Cognitive

While many of us have general fears and anxieties about public speaking or sitting in a plane during a turbulent flight, having a full-blown phobia for a specific object or situation can be detrimental to your career, relationships, social life, or day-to-day well-being. For ...more

When a firm like Techstars believes that augmented reality is an attractive industry to invest in, there's a high probability that it's right. As an accelerator and investor, TechStars has raised nearly $4 billion dollars in funding for more than 1,000 companies, with nearly ...more

Creamer, milk (whole or skim), sugar, or even butter—you've probably added at least one of these to your coffee to improve its taste at some point. If you're looking for something different, though, try a new twist with a dash of cinnamon. This sweet, sharp spice can do so muc ...more

In recent years, Hollywood has taken a shine to hackers, with hackers appearing in almost every heist or mystery movie now. This can be both good and bad for our profession. As we know, whichever way Hollywood decides to depict our profession is how most people will perceive i ...more

The new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones were announced on March 29 at the Samsung UNPACKED 2017 event. Preorders start on March 30 for the Korean tech giant's latest flagships, and sales officially begin in the US on April 21. Samsung will need a smooth release to win ...more

Give an 18-month-old a shoe, check back 10 minutes later, and it's a very big maybe he will have it on his foot. But give him your smartphone, and in a mere five minutes, he can take 100 pictures of the carpet, send weird messages, and delete essential apps. Imagine what your ...more

Someone does't really like you. I don't know who or where they are, but they exist. If you want to change that, simply ask them to do you a favor. This trick is known as the "Benjamin Franklin Effect." The idea is that when someone who views you unfavorably performs a favor f ...more

Although your friends might roll their eyes every time you talk about playing Clash of Clans, Call of Duty, or Candy Crush Saga, your excessive gaming habits might actually be making you healthier than everyone else. I've got your attention now, right? Read on for 8 insanely ...more

The Camera app on your iPhone includes new features with the iOS 17 update that will help you take better photos and more impressive videos, but there are a lot of cool new things available that you might not see right away. Many of Camera's new features are exclusive to the ...more

Now, I know what you're thinking... "I need an extra sexy coffee table that is like no other." OK, Maybe not. Maybe you're thinking, "I need a conversation starter that doesn't have to do with economic injustice, Left/Right political paradigms or health insurance. I need it ...more

Apple previewed new cognitive, speech, and vision accessibility tools for the iPhone back in May, and they've finally been realized with the iOS 17 release. But there are more accessibility features than that hiding in Apple's latest software update — and they're not just for ...more

If you've already read the first part exploring what geniuses actually eat as opposed to what the rest of us are told to eat for brain health, you've noticed that there are some big discrepancies. Instead of favoring healthy, wholesome foods high in antioxidants, lots of high- ...more

According to the CDC, one in four U.S. adults has a disability, where limitations can involve vision, cognitive function, hearing, motor skills, and more. That's why the iPhone has accessibility features; so that everyone can use an iPhone, not just those without any impairmen ...more

There are some important new features in the Photos app on iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 that will streamline editing, give your pets more recognition, help you learn about the world you've captured, and even add a bit of fun to your day. There are even a few hidden tricks that may sur ...more

We all carry a bit of anxiety around with us. Is our boss still annoyed because we could barely stay awake in yesterday's pre-dawn meeting? Will our friend hate us forever because we forgot to call them back two weeks ago? Whatever worries pop up in your mind, whether they're ...more

Graffiti is a great way of getting your message out to the masses. The earliest known graffiti dates back to 30,000 years ago and used the traditional apply-paint-to-wall technique. Though our paint now comes in cans and not from scavenged berries, the actual graffiti process ...more

We all know that it's important to drink water regularly throughout the day. After all, it has so many benefits, including flushing toxins out of the body and maintaining kidney health and good bowel movements. Turns out that's only part of the story. While being properly hydr ...more

Safari's massive upgrade in Apple's latest iPhone software update includes new features you won't find in any other web browsers on iOS, from better ways to stay organized to enhanced security and further privacy protections. Apple's latest Safari improvements make web browsi ...more

A couple months ago, the world was supposed to end. It didn't. But that didn't stop the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from warning citizens of one global possibility besides complete destruction—ZOMBIES. They used the farcical flesh-eating living dead as an ...more

There are all kinds of theories—many supported by science—about what causes Alzheimer's disease. Tangles of protein called ß-amyloid (pronounced beta amyloid) plaques are prominently on the list of possible causes or, at least, contributors. An emerging theory of the disease s ...more

Admit it: you've been caught muttering to yourself under your breath in very public places. Maybe you've gotten stares while wandering the grocery store talking to yourself out loud. If you're like me, you might even talk yourself through various tasks, giving the atmosphere a ...more

Somewhere around 600–800 million people in the world are infected with whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), an infection they got from ingesting soil or water contaminated with feces of infected animals or people containing the parasite's eggs. Currently, treatment options are lim ...more

Today's smartphones and tablets offer a great way for children to learn through interactive sight, sound, and touch, but they can also provide hours of genuine fun. If you have a spare tablet laying around—or at least a nice, durable case—the only thing you need to get your ch ...more

Coffee! It's so amazing that J.S. Bach wrote a comic opera about caffeine addiction. Meanwhile, more than half of Americans 18 years or older start their day with a cup of the hot stuff. Most of us take coffee for granted, but it's a bean that can surprise you. Read on to unde ...more

We've all heard the cliches: always look at the glass as half full; a smile can change your entire day; and there's always a silver lining. Whether you're someone who is constantly complimented on their rosy outlook or can't seem to stop frowning at everything around you, you ...more

Though many students spend four years of high school learning a foreign language, most of us probably retained very little. Chalk it up to the carelessness of youth, but chances are you've since been in situations or places that left you wishing you paid more attention in clas ...more

Black Mirror, Netflix's technology-horror anthology, never fails to provide thought-provoking entertainment centered around emerging and futuristic technologies, and the third season's second episode, "Playtest," delves deep into the worlds of mixed, augmented, and virtual rea ...more

We live in world where it is hard to stay positive all of the time. I know at times it gets hard to see the bright side of things and sometimes you just want to give up and let life pass you by. This kind of thinking is usually indicative of a deeper psychological problem whic ...more

French manufacturer Renault Trucks is looking to the HoloLens to improve quality control processes with its engine assembly operations. An internal incubation team of about 20 employees is collaborating with technology partner Immersion to design a prototype of the applicatio ...more

When you're trapped at your desk before a jumble of data just waiting to be categorized, or zoning out during an important meeting, your mind wanders and, chances are, you feel a little guilty because of it. Yet you shouldn't try to reign in that distracted thinking. Instead, ...more

Sleep lets our body processes rest and restores us for the next day, so a bad night's sleep can ruin the following twenty-four hours and even make us feel sick. Now, new research published in the journal Sleep cements the idea that loss of sleep actually leaves us vulnerable t ...more

When you have an infection, a doctor prescribes antibiotics to make the bacteria that causes it disappear. Sounds like a good idea, but the disappearance of microorganisms that have inhabited humans for millennia could be driving rising numbers of serious illness and debilitat ...more

Humans are able to produce a wide variety of sounds in part because they have descended voice boxes that makes room for longer vocal tracts. Evolutionarily, this appears to have occurred before, and thus may have facilitated the evolution of language. But why would our laryn ...more

At an event in Mountain View, CA, and watched by fans via live stream on YouTube, Google announced a slew of new products today. Over the last few weeks, there was no shortage of rumors and leaks about what might be unveiled, but now the secrets are out. As expected, Google h ...more

Parkinson's disease, a condition that can impair movement and coordination, affects over 10 million people worldwide. And with around 60,000 Americans being diagnosed every year, we're on track to see almost one million Parkinson's afflicted Americans by 2020. Thankfully, the ...more

While new features in Safari, Camera, Photos, Notes, Weather, Messages, and other Apple apps may steal the show on iOS 17, there are some impressive new features you need to know about when it comes to FaceTime audio and video calls. A step beyond mere upgrades, Apple nudges ...more

If you're doing the same tasks on your Android phone repeatedly each day — like playing a specific playlist at the gym, viewing work documents, or watching your favorite music video — you can save some time by automating your routine, turning each task into a one-tap gesture o ...more

If you're following the classic Halloween playbook closely, you've already got a costume or three picked out, you've binged-watched your favorite horror movies, and you've likely visited a haunted house. But it's 2017, so how about trying something new, like a haunted house th ...more

Texting is a godsend to mobile devices, but it also has its caveats. Sending a text to someone requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention—looking at what you're typing, holding the phone steady, and thinking about what you're trying to say. So, texting while doing pretty ...more

When that midday fatigue starts hitting you, sometimes the best solution is to just give in to sleep and nap it off. But how long should you sleep? Nap for too long and you often wake up feeling even worse than before, and it could be hours before you finally feel fully awake. ...more

A man going by the pseudonym of Ed Dante has written an illuminating account on his life as a career cheater. His clients include ESL students, hopeless dummies, and spoiled, lazy rich kids: "In the past year, I've written roughly 5,000 pages of scholarly literature, most on ...more

Despite mounting scientific evidence that viruses can cause changes in learning and memory, the reasons have remained elusive. In a new study, scientists reported finding that viruses affect the immune system in a way that results in loss of connections between nerve cells in ...more

Your smartphone is likely full of COVID-19 news and coronavirus panic. These are scary days, and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. If you're having trouble coping with the stress and anxiety the virus brings with it, know that your iPhone or Android device can actuall ...more

Who doesn't want to decrease time wasted looking for misplaced car keys or remembering a long-forgotten computer password? Keep your memory in prime shape by regularly eating fruits, vegetables, and proteins that are known for boosting memory and decreasing your risk for Alzh ...more

A group of researchers from Stanford University and Princeton University has put together the largest RGB-D video dataset to date with over 1,500 scans of over 700 different locations across the world, for a total of 2.5 million views. This dataset, called ScanNet, has been s ...more

Your childhood "social networking" may have been to go outdoors to the neighbor's — and outdoors is a great place for kids to be. But these days, the terms educational, digital media, entertainment, and toddlers don't have to be mutually exclusive. Like most things in life, it ...more

Microsoft's Monday keynote introduced the fourth generation of the company's Kinect sensor during Build 2018 in Seattle. The latest iteration, Project Kinect for Azure, gives enterprise companies the power of spatial understanding for connected devices in their factories and ...more

In this Tuesday's Brief Reality report, there's a trio of stories from the healthcare world where augmented reality is helping out with surgical microscopes, asthma treatment, and other diagnostic and treatment tools. There's also something for all of you AR/VR storytellers ou ...more

Just like in the Spy Kids 3D movie, US soldiers may soon upgrade their mission planning from 2D to 3D. Welcome to the wonderful world of augmented reality, US Army. Natick, Massachusetts is home to the Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center (NSRDEC), who ...more

When computers have vision but people don't, why not have the former help the latter? That's the gist behind the Cognitive Augmented Reality Assistant (CARA), a new HoloLens app developed by the California Institute of Technology. Assisted by the depth sensing capabilities of ...more

Over the years, Magic Leap's long-cultivated shroud of mystery led some onlookers to buy into the company's dream before even trying the device, while for others, the secrecy seems to have stoked the kind of resentment and overcorrecting critique usually reserved for the might ...more

Buying and drinking wine can be intimidating. There's so much to know, and so many ways to reveal your ignorance. If you're completely befuddled by wine and how to describe it, don't worry, you're not alone. Picking the right bottle of wine; a daunting task.. A study by Dr. Ad ...more

In the past, infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) commonly led to dementia as the virus made its way to the brain. Even in effectively treated people, HIV can hide out and replicate in places like the brain, where it's tough to detect. That's why it's very concern ...more

Thanks to the steady increase in quality of smartphone cameras, it's easier than ever to take amazing photos or video without thinking twice. If you've been to a concert in the last five years, you undoubtedly know what I mean. But it turns out that using your camera as a new ...more

As we settle into our new normal, this extra time provides a perfect opportunity to learn new skills. Speaking a foreign language is a great way to expand your cultural boundaries while also training your brain. Not only will you pass the time more effectively, but you'll also ...more

Getting support for your mental health is now as easy as opening up Facebook Messenger. By just opening up the Messenger app, you can connect to Woebot, a new chatbot developed at Stanford trained in administering cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The bot — developed by Dr. ...more

A week into my internship, I experienced pretty serious back pain and slight difficulty breathing. I scheduled a doctor's appointment to make sure nothing was wrong, and I got a surprising diagnosis: bad posture. Yep, slouching at my desk had caused all of my maladies. In an ...more