaged 6 Metaverse pioneers to discuss how the rapidly evolving gateways into and tools for the Metaverse will transform our personal, professional & social life experiences in ways unimagined. Joining Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson were:

Offering exclusive insights and announcing dynamic initiatives, the contributors all echoed a common theme: The Metaverse will have a dramatic impact on how we socialize, work, and learn in the future. At the forefront of the collective agreement, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson aligned with the esteemed technology innovators on the premise that all people be able engage safely and with confidence in the Metaverse so that we as individuals, are respected and treated fairly on all virtual platforms.

About WISeKeyWISeKey (NASDAQ: WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large-scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI, and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping todays Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an installed base of over 1.6 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens, etc.). WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the leading edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKeys Swiss-based cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visitwww.wisekey.com.

Press and investor contacts:WISeKey International Holding LtdCompany Contact: Carlos MoreiraChairman & CEOTel: +41 22 594 3000info@wisekey.com

WISeKey Investor Relations (US)Contact: Lena CatiThe Equity Group Inc.Tel: +1 212 836-9611lcati@equityny.com

Disclaimer:This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance, or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey

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WISeKey Announces the Launch of The Code to The Metaverse an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event - GlobeNewswire

Back in 1989, D.C. Fontanawho was the story editor for most of the original series first two seasons, the show-runner for the animated series, the uncredited co-creator of TNG, and who wrote for all those shows as well as one DS9 episode, many of which were excellent and influential episodeswrote a Trek novel called Vulcans Glory. It took place prior to The Cage (and retroactively, shortly after the Short Trek Q & A), and chronicled Spocks first mission on the Enterprise.

It also established that Number One was a genetically engineered human from the colony of Illyria, a backstory that was used in several other works of tie-in fiction (notably 2010s The Children of Kings by David Stern and 2016s Legacies trilogy by David Mack, Greg Cox, and Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore).

Said backstory has now been incorporated into the onscreen canon, with an interesting twist

One of my biggest issues with the first two episodes of SNW is the lack of focus on Number One. As I said back when SNW was formally announced as a thing that was happening, Number One is the one member of SNWs big three that is a totally blank slate, as prior to Discovery season two we had no idea what the characters fate was after The Cage.

The fleshing out of Number One had already taken one cue from the novelsthe first name Una, from Legacies, which means one and also a tribute to Trek novelist Una McCormackand this episode gives her the last name of Chin-Riley, and also establishes that shes Illyrian.

But theres one big difference between Trek now and Trek in 1989 when Fontana created that backstory for Number One: it wasnt yet established that the Federation had banned genetic engineering, a rather huge overreaction to the Eugenics Wars (and, out of the box, a reason for the lack of any kind of genetic engineering in a show populated by actors who are from contemporary Earth).

Ghosts of Illyria combines those two notions (and apparently ignores the Illyrians seen in Enterprises Damage) by establishing that Illyrians have been denied Federation membership because they genetically engineer themselves. Number One has kept her Illyrian heritage secret, but is forced to reveal it this week for reasons of plot.

That plot, ironically, involves an Illyrian colony that is on a planet regularly wracked by that original series standby, ion storms! Said colony was wiped out and Pike and the gang beam down during one break in the ion storms in an attempt to find out what happened. However, a stormfront moves in and everyone except Pike and Spock are able to beam backthe latter two are stuck because Spock was in a library reading, which is the most Spock thing ever, and by the time they made it to the beam-out point, the storm was too brutal.

Image: CBS

Unfortunately, the landing party brings a contagion back onto the Enterprise, one that causes people who have it to seek out light, often to the exclusion of common sense. It starts with one ensign shoving his head through glass to get closer to a light source, and ends with Hemmer trying to beam a piece of the planets mantle on board and Laan trying to make the warp core explode.

The key to stopping the contagion is in Numbers Ones genetically engineered immune system, which aggressively wipes out any disease or virus. The problem is, its so aggressive that theres nothing left for MBenga to work with by the time she admits her heritage. But Laans attempted warp-core breach results in radiation flooding engineering (something we also saw happening in The Wrath of Khan) and Number Ones hyper-immune system cures both her and Laan and its sufficiently complicated that her antibodies are still at it long enough for Chapel to get a sample and use it to cure the crew.

This is the third time in the last three weeks that a Secret Hideout Trek show has referenced the Eugenics Wars. There was Adam Soongs Project Khan folder in Picards Farewell and Pike referencing it as part of Earths ramp-up to nuclear armageddon shortly before first contact in Strange New Worlds. And given that its part of the backstory of both Number One and Laan, I suspect it may come up again, and Im wondering if theres an endgame to that

Yes, Laan, too. From the beginning, she was established as having the same family name as Khan Noonien Singh from the original series Space Seed and the movies The Wrath of Khan and Into Darkness. In this episode its established that she is a descendant of that tyrant, and it was a source of merciless teasing when she was a child, and on into adulthood where she was accused of being an Augment, even though she isnt one. (Why she didnt just change her name is left as an exercise for the viewer.)

Upon finding out that Number One is an Illyrian, and while still under the influence of the virus, which makes everyone who gets it more than a little binky-bonkers, Laan says some pretty nasty things to her. After being made fun of for so much of her life, to find out that her mentor is in reality what she was accused of being is a bitter pill to swallow.

Number Ones response is to point out that genetic engineering doesnt have to lead to tyranny. What Illyrians do is adjust themselves to fit their environment betterrather than terraform planets they terraform themselves. They make themselves better, helping the evolutionary process along with less risk.

Image: CBS

When Number One comes clean to Pike and offers her resignation, Pike refuses to accept it. When she reminds him that that makes him an accessory to her lying to Starfleet, his glorious response is, I welcome that conversation. Shes the best first officer in the fleet, and she just saved everyones asses. And the implication there is that he agrees with her that the genetic engineering ban is a silly goose. Though Number One does muse in a personal log (that she immediately deletes) that Pikes response might have been different if she hadnt just saved everyones asses, though I think thats not giving the captain enough credit.

Rebecca Romijn is superb in her long-awaited spotlight, as the characters cool confidence and no-nonsense leadership and easy professionalism is leavened nicely by her conflicted impulses with regard to revealing her heritage.

But shes not the only one with a secret, as we find out how the contagion got on board the Enterprise despite there being bio-filters in the transporters: the emergency medical transporter didnt get the same upgrades as the other transporters when the ship was upgraded prior to Strange New Worlds. And the reason why is also a potential explanation for why MBenga has a lower position in the sickbay hierarchy when we see him in the original series A Private Little War and That Which Survives, to wit, hes keeping his sick daughter in the medical transporters buffer. She has an incurable disease, so hes keeping her in the bufferrematerializing her periodically to prevent the pattern degradation that would happen if she spent too long in there, as established in TNGs Relics. Number One not only doesnt punish him for this, she promises to find a way to make it a more stable proposition. Earlier in the episode, Number One hesitated to do everything she could to save lives because of Starfleet regulations, and most of the crew got really sick and almost died. She wont make that hesitation again, and so she more aggressively chooses MBengas daughters life over regs.

The B-plot here is Pike and Spock down on the planet, and not only does it continue to solidify the Pike-Spock dynamic that would lead to Spock breaking dozens of regs to help Pike a decade hence in The Menagerie, but its also a master class by Ethan Peck in continuing the character of Spock. Every line of dialogue is delivered in a manner that is at once very Leonard Nimoy-like, and yet totally Peck as well. (Credit also to screenwriters co-executive producer Akela Cooper and supervising producer Bill Wolkoff for penning very Spock-y dialogue.)

This part of the story is also a poke in the eye to the Federations ban, as Spock learns from his reading that the Illyrians on this colony wanted to join the Federation, and as a good-faith gesture attempted to de-engineer themselves by removing their genetic modifications. It kinda failed, and resulted in them either dying from the same virus that nearly wipes out the Enterprise or turning into energy creatures.

Screenshot: CBS

The genetic engineering ban has been a bit of an odd duck since it was established in DS9s Dr. Bashir, I Presume? in 1997. I can see why they thought it would work for that episode and for the character of Julian Bashir in particular, but it doesnt make a lot of sense when you think about it in the larger context of the Trek universe, for the very reasons Number One enumerates to Laan. One wonders if the show is going to continue to challenge that twenty-five-year-old plot point

Points also to giving everyone something to do, even if its minorOrtegas only scene, for example, is discovering that one of the landing party has the virus, while Uhura only has two sceneswithout making it feel like theyre being sledgehammered in. Everyone has a role to play, and it works nicely.

Im still not entirely sold on Hemmer as a character. Hes still not much beyond arrogant genius, a character type that can wear out its welcome pretty quickly without something to ameliorate it. Hemmer hasnt really had much to do yet, and its mostly been the usual Im so brilliant, and Im just humoring the dummies around me stuff. Bruce Horak is playing the part very well, mind you, and the producers seem determined to give everyone a spotlight (Pike two weeks ago, Uhura last week, and Number One this week), so lets hope that Hemmer gets his day in the sun.

Weve also got now three crew members who are defying regulations in a manner that should probably have consequencesNumber One for hiding her heritage, MBenga for hiding his sick daughter, and Pike for not doing anything about either oneand one wonders when those chickens might come home to roost

Keith R.A. DeCandido has an essay in the new collection Unauthorized Offworld Activation: Exploring the Stargate Franchise, edited by Rich Handley & Joseph Dilworth Jr. Keithwho did a Stargate Rewatch for this site in 2015wrote about how the three leaders of the expedition in Stargate Atlantis were let down by their writers. The collection also features essays by Jo Duffy, Dr. Anastasia Klimchynskaya, Robert T. Jeschonek, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Mark L. Haynes, Brandon Jerwa, Ren Cummins, Bryanna Elkins, Frank Schildiner, Edward Dodds, Val Nolan, and Darren Sumner, and has a foreword by Alexis Skarra Cruz.

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Secrets and Lies Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ghosts of Illyria - Tor.com

Cyberpunk is not a miserable little pile of references, contrary to popular belief.Image: Production I.G / Warner Bros. / Tokyo Movie Shinsha / E3 / Kotaku

Cyberpunk. When you think of the word, you likely conjure up images of a futuristic cityscape awash in neon lights, amalgams of Western-Japanese architecture, and a cybernetic hero equipped with a samurai swordor a AAA game still trying to get its bearings. But what often gets lost in the glitz and synthetic glamor of the word are the larger philosophical ideas and disruptive technology that shaped the genre and that reflect the insecurities of the world we live in. This near-constant missing of the mark in cyberpunk games has me guarded.

Todays games have interpreted the genre incorrectly. While its easy to become enveloped in the power fantasy and the magnificence of transhumanism, these games havent spent enough time reflecting on the problems that stem from our relationships with these technologies. Cyberpunk should be an inspection into and a commentary on the power structures that define our world and our places in it.

All this left me ready to stave off cyberpunk games for the foreseeable future until Citizen Sleeper, a recent entry to the genre inspired by table-top RPGs, caught my eye. More promising, Kotaku senior writer Ethan Gatch said it was one of his favorite games of the year so far. I was still wary, but I was ready to give it a go. Thinking I was alone in my tumultuous relationship with cyberpunk, I discovered that Citizen Sleepers sole developer and writer Gareth Damian Martin shares many of my concerns about the genres trajectory.

Beyond cyberpunks reduction to an aesthetic, Ive noticed the tendency to compare said games with other media. This often takes the form of what have become tired analogies on how a games theatrics harken to Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell. But whenever I ask myself what these modern cyberpunk games are actually saying, I cant find an answer. Theyre mere carbon copy shells of aesthetics without ghosts of their own. Something Martin looked to avoid in making Citizen Sleeper.

In Citizen Sleeper, you play as a copy of a cryogenically frozen person, called a sleeper, who must work to pay off their debts before being disposed of. A dice system within the game determines the condition of your body. Each day, you must decide whether to help others by building mutual aid or to use your money to pay for the drugs that keep you alive.

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And though Martin took inspiration from William Gibson, the American-Canadian author who penned works like Neuromancer and is credited as the progenitor of the cyberpunk genre, they took umbrage with the noir power fantasy and future-centric scope thats proliferated within the genre, even by Gibson himself, much as I have.

How you choose to go about your day in Citizen Sleeper is determined by the games tabletop RPG dice mechanicScreenshot: Fellow Traveler

I compare the cyberpunk-adjacent games guilty of this to the anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Unlike newer media that have salvaged pieces of its narrative as a template for their own stories, GitS SAC characterizes every corner of its disrupted world and the citizens within it. Japan is run amok with efficient and invasive technologies.

The thing that makes cyberpunk feel kind of stagnant is the way that it can feel that we are still drawing on those same structures that were concerns for Gibson [and] Ridley Scott in the 70s and 80s. Things like this abject fear of Japanese dominance and things like this that come through in certain texts. Were now working removed from those and those are not really our concern, Martin told me.

Citizen Sleeper, however, has an overwhelmingly positive review score on Steam at the time of publication, with players calling the game a gem that hit the sweet spot for them with its narrative gameplay. Martin said they didnt approach writing Citizen Sleeper looking to hit all the checkboxes of the cyberpunk genre. They looked at it simply as an intimate game that shows people coming together and put their own experiences as a nonbinary person whos worked gigs in a city without enough money to pay rent into the heart of that story.

I modeled the structures around things in our society now like constant pressure, exposure to risk, the feeling that luck is the only thing that is keeping you with a roof over your head, or waking up in the morning and not knowing exactly how much youre gonna have to give, Martin said.

After receiving feedback from players post-launch, Martin said they think players related to the structure in Citizen Sleeper because it allows them to place their own experiences into the framework of the game and explore how the larger structures surrounding and impacting their lives can be malicious, unintentional, or just background noise.

Although cyberpunk today is regarded as a warning on the horizon for the fate of humanity and what we should do to avoid it, Martin said writers of today shouldnt rehash the prose used in the onset of the genre or take stabs at answering what life will be like in the far-off future. Instead, they said, we should focus on the now.

For [cyberpunk] to be effective, I find that it needs to draw on something about now because I dont think that Gibson and [Bruce] Sterling were writing about the future. I think they were writing about the moment they were in, Martin said. We should continue to make cyberpunk work about the moment were in, not the moment that they were in or this awesome imagined future. I think cyberpunk is about now.

See the article here:
The Cyberpunk Genre Is Broken, And The Creator Of Citizen Sleeper Agrees - Kotaku