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A Meta executive has assured parents and teachers that Meta Quest headsets tabbed for use in school settings will come with measures and controls that allow teachers to supervise students using them.
“This is not going to be used in the classroom unless teachers feel they have complete visibility and control of what’s going on,” Sir Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs at Meta, told Sky News. “And crucially, that parents, particularly of the younger kids, feel that too, otherwise, why would you use this in an educational setting?”
Clegg’s cautious tone arises from increasing worries about child safety in the metaverse. Meta has introduced a new program enabling schools to incorporate virtual and augmented reality into their curriculum. The initiative allows teachers to manage the use of VR headsets for multiple students simultaneously in the classroom.
Students age 13 and older will have the opportunity to explore the metaverse directly from their classrooms, engaging in immersive educational experiences. These activities could include virtual tours of museums, language practice in diverse settings, and exploring 3D renditions of otherwise inaccessible environments.
Clegg also noted the company has introduced a “shared mode” feature, which prevents children from accessing the Meta Quest store to download new apps or games into a school-provided headset. In addition, this mode ensures that other users cannot identify the school user.
He continued: “It’ll be a much more engaged, participatory, and immersive experience than is currently the case in the classroom and an entirely safe one for that reason because the teachers will be fully in control.”
The school-oriented product is expected to be launched by Meta later this year.
How is Meta’s virtual reality being used in schools?
In a 2023 blog on Meta’s site, Clegg wrote, “This isn’t science fiction or wishful thinking — it is happening right now.” At N and S high schools, Japan’s largest online schools, more than 6,000 students use Meta Quest 2 headsets to engage in virtual reality learning. “Their teachers report that this enhances the learning experience and enables students to nurture social skills even when they are physically far away,” he said.
Meta still draws a wary eye when it comes to children’s safety. Recently the parent company of Facebook and Instagram was criticized for lowering the minimum age to use its WhatsApp messaging service in the UK and Europe, to 13 years old, from 16. The UK-based advocacy group Smartphone Free Childhood deplored the change. “WhatsApp are putting shareholder profits first and children’s safety second,” Daisy Greenwell, the group’s co-founder, said in a statement.
Featured image: Canva
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3D printer technology continues to advance at a rapid rate, both in the FDM and resin worlds. One of the major ways things are getting a bit more Star Trek Replicator is speed. The time in which it takes to print models these days is so much faster than ever before and companies are constantly trying to make things faster.
Of course, with speed comes the risk of print failure as well so there are definitely new techniques to be employed as the journey continues.
Elegoo has been in the resin printing space for a few years now, we looked at its Neptune 4 Max recently, and its Saturn and Mars resin machines have proved extremely reliable and popular. Uniformation may have come along and stolen the show with its GKTwo, but that is a machine that costs upwards of twice the amount of what Elegoo is pitching here as they release the new V4 models of the Saturn and Saturn Ultra today.
The Ultra is obviously the larger of the two models while the base Saturn with its green flip-up lid definitely is tipping a nod to the aforementioned GKTwo.
The Ultra also has a flip-up lid (finally it seems more companies are cottoning on to this simple but must-have feature) comes in a smokey grey and looks very nice indeed. It also comes with Elegoo’s new Tilt Release technology which both speeds things up and reduces the suction effect created by the model sticking to the bottom of the vat and being pulled upwards by the build plate on its travels. Here. the vat is tilted slightly at the end of a layer by a piston which helps release the print from the FEP.
Pre-orders for both machines have just opened and they are expected to ship in June/July. The Saturn 4 costs $319 while the large Saturn 4 Ultra model costs $449, which considering you get an AI monitoring camera and the new Tilt Release seems wholly reasonable.
New Saturn 4 features
Saturn 4

10-inch 12K Mono LCD
COB + Fresnel Collimating Lens
Auto Leveling & Intelligent Mechanical Sensor
User-Friendly Structure & Advanced Cooling System
Large Print Size of 218.88×122.88×220 mm³

Saturn 4 Ultra

Innovative Tilt Release Technology
10-inch 12K Mono LCD
COB + Fresnel Collimating Lens
Auto Leveling & Intelligent Mechanical Sensor
AI Intelligent Monitoring & Power-Loss Resume Printing

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Amazon Prime’s successful Fallout television series, which premiered April 10, seems to have pushed the most current game in the post-apocalyptic role-playing series to a record high number of players.
SteamDB, which measures player figures for every title listed on the PC marketplace, says that Fallout 76 hit a new peak of 39,445 concurrent players on Sunday. That figure only counts PC players, and moreover, only those with the game on Steam. Fallout 76 is also available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, as well as on PC through other storefronts and the Xbox Game Pass.
Amazon Prime Gaming started giving it to subscribers for free this month, along with several other games. And Microsoft made it free to anyone with an Xbox or PC from April 12 to April 15, whether or not they pay for Xbox Game Pass.
According to SteamDB, Fallout 76 drew respectable but much lower monthly player sums before the TV series premiered. In March the game saw a peak of 12,735 concurrent players. The all-time high before this past weekend came in May 2022, when player count reached 32,982.
Fallout 76’s siblings have also fared well in player count, likely because of the interest brought on by the Amazon show. Fallout 4, which launched in 2015, broke back into the Steam top 20 over the weekend with a peak concurrent player count of 83,491. Although nowhere close to its all time high, that figure is well above repeated months where Fallout 4’s peak playership ran between 15,000 and 22,000.
Everything to know about Fallout 4’s next-gen update
Fallout 4, a single-player open-world role-playing adventure that launched almost 10 years ago, will finally get an update bringing the game to modern console hardware. So far it’s been playable through the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X’s backward compatibility support.
The update will make Fallout 4 a native application on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and give users a performance mode and a quality mode that either increases picture resolution or gameplay at 60 frames per second.
The free upgrade launches on April 25. PC players will also get a title update that promises additional stability fixes and repairs to bugged questlines and the like. And all platforms (including PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4) will get a new set of missions, plus additional in-game content developed through Fallout 4’s official mod portal, the Creation Club.
Fallout 4 will be available on Epic Games Store from April 25, and will be Steam Deck verified on that date, too.
Featured Image: Via Ideogram
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Here’s everything you need to know about Microsoft’s subscription, Xbox Game Pass, from prices to selection.
If you’re an Xbox user, chances are you’ve seen talk about Xbox Game Pass. If you’re unsure what it entails, then look no further. With subscription services for virtually everything nowadays, Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s answer to a monthly gaming subscription. Here’s how it works.
What is Xbox Game Pass?
Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service for Xbox One, Series X, or Series 3 console users, where gamers pay a monthly fee to get unlimited access to a catalog of selected games. You can play them as often or for as long as you like, likened to being a streaming-service-style offering, rather than buying individual games.
The Xbox Game Pass includes some tempting games, including major AAA titles like GTA V and Sunset Overdrive. It also leans into some hard-hitting nostalgia by regularly including old Xbox 360 titles, repurposed for modern consoles through backwards compatibility.
As well as offering the chance to play the Xbox Game Pass catalogue, the pass also offers access to new games on the day they’re released, for no extra cost.
How often is Xbox Game Pass updated?
Microsoft adds new games to the Xbox Game Pass each month, usually updated via the Xbox blog the week before. Some games will stay on the pass for one month but most stay longer than that. At any given time, there are usually around 300 games available to play.
How much is Xbox Game Pass?

Xbox Game Pass has a few subscription levels to it, each one costing a different amount, ranging from $9.99 a month to $16.99. Microsoft also regularly offers deals for new subscribers, such as your first month for $1.
Here’s a closer look at what each plan offers subscribers.
Xbox Game Pass Core
Xbox Game Pass Core, once known as Xbox Live Gold, is the cheaper of the two options at $9.99. It offers a range of online multiplayer games, access to a collection of more than 25 titles, and member-only purchase deals on new releases.
Xbox Game Pass Core took over Xbox Live Gold memberships on September 14, 2023. Customers were automatically switched over from Gold to Core, with no need for them to do anything.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
For the slightly more expensive subscription option at $16.99 a month, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes all the same benefits as Xbox Game Pass Core, while also combining services for both PC and consoles, so you don’t need to have separate subscriptions to game on multiple devices.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users also have access to the Xbox Game Pass mobile app, offering the ability to play on the go for Android users (although not yet for iPhone) and sync game data across multiple devices via the cloud.
Some games will also offer exclusive Ultimate perks, like extra add-ons, DLCs, and member discounts for updates and new releases that aren’t available to Core subscribers.
How does Xbox Game Pass work?
Once you have your subscription, it’s pretty easy to get online and start playing. Much like downloading a free game or one from the cloud, accessing Xbox Game Pass titles can be done via the library. Visit the Game Pass tab or the Recently added channel to see what’s available and then download it to your account.
Downloading the game means you won’t need to stream it (although that’s possible to do with many games), reducing lag and dips in video quality. For the next 30 days, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play any downloaded games for free. After those 30 days, you’ll need to reconnect the game to the internet to verify for your subscription. So long as you’re still subscribed and the game is still included in the Game Pass, you won’t need to pay to continue playing the game and your history will be saved.
Where is Xbox Game Pass available?
The Xbox Game Pass is currently available in the following countries, with more planned to come:

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Mexico
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Turkey
The United Arab Emirates
The United Kingdom
The United States

On the whole, most Xbox Game Pass titles are the same around the world, with few differences between countries. Sometimes, the United States has had access to different games or with slightly different dates, but Microsoft tends to stick with the same offering around the world.
Featured image: Ideogram
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The announced-but-unnamed Iron Man video game that Electronic Arts’ Motive Studios is working on looks to be an open world action-adventure, if a job listing is any indication.
The Portuguese gaming website Geekinout found the listing on EA’s own careers website. The vacancy is for a senior technical artist for the Iron Man team and the advertisement directly says the employee will help “oversee the rendering related aspects of an open world action-adventure AAA title.”
It goes on to say the position “requires high-level artistic sensibilities and strong technical skills; the ability to work with the art and rendering teams to drive the development of new engine features and to guide the content creation to maximize what is available.”
EA’s job posting says the team is currently working on two projects — one being the Iron Man game and then a focus on what’s coming next for Battlefield.
A second job posting has similar wording, instead for a senior environment artist. In the requirements section, it says “Open World experience is a plus.”
What do we know about the new Iron Man game so far?
After announcing the game and its collaboration with Marvel Games in September 2022, Electronic Arts has offered few details about Iron Man or what the game will entail. EA’s original announcement described the game as an “all-new single-player, third-person, action-adventure” video game in development at Montreal-based Motive.
The development team is led by Oliver Proulx, who worked on Marvel’s Avengers (2020) for Crystal Dynamics and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2021) for Eidos Montreal. His team includes industry veterans Ian Fraizer, Maëlenn Lumineau, and J.F. Poirier.
The game is said to feature an original narrative that taps into Iron Man’s rich history, with players immersing themselves in the powers of Marvel’s mainstay character and the genius of his alter ego, Tony Stark.
On April 9, Motive general manager Patrick Klaus, discussing that studio’s assignment to support development on the Battlefield franchise, name-checked the Iron Man game with a succinct: “In parallel, development continues to move forward on our Iron Man project…
“The team made excellent progress this year, hitting a major internal milestone and laying a robust foundation for the journey ahead. Iron Man is an important priority for Motive, and I’m very proud of the work we’ve accomplished so far.”
Featured Image: Photo by Riku Lu on Unsplash
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