AUGMENTED REALITY
Google Unveils ARCore, Its Answer to Apple’s ARKit, But It Will Be Hard to Catch Up
Mark Sullivan | Fast Company
“With ARCore, Google says, developers can create AR apps and games that run on virtually any Android smartphone–existing and forthcoming… ARCore games and apps will use an Android phone’s camera to determine the position and movement of the phone itself within a real-world environment.”
ROBOTICS
Robot Airbags Could Help Industrial Bots Play Nice With Humans
James Vincent | The Verge
“The airbag surrounds the robot’s manipulator tool and its sharp edges, automatically inflating when the arm is moving to protect any nearby humans. When the robot needs to use the manipulator, the airbag deflates in less than a second.”
VIRTUAL REALITY
The VR Dating Show Makes Me Want to Never Date Again
Adi Robertson | The Verge
“As you may have guessed from the title, each episode sets up a blind date between two strangers who are wearing HTC Vive headsets, then…well, that’s basically it. If, as many people have suggested, VR is a bit like drugs, then Virtually Dating is like being stuck in a room watching two generic strangers smoke pot.”
DRONES
Drones and AI Take on Killer Sharks Down Under
Evan Ackerman | IEEE Spectrum
“After six months of trials, the latest and most robot-y idea is about to be implemented: drones will start patrolling some Australian beaches next month, using cameras and some AI-backed image analysis software to spot lurking sharks much better than humans can.”
TECH
Uber’s New C.E.O. Is an Anti-Trump Former Iranian Refugee
Maya Kosoff | Vanity Fair
“The new Uber C.E.O. will be expected to whip Uber back into shape following months of scandal and investigation into Uber’s workplace culture, which led to at least 20 employees getting fired for human-resources-related violations. Khosrowshahi will also have to steer the company through its intellectual-property theft lawsuit with Alphabet.”
