Iterate Weekly - Issue 46
This week we're looking at Apple's futuristic RealityOS, how to regain our focus in a distracting world, the vision for EV charging stations, watching music videos on a Cheeto, and watch the Olympics!
Welcome to issue 46 of Iterate Weekly!
Just a reminder that you can always reply to this email or leave a comment on the web version. I read all of them, and I appreciate the feedback, questions, and insights from all of you.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖 Tech
Apple’s RealityOS Could Be the Future
As great as virtual reality and augmented reality are, they’re really only as good as the infrastructure and operating system built around them right? Even the best technology in the world needs to be wrangled around basic usability principles to make things enjoyable for the end-user. And is there a company more equipped than Apple to create operating systems and ecosystems for this new frontier of computing?
Until now, Apple has mostly sat out of the VR/AR arms race. We’ve known that something was in the works for a while. And that something looks like it will be called RealityOS. The possible operating system name was found in the source code for a pre-build of iOS 13. There is certainly no guarantee that this will be the final name, but I have to say that it sounds pretty sweet to me.
Apple seems to have more of a focus on augmented reality than virtual reality. That is to say that they’re looking to develop wearables that blend the physical and digital worlds instead of just creating their own new virtual space. The rumors have pegged them to release a new device this year that looks like a minimal headset that could merge both AR and VR.
A lot of this is just speculation, there aren’t a lot of concrete facts to report just yet. But I’ll leave you with this mock-up concept video that could give a glimpse into the future of computing in Apple’s AR world.
🎓 Education
How To Regain Focus
Here’s an interesting story out of Fast Company about how modern technology has stolen our ability to focus. It’s written by Johann Hari who goes deeper into the 12 causes of our stolen attention in his new book “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again” (I foresee this book being a content recommendation in the future!).
You may sometimes beat yourself up for not being able to keep your attention on a given task long enough to complete it. But modern research is telling us that it might not be your fault. Your brain has essentially been hacked by forces that are too powerful to ignore. The article poses that there are some common causes for why our brains feel so scattered. Understanding them is the only way we can reprogram our thinking to improve focus.
Here are some of the key highlights:
Technology - Yes, obviously our screentime has impacted our focus. Your phone may tell you that you’ve spent 3 hours staring at the screen each day but that number is misleading. The actual amount of time spent switching tasks after being interrupted could be far more. We need to allocate more time in our days when devices are silenced or out of sight.
Stress - Our brains are naturally wired to protect our bodies in times of stress. Many people assumed that a slower pace of life during a pandemic would improve levels of focus. In reality, our brains reacted to this new stress by being on high alert in search of other potential threats. Who knows what kind of future pandemics (or worse) could be lurking around the corner? Our brains have even more trouble focusing when they’ve experienced trauma that could happen again.
Nutrition - It’s no secret that the modern western diet (or Standard American Diet, with the amazing acronym S.A.D) has been detrimental to the health of many. Our ability to focus is easily impacted when we ingest highly-processed or sugary foods. Sugar highs and crashes are the ultimate enemies of focus. The more we can understand the nutritional needs of our brain (think healthy fats and lots of hydration), the sooner we can fuel our bodies in a way that aids focus.
I’m really excited to read the full book, but this article brings up some great first steps that will help us all in the quest to regain our attention.
♻️ Health & Environment
Future EV Charging Stations Look Sweet
One of the big obstacles for the widely-adopted acceptance of electric vehicles is a lack of charging stations. The United States seems to finally have a plan in place to build the infrastructure needed to power the country’s electric cars from coast to coast.
While much of this plan is still in flux, it seems clear that the government understands the cost and planning necessary to push electric vehicles into the mainstream in the next few years. But what will these charging stations actually look like?
Scottish architect James Silvester has a vision that is quite appealing. His design has won a recent contest to build the future of EV charging in Canada, and possibly the rest of the world too.
The layout of his plan looks like a futuristic Sonic Drive-In. With typical charging times taking 30-60 minutes, the stations need to be comfortable enough to keep drivers hanging out for a while. It’s basically a mini-mall retail/dining center built around the charging ports.
I love the creativity in the design and am excited to see real-life versions of this popping up around the country in the near future.
🛍 Grab Bag
Watch a Music Video on Your Cheeto
Will we ever run out of fun ways to premiere music videos? Megan Thee Stallion is asking fans to tune into her new song by watching their Cheeto…
It coincides with the launch of a new Snapchat augmented reality lens that will only play the artist’s new song (commissioned by Frito-Lay mind you) on the surface of either a Cheeto or Dorito.
I can’t say that I’ve tried this myself but the premise seems simple. Buy a bag of Doritos, open the lens on Snapchat, point it at the chip. Then the video starts playing on the surface of the snack. Move the chip around and you’ll see different angles and vantage points like you’re shining a flashlight in a dark room.
It may just be a silly promo around the Super Bowl, but this technology has a lot of fun potential to let fans interact in new ways with artists (and products). And don’t worry, while the lens seems pretty sophisticated to detect the shape and texture of a Dorito, the content will still play on a generic corn chip!
Are you looking forward to watching more content on your favorite snacks?
💬 Quote of the Week
“Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." — Coach Eric Taylor, Friday Night Lights
📺 Content Recommendation
The Olympics
I’m not sure that I need to write a glowing review for something like The Olympics.
Sure, there may be doping scandals and political unrest amongst nations. We know that the host country of China is possibly under more scrutiny this year than any previous locale. Some of the scoring can be confusing, unjust, or just overly complicated. And with time differences, it’s hard to know which events are live, and avoiding spoilers can be extremely difficult.
It’s by no means perfect, but it’s still a tremendous global undertaking with amazing feats of physical talent. Yes, we may have had two Olympic games take place with the last six months, but remember that this is typically a once every 4-year experience.
I recommend tuning in to catch something during the final week of the Olympics. There may be tons of problems with the games, but try to put all that aside for a moment to appreciate athletic excellence.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!