Episode 240 — Game of Life

After a couple of weeks of summer break, Michael and Michael get back together, with more stories than they can tackle in this one episode!  

Kicking things off with an intriguing article about how gamification is applied to the ride sharing business of Uber & Lyft, Michael and Michael appreciate how the algorithms in the apps guide human behavior to optimize the financial outcomes.  Keeping with the theme of driving, the pair then discuss how AI is being used to increase awareness of attentiveness, as in the case of the Yandex.Taxi service in Moscow.

With Michael R’s love of swimming the Form AR goggles make a big splash — showing the user how many laps and the time in AR right there in the pool.  Google Maps’ new AR capability is highlighted in the Cult of Mac article, however, the new functionality hasn’t been rolled out to all Maps users just yet — we can’t wait to give it a try.  And speaking of giving things a try, the cohosts are impressed with Apple’s in-store and certain city AR exhibitions called [AR]T Lab and [AR]T Walk respectively — see the links below for how these augmented reality art experiments come to life.

Wrapping things up for this episode, the pair talk about generative adversarial network models are used to create renaissance-style artwork from modern photos and you can see the results below.

For the stories that the co-hosts did not get a chance to discuss, see the bonus links below.  Some incredible examples of new technology, from the MIT AlterEgo project to AI valets to the deployment of the LightSail 2.   Check them out! 

Selected Links

Logic Issue 6: Chasing the Pink — https://logicmag.io/play/chasing-the-pink/ 

Reveal radio episode August 3, 2019: Harpooned by Facebook — https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/harpooned-by-facebook/ 

Engaget article: Facial recognition will catch sleepy taxi drivers in Russia — https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/08/facial-recognition-will-catch-sleepy-taxi-drivers-in-russia/ 

Cult of Mac article: Form’s AR swim goggles blow Apple Watch out of the water — https://www.cultofmac.com/642892/form-swim-goggles-review/ 

Form AR swim goggles — https://www.formswim.com 

TechCrunch article: Google launches ‘Live View’ AR walking directions for Google Maps — https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/08/google-launches-live-view-ar-walking-directions-for-google-maps/ 

Apple’s [AR]T Walk — https://www.apple.com/today/feature/augmentedrealities/ 

Daily Mail article: Apple experiments with augmented reality walks where visitors can interact with specially created artworks — https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7309457/Apple-stores-introduce-augmented-reality-experiences.html 

Play Disney Parks iOS app — https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1463847569 

MIT Technology Review article: Turn selfies into classical portraits with the AI that fuels deepfakes — https://www.technologyreview.com/f/613995/turn-selfies-into-classical-portraits-with-the-ai-gnerative-that-fuels-deep-fakes-gans/ 

Bonus Links

MacRumor article: Apple Now Selling LEGO ‘Hidden Side’ Augmented Reality Building Kits — https://www.macrumors.com/2019/08/01/apple-lego-hidden-side-ar-kits/ 

Lego Hidden Side — https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/hidden-side/about 

Digital Trends article: Don’t speak: This wearable lets you give voice commands without saying a word — https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/mit-alterego-technology-arnav-kapur/ 

MIT Media Lab AlterEgo project — https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/alterego/overview/ 

TechCrunch article: Daimler & Bosch’s driverless parking gets OK to operate without human supervision — https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/23/daimler-and-boschs-driverless-parking-feature-can-legally-operate-without-human-supervision/

MIT Technology Review article: You’re very easy to track down, even when your data has been anonymized — https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613996/youre-very-easy-to-track-down-even-when-your-data-has-been-anonymized/ 

The Verge article: Google now lists playable podcasts in search results — https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/10/18564035/google-search-podcasts-ios-desktop-web-player 

Planetary Society article: Live Coverage: LightSail 2 Sail Deployment — http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/ls2-sail-deployment-live.html 

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