I am working on a project to classify a sample dataset but am looking to use a VAE. It has been suggested that I can use the latent feature, z (mu), as output, after training the autoencoder, with a simple neural networks to classify with the validation set. Could anyone please link me to any examples of the implementation, either from GitHub or other blog post with details, possibly using MNIST or other sample classification dataset?

Spotify is beginning to roll out a re-design of its mobile app to select users of its free-tier service. The changes, which include more control over playlists, will allow Spotify to make its free version behave more like a Premium account in a bid to boost user numbers. The update is currently in testing and has only been rolled out to a small amount of users. The search page has had a slight overhaul, with colourful tabs indicating different genres and a glimpse at what artists are contained in each playlist. The revamped bottom bar is a new'Premium' button to allow users to easily upgrade to the premium version of the app Rumours of the mobile update were unveiled last week by Bloomberg.

The two companies say they have been partners for years, and Amazon products such as Kindle e-readers have long been sold in Best Buy stores. But the new partnership brings potential benefits for both companies as sales of so-called smart TVs continue to climb. It provides Best Buy with access to Amazon's online customers for the first time, while broadening Amazon's potential audience for products that feature its Alexa voice assistant. Amazon, which has been expanding its physical footprint through its own stores, has deepened its reach into consumers' homes in recent years, starting with Kindles and more recently with its line of Echo home speakers, which star Alexa. "What's new in this partnership is the depths of the physical integration between the software and the hardware," Mr. Joly said.

A human-like robot showed up at a pub on earth to freak some people out -- and it worked. To get people pumped about the robot revolution, NOW TV built humans a new friend Fred, the "ultra-realistic" robot and planted him in a London pub where things proceeded to get strange. Like most Westworld "hosts," Fred is a bit glitchy, and a generally ominous guy. Unlike on the show, none of the pub patrons endeavored to use him for target practice or more indulgent pursuits. But it turns out Fred is a highly engaging conversation partner.

A robot enters a bar. A new stunt shows pub goers being stunned to be joined by a uncannily human-looking android, before it breaks a glass. And the team behind it say it offers a hint at the future of exactly the kind of robots that could surround is in the future. The robot, created by Now TV ahead of the beginning of the second season of Westworld, did not engage in any of the vintage hijinks or intense action that the androids in the films get involved with. But it does have something in common with it: going in the pub, and freaking out people who engage with it.

A'malfunctioning' robot named Fred has terrified drinkers in a London pub by smashing a pint glass while talking about a'robot invasion'. The hyper-realistic automaton, modeled to be an exact replica of London-based actor Tedroy Newell, sat down for a refreshing lager at The Prince Alfred pub in Maida Vale, in the west of the capital. Unsuspecting customers were unprepared for what came next, with the humanoid berating locals before crushing the drinking vessel in his hands. The robot, described as'indistinguishable from humans', was created as part of a stunt to promote TV Series Westworld. A'malfunctioning' robot has terrified shocked drinkers in a London pub, by smashing a pint glass and talking about a'robot invasion'.

Apple finally joined the smart speaker competition in February with the launch of its $349 HomePod. The device was anxiously anticipated. Reports that Apple had been working on a "Siri speaker" had circulated for more than a year, but the device missed its targeted December 2017 debut. Now, the HomePod seems to be missing the mark with consumers. According to recent reports, HomePod sales haven't hit Apple's expectations, and the company is considering options including a lower priced model.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning were one of the many hot topics thrown around at this year's NAB Show, with companies hinting at its future potential to enhance workflows and create new efficiencies for broadcasters. For most, however, it was closer to a buzzword to show the potential future impact with limited real-world applications as of yet. Efficiency is always a very important topic. How do you help me do this better and cheaper?" said David Cohen of Grass Valley. Some of the true implementations of machine learning and A.I. on display at the show for broadcasters included technology like IBM's Watson through Max Engage or the newly announced Avid AI platform. With Watson in The Weather Company's Max Engage, weather forecasts are further honed and the system can predictively alert app users based on location and preference presets. The technology, which uses machine learning and real-time data feeds, has been present in TWC's tools for about a year. The system can also push content out to social media platforms based on set conditions, such as a thunderstorm warning with some targeting capabilities. Avid AI, on the other hand, works to make content indexing and archiving easier, adding new search features based on speech-to-text, facial recognition, language detection and scene detection. Of course, with a technology like this, you're gambling that the metadata entered is correct when you go to search for it years down the road. Metadata and ingest represent a popular application for A.I., helping reduce staff time on a tedious task, but one must proceed with caution to ensure accuracy and dependability. "I used to work at NBC radio and we moved locations.

Content security specialist NAGRA is partnering with the Entertainment Technology Center, a think-tank and research centre within the USC School of Cinematic Arts, to map cinemagoer demographics. The data science study is being conducted to support the launch of myCinema, a broadband-based in-theatre platform which offers a large catalogue of alternative content titles to theatre circuits of all sizes and locations. "Identifying the right content for each theatre's catchment area is a critical pillar of what makes myCinema unique and alluring for local communities," said Glenn Morten, ETC@USC executive board member and vice president of Cinema Strategy & Solutions at NAGRA. "Leveraging together the ETC's thought and practice leadership in the field of audience intelligence and NAGRA Insight big data and artificial intelligence platform will be instrumental to the success of this endeavour." The Data & Analytics Project at the USC's Entertainment Technology Centre has been running for more than two years, built to help the entertainment industry accelerate the deployment of next-generation analytics standards and solutions, including artificial intelligence.

In supervised learning, we leverage a labeled dataset to design methods for function estimation. In many practical situations, we are able to obtain alternative feedback, possibly at a low cost. A broad goal is to understand the usefulness of, and to design algorithms to exploit, this alternative feedback.