Move over, Wordle: The New York Times has a new puzzle game
The New York Times has a new math-based puzzle game called Digits, and you can try it for free right now.
The New York Times has already changed Wordle solutions
This is why you might no longer get the same Wordle solution as someone else.
Move over, Bungie: New York Times acquires Wordle
Wordle was purchased by The New York Times on the same day Bungie was acquired by Sony.
The VR Job Hub: Snap Inc., Trebuchet & The New York Times
Every weekend VRFocus gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industry, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.
| Location | Company | Role | Link |
| Montreal, QC, Canada | Trebuchet | Intermediate/Senior Graphics Programmer | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | AR Partnerships Manager | Click Here to Apply |
| Kyiv, Ukraine | Snap Inc. | Lens Production Manager | Click Here to Apply |
| Kyiv, Ukraine | Snap Inc. | VFX Designer | Click Here to Apply |
| Kyiv, Ukraine | Snap Inc. | 3D Animation Artist | Click Here to Apply |
| London, UK | Snap Inc. | Creative Engineer | Click Here to Apply |
| Kyiv/Odesa, Ukraine | Snap Inc. | Concept Designer | Click Here to Apply |
| Kyiv/Odesa, Ukraine | Snap Inc. | Creative Engineer | Click Here to Apply |
| Tel Aviv, Israel | Snap Inc. | Creative Engineer | Click Here to Apply |
| Kyiv/Odesa, Ukraine | Snap Inc. | Data Scientist | Click Here to Apply |
| Herzliya, Israel | Snap Inc. | Software Engineer Tech Lead, C++ | Click Here to Apply |
| Herzliya, Israel | Snap Inc. | Deep Learning Engineer | Click Here to Apply |
| Kyiv, Ukraine | Snap Inc. | Software Engineer, Android | Click Here to Apply |
| London, UK | Snap Inc. | Computer Vision Engineer, Geometry | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | Android Engineer, AR | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | iOS Engineer, AR | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | Machine Learning Engineer, AR | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | Manager, Machine Learning Engineer | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | Quality Engineer, Tech Lead | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | Software Engineer, Backend | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | Infrastructure Engineer, ML Ranking | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | Software Engineer, C++ | Click Here to Apply |
| Los Angeles, CA | Snap Inc. | Software Engineer, Dev Tools | Click Here to Apply |
| New York, NY | The New York Times | AR 3D Artist | Click Here to Apply |
Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.
If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).
We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.
The New York Times Debuts Its first Volumetric AR Experience
The New York Times has been a publication which has eagerly embraced immersive technology such as augmented reality (AR) as a means of enhancing its news coverage, such as giving readers a better look at the various NASA Mars missions. The NYT has now moved into what it believes is the next phase of visual storytelling, using moving 3D images of real people.
The first NYT article to utilise this technology forms part of the coverage of New York Fashion Week, with the NYT using over 100 cameras to capture images of model and activist Ashley Graham. These images were then combined to create a moving 3D hologram of Graham that can be viewed as if she were in the same room.
“The Times chose to feature Ashley Graham because of her approach to body positivity; she is outspoken about not altering images of her body or face shape, a practice that is commonplace in the fashion industry,” said Joanna Nikas, staff editor, Styles, The New York Times. “It’s also one of the main reasons she decided to participate in The Times’s first volumetric AR experience, an opportunity that captures her from all angles and with no altering.”
The AR experience was created using Microsoft technology at the Metastage Capture Studio in California. The technology used to create the effect has been built directly into the NYT app on iOS.
“If you are constantly showing an altered woman in media, what is that little girl going to go and do when she looks in the mirror and see smoothed out skin or almond eyes or a pinched nose and plumped up lips,” asked Ms. Graham. “Why would we want young girls and boys to go home and not love themselves because we are lying to them in magazines and lying to them on social media.”
The NYT app provides the most immersive experience for the article, and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, though other versions of the article are available for different platforms. For future coverage oon new AR and VR content, keep checking with VRFocus.
The New York Times Bringing Its Content To Magic Leap One Creator Edition
Ever since 2015, The New York Times has had a keen interest in immersive technology, and over the past few years VRFocus has diligently followed their trail. From partnering with Google to produce virtual reality (VR) related works for the Google Cardboard head-mounted device (HMD), to NYTVR and them producing daily 360 degree videos for the Samsung Gear VR. And of course from there onto their work with augmented reality (AR), such as experiences relating to the 2018 Winter Olympics, the war in Syria, and the eruption of the Fuego volcano.
All this being considered, it shouldn’t be that surprising that The New York Times has gotten out of the blocks early by just announced it will be bringing its brand content to the Magic Leap One Creator Edition, which received a surprise launch earlier today.
Utilising Magic Leap’s flagship mixed reality (MR) product, The New York Times will be bringing new content to the Magic Leap One, as well as items that you might already be familiar with. In fact, the first offering by the outlet will be an MR version of its AR experience relating to the volcanic eruption in Guatemala that was mentioned above, that will utilise Magic Leap’s web browser Helio.
“The New York Times is dedicated to helping people understand the world through unrivalled, on-the-ground, expert and deeply reported independent journalism.” Said Steve Duenes, the Assistant Managing Editor of The New York Times in a statement. “As we continue to integrate new forms of storytelling, like mixed reality, into our news report, we are able to bring Times journalism to readers in a way that makes it more immediate than ever before.”
The news comes out at the same time as the New York Times celebrates gaining $24 million (USD) in profit, thanks in part to its digital subscribers. As platforms for news change and how digital and print co-exist continues to evolve, traditional news outlets continue to look to new ways to secure eyeballs on their content – so it’s likely we’ll see more experiences from The New York Times before too long.
New York Times Recreates A Syrian Crime Scene Using AR
Simulations and immersive technology like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have seen use in various areas, including crime scene reconstruction. The New York Times has used that technology to present the evidence that the Syrian government is engaging in chemical warfare against its own population.
The New York Times has previously used AR to engage with its audience and show things such as information about the various Mars exploration projects. The subject matter on this occasion was much darker, an attempt to recreate the scene where a chemical attack took place.
Despite multiple reports that Syrian military helicopters dropped a chlorine bomb on an apartment building in the town of Douma, near Damascus, Syrian authorities and their allies in Russia denied the attack took place.
In order to prove otherwise, The New York Times teamed up with Goldsmiths, the University of London research agency and Forensic Architecture to comb through various reports and videos of the site in search of forensic evidence that the attack, which is said to have killed 49 people, did indeed take place.
The result of this work allowed for a virtual crime scene to be constructed. This enabled experts to inspect how the bomb related to the objects around it, examine the architecture of the building and see the damage that had been caused, looking for clues.
The results of this painstaking work allowed the New York Times and its partnership agencies to conclude that the bomb had not been planted, as officials claimed, but was instead dropped from a Syrian military helicopter, and that chlorine was involved, vindicating eyewitnesses and victims who initially reported what happened.
While a simplified version of the New York Times feature is available by accessing the NYT website, the full AR experience is available by using the NYTimes app, which can be found on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
For future coverage of new and innovative uses of AR technology, keep checking back with VRFocus.
The New York Times Debuts AR Content for the 2018 Winter Olympics
Over the weekend VRFocus reported on The New York Times announcing it’s first foray into augmented reality (AR) – its virtual reality (VR) app has been out for a while – with an app that’ll allow future issues to have AR enhanced articles. Now the news outlet has debuted its first AR experience preview piece for the Winter Olympics featuring four world-class athletes.
Supporting iOS 11 and created with Apple’s ARKit, the AR experience allows readers to meet figure skater Nathan Chen, big air snowboarder Anna Gasser, hockey goalie Alex Rigsby and short track speed skater J.R. Celski, just like they’d been paused mid-performance, walked out to the ice or to the slope and explored their form, their speed and their height, and learn what makes them the top athletes in their sport.
“The Times has been among the most innovative digital storytellers for many years. On desktop, mobile, in our exploration of data visualization and other forms of visual journalism, including virtual reality, we’ve been committed to creating the most compelling and vibrant report possible, and this experiment in AR is a part of that,” said Steve Duenes, assistant masthead editor, The New York Times in a statement. “The Times covers today’s most compelling news events from around the world. And now, our readers can get closer to these stories and subjects, from a possible border wall to a figure skater’s quadruple jump. They can take in the size, shape and details of the objects at the center of our coverage. There’s no question that these are early days for AR, but our work so far suggests that this emerging technology has real potential to help our readers experience the news differently, helping them understand the world more deeply.”
Additionally, there’s also Ralph Lauren AR interactive, produced by New York Times Company experiential design agency Fake Love. It’s the first AR experience from an advertiser to live inside The New York Times app for iOS and is accessible directly from The Times news feed.
While currently only available for iPhone and iPad devices the AR experience is coming to Android soon, built with Google’s ARCore. When that happens VRFocus will let you know.
Oculus Go Dev Kit Images Show the Headset to Be Near Consumer-ready
Two images showing a seemingly consumer-ready box containing Oculus Go, the company’s upcoming standalone VR headset, found its way to Reddit and Twitter recently, possibly indicating that launch is right around the corner.
As first reported by TechRadar, the images appear to indicate that developers are now receiving the next big wave of dev kits. The first wave of Oculus Go dev kits cropped up at the end of November last year. Interesting to note: nowhere on the box do you see mention of ‘dev kit’, lending credence to the idea that this is the box you’ll see on store shelves soon.
The box art advertises a number of apps including Netflix, Facebook, Hulu, Fox Sports VR, The New York Times, and Discovery VR. Games and experiences include: Anshar 2, Ultrawings, RUSH, Ocean Rift, Jurassic World and The Body VR.
The box purports to launch with “1000 + apps, games, and movies,” a claim that can be made thanks to the fact that Oculus Go and Gear VR will essentially share the same content store, which has greatly matured since the consumer launch of Gear VR in November 2015.
The Oculus Go pictured above is apparently the 32 GB model, which we know is one of the two choices available. As seen in FCC filings, there will also be a 64 GB version.
Oculus Go is still officially slated to launch “early 2018” starting at $200.
The post Oculus Go Dev Kit Images Show the Headset to Be Near Consumer-ready appeared first on Road to VR.
NYT VR Gives Users A Virtual Backstage Pass
Last month the New York Times brought its library of immersive virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree films to the Samsung Gear VR with the launch of the NYT VR app on that platform. Now NYT VR is offering Gear VR users the chance to get an exclusive look at the lives of indie rock band The National.
The new VR documentary is titled The National: Something Out of Nothing and will follow the members of the band as they go through the process of rehearsing and recording their seventh studio album, Sleep Well Beast as well as showing exclusive footage of stage performances of the band.
Footage was captured over the past year and assembled into a 12-minute documentary by Academy Award winning filmmaker Marshall Curry.
The enhance the experience for fans, the NYT VR app has been updated to include support for spatial audio, which allows users to experience the acoustics of the performance as if they were really present at the venue.
The National joins several other bands and artists who have been using VR and 360-degree video to engage with fans and audiences. Virtual band Gorillaz have launched their own AR-enhanced smartphone app, and singer Bjork has been experimenting with including VR in her music videos.
The National: Something Out of Nothing can be downloaded through the NYT VR app. The NYT VR app is available for free for Samsung Gear VR users on the Oculus Store. A video trailer for the documentary is available to view below.
VRFocus will continue to report on new VR and 360-degree experiences.