Latest news with #Peach
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Health
- Straits Times
AI chatbot will help SGH save money, time with pre-surgery assessments
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The AI chatbot was soft-launched in December 2024 for the benefit of doctors at SGH's Preoperative Assessment Clinic. SINGAPORE – An AI chatbot that helps doctors comprehensively assess a patient's health before an operation will save the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) up to 660 hours of doctors' time, which is equivalent to $200,000 in costs annually. Peach – short for Perioperative AI Chatbot – was soft-launched in December 2024 for the benefit of doctors at SGH's Preoperative Assessment Clinic. The large language model was developed by the hospital, making use of available resources by Open Government Products – an independent division of the Government Technology Agency (GovTech). The clinic sees about 120 patients a day, who all have to undergo medical evaluation of their past and current illnesses, medications and allergies, and previous anaesthesia reactions before being scheduled for surgery. According to a study published earlier in July in the medical journal npj Digital Medicine, which analysed 270 patient assessments done by the AI chatbot between January and February, it reduced documentation time by nearly 6 minutes per patient. In a media briefing held on July 30 at SGH, Dr Ke Yuhe, associate consultant at SGH's department of anaesthesiology, explained that prior to the roll-out of Peach, doctors had to pore over more than 400 pages of guidelines before coming up with a perioperative plan. This includes the care a patient will receive before, during, and after a procedure. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore MHA to support HSA's crackdown on Kpod abusers and help in treatment of offenders: Shanmugam Singapore Bukit Panjang LRT to shut on 2 Sundays to facilitate tests; some upgrading work nearing completion Singapore Jail, fine for man linked to case involving 3 bank accounts that received over $680m in total Singapore Provision shop owner who raped 11-year-old gets more than 14 years' jail Business S'pore's economic resilience will face headwinds in second half of 2025 from tariffs, trade conflicts: MAS Business S'pore's Q2 total employment rises but infocomm, professional services see more job cuts Singapore Fewer than 1 in 5 people noticed suspicious items during MHA's social experiments Asia Powerful 8.8-magnitude quake in Russia's far east causes tsunami; Japan, Hawaii order evacuations 'This can be very overwhelming, especially for new junior doctors. So we wanted to develop this chatbot to reduce their workload in the clinic, so they can focus more on actual clinical interactions with patients,' said Dr Ke, who led the development of Peach. Dr Ke and the team spent about a month in late 2024 integrating SGH's perioperative guidelines into an AI assistant created by Open Government Products. Peach is only accessible on hospital-issued encrypted laptops. With the chatbot, doctors can simply input relevant patient information from electronic health records, and Peach will be able to make suggestions as to what the patient's risk profile is, and what kind of anaesthetic to use in the operating theatre and for how long. In a study done on the AI chatbot in November 2024, 240 interactions were examined, and it was found that Peach demonstrated about 98 per cent accuracy in making pre-surgery recommendations. The chatbot can also assist with instructions for patients prior to a surgery, like the fasting time needed and medication instructions. It can also help with the drafting of referra l letters if needed. Associate Professor Hairil Rizal, senior consultant and clinician scientist at SGH'S department of anaesthesiology, said: 'When you're seeing thousands of pre-surgery patients annually, every minute saved on administrative tasks is a minute gained for patient care.' As Singapore's population ages, patients will increasingly come with multiple chronic conditions. Prof Hairil also pointed out that the chatbot is particularly useful in helping junior doctors make sense of more difficult and complex cases. When the chatbot gives its recommendations, it will also include justifications for its answers, as well as cite the protocols and guidelines it has referenced. 'It's like having a consultant at their fingertips guiding them,' said Prof Hairil, also stressing that doctors are still ultimately responsible for the clinical recommendations made to patients. SGH is in conversation with other hospitals in the SingHealth cluster – Sengkang General Hospital and KK Women's and Children's Hospital – to roll out the AI chatbot.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Nintendo Switch 2 First Impressions: The Devil You Know
Nintendo Switch 2 I've owned a Switch 2 for exactly three days now, and if the initial experience has taught me anything, it's the clear difference between good and interesting. While those terms aren't mutually exclusive, they probably are for Nintendo's new console, at least (to this writer) for the time being. It took me ages to finally track down Nintendo's follow-up to the Switch, and last week, late one night—while disappointingly sober, mind you—I bought the Mario Kart World bundle from Target's cursed website. With my own salt mine wages, no less. Are there more versatile and more powerful handheld gaming options available? Oh yes, yes indeed. But…Mario, though. And Peach. And that weird little Yoshi dog, too. What's its name? Smoochy? Whatever, man. My point is: You won't find first-party Nintendo magic on a ROG Ally X or a Lenovo Legion Go. Not legally, anyway. Here's the stark truth: The Switch 2 is very good, predictably good, boringly good, even. And from my present vantage point, that's the biggest drawback so far. Or maybe… it's the Switch 2's greatest strength? A complicated matter, yes. Like meaning and love and the argument for the best Pepsi flavor. (It's cherry) FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Déjà Vu For Switch 2 Boys (and girls), I think we've been here before. The Switch 2 is an upgraded Switch 1 that can theoretically output 4K/60fps/HDR visuals in select games when docked (up to 120Hz in stuff like Fast Fusion, if update rumblings are to be believed), has a bigger 1080p HDR-capable portable display, and sports larger, improved Joy-Cons that aren't only for tiny children. But foundationally, it's still a Switch, through and through, for better and for worse. Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World I'm far from the first person to utter such blasphemy, that Nintendo's approach to the Switch 2 has been less than exciting or innovative. Hell, even Nintendo undoubtedly knows its newest console doesn't break much new ground, especially when compared to the likes of the motion-controlled Wii, the 3D-pioneering N64 or even the original hybrid-centric Switch. Playing it safe is likely by design, especially if you've sold the amount of Switch and Switch 2 consoles Nintendo has to date. If you're smart, you don't fix what isn't broken. You subtly enhance. You tweak. You carefully iterate. And for someone who lived through the Dreamcast's legendary 9/9/99 launch, how annoying I find this strategy. Where's my VMU equivalent? Where's my ground-breaking SegaNet service? I guess there are simply less amazing surprises in gaming in 2025—I fear we've already experienced them all. Mouse Trap Yeah, with the Switch 2, you've got the added Joy-Con 2 mouse functionality, which borders on compelling and has a lot of potential. I've played around with this alternative control option a little bit, and I like it a lot. It's cool and quirky and undeniably Nintendo, but since I don't own a copy of the controversial Welcome Tour, I've only been able to use it on the Switch 2's main menu, desktop PC-style. Beyond sheer novelty, though, all the mouse feature has managed to do is make me long for another Mario Paint, and I consider it a crime against gamers everywhere that this machine didn't launch with a long-awaited follow-up. MP might be my most-played SNES title, now that I think about it. It literally never got old. But also, my brain hadn't fully developed, so take that with a grain of salt (from the mines—see above). Pokémon Legends: Z-A But come on, Nintendo. You have mice literally built into the Switch 2 controllers. Total missed opportunity here, although for all I know, there could be another Mario Paint in development. If there is, I'll be there day one, and I finally can stop complaining. In the meantime, I guess there's always DK Artist to mess around with. DK Artist is an extra mode in GOTY contender Donkey Kong Bananza, a supposedly stellar game that helps prove out the the contention of this article, which is: Hardware doesn't need to be flashy or cutting-edge to deliver excellent software. The legacy Switch proved this time and time again, and given enough runway, I think the Switch 2 will as well. Yay And Nay The Switch 2 hardware feels obviously premium, utterly dull, and oddly comforting in a way that remains wildly confusing to me. I don't think I've ever been so incredibly underwhelmed by a brand new console, yet continually impressed at the same time. The PS5 Pro exists in the same baffling category, so perhaps this is simply an indication that most future gaming consoles will feel similarly, disappointingly, dependably same-y. That said, I like that the dock seems of a higher quality, and the more substantial Joy-Con 2's—paired with the bigger display of the Switch 2 itself—make playing in portable mode more appealing than on the Switch 1. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond I have large hands, and as hard as I tried, I could never get comfortable with the original Joy-Cons. The feel of the Joy-Con 2 controllers is definitely improved, most notably the thumbsticks with their extra surface area, and how they magnetically snap into the Switch 2 slab. Satisfying! Still, I prefer using traditional, less-cramped gamepads, like the excellently refreshed Pro 2 Controller. Additionally, the physical game card slot is now easier to open thanks to a helpful divot, and I dig the inclusion of a top-facing USB-C port, which is great for passively charging random accessories, simultaneously charging the console, or plugging in a wired controller while in battery-powered tabletop mode. Honestly, I'm determined to attach an eGPU to this thing through the top USB-C port at some point—5090 Switch 2 gaming?! Lastly, I installed Lexar's 1TB microSD Express card on my Switch 2, which nicely expanded the included 256GB of system storage. You need to use Express cards on the Switch 2, by the way. Older microSD cards aren't compatible. It's-A-Me, Hardware Boost! The Switch 2's UI is noticeably faster than the Switch's, especially when browsing the store or NSO, and that's a godsend. Mario Kart World, even in 1440p, looks fantastic, and it's rather obvious you'd never be able to run it on a legacy Switch. That Wave Race water, though! Wipeout homage Fast Fusion plays like a dream at 4K/60fps and shows off what the system is capable of. Cyberpunk 2077 runs surprisingly well. GameCube games on NSO run pretty well, too, and I bought a GameCube controller on Nintendo's store to fully and authentically partake. More on all these titles in a future article. NSO GameCube controller I will say that games utilizing HDR look a tad washed out when docked and outputting to (in my case) a 4K monitor, but apparently this is a widespread issue, and I'll look into fixing it this week when I have some time. Not a huge deal, but irksome, nonetheless. Moreover, the Switch 2 reduces load times across the board for many older games, and I've grown to really appreciate this aspect of the hardware. Animal Crossing may as well be a new game with how quickly it loads on the current hardware. I also booted up Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, which has pretty short load times to begin with, and on the Switch 2, load times are practically nonexistent. This means you can watch me in the game's Crocumentary instantly. I did additionally check out the upgrades for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom (turns out they're 'free' if you're an NSO subscriber) and while they're running at an upscaled 1440p and not at native 4K on my docked Switch 2, the stable 60fps gameplay makes these titles immeasurably more playable by today's gaming standards. There's no going back to the 30fps Switch versions, that's for sure. I think my loudest complaint with the Switch 2 hardware is the arguably inferior LCD screen. While thankfully larger and totally serviceable in regular gameplay situations, it ultimately feels like a technological step backward. I got quite accustomed to my Switch's rich OLED display over the years and I really miss those deep, dark OLED blacks on the newer Switch 2 screen. I'm sure a Switch 2 OLED is coming in the next few years, so I understand why Nintendo is holding back here. I'll no doubt buy that version too, damn it. Accessory to a Shrine The new Pro Controller, which I bought alongside the Mario Kart World bundle, might be the best controller I've ever used. This is coming from someone who still worships the original Pro gamepad as some kind of false idol. Sony's DualSense still places a close second to both editions of the Pro, but the Switch 2 Pro is a peripheral masterpiece, minus its admittedly dry, unpleasant texture. I can't describe it any other way; the feel of it skeeves me out, although I do forget about it after a few rounds of MKW. Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller The thumbsticks are pure butter and have just the right amount of tension. The d-pad is nice and springy, as are the chunky face buttons, though I'd prefer a touch more travel in the ZL and ZR triggers. The Pro 2 adds two programmable back handle buttons this time around, GR and GL, plus a C button on the front of the controller that triggers Nintendo's new GameChat feature. I didn't buy a Switch 2 camera, unfortunately, and I also don't typically chat online, so I didn't test this feature. Switched On, Switched Off Ultimately, my first impression of the Switch 2 is one of slightly disenchanting familiarity, but it's somehow okay, because in the end, I'm dealing with the devil I know. Would I have preferred a higher resolution OLED display right out of the gate? Yes. Beefier internals? Sure. Innovation that wow'd me at a childlike level of wonder and awe? Absolutely. Donkey Kong Bananza But Nintendo isn't trying to reinvent the wheel with the Switch 2. It's delivering, in the most conservative way possible, a modestly leveled-up continuation of its past success. We're cool with the lack of forward design progress because we've been conditioned to accept Nintendo's successfully stubborn approach to technological change. It just works. As I've labeled it in the system menu, the Mitch Switch 2 will still get plenty of playtime, even if this generational leap has been more of a respectable hop. Maybe, just maybe, this will refocus gamers' attention on what actually matters: Fun. Sony and Microsoft and the PC world can keep playing the cutting-edge hardware competition while Nintendo luxuriates in its bizarre boutique silo, unbothered, moisturized, in its lane, consistently content with winning its own solo race. Is the Switch 2 good? Yes, resoundingly. Is it interesting? Well, not right now, but it might be getting there. We'll see.
Tokyo Weekender
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tokyo Weekender
Nintendo Confirms That Mario and Princess Peach Are Just Friends
Just imagine: You're a heavily stereotyped Italian plumber born in Japan who, rather than fixing toilets, has spent 40 years of his life repeatedly rescuing the same damsel in distress. One morning, you wake to find that she's set her Facebook relationship status to single, and the world loses their mind, mourning a relationship that, beyond a kiss on the cheek, never existed. Your inbox is blowing up, blame flying in every direction. You've got nine missed calls from your brother and a Snapchat from a fire-breathing tortoise that you can't bring yourself to open. You then pull on the only pair of overalls the world has ever seen you in and go out to save her once again, because that's all you were programmed to do. This is exactly what Nintendo have done to their golden boy, Mario, blindsiding him via text. But while this revelation may have come as something of a shock to the world's most famous tradesman, it also raises the question: How much of this is our fault? The Breakup Text Our story begins on the Nintendo Today app, a pocket calendar of sorts that allows users to customize their phone with Nintendo-related themes while also delivering updates on their consoles, games and trivia pertaining to their most beloved characters. In a message — since removed from the app due to the daily nature of its updates, but immortalized on X via screenshots — Nintendo officially stated: 'Princess Peach and Mario are good friends and help each other out whenever they can.' It's unclear what prompted Nintendo to distribute this information, and in the days since, it appears that both Peach and Mario have declined to comment on the situation. What has been apparent, though, is how heavily invested people were in a relationship that was never confirmed to exist — a revelation that suggests that we, collectively, decided on one of two things: Either Mario was only putting in the effort because he and Peach were lovers, or that the act of him saving someone who had been kidnapped was deserving of more than just thanks. Were We Led On? Thankfully, I don't have any idea what it's like to be kidnapped by a menacing tortoise and locked in a castle surrounded by lava and ruin. At the same time, I have no trouble imagining someone, regardless of orientation, giving their rescuer a kiss on the cheek upon realizing that they were being saved from a life of torturous tortoise marriage. That was all Peach ever did upon meeting her savior. As we all grew up watching Mario's eyes turn to hearts in response at the end of each game, we decided that they were an item — as if it would have been more normal for her to shake his hand and ask if they could stop at McDonald's on the way home. Of course, I'm playing contrarian here. Of everyone I've spoken to about this, not one person was of the belief that Mario and Peach were just friends — myself included. The story of a woman in danger being rescued by her embattled lover is a tale as old as storytelling itself. Batman, Indiana Jones, The Bodyguard , Drive . They and countless others all did it and continue to do it, and critics and audiences alike will always pay to see it. It's a time-worn formula that, when done well, works. So much so that we probably can't help but go looking for it. Nintendo just let us fill in the blanks with Mario and Peach. The issue now is that those blanks no longer exist. What Was Really Lost Ultimately, I think the real reason this became an international topic of interest is because Mario and Peach have been a part of all our lives in one way or another; when something so enduring is unexpectedly and unnecessarily altered, we can't help but have a reaction to it. Nintendo's announcement doesn't change anything. The games will still play out the same way (unless this is foreshadowing a title in which Mario goes on some kind of bachelor's trip to Vegas, mushrooms included (Nintendo, if you need a writer, I'm available)). But what it does do is alter people's perception of something that they more than likely associate with the better times in their life and memories that they created for themselves. Whether it's in books, films or video games, we need stories. But perhaps just as much, we need gaps in these stories — parts we can fill in for ourselves, which allow us to put our own perceptions and experiences into a work, making it our own in a roundabout way. Nintendo's declaration of Mario and Peach's platonic relationship may have given us a chance to examine how we fill in those gaps. But maybe it's better not to know everything. Perhaps we'd all prefer to guess and speculate about these fictional characters and their relationship to one another. Now, for better or worse, we need not wonder any longer. Related Posts What Super Smash Bros Character Are You Based on Your Zodiac Sign? How To Find Tokyo's Secret Nintendo Bar Inside the Nintendo Museum: Everything Revealed So Far
Buzz Feed
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Mario And Peach Are Just Friends
Since the '80s, our favorite mustachioed plumber, Mario, rescued our blonde-haired princess, Peach, from that problematic turtle monster, Bowser. But if you thought they were madly in love and destined to be together forever, think again. Newsflash: Mario and Princess Peach are apparently just friends! No, you didn't read that wrong. After decades of romantic rumors, Nintendo basically revealed the actual status of Mario and Peach's relationship. "Princess Peach and Mario are good friends," the Japanese video game company wrote in a statement this past week, "and help each other out whenever they can." The news was brought to everyone's attention by X user @KirPinkFury, who discovered this bombshell announcement via the Nintendo Today app and shared it to X on July 23. For decades, across multiple platforms and forms of media, Mario has rescued the kidnapped Princess Peach from Bowser, and sometimes he was even rewarded with a kiss. But this viral revelation changes everything we once knew about the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest hero. If this news rocked your world, here's how people online reacted: If you've played Super Mario Odyssey, then you'll remember when Peach rejected him after he traveled across the galaxy to rescue her. People couldn't get over the idea that he was seemingly "friendzoned" after all these years: Some folks were downright shocked and saddended by the news: And finally, somebody joked that maybe his archnemesis Bowser was in charge of the company: Funny enough, technically Doug Bowser is the current president and CEO of Nintendo of America, the American branch of the Japanese company. So, yes. Bowser is the CEO. It'll be okay, everyone. We need an update on Princess Daisy and Luigi's relationship status. We contacted Nintendo for comment and'll let you know if we hear back.
Metro
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Elden Ring Nightreign's most requested game mode is coming next week
FromSoftware is hoping to maintain momentum for Elden Ring Nightreign by addressing one of the biggest complaints against the game. Elden Ring Nightreign seemed a bit of a risk at first, being a multiplayer-only follow-up to the epic original, but the game has been a major success. After topping the charts in the US for a second month, developer FromSoftware announced Elden Ring Nightreign has surpassed five million copies sold within less than two months. At the same time, the expansion for Elden Ring, Shadow Of The Erdtree has hit over 10 million sales. To celebrate the milestone, FromSoftware has another treat up its sleeve for Nightreign enthusiasts, with a mode which probably should have been included all along. As shown in a new trailer, Elden Ring Nightreign will get 'Duo Expeditions', aka a two-player mode, in a new update set to be released on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. The 1.02 update will also come with quality-of-life improvements to the user interface, including more filtering options for Relics. Elden Ring Nightreign was predominantly designed to be played in groups of three, and while there's the option to play solo, that makes it far more difficult. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. It's unclear how this Duos mode has been implemented, but hopefully it will be balanced to level the playing field and make two player expeditions not too punishing. Considering FromSoftware has dedicated a trailer to its existence, it suggests a fair amount of work has gone into it. More Trending More fundamentally, it's much easier to coordinate with just one another player instead of two, so this might make Elden Ring Nightreign more accessible in general, especially to those who don't have two other mates who are Elden Ring fans. While Elden Ring Nightreign's popularity has dropped on Steam since it launched in May, it has remained steady over the past few weeks. Over the past 24 hours (via SteamDB), the player peak hit just over 50,000 players, just behind Palworld and Red Dead Redemption 2. FromSoftware's next game will be The Duskbloods, which is set to be released on the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime next year and is also multiplayer-focused. A recent rumour claimed the studio is also working on another project for 2026, which may be tied to the Armored Core franchise. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: The Witcher dev CD Projekt's new game revealed in oddly descriptive job listing MORE: Xbox games for Switch 2 'expected' soon ahead of rumoured Nintendo Direct MORE: Mario and Peach are just 'good friends' says Nintendo despite kissing for decades
