philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

MIT and Harvard create cheap artificial muscles with super strength

The new soft robotic artificial muscles are inspired by origami, and can be constructed in as little as 10 minutes with materials generally available that can be acquired for less than $1. The technology uses ‘skeletons’ or basic structural scaffolding which are surrounded by a sealed bag that can then change its motion by creating a vacuum within the bag itself.

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/27/mit-and-harvard-create-cheap-artificial-muscles-with-super-strength/?utm_medium=TCnewsletter

SingularityNet: Converging AI & Blockchain for the greater good

...AI is currently dominated by a few giant corporations who want to monopolize AI and maximize their own share value, at the individual’s expense. But they can only do so because there is no efficient, network alternative available to the general public.

This has to change, and that is why Ben Goertzel, David Hanson, and I are creating SingularityNET, a protocol that allows anyone monetize AI algorithms at scale in a permissionless market.

SingularityNET is a collaborative effort that brings several teams of different expertises, backgrounds, and walks of life together, including:

• Hanson Robotics — the world’s most advanced robotic company in the world
• OpenCog — global open-source software initiative aimed at building AGI
• Novamente — an AI-based R&D and consulting company
• Vulpem Ventures — a blockchain and cybersecurity agency

We envision a future AI economy that is pervasive and sustainable, in which the immense knowledge and wealth that AI creates is distributed to all sentient beings .

See the whole story here: https://becominghuman.ai/announcing-my-next-big-adventure-716806c88be9

AI with an Undo

Getting AI to be more cautious: Where do we go next, and can we change our minds if we don't like it?

The idea is to have an agent jointly learn a forward policy and a reset policy. The forward policy maximizes the task reward, and the reset policy tries to figure out actions to take to reset the environment to a prior state. This leads to agents that learn to avoid risky actions that could irrevocably commit them to something.
"Before an action proposed by the forward policy is executed in the environment, it must be “approved” by the reset policy. In particular, if the reset policy’s Q value for the proposed action is too small, then an early abort is performed: the proposed action is not taken and the reset policy takes control," they write.

See the full story here: https://us13.campaign-archive.com/?u=67bd06787e84d73db24fb0aa5&id=43052be12b&utm_source=MIT+Technology+Review&utm_campaign=edc326f0a0-The_Download&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-edc326f0a0-153894145

Quantum encryption is now fast enough for voice calls

Quantum cryptography. Eye of an observer reflected in a mirror in quantum cryptography apparatus. Quantum cryptography is based on the principle of entanglement, a property of a pair of particles in which a change to one has an instantaneous effect on the other, no matter how far apart they are. Cryptography in this case refers to the encoding of data so that only specified targets can access it. If the sender and the receiver of the data share entanglement then any data is only readable by them alone. This is more secure than existing encryption methods, most of which rely on mathematical algorithms. Photographed at the lab of Anton Zeilinger at Vienna University, Austria.

...researchers have developed a quantum encryption key distribution system that promises to be five to 10 times faster than existing methods, or roughly on par with conventional encryption when run in parallel. The trick was to cram more data into each photon.

Normally, you can only encode one bit per photon by using a weak laser. The team discovered that it could encode two bits by tweaking the release time of photons and using high-speed photon detectors to track these changes. Effectively, they're giving photons properties they couldn't have before.

There's a lot of effort left before this becomes practical, not the least of which is the size: a transmitter/receiver combo would be about as large as a computer. It's more realistic than you might think, mind you. All the parts beyond the single-photon detector are readily available, and it could even be used for "free space" (read: over the air) transmissions. Eventually, there may be a time when you could hold a secure voice chat knowing that even the most determined spy couldn't listen in.

See the full story here: https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/26/scientists-develop-fast-quantum-encryption/

Professor Vikram Explains the Integration of Mixed Reality/Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality into Various Technologies

IEEE Senior Member Vikram Kapila, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Director, Mechatronics, Controls, and Robotics Laboratory New York University, Tandon School of Engineering

IEEE Transmitter: How can MR/AR/VR benefit the world’s next leaders in research and teaching, medicine and exploration (e.g. space, underwater, archaeology)?

Professor Kapila: The MR/AR/VR technologies can benefit the world’s next leaders by allowing their frictionless integration in applications that employ convergent-technologies, e.g., robotics, computer vision, machine learning, additive manufacturing, among others. Similar to open-source hardware and software platforms such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ROS, OpenCV, etc., development, dissemination, and deployment of corresponding open-source hardware and software for MR/AR/VR can enable researchers from disparate domains to explore these technologies.

Compelling use-cases will further showcase broad utility of these technologies to potential users. These technologies can of course facilitate highly intuitive, natural, and immersive telerobotics which is highly relevant to remote exploration in space, underwater, and archaeology; remote observation of land and sea creatures without human invasion of their natural habitat; as well as in surgery. MR/AR/VR have myriad applications in education, for example, laboratory education, anatomy, astronomy, engineering graphics, spatial relations, etc. Moreover, in a manufacturing environment, maintenance workers can benefit from the MR/AR/VR technologies during inspection and repair operations.

See the full story here; https://transmitter.ieee.org/professor-vikram-explains-integration-mixed-reality-augmented-reality-virtual-reality-various-technologies/

Frank Kolkman creates death simulation machine using virtual reality

To tackle "death anxiety" among terminally ill hospital patients, designer Frank Kolkman has created a device that simulates a near-death experience using virtual reality.

Visitors to Dutch Design Week were invited to try out the experimental device, which explores how new computer technologies can address psychological issues, such as fear of mortality.

The out-of-body experience simulated by Outrospectre could provide therapy for dying people, by gently acclimatising them to the sensation of death.

Kolkman's device relies on video footage of the real environment instead of computer-generated visuals.

Users stand directly in front of a robotic head, which is fitted with a 3D camera in each eye. The head is mounted on a vertical trolley track, allowing it to move forwards and backwards.

The cameras transmit a live video stream to the user, who watches through a VR headset as the camera glides away from their body.

The robot mimics head movements in real time, allowing the user to look around and observe their environment. It also has "ears" – two microphones positioned at opposite sides of its face that intensify the feeling of displacement.

"Our brains utilise subtle differences in timing and timbre to identify the origin of a detected sound in direction and distance, and where you are in relation to it," Kolkman explains.

The third element is an automatic hammer that taps the chest each second to mimic a heartbeat, which helps to make the experience feel more physical.

Four out of five people currently experience sensations of physically moving or being present in a different location, and a few have recorded being in two places at once.

With Outrospectre, Kolkman intends to start a conversation about how designers can introduce a new culture of acceptance and openness about death in hospitals.

He says that there is currently too much focus on keeping ill patients alive, rather than on improving the quality of time they have left.

See the full story here: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/11/23/frank-kolkman-outrospectre-near-death-experience-virtual-reality-technology-robots-health/

Apple acquired augmented reality headset startup Vrvana for $30M

As Apple reportedly ramps up work to ship an augmented reality headset in 2020, it has acquired a startup from Montreal, Canada that could help it get there. TechCrunch has learned that Apple has acquired Vrvana, maker of the Totem headset — which had rave reviews but never shipped. The deal was for around $30 million, two sources tell TechCrunch.

The only product that Vrvana shows off on its site is the unreleased Totem headset, an “extended reality” device utilizing key technologies from both AR and virtual reality to allow for both experiences on a single headset.

The tethered device had a form factor similar to many of today’s VR headsets, but uniquely relied on several forward-facing pass-through cameras to replicate the outside world on its OLED displays inside the headset. The system of cameras enabled 6DoF tracking, a technology which allows the device to track its position in 3D space, while also using infrared cameras to track a user’s hands.

A key disadvantage in these types of systems, aside from bulky aesthetics, is that there is often noticeable lag between the cameras capturing the outside world and how quickly it is displayed in-headset.

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/21/apple-acquires-mixed-reality-headset-startup-vrvana-for-30m/

YOU CAN NOW MIX ON VINYL USING VIRTUAL REALITY

With help from professional DJs, Vinyl Reality has been created to provide an accurate and realistic simulation of DJ'ing with vinyl inside virtual reality with the help of two VR controllers and VR headset.

The software features two accurately modelled turntables, with realistic behaviour, and a two-channel mixer with EQs, PLF and gains.

The German software developer has even gone to the trouble of creating a record crate so users can sift through virtual records in between mixes.

See the full story here: https://djmag.com/news/you-can-now-mix-vinyl-using-virtual-reality

Lightform raises $5 million to make projected augmented reality mainstream

[Philip Lelyveld comment: this is projection mapping using what looks like a leap motion sensor and software for real time surface mapping.]

Lightform Inc., an augmented reality hardware company, is announcing a $5 million round of funding led by Lux Capital. Other participants in the round include Dolby Family Ventures, CrunchFund, Comet Labs, Presence Capital, and Anorak Ventures. Lightform is using the capital to fund the manufacturing of their projected AR device, which lets artists and designers easily map digital video content onto 3D objects and spaces. The technology can be used in retail, restaurants, offices, and events to inform, advertise or entertain customers.

As an example, Lightform partnered with local San Francisco bakery Vive la tarte for a pilot installation using their system. A digitally updatable menu is projected onto a sculpture made of wood and steel. "We wanted to do something different and saw Lightform's technology as a great way to push the boundaries of what a menu could be," says Arnaud Goethals, Vive la tarte's co-founder and CEO. "The menu is alive, like our food, and it perfectly integrates in our space."

See the full story here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lightform-raises-5-million-to-make-projected-augmented-reality-mainstream-300560690.html

Phones for urns: Hong Kong turns to virtual reality to honor ancestors

Anthony Yau’s firm, iVeneration.com, offers users the ability to create virtual headstones anywhere in an augmented reality landscape of Hong Kong, including such unlikely places as a downtown park.

...allowing people to honor Confucian traditions of filial obligation in the territory where it can cost up to $130,000 to store the ashes of loved ones.

“The dead are taking so much more space than those who are still alive, as those buried use that piece of land for many years,” said Yau, as he manipulated his mobile telephone to correctly position a candle in front of a virtual headstone.

“For me, you don’t have to go to a thing to remember those passed away, it’s all in your heart.”

See the full story here: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-cemetery-vr/phones-for-urns-hong-kong-turns-to-virtual-reality-to-honor-ancestors-idUSKBN1DL0YEhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-cemetery-vr/phones-for-urns-hong-kong-turns-to-virtual-reality-to-honor-ancestors-idUSKBN1DL0YE