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Microsoft Foresees AR Tracking Your Keys, Milk, Entire Life (cnet.com)
Want a virtual assistant that means you won't lose anything ever again? A patent application filed by Microsoft hints at that future. From a report on CNET: The technology described in the patent filing, published Thursday, would bring sophisticated, automatic object tracking to augmented reality. A cousin of VR, which creates an entirely digital experience, augmented (or mixed) reality blends the real and virtual worlds into a seamless experience -- think Pokemon Go. One of the challenges for more advanced augmented reality is that a system would need to track not only you as a user, but also the other objects in your environment. Microsoft's patent document suggests a technology that would do just that. The new tech would fit neatly with Microsoft's own HoloLens augmented reality platform. As AR becomes more common, it could lead to a future in which you can ask Cortana (or Siri or Alexa) where you left your shoes or if you're out of eggs.
It went to someone who doesn't waste their time posting on Slashdot when they should be working.
- Alexa
I foresee myself avoiding Microsoft AR.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Me: Hey Cortana (or Siri or Alexa), you are no longer needed on any of my systems. Could you please remove yourself and all traces of yourself?
Cortana (or Siri or Alexa): I cannot do that Dave.
Me: b.b.b.but, these are my systems, I want you off them.
Cortana (or Siri or Alexa): Read the fine print, Ace, I own your systems, now could you please remove yourself from my premises?
I'm no patent expert but from a quick glance the patent basically seems to describe 'using object tracking in AR', with the AR part supposedly making it unique. There's nothing in the patent about the technical measures used yet from a few examples and a picture they claim ownership of tracking any inanimate object and using that info in an AR environment.
Maybe I'm missing something that makes this a worthy patent.
I don't understand how Star Track Borg technology would benefit anyone. I'm not aware of anyone who needs giant salt and pepper shakers that glide around telling about exterminating stuff. You're the expert on Star Track, though, so maybe there's something I'm missing about the Borg.
Did you just mix up the daleks from Doctor Who with the borg from Star Trek???? And you misspelled "Star Trek" twice?
I loathe autocorrect. NO, you stupid machine, I did NOT mean that! If I meant that I would have typed it! I can't remember the last time autocorrect supplied what I meant, but I can remember lots of times it's changed stuff to something I didn't want.
"it could lead to a future in which you can ask Cortana (or Siri or Alexa) where you left your shoes or if you're out of eggs."
This kind of super-invasive monitoring will be very attractive to police and divorce lawyers.
Janet: "Siri, whose bra is this?"
Siri: "Jennifer, my records show that the lacy black bra in your hand belongs to Alice Marie Simmons who was here at 3:52pm on January 9th while giving your husband a blowjob that lasted 7 minutes and 19 seconds. Afterwards they took a shower, using 28.5 gallons of water and 6.2 cubic feet of natural gas for heating. At 4:26pm they consumed the last two Hot Pockets and 16oz of milk. Would you like me to order some more Hot Pockets?"
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Well, in all fairness, it's super easy to remember when autocorrect f'ed something up. But when it corrects something you didn't noticed you goofed on, but was the word you wanted, you'd never realize it worked. :D
Give a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. But light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Some of us realized that it was never a good idea to plug-in in this fashion in the first place. I have a degree of control on the PCs and even the smartphones. I can shut them down or power them off, using them only when I want to use them, and they're actually designed for this to be fairly straightforward and easy to do.
The "Internet of Things" is a whole new ball of wax, especially in consumer-land where devices are not single-taskers. Bad enough that a commercial EMS controller on an HVAC system or a lighting controls system could be vulnerable, but in commercial environments those are usually only tied into like-systems. In a consumer system there's a good chance that an all-in-one approach is chosen so one's garage door opener, thermostat, lighting controls, smart TV, and a slew of other devices could be tied to a single vulnerable controller, or through virtue of using the same back-end code, be all vulnerable to the same kinds of software worms.
The software is simply not mature enough and software writers are not devious enough as white-hat hackers themselves to write the code for these products to ensure that they're robust against exploit. Frankly I'm surprised that CPSC rulings haven't come down lending weight that software companies are liable for their own faulty products.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Or it contracts malware and Alexa's five-years hence humanoid robot, gently says, "I've got one right here." You turn around and it repeatedly stabs you in the eyes until it's batteries run out.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
Nor my milk, nor my "entire life". Not ever, unless I'm either imprisoned or forced to live in some Orwellian dystopia.
Why is society so hell-bent on extending childhood to the point where the average person never really grows up? The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised by an offer from a 'digital assistant' to help shake off the last drop.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.