Mackenzie's (Un) Common Sense Blog

The rapidly evolving Conversational User Interface (top) "ELIZA", ELIZA, an early natural language processing computer program created from 1964 to 1966[1] at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory by Joseph Weizenbaum In 1968, Stanley Kubrick envisioned an interface that was capable of carrying out a detailed conversation with humans in his film "2001: A Space Odyssey"[1], however he also envisioned that the same machine could take human lives. The machine was the HAL 5000, and conversing with the technology was effortless, eliminating friction associated with the traditional "dialogue" between human and machine. Photo: (top) the "eye" of "HAL 5000" from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Bottom) an aerial view of Apple's "Homepod"  50 years later, we are inching closer to the reality of a Hal 5000 system with the development of Conversational / Voice User Interfaces (CUI / VU...

The Hapbook A fictional product proposal utilizing Google's Soli technology to create a virtual pen and paper at your fingertips Inspiration is unexpected. It seems to come in short bursts, often in the most unexpected circumstances and usually for a short period of time. That sudden snap of an idea you get from inspiration can also seem like a fleeting moment, especially in our alert-o-sphere [1] culture. The most valuable ideas need to be recorded, and while speaking or tapping notes into your smartphone, or jotting on your tablet or computer are sufficient, these devices may not be on hand when your brilliant idea reveals itself. Top: Google's Soli technology demonstrating the gestures of a common haptic archetype: The smartphone.  Courtesy of  https://atap.google.com/soli/ . Bottom: The conventional note taking process. What if you could record notes, sketches or doodles using your fingertips in a different way? What if the surface is  the palm of your...

The multifunctional cochlea implant  Photo: rendering of the cochlea hair cells (green) responding to external wavelengths Hearing is the fastest sense; our ears conversion of external wavelengths to electrical impulses and signals for the auditory nerve and eventually the brain happens in 0.05 seconds—ten times faster than the blink of an eye. [1] In addition to our rapid interpretation and perception of these external waves, the subtle variations that occur in sound are picked up in " less than a millionth of a second."  [2] In our culture of personalization, it's interesting to imagine a world where we could take advantage of this remarkable hearing process by customizing the intake of audio content, specifically music.  The way in which we consume music has historically fluctuated; the popular digital format   in high circulation today  (.mp3, .wav, etc.)  is only the latest permutation of commodified audio. The next breakthrough in audio will l...