Netflix as the Netflix of gaming services, robots for logistics & loneliness, AI image creation, all-online WWDC21 & LEGO Con.
Michael and Michael get together for an abbreviated recording session dealing with robots, AI, games and conferences a-plenty! Starting things off with a story about how Netflix intends to be the Netflix of subscription-based gaming, Michael and Michael then turn to robotics. DHL is poised to put into service 2,000 Locus Robotics units. On a much smaller scale, a recent New Yorker article goes deep on how robots can stave off loneliness on an individual level.
Going very local (for Michael and Michael), researchers at NC State University have made intriguing advancements in the field of AI. You can check out the source code from the show notes below to see how robots could use this functionality to ‘imagine’ what a completed task should look like.
Michael R is very excited about his upcoming participation in Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, starting on 7 June. He shares some of his experiences as a user of he 2021 Apple Design Award winners. Michael M shared the news of the upcoming LEGO Con, likewise coming to a browser near you on 26 June. Between these two conferences, it’s a sure bet that everything will be awesome.
See something that you think is awesome too? Drop us a link over on @Gamesatwork_biz and the co-hosts could bring it into a future episode.
Gamification of Ts & Cs, virtual social entrepreneurship & developer conferences from Google & Apple, physical (Catan) and online (Stadia) gaming, AR Spectacles.
Michael, Andy and Michael start of this week’s show with a serious persuasive game about “the deviousness of websites and apps” where the objective is to not accept the terms and conditions of the site. After 29 questions, none of the co-hosts successfully avoided accepting all of the terms and conditions, notifications and cookies — see if you fare better by trying out the link in the show notes below! This is followed up by a Forbes article on the Chrome browser & FLoC tracking.
Next, Andy shares with Michael and Michael his experiences at the Roomkey Social Entrepreneurship Festival virtual conference. This reminded Andy of the Skittish virtual event space that the team first discussed in episode 309, and Microsoft Mesh. Google created I/O Adventure to allow people to virtually interact with one another. Apple put a little easter egg into the WWDC announcement graphic in the reflection of one of the developer’s glasses.
There are a few quick hitters in the mix to close out this week’s episode — a deepfake with Robert De Nero speaking German, a highly detailed version of the board game Catan, a discussion on the pricing of Stadia games, a reflection on the new Spectacles from Snap and remarks about the upcoming Portal movie.
All in all a pretty good set of materials for a bank/holiday weekend for the UK and US-based co-hosts!
Augmented thumb, World Cup, Eurovision & AI inspired music, Ford F-150 frunk, Zhurong & Zigbee on Mars, RasQberry quantum computing and more!
With all of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy references in recent episodes, Michael, Michael and Andy could not resist the story of a third thumb. This experimental augmented appendage is noteworthy because of the rapidity with which the subjects got used to the extra thumb, and how much they missed it at the end of the study. In a related story, the computer-brain interface leveraging the sensation of touch helped speed up the adoption and precision of the user.
Turning to the world of automotive mobility, there were several articles about electric vehicles – starting with a cure for range anxiety. The cure? Ubiquitous charging stations where the time to recharge (or swap batteries) approaches the time to fill up with gasoline. This is closer to reality than one might think. Also important, purchase price parity for the economics fans in the Games At Work audience — where the total cost of ownership, including the initial purchase price of the vehicle, is close to the fossil fuel powered competition. The iconic Ford F-150 now has an electric version, replete with the ability to provide emergency household power and an enormous frunk. Staying with battery power, check out the Qi-charging retrofit of an HP-25 calculator. Quite an accomplishment to behold.
Next up, several stories of home automation. First off, an example for what happens when things go wrong, with the Eufy camera security issue. Then when things go incredibly right – proven Zigbee home automation technology serving as the underpinnings for the Ingenuity helicopter communications. And big recent news: the Chinese Zhurong rover successfully lands on Mars, and rolls off it’s platform to explore. Space is indeed hard – and this is a tremendous accomplishment.
Back on Earth, and continuing with the computing theme, this week’s Raspberry Pi story revolves around the qubit. Jan and Robert Lahmann built out a Raspberry Pi using IBM’s Qiskit, calling the creation RasQberry. Check out the code from the Github link and article in the show notes below.
Rounding out the show this week are a couple of quick hit articles. Nintendo Switch games, AirTags as NFC triggers, a LEGO Daily Bugle kit and AI taking a famous Spice Girls song and reimagining it as a Nine Inch Nails tune. What would be your recommendation to pass through the Nine Inch Nails AI? Perhaps the #Eurovision2021 winner?
Space, the current frontier, AirTags, AI convolutional networks improving game photorealism, explosive propulsion, the Infinite Improbability Drive and a bevy of games.
Andy starts off this episode with his shiny new AirTag experience and reflects on the discussion from last week’s show. Andy and Michael both consider the rapidity of which the AirTags have been hacked.
Michael R and Andy then launch into deep space. The co-hosts reflect on the amazing fact that the Voyager spacecraft are still transmitting data after so long, and being so far away from Earth. After discussing the strange ‘hum’ that’s been detected by the Voyager spacecraft, the pair talk about the Star Trek: Legends game on Apple Arcade and a couple of television shows.
Switching from spacecraft to aircraft, Michael R and Andy turn their attention to a story from UCF researchers who have had success with a hypersonic detonation engine. This engine draws power from oblique wave detonation that theoretically could create enough thrust to power an aircraft up to 17 times the speed of sound. Incredible!
Coming back down to Earth, the cohosts then take a look at the improved photo realism stemming from the Cityscapes dataset in conjunction with a convolutional AI network for Grand Theft Auto V. Michael R notes that the hills in California light brown while German hills are green, and this had a factor in the machine learning model which tinge the California hills green.
Andy and Michael then make the connection to last week’s episode on generating interiors, and with the combination play of outdoor landscapes (Flight Simulator) to cities (GTA V) to the interior of buildings to have fully livable virtual worlds in only 50 years.
Demeo is a great example of playing virtually together in the Oculus social/digital realm. Check out the launch video below. The pair then close out this week’s episode with D&D, Board Game Geek, genres and categories to indulge your inner game geek.
