This week, Little Bird worked out how to print way more colourful PCBs, Facebook have a haptic wristband prototype for AR/VR, Apple have a patent for an AR headset that can track your whole face and Microsoft demoed a multi-language virtual avatar clone we may one day all make of ourselves!

Little Bird's colourful PCBs, Facebook's haptic wristband prototype and Apple's face tracking AR headset

Little Bird’s colourful PCBs, Facebook’s haptic wristband prototype and Apple’s face tracking AR headset

Virtual Reality

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker envisions VR remasters of certain episodes

We might see future iterations of Bandersnatch and other Black Mirror episodes in VR.

Dual-folding fan controller brings the sensation of weight to VR

It’s a folding fan style VR controller.

Peace Island could be the purr-fect open-world adventure for cat lovers

A new chance to live out life as a cat in VR.

The fall and rise of VR: the struggle to make virtual reality get real

Fortune looks at VR’s ups and downs.

Facebook prototypes haptic feedback wristbands for AR/VR

They look a bit like a smartwatch but it’s there to buzz and immerse you in VR/AR.

PlayStation VR 2 will be great, but don’t be fooled — it won’t be cheap

A report suggested that Sony “will load up the PSVR 2 with the latest tech at a low price point” — Venturebeat has thoughts on that.

Oculus clarifies VR app return policy, allowing 5 refunds over 30 days

It looked like you could return any apps if used for less than two hours, but there are limitations to that.

Microsoft joins Google, HTC Vive, facebook, Samsung, and Sony as an XR Association member

Microsoft’s Assistant General Counsel will represent the company on XRA’s Board of Directors.

Neuralink announces new BCI: why us VR people should care

Mr Howls discusses his thoughts on Neuralink’s upcoming brain computer interface and its impact on VR.

 

Augmented Reality

Nreal pushes on in face of Magic Leap lawsuit with SDK launch for Nreal Light smartglasses

The beta version of NRSDK, the SDK for the Nreal Light smartglasses is out there for developers to download despite their legal battles.

New Apple patent filing shows a mixed reality headset that tracks your whole face

“Hand, eye, and jaw tracking are all on the table” not too long after that initial rumour Apple weren’t doing AR headsets anymore.

New app tool for augmented reality PCB design enters beta

“DebuggAR is currently an iPhone-only smartphone app tool that lets engineers and students perform component-level and net-level inspection of their designs.”

NASA partners with us navy to develop AR displays for spacesuits

NASA wants to repurpose a dive helmet for their EVA spacesuit.

Microsoft uses HoloLens 2 to demo multi-language speaking avatar that looks just like you

Your AR clone can speak languages you cannot to give presentations all around the world!

This psychedelic AR book cover is turning heads online

It looks very cool when you view it through smartphone AR!

 

Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics

FaceApp responds to privacy concerns

FaceApp has been going viral again as people generate images of themselves as the elderly. People have been concerned about the Russian company’s use of those photos. Here’s the company’s response.

AI generates interesting story endings

“Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an AI model that generates interesting and diverse story endings”.

Vuzix Blade AR smart glasses now support Amazon Alexa, DJI drones

The Alexa built-in certified smart glasses are now available directly through Amazon!

Microsoft invests $1 billion in Elon Musk-founded OpenAI

“Microsoft and OpenAI will team up to bring AI to Azure and advance artificial general intelligence”.

A mind-controlled robot arm doesn’t have to mean brain implants

This brain-controlled prosthetic doesn’t require an implant.

Uber’s EvoGrad is a dev library for evolutionary algorithms

Here’s an open source development library for evolutionary machine learning algorithms in Python.

The world’s most-advanced AI can’t tell what’s in these photos. Can you?

Researchers from UC Berkeley, the University of Washington, and the University of Chicago are building the ultimate archive of photos that confuse AI.

How IBM tweaked its Wimbledon highlight-picking AI to remove bias

IBM has been tweaking its AI highlight-picking algorithm to “remove bias for or against certain players”.

AI weekly: a growing chorus of experts agrees facial recognition systems must be regulated

“Oakland is now the third U.S. city to ban facial recognition use by local government departments, including its police force”.

DeepMind’s AI learns to generate realistic videos by watching YouTube clips

Researchers at Alphabet’s DeepMind can generate videos with AI… soon will they not need content creators at all?

These vibration-powered robots are dwarfed by most ants

These robots are super tiny! Nano-sized to be exact.

AI hardware roundup: neuromorphic chips and neural network SoCs

A look at what hardware can handle running neural networks on the edge.

 

Internet of Things and Makers

Splashing some colour – colourful printed circuit boards (colourful PCBs)

Little Bird has a way to print directly onto Printed Circuit boards using a special UV printer.

New Adobe XD tools let you export prototypes to Alexa-enabled devices

“Adobe’s new Adobe XD tools let designers export prototypes to Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo Dot and Lenovo Smart Display”.

Micro LED screens will be ready for thinner, brighter 2020 Apple Watch

“A brighter, more energy-efficient next-generation screen technology is reportedly ready to hit Apple’s wearables next year, enabling longer run times”.

Use an Arduino to find out how much money you’re spending on water in the shower

This is a neat way of telling how much water your shower is using via a flow sensor.

Wyze bulbs are a good add-on to the ecosystem

Stacey Higgenbotham has pretty positive things to say about Wyze’s new bulbs.

Why Raspberry Pi isn’t a good choice for commercial products

All About Circuits talks about why the Pi might not be what you need for a professional project.

This simple DataFlash board makes it easy to read or write data with an Arduino

Arduino usually can only store data in RAM, but this lets you have some more persistent storage.

 

 


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