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Project Tango

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Re: Project Tango

#181

Post by tbenst »

My submission:

3D Printing is a big data problem where the data is not being collected. Sensors in desktop 3D printers are usually restricted to simple limit switches on the axes.

We would use Project Tango for a real-time feedback system for 3D Printing. Initially, we would demonstrate a simple functionality: recognizing when a print is failing and instructing the machine to stop, rather than waste more material. Next, with the help of the open-source community, we would expand functionality to dynamically adjust machine instructions to compensate/fix problems observed during the print. Here are a few examples:

- adjust bed height for different layer heights via software rather than manual hardware tinkering

- dynamically change extrusion rate if underextrusion/overextrusion is observed

- detect if belts are slipping & correct extruder positioning

- pause print is no filament is extruding

- intelligently resume print if stopped (e.g. power failure)

- inform slicing software if/where/why a print fails so the software can reslice and repeat properly

For users, no new hardware will be needed besides Project Tango - a computer will stream GCODE instructions via USB to a RepRap-like 3D printer (e.g. Makerbot, Ultimaker, etc.). Project Tango is precisely the breakthrough we have been waiting for to make 3D printing more user friendly.

Re: Project Tango

#182

Post by foxylad »

SiVal wrote: post #53

"Imagine measuring your room by just walking around in it." Yes, and imagine transmitting each of those footsteps in real time back to Google, so they can have a map of your room, too, in case they, or other parties, ever need it. I was just having a discussion yesterday with a friend who works at Google about what data they store when you query their search engine. Every single keystroke, including backspaces, is st…

So it sounds like Google will soon be able to pop up a warning saying I should go for a medical checkup because they've detected an increase in left-hand errors that often occurs prior to a stroke. And this is without Tango - that will yield far more data about our physical well-being.

Every advance humanity makes can be used for good or evil. On the whole, we tend to find more good than evil in most of them, and maybe global data capture will be the same.

Re: Project Tango

#183

Post by discostrings »

blhack wrote: post #165
SiVal wrote: post #53

"Imagine measuring your room by just walking around in it." Yes, and imagine transmitting each of those footsteps in real time back to Google, so they can have a map of your room, too, in case they, or other parties, ever need it. I was just having a discussion yesterday with a friend who works at Google about what data they store when you query their search engine. Every single keystroke, including backspaces, is st…

Good god I am so sick of reading comments like this. This view of the world is just lazy . Almost as lazy as "remember, if you're using a service for free, you're not the customer, YOU'RE THE PRODUCT!", which seems to get parroted every single time there is any discussion related to google, facebook, microsoft, instagram, twitter, or any other web company that uses ads as a revenue model. Yes, google can know what yo…

> Good god I am so sick of reading comments like this. This view of the world is just lazy.

I think your view of the world is the lazier of the two--you're basically saying "let's not worry about the negative implications of the things we create as long as our intentions are good".

> Who cares? If you don't like these services, don't use them. Nobody is forcing you to use this device . . . If you don't like modernity, stop using modernity. Move to a homestead in the pacific northwest, never use a telephone, never use grid power, grow your own vegetables, grow your own cattle, and keep away from the evil, scary spies at gooooogggllleeee who are trying to...uh...give you better targeted advertisements? Or provide you with better search results?

Here's how your entire comment reads to me: "If you're interested in thinking about the future implications of the new things we're creating, please shut up and go live in the woods, because you obviously hate modernity. I'm really sick of people thinking about the future and how we might be creating things that will eventually hurt us. The market comes before foresight, and commentary isn't welcome; when you have potential concerns for the future, the only acceptable response is voting with your feet. Please do that and don't ruin our fun."

What you miss is that one can object to a single, potentially dangerous aspect of recent developments (personal information collection and exploitation) while embracing technology in general at the same time.

In creating new technology, it's essential that we examine the paradigms we're creating. If no one's doing that, we're almost sure to run ourselves into serious trouble sooner or later. There's a reason you look before you leap.

Which is lazy: choosing not to use awesome new technology because it has some potentially dangerous implications, or just using any new and seemingly convenient thing that people come up with and assuming it's got to be okay?

Re: Project Tango

#184

Post by NamTaf »

evanlivingston wrote: post #81
martythemaniak wrote: post #27

This is essentially putting a Kinect in your phone and hooking it up with hopefully high-level APIs. It may take 2-3 years to make it into regular phones, but when it does it will be huge. Apple's acquisition of PrimeSense (the makers of the 1st gen Kinect) means they're also working on this. To give you a real-world example: when I started BarSsense ( http://www.barsense.com ) the core problem was tracking the path…

I don't understand the application beyond gaming. The other applications discussed are basically shopping. Essentially this would make it much easier to represent the physical world digitally. But what use cases does a consumer or the average phone user have for digital representations of the physical space around them, particularly given that the user is already aware of the the physical space around them? How can t…

Any mechanical engineer who's had to take a 3D object and model it in CAD will love this.

I've been toying with the idea of such software in a phone for a while but never bothered exploring it because I lack the technical chops. There's a piece of software I've previously used called PhotoModeller [1] that allows you to calibrate a standard digital P&S camera then use a bunch of shots of the scene from various angles to build a 3D point cloud of it. Given that you can know the lens of an iPhone to a pretty close accuracy, I was thinking that you could build a similar application straight into the phone that then could upload 3d scans to dropbox. It'd be invaluable to field work.

This takes the above idea and loads it with steroids. I'm really excited!

[1] http://www.photomodeler.com/index.html

Re: Project Tango

#185

Post by morganherlocker »

kh_hk wrote: post #104
SiVal wrote: post #53

"Imagine measuring your room by just walking around in it." Yes, and imagine transmitting each of those footsteps in real time back to Google, so they can have a map of your room, too, in case they, or other parties, ever need it. I was just having a discussion yesterday with a friend who works at Google about what data they store when you query their search engine. Every single keystroke, including backspaces, is st…

Let me give you another example that goes on the line of your comment. Days ago a friend showed me how after calling a restaurant (just a number) for doing a reservation and later the contact list displayed the name of the restaurant and an image of it. Cool, right? Joe and Foo love this feature, but do not know the implications of it: a query is sent to Google asking for the info on a number (one must presume, tied…

It would be interesting to create some sort of crowdsourced database for these types of anecdotes that could then be sifted through and corroborated. Something like that might bring a bit more transparency to the "deal" we all make with these types of services. I get the whole argument of "well you wanted to use the free service, so now they get to monetize your data", but what services collect and how the data is used is extremely opaque.

Re: Project Tango

#186

Post by ForHackernews »

emehrkay wrote: post #176
esemiss wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's nothing, they actually track store visits now to monetize ads. And if you opt out then a lot of things including Google Now stop working. http://digiday.com/platforms/google-tracking/ I find it odd that stories like that don't get much exposure on HN unlike negative stories about Apple, Facebook, Microsoft etc.

See. This is the stuff that I don't like. While Tango is cool, self-driving cars are cool, and Google Fiber is needed, I feel like Google is only doing these things to collect data about me.

> I feel like Google is only doing these things to collect data about me.

They are. Selling ads is basically the only way Google makes money.

It'd be nice if they at least offered the option to pay $X/year to use Google services without tracking. But I think that would be unlikely, because it would highlight the value of the data many people give away freely.

Re: Project Tango

#187

Post by secstate »

evanlivingston wrote: post #115
groby_b wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* Mapping the physical world Ever wanted a floor plan for your home? Just wave your phone around. * Visual annotation Add direction overlays, see the plan for a play your team is executing on the helmet HUD, highlight "dangerous"(weaving, too fast, whatnot) drivers on the car HUD. * Integrate sensor data to extend human perception Add an IR overlay. Sample sound across the room, do a volumetric display of noise level…

I think I'm a neo-luddite.

I pretty much stopped reading when they were going through the possible applications. Find my way around a super-store, shit I'd rather just stay out if at all possible.

In the meantime, I'm sure this will revolutionize something. It always does. I'm just in your same position ... a neo-luddite.

Also, I would much rather have a space elevator than a 3D mapping phone.

Re: Project Tango

#188

Post by yaddayadda »

evanlivingston wrote: post #90
serf wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the blind. that use case is even demonstrated in the video.

Ocular implants are not the newest technology. The argument I think would be that a phone would be a cheaper alternative/more accessible. But I'm interested if the 'audio cues' that they mention in the video would be any better than the audio cues already present in most environments.

Combined with something like Tactus [1] and the environment can be represented in a tactile 3d map [2].

[1] http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/10/new-tactus-case-concept-bri... [2] http://www.solidterrainmodeling.com/

Re: Project Tango

#189

Post by cwp »

sneak wrote: post #96
hrayr wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the solution? Stop innovating because there's a slight chance of said innovation being used for evil? I'm all for being wary of what's going on, so that you don't get caught with your pants down, but what's the absolute worse that can happen? Every single tech that you can think of that has changed the world in some form, had it's own set of doomsayers, but as a whole I think we've progressed in the right dire…

The solution is to stop centralized data collection. The reason it doesn't happen is because corporations don't like giving up control of data that they can keep to themselves and store forever. Many of these apps could run clientside and access the cloud solely for information, but that doesn't fit in with the Google vision of organizing the world's information and making it useful for selling products and services…

So? All technologies have been used for evil, going right back to the first homo habilis who picked up a rock. They're also used for good.

Of course we should encourage the good and discourage the evil, but that's a moral pursuit, not a technological one.

Re: Project Tango

#190

Post by secstate »

exratione wrote: post #88
evanlivingston wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the application beyond gaming. The other applications discussed are basically shopping. Essentially this would make it much easier to represent the physical world digitally. But what use cases does a consumer or the average phone user have for digital representations of the physical space around them, particularly given that the user is already aware of the the physical space around them? How can t…

It's a path to huds, in the Deepness in the Sky sense. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Deepness_in_the_Sky You need situational awareness in a device to start using it to paint data onto the surroundings. Once you can do that, a whole world of applications unlocks.

Seems like this is much more likely Google's goal. Couching their arguments in ways the consumer will benefit left me feeling woefully unimpressed with the possibilities.

But clearly PK Dick's self-aware advertising will not be possible until such ads can distinguish a human from a column of marble or a dog.

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