Latest news with #Bosworth
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
TikTok murder suspect appears in Hampton court
HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — The man at the center of a deadly TikTok prank appeared Wednesday morning in Hampton General District Court on unrelated charges, which were set aside. Tyler Chase Butler, 27, had misdemeanor charges of violating a protective order and disseminating images of a person set aside in Hampton. Butler has been charged in Spotsylvania County with second-degree murder in the May 3 shooting death of Michael Bosworth, Jr. Docs: Teens were shot in Spotsylvania County during 'Ding Dong Ditch' for TikTok Bosworth and two friends were in a neighborhood in Spotsylvania County near Fredericksburg, taking part in the latest TikTok challenge known as the Ding Dong Ditch. It involves ringing someone's doorbell or knocking on their door, running away, and recording it for posting on social media. When they rang the doorbell at Butler's home, police say he came out firing. Bosworth was shot and died at Mary Washington Hospital. He was a senior lacrosse and football player at Massaponax High School and was getting ready to graduate. Butler told investigators he thought the teens were trying to break into his home. Butler remains in jail and is scheduled for a bond hearing next week in Spotsylvania County. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Business Insider
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Meta wants your smile, squats, and small talk — and it's paying $50 an hour to scan them
What's in a smile? If you're training Meta's virtual reality avatars, it could be $50 an hour. The tech giant is recruiting adults through the data-collection and -labeling company Appen to spend hours in front of cameras and sensors to help "enhance the virtual reality of the future." Meta's avatars have come a long way since they were widely mocked on the internet nearly three years ago. Now, with 2025 internally described as Meta's "most critical year" for its metaverse ambitions, the company is betting that hyperrealistic digital avatars can drive its next wave of virtual and augmented technologies, from Quest headsets to Ray-Ban smart glasses. But to get there, Meta needs more data. Inside Project Warhol The company is paying freelancers to record their smiles, movements, and small talk as part of a data collection effort called "Project Warhol," run by Appen, which lists Meta as the client in its consent forms. Meta confirmed to Business Insider that Project Warhol is part of its effort to train Codec Avatars — a research initiative announced publicly in 2019 that aims to build photorealistic, real-time digital replicas of people for use in virtual and augmented reality. Codec Avatars are a key technology for Meta's vision of "metric telepresence," which the company says enables social presence that is "indistinguishable from reality" during virtual interactions. A Meta spokesperson told BI the company has been running similar avatar data collection studies for several years. Project Warhol appears to be the latest round of that effort. Recruitment materials invite anyone over 18 to take part in paid sessions to "assist in the bettering of avatars." The project is split into two studies — "Human Motion" and "Group Conversations" — both set to begin in September at Meta's Pittsburgh research facility. In the Human Motion study, participants would be recorded "mimicking facial expressions, reading sentences, making hand gestures," while cameras, headsets, and sensors capture their movements from every angle. The Group Conversations study would bring together two or three participants to "engage in conversations and light improv activities." Researchers are aiming to capture natural speech, gestures, and microexpressions to build avatars that are more "lifelike and immersive" in social settings. A high-stakes year for Meta The project comes in a crunch year for Meta Reality Labs, the division that oversees avatars, headsets, and smart glasses. It has accumulated more than $60 billion in losses since 2020, including a record $4.97 billion operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2024. In an internal memo from November, first reported by BI, Meta's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, said 2025 would be crucial for the metaverse's success or failure. He told staff that the company's ambitious metaverse bets could be remembered as a "legendary misadventure" if they failed. In his memo, Bosworth stressed the need to boost sales and engagement, especially in mixed reality and "Horizon Worlds." He added that Reality Labs planned to launch half a dozen more AI-powered wearable devices, though he didn't give details. In April, Meta laid off an undisclosed number of employees from Reality Labs, including teams working on VR gaming and the Supernatural fitness app. Dan Reed, the chief operating officer of Reality Labs, announced his departure weeks later after nearly 11 years with the company. The Appen project's name appears to be a nod to Andy Warhol, the Pittsburgh-born artist who famously said everyone would have "15 minutes of fame." Appen declined to comment on the project. The humans behind the scenes Project Warhol isn't the only example of Meta turning to human labor to train its technology. BI previously reported that the company enlisted contractors through the data-labeling startup Scale AI to test how its chatbot responds to emotional tones, sensitive topics, and fictional personas. And it's not just Meta. Last year, Tesla paid up to $48 an hour for " data collection operators" to wear motion-capture suits and VR headsets while performing repetitive physical tasks to help train its humanoid robot, Optimus.
Business Insider
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Meta wants your smile, squats, and small talk — and it's paying $50 an hour to scan them for its next-gen VR avatars
What's in a smile? If you're training Meta's virtual reality avatars, it could be $50 an hour. The tech giant is recruiting adults through data collection and labelling company Appen to spend hours in front of cameras and sensors to help "enhance the virtual reality of the future." Meta's avatars have come a long way since they were widely mocked by the internet nearly three years ago. Now, with 2025 internally described as Meta's "most critical year" for its metaverse ambitions, the company is betting that hyper-realistic digital avatars can drive its next wave of virtual and augmented technologies, from Quest headsets to Ray-Ban smart glasses. But to get there, Meta needs more data. Inside Project Warhol The company is paying freelancers to record their smiles, movements, and small talk as part of a data-collection effort called "Project Warhol," run by Appen, which lists Meta as the client in its consent forms. Meta confirmed to Business Insider that Project Warhol is part of its ongoing effort to train Codec Avatars — a research initiative first announced publicly in 2019 that aims to build photorealistic, real-time digital replicas of people for use in virtual and augmented reality. Codec Avatars are a key technology for Meta's vision of "metric telepresence," a term the company says enables social presence that is "indistinguishable from reality" during virtual interactions. A Meta spokesperson told BI it has been running similar avatar data-collection studies for several years. Project Warhol appears to be the latest round of that ongoing effort. Recruitment materials invite anyone over 18 to take part in paid sessions to "assist in the bettering of avatars." The project is split into two studies — "Human Motion" and "Group Conversations" — both set to begin in September at Meta's Pittsburgh research facility. In the Human Motion study, participants would be recorded "mimicking facial expressions, reading sentences, making hand gestures," while cameras, headsets, and sensors capture their movements from every angle. The Group Conversations study would bring together two or three participants to "engage in conversations and light improv activities." Researchers are aiming to capture natural speech, gestures, and micro-expressions to build avatars that are more "lifelike and immersive" in social settings. A high-stakes year for Meta The project comes in a crunch year for Meta Reality Labs, the division that oversees avatars, headsets, and smart glasses. It has accumulated more than $60 billion in losses since 2020, including a record $4.97 billion operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2024. In an internal November memo, first reported by BI, Meta's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, said 2025 would be crucial for the metaverse's success or failure. He warned staff that the company's ambitious metaverse bets could be remembered as a "legendary misadventure" if they failed. In his memo, Bosworth stressed the need to boost sales and engagement, especially in mixed reality and Horizon Worlds. He also said the Reality Labs division planned to launch half a dozen more AI-powered wearable devices, though no specific details were provided. In April, BI reported that Meta laid off an undisclosed number of employees from its Reality Labs division, including teams working on VR gaming and the Supernatural fitness app. Dan Reed, the chief operating officer of Reality Labs, announced his departure weeks later after nearly 11 years with the company. The Appen project's name appears to be a nod to Andy Warhol, the Pittsburgh-born artist who famously said everyone would have "15 minutes of fame." Appen declined to a request for comment from Business Insider on the project. The humans behind the scenes Project Warhol isn't the only example of Meta turning to human labor to train its technology. BI previously reported that the company enlisted contractors through data-labelling startup Scale AI to test how its chatbot responds to emotional tones, sensitive topics, and fictional personas. And it's not just Meta. Last year, Tesla paid up to $48 an hour for " Data Collection Operators" to wear motion-capture suits and VR headsets while performing repetitive physical tasks to help train its humanoid robot, Optimus.
Black America Web
10-05-2025
- Black America Web
Black Homeowner Charged With Murder After Teen TikTok Prank Goes Wrong
Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE Source: Radio One / General Another TikTok prank has turned fatal, but the conversation surrounding it is more than just another cautionary tale of social media gone wrong. The story takes us to Spotsylvania County, Virginia, where 18-year-old Michael Bosworth Jr. was shot and killed while participating in a 'ding dong ditch' prank — a social media challenge that involves ringing doorbells and fleeing before the homeowner can answer. The shooter, 27-year-old Tyler Chase Butler, now faces charges of second-degree murder, malicious wounding, and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Bosworth, a senior at Massaponax High School, was out with two friends at around 3 a.m. on May 3, recording videos of their nighttime mischief for TikTok. When they approached Butler's home, what they saw as a prank quickly escalated into tragedy. Butler, who claims he believed the teens were attempting to break into his home, fired his weapon, striking Bosworth in the torso. The young man later died at Mary Washington Hospital. One of his friends sustained minor injuries, while the other was unharmed. The community has been gripped by grief. Bosworth's girlfriend, Malinda Garcia, attended their senior prom wearing his pink bow tie around her wrist, and his classmates held a vigil, releasing balloons in his memory. As the tragedy of Bosworth's death dominates headlines, it also raises another question: why is this story being told the way it is? Consider a similar case: the shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager in Kansas City, Missouri, who was shot twice by an 84-year-old white homeowner, Andrew Lester, after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell while attempting to pick up his siblings. Lester initially avoided charges until public outcry forced the hand of local authorities. The coverage of Yarl's story rightfully highlighted issues of race, profiling, and a trigger-happy mentality that put an innocent Black teenager in the hospital. Social media exploded with demands for justice, and even celebrities spoke out in outrage. But where is that same energy for Tyler Chase Butler? Is it because he is a Black man who shot a white teen? Or is it because Bosworth's alleged 'prank' for TikTok gives a convenient narrative for those eager to blame the homeowner? Somehow, the focus has shifted from the recklessness of the 18-year-old and two juveniles, who decided to trespass on a stranger's property at 3 a.m. to the reaction of a homeowner who was protecting his home from a perceived threat, creating a narrative that almost justifies the three teens' actions — even though the teens admitted to breaking the law by trespassing and disturbing the peace for their prank. According to the affidavit, 'The juvenile stated that they had run to hide. The juvenile said as they were running from a residence, he and his friends were shot at.' One teen said that they had been to a couple of homes in the neighborhood and that he was not familiar with the area. The second teen gave a similar account and told detectives that he had a video on his phone of them doing the prank earlier that day, according to the affidavit. Butler told investigators that he believed the teens were trying to break into his home, NBC Washington reported. Despite Butler confirming to authorities that he believed he was defending his home from a potential break-in, the narrative has largely painted him as an aggressor rather than a homeowner reacting to a threat. The teens involved are described as harmless pranksters, while Butler is cast as a criminal whose actions were somehow malicious rather than defensive. Media reports are filled with heartwarming tributes to Bosworth, while Butler's fears are barely acknowledged. This stark contrast is a reminder of how race can dictate both public perception and the pursuit of justice. When a white homeowner shoots an innocent Black teenager, it's immediately swept under the rug or attributed to the victim allegedly intending violence, even when they're simply asking for directions. But when a Black homeowner shoots a white teen engaged in suspicious behavior at an odd hour, the focus is on the innocence of the pranksters and the criminality of the shooter. Self-defense laws, particularly 'stand your ground' and 'castle doctrine' statutes, are meant to protect homeowners from harm in situations where they reasonably fear for their safety. But these laws are only as fair as the justice system that enforces them, and too often, that fairness is tainted by racial bias. The story of Tyler Chase Butler is a perfect example of how easily a narrative can be manipulated. A Black man, woken from sleep in the dead of night, saw a threat and reacted. And now, he is charged with murder. To be clear, the tragic loss of Michael Bosworth Jr. should not be minimized; a young life was cut short in a senseless incident fueled by the pursuit of online fame, but that is the true issue affecting the safety of our children. In a world where race colors every aspect of justice, it is crucial to tell the full story, even when it forces us to confront uncomfortable truths. SEE ALSO: Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' Reclaimed the Narrative for Black Culture NY AG Letitia James Considers Probe Into Trump's Tariff Flip-Flop SEE ALSO Black Homeowner Charged With Murder After Teen TikTok Prank Goes Wrong was originally published on
Global News
09-05-2025
- Global News
Teen shot, killed by Virginia homeowner while recording TikTok prank
A Virginia homeowner was arrested on a murder charge after police say he shot and killed an 18-year-old high school senior when a TikTok prank went wrong. In a news release, the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office said officers received a call about a residential burglary in progress around 3 a.m. on May 3, during which a resident had fired shots. 'Deputies responded to the area of Mckenzie Lane and discovered that two individuals had sustained gunshot wounds and a third individual was unharmed,' the release added. According to police, Michael Bosworth Jr., 18, was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. 'The second injured individual is a juvenile, who was treated for minor injuries and released. The third involved individual was also a juvenile and will remain unnamed,' according to the news release. Story continues below advertisement Police later identified the suspect as Tyler Butler, 27, in an updated release. View image in full screen A mugshot of Tyler Chase Butler, who was arrested for second-degree murder after an 18-year-old was shot and killed. Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office / Facebook He was arrested on charges of second-degree murder, malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in Bosworth's death. He is being held at Rappahannock Regional Jail on no bond. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Butler told officers that he believed the teenagers were trying to break into his home, according to NBC Washington. One of the teens told detectives that they were recording a 'ding-dong ditch' prank for a TikTok video, in which they have someone ring people's doorbells and then run away before they can answer the door, according to a search warrant affidavit viewed by NBC News. Global News has not independently viewed the legal documents. Story continues below advertisement One teen said they had been to other houses in the neighbourhood but he was not familiar with the area. 'The juvenile stated that they had run to hide. The juvenile said as they were running from a residence, he and his friends were shot at,' the affidavit said, according to the outlet. The second teen gave a similar statement and told officers he had a video on his phone of them doing the prank earlier that day. Massaponax High School, where Bosworth was a student, released a statement following his death. 'School counselors will be on site at the event to provide support as needed,' the school district said in a letter. 'Also, when students return to school on Monday, our counseling staff and additional division support team members will be available to provide support to our students and staff as needed. 'If your child needs support, please contact the school so that we can provide assistance. Our thoughts are with the family during this difficult time.' The Spotsylvania County commonwealth's lawyer is reviewing the evidence to determine if charges are appropriate or if the homeowner was justifiable in opening fire. Butler is set to have a preliminary hearing on June 18.
