Episode 154 – Heroic Wearable Brain Robots

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Michael and Michael share their insight on games for good, specifically on games that have an additional benefit to the fun of playing them.  Sea Hero Quest is a game sponsored by Deutsche Telekom together with University College London, University of East Anglia and Alzheimer’s Research to help with early diagnosis of dementia.  Michael and Michael discuss the possibilities of a software layer which could be placed on top of (or alongside) other games that could capture similar data points for researchers.

The pair then turn to wearables, and the interesting way that mobile and Internet of Things devices can be used for purposes such as the detection of earthquakes as exemplified by the MyQuake Android app, and how quantified self wearables can be harnessed for similar data capture and analysis.

Recalling the Douglas Adams quote of how to fly, and that walking really is controlled falling, Michael and Michael watch the video (above) of the Boston Dynamics Atlas robot walk across a treacherous field — pretty amazing.

Speaking of amazing, Michael R has found a puzzle game like no other either Michael have played before called TraptionBakery — where you attempt to bake a loaf of bread, Rube Goldberg machine-style.  Check it out!

selected links 

Sea Hero Quest — http://www.seaheroquest.com/en/
Techcrunch article:  Neurotrack Brain Scans — https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/01/neurotrack-takes-brain-scans-home/
Neurotrack — https://www.neurotrack.com/
Techcrunch article:  Motorola wont release a new smartwatch anytime soon — https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/01/motorola/
MacRumors article:  Fitbit reportedly close to acquiring Pebble — http://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/30/fitbit-buying-pebble/
Techcrunch article:  Earthquake sensing mobile app, MyShake — https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/01/earthquake-sensing-mobile-app-myshake-captures-hundreds-of-temblors-large-and-small/
Washington Post article:  What personal fitness trackers tell us about earthquakes —   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/08/25/what-personal-fitness-trackers-like-jawbone-tell-us-about-earthquakes-public-health-and-just-about-anything-else
TechCrunch article: Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot walks over rubble — https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/01/atlas/

Games the hosts are playing 

Michael R — TraptionBakery by ProperBostin — http://www.properbostin.com/traption_bakery/
Post & video on the building of the game — http://www.properbostin.com/anoraks/tb/index.html

Michael M — Dungeon Boss by Big Fish Games — https://itunes.apple.com/app/dungeon-boss/id776132132?mt=8
join the guild “Knights of the Shrubbery”

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Episode 153 – Chicken and Mushrooms

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solarroof
Michael and Michael get together to cook up an episode chock-full-o tasty post Thanksgiving treats — starting off with the promise of solar, with the example of the American Samoa island of Ta’u and the new solar roof tiles made available from the Tesla/SolarCity team. The Google Project Sunroof site is still up & running, so you can check your own roof to see how suitable it may be for solar.

Alexa has teamed up with Allrecepies to help out in the kitchen, providing step by step guidance on how to cook delicious dishes. The video shows an example of how Alexa can use the Allrecepies API to suggest what can be done with a set of ingredients in the fridge. While we won’t spoil the surprise, the answer has something to do with chicken and mushrooms.

A news report from Marketplace highlighted the work done by Alibaba to create virtual reality shopping experiences for Chinese consumers in stores like Macy’s and Target. This reminded Michael and Michael of the work they had done years ago, and discussed most recently in episode 148 (https://gamesatwork.biz/2016/10/02/episode-148-painting-with-digital-and-physical-ink/). Michael R’s video on his work on the virtual Sears store is in the show notes below. One of the pair’s patents outlines how a virtual store could be created dynamically based on the shopper’s preferences.

Rounding out the show with a little Star Trek goodness, are the Propel Star Wars Battle Quads, and an IFTTT mashup using the Force Band by Sphereo. We are in for a very happy holiday season.

Drop us a line with your ideas and thoughts about digital convergence on Twitter or Facebook!

show links
SolarCity Roof
Google Project Sunroof
Island of Ta’u goes 100% solar

Alexa, what can I make with chicken & mushrooms?
Allrecepies

mobile & enterprise are keys to VR & AR scale

VR shopping

MyVirtual Model
Tag Along Shopping Patent
Sears Second Life Walkthrough

Star Wars laser battle quadcopters
Use the force… to make coffee

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Email handling

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This will NOT be a political post.  Over the last few years, the world has gone insane.  It has become obvious, at least to me, that people are using more and more technology that don’t have a clue how it works.  Governments, companies, and hackers are enjoying this, as many people don’t understand what data is stored where, and how that data is handled or secured.  Many people are willing to give up all of their privacy just to play a game (if you don’t believe this, take a look at how many of the freemium games on your phone “require” you to either be connected and/or have location tracking turned on).  A whole generation of consumers have given up on the whole idea of privacy online.

I was listening to a security podcast recently and they discussed the idea that we’ve all become overwhelmed with our own security requirements.  Many people have just given up on trying to stay up to date on their security and privacy settings.  When was the last time you have checked your Facebook security and privacy settings. Companies, like Facebook, assert the right to change their settings and defaults at any time, and as such just keeping up with those changes could be a full time job. 

By default, email is inherently an insecure protocol on the internet.   In order to route email between end points the meta data is not corrected.  So you already give up privacy on who you are sending email to.  Most email users will not change their settings to actually encrypt their email content.  

Over the years, I have used PGP encryption in my emails.  PGP is an example of public key encryption, which will allow you to encrypt the email content and ensure the receiver that the email has not been changed in transit, as well as ensure that it actually came from you.  However, for some reason, every time I upgrade my operating system my PGP tool fails, as they  must be hooked into the OS land thereby lag in compatibility. This is an unacceptable outcome for the average consumer.

I believe we need to change the fundemantal architecture for email to make encryption, security and privacy the default setting.  It may take another 10 years or more to migrate the web to this architecture, as we have the problem with defaults – most people don’t change them.  What do you think?