This startup is setting a DALL-E 2-like AI free, consequences be damned https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/12/a-startup-wants-to-democratize-the-tech-behind-dall-e-2-consequences-be-damned Just look. It’s lovely to see. She bought us this gizmo and set it up. We’ve got it on the mantelpiece. It’s like a slideshow I suppose. But really it’s more like we’re there with her. She takes the pictures, they appear … [Read more…]
Google is teaching robots to think for themselves https://www.fastcompany.com/90779334/google-robot-research-everyday-robots-palm-saycan They arrive here full of, I suppose you’d call it knowledge. They’re skilful, very intelligent. They can hit the ground running when it comes to the tasks they’re here for but there’s something missing – soft skills some call it. I prefer the word “understanding”. There … [Read more…]
Neighbourhood apps are great but IRL is better https://www.ft.com/content/ad29c454-9fcf-40f5-bd98-faaf553591d8 No one takes the Estate Agents’ word for it. We used Google Street View to look at the “extensive local amenities” and the distance to the station. Broadband speeds and OFSTED ratings to see the local primary. If you know where to look, there’s so much … [Read more…]
The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/14/business/worker-productivity-tracking.html They were so proud of her. It had always been a worry that she might choose to be an accountant or a tax lawyer. They were too young to be hippies but they still wanted her to be… alternative. An artist. Her life would be creative, different, … [Read more…]
Travel the World in an App https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/09/technology/flight-tracking-app.html He’s worked hard. It seems like it’s been non-stop exams and tests since he started nursery school. And of course the lockdowns didn’t help. He’s just been buried in his books, or at least his tablet. Whatever results he gets, he deserves a break. We did it. Traveled. … [Read more…]
Amazon is quietly developing cancer vaccines in partnership with Fred Hutchinson and recruiting patients for a new clinical trial https://archive.ph/fzupr#selection-1649.0-1649.129 She couldn’t help it. She always looked. It was the one thing that stopped her simply clicking ‘buy now’ or ordering via voice or virtual blinking or any of the other trendy ways you could … [Read more…]
Amazon will share cashierless store data with brands and advertisers https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/amazon-will-share-cashierless-store-data-brands-and-advertisers/2422081 She didn’t bother adding it up as she went along. She was too busy weighing up the options and mentally planning the meals. She’d become quite an imaginative cook. Rice. Pulses. Big bags that could be endlessly repurposed. She was quite proud of her … [Read more…]
CEO test-drives Mojo Vision’s smart augmented reality contact lens https://newatlas.com/wearables/mojo-vision-ar-contact-lens/ Steve McQueen Blue: OK let’s go for that. He looked in the mirror. Left and right. Not bad. He dialled the sparkle up, just a bit. Maybe a cliché but it worked. They loved it. Now just pick the feeds he’d need. He didn’t want … [Read more…]
This site lets you listen to nature sounds from all over the world https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/24/23180360/earth-fm-nature-sounds-soundscapes-environment He scrolled through the playlist until he found something his wearable said matched his mood and fitted with the ambience. The carefully blended, personalised soundscape enveloped him. The binaurals positioned the hum of a passing conversation behind his left shoulder. He … [Read more…]
AR, meet ML: IKEA app lets you erase and replace your furniture https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/06/ar-meet-ml-ikea-app-lets-you-erase-and-replace-your-furniture/ He still found it stressful. Real-world socialising. In The Before, he’d never have called it a “crowd” but now. So many people. Just around his table, friends, people he knew by sight and hangers on who’d heard about the send-off. As it … [Read more…]