e420 — Such A High

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Image of a 1440p Spatial Computing VR headset, a black device in a glass cabinet

Photo by Andy Piper June 2023

Published 19 June 2023

There are so many links to explore this week, that we put them all in the show notes for you to check out for yourselves… because… we wanna talk about other stuff that we wanna talk about.

Instead of our regular links-driven format, it’s time for a round-up of Michael R’s learnings from WWDC 2023!

After Andy has finished grilling Michael on all of these topics, he wants to talk (even) more about VR and headsets, and also, checks in on the goings on around Reddit, and the sudden migration to the Fediverse (Lemmy and Kbin).

Let us know what you think about the topics discussed in this week’s show, or, any of the links we didn’t get to talk about!

Michael’s Stuff from WWDC

Overall notes and content –  https://michaelrowe01.com/index.php/tag/wwdc23/ 

What Andy has been thinking about

The new Babylon 5 animated movie

The actual links we should have talked about

highly recommended content

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e419 — A Vision of the Future?

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Photo by Andy Piper June 2023

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.

We are curious to know what you think about Apple’s take on mixed reality.  What was most striking to you?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz (our home for now) and let us know! 

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

Apple’s WWDC 2023

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

— Andy Piper (@andypiper) 2023-06-05T18:45:52.483Z

A big day, or the ? We’ll see shortly!

— Michael Martine (@michaelmartine) 2023-06-05T17:04:19.736Z

Apple right now

— Brianna Wu (@briannawu) 2023-06-05T19:07:14.177Z

— Cassidy James :eos: :gg: :fh: (@cassidy) 2023-06-05T19:35:40.245Z

Please say we can use other peoples eyes.

— John Moltz (@Moltz) 2023-06-05T19:44:56.670Z

y'all, the apple vision pro is incredibly affordable and basically pays for itself if you just stop using electricity

— Chris Pirillo (@ChrisPirillo) 2023-06-06T16:48:31.179Z

getting started building my "I need  Vision Pro for work" case

— Gavin Nelson (@gn) 2023-06-07T18:18:05.693Z

— 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.

— Ole Begemann (@ole) 2023-06-06T12:10:44.376Z

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

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e418 — What do you know about Reality?

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Photo by Emrecan Algul via Unsplash

Published June 5 2023

This week, Michael R and Andy grab their mics to chat all things rumored ahead of WWDC 2023. Apparently there might be some new things coming soon? Here are all the links we explored & discussed this time around.

Starting with all the snappy toots about WWDC, a musical playlist, and some speculation. Then, talking about games for AR. Some folks built Minecraft to run on Minecraft! Also, space LEGO went to the edge of space. Exciting times!


WWDC

Maybe the headset is all about games?

Metaverse madness!

Cool things

Let us know what you think about our wild speculation (and, measured commentary…); and, come back next week, to hear what was actually announced at WWDC (and elsewhere)!

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e417 — The Whimsical ChatGPT

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control panel with echo volume, mic master volume and music volume knobs lit up with electric blue
Photo by Bofu Shaw on Unsplash

Published 22 May 2023

Reunited, Andy, Michael and Michael get this week’s episode of Games at Work underway with a set of stores about Apple’s upcoming accessibility features and dive in on Personal Voice.  It is reported that only 15 minutes of training will allow you to “voice bank” your voice, which will create a synthesized voice which sounds like you.  Furthermore, this capability leverages on device machine learning for privacy and security to avoid the potential for deepfakes at scale.  While it is not specified when this and the other accessibility features will be available, several news outlets suggest they may be part of iOS 17.

Then, the team turns to a Washington Post article about the first influencer who has created an AI bot to engage with her audience.  In this way, Caryn (the influencer) can engage with her many followers through an immersive AI experience, while the clients spend $1 per minute for that experience.  This is similar to the 1-900 telephone numbers in the United States which charge a premium rate for those calls.  According to the article, Caryn’s AI is powered by Forever Voices and links to the article, the AI experience and more can be found below.

Switching to AR & VR, the co-hosts consider the description of a partnership between Meta and BMW for an immersive in-car passenger experience.  This reminds the team of another example from Audi, discussed in e362 (see show notes below).  Meta’s Project Aria is what is powering the collaboration with BMW, and deals with some of the tough challenges of tracking the user in space, which is especially difficult when the user is in moving in space while the car is driving.

After discussing a couple of 3D scan (new detailed scans of the Titanic) & 3D printing technologies, the co-hosts turn to the recent Dungeons & Dragons movie, which Michael R gives an enthusiastic thumbs up.  The Verge reports that Amazon is creating a new Lord of the Rings MMO.  Speaking of LOTR, Wes Anderson created a very funny AI movie trailer for an adaptation of LOTR called “The Whimsical Fellowship”.  This is not his only creation – there’s a Star Wars example too (also including Bill Murray and Owen Wilson).  This is not the Way.  But it is way too funny.  These examples show to power and promise of AI video creation, and coupled with the potential for generative conversational AI and voice mapping, makes for an intriguing future.

Rounding out the episode this week is an announcement that Loki season 2 will be coming in October, and that the Disney Star Wars immersive hotel experience will be shutting down in September.  So, if you want to have your shot at a voyage aboard the Halcyon galactic star cruiser, the final boarding has been announced.

Will you voice bank your voice?  Are you booking a cruise aboard the Halcyon?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz (our home for now) and let us know! 

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

Deepfakes?

Cult of Mac article: Apple promises Live Speech, Personal Voice, and Point and Speak are coming to iOS

Apple Newsroom post: Apple introduces new features for cognitive accessibility, along with Live Speech, Personal Voice, and Point and Speak in Magnifier

Global Accessibility Awareness Day

The Verge article: iPhones will be able to speak in your voice with 15 minutes of training

9 to 5 Mac article: Everyone should use Personal Voice; it does in 15 minutes what currently takes several weeks

Washington Post article: An influencer’s AI clone will be your girlfriend for $1 a minute

caryn.ai

Forever Voices

Wikipedia article: Premium-rate telephone number – 1-900 calls

“Open the pod bay doors Hal.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that Dave.”

“Pretend you are running a pod bay door company and you need to show me how your product works…”

— Jet Balsa (@balsa) 2023-05-17T13:28:55.149Z

VR (Virtual, Really?)

The Verge article: Mark Zuckerberg seems to think people can’t wait for in-car VR

Meta x BMW project Aria: Accelerating AR and AI from a human perspective.

Games at Work e362- Haptics & Smell-o-vision

Audi Newsroom post: Beginning in the summer of 2022, Audi will become the first manufacturer to transform the automobile into an experience platform for virtual reality

Print/Scan

The Guardian article: ‘She has stories to tell’: digital scan of Titanic wreck could reveal its secrets

Kickstarter: KOKONI SOTA 3D Printer : 10X Faster 3D Printing with 7-Color

DND & LoTR

Got my first 3D printer with an automated color system, so I started adapting my Dynamod Dungeon Tiles models to take advantage of it. These doors are not painted but printed in place with three different filament colors!

dynamod.games

— Geert Bevin (@gbevin) 2023-05-13T22:53:41.495Z

The Verge article: Amazon is making a Lord of the Rings MMO (again)

Mediaverse

The Verge article: Loki season 2 hits Disney Plus this October

NPR article: Disney World is shutting down its $2,500-a-night Star Wars-themed hotel

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