Google Home lets you speak to Stranger Things characters in new audio game

One way Netflix and Google are marketing the newest season of Stranger Things is through a new audio game you can play on Google Home. The trigger word to start playing the game is “Ok Google, talk to Dustin from Stranger Things” and then you’re magically transported to 1984 and talking to Dustin Henderson in Hawkins, Indiana. The game will also have you interacting with other characters in the new season of the show. You might need to binge-watch the show first before playing the game, unless you’re okay with getting spoiled.

Source: Android Authority

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s VR installation wins Oscar

Neil Kellerhouse

It’s been 22 years since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have handed out a special Oscar to someone (the last one was Toy Story in 1995) and there have only been less than two dozen given out. And for the first time, a virtual reality experience gets the award. The Academy is giving two-time Oscar-winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Carne y Arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible) VR installation that’s currently housed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It looks into the experience of Mexican refugees and combines physical spaces—which features sand-covered floor, a spare and cold waiting room, and multi-screen video installation—and an Oculus Rift.

According to John Bailey, the Academy’s president, Carne y Arena “opened for us new doors of cinematic perception… More than even a creative breakthrough in the still emerging art form of virtual reality, it viscerally connects us to the hot-button political and social realities of the U.S.-Mexico border.”

Source: Polygon

Zachary Levi to play DC’s ‘Shazam!’

Looks like Zachary Levi is making the leap from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the DC Extended Universe with his latest casting news. Levi, who’s played Fandral in the Thor trilogy and is known for his role in Chuck, will be playing Shazam. The hero who was originally Captain Marvel. Nothing has been known about the film in the past few years except that Dwayne Johnson might be playing the villainous Black Adam. But we’re getting Shazam! News following the involvement of Lights Out director David F. Sandberg and now with Levi onboard as well. Shooting for the film is starting in a few months so we’re sure hear more. There is no premiere date for it yet but New Line hopes to have the movie out by next year. It’ll also be tied into the bigger DCEU.

Source: io9 + Screen Rant

Google no longer gives you results from another country when you change its domains

If you wanted to look for relevant search results from another country on Google, you just needed to change the country code top level domain (for example, google.co.uk for England). Now if you do that, the results you’ll get will still be based on your location, regardless which domain you use. Google made the switch claiming one out of five searches are usually related to a user’s current location and they wanted to give these users easier access to the things they want to know.

But if you want to look through another country’s domain for your results, you can do so by tapping on the Google.com link at the bottom right of your desktop browser or scroll down on your phone. It’s also accessible through Settings and going to “Search settings” option to pick your new location. This change, though, won’t affect how they handle legal requirements for different national laws. So, for example, if a certain result is hidden in your country because of laws like EU’s “right to be forgotten,” then these would stay hidden.

Source: Android Police