An open letter to Magic Leap and the future of augmented reality

Imagine if the line between the virtual and the real simply didn’t exist. Your classroom could become the cosmos. The past could be as vivid as the present. And this is just the beginning. Welcome to a new world. These are Tim Cook’s words about augmented reality. It was a bold claim coming from a… Continue reading An open letter to Magic Leap and the future of augmented reality

A meme you won’t laugh at: How culture suffers due to our addiction to virality

Just a few hours into the start of WWII, British troops loaded hundreds of hot air balloons with millions of leaflets of propaganda to be flown into Germany and dispersed behind enemy lines. At the time, airborne leaflet propaganda was the cleanest way of attacking enemy morale and was a major military tactic for both… Continue reading A meme you won’t laugh at: How culture suffers due to our addiction to virality

FakeApp is the national threat you’ve never heard of, but will soon see everywhere

It all began on “the front page of the Internet” – Reddit  – when a bored technologist decided to place Nic Cage’s face on familiar film moments; taking Harrison Ford’s place in Raiders of the Lost Ark, once in Game of Thrones, and potentially as every character in Lord of the Rings. It was a… Continue reading FakeApp is the national threat you’ve never heard of, but will soon see everywhere

AI will pick (and make) the songs you love in just 6 years

Music has a rich history of technological and digital augmentation. Think about Peter Frampton and Jimi Hendrix using “talk boxes” to make their guitars talk for them. Or how about the billions of people influenced by the computerized sounds of pop music from Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna. This is partly why the music industry… Continue reading AI will pick (and make) the songs you love in just 6 years

AI paints a portrait. Christie’s sells it for $435,000. What’s the world coming to?

When science and the humanities collide, it’s usually a battle of existential proportions. However, this time the disparate communities came together to make a major statement (and a few dollars). Last week, the high-brow auction house Christie’s sold a painting called Portrait of Edmond Belamy for an astounding $435,000. The portrait isn’t visually appealing. The… Continue reading AI paints a portrait. Christie’s sells it for $435,000. What’s the world coming to?

How Domino’s is leading us into the era of conversational interfaces

Have you ever wondered why an overwhelming number of conversational AIs are voiced by females? It seems as though in the process of humanizing the machines around us, we may be taking a step backward in gender bias. Alexandra Whittington, Futurist at Fast Future, elaborates on this problem: The issue here is that we may… Continue reading How Domino’s is leading us into the era of conversational interfaces

Why it makes sense for McDonald’s (and soon others) to give machines a personality

21st-century living can be quite depressing. Most of us spend an overwhelming majority of our day interacting with phone, computer, and TV screens. It’s a lifestyle, unfortunately, that probably won’t change anytime soon. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t make it more enjoyable. What if each one of our devices had a personality? Your phone… Continue reading Why it makes sense for McDonald’s (and soon others) to give machines a personality

Virtual Reality might be the next billion-dollar painkiller

Mind over matter represents the triumph of will over physical hindrance. Our thoughts are our weapon against the world. David Adam, Author Athletes are all too familiar with this type of advice – that the mind creates all of our boundaries. However, who would’ve thought that this could be the basis for a new field… Continue reading Virtual Reality might be the next billion-dollar painkiller

How self-driving cars will make cities healthier (in a way you’d never expect)

The year is 2030. Your Mercedes-Benz S-class is having transmission troubles, so you take it into the dealership. Half an hour passes and a manager approaches you with the news: Welp, the repair is going to run you about $3,500. Your transmission is about to poop out on ya. We can have you back on… Continue reading How self-driving cars will make cities healthier (in a way you’d never expect)