Episode 213 – Solar Heartbeat

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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

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Episode 212 – Virtually Browsing

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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 — 

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

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Episode 211 – Ducking the Hurricane

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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 


Michael R: Samatha Bee’s This is Not a Game — https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/samantha-bees-get-out-the-vote-game-app-crashes-after-big-turnout/532347/ 

This is Not a Game: The Game — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/this-is-not-a-game-by-sam-bee/id1407837340?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2 

Michael M: Magikarp Jump — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pokémon-magikarp-jump/id1162679453?mt=8 

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Episode 210 – HodgePodgePaloosa

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Michael and Michael reprise the mobile hotel concept from last week to start off this week’s episode, with Volvo’s 360c concept car which takes into account the distances and speed necessary to make such a concept viable.  Consistent with the excellent Swedish design Volvo is known for, the physical seats in the vehicle, as well as the user experience to show the distance to destination on the glass reminded the co-hosts of a head up display.  

After reacting briefly to the VR360 article noting that VR headset shipments have gone down year to year, and the Business Insider article on the expectation that Apple is focusing on AR glasses, with the idea that fashion will play a major role in the AR glasses of the future.  Glasses are an extremely personal effect, and make a statement about who you are in the world to the world.  Remembering the AR focus on iOS 12 at WWDC earlier this year, and the imminent launch of the next generation of the software, there is high expectation that there will be exciting news coming soon, and the Akonia acquisition certainly fuels those expectations.

Also coming soon are other means of human-computer interaction, and the Origami Labs example of the voice powered Orii ring is a particularly intriguing example.  For when it would be obtrusive to look at a screen, and have that be in between a service professional and their customer, the haptic signaling of this ring, as well as the ability via bone conduction to allow for easy voice communication can keep the engagement between the employee and the customer very high.

Rounding out this week episode, the co-hosts turn once more to security, and this time, keeping with the audio theme, they explore an example that leverages active acoustics to crack smartphone unlock patterns.  Using the combination of the top and bottom microphones of a smartphone and echos from a frequency inaudible to most people, it is possible to determine the movement of the user’s finger to unlock their smartphone.   Amazing.

Selected Links

TechCrunch article: The Volvo 360c concept is an office-bed-living room mashup to disrupt domestic air travel — https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/05/the-volvo-360c-concept-is-an-office-bed-living-room-mashup-to-disrupt-domestic-air-travel 

VR360 article: VR headset shipments go down year on year – but it’s only a blip, says IDC — https://www.virtualreality-news.net/news/2018/sep/06/vr-headset-shipments-go-down-year-year-its-only-blip-says-idc/ 

Business Insider article: The evidence is mounting that Apple’s next big product will be a pair of computer glasses — https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-buys-akonia-holographics-next-big-product-will-be-smartglasses-2018-8 

Akonia Holographics — http://akoniaholographics.com 

Warby Parker — https://www.warbyparker.com 

Microsoft News Center UK: You can now sign up for a HoloLens subscription and get one delivered to your door — https://news.microsoft.com/en-gb/2018/05/01/you-can-now-lease-a-hololens-thats-delivered-to-your-door/ 

Lego AR Studio — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lego-ar-studio/id1296734986?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 

CNet article: Lego AR lets Batman come to life with iOS 12 at WWDC — https://www.cnet.com/news/lego-ar-lets-batman-come-to-life-with-ios-12-at-wwdc/ 

Lego Friends Creative Rings — https://shop.lego.com/en-US/Creative-Rings-853780 

TechCrunch article: Origami Labs shows off its voice-powered smart ring — https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/05/origami-labs-shows-off-its-voice-powered-smart-ring 

Wired article: The Handphone: Possibly the Worst Cellphone Concept Ever — https://www.wired.com/2008/05/the-handphone-p/ 

Schneier on Security blog post: Using a Smartphone’s Microphone and Speakers to Eavesdrop on Passwords — https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/09/using_a_smartph.html 

BleepingComputer article: SonarSnoop Acoustic Side-Channel Attack Can Steal Touchscreen Interactions — https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sonarsnoop-acoustic-side-channel-attack-can-steal-touchscreen-interactions/ 

SonarSnoop: Active Acoustic Side-Channel Attacks — https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.10250 

Games the co-hosts are playing 


Nothing new this week! 

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