In my ongoing quest to put as many of the popular indoor hydroponic garden systems as I can through their paces, I have noticed something irritating.

Many, if not most, of these systems require—or at minimum, strongly suggest—ordering proprietary seed pods, inserts, or capsules from the company itself. You can jury-rig, of course, but usually at your own hassle and failure risk. If you order through the companies, not only can the excess packaging be wasteful, the costs add up quickly (competitor Click & Grow’s pods, for example, are almost $5 each).

When I saw the Auk (pronounced “owk”) and its four little pots of coconut coir advertised on my social media feed, I was immediately intrigued. Finally, an open-system indoor garden where you can grow your own seeds! There’s got to be a catch, I thought. But there isn’t. After testing it for six weeks, I can report that the Auk fully delivers on its promise of “herbs made simple.”

Just the Basics

Although its ads make it seem like a newcomer, Norway-based Auk has actually been in business since 2021. It’s perhaps best known for its original Auk 1 hydroponic garden, which features a more complicated water reservoir, nutrient mixer, and lighting setup that garnered mixed reviews online for inconsistent light cycles and watering. The herb-focused Auk Mini, on the other hand, is not that.

Released in May 2024, it features four oval pots with slotted bottoms that sit atop a 3-liter reservoir. This 17.5 x 8.5 x 14.5-inch base is flanked by two wooden poles, which hold a tension-set full-spectrum light bar. A little wheel on the side indicates the water level, with a red dot indicating when it’s empty.

Courtesy of Auk; Photograph: Kat Merck

Simply fill the pots with the included coconut coir (fibers from the exterior of coconuts), plant your seeds, add squirts of the included nutrients (the bottles say how many on the side), plug in the light bar, and position it 4 inches above the pots to start. That’s it. There’s no pump, and the light bar will stay on for 17.5 hours—hold the button underneath the light for five seconds to set the “sunrise” time. Finish options include oak or walnut, with white or black pots.

Fashion Innovation Agency (FIA) based at London College of Fashion, UAL, has unveiled a new 3D volumetric capture service, the first of its kind available to digital-first fashion designers and brands.

This next-generation creative technology uses an FIA designed process called digital reskinning, where virtual garments with realistic physics and textures are applied to captured human performances. The result is hyper-real fashion content that moves naturally and expressively, creating endless possibilities across digital campaigns and virtual runways.

London College of Fashion’s Fashion Innovation Agency has launched a groundbreaking 3D volumetric capture service using digital reskinning to create hyper-real virtual fashion content.
This AI-enhanced technology enables designers to produce lifelike digital doubles for campaigns, virtual try-ons, and virtual runways, reducing the need for physical samples.

By capturing full-body motion in high-resolution 3D and using AI mesh stabilisation, FIA’s newly launched offering produces digital doubles; ready to be restyled and reimagined. Through digital reskinning, a single captured performance can be transformed into an entire collection, enabling brands to tell rich stories while reducing the need for physical samples and the associated costs, the company said in a press release.

“Until now, there has been no clear or consistent pipeline for designers to access this level of digital reskinning. What we’ve built changes that. We have been able to achieve the highest standard of 3D volumetric capture currently available; it’s remarkably lifelike and ready for real-world use. For the first time, designers and brands can harness this technology in a way that’s intuitive and scalable,” Matthew Drinkwater, head of Fashion Innovation Agency, said.

Designed for use across fashion, gaming, film, and immersive entertainment, this streamlined service supports everything from campaign ideation to consumer-facing virtual try-ons. It offers brands a future-facing, sustainable way to build content pipelines ready to meet the growing demand for high-quality digital fashion assets.

The service has been developed with the support of University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Creative and Immersive Extended Reality (CCIXR), 4D Views and UAL’s Creative Enterprise Network; a strategic initiative built around sharing of expertise, resources and networks across UAL colleges to help student and staff entrepreneurs to scale-up the impact of their ventures. In 2023, Dr Gavin Clark was appointed UAL’s inaugural director of Enterprise & Commercialisation, further strengthening the university’s commitment to developing knowledge and IP-based innovation in the creative industries.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)

Chinese tech juggernaut Huawei plans to launch powerful computing setups that allow chips to connect at high speeds, an executive said Thursday, as Beijing looks to bolster domestic AI prowess and reduce reliance on Western firms.

Geopolitical tensions between China and the United States have intensified technological competition between the countries, each seeking to achieve supremacy in the vital fields of artificial intelligence and advanced computer chips.

Shenzhen-based Huawei and California-based Nvidia are among the tech giants that have repeatedly been caught up in the rivalry, each facing various restrictions on their overseas operations.

Huawei’s Deputy Chairman Eric Xu said Thursday that the firm intends to launch the Atlas 950 and Atlas 960 “SuperPoDs,” part of efforts to meet “long-term computing demand,” according to a press release.

The products will be used to integrate thousands of Huawei chips, significantly enhancing the computing power that underpins various AI applications.

They are expected to be launched in the fourth quarters of 2026 and 2027, respectively, according to a copy of Xu’s speech seen by AFP.

An earlier report by state-controlled Chinese business news outlet Jiemian incorrectly stated that the Atlas 950 would launch this year.

“These two SuperPoDs will deliver an industry-leading performance across multiple key metrics, including the number of NPUs (neural processing units), total computing power, memory capacity, and interconnect bandwidth,” said Xu, quoted in the press release.

The announcement comes a day after a report by the Financial Times said China’s internet regulator had instructed domestic tech giants, including Alibaba and ByteDance to terminate orders for certain Nvidia products.

According to the FT, citing unnamed sources, the Cyberspace Administration of China ordered companies to end all testing and purchase plans for Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D chips, state-of-the-art processors made especially for the country.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said Wednesday that he was “disappointed” by the report.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian did not confirm new restrictions when asked about the report at a regular press conference on Thursday.

“We always oppose discriminatory practices targeting specific countries when it comes to economic, trade and technology issues,” he said.

“China is willing to maintain dialogue and cooperation with all parties to protect the stability of the global supply chain.”

Observers believe that Beijing’s moves to wean Chinese tech companies off Nvidia’s offerings are part of its effort to accelerate domestic production from companies like Huawei.

The FT report also said that Beijing regulators have recently summoned Huawei and Cambricon—another domestic chipmaker—for discussions on how their products stack up against Nvidia’s chips for the Chinese market.

© 2025 AFP