Episode 346 — Skittish Repairs

Skittish, right to repair, metaverse(s), accessible design, a Meta VR glove and bionic exoskeletons.

Andy, Michael and Michael start off this episode from Skittish, trying out a space replete with trees, velvet red roped off areas and coconuts among many other objects.  Blog posts from New World Notes launches further discussion on the metaverse, with the attempts by some companies to create their “own metaverse”.  In an interview with Neal Stephenson referenced in the blog post, Neal speculates that the broader use of the metaverse term by multiple companies is to ensure that none of them can establish a trademarkable position.

The co-hosts are all intrigued by Apple’s latest move to provide repair kits, with tools and parts to allow consumers to self repair their Apple products, starting with iPhone.  Michael, Andy and Michael then turn their thoughts to accessibility, and the benefits to all when inclusive design is applied.  In the case of the Apple Watch, there are several gesture controls that may be invoked when one cannot tap the touchscreen.  And AirBuddy is another example of great design for MacOS that allows easy connection to AirPods.  Michael R uses his positive experience with Apple and AirBuddy as an example to give a public service announcement for how to best deal with production support for users. 

After briefly discussing the new Meta VR glove experience (and somehow not referencing the Nintendo Power Glove last mentioned in e318 back in May), Andy notes that the Infinity Gauntlet could not be used to snap.  Check out the show notes for the physics of snapping for all the details.  

Bionic exoskeletons are what round out this week’s episode with the kickstarter for the Sportsmate 5.  This reminds Michael R of the exoskeleton pants developed by researchers at Harvard University and the University of Nebraska, Omaha, first discussed in episode 241.

Seen another interesting metaverse you’d like to have an in depth discussion?  Have an idea for an exoskeleton you’d like to self repair?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!

Selected Links

Skittish — https://skittish.com

Games at Work world on Skittish — https://live.skittish.com/event/jdR78j 

Six Colors article: Apple Launches a Consumer “Self Service Repair” Program, Starting with iPhones — https://sixcolors.com/link/2021/11/apple-launches-a-consumer-self-service-repair-program-for-iphones/ 

Ars Technica article: Apple will soon send parts and tools to users who want to repair their phones — https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/11/apple-will-soon-send-parts-and-tools-to-users-who-want-to-repair-their-phones/ 

The Verge article: How to control your Apple Watch hands free — https://www.theverge.com/22778189/apple-watch-assistive-touch-accessibility 

Interaction Design Foundation post: 3 Reasons Why Accessible Design Is Good for All — https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/3-reasons-why-accessible-design-is-good-for-all 

AirBuddy v2 — https://v2.airbuddy.app 

New World Notes blog post: Neal Stephenson Speculates New Metaverse Hype Partially Driven By Turf Protection — https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2021/11/neal-stephenson-metaverse-snow-crash-facebook-disney.html 

New World Notes blog post: With Disney Announcing “Our Own Metaverse”, Prepare For An IP Bloodbath Across Competing Platforms — https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2021/11/marvel-disney-metaverse-roblox-vrchat.html 

Boy Genius Report article: This new glove from Facebook lets you feel objects in VR — https://bgr.com/tech/this-new-glove-from-facebook-lets-you-feel-objects-in-vr/ 

Smithsonian Magazine article: If Marvel Obeyed Physics, Thanos Couldn’t Have Snapped While Wearing the Infinity Gauntlet — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/inspired-by-avengers-infinity-wars-scientists-investigate-the-finger-snap-180979081/ 

Episode 318 — Virtually Floating: https://gamesatwork.biz/2021/05/03/episode-318-virtually-floating/ 

Nintendo Power Glove — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Glove  

@GamesAtWork_Biz a kickstarter exoskeleton https://t.co/qH8cxcLs3Z

— Ian Hughes/epredator (@epredator) November 18, 2021

Kickstarter Sportsmate 5 — https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1485648715/worlds-first-exoskeleton-for-consumers-sportsmate5 

MIT Technology Review article: These bionic shorts help turn an epic hike into a leisurely stroll — https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/08/15/238703/these-bionic-shorts-help-turn-an-epic-hike-into-a-leisurely-stroll/ 

Episode 241 — Smarty Pants: https://gamesatwork.biz/2019/08/19/episode-241-smarty-pants/

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