It’s one thing to imagine these things are going to be developed and quite another to read about them. Wired carried an article yesterday titled “Experimental AI Powers Robot Army” (Link). If you’ve not read it, you should. If you need convincing, try these excerpts:

The software is a type of neural network with two special features. One introduces perturbations, or “noise,” into the network so that existing ideas get jumbled into new forms. The second is a filter that assesses the new ideas against existing knowledge and discards those that are unsuitable.

This reminds me of Rudy Rucker’s book “Software“. Continue reading →

Via 3pointD comes news that the virtual Adidas store is up and selling inside Second Life (Link). I just popped in to take a peek, and as I’ve come to expect from Rivers Run Red, the store is… white. But there is some grey too. In a few places.

Y’know, RRR should really give some thought to expanding their palette. It’s okay for a while, but it does get old. And everything I’ve seen of theirs so far – their home sim, the BBC event, a virtual film festival, and now this store – are all shades of white. It makes sense, actually. Making and applying textures is time-consuming and contributes to sim lag. But still.
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Yesterday I mentioned casting metal parts (reLink) so when I saw this video I couldn’t resist posting it here. Worth watching at least up to the point where they finish pouring. I may take an interest in new processes, but I still find the old-fashioned methods fascinating.

An acquaintaince of mine passed this along: billboards that customize their message based on the electronic gadget a user is holding. I’d mentioned something similar to him when we were discussing how virtual worlds can function like crystal balls in helping designers to forecast what might develop in meatspace. I’d also suggested to BW’s Heather Green, over on Blogspotting some time back, that this sort of thing was coming.

The best/worst part of this story though, depending on your point-of-view, is the thought that software agents are going to bickerbid over which ad gets shown in the event certain conflicting situations arise. From the New Scientist article (Link):

If more than one person is standing in front of the screen, however, the system must try to choose material seen by as few of the current audience as possible.
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Earlier in the week I was reading a forum post about the next Peugeot automotive design competition (an annual affair). Surfing to the competition website (Link) I was surprised to learn that it’s going transreal. Here’s the pitch:

P.L.E.A.S.E. innovate !

Re-invent the ‘Drive of Your Life’, Peugeot style:
• Discover a LIFE size version of the car at the Frankfurt 2007 Motor Show and
• Drive it in the XBOX 360 VIRTUAL world!

Continue reading →