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It’s a VR play. That’s the frothiest space in the Valley right now. Nobody understands it but everyone wants in. Any idiot could walk into a fucking room, utter

It’s a VR play. That’s the frothiest space in the Valley right now. Nobody understands it but everyone wants in. Any idiot could walk into a fucking room, utter the letters ‘v’ and ‘r’, and VC’s would hurl bricks of cash at them. By the time they find out it’s vaporware, it’s too late. I’ve got to get into this. — Erlich Bachman

aub3bhat 9y ago
I think there should be a version for AI too. It’s an AI play. That’s the frothiest space in the Valley right now. Nobody understands it but everyone wants in. Any idiot could walk into a fucking room, utter the letters ‘A’ and ‘I’, and VC’s would hurl bricks of cash at them. By the time they find out it’s just off the shelf models passed around as secret tech for next Deep Mind, it’s too late. I’ve got to get into this.
- crusso 9y ago
  IOT
  - jhpankow 9y ago
    Software Defined
    - elvirs 9y ago
      anybody remembers 'semantic search'?
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - taneq 9y ago
        It's now just "search". At least, Google's search is getting very good at "do what I mean". Occasionally it's a complete swing-and-a-miss but often it's spookily accurate.
        lmm 9y ago
        Google does the opposite of what the "semantic" folks wanted - explicit, manual metadata. Indeed Google first rose to prominence because it was the first search engine to ignore the <meta> keyword tags (remember those?)
        zenkat 9y ago
        Except that Google acquired the semantic web startup Metaweb (aka Freebase) back in 2010. That tech became the foundation of the Knowledge Graph, which is deeply integrated into Google's stack, and powers Google Home / Assistant / etc.
        icebraining 9y ago
        That's a bit simplistic; Google definitively uses explicit metadata, they just don't blindly trust it like previous engines did. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-structured-data https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-struc...
        GrinningFool 9y ago
        At first, I really liked Google's DWIM changes. It's great for typos. But it didn't take long before it started doing something other than what I meant. Taking words without typos and deciding I want something else because it made more sense. Showing me too results that did not match all terms ahead of results that did. The list goes on. It's gotten particularly bad when searching for technical matters. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find better search engines. As far as I can tell, they're still the best game in town. They're just not as good as they used to be.
      - glubGlub 9y ago
        OMG YOU GUIZE. SEMANTIC WEB. SEO. The words remain as meaningless now, as they were in 2004. What did these people want me to do? Use words... somehow? (alt text on images, human readable uris, meta tags, blah blah blah, that seems to be the gist of it, what a revolution)
- simooooo 9y ago
  I agree, for me, anything that mentions AI is instantly treated as horse poo until it does something really impressive
  - godzillabrennus 9y ago
    AI seems to be the replacement for "algorithm" in pitches these days.
- NicoJuicy 9y ago
  Well, AI is usefull, at the cost of jobs ( eg. self-driving, accounting, ...) VR is an new cost ( eg. You pay for something new that you didn't have before), AI can give you cost benefits ( you pay, but it's paid with something else), it's in a totally different range of services/products Eg. https://cloud.google.com/blog/big-data/2016/08/how-a-japanese-cucumber-farmer-is-using-deep-learning-and-tensorflow https://cloud.google.com/blog/big-data/2016/08/how-a-japanes...
Mahn 9y ago
It's a funny quote, but it's a joke, I don't think the writers of the show meant it to be taken to heart. VR has its share of problems and it won't take off the way the iPhone did for the time being, but it's very tangible, and I think dismissing it as vaporware would be a mistake.
- tritium 9y ago
  There's a small but serious niche developing, where VR turns out to be not only useful but probably necessary. Places you can't physically access, but need to go, and require situational awareness of events in the surrounding environment as they happen. Drone piloting. Deep ocean diving. Volcano exploration. Disaster relief efforts. Combat zones. Dangerous places that need human interpretation from eyes that can move throughout a scenario, and inspect from multiple vantage points, to inform decisions. Beyond these practical uses, VR is less interesting. As entertainment it feels like an absurd compromise for a lesser value. Thousands of dollars of equipment, and hundreds of dollars in content or subscription fees, all to enable a shut-in's lifestyle. Imagine paying for VR tickets to the Fyre Festival.
  - mikewhy 9y ago
    Wouldn't a regular camera fit the needs of any of those? What does VR help here? Other than doubling the required bandwidth and not responding fast enough to your movements.
    - pavement 9y ago
      Bandwidth usage and high performance, hair-trigger responsive controls are likely to improve with emerging technology. Also, consider the premise of haptic feedback, and simulation rigs. A pilot strapped into a harness that relays the live inertia of the vehicle being piloted has a better concept of the physical mass they are commanding. It's one thing to look at a monocular video feed, and try to pull a clunky underwater ROV around. It's another thing to put on goggles, and sit in a rig that can spin you around, and relay a simulation of how the vehicle handles. You would drive an 18 wheeler differently from a compact car, if you had something better than a single POV camera to observe from. A VR feed might enable the inspection of rear-view mirrors, or, even better, simulate augmented reality x-ray vision, by combining multiple cameras into a seamless transparent 360 degree view, with a ghosted 3D model of the physical vehicle overlayed on top of the composite video. Things like that can eliminate blindspots better than ordinary mirrors, as long as the system is online and actually works. Sort of like this, but perhaps from a remote location, instead of as an actual physical passenger: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mini-augmented-vision-bmw-creates-augmented-reality-x-ray-glasses-drivers-1495736 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mini-augmented-vision-bmw-creates-a...
elmar 9y ago
the SV series is so good at capturing the SV Startup zeitergast it's incredible. I think it's mandatory to see all the episodes for someone thinking about starting a Startup. HBO SV cast talks at Google https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOXup8chEoY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOXup8chEoY
- cat199 9y ago
  startup != sv goofyness sv goofy startup == sv goofyness sv startup != sv goofy startup
davidgerard 9y ago
It's completely push-driven. The demand is negligible. https://rocknerd.co.uk/2016/12/14/virtual-reality-its-the-new-3d-expensive-consumers-dont-want-it-and-it-makes-you-vomit/ https://rocknerd.co.uk/2016/12/14/virtual-reality-its-the-ne...

aub3bhat 9y ago

I think there should be a version for AI too. It’s an AI play. That’s the frothiest space in the Valley right now. Nobody understands it but everyone wants in. Any idiot could walk into a fucking room, utter the letters ‘A’ and ‘I’, and VC’s would hurl bricks of cash at them. By the time they find out it’s just off the shelf models passed around as secret tech for next Deep Mind, it’s too late. I’ve got to get into this.

crusso 9y ago
IOT
- jhpankow 9y ago
  Software Defined
  - elvirs 9y ago
    anybody remembers 'semantic search'?
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - taneq 9y ago
      It's now just "search". At least, Google's search is getting very good at "do what I mean". Occasionally it's a complete swing-and-a-miss but often it's spookily accurate.
      - lmm 9y ago
        Google does the opposite of what the "semantic" folks wanted - explicit, manual metadata. Indeed Google first rose to prominence because it was the first search engine to ignore the <meta> keyword tags (remember those?)
        zenkat 9y ago
        Except that Google acquired the semantic web startup Metaweb (aka Freebase) back in 2010. That tech became the foundation of the Knowledge Graph, which is deeply integrated into Google's stack, and powers Google Home / Assistant / etc.
        icebraining 9y ago
        That's a bit simplistic; Google definitively uses explicit metadata, they just don't blindly trust it like previous engines did. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-structured-data https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/intro-struc...
      - GrinningFool 9y ago
        At first, I really liked Google's DWIM changes. It's great for typos. But it didn't take long before it started doing something other than what I meant. Taking words without typos and deciding I want something else because it made more sense. Showing me too results that did not match all terms ahead of results that did. The list goes on. It's gotten particularly bad when searching for technical matters. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find better search engines. As far as I can tell, they're still the best game in town. They're just not as good as they used to be.
    - glubGlub 9y ago
      OMG YOU GUIZE. SEMANTIC WEB. SEO. The words remain as meaningless now, as they were in 2004. What did these people want me to do? Use words... somehow? (alt text on images, human readable uris, meta tags, blah blah blah, that seems to be the gist of it, what a revolution)
simooooo 9y ago
I agree, for me, anything that mentions AI is instantly treated as horse poo until it does something really impressive
- godzillabrennus 9y ago
  AI seems to be the replacement for "algorithm" in pitches these days.
NicoJuicy 9y ago
Well, AI is usefull, at the cost of jobs ( eg. self-driving, accounting, ...) VR is an new cost ( eg. You pay for something new that you didn't have before), AI can give you cost benefits ( you pay, but it's paid with something else), it's in a totally different range of services/products Eg. https://cloud.google.com/blog/big-data/2016/08/how-a-japanese-cucumber-farmer-is-using-deep-learning-and-tensorflow https://cloud.google.com/blog/big-data/2016/08/how-a-japanes...

Mahn 9y ago

It's a funny quote, but it's a joke, I don't think the writers of the show meant it to be taken to heart. VR has its share of problems and it won't take off the way the iPhone did for the time being, but it's very tangible, and I think dismissing it as vaporware would be a mistake.

tritium 9y ago
There's a small but serious niche developing, where VR turns out to be not only useful but probably necessary. Places you can't physically access, but need to go, and require situational awareness of events in the surrounding environment as they happen. Drone piloting. Deep ocean diving. Volcano exploration. Disaster relief efforts. Combat zones. Dangerous places that need human interpretation from eyes that can move throughout a scenario, and inspect from multiple vantage points, to inform decisions. Beyond these practical uses, VR is less interesting. As entertainment it feels like an absurd compromise for a lesser value. Thousands of dollars of equipment, and hundreds of dollars in content or subscription fees, all to enable a shut-in's lifestyle. Imagine paying for VR tickets to the Fyre Festival.
- mikewhy 9y ago
  Wouldn't a regular camera fit the needs of any of those? What does VR help here? Other than doubling the required bandwidth and not responding fast enough to your movements.
  - pavement 9y ago
    Bandwidth usage and high performance, hair-trigger responsive controls are likely to improve with emerging technology. Also, consider the premise of haptic feedback, and simulation rigs. A pilot strapped into a harness that relays the live inertia of the vehicle being piloted has a better concept of the physical mass they are commanding. It's one thing to look at a monocular video feed, and try to pull a clunky underwater ROV around. It's another thing to put on goggles, and sit in a rig that can spin you around, and relay a simulation of how the vehicle handles. You would drive an 18 wheeler differently from a compact car, if you had something better than a single POV camera to observe from. A VR feed might enable the inspection of rear-view mirrors, or, even better, simulate augmented reality x-ray vision, by combining multiple cameras into a seamless transparent 360 degree view, with a ghosted 3D model of the physical vehicle overlayed on top of the composite video. Things like that can eliminate blindspots better than ordinary mirrors, as long as the system is online and actually works. Sort of like this, but perhaps from a remote location, instead of as an actual physical passenger: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mini-augmented-vision-bmw-creates-augmented-reality-x-ray-glasses-drivers-1495736 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mini-augmented-vision-bmw-creates-a...

elmar 9y ago

the SV series is so good at capturing the SV Startup zeitergast it's incredible. I think it's mandatory to see all the episodes for someone thinking about starting a Startup. HBO SV cast talks at Google https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOXup8chEoY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOXup8chEoY

cat199 9y ago
startup != sv goofyness sv goofy startup == sv goofyness sv startup != sv goofy startup

davidgerard 9y ago

It's completely push-driven. The demand is negligible. https://rocknerd.co.uk/2016/12/14/virtual-reality-its-the-new-3d-expensive-consumers-dont-want-it-and-it-makes-you-vomit/ https://rocknerd.co.uk/2016/12/14/virtual-reality-its-the-ne...