Lifeboat Foundation

Let me propose a hypothetical future scenario: Let’s say that we’ve since developed an advanced method of brain-to-brain (B2B) communication, to which, naturally, has become quite popular among the younger generation of that time.

How might we judge futuristic societies using our present day standards? Better yet, how might the past have judged us today and would there be a difference?

Continue reading “‘Smile, it’s the Future!’ — Emotions, Mixed Reality, and Techno-Telepathy” »

Pasadena-based artificial intelligence tech startup Oben is about to roll out its first product, PAI (Personal AI), a consumer app designed to let users create an AI-driven avatar with their own look and voice.

Its underlying AI technology is already getting some select professional use. Overall, Oben’s team believes AI can have a wide range of uses including in virtual and augmented reality, gaming, content creation and retail.

With PAI, users essentially “teach” the app about themselves. “You take a selfie, and a visual avatar is ready in the app,” Oben CEO and co-founder Nikhil Jain explained, adding that users can then customize their look. Plus, simply by speaking a few sentences, users can teach their avatar to talk or sing. These features can be used on social media and the like.

Continue reading “Artificial Intelligence Startup Oben Debuts ‘Personal’ AI Consumer App” »

DigiLens, a developer of transparent waveguide display technology, says it’s working toward a waveguide display which could bring a 150 degree field of view to AR and VR (or XR) headsets. The company expects the display will be available in 2019.

Founded in 2005, DigiLens has developed a proprietary waveguide manufacturing process which allows the company to “print” light manipulating structures (Bragg gratings) into a thin and transparent material wherein light can be guided along the optic and be made to project perpendicularly, forming an image in the user’s eye. While DigiLens isn’t the only company which makes waveguide displays, they claim that their process offers a steep cost advantage compared to competitors. The company says they’ve raised $35 million between its Series A and B investment rounds.

While DigiLens’ displays have primarily been used in HUD-like applications, the company is increasingly positioning its wares toward the growing wearable, AR, and VR industries. At AWE 2018 last week, DigiLens Founder & CTO Jonathan Waldern told me that the company expects to offer a waveguide display suitable for AR and VR headsets which could offer a 150 degree field of view between both eyes. He said that a single display could be suitable for AR and VR modes in the same headset by utilizing a liquid crystal blackout layer which can switch between transparent and opaque, something which DigiLens partner Panasonic has developed. A clip-on light blocker or other type of tinting film ought to be suitable as well.

Continue reading “DigiLens is Developing a Waveguide Display for 150 Degree XR Headsets” »

Artificial intelligence has exploded, and perhaps no one knows it more than Harry Shum, the executive vice president in charge of Microsoft’s AI and Research Group, which has been at the center of a major technological shift inside the company.

Delivering the commencement address Friday at the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, Shum drew inspiration from three emerging technologies — quantum computing, AI, and mixed reality — to deliver life lessons and point out the future of technology for the class of 2018.

Continue reading “Life lessons from artificial intelligence: What Microsoft’s AI chief wants computer science grads to know about the future” »

It wouldn’t be #MayTheFourth without some awesome Star Wars news.

Virtual reality is a gateway to powerful experiences. Strap on a pair of VR goggles, look around, and the scene you see will adjust, in real time, to match your gaze. But the technology is a visual one. Virtual reality doesn’t include touch, although there are controllers that provide “hand presence,” allowing you to manipulate objects in the virtual world, or shoot a simulated gun. So while VR today could simulate a Westworld -like setting, you’re not going to be actually feeling the hug of a cowboy-robot on your body while using any of the major platforms—at least not for a while.

The Force Jacket, a garment from Disney Research, aims to address that gap. Made out of a converted life jacket, the prototype uses embedded airbags that inflate, deflate, or even vibrate to literally give its wearer a feeling of being touched. When coupled with VR software, the setup can simulate something bizarre—a snake slithering on you—or more pedestrian: getting hit by a snowball. In brief, the sensation of touch you feel on your actual body can match what you see in a virtual one. (The device is the result of a research project, so these lifejacket-garments aren’t exactly on sale on Amazon. It’s also not the first research to focus on incorporating haptics into VR.)

“If you’ve experienced virtual reality or augmented reality, it’s largely based in this immersive visual world,” says Alexandra Delazio, the lead researcher on the jacket project and currently a research engineer at the University of Pittsburgh, where she works on technology for people with disabilities. “The real world is not just visual—it’s full of force and pressure-based interaction.” The goal of the jacket is to bring that sense of touch to the virtual world, or maybe even offer a way for someone far away to give you a hug.

Continue reading “Disney’s haptic VR jacket lets you feel snowball impacts and snakes slithering” »

Four virtual reality (VR) veterans from Discovery Digital, Oculus Story Studio and Lightshed officially launched their new company out of stealth mode in San Francisco this week. Dubbed Tomorrow Never Knows, the new studio aims to use virtual and augmented reality as well as other emerging technologies including artificial intelligence for groundbreaking storytelling projects, said co-founder and CEO Nathan Brown in an interview with Variety this week.

“The thesis behind the company is to consistently violate the limits of storytelling, forcing the creation of new tools, methodologies and workflow and to do this intentionally so we create original creative and technology IP,” he said.

Before founding Tomorrow Never Knows, Brown co-founded Discovery VR, which has become one of the most ambitious network-backed VR outlets. Also hailing from Discovery VR is Tomorrow Never Knows co-founder Tom Lofthouse. They are joined by Gabo Arora, whose previous work as the founder of Lightshed included VR documentaries like “Clouds Over Sidra” and “Waves of Grace,” as well as Oculus Story Studio co-founder Sachka Unseld, the director of the Emmy Award-winning VR animation short “Henry” and the Emmy-nominated VR film “Dear Angelica.”

Continue reading “Discovery VR, Oculus Veterans Launch New AR/VR Studio Tomorrow Never Knows (EXCLUSIVE)” »

In a talk given today at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting, Google researchers described a prototype of an augmented reality microscope that could be used to help physicians diagnose patients. When pathologists are analyzing biological tissue to see if there are signs of cancer — and if so, how much and what kind — the process can be quite time-consuming. And it’s a practice that Google thinks could benefit from deep learning tools. But in many places, adopting AI technology isn’t feasible. The company, however, believes this microscope could allow groups with limited funds, such as small labs and clinics, or developing countries to benefit from these tools in a simple, easy-to-use manner. Google says the scope could “possibly help accelerate and democratize the adoption of deep learning tools for pathologists around the world.”

The microscope is an ordinary light microscope, the kind used by pathologists worldwide. Google just tweaked it a little in order to introduce AI technology and augmented reality. First, neural networks are trained to detect cancer cells in images of human tissue. Then, after a slide with human tissue is placed under the modified microscope, the same image a person sees through the scope’s eyepieces is fed into a computer. AI algorithms then detect cancer cells in the tissue, which the system then outlines in the image seen through the eyepieces (see image above). It’s all done in real time and works quickly enough that it’s still effective when a pathologist moves a slide to look at a new section of tissue.

Continue reading “Google made an AR microscope that can help detect cancer” »

Artificial intelligence is being used for a dizzying array of tasks, but one of the most successful is also one of the scariest: automated surveillance. Case in point is Chinese startup SenseTime, which makes AI-powered surveillance software for the country’s police, and which this week received a new round of funding worth $600 million. This funding, led by retailing giant Alibaba, reportedly gives SenseTime a total valuation of more than $4.5 billion, making it the most valuable AI startup in the world, according to analyst firm CB Insights.

This news is significant for a number of reasons. First, it shows how China continues to pour money into artificial intelligence, both through government funding and private investment. Many are watching the competition between China and America to develop cutting-edge AI with great interest, and see investment as an important measure of progress. China has overtaken the US in this regard, although experts are quick to caution that it’s only one metric of success.

Secondly, the investment shows that image analysis is one of the most lucrative commercial applications for AI. SenseTime became profitable in 2017 and claims it has more than 400 clients and partners. It sells its AI-powered services to improve the camera apps of smartphone-makers like OPPO and Vivo; to offer “beautification” effects and AR filters on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo; and to provide identity verification for domestic finance and retail apps like Huanbei and Rong360.

Continue reading “The world’s most valuable AI startup is a Chinese company specializing in real-time surveillance” »