Episode 361 – Ancient Games & Ancient Texts

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fragment of an ancient Greek inscription
Photo by Yusuf Dündar on Unsplash

in @MichaelRowe01’s project, @DeepMind’s Ithaca, @Meta’s BCI thought-to-text tech, mapping your home for VR gaming, movies made from games, “laser” enabled wayfinding for bicycles, ancient games newly available

Michael R describes his greeting card application, and the machine learning classification system he is building.  He would love to get more examples of greeting cards for his training data set, so if you have any, please share them!  

Staying on the machine learning theme, Michael and Michael marvel at the DeepMind model that augments historians in their efforts to fill in the gaps in ancient texts.  DeepMind has developed project Ithaca to restore and attribute ancient Greek inscriptions.  You can even give it a spin using the link in the show notes below.

Then, Michael and Michael turn to a brain-computer interface (BCI) example from Meta.  This system uses a polymer sheet with sensors that is laid onto the surface of the brain and deciphers the words that the person thinks via, wait for it… machine learning.  The co-hosts imagine where this technology could go, with Michael R recollecting the Emotiv headset and Michael M imagining the incorporation of micro expressions and feelings to allow the computer to tune and tailor the exchanges with the user.  

After a fun discussion on Amazon’s upcoming God of War game made into a movie, and an exploration of what games could (or should/should not) be made into movies, Michael M brings up Neil Stephenson’s example of reactors from Diamond Age.  A blending of movies and immersive games could become much more real in the not-to-distant future, with people following live-action entertainment via a Twitch-like observational manner, or an even more in-depth karaoke/acting style engagement directly with others.

A bright idea for bicycle way finding up next, with a product from Lasercube which uses lasers to project directions on the road right in front of the bicycle.  Michael and Michael wrap up this episode with a couple of game news stories, including how Windows will run on the Steam Deck, and the ancient game F-Zero coming to the Switch.

What would you like to do with a BCI?  What movies would you like to see made from a game?   Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

The Verge article: DeepMind’s new AI model helps decipher, date and locate ancient inscriptions

DeepMind’s Ithaca

ZDNet article: How brain-computer interfaces are turning thoughts into text

The Ghost Howls blog: Custom Home Mapper lets you map your house and play VR games in it!

Sketchup 

Kotaku article: Report: Amazon Wants To Make A God of War TV Show

Neil Stephenson’s The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer

Gizmodo article: Laser-Projected GPS Directions Should Be a Standard Feature on Every Bicycle

Lasercube

The Verge article: The Steam Deck now runs Windows

The Verge article: N64 classic F-Zero comes to Switch this week with online play

slither.io

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Episode 360 – Bark < Byte

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cute & wistful dog
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash

mini @PetoiCamp robot dogs & cats, @Microsoft @Meta , @TinyCircuits’s mini GameBoy Thumby & a GameBoy clone and @getcana drinks by the drink

Andy, Michael and Michael start off this week’s episode with a metaverse discussion on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.  With the hardware and software components already in the Microsoft family, it becomes clear that all the pieces are in place to make a major splash in the metaverse.  An article from VentureBeat opens up a conversation about the use of AI in the metaverse and the difference it will make to create a customized user experience.  

Then things turn to robotics, with a story about mini robot dogs and cats that are very similar to the Boston Dynamics Spot robot.  Available for the relatively low price of $299, these robots can be assembled and programmed with Scratch, C++ and Python, and upgraded with Raspberry Pi  and Arduino chips.  These robots are a very interesting way to get started with developing practical experience with robotics, programming languages and extending into AI via additional chips.  

Next, the co-hosts talk about porting a clone of the popular New York Times Wordle app called Fiver to a GameBoy.  A kickstarter by TinyCircuits called Thumby is a keychain sized tiny GameBoy.  So, the cohosts muse whether Fiver could be ported to the Thumby.  

Wrapping up this episode, the team considers drinks by the drink from a startup called Cana.  This works by purchasing cartridges that install in the beverage machine and you dial up whatever drink you want. Replacement cartridges are shipped directly to you when the ones in the machine are empty, and you pay for the drinks you consume, by the drink.  

What drinks would you pay by the drink to have at home?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

Bloomberg Businessweek article: Microsoft Makes a $69 Billion Down Payment on the Metaverse 

VentureBeat article: Meta describes how AI will unlock the metaverse

Mashable article: Build your own mini robot dog with this DIY kit on sale

Petoi Bittle Robot Dog

Petoi Nybble Robot Cat

Hackaday article: Squeezing a Wordle Clone Onto the Game Boy

Fiver for Game Boy

Indigogo project: Thumby – The Tiny Playable Keychain

TinyCircuits

Tiny Violin

Eurogames article: Elden Ring remake imagines PS1 port

Halo 2600

Kickstarter project: Jolly Module Arduino UNO compatible electronic module with Wi-Fi

fischertechnik

Cana

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Episode 359 – Speak Friend & Enter

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doorway with open door leading to another door
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Manifest your reality into the via voice with @Meta ’s Builder Bot, stroll down the fashion district in @decentraland ‘s , buy @colbertlateshow ’s , earn in-game money that can be exported in @playhyperspace 

Words are powerful, and with Meta’s new “Builder Bot”, you can speak what you want to manifest into your personal virtual world.  This strikes Andy as a starting point that could eventually lead to something like the Star Trek Holodeck.  The co-hosts then also discuss how the artificial intelligence behind the Builder Bot can become more tuned to the user, so that it gets to know what the user really means when a request is made for a “picnic blanket over there”.

Sticking with the metaverse, the first ever Metaverse Fashion Week is coming up in Decentraland’s Fashion District on March 24 – 27.  According to the Metaverse Group press release, the event will feature catwalks, pop-up shops, and more.  Given that fashion digital assets could be bought and sold on the blockchain as NFTs, the team takes a look at Stephen Colbert’s NFT on Terra Virtua.  Andy actually went through the (several) steps to purchase one and is now a proud owner.

The team considers Hyperspace, a game coming soon that is not only free to play, but also provides an opportunity to work.  And by work, that means that making money in-game can give the player an opportunity to pull funds from the game into real life.  This is a bit of a twist, isn’t it?

Rounding out this week’s episode, the co-hosts consider the current status of AI copyrights and patenting.  Also, the apparent rising popularity of voice notes and what that bodes for efficient communication.

What NFT fashions might you purchase for your avatar?  And do you find voice notes effective? Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

Fast Company article: You will soon be able to speak objects into existence in the metaverse

VogueBusiness article: Paco Rabanne, D&G and Etro to appear at Metaverse Fashion Week

Decentraland 

Metaverse Group

Episode 283 — Virtual Cloaks

Vogue article: Would You Spend Real Money on Virtual Clothes?

Terra Virtua Donors Choose Colbert NFT

Marcos Antonio Tanaka apps

Gamespress article: Carbon Based Lifeforms Blasts into the Galaxy with Newly Announced Sandbox MMO Hyperspace

Hyperspace

Wylde Flowers

Engadget article: The Morning After: You can’t copyright AI-created art

The Guardian article: Intimate or irritating: are voice notes killing the phone call?

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Episode 358 – Metaversing

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Opus the penguin, holding a tuba mouthpiece
Picture by Michael Martine, Feb 2022

Metaverse as a product?  As a place?  Or a moment?  Life logging & open source software escrow as a means of historical preservation.  @onepeloton’s . And a dose of heavy metal tuba from Deathtöngue’s Bill the Cat & Opus Croakus.  Rock on with @andypiper @michaelrowe01 & @carolinabigblue

Starting off this week’s episode, Michael, Andy and Michael talk through the World Economic Forum’s assessment of the metaverse, and the the three theories posited by the article.  Andy pulls out the brain computer interface, and takes a deeper look at the non-surgical OpenBCI innovation, which reminds Michael R of his experiences with the Emotiv headset.  

Reminiscent of the MIT experiment of life logging from the 1990s, the co-hosts discuss the Motorola neckband, which is designed to make the XR glasses less bulky.  The team then turn their attention to the recently released Lanebreak game from Peloton, which introduces another interesting twist on gameifying your workout.  

The cohosts embark upon an intriguing discussion on the historical preservation of software.  The example of software support for implantable bionic eyes from SecondSight.  Comparisons between the historical preservation of architectural and cultural heritage are made with examples of software placed into open source escrow.

Michael R shares the news that Fox is planning a Bloom County animated TV series.  Michael M remembers rhythm tuba player Opus Croakus from Deathtöngue.  This TV show is certainly going to go up to eleven on the charts.

What fictional band would you most like to see in concert?  What software should be put into open source escrow in your opinion? Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

World Economic Forum article: 3 technologies that will shape the future of the metaverse – and the human experience

OpenBCI: Galea: Biosensing + Spacial Computing

Emotiv 

Episode 237 — Tasty Robots

The Verge article: This 5G neckband from Motorola could make XR glasses less bulky

MIT Technology Review article: My Life, Logged

The Chronicle of Higher Education article: On The Record, All the Time

MIT Media Lab people: Steve Mann publications 

The Verge article: Go read this dystopian story about patients whose bionic eyes went obsolete

IEEE Spectrum article: Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete And Unsupported

Moorfields Eye Hospital article: Revolutionary bionic chip inserted in Moorfields patient’s eye

SecondSight

The Verge article: Peloton’s Lanebreak video game is finally here

The Verge article: Netflix is making a live-action BioShock movie

Slashfilm article: Bloom County Animated TV Series In The Works At Fox, Based On The 1980s Comic

The Tyranny of Tradition article: Deathtöngue Honored By Imaginary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

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