The developers of Forza Horizon 5 will add on-screen sign language interpreters who will appear in a picture-in-picture display during the game’s cutscenes. It’s part of a growing movement to improve accessibility for games. According to a recent report, one in eight people in the United States aged 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears. “This represents a vast amount of potential gaming customers lost if games aren’t accessible to this segment of users,” Mikal Babenko, a brand manager at game developer Room8 Studio, told Lifewire in an email interview....

So how do you get started? Well, first… Learn the Basics Understand the basic principles, the terminology, the techniques — what frame rate is, the importance of key frames, how traditional animation works, what in-betweening is, the various methods of animation, why aspect ratios make a difference. Do your research, learn the lingo, and build your foundation, until you understand character design, understand how a sequence of drawings can become a moving picture, and understand that it’s a time-consuming process that requires a great deal of patience....

So it’s odd that every time I open Google Maps and Apple Maps to plan out a route in my EV, I’m not offered a robust charging infrastructure feature set. Everywhere I look in Northern California, I see EVs. Thousands of EVs. A higher concentration than nearly anywhere else in the country. So it’s odd that two of the tech giants seem to be dragging their feet, and it’s time for them to step up before a startup comes along and does to them what they did to MapQuest....

Google Play has had its share of problems with malware, app cloning, and scams, which is why the company has begun taking steps to improve developer account security. Starting today, developers will be able to verify their contact details and account type (personal or business), with verification becoming mandatory if those details are changed. In August, new developer accounts will be required to verify their credentials and will need to go through a two-step verification process....

The company announced via a blog post that it has begun rolling out a major update to Gmail, aimed at Workspace, G Suite, and Business users. The update includes several useful additions, most visual in nature and intended to provide a more seamless experience, according to the post. A brand new right-click menu allows users to easily view a recipient’s full name, email, and other useful information. You can even edit this data on the fly using that same contextual menu....

The search giant has been planning for years to scrap cookies, which allow advertisers to track users’ movements across the web. Recently, it announced it’s ditching its initial attempt, called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), in favor of a new mechanism called Topics. While Google asserts Topics inculcates the feedback it received from trialing FLoC, privacy-minded folks say it’s unwise to expect any solution from Google to completely avoid tracking....

YouTuber GadgetsBoy discovered the problem while trying to see how long the new camera could record on its highest settings. Turns out that’s about 20 minutes, though that might also be circumstantial. According to a statement from GoPro given to Digital Camera World, airflow could be a big factor in preventing or delaying a shutdown. GoPro has stated that, yes, the Hero10 Black can overheat, but being outdoors and moving should help....

Don’t blame us if you can’t sleep after watching them! Starring: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, Francois Civil, Marion Lambert Director: John Erick Dowdle Motion Picture Rating: R Running Time: 93 minutes Starring: Brian Cox, Emile Hirsch, Ophelia Lovibond  Director: André Øvredal Motion Picture Rating: R Running Time: 86 minutes Starring: Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton Director: Oz Perkins Motion Picture Rating: R Running Time: 93 minutes Starring:Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd  Director: Bernard Rose Motion Picture Rating: R Running Time: 99 minutes Starring: Patrick Brice, Mark Duplass Director: Patrick Brice Motion Picture Rating: R Running Time: 77 minutes Starring: Keri Russell, Jake Brennan, Josh Hamilton  Director: Scott Stewart Motion Picture Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 97 minutes Starring: Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Callie Hernandez Director: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead Motion Picture Rating: Not Rated Running Time: 111 minutes Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor Director: Sam Raimi Motion Picture Rating: NC-17 Running Time: 85 minutes Starring: Sennia Nanua, Paddy Considine, Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close Director: Colm McCarthy Motion Picture Rating: R Running Time: 111 minutes Starring: Patrick Stewart, Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Macon Blair Director: Jeremy Saulnier Motion Picture Rating: R Running Time: 95 minutes Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgård, James Badge Dale Director: Jeremy Saulnier Motion Picture Rating: R Running Time: 125 minutes Starring: John Gallagher Jr....

While still only in beta testing, Elk Audio’s Aloha makes it possible for all types of musicians to practice playing music together in entirely different cities, effectively eliminating the lag time that interrupts the creative flow. “Our final goal is to be able to connect every musician out there,” Michele Benincaso, the founder and director of Elk Audio, told Lifewire over a video chat. Low Latency Music-Making Elk Audio began working on the Aloha technology more than five years ago....

A bad reason to unfollow someone on Twitter is that they don’t follow you back, even though that’s why many people do unfollow others on Twitter. Back in the early days of Twitter, this was pretty common. When you followed someone, it was expected that the other person would follow you back. Now, not so much. Twitter’s usage has grown exponentially, and it’s unreasonable to expect that every person you follow will follow you back—especially celebrities....

How Does Fitbit Track Steps? Fitbit uses a 3-axis accelerometer along with a step counting algorithm to keep track of your movements. When worn on your body, the accelerometer converts your physical movements into digital measurements. By analyzing these digital measurements, your Fitbit can provide surprisingly accurate information about the patterns and intensity of your workouts, including: The number of steps taken.The distance traveled.The number of calories burned.The intensity of the workout....

Is Shipt Worth It? Shipt is a subscription service that you can’t use outside of a free trial period without paying. You can choose to pay monthly or yearly, with a nice discount if you pay yearly, so there is an ongoing cost associated with using the service regardless of whether you use it every week or rarely use it at all. Whether or not Shipt is worth it depends entirely on factors like how busy your schedule is, how often you think you’ll use the service, and whether you can afford the ongoing subscription....

The X-Pro3 is a “mirrorless” camera with a unique hybrid electronic/optical viewfinder (EVF/OVF), retro film-camera look, and an LCD screen that remains hidden until you fold it out. It is also the perfect antidote to digital bloat. What Is the X-Pro3? The X-Pro3 is a digital camera with a few standout features: The viewfinder.The hidden LCD screen.Fujifilm’s amazing film simulations.Real knobs and dials. It’s this combination of features, along with a design that is both great to look at and easy to use with the camera up to the eye, that make the X-Pro3 great....

Researchers are using a method known as archaeomagnetic dating to reconstruct military campaigns described in the Bible, according to a new paper. It’s part of a growing number of technological ways to find and date buried objects. “The current research demonstrates clearly that archaeomagnetic applications can have a substantial impact on an entire discipline—biblical archaeology and archaeological research, in general, will benefit greatly from adopting this method in future research,” Oded Lipschits, one of the study’s authors, told Lifewire in an email interview....

How Much Data Does Netflix Use? The amount of data Netflix uses depends on the picture quality you use. Here are the values on the highest quality setting. Standard-definition streams: Uses about 1 GB per hour. High-definition streams: Uses around 3 GB per hour. Ultra high-definition streams: Includes 4K video; uses approximately 7 GB per hour. How to Control How Much Data Netflix Uses on the Web If you’re worried about Netflix eating up your data, you can control the quality of the videos you stream....

Scientists have developed a system that uses silicon microchips to record and transmit brain activity to a computer, according to a recent paper. Tiny chips are put on the brain’s surface or inside the tissue to harvest more neural signals than other brain implants. The invention is the latest step in the rapidly developing field of brain-machine interfaces. “Fully-functioning interfaces for deep brain stimulation and combined stimulation and recording are currently available and are iteratively being improved with ever-increasing sophistication, complexity, and capabilities,” Dr....

Researchers have developed a hologram that allows you to reach out and “feel” it. It’s part of the growing field of holographic technology that could change the way we communicate. “Eventually it may be possible to create holographic theater that is more realistic and less cumbersome than the Google cardboard or Oculus Go systems, which can cause vertigo,” Paul J. Joseph, a professor of mass communications at Methodist University in North Carolina who was not involved in the study, told Lifewire in an email interview....

Today, she is an all-around streamer dipping into RPGs, tabletop roleplaying, and the emerging political sphere on the streaming giant. She has made a career out of being a gamer, and she’s ready to take the world just as easily as she conquered Twitch. “I remember thinking wow people go online to stream video games like a show. I was intrigued,” she told Lifewire in a phone interview. “I didn’t think it would happen, but here I am....

Woods is the founder and CEO of Hohm, creator of custom-engineered, on-demand sleep pods that provide users with a private and safe place to rest, nap, meditate, and beyond. The idea for his company sparked from his struggle with finding space to rest on the go. “The start of this came from me experiencing the issue of being exhausted at the office,” Woods told Lifewire in a video interview. “If you need food on the go, there are so many options, but if you need sleep on the go, what are your options?...

Minorities and women represent only a tiny percentage of technology workers and face obstacles to join the growing field. There’s a clear need for minorities to boost their technology skills as more jobs move online, as well. “As a single mother trying to get into the tech industry, I didn’t see a lot of people like myself,” Krista Peryer, co-founder and president of The Geek Foundation in Springfield, MO, said in a phone interview....