Monocle on Saturday, June 3, 2023: Updates on the weekend’s culture news and current affairs with Emma Nelson.
British classical-music radio and television broadcaster Petroc Trelawny reviews the papers, French journalist Agnès Poirier discusses France’s debt and Monocle’s Monica Lillis speaks with author Beth Lewis about cults.
Yanko Design (June 2, 2023) – Augmented Reality has always been Tim Cook’s favorite buzzword, and he’s consistently pushed for Apple to have a presence in this space. It’s expected that all this will culminate in what analysts and leakers call “Reality”, Apple’s first XR headset. This cutting-edge device, expected to be unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, aims to pioneer the relatively uncharted realm of mixed-reality technology.
With a price tag of approximately $3,000, the ‘Reality’ headset has been seven years in the making, and has been apparently filled with controversy too, with a large chunk of Apple’s own employees expressing doubt and disdain. However, here’s everything we know about the Reality headset (or could it be a pair of glasses?) that’s set to launch this Monday.
The headset’s design journey has oscillated between being thick and obtrusive, like your average VR headset, to being as slim as a pair of spectacles, or realistically, a pair of chunky ski goggles. At its heart, however, lies the innovative xrOS, designed to provide an interface that echoes the familiar iOS experience. The new operating system (which is pretty much confirmed thanks to a trademark filed by Apple in New Zealand) is set to revolutionize how users interact with their devices, presenting a traditional Home Screen in an entirely new dimension filled with apps and customizable widgets.
One of the most exciting features of ‘Reality’ is its ability to merge digital elements with the real world. The xrOS software could potentially project AR app interface elements onto actual objects, creating a seamless mixed-reality overlay effect. This represents a significant leap forward in AR technology, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. According to MacRumors, the ‘Reality’ device will achieve this using “dual high-resolution 4K micro OLED displays with up to 3,000 pixels per inch for a rich, realistic, and immersive viewing experience.” To operate the device, the user’s hands and eyes will be monitored by over a dozen optical cameras. The user can select an on-screen item by simply looking at it and activate it by making a hand gesture, such as a pinch.
Gaëtan Piolot Films (June 3, 2023) – Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African coast. It’s a nation known for historic sites related to a succession of rulers including the Romans, Moors, Knights of Saint John, French and British. It has numerous fortresses, megalithic temples and the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, a subterranean complex of halls and burial chambers dating to circa 4000 B.C.
Locations: Blue Grotto, St Peters Pool, Marsaxlokk, Blue Lagoon, Comino, St Paul’s Cathedral, Medina, Gozo Island, and Valletta.
Doctors at the Allina Health System, a wealthy nonprofit in the Midwest, aren’t allowed to see poor patients or children with too many unpaid medical bills.
Fighting for change has cost Narges Mohammadi her career, separated her from family and deprived her of liberty. But a jail cell has not succeeded in silencing her.
A coordinated effort financed by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund is offering huge paydays to some of the sport’s biggest stars if they join Saudi Arabia’s best teams.
AKSense – Zurich Films (June 3, 2023) – The Matterhorn Glacier Ride l, the world’s highest 3S cableway, connects Trockener Steg with Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at 3883 metres. With the existing Matterhorn-Express cable car and the new 3S (three-cable system) cableway passengers reach Europe’s highest mountain station from Zermatt (1608 metres) quickly and in great comfort.
The cableway connection between the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise and Testa Grigia sees the realization of a once-in-a-generation dream: to be able to travel the entire way from the Matterhorn village of Zermatt (Switzerland) to Breuil-Cervinia (Italy) without having to get your boots wet! It’s a visionary cableway project that will further enhance the status of Zermatt-Matterhorn as a premium high-alpine destination. The panoramic journey, lasting around one hour from Switzerland to Italy or vice versa, will cover an altitude difference of over 4’000 metres – the greatest by any cableway in Europe.
Real estate investment trusts have been clobbered over the past year. We survey the landscape, from REITs that specialize in cell towers, data centers, and warehouses to ones holding troubled office buildings. Where to find value and where to dodge traps.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – JUNE 4, 2023: The summer reading issue lands this weekend, 56 pages filled with suggestions of books to keep you company at the beach or in that shady mothballed nook you discovered in your rental share. The issue closes with a beautiful photo essay of swimmers pictured underwater, from an art book that evokes summer as vividly as fried clam strips and soft-serve ice cream: “Swimmers,” by Larry Sultan.
In “The Bathysphere Book,” Brad Fox chronicles the fascinating Depression-era ocean explorations of William Beebe.
Consider the siphonophore. An inhabitant of the lightless ocean, it looks like a single organism, but is actually a collection of minute creatures, each with its own purpose, working in harmony to move, to eat, to stay alive. They seem impossible but they are real. In 1930 William Beebe was 3,000 feet underwater in a bathysphere, an early deep-sea submersible, when he spotted a huge one: a writhing 20-yard mass whose pale magenta shone impossibly against the absolute blackness of the water. As you can imagine, it made an impression.
Henry Hoke’s latest novel, “Open Throat,” follows an observant — and starving — cougar living in the Los Angeles hills surrounding the Hollywood sign.
There is a moment toward the end of “Open Throat,” Henry Hoke’s slim jewel of a novel, where the narrator, a mountain lion living in the desert hills surrounding Los Angeles’s Hollywood sign, falls asleep and dreams of Disneyland. It will be hard for those who haven’t yet read this propulsive novel to understand, but the lion’s waking life at this moment is so precarious that this slippage into pleasant dream left me scared to turn the page.
KCET (June 2, 2023) – Keith Haring’s first museum exhibition in Los Angeles debuts at the Broad, featuring over 120 artworks that showcase the artist’s legacy of blending fun street art with activism.
The exhibition features works that span the artist’s career, tackling pertinent social issues of the time like anti-Apartheid movements and the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 80s as well as works that address relevant issues that persist today — from capitalism and environmentalism to race, sexuality and religion. “” at the Broad is on view from May 27 through October 8, 2023.
In his short but prolific career, Keith Haring was known for his fluid, uniform lines, intricate compositions, and repeating imagery such as the barking dog and radiant baby. Since the 1980s, Haring’s art has garnered worldwide recognition, breaking down barriers and spreading joy while shining a bright light on complex issues from capitalism and the proliferation of new technologies to sexuality and race.
Born in 1958, Keith Haring grew up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, where his father, Allen, taught him to draw cartoons from Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss. He moved to New York City in 1978 to enroll in the School of Visual Arts (SVA). In New York, he embraced his homosexuality, which informed his worldview and art practice. The city was pulsing with energy with the emergence of hip-hop, graffiti art, and an active nightclub scene. In alternative spaces such as Club 57 and Paradise Garage, Haring developed his visual style alongside artists Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, performers Grace Jones and Madonna, and many others.
Travel + Leisure (June 2, 2023): In this video, join Stacy Leasca as she shows you the best places to stay and play on your Italian vacation to Rome.
Video timeline: 0:00 Introduction 0:20 Hotel Eden 1:21 Faro 2:04 Studio Cassio 2:40 Casa Manco 3:25 Access Italy 4:28 Retro Bottega 5:16 Outro
Hotel Eden is the picturesque place to stay with its top notch service, beautiful views, and dining options for every meal. Have an insider’s experience with Acccess Italy as they show you behind the scenes of Rome’s most popular attractions, as well as their favorite quiet spots in the city.
The Local Project (June 2, 2023) – Walk-Street House offers a seamless continuation of the Southern Californian beach lifestyle where the natural house resides.
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction to the Light Filled Natural House 00:23 – Walk-Street Homes 00:48 – A Walkthrough of the Home 01:38 – An Indoor Outdoor Connection 02:19 – The Unique Interiors 02:43 – Working with a Small Floor Plan 03:13 – The Natural Materials 04:01 – A Warm and Inviting Home 04:16 – A Focus on Natural Light 04:45 – Quality Control 05:04 – Blurring the Lines Between Inside and Out
From the raw timber façade to its open plan living, there is a lack of separation between the residence, the street, the climate and the locale, which gives the home its distinct nature. ras-a studio homes in on a quintessential city-beach aesthetic that speaks to its South Los Angeles location. The natural house has a strong attachment to place – a vibrant street with pedestrian-only access.
However, the prime location means the home is compact, posing a significant challenge for the construction. Overcoming this revealed a deeply considered open floor plan that nurtures the feeling of space at every opportunity. Eliminating interior partitions within the kitchen, dining and lounge areas allows for the spaces to borrow room from each other. Upstairs are the bedrooms, a study and a balcony that overlooks the street below, as well as a rooftop terrace that boasts panoramic ocean views.