Published 12 June 2023
Andy and Michael M (this time) get this week’s episode of Games at Work underway with a set of articles and links focused on last week’s announcements from Apple’s WWDC and the world wide engagement on the newly announced VisionPro. It was a fun to experience WWDC together, even though we were physically distant from one another. Before getting into VisionPro, the pair takes a couple of moments to focus on some of the other announced capabilities, such as rotating docks in conjunction with continuity camera for FaceTime, the updates for autocorrect in iOS17 (no more ducking!) and that developer access is now available.
Both Andy and Michael have their perspectives on the headset, and the thirty minutes for the episode could not hold all of their epic discussion on the subject. They are both pleased to see the augmented reality treatment afforded by the VisionPro, and the thoughtful design and user experiences baked into the headset. The partnership with Zeiss is also intriguing – since custom lenses will need to be used with the VisionPro. Andy has a longer form blog post in the making with more of his impressions, and Michael M is cooking up some further ideas as well.
Andy made the point that there was no mention of VR, metaverse or AI during the WWDC keynote, but plenty of machine learning, and the focus on privacy and security continues to remain core to Apple’s messaging. Andy, in his early toot at the start of the WWDC keynote, said that this is Tim Cook’s legacy. Michael M wondered if when Steve Jobs said that he had “cracked TV” if VisionPro is perhaps what he meant, and perhaps the VisionPro is Steve’s legacy as well. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Apple could crack vision correction in the future with VisionPro?
Michael M made the connection between the multiple context and design choices Apple has been putting into MacOS and iOS that lend themselves well to an easy integration with the user experience of VisionPro. One such example is the recent OS feature called Stage Manager which has similarities in the way windows are grouped and positioned that are familiar with the VisionPro keynote demos.
Taking a brief couple of moments after the WWDC reactions, Andy and Michael discuss the Stable Diffusion powered generative AI artwork that encompasses QR codes as the output. The picture for this week is a memento mori vision in store for all people that Andy took during at a 3D printing show. Andy and Michael round out this week’s episode by touching briefly on a story where lasers have been used to guide lightning.
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These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.
Selected Article Links
WWDC — all things Apple
Creative Selection by Ken Kocienda
BBC News article: ‘Ducking hell’ to disappear from Apple autocorrect
Tom’s Guide article: iOS 17 developer beta is open to anyone — here’s how to download it now
9 to 5 Mac article: iOS 17 has new DockKit API to integrate camera apps with motorized iPhone stands
Games at work e290: Flying Cam
So there's a lot of folks reacting against the headset, which is not surprising. I’ll be watching to see how quickly or virally today’s presentation affects the rest of the industry / how far other companies instantly pivot to this same sort of direction. That was the impact of the iPhone, remember – suddenly every phone had to have a touch screen, camera, a similar-to-iOS experience. Let's see what comes from this: that's the *real* test for Tim Cook's Legacy #WWDC
A big day, or the #BiggestDayEver ? We’ll see shortly! #ipod #phone #InternetCommunicator
Apple right now #VisionPro
Please say we can use other peoples eyes. #WWDC
y'all, the apple vision pro is incredibly affordable and basically pays for itself if you just stop using electricity
getting started building my "I need Vision Pro for work" case
— You hang up!
— No, you hang up!
— You hang up!
— No, you hang up!
— Honey, I’m running the iOS 17 beta. I literally cannot hang up.
Other innovations
Ars Technica article: Redditor creates working anime QR codes using Stable Diffusion
reddit r/StableDiffusion post: ControlNet for QR Code
Smithsonian Magazine article: Scientists Guide Lightning Bolts With Lasers for the First Time
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:40 — 35.9MB) | Embed
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Such a fun episode, Michael & Andy! Loved your discussion on Life by You.