relationships

Meta’s ‘augments’ place digital objects around your physical space

https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/27/metas-augments-place-digital-objects-around-your-physical-space/ When they’d moved in together they called it “merging”. They spent a long time sorting through their digital libraries laughing at the duplicates: films they’d both loved and now were slightly embarrassed about; books they admitted they’d never read. They particularly enjoyed merging their digital spaces, playing with the new shared avatars and objects. … [Read more…]

New erotic roleplaying chatbots promise to indulge your sexual fantasies

https://thenextweb.com/news/bloom-launches-erotic-ai-roleplaying-chatbots They obviously thought it was so funny. It was a full-on formal tea party. Best crockery. Tablecloth. My mum had even dug gran’s old cakestand out. I swear if my dad had a tie, he’d have worn it. It was like a scene from a nostalgic sitcom. It should have been in black and … [Read more…]

Aqara put a notification light in its new Matter ceiling light

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/31/23852845/aqara-matter-enabled-ceiling-light It was going well. The preparations had been worth it. Friends had said this was the crucial date so they’d pulled the stops out. Money no expense. They’d paid for the best playlist recommendations. They’d found “someone” to curate the perfect menu based on Jo’s data and social history. They weren’t looking forward to … [Read more…]

Teaser’s AI dating app turns you into a chatbot

https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/09/teasers-ai-dating-app-turns-you-into-a-chatbot/ Practice makes perfect. That’s what my dad says. He means school or occasionally football but… Another of his favourite clichés is: “try. try, try again”. Anyway there are more important things than school and certainly football – sorry dad. He has occasionally talked about previous girlfriends but in a very general way… Nothing about … [Read more…]

Mashups made easy: AI powers new remix app

From New Atlas: “Ever wanted to throw together Cardi B, Michael Jackson, and Jay-Z to create the perfect party starter? Now you can, thanks to researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Music Technology, who’ve developed an app that makes a mashup of your favorite songs – no DJing experience required.” https://newatlas.com/music/mashups-ai-new-remix-app/ The mixtape was … [Read more…]

Bumble users can share their favorite artists with new Spotify feature

https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/16/bumble-users-can-share-their-favorite-music-artists-with-spotify-feature/ It’s an investment I guess. You’d spend money on a new outfit for an important date, you’d use filters to help your profile pictures on a little. Heh, my parents told me they’d try out different chat-up lines before going out – not an image I really wanted TBH. So getting a bit of … [Read more…]

Outdoor screen fitted with microphones so AI can ‘hear’ sirens in anti-knife crime campaign

https://the-media-leader.com/outdoor-screen-fitted-with-microphones-so-ai-can-hear-sirens-in-anti-knife-campaign/ They left the pub in silence. The resentment was brewing but the argument could wait. They didn’t need everyone hearing or seeing. There’d been a match on so crowds of fans were pouring out, swaying and singing. The billboards lit up in response, joining in the chant: karaoke and sponsor’s logo. She took the … [Read more…]

Crypto makes you more attractive, according to a new Binance survey

https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/14/crypto-makes-you-more-attractive-according-to-a-new-binance-survey/ She’d become used to data dates. Obviously pre-date-data had started it all, but the move to live-date-data had upped the game. Some people liked to have those feeds out of the line of sight, on their wrist or screen, but she preferred the lenses. Somehow more honest, she thought. It hadn’t “killed the romance” … [Read more…]

Dispatch from an advertising future #260

Zuckerberg says Meta’s next VR headset will launch in October and will focus on ‘social presence’ https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/26/zuckerberg-says-metas-next-vr-headset-will-launch-in-october-and-will-focus-on-social-presence/ It had taken some time getting him there. Maybe it was the word ‘therapist’… or maybe the word ‘couple’: probably both. As the therapist tried to get him to talk about their relationship and his position in it, … [Read more…]

Dispatch from an advertising future #219

Looking Through Mojo Vision’s Newest AR Contact Lens https://spectrum.ieee.org/looking-through-mojo-visions-newest-ar-contact-lens Frankly I wouldn’t go on a date anywhere else. It’s a nice part of town, reasonably cheap and there are lots of people around. But mainly it’s when I look into his eyes, I know. I’ve been on other dates, other places. You can almost see … [Read more…]