Episode 234 – Bots in Cars

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robotic driver
Image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay 

So much AR goodness in today’s show!  The amazing video of the SK Wyverns pregame, featuring an augmented reality SK Wyvern flying around the ballpark, landing on the jumbotron and breaking AR glass is a great way to kick off this episode.  Then, the co-hosts have a look at the Statue of Liberty in AR via the iPhone app, where you can see the size of the foot of the famous statue right in front of you in real size.  Not to be outdone, an @epredator retweeted video from @nicholasgranaa highlights an AR iMac right there on the desk in front of you, sparking a Second Life discussion on the concept — incidentally what Ian replied to the video too!  Then, between the new Minecraft Earth, the new Google Enterprise Glass, the team has plenty of AR fun to explore in this one episode. 

There’s also plenty of games — starting with the Amazon warehouse examples, the kickstarter for Gerrymandering, beaming Steam games to iOS devices and the new Panic Playdate console.

Wrapping up with a bit of Star Wars and Ford’s delivery concept for pairing a bipedal robot with an autonomous driving vehicle, Michael and Michael share some great ideas about what’s here today and what may be coming in the very near future to a theater, amusement park, or doorstep near you!  Give this episode a listen and let us know what you think! 

Selected Links

SK Telecom Uses AR to Bring Fire-Breathing Dragon to Baseball Park

SK Wyverns — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SK_Wyverns 

Statue of Liberty — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/statue-of-liberty/id1457506359?mt=8 

iMac in AR tweet by @nicholasgranaa

TechCrunch article: Minecraft Earth makes the whole real world your very own blocky realm — https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/17/minecraft-earth-makes-the-whole-real-world-your-very-own-blocky-realm/ 

The Keyword blog: Google Enterprise Edition 2: faster and more helpful — https://www.blog.google/products/hardware/glass-enterprise-edition-2/ 

Glass Enterprise Edition 2 Tech Specs — https://www.google.com/glass/tech-specs/ 

Are Technica article: Amazon made video games for its workers to reduce tedium of warehouse jobs — https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/05/amazon-gamifies-its-warehouse-work-like-tetris-but-with-real-boxes/ 

Seattle Times article: Gaming the system: Gerrymandering becomes a board game — https://www.seattletimes.com/explore/shop-northwest/gaming-the-system-gerrymandering-becomes-a-board-game/ 

Mapmaker: The Gerrymandering Game by Lafair Family Games on Kickstarter — https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1639370584/mapmaker-the-gerrymandering-game 

TechCrunch article: Steam Link now lets you beam Steam games to your iOS devices — https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/15/steam-link-now-lets-you-beam-steam-games-to-your-ios-devices/ 

Playdate by Panic —

Panic games — https://play.date 

SlashFilm article: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: Step Into the Millennium Falcon in 360 Smuggler’s Run — https://www.slashfilm.com/smugglers-run-video/

Smuggler’s Run Video —

TechCrunch article: In Ford’s future, two legged robots and self-driving cars could team up on deliveries — https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/21/in-fords-future-two-legged-robots-and-self-driving-cars-could-team-up-on-deliveries/ 

Agility Robotics — http://www.agilityrobotics.com/#cover 

Wookipedia B1 Battle Droid — https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/B1_battle_droid 

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Episode 233 — Back in the Saddle

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colorful carousel horse
Photo by Miles Storey on Unsplash

We’re back in the saddle again, with a smorgasbord of stories from the last couple of weeks.  Here’s a summary of the topics that Michael and Michael cover in this week’s episode.

In virtual reality, we have Notre Dame in Second Life, and a funny Saturday Night Live skit about non player characters.

For augmented reality, there’s the upcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite game we can’t wait to play, Snapchat’s Scan utility, Jack Daniel’s pop up books, Angry Bird’s Isle of Pigs, and the Apollo 11 demo from Microsoft’s MSBuild19 conference.

Robots factor in with Starship delivering the goods on university campuses.  

AI — artificial intelligence trying to be punny.  

Home IoT — a couple of intriguing capabilities from Princeton University, Fing and of course, Pi-Hole.

Selected Links

New World Notes blog: As Notre Dame Burns, Avatar Crowd Spontaneously Appears At Second Life Recreation To Mourn Cathedral’s Destruction — https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2019/04/notre-dame-second-life-sl.html 

Notre Dame in Second Life — https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Paris%201900/42/78/24 

9To5Mac article: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite iPhone and Android AR game available, but only in two countries — https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/02/harry-potter-wizards-unite-iphone/ 

TechCrunch article: Snapchat launches Scan, its AR utility platform — https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/02/harry-potter-wizards-unite-iphone/ 

Princeton IoT Inspector — https://iot-inspector.princeton.edu 

Fing — https://www.fing.com 

Pi-Hole — https://pi-hole.net 

Starship — https://www.starship.xyz/business/ 

Because of Them We Can article: Meet the Kenyan Engineer Who Created Gloves That Turn Sign Language Into Audible Speech — https://www.becauseofthemwecan.com/blogs/culture/meet-the-kenyan-engineer-who-created-gloves-that-turn-sign-language-into-audible-speech 

Mobile Marketer article: Jack Daniel’s turns bottles into pop-up books with AR app — https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/jack-daniels-turns-bottles-into-pop-up-books-with-ar-app/552795/ 

Adweek article: Adweek Announces the Winners of Our First Annual Experiential Awards — https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/jack-daniels-turns-bottles-into-pop-up-books-with-ar-app/552795/ 

Wired article: The Comedian Is In the Machine.  AI Is Now Learning Puns — https://www.wired.com/story/comedian-machine-ai-learning-puns/ 

Variety article: ‘SNL’ Skit Pokes Fun at Chatty Video Game NPCs — https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/snl-kit-harrington-vr-video-game-skit-1203183007/ 

Patently Apple article: Angry Birds ‘Isle of Pigs’ will be Rovio’s First Augmented Reality Game coming to Apple’s Mobile Devices Late Spring — https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2019/03/angry-birds-isle-of-pigs-will-be-rovios-first-augmented-reality-game-coming-to-apples-mobile-devices-late-spring.html 

Random Thoughts blog: Moogfest Day 4 – It’s a Wrap — https://michaelrowe01.com/index.php/2019/05/01/moogfest-day-4-its-a-wrap/ 

Apollo 11 Hololens 2 Demo at MSBuild19

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Episode 232 — Beep-Boop

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Photo by Michael Martine 2019

Games loom large in this episode of Games At Work, as they should!  With Google announcing the Stadia game streaming service, there is quite a buzz building about the ways how this might work, and what games could be served up in this environment.  Michael and Michael talk about the possibilities of converting viewers and spectators into participants in the gaming experience.

After a discussion on the new Oculus Rift S, the co-hosts discuss Rovio’s foray into AR with the Angry Birds franchise, due out in late spring.  Michael R compares it to the AR games he’s played and the pair is excited to give it a try.

Star Wars enters into the conversation, both from a game remake in Unreal as well as comparing the AI capabilities the US Air Force is employing to the famous astromech R2-D2.  AI is also being used by Volvo for their passenger cars to improve safety, and raises some intriguing privacy concerns.

Selected Links

TechCrunch article: The 9 biggest questions about Google’s Stadia game streaming service — https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/19/the-9-biggest-questions-about-googles-stadia-game-streaming-service/

CNet article: Google Stadia gaming at GDC 2019: Everything just announced — https://www.cnet.com/news/google-stadia-gaming-at-gdc-2019-everything-just-announced/ 

Kotaku article: Fan Is Remaking The First Level of Star Wars: Dark Forces In Unreal Engine 4 — https://kotaku.com/fans-are-remaking-star-wars-dark-forces-in-unreal-engi-1833335006 

Star Wars: Dark Forces — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Dark_Forces 

TechCrunch article: The Oculus Rift S is real and arrives in spring for $399 — https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/20/the-oculus-rift-s-is-indeed-real-and-arrives-in-spring-for-399/ 

Patently Apple article: Angry Birds ‘Isle of Pigs’ will be Rovio’s First Augmented Reality Game coming to Apple’s Mobile Devices Late Spring — https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2019/03/angry-birds-isle-of-pigs-will-be-rovios-first-augmented-reality-game-coming-to-apples-mobile-devices-late-spring.html 

Popular Mechanics article: The Air Force’s New AI Is Like R2-D2 for Fighter Jets — https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a26871027/air-force-ai-fighter-plane-skyborg/ 

Car and Driver article: Every Volvo Will Get In-Car Cameras to Combat Distraction and Drunk Driving — https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a26893035/volvo-interior-cameras-distraction-drunk-driving/ 

TechCrunch article: Apple announces new AirPods — https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/20/apple-announces-new-airpods/

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Episode 231 — Great Googlie Mooglie

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Google Maps London directions

This episode focuses on some of the topics that Michael and Michael really love:  games, VR, AR and robots.  As Michael M was on the road this week, it’s only fitting that he was recording from his car.  Starting off with the concept of when games begin to feel like work, the co-hosts discuss when and how that feeling has happened for them.  

Turning to VR, and how it is being used to change how companies recruit and provide employee education, Michael and Michael remark on the power that VR can bring, and how it may also increase empathy and understanding of employees in the field by those in headquarters.  

Then donning an-as-yet-speculative pair of AR specs, the pair contemplate how an Apple entrant into the AR glasses space might work, and how the fashion experience driven by the other wearable in the Apple portfolio, the Apple Watch may help the company gain a leg up.  The newly enabled AR capabilities of Google Maps point a way to the future, where the camera begins to recognize the exact orientation of the user by the buildings around them, and direct them with AR where the user wants to go.  Staying with the maps theme, we have examples of games such as Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, using Google Earth, and the latest example of the Niantic engine, which powers the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite game.

Closing things out for this episode is with a new robotic car mover that is about to be deployed in France.  Check out the shownotes for a video on how this robot can park your car for you.

Selected Links

Kotaku article: It’s Okay To Stop Playing — https://kotaku.com/its-okay-to-stop-playing-1833145712 

World of Warcraft — https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/battle-for-azeroth 

Red Dead Redemption 2 — https://www.rockstargames.com/games/info/reddeadredemption2

CNN Business article: How VR is transforming HR — https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/26/tech/vr-transforming-hr-intl-biz-evolved/index.html 

Deutsche Bundesbahn — https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml 

DW.com article: Deutsche Bahn pumps billions into Germany-wide rail upgrade — https://www.dw.com/en/deutsche-bahn-pumps-billions-into-germany-wide-rail-upgrade/a-47596788 

Inverse article: Apple AR Glasses: Launch Date, Price, Features & Design for Secretive Specs — https://www.inverse.com/article/53927-apple-ar-glasses-launch-date-price-features 

MacBreak Weekly Episode 652 Ironic Sans — https://www.twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly/episodes/652 

Owen Williams tweet on the AR capabilities of Google Maps: 


Mashable article: Carmen Sandiego brings classic PC game vibes with a new heist on Google Earth — https://mashable.com/article/carmen-sandiego-google-earth-crown-jewels 

Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego — https://earth.google.com/web/data=CiQSIhIgYmU3N2ZmYzU0MTc1MTFlOGFlOGZkMzdkYTU5MmE0MmE 

TechCrunch article: Niantic’s Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is a sorcerous smorgasbord for the Pokemon Go generation — https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/11/niantics-harry-potter-wizards-unite-is-a-sorcerous-smorgasbord-for-the-pokemon-go-generation/ 

TechCrunch article: This robot can park your car for you — https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/14/this-robot-can-park-your-car-for-you/ 

Stanley Robotics — https://stanley-robotics.com 

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