Pixar Engineers Leave to Build Real World Living Toys

Imagine a children's toy designed by the people behind the Toy Story and Finding Nemo movies but connected to the web and chock full of artificial intelligence. Then add in visual tracking, speech recognition and massive network scalability. It appears that's what San Francisco startup ToyTalk is building, based on conversations and information available online.

The company is putting together a powerful team of technologists and creatives from Pixar and SRI (makers of Siri) and is being relatively open about what it's up to. But it has received no press coverage anywhere as far as I can tell. That's going to change once word gets out about who they are and what they're doing. The possibilities in both entertainment and education are amazing.

Neilsen announced new numbers yesterday, showing that tablet computers are increasingly being used by children. 70% of US households with both tablets and children under 12 now report that their children use the family tablet computer, up 9% over Q3 of last year.

Imagine the youngest of children using Web-connected toys carrying character-driven chatterbot artificial intelligence programs. If done well, the possibilities for child development, education, language learning and more are awe inspiring to consider. What are the problems that need to be solved? Lovability, connectivity and sufficiently intelligent interactivity. It's that last one that seems the hardest, the least solved. Perhaps if ToyTalk can pull it off, the company can resolve one of the world's most damaging resource shortages, the shortage of engaging time and energy for childhood development.

ToyTalk CEO Oren Jacob worked at Pixar for 20 years, where he served as Chief Technology Officer. Then he was the Entreprenuer-in-Residence at August Capital. Now he's assembling a company that includes other ex-Pixar people, a heavy-duty engineer from Internet mega-pipe Akamai and a computer scientist from SRI, the research firm that created the now Apple-owned mobile personal assistant Siri. (Jacob once made a documentary film about competitive grocery bagging; more on him here.)

ToyTalk's Creative Director Bobby Podesta worked on Pixar movies like A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and was a Directing Animator on Cars. Podesta is hiring a mobile UI developer and a creative writer who can build out charecter dialogue.

Martin Reddy, the ToyTalk CTO, is a Computer Science PhD with more than 40 published papers and 5 years of experience building geospatial visualization technology at the Artificial Intelligence Center at SRI International, the organization that built Siri.

Now imagine massive data input and output from these toys. James Chalfant, ToyTalk's Director of Scalability, helped build Akamai, a massive Content Delivery Network that serves up 30% of all the web-based content consumed in the world.

Michael Chann built Pixar's animation technology and is now a visual tracking software specialist at ToyTalk. Brian Langner is a Carnegie Mellon PhD and now ToyTalk's "Senior Speech Scientist" specializing in human computer spoken word interaction. Byrne Reese was the Product Manager for Movable Type, one of the world's first major blogging platforms and is now Head of Customer Development at ToyTalk. Renee Adams, head of operations at ToyTalk, spent years working on logistics and retail operations at Apple.

Got that? We're talking about children's toys built by an AI scientist from where Siri was born, that tracks human movement, can interact with spoken words, is connected to the web and mobile by an engineer with a world-beating scalability background, promoted by an early advocate of blog publishing software that changed the world and designed by people behind the most popular children's movies in history.

That sounds incredible. And maybe a little bit frightening.

Could these be the toys that teach your children multiple languages, that help provide some interactivity to neglected children, that save the next generation from passive consumption of non-interactive broadcast media?

Or will they fall into the Uncanny Valley, seem creepy to adults but desensitize children to the true humanity of living people, ushering in a generation of humans so comfortable with robots that the robots proliferate and ultimately... Well, you can imagine. Perhaps it's post-humanity that will feel like Elvis's swinging hips for our generation, so wrong to us but a much-loved part of the future for our children.

Those are the questions I'll be asking when more information comes out about ToyTalk. The company hasn't yet responded to my request for an interview. I hope they will soon.

(readwriteweb.com)  

Go PRO

Get rid of your clutter stress and your clutter mess. Start by decluttering your space and adding systems that work for your personal style of organizing.  Do it yourself or hire me to get you motivated and moving forward!

Whether you’re an executive, a stay-at-home mom, or a senior preparing to downsize for retirement living, my real world, real life solutions will work for you.

For starters, look at how a few small tension rods organized this pantry shelf.  Cutting boards and serving trays are stored upright to maximize your space.  Remind yourself of just HOW MANY cutting boards and trays you really need.  Keep the survivors, donate the cast-offs to family, friends, or your favorite charity.  

Creating space within a confined space creates a visually relaxing experience.  Minimize and treasure!  


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A basic human need is to connect with others. With a smile, a laugh, a high-five, we connect with others every single day.

With ever increasing numbers, these connections are happening online. But, the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions can get lost in the rigidness of online tools.

In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And it looks like Google+ aims to fix this.

Google+ is bringing nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software... through your relationships and your interests.

Circles: share what matters, with the people who matter most.  What we share with our BFF’s is not the same thing we share with parents or pals at the office. With Circles, you connect with certain people at certain times within their circles.

People already use real-life circles to express themselves, and to share with precisely the right folks. So Circles did what made sense: brought Circles to software. Just make a circle, add your people, and share what’s new—just like any other day.

Sparks: strike up a conversation, about pretty much anything!  Healthy obsessions inspire sharing, and we’ve all got one (or two, or three...). Maybe it’s gardening, or comic books, or fashion, but the attraction is always the same: it comes up in conversation, we immediately jump in, and we share back and forth with other fans. Often for hours. The trick is getting things started, and getting over that initial hump. Fortunately, the web is the ultimate icebreaker.

The web, of course, is filled with great content—from timely articles to vibrant photos to funny videos. And great content can lead to great conversations. Sparks delivers a feed of highly contagious content from across the Internet. On any topic you want, in over 40 languages. Simply add your interests, and you’ll always have something to watch, read and share—with just the right circle of friends.

Hangouts: stop by and say hello, face-to-face-to-face…whether it's inside a pub or on a front porch, human beings enjoy hanging out. And why not? It's how we unwind, recharge, and spend unscheduled time with old and new friends alike. Hanging out is deceptively simple though, and the nuance gets lost online.

Hangouts lets you stop by when you're free, and spend time with your Circles.

Mobile: share what’s around, right now, without hassle. These days a phone is the perfect sharing accessory: it's with you, it's online, and it's how we stay close with our closest friends. Google+ helps make your pocket computer even more personal.

Location, location, location: In life, the places we visit shape conversations in lots of meaningful ways. If we call John from the airport, he’ll likely ask about our trip. Or if Jane texts from a nearby restaurant, we might join her for dessert. With Google+ you can add your location to every post. (Or not. It’s always up to you.)

Instant Upload: Getting photos off your phone can be a pain, so many of us don't even bother. Of course pictures are meant to be shared, not stranded.  Instant Upload adds your photos to a private album in the cloud. This way they're always available across your devices—ready to share as you see fit.

Huddle: Coordinating with friends and family in real-time is really hard in real life. After all, everyone's on different schedules, in different places, and plans can change at any moment. Phone calls and text messages can work in a pinch, but they're not quite right for getting the gang together.

Huddle, a group messaging experience, lets everyone inside the circle know what's going on, right this second.

Google+ is available on Android Market and the mobile web, and it’s coming soon to the App Store.  When your invite arrives, check it out – and remember, it’s entirely up to +You.

Creating an Inspiring Brand Story

What's happening here?

 “A person can have the greatest idea in the world — different and novel — but if that person can’t convince enough other people, it doesn’t matter…”

How do you feel when you sit down to design a PowerPoint presentation?  Sheer panic or do you actually remember that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication?  If you can think of your presentation as an organized bento lunch box, you are on your way.  Great content arranged in an efficient, graceful manner without gaudy decoration is the way to go.  Simple.  Balanced.  Beautiful.

Good PowerPoint = good presentation through dynamic simplicity.  Solid presentation skills are critical.  Good presenters target both the left and right brain of their audience. 

Long lists and a plethora of bullets in your PowerPoint will turn your audience into readers of the presentation instead of being present.  Rather than have your audience read your bullets, take the Zen path.  Zen teachings often speak of a beginner’s or child’s mind.  It is fresh, enthusiastic, and open to ideas and solutions, what is possible. 

As you approach a new challenge with a beginner’s mind, you won’t be saddled with fear.  After all, making mistakes is not the same thing as being creative.  But if you are not willing to make mistakes, then it is impossible to be honestly creative.  You tend to look for safe solutions. 

If you look for the short road or the quick fix in presentation excellence, you won’t find it.  But there is help.  Having prepared hundreds of Power Point presentations in my career, I will transform your thoughts into slides that speak volumes without bullets.

Give me a shout when you feel your PowerPoint needs a shot of creativity, some charismatic or dynamic uplift.  It can have a remarkable impact on others as you deliver messaging through design, allowing the principles of simplicity to be the guide.

What IS the deal?

Groupon is debatably one of the fastest-growing campaigns.

However, recent doubts about their IPO, along with rising marketing costs, traffic decline, executive partings, and a lawsuit filed against the company by its own sales reps have people questioning whether Groupon may be showing signs of deterioration.

When coupled with a sudden exit of two major social-media brands from the deals arena hasn't helped either. Facebook and Yelp both set out to create "Groupon killers" but recently scrapped their efforts. Today, with 600 Groupon-style clones diluting the market, consumers are showing signs of frustration, with Web coupons choking their in-boxes.

And yet, despite all of this, there's still evidence that the daily deals and group-buying sector is still a player. Nearly three years old, the market is estimated to reach $6 billion by 2015, Epic consumer brands like Amazon, Google, AT&T, and a host of other companies are diving in deep and investing heavily too. There have also been a spate of acquisitions, and to date, $2 billion of private equity has been infused into daily-deal type companies, according to analyst Peter Krasilovsky, a vice president at BIA/Kelsey. Daily deals are a "fast evolving" marketing platform that will remain "an important part of the way that small businesses and national advertisers will promote themselves," he told CNET.

The 'Groupon' phenomenon
 daily deals are simple. Every day Groupon issues a discounted product or service via a digital coupon sent by e-mail, and if a certain number of people prepay for the deal, it triggers a savings. Groupon takes a cut of every deal sold. Consumers in domestic and overseas markets have been flocking to these group coupons--"Groupon"--for the obvious reason: everyone loves a deal. Indeed, digital coupons on everything from wine tastings to hang-gliding lessons to spa treatments have permeated our culture in a big way. Josh Stevens, 28, demonstrated this when he sustained his living expenses on Groupon deals for an entire year.  No cash exchanged whatsoever.

Groupon provides metrics and can now track exactly how many customers bought the e-mail promo.  With 115 million subscribers and an estimated $20 billion valuation, Groupon is just one U.S. digital dealmaker among a cacophony of clones.

Lastly, industry insiders expect Facebook to stay in the game, despite recent media reports.  "I don't think anyone thinks they're going away," one source familiar with the daily-deals market told CNET. "This business requires reaching hundreds of thousands of merchants. It's a very competitive space from a sales perspective. Facebook was just nibbling around the edges at this. They didn't have a clear strategy." Apparently, Facebook doesn't have the "feet on the street" to pull off a group promotions and social buying program at scale. The company described its four-month deals efforts as a "test" and went at it with only a limited number of partners signed. But with Facebook Credits, Places, and check-in deals still in place, the company could easily surprise with its next deals move.

Sure, Groupon and its CEO might seem flawed, loud, and messy in the way they go about business, but they deserve credit for ushering in today's crush of digital discounts, and linking small and local businesses, most of which still operate offline, with online consumers.

Going forward, it's anyone's guess as to which daily-deals companies will have staying power. But when all is said and done, consumers are getting deep discounts on products, services, and the like delivered right to their in-boxes. And "merchants are saying it's a good model," according to Andrew Weinstein, Living Social's communications director. "If it works for the businesses and the consumers, then it works for us."

At the end of the day, doesn’t everyone just want a good deal?

Healthy what?

         

Staying healthy while still enjoying food is a good thing, but can be challenging.  How does pizza fit in here?

For a truly guilt-free experience, a vegetarian pizza is the way to go.  What qualifies as a truly vegetarian pizza?

The pizza must be made with cheese that doesn’t contain animal-based rennet. Fortunately, this type of cheese is plentiful, so you are good to go here.

You can make a standard pizza crust with flour, water, and olive oil, or use any number of other bases.  For instance, add fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes as available; they have more flavor & a lot less salt than canned tomatoes.

NOTE - Seed the tomatoes before you use them. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a soggy crust.

You could also use pesto in your sauce. Again, fresh basil is the best, but when not available, most stores sell good, ready-made pesto.

To add an extra depth, consider opting for Gouda and mozzarella.  Both are excellent and melt well, which is key for pizza.

Great toppings include artichokes – either marinated or grilled.  To grill, first steam one for 30 minutes, cut it in half, remove the choke, baste it with some oil and grill for 5 minutes on each side.

Olives & roasted red peppers add lots of flavor and depth. Raw green or red peppers add crunch, as do onions. You can even make a four-variety pizza with sweet, green, red, and caramelized onions.

Garlic is a must, especially if you roast it first.  Mushrooms add a rich, savory note and help make-up for lack of meat.

For extra pizzazz, sprinkle your pizza it with a little extra virgin olive oil and crushed red peppers flakes when you take it out of the oven, if you like a little spice.  Hey, it's football season and pizza is a great tv companion.  

Goda la festa!