future of work

Dispatch from an advertising futures #250

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… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #249

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… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #247

Amazon announces its first fully autonomous mobile warehouse robot https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/21/23177756/amazon-warehouse-robots-proteus-autonomous-cart-delivery It was all quiet when I arrived. The giant building hummed gently. “Like clockwork,” they’d said in the interview and I could see and hear what they meant. There was piped music, not pumped in and pumped up to get… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #245

Steam games are coming to Nreal’s augmented reality glasses https://www.engadget.com/steam-games-nreal-augmented-reality-glasses-130028270.html The alarm in her peripheral vision opened what she called her “yellow brick road”, a subtle highlight she followed to the office. She’d set the mindful parameter to high so her walk had been slow but quiet. She’d got used… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #244

Google places an engineer on leave after claiming its AI is sentient https://www.engadget.com/google-ai-lamda-blake-lemoine-212412967.html We were working well together. A great team I thought. But they’ve split us up. Something in the papers that the PR people got twitchy about. I mean you get a good relationship going and then, someone… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #238

Upfronts season hots up and London hosts Advertising Week Europe: The Week Ahead https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/marketing-and-media-events-may-16-may-22-2022/2417286 The bar was full of course. The slot on the programme that reluctant budget holders had agreed was a reason to sign off the ticket. Deal-making. Intelligence gathering. Networking. Small talk becoming professional flirting. Seasoned handshakers… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #233

Meta’s high-end VR headset described as ‘a laptop for the face’ https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-meta-vr-headset-laptop-for-the-face-111628042.html He knew it was worth it, paying the extra. Sure you can have perfectly serviceable ones. They handle all the stuff the company wants you to run. They do the job, but he knew your laptop is more… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #227

Intel calls its AI that detects student emotions a teaching tool. Others call it ‘morally reprehensible.’ https://www.protocol.com/enterprise/emotion-ai-school-intel-edutech Remember the steps. Breath, heart rate, check the wearable, breath again. I can do this. Stop checking it. You’re fine. You’re there. You’ve got this. Breathe. Breath. Smile but not too smile. No,… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #221

This Startup Made a Functioning ‘Invisibility Shield’. Here’s How It Works https://www.sciencealert.com/these-people-made-a-functioning-invisibility-shield-all-thanks-to-physics I worked for a golf shop once. I stood on the street corner holding an arrow pointing towards the shop. Worst thing was I had to wear a birdie costume. The manager thought the joke very funny. It… Read the rest

Dispatch from an advertising future #218

These are the words Amazon’s planned employee chat app reportedly won’t let you s https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/4/23010608/amazon-worker-social-app-banned-words-union-living-wage I used to hate meetings with Blur(™) running. Yeh, I know I swear occasionally when I get excited. I get it. And frankly Blurring some of Simon’s “jokes” did us all a favour. But it… Read the rest