As the world celebrated #InternationalDanceDay, a unique duo took the stage, or rather, the screen, to showcase a different kind of choreography. 

Spot, the quadruped robot developed by Boston Dynamics, found a new friend in Sparkles, a dazzlingly dressed counterpart designed to explore the fusion of robotics, art and entertainment.

A cartoon come to life

At first glance, the video in question seems like a whimsical animation straight out of a children’s show. Yet, this is no fiction. The footage is a testament to how far robotics has come, featuring Spot adorned in a blue, sparkly, albeit slightly creepy costume, performing a dance routine that could rival any animated character.

Sparkles and spot canine robots dance  (Boston Dynamics)

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Meet Sparkles

“Spot is meeting another strange dog and making friends through the power of dance. Meet Sparkles!” Boston Dynamics announced. The video features two Spots — one in the recognizable black and yellow, and the other, Sparkles, in the blue, sparkly dog costume — engaging in a robotic dance-off that culminates in a mechanical kiss.

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Sparkles and spot canine robots kiss  (Boston Dynamics)

This display of robotic affection and agility has sparked conversations about the potential applications of such technology in entertainment venues like theme parks, where robots could add a layer of realism to character interactions.

Social media’s mixed moves

The reception on social media was as varied as the dance moves displayed. Some viewers were enchanted, praising the mobility and innovation, while others expressed discomfort, humorously suggesting that the cute facade could well be the stuff of nightmares.

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Sparkles and spot canine robots dance (Boston Dynamics)

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Kurt’s key takeaways

After watching Spot and Sparkles bust a move together, it’s pretty wild to think about where robotics is heading. It’s like we’re watching a live-action cartoon, isn’t it? These robots are not just showing off some fancy footwork; they’re opening our eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. Whether they’re making us smile or giving us the heebie-jeebies, they’re proof that creativity knows no limits.

How do you feel about robots displaying human-like behaviors such as dancing and kissing? Does it concern you for the future of human-robot interactions? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact

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As video games and movies become more immersive, it may start to become apparent what sensations are missing in the experience. Is there a point in Gran Turismo that you wish you could smell the burning rubber and engine exhaust? Would an experience playing beer pong in Horizon Worlds not be complete unless you could taste the hops?

On this episode of The Vergecast, the latest in our miniseries about the five senses of video games, we’re tackling the topics of smell and taste in video games — and whether either could actually enhance the virtual experience for gamers. In other words: Smellovision is back for a new generation of media.

First, we try out a product (actually available to buy today) called the GameScent, an AI-powered scent machine that syncs with your gaming and movie-watching experience. The GameScent works by listening in on the sound design of the content you’re playing or watching and deploying GameScent-approved fragrances that accompany those sounds. We tried the GameScent with games like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing to see if this is really hinting at a scent-infused gaming future.

On the taste side, we speak to Nimesha Ranasinghe, an assistant professor at the University of Maine working on taste sensations and taste simulation in virtual reality experiences. Ranasinghe walks us through his research on sending electrical pulses to your tongue to manipulate different taste sensations like salty, sweet, sour, and bitter. He also talks about how his research led to experimental gadgets like a “virtual cocktail,” which would allow you to send curated tasting and drinking experiences through digital signals.

If you want to know more about the world of smelling and tasting digital content, here are some links to get you started:

Google’s flagship developer conference called I/O just wrapped up with interesting leaps in how the big tech giant is planning to change the world. 

Here are the seven biggest things we learned from Google at I/O 2024.

Google’s injecting AI into nearly every aspect of its products and services

Google’s I/O event was largely an opportunity for it to make its case to developers — and, to a lesser extent, consumers — as to why its artificial intelligence is ahead of rivals Microsoft and OpenAI. Here’s a rundown of the seven highlights to keep an eye on. Google’s AI, named Gemini, was featured prominently at the I/O conference and is now available to developers worldwide.

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According to the conference, Gemini is now capable of pulling information from text, photos, audio, web pages and live videos from your phone’s camera and is able to synthesize the information it receives and answer questions you may have about it. Here’s what the Gemini improvements look like in practice.

1. Phone call scam detection coming to Android could compromise your privacy

Google showed a demo for its phone call scam detection feature, which the company says will be coming to a future version of Android. How it works is revolutionary and concerning. The feature will scan voice calls as they occur in real time, and it’s already drawing enormous privacy concerns. 

It would be like allowing your phone calls to be tapped and monitored by big tech instead of big brother. Apple had planned a similar feature on iOS back in 2021 but abandoned it after backlash from privacy advocates. Google is under similar pressure, with privacy advocates worried that the company notorious for harvesting and profiting from personal data might soon misuse AI voice scanning technology.

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2. ‘Ask Photos’ will let AI help you find out about specific things in photos

The Ask Photos feature  (Google)

Google unveiled a new feature called Ask Photos, in which users can ask Gemini to search for their photos and deliver exact results. One example showcased was the use of Gemini to locate images of your car in your photo album by telling it your license plate number.

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3. An AI button is coming to many of Google’s most popular productivity tools

Starting immediately, Google has added a button to toggle Gemini AI in the side panel of several of its Google Suite apps, including Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides. Similar to Microsoft’s Co-Pilot AI function, the Gemini button can help answer questions, craft emails and provide summaries of documents and email threads.

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4. AI tool called ‘Veo’ makes video from text

Music AI Sandbox  (Google)

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On a more experimental note, Google also unveiled its VideoFX feature, a generative video model based on Google’s DeepMind video generator. Veo. VideoFX can create Full HD (1080p) videos from text prompts, and we also saw improvements made to ImageFX, Google’s high-resolution AI image generator.

For musicians, Google also showed their new DJ Mode in MusicFX, an AI music generator that can be used to create loops and samples from prompts.

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5. AI summaries will replace search results

A Google search  (Google)

There’s been a lot of press lately regarding how difficult searching for things on Google has become. Constant changes to search engine optimization as well as a new wave of bots and AI-created content has disrupted the once monolithic search engine. However, Google showed off its new AI-organized search, which promises more readable search results.

Google also showed off how it is using AI to create overviews, which are short summaries to help you answer questions posed in the search box. These summaries will appear at the top of the search results page, so you don’t even need to visit another website to get answers you may be looking for.

6. Google TV gets the AI treatment

Google managed to work its Gemini AI into its Google TV smart TV operating system, allowing it to generate descriptions for movies and TV shows. When you are viewing content that is missing a description, Gemini will fill it in automatically. Gemini on Google TV will also now translate descriptions into the viewers’ native language, making it easier to find international shows and movies to watch.

7. AI for educational purposes

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Google also unveiled LearnLM, a new generative AI model that is designed for education. It comes as a collaboration between Google’s DeepMind AI research division and Google’s Research lab. LearnLM is designed as a chatbot that looks to tutor students on a range of subjects, from mathematics to English grammar.

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Kurt’s key takeaways

If you missed Google I/O 2024, here’s the scoop: Google’s AI, Gemini, stole the show with its ability to integrate information from various media and answer your queries on the fly. Noteworthy features include a call scam detection for Android, a photo search tool that can find your car using your license plate number and the integration of Gemini into Google’s Workspace suite for smarter document handling. 

Plus, Google’s new AI-powered search promises more readable results, and Google TV now boasts AI-generated content descriptions. For creatives and learners, Google introduced VideoFX for AI-generated videos, MusicFX’s DJ Mode for music creation and LearnLM, an AI tutor for students. It’s clear that Google is betting big on AI to keep ahead of the competition.

Are there any concerns that you believe should be addressed as these technologies become more integrated into our personal and professional environments? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact

For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter

Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you’d like us to cover

Follow Kurt on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram 

Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:

Copyright 2024 CyberGuy.com.  All rights reserved.