e367 – Pointless Terrifying Tech

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swarm, Starling roost at Otmoor UK
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summary

e367: Pointless Terrifying Tech – stories about The Key V2.0, VR ultrasound sensations, swarming drones, fictional user interfaces, EMF Camp, Blade Runner and Diablo Immortal.

Andy and Michael start things off this week with an update to the Stack Overflow April Fools joke made real (The Key) with an RGB LED enabled update.  While Andy and Michael M already have the V1.0 version, Andy is tempted by the lights.  

A story about researchers at Carnegie Mellon who have prototyped a way to let you feel kisses on your lips via a set of ultrasound emitters quickly moves towards feeling spiderwebs instead, which is somewhat less delightful.  

Swarming drones spin off an interesting discussion on the use cases for the technology.  

Andy highlights a web page devoted to FUIs: fictional user interfaces.  Michael R shares how he got to work with one of the designers of the Minority Report interface.  Andy is very excited about the upcoming EMF Camp, where he will get a chance to work with makers and maybe even a FUI or two himself.  

More excitement: a Kickstarter for a role playing game based on Blade Runner is still going on for people who want to join in the fun, and Diablo Immortal is entering open beta on PC.

Ready to buy the updated The Key, try out a FUI or sign up to be the DM for a Blade Runner event?   Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

The Overflow: Unlock your full programming potential with The Key V2.0

The Key V2.0

Gizmodo article: VR Researchers Have Basically Figured Out How to Simulate the Feel of Kisses

TechCrunch article: Swarming drones autonomously navigate a dense forest (and chase a human)

Daniel Suarez’s book Kill Decision

Games at Work e250: See Clearly Now (discussion on swarming drones from Nov 2019)

The Verge article: Clippy is in Halo Infinite

Red vs Blue wiki article: Red vs. Blue

Huds and Guis

LCARS

Goodreads book: Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing

Electromagnetic Field Camp event: Is it Minority Report yet? Preventing Crime with Data and Evidence

Kickstarter project: BLADE RUNNER – The Roleplaying Game

Diablo Immortal

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e366 – MetaMoney

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stacking euro coins on top of a rook
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MetaMoney – stories about the monetization of the metaverse, immortality, Habitat MMO, autonomous & LEGO classic vehicles. 

Andy, Michael and Michael start things off in this episode discussing the monetization of the metaverse.  Stories about the percentage of sales going to Meta, as the owner of the virtual experience form the launch point for the discussion with the co-hosts.  As reported by Gizmodo, 47.5% of the sales price will go to Meta, which includes the 30% Oculus hardware fee.  These substantial sums spark a conversation about metaverse arbitrage opportunities, and make it easy to imagine how price competition may evolve with different taxation rates in different app stores.  

Next up is a story about metaverse immortality.  Longtime Games At Work listeners will remember intriguing discussion about this topic going all the way back to 2012.  See the links to episodes 26 and 218 and 328 in the show notes below.  Andy brings up the “Be Right Back” episode of Black Swan, which raise many issues about what might emerge from this kind of technology.

Michael R shares a story about Habitat, a classic MMO that he played on the Commodore 64, reminding him of the Little Computer People discussed on e163.

Then, the co-hosts turn to a Kickstarter for a doorbell camera whose differentiation is a virtual eye.  The Doggole Smart Eye Doorbell has a single human eye that watches the person ringing the bell, and triggers a bit of an uncanny valley experience.   It reminds Michael M of the droid at Jabba’s place that answers the gate.

Wrapping up this episode are stories about police officers pulling over an autonomous vehicle, map enhancements coming for Subaru, the LEGO DeLorean from Back to the Future, the LEGO Landspeeder coming on Star Wars Day, ancient dice and a new Star Trek, Next Generation reimagined as a 1970s era animated series.

Ready to try immortality, or build the new LEGO Landspeeder?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

C|Net article: Meta Begins Monetizing Its Metaverse

Gizmodo article: Meta Wants You to Sell Virtual Stuff, but You Gotta Pay the Metaverse Tax

9 to 5 Mac article: Meta is launching Horizon Worlds on web and mobile

Vice article: Metaverse Company to Offer Immortality Through ‘Live Forever’ mode 

Somnium Space

Games at Work e328: Classic BMW

Games at Work e218: Virtually Married

Games at Work e26: Business Process Management and Immortality

Black Mirror episode: Be Right Back

The Verge article: Habitat for Humanity: How a Classic MMO Got a Second Life

Habitat for Humanity

Second Life

Wikipedia article: Little Computer People

Games at Work e163: Chat Me Maybe?

Kickstarter: Doggole Smart Eye Doorbell

Mashable article: Confused cops pulled over a driverless car. It drove off.

Ars Technica article: Subaru is the latest automaker to add what3words navigation

Counterpoint to above article

LEGO DeLorean still temporarily out of stock

LEGO Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder 

Gizmodo article: 6 Ancient D20s That Will Definitely Not Curse You

Screenrant article: Star Trek Fan Edit Reimagines TNG in Style of 1970s Animated Series

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:43 — 36.5MB) | Embed

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e365 – Pixel Perfect

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e365: Pixel Perfect with stories on Life-Cal.com, @Reddit r/Place, $1m homepage & pixel flavored Coke, partnership w/ @LEGO_Group & @EpicGames, @LSWGame and a taste of mana from 2010.

Michael, Andy and Michael have a pixel perfect set of stories to share for this week’s episode.  The cohosts start things off with Life-Cal, a website which will produce a custom visualization of the weeks ahead to allow you to reflect on living a life well lived, week by week.  Other pixel themed topics include the Reddit r/Place timelapse, the Million Dollar Homepage, and a pixel-flavored Coke.

An AI thought experiment started a couple of weeks ago on how an AI agent may recommend when and how to break up with a partner, inspired this week’s article on how a broken relationship could be mended, also using an AI agent.  

In all things metaverse, the cohosts evaluate the LEGO & Epic partnership to create an environment friendly to young people.  This reminds the team of earlier forays (2010 – 2012) such as Lego Universe, and what’s been learned since then.  With the launch of the newest LEGO Star Wars franchise game, The Skywalker Saga, has Andy very excited, and Michael M is interested to get the Switch edition as well.  

The cohosts also revisit the “Vile in a Vial” experience of trying a mana potion while recording an episode of Dogear Nation back in 2010.  Give a listen to Dogear Nation episode 158 to hear Michael and Michael try the mana potions, which thankfully are no longer available for purchase.  

What’s your experience with Life-Cal?  Have you given The Skywalker Saga a try?   Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

Life-Cal.com

Wikipedia article: Memento mori

Stylist article: The Ex Factor: the websites promising to mend your broken relationship

Games At Work episode 363 – Make A New Plan, Stan

The Verge article: Epic and Lego partner to build a metaverse for kids

Wikipedia article: Lego Universe 

The Verge article: Paramount won’t stop making Star Trek NFTs

Games Radar article: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga lets you fly by beating up young Anakin

Doom’s BFG9000

The Verge article: I tried the pixel-flavored Coke, and it Bytes

The Verge article: Watching the r/Place timelapse is like staring into the heart of Reddit

Million Dollar Homepage 

dogear nation podcast logo
Dogear Nation podcast logo

Dogear Nation e158 Vile in a Vial from June 2010 

Engadget article: ThinkGeek is selling Mana Energy Potion if you want it

Wikipedia article: Scantron

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Episode 364 – Slimy Bots

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purple slime
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All things bots with @PiaggioFastFwd Gitamini, @flytrexcom burrito delivery, @BostonDynamics Spot & @Spotify, custard consistency slime bot and @dyson Zone

Michael, Andy and Michael start off this week’s episode by announcing that Games at Work, the podcast is not being cancelled.  Unlike E3.  Then, they move quickly into all things bot.  Robots such as Piaggio’s Gitamini get attention from a WSJ review.  And the co-hosts speculate on the usefulness of a robotic follower that can carry objects for you, although is limited by stairs.  Then the Flytrex drones, which are delivering food in Holly Springs, NC get some attention.

Andy and Michael M express their excitement for Jane McGonigal’s new book Imaginable and then switch gears to consider a robot made of magnetic slime and it’s potential uses in the future.  Check out the video from the embedded tweet below to get an idea for how this innovative material could be used.  Not to be outdone by flying, rolling and oozing bots, the co-hosts discuss a new pairing of Boston Dynamics Spot with a drone to patrol Pompeii.  

Wrapping things up for this week, the cohosts consider the Overcast podcast client redesign, Spotify’s new delivery feed, how LinkedIn profiles may be AI-created images and the new Dyson Zone headphones with an air filter that just seems like it must be an April Fools joke. 

What would you like delivered by drone?  How would you deploy a slimebot?  Is the Dyson Zone an April Fools joke?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

The Verge article: E3 2022 is canceled

The Wall Street Journal article: This Robot Promises to Make the Backpack Obsolete

Games at Work episode 340 — Tiny Grand Ideas

Piaggio’s mygita.com

Axios article: Axios What’s Next

Flytrex

Imaginable by Jane McGonigal 

Reuters article: Four-legged robot deployed to help manage Pompeii

Boston Dynamics Spot

Tindie: MarsCat

Tindie blog: MarsCat: A Bionic Pet Cat! 

marco.org blog: The Overcast Redesign: Part One

The Verge article: Spotify tests a podcast discovery feed

NPR article: That smiling LinkedIn profile face may be a computer-generated fake

GameRant article: Pokemon GO Fan Has Played the Game So Much It’s Burnt Into Their iPhone Screen

BGR article: Dyson Zone headphones come with a built-in air purifier 

Dyson Zone press release

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