This week, we have occlusion-aware face swapping, Boston Dynamic’s friendly robot dog Spot pulling a rickshaw and more new Vive Cosmos headset variants to make it even harder to keep track of VR headsets!
Occlusion-aware face swapping, robot dog Spot pulling a rickshaw and new Vive Cosmos headset variants
Virtual Reality
Modders are bringing the original 1993 Doom to Oculus Quest
“They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and tear, until it is done.” In a video posted to Reddit yesterday, developers Dr. Beef and baggyG—the same team responsible for bringing Half-Life, Quake, and Quake 2 to VR via the Oculus Quest—teased the arrival of another classic franchise on …
Oculus Quest hand tracking game has you solving puzzles by throwing your dismembered hand
A proof-of-concept shows how hand tracking technology is bringing new possibilities to VR gaming.
Ubisoft is reportedly working on VR game based on one of its ‘greatest IPs’
Splinter Cell? Assassins Creed? Ghost Recon? According to several job listings posted by Ubisoft Düsseldorf, the German-based studio is looking for a level designer, narrative designer, and character artist to assist in the development of a AAA VR game based on “one of Ubisoft’s greatest IPs which will be developed across multiple studios.” For …
Quick fix: How to use only the trigger to interact with the ui of the Oculus Go/Quest in Unity
A quick fix to solve a bug in Oculus Quest in Unity where the thumbstick or the touchpad provide the same input as the main index trigger for UI elements
Super fan remaking original Witcher game in VR using Unreal Engine
“Bear! Bear! Run you stupid piece of s*#^!” – Geralt of Rivia There’s never been a better time to be a Witcher fan. Originally a series of novels and short stories, the dark fantasy series starring a mutated monster hunter has since been adapted into an award-winning video game trilogy and—most recently—an episodic Netflix …
HTC unveils new Vive Cosmos headsets and faceplate upgrades
A handful of new headsets and swappable faceplates breathes new life into HTC’s lineup of modular VR hardware.
HTC debuts ‘Project Proton’ concept Vive headset
Like practically everyone else in the mobile world, the cancellation of MWC on extremely short notice left HTC in the lurch. While the company has moved much of its efforts away from smartphones in general, the Taiwanese manufacturer has begun to use the show to showcase much of its VR efforts. Alo…
Unity gets controller-free hand-tracking in the editor with Oculus Link
The latest update to the Oculus Integration for Unity adds the Quest’s controller-free hand-tracking to the editor.
Why Bugatti replaced clay with VR in its design studio
Bugatti’s design studio no longer smells like clay. The company went all-digital by switching to virtual reality, and it hasn’t looked back since.
Sony patents a VR controller that feels a lot like Valve’s Index
A recently published patent from Sony Interactive Entertainment suggests that the company is working on a new VR motion controller, similar to those for the Valve Index.
Augmented Reality
Snapchat evolves the foundation of its AR capabilities with ground transformation lenses
Turn the ground into lava… or whatever you’d like really.
Bank of England teams with Snapchat to embed AR animation in new 20-pound banknotes
That’s a news story I didn’t think I’d see this year. Wow.
Inside the collapse of Daqri’s $300m bet on AR
Former employees give their view on the company’s past.
Sea Shepherd’s web-based augmented reality experience spotlights the damage done by the fishing industry
A curious use of AR to help draw attention to their cause.
5G could be the future of AR collaboration
Spatial and Nreal have revealed a new partnership where “consumers will be able to work or interact with anyone, anywhere as if sitting next to each other”.
Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics
Q&A on Vector Unleashed with Jacob Hanchar, CEO of Digital Dream Labs
Digital Dream Labs saved Anki’s Cozmo and Vector robots, and released a Kickstarter to raise money to help extend what’s possible with Vector! Here’s my Q&A with the CEO.
Watch robot dog Spot pull Adam Savage in a rickshaw
I think that title says it all. Go watch.
Microsoft & Peking University FaceShifter: high fidelity, occlusion aware face swapping
A new study from Peking University and Microsoft Research Asia proposes a way to be able to face swap, even when the whole face isn’t visible.
Deep learning AI discovers surprising new antibiotics
Pathogens rapidly evolve resistance to antibiotics. AI could keep us a step ahead of deadly infections.
Japanese scientists create robot child that can ‘feel’ pain
Researchers at Osaka University have developed a life-like child robot called Affetto with synthetic skin that can experience pain.
Elon Musk says all advanced AI development should be regulated, including at Tesla
He tweeted “all org[anizations] developing advance AI should be regulated, including Tesla.”
Watch as this Rubik’s cube floats in mid-air while solving itself
I have no words for this.
New Zealand police enlist virtual AI officer
An AI named Ella helps visitors to the police station.
AI weekly: why a slow movement for machine learning could be a good thing
Some of the AI research community are suggesting slowing things down and maybe putting a moratorium on papers to combat “the pervasive push for results”.
Probeat: AI is helping Microsoft rethink Office for mobile
“Most of the new features in Office for Android and iOS fundamentally require AI and machine learning”.
Can AI flag disease outbreaks faster than humans? Not quite
AP News asks, “Did an artificial-intelligence system beat human doctors in warning the world of a severe coronavirus outbreak in China? In a narrow sense, yes.”
This technique uses AI to fool other AIs
“Changing a single word can alter the way an AI program judges a job applicant or assesses a medical claim”.
Kidkraft’s Alexa-powered toy kitchen sizzles and tells dad jokes
Simulate the kitchen of tomorrow… Today!
How to choose a machine tending collaborative robot
A whole lot of things to think about!
Internet of Things and Makers
Wireless Bluetooth puppets with Bluefruit playground! @nordictweets
The new Adafruit Bluefruit Playground app is out and apparently contains Bluetooth Wireless puppets!
ML for classification of tomatoes using Particle Argon
Classify your tomatoes into Grade A, Grade B and Grade C with TensorFlow Lite and Particle Argon!
Smart speakers study – mon(IoT)r research group
This study has a look at how often smart speakers are accidentally turning on and listening, and for how long.
Raspberry Pi slips out new PCB version with USB C power fix
With the older Raspberry Pi 4 boards – anything beyond a basic USB C power cable wouldn’t power up the device (no fanciness allowed!). That’s fixed in the latest version.
Multiple 3D printers, and one Pi to rule them all
How do you handle connecting multiple 3D printers to a Pi? Hackaday has some advice.
Wyze band brings Alexa to a fitness tracker
Wyze (the company behind Wyze cams and all sorts of IoT devices) is launching an Alexa-connected fitness tracker.
Upcoming smartwatches 2020: Exciting devices still to be released
Lots of smartwatches coming our way this year.
Microsoft Azure Sphere launches in general availability
Microsoft announced the general availability of Azure Sphere, its managed internet of things software and hardware development platform
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Want more?
A neat way to add I/O with the physical world — the Wio Terminal
The world of micro-controllers and maker creations is a vast and ever-growing one that can be super intimidating to newcomers. Should you start with an Arduino? A Raspberry Pi? What's an ESP something something? How do you add a screen? Sensors? The team at Seeed Studio are trying to make things easier and their Wio Terminal looks like a nice option for those who want to start with a screen and some sensors.
Building a 3D printed AR headset with The Triton Project
It's always exciting to stumble upon another AR headset being developed! Graham Atlee has been putting together The Triton Project, an exciting new headset similar to Project North Star that can be put together with off-the-shelf parts! Here's a Q&A with Graham on how it came about and how you might be able to get your hands on one!