This week, we had the first Squanchtendo VR release, Obama gave his thoughts on emerging tech, AI turned out to be pretty good at both playing Doom and navigating the London underground, Owlchemy Labs might have a better way to do mixed reality video and we had news of autonomous tricycles (who needs autonomous cars anyway right?).
Squanchtendo’s Accounting, the extended Dev Diner newsletter edition
Virtual Reality
Need a fast VR prototype? WebVR might be the answer.
A great piece by B-Reel on why WebVR is a good option for quick prototyping, using a case study of a digital VR game they put together as an example.
Valve teases next-gen VR hardware
Valve might welcome a bunch of new VR hardware products next year!
First look at Valve’s new VR controller Prototype
Here’s a look at one of the controller prototypes they showed developers.
Oculus Touch will support 360 and room-scale tracking with extra cameras
This was already announced last week, but this article gave a more detailed look at the ways Oculus Rift and Touch will support room scale and 360 tracking. Worth a look!
HTC brings its virtual reality storefront to mobile
Valve announced a version of its Viveport VR storefront for Android phones. Only time will tell how this plays into a growing ecosystem of VR app stores.
HTC and Oculus aren’t competing says Vive’s China President
This is what I hope the whole industry adopts as an approach to this. We’re all in this together. It was a great message, somehow involving electric vehicle comparisons!
Owlchemy Labs teases new in-engine mixed reality tech
It looks like Owlchemy Labs might have an easier way to do those mixed reality videos!
Sharing VR creations with the world
On the topic of sharing your VR creations with mixed reality video, here’s a piece that compares the various options for sharing VR creations and points out when each is most appropriate.
UnitySceneWebExporter
Did you know you can export Unity scenes into A-Frame and/or Three.js?
Watch 17 minutes of ‘Accounting’ from Squanchtendo in mixed reality
It’s a funny VR app from one of the creators of Rick and Morty which just got released today! I’m sadly travelling and can’t get to my Vive, and refuse to watch it for fear of spoilers, but if you’re eager and don’t have a Vive nearby – you can watch UploadVR play it.
Virtual reality helps legally blind man see clearly for the first time
So happy to be able to finish this week’s VR section with something like this. VR is definitely helping change lifes in ways we’d never thought possible. Love it!
Augmented and Mixed Reality
Microsoft starts selling its HoloLens in Germany, France, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand
Live in those places and been holding out? It’s now easier to get one in your hands!
Tim Cook talks about Apple’s augmented reality ambitions
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Tim Cook clearly sees AR as a big deal in the coming years. He says Apple is aiming for AR “in the long run”.
Sharing a hologram between multiple HoloLens devices – Part 1
Part one doesn’t go into a lot of detail yet but it looks like a promising series.
Wearables
What are the Oakley Radar Pace smartglasses and why do you need them?
They sound kinda neat if you’re a sporty type of person.
Who is actually buying wearable tech?
Wareable has a great look at the sorts of wearables people are buying and who is buying what.
A smartwatch that recognizes what you touch
Researchers tinkered with a stock smartwatch to do some pretty neat stuff.
Joystick like interface invented for smartwatch
I’m not sure whether this system would work… but maybe?
Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics
Barack Obama on artificial intelligence, autonomous cars and the future of humanity
Barack Obama knows a thing or two about emerging tech himself! He spoke with WIRED about a whole range of stuff. Pretty cool article actually.
This deep-learning AI is better at Doom than you are
I think the title says it all here.
Google’s artificial intelligence algorithm just navigated London’s underground without any prior knowledge
The article doesn’t give a lot of details, but the research paper does. This is an example of Google’s DeepMind teaching itself based on information it already possesses, rather than needing human input.
Machine learning is the new statistics
An interesting piece on machine learning’s future impacts and usage.
Autonomous tricycles could form the basis of urban taxi systems
Who needs an autonomous car when you can have an autonomous tricycle?
These are three of the biggest problems facing today’s AI
There are a bunch of things the industry is still working on, here are three of the main ones according to the Verge.
Google artificial intelligence guru says AI won’t kill jobs
The co-founder of DeepMind says there’s no evidence that advances in AIis impacting the workforce but it’s something people “should definitely pay attention to”.
IBM launches Watson application developer certification
Looking for a formal way to learn all this stuff? IBM has an option for you now!
Internet of Things
The iKettle, the Eleven-Hour Struggle to Make a Cup of Tea, and Why It Was All About Data, Analytics and Connecting Things Together
Multiple people shared this one with me this week (thanks to Malcolm and Antonio in particular!), it is the tale of one man who went to rather complicated lengths to get his Wi-Fi kettle working. Story of my emerging tech tinkerer life for sure… but he did seem to do things an absurdly difficult way to go above and beyond the typical.
AllSeen Alliance merges with Open Connectivity Foundation to accelerate the Internet of Things
The IoT device discovery and interoperability standards, IoTivity and AllJoyn, are working towards becoming one common standard. Hopefully it’s good in the long run but for now, it’s a little chaotic sounding.
Internet of Things botnets: You ain’t seen nothing yet
The Register covered a good amount of info on the IoT botnet (“Mirai”) mentioned in past weeks – it ran on Telnet and its source code was released last week. Not only that, but according to Motherboard, it has infected IoT devices in a massive 177 countries.
Stickers emerge as EU’s weapon against dud IoT security
With all this madness, the EU may soon use labelling to raise awareness of the level of IoT security in connected appliances. It would be great if this pressures manufacturers to put more effort into IoT security.
So, Comcast is building an IoT network
Comcast is building a LoRaWAN IoT network. This could be both a good and a bad thing!
The Surprising Backbone of the Internet of Things
Cities need to be blanketed with internet for the IoT so… why not use streetlights?
TasteTro
This is a connected spice rack that I stumbled upon thanks to Stacey Higgenbotham mentioning it in her round up of the Smart Kitchen Summit. Pretty neat idea!
Got questions on emerging tech? Feel free to Snapchat me (devdiner), DM me on Twitter or just send me an email and ask!
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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!