Google Maps adds Augmented Reality to their Maps

Announced in May at their annual I/O conference - but now showing up in demo markets - Google Maps will begin to overlay map information on top of what you see with your camera. So you can continue to walk around staring at your phone, but potentially bump into less people.

https://www.slashgear.com/google-maps-ar-what-we-want-to-see-17566006/

Key Takeaway

15 years ago - we, the true nerds, had an app on our phones called Layers. It did the exact same thing as what Google is now putting into Maps. The difference between now and 15 years ago? The non-nerds are ready for it. If this gets pick up - AR and VR will get much more mainstream.

The NBA reveals future jerseys that can be controlled with a mobile app

The demo that everyone's freaking out about shows NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, using a mobile app to change a jersey's name from Steph Curry to Michael Jordan. It's not supposed to be available yet - but it's part of a slate of tech that Silver has been promoting as the future of the NBA. The new wave of tech includes hologram mascots and a number of other updates that sound like something out of a 90's sci-fi movie.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/16/18226777/nba-smart-jersey-future-basketball-wearable-tech

Key Takeaway

I'm split on this one. One the one hand - none of the tech seems to make the game any better. We're not getting better stats - the game itself isn't changing - there's just a lot of fancy icing on the cake that ultimately won't taste any different. On the other hand - this is a great potential use of mobile as it continues to become the remote control of our lives. This seems like a natural extension that can change our wardrobe on the fly.

Scientists warn us against the dangers of blindly trusting Machine Learning

A scientist from Rice University is warning against the current reliance the scientific community has put on Machine Learning. Key to her warning is the notion that scientists are blindly using ML without considering they might be missing something outside of their experiments.

Machine Learning is the most popular form of Artificial Intelligence at the moment - where you basically throw large amounts of data at an "ML" program - and it will help classify the data faster than humans can. You're welcome for ruining any fancy ideas you may have had about what current AI actually looks like.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47267081

Key Takeaway

We're at the beginning of the end of the Hype Cycle of machine learning. With prominent scientists talking about its limitations - it won't be long before ML and early AI are better understood, and we all become better at realizing it's not a magic bullet... 'til the next magic bullet comes along ;)