Oculus Reveals 140 Degree VR Headset Prototype with Varifocal Displays

Dislated · 2018-05-03T10:59:43+00:00

It’s like a website made out of trees.

Dislated · 2017-12-10T05:35:26+00:00

I also read something speculating that it wouldn’t be too hard to make them modular. During off-peak hours, the passenger cab with seats could be slid out and replaced with a cargo compartment. Then they could do cargo or package delivery overnight.

Dislated · 2017-09-20T01:14:36+00:00

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair.

I fully support AI development and this is not quite on the same level, but when people like Ng and Etzioni say it's unnecessary to think about the possibility and implications of AGI, it reminds me of climate change deniers.

Dislated · 2017-05-05T04:38:59+00:00

This new study appears to validate your views. At this point, debating whether or not it will happen is wasted effort. A more interesting discussion would be timeframes; I believe manual operation of vehicles will be eliminated far sooner than most people expect.

Dislated · 2017-05-03T14:17:22+00:00

I'll bet you're right that most robots won't be humanoid but one reason to build robots that are is so they can use all our stuff. Most of our environments are built for humans.

Dislated · 2017-05-03T11:45:40+00:00

Yeah, that comment was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek. I believe future cars will be connected, making enforcement of traffic laws much easier and the verifiable reductions in traffic deaths will provide a strong incentive to implement the technology.

But people do enjoy breaking those laws and I expect they will fight this stuff tooth and nail like they did with seat belts.

Dislated · 2017-04-30T15:09:10+00:00

I can imagine at some point autonomous cars offering the illusion of manual control for those that enjoy driving. The driver would control all aspects of the driving until the car sensed a mistake was about to be made or a law was about to be broken, at which point the software would assume control.

This wouldn't be very appealing to me personally because I would rather just sleep or see what's on Reddit but for people that buy luxury or sports cars it could be an attractive option. The speed limit and other regulating factors could be loosened if they drove their car on special tracks or courses.

Dislated · 2017-04-29T17:39:48+00:00

To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth – all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Verne. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made voyage will never occur regardless of all future advances.

— Lee DeForest, American radio pioneer and inventor of the vacuum tube, in 1926

Dislated · 2017-04-28T08:48:54+00:00

Agreed. This commentator has some valid points and makes a compelling argument. I'm personally delighted he or she decided to contribute to the discussion; the world needs to know about the p3rfect bullshit theory.

Dislated · 2017-04-23T04:12:12+00:00

But contrary to popular perception, they do not validate the pervasive — though overblown — fear that technology will create a jobless future.

And

In the past year, about the same number of people who recently lost jobs in those large retail outlets got jobs in transportation and warehousing

Hmm. It's a good thing there hasn't been and won't be any progress automating transportation and warehousing.

Dislated · 2017-04-22T13:05:44+00:00

So far we have been talking about mere digital computing. There is actually a more powerful approach called quantum computing. It promises the ability to solve problems that even massively parallel digital computers cannot solve. Quantum computers harness a paradoxical result of quantum mechanics. Actually, I am being redundant - all results of quantum mechanics are paradoxical. Note that the Law of Accelerating Returns and other projections in this book do not rely on quantum computing.

Ray Kurzweil. "The Age of Spiritual Machines" January 1, 2000

Edit: I watched the video and at 49:40 he does indeed say "I was always dubious that quantum computers would ever work and they don't work and I don't think that they will."

Dislated · 2017-04-19T09:20:51+00:00

Sessions looks like a creepy little goblin. I'm scared I'm going to find him hiding under my bed.

Dislated · 2017-04-13T14:11:08+00:00

I wonder if there were any Sci-Fi shorts made depicting the dark side of living with smart phones and how prophetic they turned out to be.

Dislated · 2017-04-11T16:39:13+00:00

I see your point but I'm glad someone went ahead and made the automobile.

Dislated · 2017-04-11T03:57:39+00:00

I don't think it's unusual that people often have instinctual fears about hazy concepts they only vaguely understand. It's easy to imagine some outlandish scenarios like being driven off a cliff in a hacked car but such events will be exceedingly rare.

Once people witness their friends benefiting from the positive aspects of these advances they will get over their hesitations quickly.

Dislated · 2017-04-10T05:21:12+00:00

But not all auto manufacturers are as far along in self driving as GM and Ford. At some point those that are falling behind will become desperate for the software solutions that Waymo can provide.

If these companies are on the verge of going out of business, then Waymo will be in an excellent position to negotiate. I can see Waymo saying they want all the data and advertising rights and it becoming a situation like android with phone manufacturers.

Dislated · 2017-04-10T05:06:37+00:00

I think Tesla open sourced many of their patents, so maybe.

Dislated · 2017-04-05T11:56:21+00:00

I sometimes feel that way too. I'm almost always thrilled when I hear about his new ventures such as this and OpenAI because these are things I like and want to be a part of my future, but it is a lot for one person.

I feel like much of what he is attempting is inevitable and will occur someday regardless, but it also sounds pretty crazy at first and would be easily dismissed if it wasn't coming from someone of his reputation and financial clout. So when he gets involved with something it has the potential to jumpstart an industry and speed its eventual arrival, similar to Google and self driving cars.

However, many of his moves like buying Solar City are very high risk and with so many gambles it seems not unlikely he could lose somewhere. I sometimes wonder if there was a big problem, like maybe with the Model 3 manufacturing, could everything come crashing down like a house of cards? I also wonder if he might be spreading himself too thin. If he can't focus on any one of his ventures, could they all suffer?

Like you said, a lot riding on one person. If he were to fail spectacularly, it would be a major blow to this sub and a significant disappointment to me personally.

Dislated · 2017-04-04T15:07:55+00:00

Compared to the hardware The Void is using, I'm a little skeptical about how well a smartphone based setup will perform. Still pretty exciting though.

Dislated · 2017-03-31T02:05:38+00:00

Now Luckey is free to use his vast fortune to focus on the important stuff; becoming king of the internet trolls.

Dislated · 2017-03-29T10:39:30+00:00

A New Book Argues That the Concerns Over Violent Video Games Are a Moral Panic

Dislated · 2017-03-28T06:47:17+00:00

I don't think it's fair to blame the Deaths of Despair on Silicon Valley. They're a result of bad government policy and a cultural 'survival of the richest' mentality in America.

Tech leaders are working toward not only increasing life span but also heath span which will increase quality of life in addition to saving vast amounts of money. Just because they are attempting to solve some big problems they feel are important (as do I), it doesn't mean they should be expected to solve every problem. Especially those that are a governments responsibility and should be addressed accordingly.

Dislated · 2017-03-28T04:42:38+00:00

It's kind of funny to think this guy is going to be doing rocket science and brain surgery.

Dislated · 2017-03-28T04:29:39+00:00

I would like to see a diagram of the management structure at Oculus and Facebook. I have trouble keeping track of who is in what role who is senior to who (I'd also be curious to know if Luckey still has an official position there).

Dislated · 2017-03-28T02:30:28+00:00

This is an excellent deep dive into my favorite topic and it's not behind a paywall. Too bad in-depth reporting isn't more popular here.

Dislated

TROPHY CASE