Cool stuff we learned this week… (8.23.19)

August 23, 2019

It’s been a whirlwind summer for us over at StudioLabs. We’ve been privileged to meet and work with some of the best clients a software and web development company could ask for.

When we have a moment for a little RnR, we get recharged exploring all the latest in technology, so we’re current on the latest, greatest tech. Here are a few of the incredible things we found this week!

Deep Fakes Are Real

Follow the link to watch a short video of Bill Hader’s face become Tom Cruise, then turn back to Bill Hader. It’s surreal to watch.

Aside from the scary implications this tech could have in the wrong hands, it’s also impressive how far face replacement technology has come. In the past, a CG artist would painstakingly track a 3D modeled face to existing footage and an animator would match the movement of the mouth and eyes. High-resolution photos of the replacement face would get texture mapped onto the 3D geometry, and you’d run the animation had hope for the best. The process took months. Now, AI can accomplish a similar result in real-time.

I Want to Ride My Bicycle

A team of researchers created a hybrid AI chip, called the Tianjic, that mimics the brain and can execute machine learning algorithms. Not only does this bike ride by itself, it can avoid objects and respond to voice commands.
In addition to the Tianjic chip, the bike is equipped with a camera, gyroscope, speedometer, and driving and steering motors. Not only is this a unique marriage of hardware and software, the technology has wide implications for everything from IoT to medical research. And that’s pretty cool. Find out more here.

Why DARQ Matters

DARQ isn’t one thing. It’s a collection of emerging technologies that may very well shape our technological futures.

DARQ stands for:
Distributed ledger technology
Artificial intelligence
extended Reality
Quantum computing

The most common type of distributed ledger is a blockchain. After making a huge splash with bitcoin currency five-ish years ago, distributed ledges are finding their way in more and more business processes.

AI, probably the most talked-about of these disruptive technologies, finds uses in an increasing array of applications.

Extended Reality, or XR, is a blanket term for augmented and virtual reality, as well as other technologies that extend our senses.

And finally quantum computing tips on the verge of exploding computational power. Remember Moore’s Law? It’s a term coined by Gordon Moore, who describes the doubling of computational power each year. Well, Hartmut Neven, director of Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, proposed Neven’s Law. According to Neven’s Law, the power of quantum computers will grow doubly exponentially. He believes quantum computers will double their doubling power.

As industries find new ways to use these technologies in concert, you can expect to see extraordinary changes in the years to come. So, welcome to the DARQ side.