Episode 242 — Random Walk

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Random walk through a forest
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Minecraft is back in the the Games At Work feed for this episode because of the improvements in both the ray tracing and AR capabilities included in Minecraft Earth.  Michael and Michael agree that the ray tracing takes Minecraft a bit too far away from the 8-bit roots, while the ability to build in AR is right up their proverbial alley.  

After checking out a few other AR apps from the Mashable list, the co-hosts marvel at what appears at first to be a random walk by several people looking intently at their phones, but in reality is a group who are rapidly mapping in 3D their surroundings using only their phone cameras and a new api from 6D.ai.  While certainly an expected feature and need for autonomous vehicles, the ability to create dynamic maps in real time by walking around with your camera could prove to be enormously valuable, and make everyone a contributor to keeping maps up to date.

Rounding out this episode with a discussion on bluetooth security and the cat and mouse efforts with credit card skimmers, Michael and Michael didn’t have quite enough time to talk about all the cool articles from the week.  The ones they thought interesting are included in the bonus links below.  

Check out the links and have a listen to the podcast!

Selected Links

The Next Web article: Minecraft with ray tracing looks so good I actually want to play it — https://thenextweb.com/gaming/2019/08/19/minecraft-with-ray-tracing-looks-so-good-i-actually-want-to-play-it/ 

Andy Piper’s tweet about Minecraft Earth

Minecraft Earth — https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/earth 

Macworld article: 10 augmented reality apps for iPhone and iPad you should be using right now — https://www.macworld.com/article/3390180/best-augmented-reality-ar-apps-for-ios-iphone-ipad.html 

New World Notes article: Watch: Real World Location Virtually Recreated To Scale In Minutes — https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2019/08/volumetric-mirror-world-mapping-6d_ai.html 

6D.ai — https://www.6d.ai 

SLAM, Simultaneous localization and mapping — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simultaneous_localization_and_mapping 

New World Notes article:  Sansar Getting Experience Points & Questions — Smart Break From Linden Labs’s Past “Second Life Is Not a Game” Mistake — https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2019/08/sansar-linden-lab-social-vr-backstory-quest-system.html 

UC San Diego News Center: App Allows Inspectors to Find Gas Pump Skimmers Faster — https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/bluetana 

TWiT network: Security Now episode 728: The KNOB is Broken — https://twit.tv/shows/security-now/episodes/728?autostart=false 

Mashable article: Bluetooth is bad and you should stop using it — https://mashable.com/article/bluetooth-is-bad/ 

Bonus links

TechCrunch article: Silicone 3D printing startup Spectroplast spins out of ETHZ with $1.5M — https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/22/silicone-3d-printing-startup-spectroplast-spins-out-of-ethz-with-1-5m/ 

Spectroplast —  https://spectroplast.com 

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences article: The RoboBee flies solo — https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2019/06/robobee-flies-solo 

TechCrunch article: Mobile gaming is a $68.5 billion global business, and investors are buying in — https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/22/mobile-gaming-mints-money/ 

ESPN article: Introducing a new way to rate college football players — https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/PSimpactrating0819/introducing-new-way-rate-college-football-players 

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Episode 241 — Smarty Pants

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jeans with Raspberry Pi in the pocket
Photo by Michael Martine, 2019.

Gear up with automotive embedded AR innovations that do not require glasses to experience.  Michael and Michael discuss the relative merits of this method of automotive user experience agains the classic HUD, and come to the conclusion that placing the information on the windshield has some key advantages, and also does not require AR glasses.  

For those that are not driving by the seat of their pants, and instead want to get up and walk around, this episode also has something for you:  a hip exosuit developed by Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering along with the University of Nebraska Omaha.  These smart shorts give the wearer a robotic boost while running or walking.  And the smart clothing doesn’t stop there — researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a textile technology they are calling metamaterial to establish stronger connections faster, which will have the benefit of saving on battery life for the wireless devices we have with us all the time.  Imagine the combination of the exosuit with such metamaterial!  Now that would truly be some smarty pants!

Selected Links

TechCrunch article: Bosch is working on glasses-free 3D displays for in-car use — https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/12/bosch-is-working-on-glasses-free-3d-displays-for-in-car-use/ 

VR Scout article: Mercedes-Benz Looks To Replace Owner’s Manual With AR App — https://vrscout.com/news/mercedes-benz-ar-owners-manual/ 

MIT Technology Review — These bionic shorts help turn an epic hike into a leisurely stroll — https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614178/these-bionic-shorts-help-turn-an-epic-hike-into-a-leisurely-stroll/ 

TechCrunch article: These robo-shorts are the precursor to a true soft exoskeleton — https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/15/these-robo-shorts-are-the-precursor-to-a-true-soft-exoskeleton/ 

Science article: Witnessing a wearables transition — https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6454/636 

Wyss Institute article: Suit up with a robot to walk AND run more easily — https://wyss.harvard.edu/suit-up-with-a-robot-to-walk-and-run-more-easily/ 

ReWalk Robotics — https://rewalk.com 

Reuters article: ‘Smart’ clothing can boost wearable tech: Singapore researchers — https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-technology/smart-clothing-can-boost-wearable-tech-singapore-researchers-idUSKCN1V50VK 

Wired article: A Photographer Made A Working Replica of NASA’s Moon Camera — https://www.wired.com/story/a-photographer-made-a-working-replica-of-nasas-moon-camera/ 

ZD Net article: Apple sued for not disclosing that ‘iCloud storage’ relies on third-party cloud services — https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-sued-for-not-disclosing-that-icloud-storage-relies-on-aws-azure-google/ 

It’s electric!  Boogie woogie, woogie! 



I Hanker for a Hunka Cheese 

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Episode 240 — Game of Life

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game board with playing pieces
Photo by Michael Martine, 2019

After a couple of weeks of summer break, Michael and Michael get back together, with more stories than they can tackle in this one episode!  

Kicking things off with an intriguing article about how gamification is applied to the ride sharing business of Uber & Lyft, Michael and Michael appreciate how the algorithms in the apps guide human behavior to optimize the financial outcomes.  Keeping with the theme of driving, the pair then discuss how AI is being used to increase awareness of attentiveness, as in the case of the Yandex.Taxi service in Moscow.

With Michael R’s love of swimming the Form AR goggles make a big splash — showing the user how many laps and the time in AR right there in the pool.  Google Maps’ new AR capability is highlighted in the Cult of Mac article, however, the new functionality hasn’t been rolled out to all Maps users just yet — we can’t wait to give it a try.  And speaking of giving things a try, the cohosts are impressed with Apple’s in-store and certain city AR exhibitions called [AR]T Lab and [AR]T Walk respectively — see the links below for how these augmented reality art experiments come to life.

Wrapping things up for this episode, the pair talk about generative adversarial network models are used to create renaissance-style artwork from modern photos and you can see the results below.

For the stories that the co-hosts did not get a chance to discuss, see the bonus links below.  Some incredible examples of new technology, from the MIT AlterEgo project to AI valets to the deployment of the LightSail 2.   Check them out! 

Selected Links

Logic Issue 6: Chasing the Pink — https://logicmag.io/play/chasing-the-pink/ 

Reveal radio episode August 3, 2019: Harpooned by Facebook — https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/harpooned-by-facebook/ 

Engaget article: Facial recognition will catch sleepy taxi drivers in Russia — https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/08/facial-recognition-will-catch-sleepy-taxi-drivers-in-russia/ 

Cult of Mac article: Form’s AR swim goggles blow Apple Watch out of the water — https://www.cultofmac.com/642892/form-swim-goggles-review/ 

Form AR swim goggles — https://www.formswim.com 

TechCrunch article: Google launches ‘Live View’ AR walking directions for Google Maps — https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/08/google-launches-live-view-ar-walking-directions-for-google-maps/ 

Apple’s [AR]T Walk — https://www.apple.com/today/feature/augmentedrealities/ 

Daily Mail article: Apple experiments with augmented reality walks where visitors can interact with specially created artworks — https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7309457/Apple-stores-introduce-augmented-reality-experiences.html 

Play Disney Parks iOS app — https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1463847569 

MIT Technology Review article: Turn selfies into classical portraits with the AI that fuels deepfakes — https://www.technologyreview.com/f/613995/turn-selfies-into-classical-portraits-with-the-ai-gnerative-that-fuels-deep-fakes-gans/ 

Michael R's portrait
Michael R’s portrait


Bonus Links

MacRumor article: Apple Now Selling LEGO ‘Hidden Side’ Augmented Reality Building Kits — https://www.macrumors.com/2019/08/01/apple-lego-hidden-side-ar-kits/ 

Lego Hidden Side — https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/hidden-side/about 

Digital Trends article: Don’t speak: This wearable lets you give voice commands without saying a word — https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/mit-alterego-technology-arnav-kapur/ 

MIT Media Lab AlterEgo project — https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/alterego/overview/ 

TechCrunch article: Daimler & Bosch’s driverless parking gets OK to operate without human supervision — https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/23/daimler-and-boschs-driverless-parking-feature-can-legally-operate-without-human-supervision/

MIT Technology Review article: You’re very easy to track down, even when your data has been anonymized — https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613996/youre-very-easy-to-track-down-even-when-your-data-has-been-anonymized/ 

The Verge article: Google now lists playable podcasts in search results — https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/10/18564035/google-search-podcasts-ios-desktop-web-player 

Planetary Society article: Live Coverage: LightSail 2 Sail Deployment — http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/ls2-sail-deployment-live.html 


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Episode 239 — Mooniversary

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Photo by Michael Martine, 2012

Happy 50th Anniversary to Apollo 11!  This past week marked multiple celebrations remembering how only a short 50 years ago, humankind first set foot on Earth’s moon, and listening to the tape from mission control, even now, we all hold our breath until we hear the words “Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”   Michael and Michael, space nerds that they are, decide to light this candle of an episode starting with the celebrations on the National Mall in Washington, DC, where the Washington Monument becomes the screen for an amazing presentation of the Apollo 11 story.  Turning from the iconic launch to the steps on the Moon, the pair discuss the spacesuit that Neil Armstrong wore, and how it has been restrored and is on display once more at the Smithsonian Institute, as well as preserved in 3D digital form you can experience or even 3D print.  Speaking of 3D printing, there is a ship named Archinaut One that is planned to be launched by the company Made In Space in 2022 to print 32 foot beams while in orbit, and further develop the techniques needed to construct spaceships in near Earth orbit.  This reminded Michael R of the Planetary Society’s efforts with solar sailing and the LightSail 2 deployment in the past couple of days.

Coming back down to Earth, Michael and Michael discuss the interest in Virgin’s Hyperloop One efforts by the State of North Carolina, and getting smaller still, the concepts of machine learning done at the edge on embedded IoT devices.

Rounding out this intergalactic episode on games, UNC’s efforts to help improve patient outcomes and get patients home quicker provides ample ground for speculation on where the Adventure Squad game might go, and some fun discussions about a new Tolkien Middle-earth game by Amazon, focusing on the Second Age, which came well before The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Don’t hesitate to start your countdown to this space-filled episode!

Selected Links

NPR article: For Apollo 11’s 50th Anniversary, The Washington Monument Becomes A Rocket — https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2019/07/16/742394200/for-apollo-11s-anniversary-the-washington-monument-becomes-a-rocket 

WUSA channel 9 coverage of the Apollo 11 50th anniversary on the National Mall

Pigs in Space — https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Pigs_in_Space 

Smithsonian 3D Neil Armstrong Spacesuit — https://3d.si.edu/armstrong 

NPR article: Of Little Details And Lunar Dust: Preserving Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 Spacesuit — https://www.npr.org/2019/07/11/734031425/of-little-details-and-lunar-dust-preserving-neil-armstrongs-apollo-11-spacesuit 

Engadget article: NASA backs demo that will 3D-print spacecraft parts in orbit — https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/14/nasa-backs-3d-printed-spacecraft-part-demo/ 

Planetary Society LightSail — http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/lightsail-solar-sailing/ 

Planetary Society: LightSail 2 Sail Deployment — http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/ls2-sail-deployment-live.html 

Gizmodo article: North Carolina Is Eyeing a Hyperloop One System for the Research Triangle — https://gizmodo.com/north-carolina-is-eyeing-a-hyperloop-one-system-for-the-1836318917 

O’Reilly Media: The future of machine learning is tiny — https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/the-future-of-machine-learning-is-tiny 

UNC Children’s Hospital Adventure Squad game

SlashFilm article: ‘Creepshow’ TV Series Trailer: It’s The Most Fun You’ll Ever Have Being Scared — https://www.slashfilm.com/creepshow-tv-series-trailer/ 

SlashFilm article: ‘Lord of the Rings’ MMO Video Game Coming From Amazon — https://www.slashfilm.com/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-video-game/ 

Christopher Tolkien’s Children of Hurin — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Húrin 

NASA’s Astrovan — https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/astrovan.html 

NASA’s Apollo 11 Image Gallery — https://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/kippsphotos/apollo.html 

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