e391 – FAIL Whale

By | |
Comments Off on e391 – FAIL Whale
whale coming out of the water
Photo by Todd Cravens on Unsplash

Michael and Michael begin this episode with Ben Evans’ provocative article on ways to think about a metaverse.  The co-hosts bring up interesting points on the mobile, social and cloud transformations over the years, and how that may – or does not – really fit within the discussion on the metaverse. They also consider an article about how VR can be used to immersively simulate near death experiences. 

Then Michael and Michael switch over to all things AI.  Unmesh Dinda shows how to generate a fake person in a selfie with amazing fidelity leveraging Dall-E and GFPGAN – check out the video to see how simple he makes it.  Anslo demonstrates serious generative design chops with SlowRoads.io “endless driving zen”.  Choose your mode of transportation, weather, time of day, and then drive, or let the autopilot drive for you.  If you’d like to simply walk faster, Shift Robotics has a kickstarter that you need to see.  The Moonwalkers are easy to step into with any shoes, and using AI for stabilization and speed, will allow you to naturally walk at double your usual speed.

Michael and Michael then discuss Rewind.ai and the pros and cons of life logging on your laptop.  The Museum of Failure makes an appearance, reminding of the importance of failure in the innovation process. 

The team notes, along with most of social media, that Mastodon has shown amazing growth over the past week.  You can find the Games At Work presence over on https://botsin.space/@gamesatwork_biz .

What is your prediction for the next AI innovation? Drop us a line at @gamesatwork_biz and let us know! 

Selected Article Links

Benedict Evans’ blog post: Ways to think about a metaverse

dilbert.com metaverse comic strips

The Daily Beast article: One Man’s Quest to Build the Perfect Near-Death Simulation

My Modern Met article: Man Fools Relatives Into He Has a Girlfriend but She’s Actually AI

Unmesh Dinda’s PiXimperfect YouTube channel

anslo’s medium post: Slow Roads 

Slow Roads

PC Mag article: Shift Robotics Used AI to Create the ‘World’s Fastest Shoes’

Kickstarter: Shift Moonwalkers

Shift Robotics

Games At Work e205 – Fashionable AR (for the Segway Drift product)

Rewind.ai

Museum of Failure 

TechCrunch article: Mastodon’s microblogging app saw a record number of downloads after Musk’s Twitter takeover

Our new Mastodon account – https://botsin.space/@gamesatwork_biz

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:01 — 40.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Email | Youtube Music | RSS | More

e390 – Also Available in Black

By | |
Comments Off on e390 – Also Available in Black
watercolor palate

Happy Halloween!

Andy, Michael and Michael start off this episode with a discussion on color subscriptions.  This topic was also addressed in a blog by Cory Doctorow on his Pluralistic site.  Paint colors, fonts and sounds (such as the Harley-Davidson sound) also come up in the conversation.

Then the hosts turn to an article from the Atlantic on Halloween and the importance of play in adult lives.  Something that this podcast knows a little something about.  Speaking of play, next up is Alex Shakespeare’s “Alternative Flight Simulator”.  Unlike flight simulators that simulate the player in the role of a pilot, Alex built a life-size replica of an economy airplane cabin, complete with a monitor in the window where the “passenger” may watch their flight landing in various airports around the world.  

The co-hosts then explore a handheld 3D printer and close the episode with a trailer for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which includes Kevin Bacon for the six degrees of separation fans.

What are you doing for your Halloween fun?  Drop us a line at @gamesatwork_biz and let us know! 

Selected Article Links

Kotaku article: You’re Going To Have To Pay To Use Some Fancy Colors In Photoshop Now

Pluralistic blog post: 28 Oct 2022 Adobe steals your color

Cory Doctorow’s Chokepoint Capitalism 

Acelerando by Charles Stross references Games At Work e306 – Weak Ties 

The Atlantic article: Adult Halloween Is Stupid, Embarrassing, and Very Important

Hackaday article: Flight Simulator Focuses on the Other Side of the Cockpit Door

Alex Shakespeare blog post: Alternative Flight Simulator

All3DP article: A Palm-sized 3D Printer That Can Run on a Powerbank

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:49 — 33.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Email | Youtube Music | RSS | More

e389 – Everything’s Magic

By | |
Comments Off on e389 – Everything’s Magic
playing cards
Photo by Klim Musalimov on Unsplash

Michael, Andy and Michael continue the conversation from the prior episode on metaverse openness.  The co-hosts discuss whether and when a VR headset could replace your laptop computer.  Andy brings up the “cup of tea” challenge for the VR headset, namely whether you can drink a cup of tea while wearing the headset. 

The BBC Future article on how a magician & mathematician linked Markov chains to card shuffling and random number generation captures the team’s attention. 

With the impending updates for MacOS and iOS, Continuity Camera is about to become a reality for many.  And the first iPhone / Mac mount is available to give it a try in the Apple store right now.  

Rounding out the show for this week include Mmhmm’s gamification of video conference calls, the future of Discord, and a preview of Minecraft Legends.

Where else do you see magic and the metaverse mixing?  Drop us a line at @gamesatwork_biz and let us know! 

Selected Article Links

The Register article: The Metaverse is the internet no one wants

Digital Trends article: No, the Quest Pro can’t really replace your laptop — at least not yet

Publisher’s Weekly article — Into the Metaverse: The Essential Guide to the Business Opportunities of the Web3 Era

BBC Future article: How a magician-mathematician revealed a casino loophole

The Verge article: Belkin’s mount to turn your iPhone into a camera is now available

Belkin’s iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks

The Verge article: Mmhmm’s new app turns your video calls into video games

Icebreakers from Games at Work e370 – Driving With the Queen

Discord blog: How We’re Building the Future of Discord

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:50 — 42.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Email | Youtube Music | RSS | More

e388 – Does the metaverse have legs?

By | |
Comments Off on e388 – Does the metaverse have legs?
legs and feet
Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

Andy and Michael R get a running start to this week’s episode with all things metaverse, kicking things off with stories related this week’s Meta Connect event.  Discussing whether the metaverse has legs now is easy, when a lead announcement from Meta Connect was the introduction of legs and feet.

Continuing with news from Meta Connect, John Carmack does not tiptoe around whatsoever with what he’s grumpy about.  The former Oculus CTO and current Meta executive advisor walks through his frustrations with the state of the hardware and software powering the experience today.  An article from AdWeek highlights how Walmart is leveraging the Roblox Livetopia platform to drive users to Walmart Land in order to build brand.  A tweet from Gregory Ng brings Decentraland into the conversation.

Going back a step to last week’s episode on Google’s exit from Stadia, the co-hosts discuss the new Chromebooks designed for cloud based gaming.  

Continuing with the overarching VR theme, Andy and Michael make the jump to outer space with an experience  designed to engage the public with the scientists and engineers who worked on the James Webb Space Telescope.  When you walk up to the portraits of the scientists in the experience, you can hear their interviews, and when you walk away, you hear other elements of the soundscape depending on where you are in the space.  The LEGO Ideas entry for the JWST hits 10,000 supporters (again).  And one more LEGO innovation – a step by step set of instructions for constructing a LEGO powered submarine with automatic depth control.

What would you want to see in your ideal metaverse environment?  Drop us a line at @gamesatwork_biz and let us know! 

Selected Article Links

Kotaku article: Facebook’s Legs Video Was A Lie

Ars Technica article: Carmack: “There’s a bunch that I’m grumpy about” in virtual reality

AdWeek article: Two Weeks Into Its Metaverse Debut, Walmart Sets Up Shop In Roblox’s Livetopia

TechCrunch article: Google introduces Chromebooks geared for cloud gaming

Popular Science article: A new VR exhibit takes you inside the James Webb Space Telescope’s Images

Brickfanatics article: James Webb Space Telescope hits 10K supporters on LEGO Ideas (again)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:46 — 35.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Email | Youtube Music | RSS | More