Niantic’s Real-World AR Map Is Now Open To Developers
... It was back in 2021 that the company made its Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit available to developers worldwide. During today’s event, Niantic officially launched its Lightship VPS, allowing developers to anchor their original AR experiences to specific locations throughout the real world and track both the position and orientation with “centimeter-level precision.”
Niantic accumulated scans from existing developers, surveyors, and players and used the data collected to begin constructing its AR map. Once enough data on a specific location has been accumulated, Niantic can activate it on Lightship VPS so developers can begin developing their own location-based AR experiences for said location. ...
According to Niantic, all the system needs is a single frame from the user’s smartphone camera in order to pinpoint their specific location. Lightship VPS currently supports 30,000 locations across six major cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, London, and Tokyo. The company plans on expanding to 100 global cities by the end of the year. ...
See the full story here: https://vrscout.com/news/niantics-real-world-ar-map-is-now-open-to-developers/
Artificial intelligence is breaking patent law
... Another challenge is even more fundamental. An ‘inventive step’ occurs when an invention is deemed ‘non-obvious’ to a ‘person skilled in the art’. This notional person has the average level of skill and general knowledge of an ordinary expert in the relevant technical field. ...
But if AIs become more knowledgeable and skilled than all people in a field, it is unclear how a human patent examiner could assess whether an AI’s invention was obvious. An AI system built to review all information published about an area of technology before it invents would possess a much larger body of knowledge than any human could. Assessed against all knowledge, almost everything would seem obvious4. If everyone has access to such AI tools in future, then the ‘inventive step’ criterion of patentability would be close to impossible to achieve, and almost nothing would be patentable. A complete rethink would be required. ...
Patents are registered separately in each jurisdiction, and enforcement disputes must normally be resolved by the legal system of the country of registration. ...
Instead, an AI-IP treaty could include dispute-resolution mechanisms, perhaps adjudicated by a specialist international court. Inspiration can be found in Europe’s new Unified Patent Court, which is due to commence in the next year (www.unified-patent-court.org), and various arbitration courts around the world. ...
See the full article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01391-x
Under a major Royal Mail shakeup, 500 AI-powered drones could soon deliver the mail.
The UK postal service wants to use 200 artificial intelligence-powered robots to provide better service to remote communities in places like the Isles of Scilly, Orkney, and the Hebrides, following successful trials in the Shetland Islands.
Fortunately, because drones do not deliver directly to the door, they will not be replacing the local postman. They will instead make it easier for postal workers to do their jobs. ...
The drones resemble smаll plаnes аnd pilot themselves using аrtificiаl intelligence, but they cаn be аssisted by а remote operаtor. ...
See the full story here: https://technotrenz.com/entertainment/under-a-major-royal-mail-shakeup-500-ai-powered-drones-could-soon-deliver-the-mail-1892439.html
HoloToyz: Rebooting augmented reality for Generation Alpha
... HoloToyz partnered with Nickelodeon and is preparing to launch a range of tattoos, stickers and books for the popular Paw Patrol series in the coming months.
The company has also started discussions with Sega to create a Sonic the Hedgehog range this summer, in time to ride the wave of popularity the ’90s gaming character is experiencing via a cinematic reboot. ...
The first HoloToyz products hit the market in December 2020 and they are currently available in more than 14 countries. ...
See the full story here: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/holotoyz-augmented-reality-toys-ar
Men twice as likely as women to consider an AI ‘companion’
Galloping advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) mean that the possibilities for romances and relationships with a computerised partner could be pulled from the realms of science fiction into reality.
The research for the Faraday Institute and the Theos think tank has exposed a major gender divide in attitudes to AI.
While 28 percent of men would consider getting an AI companion, only 13 percent of women would. ...
Perhaps unsurprisingly, young people were much more open to the idea of such a companion than older generations. The YouGov polling found that while 29 percent of those aged 16 to 29 would consider it, this was true for a mere eight percent of people aged 70-plus. ...
Kathleen Richardson, Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at De Montfort University said: “Unfortunately, technology in these areas is being significantly shaped by men who have a very particular set of assumptions, motivations, priorities and goals. All too often, these risk excluding women and eroding human relations in a way that will ultimately harm both men and women.”
See the full story here: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1614014/AI-companion-research-men-women
Social entertainment drives ‘digital/physical’ development phase
... The rise of social entertainment has been personified by the popularity of the hospitality-centric entertainment venues seen with Topgolf, Puttshack, FlightClub, Swingers and other brands.
However, this new phase of entertainment experience is better described as "competitive socializing" — a term first coined in the U.K. as far back as 2015 and initially defining pubs incorporating a circus entertainment vibe, or bowling and food and beverage brands. ...
The twist for the current adoption of competitive socializing is the inclusion of guests' engagement, be it the use of tracked balls and scoring seen in the new generation of crazy golf properties such as with "Lucky Putt" from Creative Works, or the use of augmented reality projection technology in the "Smarts: Interactive Darts" platform, from 501 Entertainment. ...
Escape rooms lead change
One aspect of the social entertainment explosion that has been hard to pigeonhole was that of the escape room experience. A law unto itself, the closest affiliation had been with the "scare" attraction scene, and even LARP'ing (live action role playing). ...
The market expands
Another aspect of the social entertainment scene has been the number of new players. One of those is Toca Social, the company associated with the football players' training operation, which opened its flagship social entertainment experience a few months back in The O2 in London.
What some have described as "Topgolf for football!," the facility comprises 17 football simulator booths, using tracking software and a projected screen, with players demonstrating their shooting skills through a variety of mini games, scoring points. ...
