E3 2018: Xbox FastStart uses machine learning to get into content faster

During its E3 2018 presentation, Xbox announced it's taking advantage of Microsoft’s machine learning expertise for its FastStart feature. FastStart learns how gamers play and what files are needed to be downloaded first. Microsoft claims this can half the time it takes for a user to get into their new content — if it previously took 30 minutes to download and play, it will now take just 15 minutes. Xbox has long had a similar ‘Ready to Start’ system where games can be played...

11 June 2018 | Gaming

AI can be used to build virtual worlds

Building video games is a long and laborious process, but it could soon be quickened with the use of AI to build virtual 3D landscapes. A team of researchers from the Universities of Lyon and Purdue, along with game developer Ubisoft, have published a paper detailing how this works. Games are an art form, and creative designers take a lot of pride in their work. As such, they will work closely with everyone working on the project to make sure their visions get brought to life as...

24 November 2017 | Gaming

Facebook’s CherryPi ranked sixth in ‘StarCraft’ tournament of AI bots

Facebook participated in a StarCraft tournament which pitted artificial intelligent “bots” against each other instead of humans. Facebook’s “CherryPi” AI bot ranked sixth in the overall tournament with 2,049 wins out of 2,966 games. The StarCraft AI competition made use of the original StarCraft PC game and its expansion, Brood War. The motive behind this was to evaluate the state of artificial intelligence and how it handles real-time strategy games. This genre poses a challenge...

12 October 2017 | Gaming