Tech Trends, 11/7/17
VR and ICO No-Shows
“The VR is rad now.” –Gilfoyle, Silicon Valley
VR & AR
Did you think Google Glass was dead? So did we… –Next Reality
Did you love Sims as a child, as much as I did? Building those worlds were so fun! Trying to keep the people alive on the other hand… ehh that’s another story. Well what if you could do it in VR and AR? Mirra’s 3D design tool now makes creating these virtual worlds a breeze, with the ability to drag and drop what you want. –VR Scout
Design & Software
Trying to figure out what your users (or viewers) care about is one of the most difficult challenges for a designer. But what if you didn’t have to guess anymore?
“A new VR tool from Yulio Technologies is looking to improve heat mapping not by tracking via a mouse, but by analyzing the viewer’s gaze directly. Users are placed in a VR environment, where heat map analytics will track their gaze and map what they are looking at throughout the entire VR session.” – bdcnetwork
Is swag one of the last places in tech to level up? The co-founder of Swag.com thinks so:
“People think of swag as junk, but it shouldn’t be. It could be an amazing marketing tool if it’s built right.” — Jeremy Parker
I’m inclined to agree. I know a handful of startups and established companies that have recently spent big money ordering shirts, bags, and stickers… only to have them show up in shoddy form, with mismatched colors. If Swag can make this process easier, at a higher quality, expect the name and the brand to dominate Swag.
Cryptography & Security
We might listen to celebrity advice when it comes to fitness, health, outfit choices, or the new “lingo” we should be using. But for investing advice? Maybe not the best source…
Take Floyd Mayweather as an example. A few month ago, he urged his followers to invest in an initial coin offering (ICO) called Centra Token. Then there’s rapper DJ Khaled. He shared a picture of the Centra wallet on Instagram and it received over 200K likes.
Unfortunately, as The New York Times noted, Centra is dealing with its share of issues, such as “a chief executive who does not appear to have been a real person and a shaky, fast-shifting business plan.” Interesting….
Centra’s ICO netted $30 million, yet two of the company’s co-founders were indicted on perjury charges. Plus, The New York Times said Centra used a made up name and photo for their “CEO.” Yikes.
With all this coming to light, the SEC is now getting involved to try and wrangle the craziness. So if you hear Paris Hilton tweeting out more ICO investment advice, steer clear, folks!
AI & Machine Learning
Building AI That Can Build More AI –NY Times
Robotics & Hardware
“It once took online grocer Ocado two hours to put together a box of 50 food items. Now machines can do it in five minutes.” –Bloomberg
Biology & Genomics
A new anti-aging strategy that has been super successful on mice is about to be tested on humans! –Scientific American
Just 8 weeks of meditation can improve brain volume! –NCBI
Venture Capital & Investing
The First Rules of Leadership — Ben Horowitz
“In order to be a great leader, you must be yourself. If you try to be someone else, not only will you not be able to lead, but you’ll be ashamed to have people emulate you.”
Many manufacturing jobs require a physical presence to operate machinery. But what if such jobs could be done remotely? –Science Daily
Marketing & Advertising
Why aren’t you reading Branded? It’s got everything you need.
Today’s Top Story
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