Iterate Weekly - Issue 51
This week we're playing prescription video games, listening to Selena's new album 27 years after her death, debating daylight saving time, highlighting Spotify's stadium deal, and watching CODA!
Welcome to issue 51 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
Playing Prescription Video Games
Haven’t we always been told that video games are bad for us? They keep us sedentary, the content rots our mind, etc.? Well, what if the types of games were specifically prescribed to help us overcome our mental challenges?
The company tackling this issue is called Deepwell Digital Therapeutics. Right now they’re partnering with developers to help craft games that combat a variety of health issues.
Deepwell is in its early stages (the company just formally launched last week) but the plan is to have its first games released sometime in 2023. With a team that boasts an impressive resume in the gaming industry, they’re hoping to ramp up quickly.
The end result will likely be some basic indie-style games to kick things off while the more in-depth titles will follow. Deepwell plans to identify existing gaming content that could be tweaked to have mental health benefits, in addition to creating their own intellectual property from the ground up.
I absolutely love this idea. Imagine if you could browse your favorite gaming store or website to see games characterized by their health benefits? Looking for some empathy? Download this one! Need to minimize stress and promote calmness before bed? Play a few rounds of this one!
This feels like a real first step into a more thoughtful gaming future.
🎓 Education/Art
Selena Has a New Album…From the Grave!
There have been post-humous albums released before. The idea of musicians coming to us “from the grave” is spooky but sort of romantic. We love the vision of someone finding some lost tracks hidden deep in the artist’s estate that never saw the light of day.
Of course, at some point, there is a moral threshold that gets crossed. I fear that could be happening with the release of a new album from the artist Selena…who died 27 years ago this month.
This album is more than just unreleased recordings being brought to light. There are 13 tracks. Three of the songs are completely new, while ten of them are remixes of existing material.
Ok, a remix seems reasonable. You could lay down some new beats over existing vocals that the deceased singer would have likely (but we can’t say for sure) approved. But how on earth are they crafting three new songs from scratch when an artist has been dead since 1995?
Technology. Artificial intelligence and machine learning to be specific. Details are scarce, but the album is being produced by the late singer’s brother A.B. Quintanilla. In the past, he has used digital manipulation to create new sounds from his sister’s previous material. Essentially, he can create new tracks based on what his sister has already recorded. He can even digitally age her voice to sound like the 51-year-old woman she’d be today, rather than the teenage pop star she once was.
Selena’s family has long been accused of cashing in on her legacy in questionable ways. The 1997 biopic starring Jennifer Lopez was allegedly written just days after her untimely murder. Wax museums appearances, merchandising, and other cash grabs have all been spearheaded by her family with varying degrees of success and sincerity.
This is a touchy subject and a slippery slope. As the technology becomes cheaper and more accessible, more and more artists may start releasing albums from the grave that feel all too new.
♻️ Health & Environment
Congress Pushes for Permanent Daylight Saving
Daylight Saving time is such a heated topic these days. First off, it doesn’t even roll off the tongue cleanly. Apparently, there is no “s” at the end of the word saving? It just sounds wrong. Secondly, most people seem to really dislike the concept. And third, the US Congress is pushing to make it a permanent thing!
Most of America (shout out to Arizona, Hawaii, and Guam for holding out) recently “sprung forward” to change the clocks ahead one hour. It may seem like a harmless event to give us a bit more sunshine in the evening, but it can cause problems for a lot of people.
Heart attacks tend to rise (by as much as 25%!) in the days following a time shift. Car accidents seem to tick up as well. But for most of us, we just feel sluggish for a few days. It may not seem like much, but it’s an unnecessary impact on our very fragile circadian rhythms. So it’s no surprise that the shift of the clocks twice yearly has many opponents.
However, this idea running through congress aims to put us in a perpetual state of daylight saving. Meaning that the clocks will always be in their “sprung forward” one hour ahead state. Notably, the bill is being shepherded by Marco Rubio of Florida (a state located at a more southern latitude that is less impacted by the shift in daylight).
This shift would have a greater impact on those in northern latitudes. Kids in Michigan and North Dakota will be waiting for the school bus on cold, pitch-black mornings. It’s safe to assume there will be more traffic accidents for employees on the way to work in the hours that used to be bright.
I’m all for cutting the daylight saving dance that we do each year, but this needs to be well thought out. Changes should be placed on ballots for citizens to vote. And if I had to choose, I’d vote for keeping the clocks perpetually in our standard (fallen back) time.
🛍 Grab Bag
Spotify Gets Into Stadium Naming Rights
I’m a total nerd when it comes to the naming rights of sports stadiums.
Sure, I wish that all ballparks and arenas could have non-commercial names. It would be amazing if there was a rule that forced a stadium to have a non-corporate identity for even just the first year of its existence. A way to give it a personality of its own before becoming a billboard for a corporate overlord.
Shoutout to the amazing Paul Lukas for his Naming Wrongs collection that celebrates this same idea.
Anyway, one of the most lucrative naming deals has just come to fruition with Spotify getting the rights to FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium. The Spotify partnership will also extend to logo placement on the team’s uniforms and a host of other “in-stadium. experiences”.
This might not seem like a big deal, but because this is Spotify, it’s worth keeping a closer eye on. They hope to make the stadium more of a destination for musical performances. With the deep pockets of the music streamer, there is potential for a lot of interesting experiences that go beyond the typical concert.
💬 Quote of the Week
"I love asking kids what they want to be when they grow up because I’m still looking for ideas."
- Jay Shetty.
🎥Content Recommendation
CODA
My quest to watch all of the Academy Award nominees continues! This week,I was presently surprised by “CODA”.
The title of the movie is an acronym for Child Of Deaf Adults. The main character Ruby is the only member of her family who can hear and this burdens her with immense pressure to help keep the family business afloat.
It’s a heart-warming story about a family overcoming obstacles and a teenage girl following her dreams. I would not be surprised at all if it wins the best picture.
The Academy Awards are less than a week away and I’ve really enjoyed sharing my journey to watch as many of the nominated films as possible!
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!