Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-17-2019, 01:30 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Video Game Deep Cuts: Switch Lite-s Up, 2019’s Best Games So Far
The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from video game industry ‘watcher’ Simon Carless (GDC, Gamasutra co-runner), rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend.
This week’s roundup includes a look at the Switch Lite announcement and Valve’s experimental discovery mechanisms, as well as some picks on 2019’s best games so far, indie pinball innovation, Dragon Quest Builders 2, and a bunch more besides.
Nintendo’s Switch Lite doesn’t have to switch to be a success(Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge – ARTICLE) “In the wake of the Switch Lite’s announcement, there’s been a lot of debate over whether the Switch’s idealism toward play-anywhere multiplayer failed or if people just weren’t using it with their TVs. But unless Nintendo decides to clarify the issue, that’s not the problem the Switch Lite is meant to solve.”
How developers build the tutorials you skip(Xalavier Nelson Jr. / PC Gamer – ARTICLE) “It’s a common piece of knowledge in development circles that no matter how important it is, many players will avoid or miss pieces of your tutorial. They clearly need to know how to play the game—how do you move past their natural reluctance with as much success as possible?”
The Benevolent God-King of Traffic Exists and Here He Is Fixing Virtual Gridlock on YouTube(Michael Ballaban / Jalopnik – ARTICLE) “America’s infrastructure is broken. Part of that is because we refuse to maintain it, but a large part is because it wasn’t designed correctly to begin with… But what if we could experiment with it, and improve it, on the fly? Just look at what this one guy does in Cities: Skylines to see what I’m talking about.”
Warframe developer on avoiding crunch: “it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon”(Emma Kent / Eurogamer – ARTICLE) “At this year’s TennoCon, I sat down with Digital Extremes chief operating officer Sheldon Carter to discuss the ongoing development of Warframe’s Empyrean expansion (and all its newly-revealed features), along with topics such as how the studio is avoiding crunch, Digital Extremes’ future plans, and whether there will ever be a Warframe 2. [SIMON’S NOTE: you should pay more attention to this game – these self-contained fandoms are the future for GaaS (Games as a Service).]”
Hours Played 12:56pm – 3:10pm(Duncan Robson / YouTube – VIDEO) “This is a proof of concept for a planned 24 hour video game supercut in which every piece of footage contains a clock, watch or has someone saying the the time. These are arranged so that if you play it in sync with the real time it also functions as a clock. [SIMON’S NOTE: I’m a buddy of Duncan’s, but independently of that bias – this is greeeat, please spread the word about it!]”
The deeproot Tour: Whitewood Wonderland and the Cart Before the Horse(This Week In Pinball – ARTICLE) “Recently I was in Austin, Texas, not far from deeproot headquarters in San Antonio. I asked Robert Mueller, the man behind deeproot Pinball, if it would be alright if I came by for a tour of the deeproot facilities to see how things were going there, and he graciously obliged. [SIMON’S NOTE: deeproot is a well-funded dark horse in new-school pinball design with bold claims to ‘reinvent everything’ – and I have no idea whether they will!]”
My Friend Pedro’s journey from Flash cult hit to indie success(Cian Maher / Gamasutra – ARTICLE) “Developed by one-man studio DeadToast, this Matrix-esque amalgamation of bullets and bedlam quickly cemented itself as a cult classic, but was unfortunately lost in the bygone era of browser games. Recently, however, My Friend Pedro received a massive overhaul, to the extent that an entirely new set of systems and mechanics were assimilated into its makeup.”
A Guide To Auto Chess, 2019’s Most Popular New Game Genre(Nathan Grayson / Kotaku – ARTICLE) “Over the weekend, Dota Underlords lured 200,000 concurrent players onto its checkered battlefield of swords, sorcery, and slot machines. Meanwhile, Riot’s Teamfight Tactics continued to duel with Fortnite for the Twitch throne. Also, I played Dota Underlords like it was my dang job. If it feels like these Auto Chess games have taken over the world overnight, that’s because they kinda have.”
The best games of 2019 so far(RPS Hivemind / RockPaperShotgun – ARTICLE) “Just look how many videogames have escaped from their developers in the past six months and are now running amok through the blistering streets, getting stuck in the melting tarmac, like ants in jam. It’s unsanitary. So allow us to round up these unruly games and trap them in a handy list.”
Behind the Scenes with the Games Media at E3 2019(Noclip / YouTube – VIDEO) “Noclip investigates the evolution of E3. With behind the scenes interviews from CD Project, Twitch, IGN, Vice Games, Rebb Ford, Tim Schafer, Ben Pack, SkillUp and many others, we look at how the conference has changed over the past 25 years in response to the changing face of games coverage.”
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge becomes a live-in video game with the Disney Parks app(Todd Martens / LA Times – ARTICLE) “Nestled inside the 1-year-old Play Disney Parks mobile app is an exploration-encouraging experience called the Star Wars Datapad. Largely a home to mini-puzzles and short quests that can only be activated while inside Disneyland’s recently opened 14-acre area, the Datapad not only fleshes out the Galaxy’s Edge back story but also contains an ongoing game for control of the land itself.”
What Works (And What Doesn’t) In Apex Legends’ Second Season(Javy Gwaltney / Game Informer – ARTICLE) “After spending several hours with Apex’s new additions, I’ve discovered that the new season does a lot to add enticements to keep the playerbase busy, but maybe not enough to chart a clear path forward to the amazing service game that Apex Legends could be. Here’s what works and what doesn’t work about Apex’s newest season.”
Who Shot Guybrush Threepwood? | Genre and the Adventure Game(Innuendo Studios / YouTube – VIDEO) “We’re talking about adventure games again! Or, more accurately, we speaking in the context of adventure games about why some genres are hard to define, different ways of thinking about genre, and what genre is even for. [SIMON’S NOTE: there’s a transcript too.]”
Pirate our games, don’t buy them from key resellers, say indies(Leo Kelion / BBC – ARTICLE) “Small video games studios are asking the public to stop buying their titles from “unauthorised” markets, saying the sales cost them more than they earn. Several have said it would even be better if consumers pirated their games rather than purchased discounted unlock codes from the “key resellers”.”
Spawnpoint: Nolan North and Troy Baker(Keza MacDonald / Spawnpoint / ACast – PODCAST) “Keza MacDonald presents a video game podcast for tired people. Interviews with players, developers and creators on how parenting and gaming co-exist, plus discussion and opinion on games from a time-pressed perspective.”
Top 10 Most-Watched Twitch Content, First Half 2019(Max Miceli / eSportsObserver – ARTICLE) “League of Legends is on pace to break 1B hours watched as Fortnite sees a decline in viewership for the first half of the year. Meanwhile, Just Chatting’s emergence has generated notable growth for non-game-related content compared to its predecessor, the “IRL” category.”
‘Dragon Quest Builders 2’ Is a Giant To-Do List, and I Love It(Cameron Kunzelman / VICE – ARTICLE) “Dragon Quest Builders 2 is cute. Dragon Quest Builders 2 is simple. Dragon Quest Builders 2 is the game that I’ve been playing until 1 AM all week, completing “just one more task” before bed. If this is a measure of whether or not a game is good, then the game is excellent. [SIMON’S NOTE: there’s also a very entertaining Tim Rogers video about this very game.]”
Steam’s new Interactive Recommender is built for finding ‘hidden gems’(Adi Robertson / The Verge – ARTICLE) “Valve is launching a new “Interactive Recommender” that generates personalized lists of Steam games users might like based on what they’ve played before. It’s not replacing the platform’s existing recommendation systems, but it’s supposed to give users another way to navigate Steam’s massive backlog of games — especially smaller titles that often get lost in the mix.”
It’s Becoming Impossible To Keep Up With More Than A Couple “Forever” Games(Caty McCarthy / USGamer – ARTICLE) “The question that comes up the most when I meet others in the games industry is, how do I keep up? The answer is simple: I don’t. No one does, and no one can. There’s always the new thing. It’s an endless Las Vegas buffet of crab legs. I used to try though, until I realized it’s healthier to accept that there’s only so much I can play.”
Peter Jackson’s King Kong was the most innovative game of its console generation(Xalavier Nelson Jr. / Polygon – ARTICLE) “King Kong’s combination of cinematic stylings, rudimentary but working ecosystems, improvisational combat, a minimal HUD that forces information to be shared through more clever means than numbers on a screen, muddy textures striving for realism, and focus on player freedom within tightly-scripted encounters, functions as a prophetic statement of intent for the generation that would come.”
Double Fine’s Psychonautical E3 2019(Double Fine / YouTube – VIDEO) “It’s been a couple of weeks since we returned from E3, but only now do we feel recovered; rejuvenated by a long weekend of BBQs and fireworks. It was one hell-of-a show though, possibly our busiest ever, and certainly the first time we ever had our own booth on the showfloor, which made it all the more exciting! [SIMON’S NOTE: great documentary work behind the scenes here – Dean Hall’s Rocketwerkz is also getting into the dev video game.]”
This Year’s Steam Summer Sale Was A Mess, Game Developers Say(Nathan Grayson / Kotaku – ARTICLE) “Two weeks ago, Valve apologized and altered the sale’s meta game… after players found it unbalanced and confusing, and developers suffered a bloodbath of sudden wishlist deletions. Now, with the sale winding down, it seems that Valve’s efforts weren’t enough to undo the damage the confusing sale structure did to indie developers. [SIMON’S NOTE: the above misunderstanding didn’t help wishlists, but I think most of the indie issues are around the fact that Valve tends to boost games that already sell well, making them sell… even better. But this probably DOES maximize total store revenue. It’s just not that small/medium indie friendly.]”
The calm chaos of Samurai Shodown(Patrick Miller / Medium – ARTICLE) “To me, the Samurai Shodown series has stood out as a remarkable example of fighting game design because when people play it, they routinely recreate moments that look like they were ripped out of a classic samurai drama, not because they’re landing elaborately animated cutscene supers, but because the game’s core combat rules are designed in ways that make fights feel like cinematic samurai duels.”
The Lost Soundtrack of SimCity NES(8-Bit Music Theory / YouTube – VIDEO) “One of my favourite things about transcribing and analyzing music is trying to get inside the composer’s head and figure out what he or she was thinking. SimCity’s soundtrack for the SNES gives a perfect opportunity to do just that, due to an unearthed completed soundtrack for an NES version of the game that never saw official release. [SIMON’S NOTE: just discovered this whole YT channel, which is GREAT game music analysis.]”
Facebook AI Pluribus defeats top poker professionals in 6-player Texas Hold ’em(Jennifer Ouellette / Ars Technica – ARTICLE) “Playing more than 5,000 hands each time, five copies of the AI took on two top professional players: Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, six-time winner of World Series of Poker events, and Darren Elias, who currently holds the record for most World Poker Tour titles. Pluribus defeated them both. It did the same in a second experiment, in which Pluribus played five pros at a time, from a pool of 13 human players, for 10,000 hands.”
Working group of game companies announces plan to tackle crunch and workplace stress(Colin Campbell / Polygon – ARTICLE) “Take This, a not-for-profit dedicated to addressing mental health problems in the game industry, today announced a working group made up of five games companies: Big Huge Games, Bungie, Certain Affinity, Wooga and Zenimax. Human resources leaders from the companies will work with Take This on addressing the game industry’s excesses.”
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[REMINDER: you can sign up to receive this newsletter every weekend at tinyletter.com/vgdeepcuts – we crosspost to Gamasutra later, but get it first via newsletter! Story tips and comments can be emailed to [email protected]. MINI-DISCLOSURE: Simon is one of the organizers of GDC and Gamasutra & an advisor to indie publisher No More Robots, so you may sometimes see links from those entities in his picks. Or not!]
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
Pre-order NBA 2K20 Today on Xbox One The next iteration of the top-rated NBA video game simulation series of the past 18 years returns with NBA 2K20. NBA 2K has evolved into much more than a basketball simulation, redefining what’s possible in sports gaming with best in class graphics and gameplay… Read more
Psychological Investigative Thriller Dry Drowning to Hit Xbox One in 2020 A new game from a brand new publisher, pushing new boundaries with an old genre, and finding home on an especially well established platform: It’s no exaggeration to say it’s a genuine honour for us here at Studio V – the aforementioned fresh-faced publisher in your midst… Read more
New Games with Gold for July 2019 Welcome to another Games with Gold reveal for Xbox One and Xbox 360! In July on Xbox One, survive against all manner of threats in the mysterious Inside and then enjoy frenzied action against friends in Big Crown: Showdown. On Xbox 360… Read more
Find out the Latest on Battlefield V from EA Play Did you miss all the big Battlefield V announcements unveiled at EA Play? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered in this recap. Find out all about Chapter 4: Defying the Odds and get a sneak peek of Chapter 5 and the front coming later this year – the war in the Pacific… Read more
Free Play Days – Grip: Combat Racing We’ve just launched our Grip Summer of Combat campaign and could think of no better way to celebrate than teaming up with Xbox for a Free Play Days event! The Free Play Days event begins Thursday, July 4 at 12:01 a.m. PDT and runs through… Read more
E3 2019: Watch Dogs: Legion Lets You Play an Entire City London has gone to hell in Watch Dogs: Legion. An authoritarian organization called Albion has taken over the city, populating it with private soldiers, filling the sky with militarized observation drones, and controlling the population through data and fear… Read more
Showdown at Fort Truth in Rainbow Six Siege on Xbox One Rainbow Six Siege is heading out west for Showdown, a special limited-time event on Xbox One. Available now until July 16, Showdown introduces a new 3v3 mode that pits the attacking team, The Law, against the defending team, The Graveltop Gang… Read more
Burn Rubber and Shred Metal in Wreckfest, Coming Soon to Xbox One Whether you’re sitting atop your lawn mower or behind the wheel of a hopped-up muscle car, it’s almost time to get racin’ in Wreckfest! The team at Bugbear sets Wreckfest apart with our true-to-life physics that allow you to not only feel the damage during competition… Read more
Prepare to Rise and Survive in Code Vein on Xbox One Experience the power of blood and dive into the destructive world of Code Vein on Xbox One. With stunningly dark anime visuals and a connected dungeon experience, we’re excited to announce that Code Vein is now available for digital pre-order. In Code Vein… Read more
Welcome to Shadow Fencer Theatre, Available Now on Xbox One “Hey, you look like you’re into puppets!” This is our icebreaker of choice when showing our game Shadow Fencer Theatre at conventions. The typical responses are along the lines of “What a weird thing to say” or “What about my face says that?” or just straight up… Read more
Riverbond Brings Co-op Craziness to Xbox Game Pass Ahoy, friends! We’re proud to announce that Riverbond, a voxel shoot-and-slash dungeon crawler is available now on Xbox One and with Xbox Game Pass for Console and Xbox Game Pass for PC. We invite you and your friends to explore the eight hand-crafted worlds… Read more
Gears 5 Versus Multiplayer Tech Test Kicks off on July 17 At E3, we unveiled a brand new way to fight the Swarm in Gears 5: Escape. We wanted to show how we’re pushing the envelope by doing new things never seen in a Gears game before, and that throughout the summer, we’ll reveal more about Gears 5… Read more
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for July 10 to 12 Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One… Read more
Now Available on Steam Early Access – Killsquad, 20% off!
Killsquad is Now Available on Steam Early Access and is 20% off!*
Unleash hell on a coop A-RPG where bounty hunters raid planets for glory. Choose your quest on the Online Contract System. Unlock skills mid-mission to adapt. Wreak havoc with unique weapons. Scavenge materials to boost them. And, if you survive, spend your bounty on gear to live another day.
The Nintendo Switch typically has a retail price of $300. Right now, on Ebay, there's a brand-new Nintendo Switch selling for $265. Of course, the final price will fluctuate depending on where you live in the US, as each state has different tax policies. Regardless, that's a pretty steep discount, especially considering the rarity that Switch consoles go on sale.
This isn't the first discounted Nintendo Switch to become available on Ebay during Prime Day--the previous deal, which featured the neon red/blue Joy-Con edition, offered the console for $351 and sold out incredibly fast. So don't wait long to grab this deal, as there's no knowing when the Switch will be marked down again. So far, Amazon and other major retailers haven't discounted the console on its own, only offered it in various bundles with different perks. You check out those deals and more in our Prime Day Nintendo Switch roundup.
The aforementioned Switch console discount brings the price of a normal Switch closer to that of a Switch Lite, a completely handheld version of Nintendo's current generation console. The Switch Lite comes in three colors--grey, blue, and yellow--and features an actual D-pad. However, the handheld device is smaller than the traditional Switch, can't be docked, and is unable to play certain Switch game (like Super Mario Party).
We're compiling all of the best deals going on right now, from anime Blu-rays to tabletop games and Funko Pops to PC accessories. If you're in the market for something new, look below to see if you might be able to buy it at a discount.
A new ransomware targeting Linux-based (NAS) devices
A new ransomware family has been found targeting Linux-based Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices made by Taiwan-based QNAP Systems and holding users’ important data hostage until a ransom is paid. Dubbed “QNAPCrypt” by Intezer and “eCh0raix” by Anomali, the new ransomware is written in the Go programming language and encrypts files with targeted extensions using AES encryption and appends .encrypt extension to each. Source: The Hacker News
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-16-2019, 08:50 PM - Forum: Windows
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Digital distribution centers — The future is here
The pace of change has never been as fast as it is now. Globally, the population is becoming more urban and income levels are rising. By 2050, nearly 70 percent of the global population will live in cities or urban areas—that’s six billion people. Consumer behavior has also materially changed over the last decade, and omnichannel retail, personalization, and demand for same day deliveries are growing. To cater to the changing landscape, urban distribution centers that stage products closer to users within large cities are on the rise to enable faster delivery and greater customization.
Within the four walls of the distribution center, picking and packing tasks account for more than 50 percent of the total labor cost of warehousing operations. Access to labor has become increasingly challenging, particularly in urban centers, and staffing levels shoot up five to ten-times normal levels during the holiday season. Space constraints and difficulty in staffing are pushing companies to look at adopting distribution center technologies that cut labor costs, optimizes the flow of products, and improves productivity and utilization of these centers.
Since announcing Microsoft’s $5B commitment to developing an industry leading internet of things (IoT) platform last year, we’ve continued to work with our ecosystem partners to build solutions to address such problems. In “Our IoT Vision and Roadmap” session at Microsoft Build, we announced a partnership with Lenovo and NVIDIA, to bring advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to Azure IoT Edge. The demonstrated solution showed Lenovo hardware, a single SE350 Edge Server, running the Azure IoT Edge runtime with NVIDIA DeepStream to process multiple channels of 1080P/30FPS H265 video streams in real-time, transforming cameras into smart sensors that understand their physical environments and use vision algorithms to find missing products on a shelf or detect damaged goods. Such applications of Azure IoT Edge technology enable customers to quickly and cost effectively deploy retail solutions that optimize their logistics operations.
Today, we are excited to announce the next milestone on this journey, the preview of Lenovo’s Digital Distribution Center (DDC) solution. Lenovo’s DDC is an IoT solution developed in collaboration with NVIDIA and Microsoft. Through real-time scalable package detection, tracking, and validation, DDC delivers for better optimization and increased utilization of distribution centers for retail, manufacturing, and logistics operations. The solution uses multi-video stream analytics with artificial intelligence and machine learning inferencing to self-learn, optimize, and scale. Additional releases will include geofencing alerts, palletization, depalletization, and last-mile sorting.
DDC is built with Azure IoT Central, Microsoft’s fully managed IoT app platform that makes it easy to connect, monitor, and manage your IoT devices and products. Azure IoT Central simplifies the initial setup of your IoT solution and reduces the management burden, operational costs, and overhead of a typical IoT project. This allows solution builders to apply their energy and unique domain expertise to solving customer needs and creating business value, rather than needing to tackle the operating, managing, securing, and scaling of a global IoT solution. Partners like Lenovo and NVIDIA add unique value through schemas that are relevant to industry solutions like DDC, including common industry hierarchies that organize people, places, and environments.
Join us for a demo of our solution at the Microsoft partner booth during Microsoft Inspire—July 14-18, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you are interested in joining our preview program about the solution, please contact IoTSolutions@lenovo.com
What's New To Netflix This Week: Movies, TV, And Originals (US)
It's a brand-new week, and that means some more movies and TV shows are headed to Netflix this week. There is plenty coming to the service you'll want to check out, including a mockumentary starring a Stranger Things star.
You're going to want to keep the Netflix original Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein on your radar this week. The mockumentary follows David Harbour as he dives into his father's legacy, which involved a poor stage production of Frankenstein that was made for television. Throughout his travels, he discovers his father's troubled past, including a rivalry with a younger actor. It's obvious aspects of this Netflix original ape the final years of director Orson Welles, who had an interesting fall from grace. Overall, Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein looks pretty hilarious, and you'll want to check it out this week. To get a closer look, check out the trailer.
Speaking of comedy, there's a whole new batch of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee where Jerry Seinfeld takes comedians, puts them in his car, and they get coffee together. The title couldn't be more self-explanatory. It may be a simple show, but Seinfeld's interview series has been an a ton of fun since its online debut years ago.
Also headed to Netflix on Friday is Season 4 of Queer Eye. Once again, the guys will take the time to help someone in need by making their lives better by giving them the tools they need to succeed in their personal lives. It will undoubtedly be uplifting and emotional throughout the new season.
Below, you'll find the full list for everything coming to Netflix this week.
Tuesday, July 16
The Break-Up
Disney's The Princess and the Frog
Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Wynonna Earp: Season 3
Wednesday, July 17
Pinky Malinky: Part 3 -- NETFLIX FAMILY
Thursday, July 18
Secret Obsession -- NETFLIX FILM
Friday, July 19
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: New 2019: Freshly Brewed -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Season 3 -- NETFLIX FAMILY
La casa de papel: Part 3 -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Last Chance U: INDY: Part 2 -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Queer Eye: Season 4 -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
SAINT SEIYA: Knights of the Zodiac -- NETFLIX ANIME
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-16-2019, 01:47 PM - Forum: Windows
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How the quest for a scalable quantum computer is helping fight cancer
Microsoft’s quantum-inspired algorithms are particularly useful for optimization problems — which involve sifting through a vast number of possibilities to find an optimal or efficient solution — that are so complex and require so much computing power that current technologies struggle to solve them.
Typical examples might include ensuring traffic flows smoothly across an entire metropolitan area, allocating gate and tarmac space at a busy international airport or determining how to best sequence complicated manufacturing processes across many different pieces of equipment.
In addition to enhancing Case Western Reserve’s work to more quickly and reliably detect cancer and other diseases, Microsoft’s quantum team is also partnering with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, which is using quantum-inspired algorithms to figure out how to ideally balance resources from different energy sources across its entire electric grid.
Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory, brokerage and solutions company, is also exploring how Microsoft’s quantum-inspired algorithms might improve the complex mathematical models the company uses to quantify risk and inform investment strategies.
Microsoft researchers developed the algorithms as part of a larger effort to create the industry’s most stable and scalable quantum computer using quantum information particles called topological qubits. Once it’s built, the researchers say the quantum computing platform could allow scientists to do computations in minutes that would take current computers billions of years.
The quantum-inspired algorithms simulate how those systems work but can be run on existing computers. As development of a general-purpose quantum computer continues to progress, companies today can join the Microsoft Quantum Network to access new quantum-inspired services that work with Microsoft Azure and classical computer hardware like central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
“It turns out that quantum thinking and lessons we’ve learned from programming the computer have led us to a breakthrough that we can run today classically,” said Julie Love, Microsoft’s director of quantum business development.
That’s allowing the Microsoft team to develop and accelerate customer solutions in healthcare, financial management, oil and gas and automotive industries, she said.
“More powerful hardware is coming, but these quantum advances are happening now,” Love said.
Julie Love, Microsoft director of quantum business development. Photo by Mark Malijan.
‘Results we just haven’t been able to see with anything else’
As any parent knows, it’s possible to put your hand on a child’s forehead and get a useful sense of whether he or she might be running a fever.
But without a thermometer to measure the temperature, it’s harder to make an informed decision about what to do — whether to wait and see, treat with medicine or rush to the hospital.
Magnetic resonance fingerprinting is a technique to give doctors interpreting an MRI that same degree of quantitative precision across a range of tissue properties, rather than relying on experience to subjectively decide whether the brightness or color of a particular area indicates the tissue is diseased or healthy. It’s currently in use at a dozen academic medical centers, and more widespread adoption is expected in coming years, researchers said.
“Millions and millions of people have been saved or had their lives improved by MRI, but largely what we’ve done so far is the equivalent of putting our hand on someone’s head,” said Griswold. “The big change that fingerprinting allows is that we can get the numbers, like a temperature reading, that allow you to directly make a diagnosis.”
Magnetic resonance fingerprinting, which has been shown to outperform comparable quantitative MRI protocols by a factor of 1.8, produces numerical measurements of tissue properties for each and every pixel of an image. It accomplishes this by using far more intricate pulse sequences — harmless radio waves that combine with magnetic fields to generate distinctive signals from different types of fat, tissue or tumors within a patient’s body.
Those data-intensive patterns are then compared to a vast library of tissues with a known magnetic resonance “fingerprint” that can be calculated directly from physics simulations. With sufficient precision, a pattern match alone could be used to diagnose colon or brain cancer, sparing patients from painful or invasive diagnostic procedures.
Stephen Jordan, Microsoft senior researcher. Photo by Mark Malijan.
And in conditions like multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, the fingerprint scans can pick up changes in the brain that are invisible with conventional methods yet are more clinically meaningful than the ones doctors can see today. That could help better predict how the disease will progress in a patient or determine whether new drugs are effective at combating diseases for which there’s currently no good measure of success.
The trick with magnetic resonance fingerprinting is figuring out which out of the exponentially vast universe of possible pulse sequences will produce scans quickly and with enough accuracy to distinguish between healthy tissue and different manifestations of disease. Because each sequence is made up of many individual pulses that can each vary by angle, intensity or duration, the number of potential sequences for complex acquisitions is immense — rivaling the number of atoms in the visible universe.
“Very quickly this becomes a problem with so many possibilities that are all coupled to each other that traditional optimization methods really struggle to solve it in any realistic way,” Griswold said. “There are unique advantages with the quantum-inspired algorithms that are allowing us to get results that we just haven’t been able to see with anything else.”
The pulse sequences picked by Microsoft’s optimization algorithms have provided scans up to three times faster than previous ones — which would increase throughput, drive down costs and improve access to a potentially lifesaving diagnosis, particularly in areas that have months-long waits for MRIs.
And the approximately 30 percent boost in precision for T2 measurements, which can be an important identifier of disease, could mean the difference between catching a tumor early and not seeing it until promising treatment options are limited.
“We have been able to show really significant gains that go way beyond just tweaking the system a little bit,” said Griswold, who also serves as the faculty director for Case Western Reserve’s Interactive Commons. “I feel like the quantum-inspired algorithms and the quantum computer are literally going to give us the next quantum leap. You’re never going to get those massive changes in your business by doing things the same old way.”
Discovering quantum-inspired algorithms
In a quantum computer, the unique properties of qubits — in particular, their ability to hold a value of 0 and 1 at the same time — allow them to process information exponentially faster and potentially find solutions to problems around climate change and world hunger that are simply not possible today. But because the quantum particles are notoriously finicky and unstable, Microsoft is working to develop more reliable and scalable qubits that can support a full quantum computing platform.
A different type of machine called a quantum annealer uses other mind-bending properties of quantum particles to perform a single task: solving optimization problems with lots of complicated variables and constraints.
“As I talk to enterprise customers, these hard optimization problems come up again and again and again,” said Microsoft’s Love. “I may have a room full of people in financial services, pharma, oil and gas, automotive, industrials or chemical companies and you will hear everyone saying, ‘Oh my god, yes, yes, I have these.’”
Originally researchers were just investigating how quantum annealers worked, so they developed algorithms to simulate what was going on inside. By chance, they decided to test their classical but quantum-inspired algorithms on a popular optimization test and discovered that they blew other solutions away.
“It was one of those things where you think you’re doing a science project on one topic and you discover something off to the side and realize that’s much more exciting,” said Stephen Jordan, a Microsoft senior researcher who is now working to apply quantum-inspired algorithms to real-world business and research problems.
Matthias Troyer, Microsoft principal researcher. Photo by Mark Malijan
“It made a big stir among optimization people who were like, ‘Who are these guys out of nowhere? They’re not even computer scientists! They are quantum physicists who have these wacky algorithms that are way better,’” he said.
To solve optimization problems, computers look for a solution that requires the lowest amount of effort or cost. In some cases, though, that’s like a mountain climber who’s trying to find the absolute lowest point in an unfamiliar, highly irregular, mountainous landscape.
Once he or she reaches a particular valley, there’s no way of knowing whether there’s a lower point over the next mountain. And finding out requires a huge amount of energy to climb up and over the next steep hill. So they may decide it’s not worth it and get stuck there — never finding the lowest point or better solution.
Quantum particles have a unique property that, in this example, allows them to easily tunnel through the mountain to discover what’s on the other side. By mimicking this tunneling ability, Microsoft’s quantum-inspired algorithms are able to solve optimization problems in entirely new ways — using hardware that’s widely available.
And when a fully-fledged quantum computer built on stable topological qubits becomes available, the same algorithms will become even more powerful, said Matthias Troyer, Microsoft’s principal researcher on the quantum computing team.
“Any of the quantum-inspired algorithms can be further accelerated on quantum hardware. By running them on classical hardware, we don’t get all the advantages yet,” Troyer said. “This isn’t just a classical one-off. It’s fully on the way to quantum computing.”
Related to quantum-inspired algorithms:
Jennifer Langston writes about Microsoft research and innovation. Follow her on Twitter.
Top image: Mark Griswold, Case Western Reserve University professor of radiology, is using Microsoft’s quantum-inspired algorithms to boost the speed and accuracy of MRI scans using an innovative approach called magnetic resonance fingerprinting. Photo by Microsoft.
Get a glimpse at Minecraft Earth in action, and then sign up for the beta
By Joe Robinson15 Jul 2019
I’ll be honest, even though it’s been fun playing around with Wizard’s Unite with my wife, Minecraft Earth is the one I’ve been really looking forward to. I still am, as there are things about Harry Potter that could definitely be better and really, the IP doesn’t have a strong a pull to it in my eyes.
If you’re like me who’s also waiting for Microsoft’s answer to Pokemon GO, you’ll be pleased to know that not only can you now sign-up for the beta, you can also watch a short trailer with some gameplay in action:
Tappables? Really? Who names these things? Anyway…
That small slice shows off everything from what the main map will look like, to what resources you can collect, to how building and sharing works. There are few other things we know about that weren’t shown, like Dungeons, but I’m sure it won’t be long.
The Closed Beta will be iOS only for the moment, and it’ll be limited in terms of the locations and number of people that they will be bringing on board. You can sign up here, although you need to be over 18 to sign up, and need either a Microsoft or an Xbox Live account.
You’ll need an iOS 10 or later device (and Android 7 or later when it rolls out there) and be warned as progress etc… is likely to reset as they make changes and improvements. Check out the FAQ for more details.
…support game developers, enterprise professionals, media and entertainment creators, students, educators, and tool developers doing amazing things with Unreal Engine or enhancing open-source capabilities for the 3D graphics community.
Of course “open source capabilities for the 3D graphics community” sounds like a very specific application doesn’t it? Therefore today’s news should come as no surprise, the Blender Foundation is receiving $1.2M USD as part of the megagrant program.
Epic Games, as part of the company’s $100 million Epic MegaGrants program, is awarding the Blender Foundation $1.2 million in cash to further the success of Blender, the free and open source 3D creation suite that supports the full range of tools empowering artists to create 3D graphics, animation, special effects or games.
The Epic MegaGrants initiative is designed to assist game developers, enterprise professionals, media and entertainment creators, students, educators, and tool developers doing outstanding work with Unreal Engine or enhancing open-source capabilities for the 3D graphics community.
The Epic MegaGrant will be delivered incrementally over the next three years and will contribute to Blender’s Professionalizing Blender Development Initiative.
“Having Epic Games on board is a major milestone for Blender,” said Blender Foundation founder and chairman Ton Roosendaal. “Thanks to the grant we will make a significant investment in our project organization to improve on-boarding, coordination and best practices for code quality. As a result, we expect more contributors from the industry to join our projects.”
“Open tools, libraries and platforms are critical to the future of the digital content ecosystem,” said Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games. “Blender is an enduring resource within the artistic community, and we aim to ensure its advancement to the benefit of all creators.”
