Latest news with #Atlanta-based
The Star
a day ago
- Business
- The Star
'Smarter, faster and safer.' Why many workplaces are embracing virtual reality
Picture this: you work in a warehouse and need to bring a part to the other side of the building. The floor of the warehouse is marked with pedestrian pathways for safety, but you see a shortcut and decide to take it – without looking both ways. Suddenly, the perspective flips and through a headset you see the image of your virtual avatar struck by a passing forklift. Thankfully, nobody is actually hurt. This was all a virtual reality simulation for workplace pedestrian safety training. 'Having that immediate visual representation of what negative can happen if you don't follow these rules … is definitely making an impact when it comes to people reducing injuries on the job,' said Annie Eaton, CEO of Futurus, the VR production company that made this simulation. Workplaces across many industries are using virtual reality in a variety of ways to improve training, enhance safety and reduce costs. 'Immersive tech is helping companies work smarter, faster and safer,' said Adam Kornuth, Atlanta chapter president and global generative artificial intelligence co-chair for the Virtual Reality Augmented Reality Association. Practical applications Researchers at the University of Georgia created VR Co-Lab to train recycling employees to work with robots to disassemble electronics without damaging materials or getting injured. 'Humans can't get hurt in a virtual environment,' said Beiwen Li, study author and associate professor in UGA's College of Engineering. While working with robots can ease complex tasks, training employees to become comfortable with the machines can be time consuming and difficult, according to Li. VR Co-Lab tracks how long the task takes and how many mistakes are made, providing feedback to help workers adjust to the movements of the robot arm. 'The VR environment is providing a more immersive experience,' Li said. 'It is typically much better than just having the workers just read the manuals.' Li knows there is vast potential for VR-based training, something companies like Futurus are already embracing. Futurus is an Atlanta-based VR production company that specializes in creating simulated training content for experiences that are costly, unsafe or hard to teach without hands-on experience. According to Eaton, common benefits include increased retention of the material, increased efficiency and decreased training time. Futurus has worked with multiple companies, including designing 3D models for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's latest hospital campus, simulating deicing training for Delta Air Lines employees to allow year-round practice and creating a multiplayer classroom for employees of candy maker Mars Wrigley to become familiar with machinery. Georgia-Pacific also uses VR designed by Futurus to train employees on safety protocols, such as what to do near forklifts in a warehouse. 'Within that space, the experience is designed to provide the employee with a sense of unease when necessary,' a news release from Georgia-Pacific said. 'It allows the person to experience a 'bad day' in a safe environment and develop muscle memory on important safety steps they might otherwise have to read about or wait to do once they're on the job.' Other common benefits of VR include decreased costs and better, data-informed decision making, Kornuth said. 'There is so much opportunity for all kinds of training to happen in virtual environments,' said Maribeth Gandy Coleman, research director of the Georgia Institute of Technology's Institute for People and Technology. Georgia Tech, which recently joined the ranks of the virtual reality association's 60,000 members across 50 chapters, has a long history of VR research. Manufacturers were among the first to embrace this technology and are still among the most frequent users, according to Coleman. Eaton said sectors with clear and high returns on investment, such as manufacturing, seem to be leading the charge. 'There's just a lot of opportunity, whether it is machine operator training, maintenance and troubleshooting training or just general safety,' Eaton said. Both Eaton and Coleman emphasised that good VR design is more than just looks. Talking to subject matter experts to ensure everything is accurate to real-life functionality is paramount, especially for training to be effective. 'You don't just build a cool-looking virtual environment,' Coleman said. 'What does the person need to learn, what are the key skills? Just floating around a virtual environment, you're not going to learn anything.' – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Tribune News Service
Mint
a day ago
- Health
- Mint
Emory University shooting suspect, believing COVID-19 vaccine made him ill, targeted CDC building
Atlanta-based Emory University shooting suspect and a police officer are dead, according to authorities. The suspect believed he got sick because of COVID-19 vaccine as he targetted the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) building, CNN reported citing his family. The institution had declared emergency alert after reports of anctive shooter on campus on Friday.
News18
a day ago
- News18
Active Shooter Reported Near Emory University, CDC HQ On Lockdown
Last Updated: Emory Point, located adjacent to both Emory University and the CDC's main campus, is under heightened security. Atlanta-based Emory University issued an emergency alert on Friday following reports of an active shooter on campus, reported AP. Students and staff have been urged to 'RUN, HIDE, FIGHT" and avoid the area. The campus remains under lockdown as authorities respond to the unfolding situation. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Atlanta Police Department confirmed that the area is still an active scene. The suspected shooter was reportedly spotted at 1760 Clifton Road in Atlanta, a location near several key university and federal buildings. Nearby, staff at a deli close to campus have locked their doors and taken shelter inside. Brandy Giraldo, Chief Operating Officer of General Muir, said employees heard what sounded like gunfire. 'It sounded like fireworks going off, one right after the other," she said. There are also unconfirmed reports that the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), located close to Emory University, may have come under gunfire during the incident. At least one officer has been reported injured so far. The FBI Atlanta division released a statement regarding the situation, saying, 'FBI Atlanta is aware of the incident on Clifton Road in DeKalb County and is enroute and cooperating with local partners for any assistance that might be needed." — FBI Atlanta (@FBIAtlanta) August 8, 2025 As of now, the identity, motive, and intended target of the shooter remain unknown. Authorities have not confirmed whether there are any casualties or injuries. Emory Point, located adjacent to both Emory University and the CDC's main campus, is under heightened security, and residents have been asked to remain indoors until further notice. Emergency responders, including local police, federal agents, and campus security, continue to secure the area. More updates are expected as the investigation progresses. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Economic Times
a day ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Coca-Cola's $9-bn US tax appeal may shape India's transfer pricing rules
In August 2024, Coca-Cola announced it would appeal to the Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the US Tax Court's 2020 decision in favour of IRS' determination of $9 bn of transfer pricing adjustments and validity of IRS' blocked income regulations. With Coca-Cola finally filing its brief in March, the oral argument is expected soon. If the judgment is affirmed, the US will have the most senior judicial endorsement yet of the proposition that routine advertising by low- risk foreign affiliates cannot conjure up 'non-US intangibles'. In 'Coca-Cola v. Commissioner', the Tax Court rejected the company's bid to recast its foreign concentrate plants as 'marketing investment points'. Coca- Cola argued that enormous local ad budgets had created foreign trademarks, entitling those plants to higher residual profits and rendering IRS' comparable-profits method unreliable. Judge Albert G Lauber disagreed on three grounds: The plants bore no downside risk, because inter-company contracts guaranteed stable margins. Legal ownership of trademarks remained in Atlanta in the absence of any cost-sharing agreement. Neither the plants' ledgers nor the group accounts booked a foreign intangible. So, none could be assumed. The outcome was a $9 bn adjustment in favour of IRS. So, why would an Atlanta ruling matter in Delhi? Risk Indian transfer-pricing Rule 10B already asks who shoulders market and credit risk. The US court's motto, 'no risk, no asset', gives revenue officers a ready answer when distributors with fixed gross margins claim their AMP (advertising, marketing and promotion) outlays create local intangibles. Legal title Indian law, like US regulations, starts with the registered owner of an intangible, and shifts the return only if a written cost-sharing or buy- in exists. Absence of such contracts was fatal to Coca- Cola's investor theory. It can be equally fatal to Indian taxpayers who rely on informal understandings. Accounting proof Under Ind AS 38, a self-created intangible must be capitalised once technical feasibility and future benefit are demonstrated. If no marketing asset appears on the balance-sheet, Atlanta logic says the taxpayer's 'implicit trademark' story lacks substance. Methods The US Tax Court accepted a profit-based method, even though marketing intensity differed across entities, showing that India can defend TNMM (transactional net margin method) or CPM (comparable profits method) without resurrecting the discredited bright-line test. Taken together, these points form the 'Atlanta playbook': Start every audit with inter-company contracts and marketing guidelines and approvals. Map risk. If margins are contractually locked in, the spend is a service. Demand trial balances and fixed-asset registers to see whether any brand asset has been booked. Benchmark overall margins and, where necessary, give credit for any super-normal distribution profit already earned. Applying this playbook would answer the very criticisms levelled by some recent Indian judgments. Delhi High Court's decision in March 2025 to quash the ₹35-cr adjustment in 'PCIT v. Beam Global Spirits', for instance, insisted that a large spend plus a group relationship does not, by itself, make an 'international transaction'. In this case, the court objected that the tax officer never proved an associated enterprise (AE)-directed arrangement. Contract extracts and HQ marketing approval letters would have met that threshold. But armed with the 'Atlanta playbook', officers can go to court with documents rather than ratios, answering the judiciary's repeated demand for substance over arithmetic. Now, should the US Eleventh Circuit affirm the 2020 Tax Court decision, the world's most influential common-law tax bench will have endorsed the very principles Indian courts say they respect: documented risk allocation, legal-owner primacy and ledger evidence. And that endorsement could weigh heavily when the Supreme Court finally hears the combined appeals in the Sony Ericsson, Canon, Maruti Suzuki and PepsiCo cases here in India. Judges love international harmony. The prospect of a US appellate stamp on the risk-and-ownership approach could prove irresistible background music when our judges deliberate. MNCs anxious about double taxation after an Eleventh Circuit affirmation will have fresh incentive to settle India risk through bilateral APAs (advance pricing agreements). At that point, the 'Atlanta playbook' may move from helpful precedent to guiding standard. And India's AMP scoreboard could potentially look very different. The writer is former principal DG, income-tax (administration), New Delhi.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. media mogul Byron Allen sells 10 TV stations to Gray Media
Media mogul Byron Allen has reached a deal to sell 10 television stations for $171 million to Atlanta-based Gray Media. Gray and Allen Media Group announced the agreement Friday. Allen's stations in Huntsville, Ala., Montgomery, Ala., Ft. Wayne, Ind., Lafayette, La., and Paducah, Ky., were part of the transaction. The stations each have affiliations with one of the Big Four broadcast networks: ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS. The move furthers Allen's retrenchment after a $1-billion buying spree in recent years. Allen had a goal of becoming the largest independent television operator in the U.S. But the build-up — which came during an increasingly challenging period for broadcast TV — left the Los Angeles-based company burdened with debt. This spring, Allen Media Group hired investment banking firm Moelis & Co. to sell his network-affiliate television stations. Allen Media Group, which was founded by Allen in 1993, continues to own television channels, entertainment studios and the Weather Channel. The Los Angeles entrepreneur and former stand-up comedian had been steadily expanding his empire for more than a decade. With the purchase of Allen's stations, Gray moves into three new television markets: Tupelo, Miss.; Terre Haute, Ind.; and West Lafayette, Ind. Gray owns a second station in several of the other locations. The company said in a statement that the combination, known in the industry as a 'duopoly,' will allow it to provide 'expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming.' The deal, which requires the approval of the Federal Communications Commission, should be complete by year's end, the companies said.
