This week, Google’s AlphaGo defeated its mere mortal Go opponents so well that it has now retired, one guy showed off Doctor Octopus-style robot arms that he controls with his feet and Tim Cook has been testing out a wearable glucose monitor that just might be an upcoming Apple Watch product.
AlphaGo beating five players at once, Doctor Octopus-style robot arms in action and Tim Cook’s fancy new glucose monitor!
Greg Williams, executive editor of WIRED, chats about the future of tech!
I spoke with Greg Williams, executive editor of WIRED magazine, at CeBIT last week. We discussed the future of tech and his thoughts on where developers should focus their efforts. It was a broad interview so doesn’t quite fit into any particular category below.
Virtual Reality
How Google’s latest VR moves are a major blow to Oculus’ mobile strategy
Samsung’s Galaxy S8 will soon support Daydream. Here’s a really in depth look at why Google’s latest moves are good ones.
HTC Vive and Intel to bring WiGig wireless VR solution to the headset
It turns out there’s a lot of wireless VR options for the Vive in development!
Tobii unveils its eye tracking development kit for HTC Vive
It is a dev kit that you can request from Tobii themselves if interested!
Oculus Rift officially brings room-scale to the VR platform
v1.15 provides true room-scale tracking but needs three motion sensors.
Equal Reality — accessible diversity and inclusion training in VR now on Viveport!
I spoke with Equal Reality on using virtual reality to help reduce unconscious bias a few months ago. Their app is now available to try on Viveport!
The Australian Virtual Reality Ecosystem 2017
Overwhelmed by all the companies in Australia? Here’s a company map by Patricia Haueiss to help you out!
How hidden path designed real-time strategy game brass tactics for VR
A fascinating discussion around bringing RTS games into VR.
HTC’s newest VR headset is the Link
The “HTC Link” is strangely only being released in Japan.
A software engineer’s guide to Unity and AR/VR development — part 1
A new post guiding you into getting into AR/VR with Unity.
Realism, expectations, and the fidelity contract in VR design
“What does it mean for VR to have a sense of realism?”
Bring order to Micro City as Giant Cop: Justice Above All comes to HTC Vive
This game looks pretty fun! Pick up tiny criminals and throw em in jail!
Augmented and Mixed Reality
Building dragons and our mixed reality future with Daniel Newman at CeBIT Australia
I spoke with Daniel Newman at CeBIT last week, he shared his thoughts on mixed reality & entering emerging tech the right way in this video interview.
The pursuit of more personal computing
How Microsoft’s bet on mixed reality creates new opportunities for developers.
We need to start thinking about AR and privacy now
This tech will be recording everything you see, do and say after all.
ASUS’ Tango-powered ZenFone AR will hit the US in July
Engadget say “the second Google Tango phone is the first one worth owning.”
Air New Zealand trials AR headsets for cabin crew to improve service
It may help staff detect passenger emotions, meal preferences and more.
Zepp phone apps use AI to study your basketball shots
It uses AR and AI in a neat way to help basketballers, baseballers and golfers!
War games: Pentagon unveils AR headset for soldiers
It aims to give soldiers “situational awareness”.
Augmented World Expo press conference roster confirmed
AWE2017 starts on the 31st May and the press conference roster could give some hints at which companies have big things to talk about. Next week’s newsletter should have a lot in this section!
Wearables
Insertables — why wear tech when you can have it inside you?
Kayla Heffernan gave us a fascinating look into a world of people who choose to insert tech inside themselves rather than just wear it!
Apple CEO Tim Cook test-drove a device that tracks his blood sugar, hinting at Apple’s interest in the space
It’s likely that Apple is testing a glucose tracker for the Apple Watch. If they manage to release this, it would be life-changing for so many people.
Mind-controlled brace helps paralysed stroke patients move their hands
It detects electrical activity in the brain to cause the hand to open and close.
This dystopian earpiece wants to warn you against AI voices
AI just might get to the point where we’ll need this earpiece soon.
Bizarre Samsung patent shows smartwatch with camera in center of display
It has a built-in camera and a secondary display on the wristband.
It’s only a matter of time before earphones become hearables
I’m wearing a new pair of “Here One” smart headphones now and I think hearables are definitely going to spread fast.
Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics
Google’s AlphaGo AI retires after dominating humanity’s best players
That revamped AlphaGo I mentioned last week that defeated the world number one? It won the whole series. It also beat a team of 5 leading Go players singlehandedly. Then retired. What a week.
These Doctor Octopus-style robot arms are controlled with your feet
Seriously cool!
Why Soul Machines made an AI baby
If you haven’t seen this AI baby yet, you totally should check it out.
Why better design leads to better AI
Good design is going to be essential for good AI systems. Worth a read!
Judah vs. the Machines: Kairos face recognition AI can tell how you feel, but does it know what you dream?
This episode of the series look at emotion recognition by AI. Fascinating!
This robot arm’s AI thinks like we do about how to grab something
This robot chooses the best way to grab new objects based on its knowledge of other objects it has been taught before.
Nvidia releases a recipe to make GPU computing ubiquitous in data centers
So they can handle AI and other heavy-duty parallel processing tasks.
ARM’s new mobile processors are built for AI on the go
ARM are looking to keep up with AI demand too. Their new DynamIQ processor is likely to appear in smartphones by next year.
How data analytics will help us understand chatbots
A more business focused look at the potential of the upcoming chatbot future.
What happens when hackers attack chatbots
It is only a matter of time right?
Japan reportedly to allow drone deliveries in 2020, self-driving trucks in 2022
“The move to drones and autonomous vehicles is urgent for Japan, because its workforce has shrunk dramatically enough to force companies to start scaling back operations.”
Virgin Active becomes first gym to integrate Amazon Alexa
A personal gym assistant that sounds handy for Virgin Active members.
Internet of Things
IFTTT launches Maker tier for developers
Developers can now build and publish applets for others to use.
Particle integration with Google Maps beta
Particle and Google Maps can now be used to find the location of Particle devices without additional hardware!
Hardware fundamentals: what exactly is a microcontroller?
For those following the newsletter from other disciplines, this could be handy.
Maker Faire Bay Area 2017: live updates and more
There were some incredible inventions put together by the Maker scene and on show at the Maker Faire! Here’s a photo recap.
F.Lashes: Interactive LED eyelashes
I can see these becoming a pretty big trend soon, they’re launching a Kickstarter campaign mid-July 2017.
On Amazon Echo and Google Home, notifications could be brilliant–or brutal
Will the emergence of notifications on these devices help us or move us further into always connected lives?
Understanding Samsung’s Internet of Things story in 15 slides
Want to catch up on the Samsung IoT ecosystem? Scan through these.
5 lessons from IoT leaders creating sustainable, smart cities
A summary of a panel discussion at IoT World 2017.
Got questions on emerging tech? Feel free to DM me on Twitter, Snapchat me (devdiner) or just send me an email and ask! That’s what Dev Diner is here for 🙂
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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!