Episode 323 — Bots & Bricks

Netflix as the Netflix of gaming services, robots for logistics & loneliness, AI image creation, all-online WWDC21 & LEGO Con.

Michael and Michael get together for an abbreviated recording session dealing with robots, AI, games and conferences a-plenty!  Starting things off with a story about how Netflix intends to be the Netflix of subscription-based gaming, Michael and Michael then turn to robotics.  DHL is poised to put into service 2,000 Locus Robotics units.  On a much smaller scale, a recent New Yorker article goes deep on how robots can stave off loneliness on an individual level.  

Going very local (for Michael and Michael), researchers at NC State University have made intriguing advancements in the field of AI.  You can check out the source code from the show notes below to see how robots could use this functionality to ‘imagine’ what a completed task should look like.

Michael R is very excited about his upcoming participation in Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, starting on 7 June.  He shares some of his experiences as a user of he 2021 Apple Design Award winners.  Michael M shared the news of the upcoming LEGO Con, likewise coming to a browser near you on 26 June.  Between these two conferences, it’s a sure bet that everything will be awesome.  

See something that you think is awesome too?  Drop us a link over on @Gamesatwork_biz and the co-hosts could bring it into a future episode.

Selected Links

Firstpost article: Netflix planing to enter the gaming industry with subscription-based gaming service — https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/netflix-planning-to-enter-the-gaming-industry-with-subscription-based-gaming-service-report-9681531.html 

TechCrunch article: DHL will deploy 2,000 Locus Robotics units by 2022 — https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/02/dhl-will-deploy-2000-locus-robotics-units-by-2022/ 

Locus Robotics — https://locusrobotics.com 

The New Yorker article: What Robots Can — and Can’t — Do for the Old and Lonely — https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/what-robots-can-and-cant-do-for-the-old-and-lonely 

WRAL TechWire article: NCSU researchers report breakthrough in creating images through artificial intelligence — https://www.wraltechwire.com/2021/06/03/ncsu-researchers-report-breakthrough-in-creating-images-though-artificial-intelligence/ 

IEEE Xplore publication: Learning Layout and Style Reconfigurable GANs for Controllable Image Synthesis — https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9427066 

GitHub iVMCL / LostGANs — https://github.com/iVMCL/LostGANs 

TechCrunch article: Indivisible is training an army of volunteers to neutralize political misinformation — https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/01/indivisible-truth-brigade/ 

Skittish blog post: May Updates: Text Chat, Event Privacy, Channel Zones, and More — https://new.skittish.com 

MacRumors article: MBUX now with Apple Music — https://www.macrumors.com/2021/06/04/apple-music-coming-to-mercedes-mbux/ 

2021 Apple Design Awards — https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/ 

Apple’s all-online Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off June 7 with keynote address — https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/05/apples-worldwide-developers-conference-kicks-off-june-7/ 

LEGO Con is coming — https://www.lego.com/en-us/lego-con 

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