Michael and Michael get together to take a look back at 2019 and reflect on the stories and themes of the year. 2019 in many ways was the year of the bot (robot, drone, droid – pick your favorite term!). So many new kinds of robotic helpers with new capabilities are available now, and it is easy to see the speed of innovation in this space is increasing quickly. Over the course of the year, this topic certainly caught the attention of the co-hosts in a major way, and provided intriguing fodder for many conversations. It is easy to predict that in 2020, there will be much more on this subject.
And bots were not only the physical kind, artificial intelligence bots also took center stage in 2019. This year featured dissuasions on everything AI from autonomous vehicles, to deepfakes, to comedy, along with the ethical implications and introspection demanded of such new capabilities. The technology has come quite a long way in such a short time. And of course, games have played a major role in the development of such machine learning solutions.
Naturally, augmented reality was in focus during 2019, with some exciting new capabilities on the near horizon. Longtime listeners of this podcast will not be surprised by this in the least — and the idea that the combination of AI + AR + robotics will yield fantastic new enterprise services. Humans have been augmenting their abilities for years, and the technological advances made in 2019 will be a major springboard in new and unexpected ways in the coming year.
2019 was also the year of Star Wars, with the Rise of Skywalker opening in theaters only a few days ago, the new theme park additions providing an immersive Star Wars universe experience, and even more stories, such as The Mandalorian available to stream via Disney+. Michael and Michael remember what it was like back in 1977 when this all started, and imagine what new universes there are to explore in the coming year. Imagine best our best Admiral Ackbar voice: “It’s a wrap!”.
We hope that you enjoyed listening and engaging with us in 2019, and as we enter our second decade, (and 8th year), we look forward to bringing you our thoughts and ideas on the technologies impacting the world in the coming year. Wishing everyone all the best for a healthy, happy and Games At Work filled 2020!
Selected Links
Bots & such
Lucid’s drone is built to clean the outside of your house or office — https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/27/lucids-drone-is-built-to-clean-the-outside-of-your-house-or-office/
‘Doomba’ turns your Roomba’s cleaning maps into Doom levels — https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/12/26/18156600/doomba-roomba-cleaning-maps-doom-levels-rich-whitehouse
Husqvarna Robotic Lawn Mowers — https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/
iRobot Lawn mower- https://gizmodo.com/irobots-new-robot-lawn-mower-sure-looks-like-itll-piss-1832169602
Suit up with a robot to walk AND run more easily — https://wyss.harvard.edu/suit-up-with-a-robot-to-walk-and-run-more-easily/
AI & such
Variety article: ‘SNL’ Skit Pokes Fun at Chatty Video Game NPCs — https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/snl-kit-harrington-vr-video-game-skit-1203183007/
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/
AR & such
Bose Frames — https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/frames.html
Still don’t have them — https://www.inverse.com/article/53927-apple-ar-glasses-launch-date-price-features-wearable
Form AR swim goggles — https://www.formswim.com
Minecraft Earth — https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/new-game–minecraft-earth
Jedis & such
Lightsaber dueling now a competitive sport in France — https://www.si.com/olympic-fencing/2019/02/18/lightsaber-dueling-competitive-sport-france-fencing-federation
Design You Trust post: Famous Classic Album Covers Mashed Up With Star Wars Characters — https://designyoutrust.com/2017/12/famous-classic-album-covers-mashed-star-wars-characters/
Life after Death Star – Richie Branson — https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/7/9860576/star-wars-biggie-smalls-mashup-album
Why 2019 was the biggest year in Star Wars history — https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/why-2019-was-the-biggest-year-in-star-wars-history
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Although both the technologies have their own share of pros and cons, augmented reality has a lower awareness rate as compared to virtual reality. This, however, could be due to the age group engaging with the technology. According to a survey, both AR and VR technologies have engagements mostly clustered around the 25-34 age group.