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Understood.org and Kantar Provide New Insight into Impact of Individuals with Learning and Thinking Differences

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This joint initiative creates a guide for brands and businesses to enhance inclusivity by integrating the unique experience of these populations, particularly those with compounded marginalized identities, into research.

NEW YORK and LONDON, Aug. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Understood.org, the leading nonprofit dedicated to supporting the 70 million people in the United States with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia, announced its partnership with Kantar, the world’s leading marketing data and analytics business and indispensable brand partner to 96 of the world’s 100 biggest advertisers. According to Understood.org’s Neurodiversity and Social Media Study, nearly 60% of Americans say they don’t have a clear understanding of what learning and thinking differences are. The partnership will generate insights for people, brands and businesses on how to create more inclusive, impactful experiences, campaigns and policies for people with learning and thinking differences, through research that focuses on and incorporates the historically underserved demographic of people with learning and thinking differences. Reports include Kantar GLOBAL MONITOR, US MONITOR, and the Global Brand Inclusion Index.

This work comes at a critical point in time, where the number of people with learning and thinking differences is growing, yet businesses have little to no insight into their lived experiences. Kantar finds that globally, 11% of the population reports having a thinking or learning difference that might impact reading, writing, focus, math, or communicating with other people (Kantar Global MONITOR June 2024). When looking at the experiences of this group, Kantar’s U.S. Brand Inclusion Index 2024 finds that the vast majority – 82% — have experienced discrimination in the last year; the reasons vary from their age to their gender to their mental or physical abilities. This is twice the total population’s incidence and the highest of any other group with a sample big enough to report. Further outlining the risk to brands, Kantar finds 58% of discrimination experiences took place at a commercial location, such as while shopping, at a restaurant, hotel, or other hospitality place, or other business environments in 2024. 

“Clearly, we all could be doing more to create fair and positive experiences for all people, in particular individuals with learning and thinking differences and various accessibility needs,” said Valeria Piaggio, Global Head of DEI, Kantar, “This demographic is often forgotten, but that’s not only wrong from a human standpoint, it’s wrong from a business perspective. We know this community is growing, and it’s influential with $1.9 trillion in annual disposable income globally.”

“That’s why I couldn’t be more excited about our partnership with Understood.org, which will help brands better understand how to reduce stigma, drive advocacy, and create safe and welcoming experiences for this powerful consumer audience.”

The partnership’s main goal is to evolve the way in which research is conducted about people’s identity, identifying respondents with thinking and learning differences, and providing accessibility accommodations in the studies. The organizations’ work together has already resulted in the inclusion of new custom questions in upcoming Kantar studies, including the Brand Inclusion Index and MONITOR reports.

Over the next few months, Kantar and Understood.org will also be releasing:

Global MONITOR findings regarding the consumer experience of the global community of people with disabilities, including recommendations for how brands and organizations can better support them and the demographic’s prevalence by market and the potentially unique experiences and desires of those with learning and thinking differences across categories & services (Fall 2024).In-depth data on the intersectional identities of those with learning and thinking differences in the US, made possible by robust sample sizes of 11,000+ in Kantar’s US MONITOR data. This report will showcase the intersectional identities of people with learning and thinking differences across gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other cross-demographics, and outline how brand considerations across innovation, marketing and hiring efforts (Fall 2024).An additional chapter in Kantar’s Global Brand Inclusion Index, featuring insights on how people with learning and thinking differences rate brands for inclusivity and identify and celebrate the brands who are leading the charge.

“Gaining insights into the lived experiences of people who learn and think differently is crucial, as they represent a large market segment that is overlooked and underestimated,” said Nathan Friedman, Understood.org’s co-president and chief marketing officer. “This partnership will infuse accessibility into research, spurring brands to engage this significant consumer segment to foster revenue growth and brand loyalty while raising global awareness for neurodiverse people”

For more information on this research and to learn about the accessible opportunities for your brand, contact Kantar here: https://www.kantar.com/north-america/contact

About Understood.org

Understood.org is a nonprofit focused on shaping the world for difference. We raise awareness of the challenges, skills, and strengths of people who learn and think differently. Our resources help people navigate challenges, gain confidence, and find support and community so they can thrive. Together, we can build a world where everyone can reach their full potential. Understood.org is a 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in New York. For more information, to donate, or to partner with us, visit u.org/media and follow us @UnderstoodOrg.

About Kantar

Kantar is the world’s leading marketing data and analytics business and an indispensable brand partner to the world’s top companies, including 96 of the world’s 100 biggest advertisers.

We have a complete, unique and rounded understanding of people around the world: how they think, feel and act, globally and locally in over 90 markets.

We don’t just help clients understand what’s happened, we tell them why and how they can shape the future.

https://www.kantar.com/

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AGEDB Technology Announces Debt Settlement

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VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 13, 2026 /CNW/ — AGEDB Technology Ltd. (“AGEDB” or the “Company”) (TSXV: AGET) announces that it has entered into a debt settlement agreement to settle an aggregate of C$100,000 of outstanding indebtedness owing to one creditor (the “Creditor”), in exchange for the issuance of an aggregate of 1,538,461 units at a deemed price of $0.065 per unit (each a “Unit”) of the Company to the Creditor (the “Debt Settlement”). Completion of the Debt Settlement is subject to the Company receiving all regulatory approvals, including acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.

Each Unit consists of one common share and one transferable common share purchase warrant (each a “Warrant”). Each Warrant will entitle its holder to purchase one common share in the capital of the Company (a “Warrant Share”) at a price of C$0.18 for 24 months from the closing date of the Debt Settlement.

Any shares issued to the Creditor or in connection with the Debt Settlement will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day.

www.agedb.io

AGEDB Technology Ltd.

On behalf of the board of directors,

“Jungsoo Kim”
CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements.” Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “projects,” “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will,” “would,” “may,” “could” or “should” occur.

SOURCE AGEDB Technology Ltd.

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RYAN KAVANAUGH TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL PRODUCTION AWARD AT INFINITY FESTIVAL’S 2026 MONOLITH AWARDS FOR ACME STUDIOS WORK

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Two-Day Showcase Expands Lineup with ACME’s Ryan Kavanaugh alongside George R.R. Martin, Brad Bird, Seth Rogen, Mel Brooks, Pola Maneli and Leading Animation Studios

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Infinity Festival announced today that Ryan Kavanaugh’s studio, ACME Media, is being honored for pioneering the Grey Box™, an AI-driven production methodology that integrates live-action performance, virtual environments and generative visual effects. ACME AI is taking virtual production beyond the stage and into the whole of filmmaking. 

They were selected for this honor as the company to make the biggest paradigm shift utilizing technology in film and entertainment today. Specifically, they were able to create a totally photoreal movie, preserve all actor performance and pioneer the use of the Grey Box™ methodology for actor capture, while utilizing their tech to create over 213 locations in 21 total days. 

The Grey Box™ is a stage and actor performance capture system built around the filmmaker. A Grey Box™ production makes films the way films have always been made – it shoots with the same cameras, the same crew and the same process as any other film, just with extra technology and a precise design to allow for a more cohesive and cost effective process. Department heads are employed and on set, the actor’s performance is not touched, and the director still owns the frame. 

ACME’s own systems, engines and artists (150 across multiple locations) then build the world around that performance, delivering fully photoreal 16-bit 4K output for theatrical release. 

The Grey Box’s™ proprietary performance capture methodology leads to a 50-75 percent reduction in production time and cost. This gives each film and filmmaker more flexibility, tools and coverage than was financially feasible previously. 

” Virtual production has never been about technology alone. It’s about expanding what filmmakers can imagine and achieve. ACME AI & FX is challenging the boundaries of traditional production by rethinking how live-action performances, digital environments, and emerging technologies come together,” said Jeroen Hallaert, Executive Producer, Infinity Festival Hollywood.

“Their approach represents exactly the kind of bold experimentation and convergence we celebrate at Infinity Festival. We’re proud to recognize ACME AI & FX with the Monolith Award for Outstanding Virtual Production.

ACME has spent in excess of 70 million dollars building its tech, which has led to its own process and program which runs off of over 500 tools and 175 film attributes with thousands of its own lawyers on its its internal program now running across its own network. “This was a two-year, multimillion-dollar, all-hands effort and we couldn’t be more proud of the team for what it built,” said Garrett Grant, ACME co-founder and partner. ACME is the only production company and/or studio to deliver an A list feature film utilizing AI which holds up against films shot traditionally for much larger budgets. 

Yves Bergquist, who is one of the most relied upon voices by studios and entertainment companies around technology and AI in relation to entertainment (he is the head of the AI Media lab at USC’s Entertainment Technology Center and a member of the generative AI working group at the Academy of Motion Pictures), said: “I am in the fortunate position where I see what I believe is all the most recent advancements in AI filmmaking. That includes from the biggest tech companies to the studios to highly respected filmmakers. More or less anyone doing AI production, I have seen their work. To date, I haven’t seen anyone that is even at 10 percent of the quality or output of where ACME is. What they have done is not just extraordinary; it’s a shift to the industry no one else has even begun to figure out. Their product is bar none, on par with the biggest, best productions to come out of Hollywood. There is a reason they are making movies for many of the studios and have so many films in their pipeline and that ACME has become the go to for studios and production companies alike and the reason they have become the go to not just for AI production but more and more for production overall.” 

Other features that they have built and incorporated include another 246 unique virtual production features 

A director’s dashboard that allows a director to seamlessly work between the real grey stage shooting with their traditional camera setups and team and the virtual portion with easeLens and Lighting Library: virtually every lens and lighting package filmmakers rely on, built and mapped so the finished world matches what the camera photographed, including anamorphic.Being able to adjust the camera, lighting, camera movement, lenses in postBeing able to adjust any part of a scene that isn’t the actor’s performance in post Full DI and finishing system Theatrical Finishing: photoreal 16-bit 4K output, mastered through to DCP and EXR delivery.Protected IP: a portfolio of 22 patent applications covering the core systems.

Kavanaugh said, “The ability to respect the integrity of the acting while being so tech-forward was a big part of our consideration. Obviously the tech itself and the artistic process that is required to make the tech work is another. They are literally bringing back the mid-budget film genre by making those stories financially feasible to make. The art of filmmaking is at the heart of everything we do. We built the Grey Box™ and our own engines so that every tool a director could want is available, even on a small-budget movie. Original films that sat for years because of cost are now getting made, at the same scale and with the same vision. We are grateful to Infinity Festival for recognizing that,” said Ryan Kavanaugh, founder of ACME and consider this a tremendous honor.”

The Monolith Awards honor Story Advanced by Technology. This award honors ACME for pioneering an AI-driven production methodology that integrates live-action performance, virtual environments and generative visual effects. With Bitcoin, ACME has taken virtual production beyond the stage and into the whole of filmmaking, bringing some 200 story locations to life around real performances captured over 20 days. We are delighted to celebrate it alongside this year’s honorees, including Brad Bird and George R.R. Martin, both receiving Lifetime Achievement.

Additional featured talent includes Sony Pictures Animation director Tyree Dillihay and President Kristine Belson; Netflix’s Steps directors Alyce Tzue and John Ripa; Disney/Pixar Hoppers director Daniel Chong; Toy Story 5 co-director/writer Kenna Harris; Hexed directors Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand; DreamWorks Forgotten Island filmmakers Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado; LAIKA’s Wildwood writer Chris Butler and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel; Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender director Lauren Montgomery; The Simpsons director David Silverman; Cartoon Saloon director Louise Bagnall; Tangles director Leah Nelson, Cat in the Hat directors Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni, X-Men ’97, The Violinist directors Raul Garcia and Ervin Han and The Proud Family creator Bruce W. Smith and more.

 ABOUT ACME

ACME Media is a film and television studio and the parent company of ACME AI, the most prolific studio working in AI today. ACME’s principals have produced, financed or distributed more than 250 films with more than $17 billion in global box office. They created slate co-financing, built the structure that allowed Marvel to make its own films, co-created the subscription streaming window with Netflix and built the largest mini-major studio of its era. Their films have received over 60 Academy Award® nominations, Based in Los Angeles and London with AI artists worldwide, ACME pioneered the Grey Box studio and completed the first performance capture AI film BITCOIN, currently in post-production. The film is directed by Doug Liman and stars Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot, Pete Davidson and Isla Fisher. ACME has more than twelve films in various stages of production.

 ACME AI pioneered the Grey Box, a stage and actor performance capture system that delivers photoreal 16-bit 4K theatrical output while cutting below-the-line costs and has over a dozen feature films in various stages of production, as well as endeavors in music videos, and advertising.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ryan-kavanaugh-to-receive-outstanding-virtual-production-award-at-infinity-festivals-2026-monolith-awards-for-acme-studios-work-302939407.html

SOURCE Infinity Festival

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The NYSE Welcomes vVARDIS as a Publicly Listed Company

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NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — vVARDIS (NYSE: VVVV) co-founders Dr. Haley Abivardi and Dr. Goly Abivardi aim to reshape the future of dental care with a drill-free treatment for the world’s #1 non-communicable disease: cavities.

vVARDIS Solves a Problem that Millions FaceTooth decay affects billions of people worldwide, and dental anxiety keeps millions from getting the care they need.vVARDIS is a Swiss dental technology company focused on changing the way early tooth decay is treated.vVARDIS has introduced a new approach that aims to treat decay earlier and more comfortably for patients.Its flagship product, Curodont® Repair Fluoride Plus, uses proprietary peptide technology to help repair early-stage tooth decay by supporting the natural remineralization of enamel — simply put No drill, No needle, or No filling.Tooth Decay is One of the Most Common Health Issues in the World2.5 billion people globally live with untreated tooth decay.Nearly 90% of U.S. adults have experienced tooth decay.Nearly 73% of U.S. adults report dental fear.21% avoid the dentist because of anxiety.The Story that Helped Shape vVARDISFor decades, treating early tooth decay often meant waiting until it worsened or getting a filling. The founders spent 25 years developing Curodont® Repair Fluoride Plus, a treatment that helps repair early tooth decay before it becomes a cavity.Curodont® gives dentists a way to treat early decay while making the experience easier and less intimidating for patients.The technology has already treated more than 2.5 million teethAvailable in more than 20% of U.S. dental practices

Click Here to Learn More about vVARDIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1p9hUR5Glk

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SOURCE New York Stock Exchange

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