revolution

24May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

THE LATEST NEWS

The Rise And Rise Of Audio Storytelling: The Podcast Revolution

The state of audio drama in 2020 is wildly different from ten years ago when audio, or rather radio drama, was in decline across much of the English-speaking world. Drama had been dropped from radio stations in the US, was being phased out from popular listening in Canada and faced budget cuts in the UK and Ireland. The roots of the reinvention go back to the early 1980s. Adaptations like the BBC’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Lord of the Rings and NPR/BBC’s Star Wars changed how radio drama was viewed. They gave rise to a later audio movie style and inspired a new generation of independents. These “indie” producers pioneered the revival of the medium. Digitisation of sound-design during the 1990s and 2000s put the means of production back into the hands of hobbyist creatives. Howev...

Inside The Coming Voice-Profiling Revolution – Shhhh, They’re Listening

You decide to call a store that sells some hiking boots you’re thinking of buying. As you dial in, the computer of an artificial intelligence company hired by the store is activated. It retrieves its analysis of the speaking style you used when you phoned other companies the software firm services. The computer has concluded you are “friendly and talkative.” Using predictive routing, it connects you to a customer service agent who company research has identified as being especially good at getting friendly and talkative customers to buy more expensive versions of the goods they’re considering. This hypothetical situation may sound as if it’s from some distant future. But automated voice-guided marketing activities like this are happening all the time. If you hear “This call is being reco...

Coronavirus closures could lead to a radical revolution in conservation

In the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, social media was flooded with reports of animals reclaiming abandoned environments. According to one widely shared post, dolphins had returned to the canals of Venice. While many of those stories have since been debunked, conservationists are providing legitimate reports of cleaner air and water, and wildlife reclaiming contested habitats. With widespread closures of parks and conservation areas around the world, could this be an opportunity to transform the way we manage and use these protected environments? The ecological benefits of park closures In Canada, wildlife sightings are on the rise. Cole Burton, a conservation biologist at the University of British Columbia, says that the pandemic has provided an opportunity to study how animals r...