Episode 164 – Addictive AR

      Michael and Michael start this episode off with an excellent roundup of how technology gets that dopamine drip going with an article from The Guardian that focuses on the newly published book by Adam Alter, Irresistible.  Starting with the psychological and cultural affinity with liking content, and proceeding quickly to the linkages between gambling and games, the article walks the path to augmented reality and virtual reality — what makes an experience repeatable and desirable to come back to again and again. Turning their attention to augmented reality, Michael and Michael imagine the the future of not … Continue reading

Episode 154 – Heroic Wearable Brain Robots

Michael and Michael share their insight on games for good, specifically on games that have an additional benefit to the fun of playing them.  Sea Hero Quest is a game sponsored by Deutsche Telekom together with University College London, University of East Anglia and Alzheimer’s Research to help with early diagnosis of dementia.  Michael and Michael discuss the possibilities of a software layer which could be placed on top of (or alongside) other games that could capture similar data points for researchers. The pair then turn to wearables, and the interesting way that mobile and Internet of Things devices can … Continue reading

Episode 133 – Game Brains

Episode 133 – Game Brains was recorded on Friday, the 18th of February 2016. Does playing video games make you smarter?  Michael and Michael answer this question with a resounding “maybe”, as they go through a tour of several interesting links, from Google’s DeepMind computer playing Go, to Volvos starting up without keys, to toys that think and 3D printing going back to 1964 with plastigoop. We hope you enjoy the show! Selected links Can Video Games make you Smarter? — https://youtu.be/OOsqkQytHOs Luminosity — http://www.lumosity.com Gmailification — http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/17/google-launches-gmailify-a-way-to-use-gmails-best-features-with-non-gmail-accounts/ Mailbox — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailbox/id576502633?mt=8 Airmail — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/airmail-your-mail-with-you/id993160329?mt=8 Google Now — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Now Connected Toys and the Serious … Continue reading

Episode 53 – Mad (Wo)Men and MOOCs

  Phaedra and Michael M talk about reaching people in different ways — through advertising, in game purchases, marketing, and education.  Establishing relationships between organizations and people, whether from a brand to a person, a game to a player, and an instructor to a student are all changing and scaling up. Phaedra and Michael discuss how that specifications for all courseware should be structured so that anything could be plugged into a MOOC (Massively Open Online Course).  Imagine what could be — mobile, social learning, in-course purchases, power ups, gamification, audio, video, and even more! We are just delighted to have had … Continue reading