Episode 310 — Electric PotterVision

The co-hosts get together to marvel at the newest videos from NASA’s successful landing on Mars, and the secret message encoded into the Perseverance parachute.  Going from the extraterrestrial to the augmented (or artificial) reality, team considers an Apple II plus emulated in the Unreal Engine 4.

An AR diorama museum experience brings people together to see extinct animals in their own habitat on your kitchen table, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.  Gamification then takes center stage with the Harbor emergency prep startup, which tells you what you should do when an emergency strikes, and helps you get ready beforehand.  

Reminiscent of the Daily Prophet from Harry Potter, MyHeritage uses “deepfakery” to animate pictures of your relatives and allow you to see the people move in a natural way.

A sleek solar battery powered car which looks much like the Batmobile captures the team’s attention.  Speaking of batteries, a new invention allows wearables to be powered by people, which is shocking to the cohosts.  

And to bookend this episode with another diorama, the Guinness Book of World Records award for the “Largest Interlocking Plastic Brick Diorama” is given to an amazing Lord of the Rings build in Shenzhen, China that you have to see the video to believe.  

Selected Links

The Verge article: NASA’s Perseverance rover beams back first images from its wild landing — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/19/22291412/nasa-perseverance-rover-first-images-landing-skycrane 

TechCrunch article: Watch Perseverance’s harrowing descent to the surface of Mars — https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/22/watch-perseverances-harrowing-descent-to-the-surface-of-mars/ 

Sixcolors article: Secret Binary Message Embedded In Mars Perseverance Parachute — https://sixcolors.com/link/2021/02/secret-binary-message-embedded-in-mars-perseverance-parachute/ 

Input Mag article: The Apple II has been emulated inside Unreal Engine 4 — https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/someone-emulated-the-apple-ii-inside-unreal-engine-4 

Choplifter — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choplifter 

The Verge article: Museum Alive is dioramas but AR, with narration by David Attenborough — https://www.theverge.com/22299611/museum-alive-iphone-app-david-attenborough-augmented-reality 

The Blue Planet — https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008044n 

Tech Crunch article: Gamified emergency prep startup Harbor inks ADT partnership — https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/24/harbor-adt/ 

Harbor — https://www.helloharbor.com 

TechCrunch article: MyHeritage now lets you animate old family photos using deepfakery — https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/26/myheritage-now-lets-you-animate-old-family-photos-using-deepfakery/ 

The Verge article: The Framework Laptop is an upgradeable, customizable 13-inch notebook coming this spring — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22299938/framework-laptop-features-upgrade-release-date-price 

Washington Post article: It looks like the Batmobile, works on solar energy, and could be the future of cars — https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/solar-car/ 

Boy Genius Report article: Scientists invented a wearable that recharges in the most incredible way — https://bgr.com/2021/02/25/wearable-battery-power-generator/ 

Futurism article: Boston Dynamics Mad Someone Used Their Terrifying RoboDog as Intended — https://wordpress.futurism.com/boston-dynamics-mad-someone-using-terrifying-robodog-as-intended 

Slashfilm article: VOTD: This Massive ‘Lord of the Rings’ LEGO Diorama Set a Guinness World Record — https://www.slashfilm.com/guinness-world-record-setting-lord-of-the-rings-lego-diorama-set/

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