Technology

New video game company aims to develop therapeutic games

Published

2 years ago

March 15, 2022

Devolver Digital founder Mike Wilson is partnering with medical machine skilled Ryan Douglas to launch DeepWell Digital Therapeutics, a online game firm that can each develop video games that may deal with well being situations. The corporate can even assist exterior firms determine current video games which have therapeutic worth, the founders say.

Online game-based instruments may help with situations like despair and ADHD, analysis reveals. DeepWell Digital Therapeutics plans to construct on these research. “There was a tremendous quantity of science that had already been achieved,” Douglas says. “We began to acknowledge precisely how therapeutic these video games already had been.”

Usually, a recreation used as a remedy can be designed as a remedy first, with enjoyable or partaking gameplay components layered on prime, he says. However DeepWell desires builders to construct video games in essentially the most partaking means attainable — after which go in and test to see how they could assist deal with well being situations. “Builders have found out easy methods to convey an engagement degree and get people to do issues with an depth that on the medical aspect we’ve had a tough time with,” Douglas says. “The enjoyable is admittedly essentially the most therapeutic factor.”

Video video games have been hailed as the way forward for medication for at the least a decade — they’d be accessible and easy-to-use instruments that would convey remedy into individuals’s properties. The Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the primary prescription online game, cleared to deal with youngsters with ADHD, in 2020. The company cleared a handful of different digital therapeutics up to now few years, and the trade received a lift through the COVID-19 pandemic when the FDA let firms market digital well being merchandise with out going by way of the conventional evaluation course of.

DeepWell has plans to develop its personal in-house video games that concentrate on psychological well being. It has one in improvement that it’s aiming to have prepared in early 2023. (Douglas declined to share specifics about that undertaking.)

However the firm additionally goals to assist online game makers with out a particular well being focus determine video games that would profit individuals’s well being. Wilson already has intensive expertise working with a spread of notable indie recreation creators by way of Devolver, which has revealed hits like Hotline Miami, Inscryption, and Reigns. DeepWell would look to see if there have been components of an current or in-development recreation the place a participant needed to make selections in ways in which would possibly overlap with the methods utilized in cognitive behavioral remedy, for instance. Then it may assist determine if there have been ways in which made sense inside the recreation to ask the participant to breathe in a sure means or suppose in a sure solution to increase the therapeutic potential.

“We don’t essentially make the sport therapeutic. The video games are therapeutic,” Douglas says. “And we will ship it as a remedy.”

DeepWell would determine these conditions inside video games and assist the businesses get video games cleared by the FDA as a medical machine. The corporate desires to undergo the FDA first — not develop video games that will be marketed as “wellness” merchandise however couldn’t make any medical claims. That’s vital in order that the video games can have clear language outlining their profit, Douglas says. “We wished to have the ability to say the issues that we would have liked to say to draw the folks that we thought we may assist.”

One problem for digital therapeutics throughout the board is analysis — firms are nonetheless determining one of the best ways to test if the video games reliably work as remedies. The merchandise are nonetheless new, and it’s going to take work and rigorous analysis earlier than sufferers, docs, and different stakeholders really feel assured in how properly issues like video video games match up in opposition to different commonplace remedy choices.

Digital therapeutics don’t must undergo the identical rigorous testing as medication. Medication must clear the next bar as a result of they are often extra harmful than one thing like a online game in the event that they don’t work or can have harmful unwanted effects. Douglas says lots of the video games will undergo the FDA’s “substantial equivalence” course of” — which means they might get clearance as a result of they’re much like current instruments, not as a result of they’re confirmed to work on their very own. He says DeepWell will piggyback off current analysis on video video games and psychological well being. “Then we’ll, in fact, research our issues as they turn into extra accessible out there,” he says.

However even when they’re in a position to present the video games work properly, therapeutic video video games aren’t a substitute for therapists or different psychological well being interventions, Douglas says — the video games are an extra layer, and the objective, for now, is to focus on gentle and reasonable psychological well being situations. “There are particular issues that solely a really well-trained clinician and therapist can do,” he says. “However there are a whole lot of locations the place there are gaps the place we may be helpful.”

Technology

Saudi Arabia proposes World Cup stadium straight out of a cyberpunk dystopia

Published

1 hour ago

August 1, 2024

Press Room

Saudi Arabia proposes World Cup stadium straight out of a cyberpunk dystopia

You’ll instantly notice the polygonal shapes making up the roof of the stadium, with the fractured pieces creating a mirror above those seated within the beehive-like setup. The Neom Stadium will be able to hold 46,000 people and “run entirely on renewable energy, generated primarily from wind and solar sources.” Construction is expected to be completed in 2032.

How can you focus on the game with reflections on the ceiling?

Image: Saudi 2034

It looks like the stadium’s aesthetic will fit right in with The Line, the 106-mile-long linear city surrounded by reflective walls with a vertical housing system, a high-speed rail, and “100% renewable energy.” Saudi Arabia has been criticized for reportedly using lethal force to clear villages in the path of The Line, as well as concern over the amount of resources that it will need for construction.

I don’t really know what’s going on here.

Image: Saudi 2034

Aside from the Neom stadium, Saudi Arabia is planning to build the three-tiered Prince Mohammed bin Salman stadium (pictured above) on the side of a cliff surrounded by colored glass and LED screens. Of course, these are still just renders for now, and the real things could end up looking entirely different.

Technology

4 ways to find your lost iPhone

Published

1 hour ago

August 1, 2024

Press Room

Our iPhones have become an extension of ourselves, holding our memories, connections and sensitive information.

The sinking feeling of realizing you’ve misplaced your iPhone can be overwhelming, not just because of its hefty price tag but also because of the potential security risks if it falls into the wrong hands.

Fortunately, there are multiple ways to track down your device. We’ll guide you through several effective methods to locate your missing iPhone, ensuring peace of mind and the safe recovery of your valuable device.

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A person trying to locate an iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Four ways to find a lost iPhone

While you can use most Apple devices to help locate your iPhone, below includes one way to use an Apple device and three ways without an Apple device to find your iPhone.

1. Use iCloud to locate your iPhone

You can log into your iCloud account to use Find My on your web browser to locate your iPhone. Please note you would’ve already had to turn on location services and add your iPhone to Find My in order to use this feature. Below are steps on how to use iCloud to locate your iPhone:

Type iCloud.com in the search bar of your web browser

Steps to use iCloud to locate your iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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Input the email address used to start your iCloud account. This is usually the same email you use for your Apple ID.

=Steps to use iCloud to locate your iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Input your password (unless you use a passkey)
There may be a two-step authentication process to verify your identity. You’ll be asked to allow or disallow verification on a secondary device. If so, select Allow. Then, enter the passcode provided on this secondary device.
Once logged into your iCloud account, scroll down to the App icons at the bottom left of the screen.
Select the Find My icon.

Steps to use iCloud to locate your iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

All your Apple devices should be listed on a menu on the left side of the screen.
Locate your iPhone and click the device icon

Steps to use iCloud to locate your iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

It should show you a map of approximately where your iPhone is located.
You can click Play sound if you are close enough to listen for sounds coming from your iPhone, or you can see where it is on the map.

Steps to use iCloud to locate your iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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2. Use Siri to locate your iPhone

If Siri has been enabled on your iPhone and you believe the iPhone is somewhere near you, you can call out ‘Hey Siri’ loudly. It will light up and respond verbally, which will help you locate it.

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Siri on iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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3. Use Apple Watch to locate your iPhone

Even though it would be using another Apple device, using the Apple Watch is a convenient way to locate your iPhone. This is called the ping feature. To find your iPhone using an Apple Watch running watchOS 10 or later:

Press the Digital Crown to return to the watch face.
Press the side button (the oval button below the Digital Crown) once to open the Control Center.
Tap the Find iPhone button in the Control Center. It’s represented by a rectangle with curved lines around it.
Your iPhone will emit a pinging sound to help you locate it.

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A man using his Apple Watch to locate his iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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4. Use Google Maps Timeline to locate your iPhone

You can use Google Maps Timeline to view the last known locations of your iPhone if Location Services and Location History are enabled on the device. This can help you identify where your iPhone was last seen. To access this:

Open a web browser and go to Google Maps Timeline.
Log into the same Google account used on your iPhone.
Check the location history to see where your iPhone was last located.

A person using Google Maps Timeline to find their iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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Kurt’s key takeaways

Nothing is more irritating and worrisome than misplacing your iPhone. It is worse if you lose it outside of your home or have it stolen. Even if you don’t own other Apple devices, you can use some of the different methods to locate your iPhone. While it is tempting to recover your iPhone from whoever has taken it, if your iPhone is in the hands of an unknown person, resist the urge to confront them directly and contact local law enforcement instead.

Have you ever lost or had your iPhone stolen? How did you find out where you last had it in your possession? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Meta’s future is AI, AI, and more AI

Published

8 hours ago

August 1, 2024

Press Room

The good news for Meta is that, unlike pretty much every AI startup, it already makes a lot of money. Last quarter, the company made just over $39 billion in revenue, up 22 percent from a year ago, and about $13.5 billion in profit, up 73 percent. 3.27 billion people use at least one of Meta’s apps every day. That kind of scale and money buys the ability to make big bets, which Zuckerberg is famous for doing.

On Meta’s Wednesday earnings call, CFO Susan Li reiterated to investors that financial returns from its recent AI investments will “come in over a longer period of time.” Zuckerberg was direct about why Meta is spending billions on Nvidia hardware and the other infrastructure ahead of these future returns: “It’s hard to predict how this will trend multiple generations into the future, but at this point, I’d rather risk building capacity before it is needed rather than too late.”

He again telegraphed that the Meta AI assistant is on track to be the most used in the world before the end of the year. While he touted that generative AI features “are things that I think will increase engagement in our products,” he said the real revenue will come from business use cases, like AI creating ads from scratch and letting businesses operate their own AI agents in WhatsApp for customer service.

Some other tidbits from the earnings call: