👾 Can you smell the pixels?

This week we’re talking about playing 🕹️ Super Mario Bros. in Central Park, an AR iOS app for real-time measuring, smelling with VR 👃, and one state down (Florida), 46 to go for legalizing robot delivery.  

AR . 

It’s Me, Mario, in Central Park 🌲
Abhishek Singh is our hero. This past week, the developer released a video of himself playing Super Mario Bros. in Central Park. Oh, the most important part… he played it in augmented reality! Step aside, Pokemon Go. The video shows Singh dressed up as Mario, going through the first level, jumping over level gaps, unlocking coins and mushrooms. Considering how smooth the gameplay is, it’s impressive to hear there wasn’t any post-production editing involved.
It seems Singh portrayed the first level to a T, he was able to also jump on Goombas, kick Koopa Troopa shells, and even grab a Fire Flower and turn into Fire Mario. It’s pretty incredible to see all the different ways Super Mario Bros. has been imagined on different devices. But so far, this has to top them all. At the moment the game isn’t publically available, but let’s hope that Nintendo has something in the works.

More AR .

AR rulers rule, real rulers…👎
This app isn’t out yet, but it will be this coming fall when iOS 11 launches. Laan Labs will be releasing AR Measure, an app that allows you to measure objects with your iPhone. This is great for a variety of reasons. First, what if you don’t own a tape measure in the first place? Second, ok you have one, but where did you put it? And third, it really shows how AR can be a practical tool and not just a game. Though, there is nothing wrong with all the cool AR games coming out (see above).
For their demo video, released this week, they show a virtual ruler right alongside a real one. It’s accurate, and the technology supporting it is surprisingly complex. Laan Labs gives credit to ARKit, Apple’s platform for developing augmented reality software. AR apps generally use not just camera input, but also coma pass, accelerometer,and gyroscope information to determine exactly how a phone is positioned to ultimately simulate pixels on top of reality in real-time.

VR .

Adding smell to VR, it’s here 👃👾
VR has been playing some tricks on your brain with some insanely convincing visual stimuli. So why not add smell to the mix? VAQSO VR is a VR attachment to headsets that adds smell to the experience. The built in cartridges pack a punch and directly tie to real-time VR experiences. If you walk into a virtual room with coffee, the smell of coffee gets stronger as you walk closer to the source.
Smell merged with VR actually isn’t a new phenomenon. FealReal has been around for a few years now. But, when FealReal came out it almost covered your entire face, like a motorcycle helmet. It was a lot to put on your head, and put your neck to the test. The VAQSO is pretty clever as it should be able to be added to the many different VR headsets that are coming out. The real story is probably all the hilarious QA testing involved in making the smells work correctly. 😤

LEGAL .

Robot delivery is gaining ground, legally
We’ve written quite a bit about drone delivery, robot delivery, and other cool delivery technology advancements here and there. But, what about the legality of it all? This past week, Florida became the fourth state to allow robot delivery on sidewalks. One company, Starship Technologies, has been a major force behind bringing this legislation forward. Florida is joining Virginia, Wisconsin and Idaho.
A major focus be hasen reconciling the convenience and efficiency of robot delivery with public safety. For example, one major condition within the legal approval was that the autonomous robots could be taken over manually if necessary. Other conditions were limits on weight (80 pounds max), and speed (not more than 10 miles an hour). Naturally, the thought here is, the slower and lighter it is the less damage it can do. Ah, just looking forward to a Snickers bar on demand, and all the other inevitable guilt-free deliveries bound to happen.
As always, check out our blog for more. That’s it for this week.✌️

We’re all (inter)connected, even your house plants 🤖🌱

This week we’re talking about Walmart blockchain drone technology 😲, the FDA playing catch up with artificial intelligence, new IoT for watering your plants, and a twist on robot delivery ⚡.

DRONES + BLOCKCHAIN . 

Like PB+J? Walmart looking to mix and match
In past newsletters we’ve discussed how blockchain technology can be applied to more than just cryptocurrency. It has implications in areas ranging from land ownership to the supply chain of sustainably sourced food. Walmart has added to this blockchain-eating-the-world phenomenon, by filing a patent this past week that mixes blockchain with drone delivery.
The patent application, generically titled “Unmanned Aerial Delivery to Secure Location,” involves drones delivering items to lockers. The drones would communicate with these lockers, remotely unlocking and opening them, for drop-off inside. Walmart would incorporate blockchain within this communication, both in the tracking the physical items, and adding an additional level of security. Amazon surpassed Walmart’s market cap in mid-2015, so it looks like these big moves are all about staying relevant.

HEALTH .

FDA preparing for A.I.’s impact on health software 🏥
There’s been a wave of health apps and wearables entering the market. There are apps that use image-recognition to suggest whether we have a type of skin cancer, and apps that help you self-diagnose mental illness. Surprisingly, the FDA doesn’t regulate most of these apps, only if they are deemed to pose a ‘high risk’ to the public. The thing is, nothing looks to shake up the software world more than the application of AI.
In this light, innovation is great and all, but the FDA wants safe innovation. This week’s development is that the FDA is building out a team of computer scientists to specifically address how Artificial Intelligence will impact medical software. While many health apps and devices may be deemed ‘low risk’ by the FDA, adding an AI component may be a whole other ball game. This may be great timing by the FDA, as the rumor mill says the upcoming iPhone 8 could have its own AI chip.

IoT .

Now you can link up your potted plants 🤖🌱
We already have acres and acres of interconnected agricultural infrastructure, ‘smart farming’, that is feeding millions of people. What’s next? A new kickstarter wants us to think smaller. Launched last week, Grovio is an IoT solution for your potted plants. Grovio is a smart watering device app paired with a mobile app. The cool part is you can water your plant remotely via the mobile app for up to 45 days.
There have been mixed responses so far. The point of having house plants is to improve the ambiance of your home, and now we have another device sitting around, this one with tubes stretching into your plants? It also is nearly identical to the Amazon Echo in shape and size. How many of these smart assistance robots can you fit on your table, doing things for you, before someone thinks you can’t do simple tasks for yourself?

DELIVERY .

Zoom, zoom, European robot deliveries getting competitive
Where Walmart wants to do autonomous drone delivery, several European startups are looking at autonomous vehicle delivery. Startups Teleretail (🇨🇭) and Starship (🇬🇧 +🇪🇪) have vehicles the size of baby carriages, to ferry your precious cargo from point A to B. Teleretail recently debuted their latest version, and it is ready to be used in suburban and rural deliveries. Not only would it be used for dropping off packages to customers, but also pick up items as well.
Other autonomous delivery startups have designed their robots to travel on city sidewalks and crosswalks, Teleretail and Starship are different in that their robots can go longer distances and operate on the road. Teleretail will be launching its pilot in the U.S. and Switzerland soon and their target customer is small business owners. They want to help brick and mortar stores stay competitive with ecommerce by offering cheaper delivery options. It also would have a better ecological footprint.

 
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