The Brain Dance. Week 50: Dec 12–18, 2016
We’re getting closer to the end of the year and it’s time to look back to what happened in 2016, a year that will be remembered as one of the most cruel years in terms of culture icons that passed away, but as well a year were technology became really prominent and made us look more into the near future than only focus on the present. And it’s time for all those articles full of predictions or the classic “year in review”. We have a few in this edition of The Brain Dance, don’t worry…
I hope you like this week’s list. From now on I’m going to organize the links by topics so it feels a bit more tidy instead of having all of them spread in randomness.
The Brain Dance: Week 50
December 12–18, 2016
Recommended book of the week
“The Fourth Transformation: How Augmented Reality & Artificial Intelligence Change Everything”.
by Robert Scoble & Shel Israel .
2016. Patrick Brewster Publishing. 4h 29min.
Rating: 3/5
I have mixed feelings with this book. I like the topic and jumped to listen to this book the very same day it was released, but it was a bit underwhelming for a few reasons I’ll describe right now.
But first let’s be fair. It’s a good entry-level read for those who are interested in the topic of VR/AR/MR. It maps the state-of-the art of those technologies describing they are the Fourth Transformation (The first transformation: Computers, The second transformation: UI, The third transformation: Touchscreens). And it does it comprehensively, tons of details and good insights. If you want to dive into the topic, buy this book now, this is the book for you. But if you’re familiar with those technologies you can find it a bit obvious.
The reason I find it underwhelming is because of its tone of voice. Yes, I get it, there are exciting times and the killer trio VR/AR/MR are here to stay and change the way we interact and consume content. But please, try to hold your horses. I feel some voices that are advocates on the topic go too far with the excitement and tend to talk like Messiah has arrived and how this is going to change everything.
In this book the authors instead of trying to describe the current state-of-the-art and give insights of future paths are describing everything with too many layers of personal opinions and that makes it not too appealing. I need statements based on facts not opinions.
Things like in the future the Oscars won’t be anything but VR movies is not being realistic at all. The same way gaming didn’t change movies (it’s another way of storytelling even closer to VR than cinema itself), VR movies won’t be the norm. They will be present but it won’t kill cinema as we know it now, they can co-exist together.
Or saying Apple is working seriously on AR/MR technologies and just saying that without going a bit deeper on that assumption.
The book has a few like those, that makes the read something a bit incomplete.
The last part of the book, when they go deep on the consequences of embracing these technologies (security, privacy, etc.) it’s a bit more insightful and made me finish the book in peace at least.
Besides my personal feeling, yes… I have to be fair. It’s not a bad read. Give it a chance if you want.
Article Recommendations
Technology
The Future 100 — Trends and Change to Watch in 2017
As I said in the introduction, lists! predictions! the future! There are plenty of those these days. This one from JWT Intelligence is probably the best one you’ll see, so check it out!
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Google’s self-driving car unit becomes Waymo
Besides the previous report, this week the technology selection of articles is focused on auto mobility. This week Lucid motors unveiled Air, its new car and Google gave a new form to their self-driving car unit with Waymo.
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Uber’s robotic taxis are hitting the streets of San Francisco
And this week Uber has announced they will be starting to use their autonomous cars with some opposition and small issues. Small steps that confirm the world is changing and that’s pretty exciting.
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Uber Is Fixing A Major UX Issue — Using Your Favorite Color
I love this. I use Uber every now and then and trying to find what car will give you the ride home is sometimes quite challenging. The only visual input you have is the car model and the plate number. With this led panel you can configure with your favorite color things will be much easier. Good move Uber.
User Experience
The breaking of the UX industry or what to do when your UX has nothing to do with UI any more
This is my favorite article of the week. UX and UI are not the same thing, at this point of 2016 (almost 17). This article goes in depth on this and a bit further.
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20 things I learned by reading about UX this year
Interesting selection from the guys behind a great Medium publication, UXDesign.cc
Design
Medium’s Best Design Writing of 2016
Let’s continue with the lists… A great compilation of design articles published on Medium in 2016 Design, UX, Animation, Productivity… you’ll be busy reading good stuff…
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The Best And Worst Branding Of 2016
And… aaaaanother list. This time the best and worst branding of 2016. Not to detailed but some good examples.
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Fjord Trend Report 2017
Last week it was Frog, this week Fjord comes with the list of predictions for 2017. Nothing really unexpected but that it’s interesting to have in mind in the new year that is around the corner.
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Should a Programmer Learn to Design?
Should designers learn to code? That old song… well, this is a view from the other side. I totally agree.
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Facebook Design — VR Resources
Always nice to see the spirit of those resources Teehan & Lax used to share for the community being part of the design DNA of Facebook. VR design resources this time. Pretty handy.
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Intro to the 8-Point Grid System
Going technical with this one. I’ll apply some principles next time I start a new project. I used this system in the past without being too strict but it’s time to apply some order and common sense.
Artificial Intelligence
The Great A.I. Awakening
The article of all articles on Artificial Intelligence, a story about the impact of AI on Google Translate that goes deep, very deep.
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Why bees could be the secret to superhuman intelligence
Learning from patterns coming from nature, like bees and how they behave can teach us to be better and smarter.
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Relonch’s Radical Camera Uses AI To Edit Your Photos (And Isn’t Ready For Prime Time)
I don’t know if I like this. I like imperfection, the human touch, have room for chaos and randomness. A camera that uses AI to edit your photos, to make the perfect album, to take the perfect selfie… I don’t know, AI is great and it can help, but let’s keep our essence of imperfection.
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Artificial intelligence isn’t good enough to “fight the rise of online mobs,” as Google hopes
AI to try to build a better world. If the previous article made me feel we can use AI to embrace fakeness, this one is all about using AI to protect us from cyberbullying, harassment, etc.
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Soon robots could be taking your job interview
I’m not sure also with this one (hestitate is a great feeling…). We need to establish some parameters between technology and humanity. I get the productivity benefits and it’s great that some jobs can be done by AI but when it comes to human interaction,…
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This Japanese Company Wants to Sell You a Tiny Holographic Wife
No comments… just read it…
Virtual Reality
It’s Really Hard to Make Money with Virtual Reality Games
We’re all in the industry hyped with VR, but reading this article makes you think perhaps reality (the raw not virtual one) is not as nice as it seems.
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Designing Live 360 videos: Right time, right place
Ok, 360 is not VR… but well, this is a good article with some insights of 360 live videos.
Advertising & Marketing
6 badass marketing ideas from unconventional industries
Some ideas on where to catch business opportunities.
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Mobile is eating the world
Nothing really new here. It seems obvious today that mobile is king, those devices we carry constantly from the moment we wake up until when we go to sleep (and even beyond that) are ruling our lives. The figures is what is really interesting…
Productivity
Anxiety vs Productivity
Some articles on productivity here. The first some quick thoughts on anxiety and productivity by Anrick Bregman. Always nice to read some from him.
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7 Controversial Ways to Triple Your Performance
I don’t usually like these type of list of recommendations, but hey, there are a few that are worth trying, for real.
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How to Cure Creative Block
Pretty much on the same universe as the previous article, some tips to cure creative block.
Entertainment
Cinephile Alert: The Martin Scorsese Museum Exhibition Has Come To NYC
One of the things I like of living in NY is the huge amount of culture is available here. I won’t miss this one, Martin Scorsese at the Museum of the Moving Image.
