STACK #189 Jul 2020

LIFE TECH NEWS

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THIS IS THE PLAYSTATION 5

SEE SPOT, SEE SPOT AT HOME R ecent internet sensation Spot the robotic dog – although we reckon it looks more like a giant grasshopper – can now be bought by anybody… for a price. You could previously lease a Spot from its maker, Boston Dynamics, but now you can lay down a mere US$74,500 and take one home, to hug, pet, squeeze, caress and even possibly name George. Seriously though, Spot is quite the marvel, and was designed for tasks that may be dangerous for us squishy human beings to perform. It’s already been used for bomb disposal, to carry out tasks at decommissioned nuclear sites, and was also recently recruited by Singapore authorities as a social distancing park patrol pup. Versatile it might be, but at that price we may just make do with sticking some googly eyes on our Roomba for now.

T he next generation of upon us, and Sony have now unveiled their entry, the PlayStation 5. It will come in two forms, one with a disc slot – allowing for physical games as well as playing everything from CDs up to 4K Ultra HD discs – and one with no slot, which is designed exclusively for downloaded content. It’s a striking looking machine, and will be quite large – a purposeful design decision to allow better airflow for the gaming hardware is almost

internal components, whether installed upright or laid flat. Amongst the up-to-the-minute processing tech that’s inside sits an ultra-high speed SSD (Solid State Drive). Described by one developer as “screamingly fast”, it’s set to more or less do away with in-game loading screens. Meanwhile, the new DualSense controller is promising us previously unexperienced levels of physical – or “haptic” – feedback as players. Basically, this means the classic rumble feature can

be finely controlled for the smallest of blips to almost trying to shake itself from your grasp. Coupled with triggers that can have their tension altered to suit their use in-game, it’s set to add immeasurably to the gaming experience. With format-exclusive titles including new Spider-Man , Gran Turismo , Ratchet & Clank and Horizon games, there’s a lot to look forward to when the PlayStation 5 arrives before year’s end.

P hotographs are cool and all, but they do tend to be very flat. So, what if you could easily have them go 3D on you? That’s the aim of a free new app for Android and iOS called LucidPix 3D Photo Creator . Not only does the app utilise your camera to take photos for third dimensional conversion, it also allows you to convert existing photos. Results tended to vary when we tried it out, with some of our stored images looking rather cool with the effect added, others coming out really quite broken and some making us feel downright woozy. But hey, LucidPix is free, so if you want to relive the days of those little lenticular cards that you scored in the Corn Flakes, here’s your chance! TAKE YOUR PHOTOS TO ANOTHER DIMENSION

JULY 2020

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