The first season finale of HBO’s Westworld left things in a dangerous place for the show’s human characters, and now an update to the show’s viral website suggests that Westworld season 2 is only going to be even darker.
Although the update to the show’s site at DiscoverWestworld.com isn’t obvious initially, visitors soon experience an interruption on the site’s homepage from an “Unknown User” making a plea for help. That message is then interrupted by a “Registered User,” who reassures visitors that “all is well” and “celebrations continue” within the artificially created, interactive Wild West theme park.
Fans of the series will likely note a few other intriguing elements in the update, including a screen that indicates the “Journey Into Night” narrative is loading. This narrative was name-dropped in the first season’s explosive final episode, and reports suggest that the new narrative described by Anthony Hopkins’ character in that episode will provide both the title of second season’s premiere episode and the underlying theme of the season.
The update also includes some promotion of the show’s upcoming presence at Comic-Con International in San Diego, advising visitors to: “Plan your adventure in our newest experience center, opening in San Diego.” HBO has a panel planned for the convention on Saturday, July 22, that will feature much of the show’s cast and creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.
Anyone exploring beyond the homepage of the site will discover a new interactive session with Aiden, the automated guide to the site. The importance of the “Journey Into Night” narrative is mentioned again in Aiden’s dialogue.
Inspired by novelist Buy Now of the same name (which he wrote and directed), Westworld is set in and around a Western-themed adventure park populated by artificially intelligent robots whose primary directive is to indulge the desires of human guests, no matter how noble or depraved. When the android inhabitants of the park begin to question the nature of their existence, the lines between the brutal realities of the theme park and the outside human world begin to blur.
The first season of Westworld premiered October 2, 2016, and ran for 10 episodes on HBO. The season received positive reviews from critics and was one of the most-watched seasons of original programming on HBO. The show was renewed for another 10-episode season set to premiere at some point in 2018.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.