Newsletter

Issue #133

Wednesday, March 14th, 2018 by Patrick Catanzariti

This week, we have a pair of smart sneakers that orders pizza, a robot that solves a Rubik’s cube in 380ms and a pair of audio-focused AR smartglasses coming from Bose. I think it might also be the first time AR news has outnumbered VR news in the newsletter!

Smart pizza-loving sneakers, a lightning speed Rubik’s cube robot and Bose AR smartglasses

Learn how to build a conversational voice assistant!

A whole series of in depth, step-by-step articles and accompanying content that’ll help you build a virtual assistant/chatbot no matter your skill level! Content is almost all in there for early access release! Pre-register and get a discount code when it’s out as my way of saying thanks for the support!

Virtual Reality

Fixing the “Can’t Reach Oculus Runtime Services” error

Big software glitch meant Oculus Rift devices around the world stopped working… here’s the fix!

Stroke rehabilitation VR game debuts at SXSW

This VR game is designed to help stroke victims.

VR and architectural visualisation: the big issues! (Part 1)

Barry Dineen from BVN looks at their experience using VR for architectural visualisation.

Exclusive: Scaffolding in VR – interaction design for easy & intuitive building

Barrett Fox and Martin Schubert from Leap Motion give some great insight into VR interaction design.

Motorola’s next Moto Mod may be a VR headset

Still a rumour but looking likely — a Motorola VR headset.

VR headset uses robot arm to feed you candy

Yep, no more starving while in the virtual world.

Augmented Reality

Bose is making AR glasses

The speaker and headphone manufacturer is bringing AR to your ears, rather than your eyes, with AR glasses. There’ll be a Bose AR SDK later this year too. Wareable had a good look at them too.

Toshiba’s AR glasses stick a tiny Windows PC on your face

The DynaEdge AR smartglasses are focused on the workplace and use Windows!

Panasonic’s take on Google Glass will turn you into a culinary master

It’s aimed at training restaurant chefs!

Jurassic World Alive AR game is Pokémon Go with dinosaurs

There’s another Pokemon Go-like game to go with the Harry Potter, Garfield and Ghostbusters.

Ever secretive Magic Leap continues trend after YouTube interview vanishes

Such mystery!

Apple’s Eddy Cue discusses video service, says you’ll use AR “all the time”

Not a whole lot of this article is about AR but it’s important as it shows Apple really are intending to make AR a huge deal soon enough.

Wearables

There’s now a smartwatch version of the Australian earpiece which translates nine languages

Lingmo decided that earpieces weren’t for everyone and has a second approach.

Alivecor wearables May detect unsafe potassium levels in the future

This could really help people as high blood potassium is linked to diabetes, dehydration and kidney disease.

Pizza Hut announces trainers that can control your TV and order pizza

Press the tongue on these shoes for the connected magic to happen.

Google Pixel Buds prep Double Tap for next track & Triple Tap/in-ear detection to sleep [APK Insight]

New features coming to the Google Pixel Buds in the next version of the Google app!

Huami’s Amazfit core is breaking out of China, with Fitbit in its sights

The company is from Xiaomi and are bringing their wearables into the US.

Fitbit’s new ‘mass appeal’ smartwatch is called the Versa

We now know the name of the next Fitbit!

Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics

Googlers are furious about their AI being used with military drones

Googlers discovered, much to their dismay, the AI they built is being used by the US Department of Defense to analyse video footage captured by military drones.

AI could help your charitable dollars go further

A good use of AI that could make a positive difference!

Future Today Institute: China will become the world’s ‘unchallenged AI hegemon’ in 2018

The headline is a bit misleading, as the report says they’ll “lay the groundwork to become the world’s unchallenged AI hegemon” in 2018. It raises good points though — China has a huge population and “doesn’t have the privacy and security restrictions that might hinder progress in other nations”.

Microsoft is bringing more AI to Windows 10 with Window ML for developers

The Inquirer say it’s coming to a Visual Studio near you!

Security bods exploit flaws in Pepper the robot to bork it with ransomware

Poor Pepper…

Microsoft’s Outlook for iPhone boss is now in charge of Cortana

As a result, Cortana will soon be able to read Outlook emails on iOS and Android.

Flippy the burger-flipping robot is already on unpaid leave

Flippy worked for one day, but put too much pressure on his human counterparts who couldn’t keep up with the robot’s speed and the influx of customers.

Evernote will use AI to automate your workflow

It will scan text and suggest items you’ll want to action from it.

3 reasons to question the use of emotion-tracking AI in recruiting

There could be unintended consequences, so it’s good to look at those and discuss them.

Insect-like robot learns to adjust its walk on the fly

A team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology is “teaching a six-legged android to improvise and adapt—just like bugs”.

Rubik’s robot so fast it looks like a glitch in the matrix

This robot solves a standard Rubik’s cube in 380 milliseconds.

‘Virtual moron-idiot’: Telstra’s support chatbot backfires

This is a tale which highlights why it’s important to design and test your chatbot/virtual assistants properly — and ensure people can get in touch with a real person if they need to.

We need to improve the accuracy of AI accuracy discussions

Danny Crichton from TechCrunch points out the adjustments the tech press need to do to improve their AI coverage.

Segway actually thinks you’ll want an Android-powered robot that you can ride

Loomo can give you a lift or follow you around.

Internet of Things and Makers

Your smart home is spying on you. Here’s how to spy back.

Gizmodo have some tips for keeping an eye on your smart home devices.

Ignore all ‘fake news’: this is why Alexa is really laughing at you

Amazon Echo devices have been randomly laughing at people, creeping them out. 100% not what you want to hear late at night. Amazon have worked out what was going on though and are fixing it.

UK gov tackles lacklustre IoT security with new code of practice

Connected tech makers “have been told to implement security by design”.

Amazon updates Alexa so you don’t have to say ‘Alexa’ repeatedly

You can now turn on a setting allowing a follow up question after your initial one.

Report: Alexa will soon be laughing at you in the workplace, too

Okay, not really, that’s been fixed. But, Amazon is planning to integrate Alexa into enterprise software.

47.3 million US adults have access to a smart speaker, report says

Nearly 1/5 of US adults have access to a smart speaker, which is pretty good adoption for an IoT device!

Acer’s smart beads are built for Buddhists

Acer’s Leap Beads count the number of mantras recited during prayer time.

Philips Hue outdoor lights will be available in July, with three products on offer

They are releasing a range of outdoor Hue lights!

Events and Conference Discount Codes!

AI Expo Global (18-19 Apr)

3 co-located events. 19 conference tracks. 9,000 attendees. 300+ speakers. 300+ exhibitors. It’s all happening in London! Use the discount code DEVDINER20 to get a good deal on your tickets! They have a a free Data Analytics for AI and IoT track too!