Episode 208 – Aibo Aibo

My grandma and your grandma sittin’ by the fire, talking about Aibo.  Aibo?  Aibo-abio-a-be! Robotics and robot dogs factor in this episode in a major way, with the second and much improved version of Sony’s Aibo robot dog.  An interesting fact about the new Aibo, is that this dog starts off as a bit disobedient, just like a real dog, and (machine) learns from it’s owner over time.  Could such a cute robot find its way into your home?   Well, if not a robot dog, how about a robot symbiot, such as LG’s CLOi SuitBot, a human-centric wearable robot?  … Continue reading

Episode 177 – What could possibly go wrong?

This episode has it all — from virtual reality, to augmented reality to mixed reality to real reality. Starting off with UPS’s VR driver training for their truck fleet, journeying to the Apollo astronaut training efforts with the Zeiss Model VI Planetarium Projector and the excitement of Apple’s recent World Wide Developer’s Conference, Michael and Michael discuss the exciting developments caused Tim Cook to say that he’s so excited about it, “I just want to yell out and scream.” Michael and Michael reminisce about the early days of the US Army’s use of there.com to provide a “real” virtual reality … Continue reading

Episode 172 – Shining a light on AR

Michael and Michael are back — and take a long careful look at the newest capabilities that Apple is bringing to light in augmented reality with the new iOS 11 operating system.  Michael R has already downloaded the development framework, and has started bringing into mixed reality the digital test objects, to great effect.  The pictures included in this post are from Michael R’s experiments with the framework thus far, and it is quite amazing to see the fidelity of the objects, as well as the recognition by the software of the planes, shadows & angles of placement.  There much … Continue reading

Episode 162 – Seeing is Believing

Michael and Michael are excited that it is that special time of year again, the one where you can buy Thin Mints, and Caramel deLites, and all manner of Girl Scout cookies.  And they are even more excited about the kickstarter game being developed by the Girl Scouts where the cookies take center stage, and the scouts learn all about the various development platforms: MIT’s Scratch, iOS & Android to create the game.  Nice touch, by the way, that the Kickstarter video uses virtual audio reality with positional sound. Turning from the savory to the visual, Michael and Michael discuss … Continue reading