Games At Work dot Biz

Episode 214 – Green Robots

By Michael Martine | October 8, 2018 - 06:15 |October 7, 2018 Podcast

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Mini robot in grass — Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels

It isn’t easy being green, unless you are a robot with a green thumb. The cohosts prepare to welcome their new, green robotic overlords in this episode, starting off with Iron Ox and a story about how they have created an autonomous farm.

Continuing on the robotic theme, the pair marvel at HRP-5P, a humanoid robot that is adept at installing drywall and imagine how such a robot could be exceptionally useful for installing drywall in the ceiling. It is also interesting that the robot is very human in appearance, with arms & legs for locomotion.

Pivoting to an easter egg game launched from the main Google search page, Michael and Michael almost walk down into a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. Interestingly enough, Michael R does not get to the game, and the likely culprit is from his Pi Hole, something discussed at length in episode 205.

Selected Links

TechCrunch article: Iron Ox opens its first fully autonomous farm — https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/03/iron-ox-opens-its-first-fully-autonomous-farm/

TechCrunch article: Watch this humanoid robot install drywall — https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/01/watch-this-humanoid-robot-install-drywall/

The Martian movie — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/

The Verge article: How to find and play google.com‘s secret adventure game — https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/1/17922628/google-text-adventure-easter-egg-console

Infocom games — http://infocom-if.org/games/games.html

Pi-Hole — https://pi-hole.net

Games At Work Episode 205, Fashionable AR — https://gamesatwork.biz/2018/08/06/episode-205-fashionable-ar/

Games the co-hosts are playing
work work and work are taking priority for the time being!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:34 — 11.4MB) | Embed

Episode 213 – Solar Heartbeat

By Michael Martine | October 1, 2018 - 06:12 |September 30, 2018 Podcast

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Michael and Michael are reminded of the new innovation in first class travel by Alaska Airlines with the therapeutic example used by some hospitals on burn victims, and expound on how the VR environment piped to the headsets could also include the ability of the passengers to see a view from the cockpit, or really anywhere else around the plane. Intriguing opportunities for the application of VR in travel, beyond movie watching.

On the heels of last week’s discussion on Mozilla’s Firefox Reality browsing experience, it is interesting to note that YouTube is now available on the Oculus platform.

The solar powered “second skin” wearables innovation from Japan is intriguing because it does not have the need for a battery, can deal with the flexing movement of the human body and has no wires. This ultra-thin sensor is a wearable that because of the solar power, never needs to be taken off. Michael and Michael talk about the challenges involved in creating electricity from such small photovoltaics, and how the varying angle of how light might hit it requires a special approach to power it.

Michael R shares his expertise in working with Siri shortcuts and highlights an intriguing example of how these sets of code can quickly be shared and easily edited and enhanced using an example from the Cult of Mac article on a particular shortcut that can be used during a routine traffic stop.

Rounding out this week’s episode, Michael and Michael talk about Augmentality Labs in Durham — looks like a great place for a Games At Work field trip!

Selected Links

TechCrunch article: Alaska Airlines is trying to make VR part of its first-class experience — https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/24/alaska-airlines-is-trying-to-make-vr-part-of-its-first-class-experience/

Allosky VR Headset — http://www.skylights.aero/skylights-allosky-vr-headset

R&D Mag article: Virtual “SnowWorld” Help Burn Victims Cope with Extreme Pain — https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/08/virtual-snowworld-helps-burn-victims-cope-extreme-pain

VR Pain Reduction — http://www.vrpain.com

The Verge article: YouTube is finally coming to all Oculus mobile VR headsets — https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/26/17906550/youtube-vr-oculus-go-mobile-app-launch

Inverse article: Japan’s New Solar-Powered “Second Skin” Device Revolutionizes Wearable Tech — https://www.inverse.com/article/49325-smart-flexible-heart-rate-sensor-self-powered

Cult of Mac article: This Siri shortcut keeps an eye on police during a traffic stop — https://www.cultofmac.com/578615/shortcuts-siri-traffic-stop/

Augmentality Labs — https://www.augmentalitylabs.com

Games the co-hosts are playing
Michael R — Addictive new iOS game is all about … throwing strips of bacon? — https://www.cultofmac.com/579832/addictive-new-ios-game-is-all-about-throwing-strips-of-bacon/

Bacon – The Game — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bacon-the-game/id1413085106?mt=8

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:41 — 13.8MB) | Embed

Episode 212 – Virtually Browsing

By Michael Martine | September 24, 2018 - 06:08 |September 23, 2018 Podcast

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Michael and Michael start up this week’s episode with the newly announced Firefox Reality mixed reality browser — available for a wide variety of VR headsets, and remember the early days of Second Life when browser windows were brought into the 3D Internet. This reminded the pair of widgets that could be used in a mixed reality space to stream content from the internet into familiar 3D objects such as a virtual stock ticker, or even a virtual computer screen.

Moving to the augmented reality space, the Angry Birds example game that could be played using the Magic Leap One looks intriguing, and was similar to the WWDC multiplayer AR demo where the participants tried to knock down the virtual blocks from the other team. A level generator would be especially interesting to try — and really leverage the ability of the user to move around in physical reality.

Closing out the show this week, Michael and Michael marvel at the cinematography used to create the spectacular Apple WatchOS 5 watch faces with fire, water and more. Check out the link in the show notes below to see for yourself.

Selected Links

ZDNet article: Mozilla releases Firefox Reality, its web browser for VR — https://www.zdnet.com/article/mozilla-releases-firefox-reality-its-web-browser-for-vr/

TechCrunch article: Mozilla’s Firefox Reality web browser is now available — https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/18/mozillas-firefox-reality-web-browser-is-now-available/

Linden Labs SecondLife — https://secondlife.com/

TechCrunch article: Microsoft is putting HoloLens to work with new Dynamics 365 applications — https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/18/microsoft-is-putting-hololens-to-work-in-dynamics-365/

Mozilla Mixed Reality — https://mixedreality.mozilla.org

Gadgets have been discontinued — https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13787/gadgets-have-been-discontinued

Konfabulator / Yahoo! Widgets — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_Widgets

Microsoft Bob — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob

TechCrunch article: Magic Leap One’s first big game is another Angry Birds; here’s what it’s like — https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/19/magic-leap-ones-first-major-game-is-angry-birds-heres-what-its-like-to-play-it/

WWDC 2018, What’s New in ARKit 2 — https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2018/602/

Weather Channel interactive weather forecast —

Interactive weather forecast #FlorenceHurricane2018 pic.twitter.com/w2q7Vp9Nvg
— Tony De Jonker (@TonyDeJonker) September 14, 2018

Making An Apple Watch Motion Face —

Making An Apple Watch Motion Face from HODINKEE on Vimeo.

Games the co-hosts are playing

Nothing new this week!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:37 — 15.6MB) | Embed

Episode 211 – Ducking the Hurricane

By Michael Martine | September 17, 2018 - 06:19 |September 16, 2018 Podcast

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For our North Carolina-based co-hosts, Hurricane Florence, while now degraded to a tropical storm, continues to batter the state and southeastern United States with intense rain and high winds. Our hearts go out to everyone who had to evacuate or will be displaced from their homes due to the storm. We are also grateful for the level of preparedness and strong communication throughout the past couple of days getting ready for the storm and keeping the population well informed though radio, tv and social media.

A Games At Work public service announcement: cars can be swept away with even 12 inches of moving water, so do not try to drive through flooded roadways — turn around, don’t drown.

The team at Waffle House know all about severe weather, and Michael R points out that the Waffle House index has been in use for a long time to determine just how bad things are based on whether this southern restaurant, which is normally open 24x7x365 is in full or limited operation.

Shifting gears to the tech world, the co-hosts talk about the design that went into autocorrect in order to avoid unintentional foul language, how simple games gain traction, such as the new Pokémon game featuring the Magikarp, and arial drone acrobatics, including the Skydio which can follow you on your adventures.

Michael and Michael wish that everyone stays safe and dry — and are looking forward to next week’s episode!

Selected Links

NPR article: 17 Apps to Help You Get Through The Hurricane — https://www.npr.org/2018/09/13/647463731/17-apps-to-help-you-get-through-the-hurricane

ReadyNC app — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/readync/id740889890?mt=8

The Weather Channel article: How Waffle House Will Help Determine How Bad Florence Is — https://weather.com/safety/hurricane/news/2018-09-13-how-waffle-house-will-help-determine-how-bad-florence-is

Waffle House News Twitter account — https://twitter.com/WaffleHouseNews

Business Insider article: Why the iPhone keyboard inserts ‘ducking’ into your texts, according to the person who designed it — https://www.businessinsider.com/why-iphone-keyboard-autocorrects-ducking-in-texts-explained-2018-9

Pokémon: Magikarp Jump — https://www.pokemon.com/us/app/pokemon-magikarp-jump/

Ian Bogost’s Cow Clicker — http://bogost.com/games/cow_clicker/

TechCrunch article: New techniques teach drones to fly through small holes — https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/12/new-techniques-teach-drones-to-fly-through-small-holes

Skydio drone — https://www.skydio.com

Games the co-hosts are playing