1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tex Stuff. 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and I love all things tech and 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: today is Friday. It it's time for a classic episode. 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: This episode that you're about to hear originally published on 7 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: December five, two thousand twelve. It is called tech Stuff 8 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: Takes the Ingress. Ingress is an alternate reality game that 9 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: was launching in two thousand twelve. It's still around today, 10 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: but I thought it'd be fun to go back and 11 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: listen to Chris Pallette and I talked about the whole 12 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: concept of this game back when it was brand new 13 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 1: and just launching. So let's listen in today. We want 14 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: to talk about an alternate reality game and a r 15 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: G that uses augmented reality as well. It comes to 16 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: us courtesy of a little company called Google and the like. Yeah. 17 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: They they've made a name for themselves in a few things, 18 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: but yeah, they've created this game through a division called 19 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: Neantic Labs UM and it's called Ingress, and it's interesting 20 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: alternate reality game. But before we really get into the 21 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: game itself, maybe we should talk and refresh our listeners 22 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: memories about what an alternate reality game is. Now we've 23 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: done an episode about alternate reality games, but that was 24 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: back in two thousand nine when we were both so 25 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: young and idealistic. Sorry, um, yeah yeah, so yeah. The 26 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: differences and augmented and alternate realities are in some ways 27 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: kind of slight, well especially now, especially now. Um. An 28 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: alternate reality is is one that is I would argue, 29 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: very similar to ours, um, but there are significant differences. Um, 30 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: you know you might have I think of that sort 31 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: of in the in my head. This is sort of 32 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: goes to the genre of alternate histories. Um, for example 33 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, 34 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: in which the Axis won World War Two? What would 35 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: the world be like? Um? You know, the countries are 36 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: still there, the nationalities that that were familiar with, but 37 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: things have changed substantially. That that's that's how I kind 38 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: of get into that idea or the mindset that it 39 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: sort of takes, because it could be something as simple 40 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: as uh, you know, there are a lot of what 41 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: ifs there. You know, what if a different person had 42 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,959 Speaker 1: uh won the election, or what if a person hadn't 43 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: been uh uh, had had gone to one university instead 44 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: of another. What if? What if Lincoln had not been assassinated? 45 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: What if? Yeah, there are a lot of what if 46 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: type things. Alternate reality games in general, what they do 47 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: is they use the they used the stuff around us 48 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: in the real world as part of a game that 49 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: is fictional. So you've got a fictional story taking place 50 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: within the context of the real world. Now, in some cases, 51 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: the fictional story assumes that the players themselves are part 52 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: of this fictional world. So you're playing a part you're 53 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: not really you because um. One of the two of 54 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: the games I always think about when I think of 55 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: alternate reality games are two of the big, big early examples. 56 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: One was called The Beast, and that was the game 57 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: that was partly a marketing um push for the movie 58 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: AI Artificial Intelligence, uh, the Spielberg Kubrick film that that 59 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: came out several years ago. Well, there was this this 60 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: game that came out with it called The Beast that 61 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: had a storyline that was uh tangential to the story 62 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: that takes place in AI. Some of the characters play 63 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: a part a little bit within the realm of the game, 64 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: and players were solving mysteries and trying to help fictional 65 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: characters achieve goals within the context of the game, and 66 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: they were all doing it in real time with real assets. 67 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: So you might get a phone call in the middle 68 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: of the night from a character in this game, or 69 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: you might get a fact or an email or a 70 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: file of some sort, and you were supposed to act 71 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: on it in a real way to push the game forward. 72 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: The other one that I always think about is called 73 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: I Love Bees, which was part of the Halo universe, 74 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,279 Speaker 1: and it was again another marketing attempt to push Halo, 75 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: but it it took a life of its own and 76 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: became a game that people who had never intended to 77 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: ever play in the Halo game became and you know, 78 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: absolutely fascinated with this game. And again lots of different 79 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: puzzles and uh things that you need to achieve. Often 80 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: we will see these sort of games come up as 81 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: part of a marketing campaign. A lot of movies have 82 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: done this. I remember when The Dark Knight came out, 83 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: there was one was related to The Joker, and I 84 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: remember getting very very upset because I I uncovered one 85 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: of the clues and discovered exactly where I would need 86 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: to go within Atlanta to get it, but I found 87 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: out about forty minutes too late, and by the time 88 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: I would have been able to get to the location, 89 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: it had already been discovered, and I didn't get my 90 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: Joker custom bowling ball. This was that a bowling alley. 91 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: Oh man, can you imagine a custom Joker bowling ball? Okay, 92 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: that's pretty neat and it's pretty cool. So this is 93 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,720 Speaker 1: this is along those lines, but it also adds in 94 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: the augmented reality angle, where uh, a large part of 95 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: the participation with this game is going to depend upon 96 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: people using devices, primarily smartphones. It's really meant for smartphones 97 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: to interact with their environment in order to h to 98 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: push the game forward. Yeah, we've we've talked about both 99 00:05:55,440 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: alternate reality games and augmented reality SOFT where in the past. 100 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: UM Augmented reality is sort of like the heads up 101 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: display that you would see in a fighter jet. UM. 102 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: It's a layer of information that that a device will 103 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 1: provide for you. It could be a tablet or um, 104 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: you know, a smartphone something like that generally that you 105 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: would carry with you. And so if you were looking 106 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: through a an augmented reality device as you walk down 107 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: the street. You might see information about uh the businesses 108 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: on the street around you, or for example, you might 109 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: see a special going on at a cafe or um, 110 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: you might find out where the cleanest bathroom is on 111 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,359 Speaker 1: the street. Don't laugh, there are people who who provide 112 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: this information. Um, I am not laughing. I'm downloading apps. Yeah, 113 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 1: I was gonna say. Um. And as a matter of fact, 114 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: uh Neontic Labs has has already come out with a 115 00:06:54,760 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: sort of augmented reality app UM that I have on 116 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: on my Android phone field field trip UM. Now on 117 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: this particular in this particular case, you are not looking 118 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: at the screen on the smartphone to see what the 119 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: camera sees beyond having a layer of information superimposed on that, 120 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: which is a good way to walk into obstacles that 121 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: are not covered in your screen. By the way, avoid that. Um. 122 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: This actually pops up little cards I've seen them called 123 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: as as you happen to be near by something. It 124 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: uses the GPS um in your smartphone or I assume 125 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: tablet uh Android tablet. That again, field Trip is one 126 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: of those those apps that's it's optimized for smartphones. Yeah, 127 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: it tells you right there on the app like it's 128 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: it's intended for smartphones that will run on tablets, but 129 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: it's intended for smartphones well generally, because it's it's using 130 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: the GPS and your communications network to identify where you 131 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: are and give you information about stuff, and you can 132 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,600 Speaker 1: control how much of that information use. See you might 133 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: watch what type of information. Yeah, there there are lots 134 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: and lots of sources, um, different restaurant review sites, um, 135 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: places of interest, historical points of interest, those kinds of things. 136 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: That's what I have turned on mind. So it's it's 137 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: kind of fun too to be driving around in Atlanta 138 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: and have a little alert come up and say, hey, 139 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: you're near uh you know, of course here in Atlanta 140 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: we've had civil war battles shore and they'll tell you 141 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: points of interest just down the road. Here is where 142 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: so and so, uh you know ran you know, in 143 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: in conflict and they set up camp just down the street. 144 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: It's interesting, It's no, it's really cool that it gives 145 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: you that that extra information about the world you are in. 146 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: And I love that idea. I mean, I've and this 147 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: is one of those things that you can kind of 148 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: see playing a larger role with Google. Other Google projects, 149 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,319 Speaker 1: mainly Project glass. Yes, the idea of wandering around your 150 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: world and getting information about your world that you would 151 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: you know that that that's accessible, but you would have 152 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: to look for it otherwise. But now it's just coming up. 153 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: So if you are interested in things like history and 154 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: you are visiting a city or even just walking around 155 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: your own city, you may end up learning things about 156 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: your the place you're in that you never would have 157 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: known before. And uh, and it's it really does try 158 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: to bridge that gap between the digital world and the 159 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: physical world, which is something I've always been interested in. 160 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: And as augmented reality applications become more prevalent, it's becoming 161 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: it's becoming a real I think this is something that 162 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: we can do right now. UM, go ahead. I'm sorry, 163 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: I just wanted to mention exactly what project glasses um, 164 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: you know, because we didn't really talk about that. Uh. 165 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: That's UM. It's still sort of an experimental product I 166 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: would consider or unit or or really cutting edge. It's 167 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: it's on the verge of being produced, but only in 168 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 1: limited quantities because it's sort of a first generation thing 169 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: or zero point eight generation UM. And that's a a 170 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: project that Google has been working on. UM that it's 171 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:06,679 Speaker 1: it's not. It uses a frame, glasses, frame and a 172 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: small piece of glass that, um, a user would be 173 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: able to see augmented reality information on the kind of 174 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: thing that you would currently use by looking at your smartphone. 175 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: But um, you know, it would tell you where places 176 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: are around you, it would be able to make phone 177 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: calls and um uh you know, record video. As a 178 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: matter of fact, that's how they unveiled it. They had 179 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: somebody wearing a project glass, um set of glasses and 180 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: walking through and they you could see what they were 181 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: seeing as they were they were walking through and they 182 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: I think somebody skydived, didn't they. Yeah, that was that 183 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: the Google Io event. They had a team of skydivers 184 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:53,439 Speaker 1: who who wore the the glasses as they were skydiving 185 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: and then handed them off to uh some some stunt 186 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: bicyclists who then handed it off who some folks who 187 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: repelled down the side of the building, who then handed 188 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: it off to more bicyclists who then biked the pair 189 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: of glasses up to the stage to serage brand as 190 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: I recall, and yeah, it was. It was. It was 191 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:18,559 Speaker 1: a big spectacle and it really spectacle. Man. I'm gonna 192 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: hit you and anyway, the yeah, it was, it was 193 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: an interesting demonstration of the of the technology. Well, anyway, 194 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: all of this kind of leads up to Ingress. So 195 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: Ingriss is coming for that same group within Google Niantic Labs, 196 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: which is you know that they are kind of an 197 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: R and D group in a way, and the game 198 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: it has several different elements to it. And we can 199 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: only speak in fairly vague terms because neither Chris nor 200 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: I are part of this game yet. We it's as 201 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: of the recording of this podcast, it's in beta and 202 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: we are not in the beta testing yet. We have 203 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 1: both applied for it, so we're hoping to have that 204 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,080 Speaker 1: change soon, but as we're recording this, we do not 205 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: have access to it. It's been again, as the record 206 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: of this podcast, active for about fifteen days. Yeah, yeah, 207 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 1: and I think it really wasn't wasn't really well known 208 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: until probably as of the day we're recording is probably 209 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: only a couple or or three days. I didn't see 210 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: anything in the media about it until a day or 211 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: two before we recorded this podcast. Like a lot of 212 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:25,559 Speaker 1: alternate reality games, Google started to seed every the world 213 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: with hints of the game from months ago, but they're 214 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 1: now just starting to coalesce into something we can talk 215 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 1: about now. Some of the seeds started off over at 216 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: Comic Con. Yeah, at San Diego Comic Con there was 217 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: a person who was taking on the role of a 218 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 1: character named Tycho, and Tycho is an artist in this, uh, 219 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 1: the world that has been created for Ingress, and I 220 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: guess we can kind of give a little bit of 221 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,079 Speaker 1: an overview. If you were to go to Google Play, 222 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: which is where their store is, and to try and 223 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:02,679 Speaker 1: download the Ingress andrew It app, you would see this description. 224 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: Ingrish transforms the real world into the landscape for a 225 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: global game of mystery, intrigue, and competition. Our future is 226 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: at stake, and you must choose a side. A mysterious 227 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: energy has been unearthed by a team of scientists in Europe. 228 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: The origin and purpose of this force is unknown, but 229 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 1: some researchers believe it is influencing the way we think. 230 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: We must control it or it will control us. The 231 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 1: enlightened seek to embrace the power that this energy may 232 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: bestow upon us. The resistance struggle to defend and protect 233 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: what's left of our humanity. So part of Ingriss involves 234 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: choosing a side being either part of the Enlightened or 235 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: part of the resistance, and competing for resources by walking 236 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: around and moving around in the real world and and 237 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: UH collecting resources through the smartphone application. That's part of 238 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: the game. We're gonna hit pause on the Game of 239 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: Ingress for just a moment to take this word from 240 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:07,719 Speaker 1: our sponsor. The other part of the game involves puzzles 241 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: that are released through various venues. UH. In some cases, 242 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 1: you may be looking at a physical sign that has 243 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,320 Speaker 1: a QR code that leads you to a puzzle, or 244 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: you might see there might be an ad for something 245 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: that Google, either from Google or maybe from one of 246 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 1: Google's partners that includes a clue that goes into this game. 247 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: The idea being that parts of the game are all 248 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: around us all the time, and that by paying attention 249 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: we can we can see them and and push the 250 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: story forward. So right now, the the main place for 251 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: those game elements is on a website called Niantic project 252 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: dot com. It's in I A, N T, I C 253 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: for Niantic or neanticu and anyway, that's where the progress 254 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: gets tracked and you can actually go from the very 255 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: beginning of the game, which is November one as of 256 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: officially it's November one, and work your way up and 257 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: it all start revealing more information. You can start seeing 258 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: codes that you can break, things like that, and uh, 259 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: there are also some wikies that have popped up already 260 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: of players who are really passionate about this kind of stuff, 261 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: who are dedicated to gathering as much information as possible 262 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: and then posting it on these wikis. So you can 263 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: actually find people who are already neck deep in this game. 264 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: And some of them probably don't even have the smartphone 265 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: app yet. They're not they're only participating in the part 266 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: that they can over the web. But once the smartphone 267 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: app becomes more widely distributed, then you'll see people um 268 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: using that. Part two and the way the smartphone app 269 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 1: stuff works is kind of interesting. Did you read about this. 270 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: I read some about it. Yeah, alright, So the ideas 271 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: that there are these things called portals that are scared 272 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: around the real world and you use those portals the 273 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: other portals, well, before you ask, yeah, it's not not 274 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: not aperture Science portals UM or black Mesa for that matter. Now, 275 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: you use your smartphone to identify where these portals are, 276 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: and you at playing as a member of whatever side, 277 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: whichever side you've chosen, you go and you try to 278 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: secure these portals. And by securing various portals within the game, 279 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: and this actually requires you to move physically from one 280 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: location to another, usually on foot. Want to understand, um, 281 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: then you start to solidify your side's presence in whichever 282 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: city you happen to be in. Okay, So let's say 283 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: that there's like I don't know, let's say there's a 284 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: hundred portals within a few neighborhoods of where you are. 285 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 1: I mean, I have no idea what the dead state 286 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: actually is, depending upon you know where it is. They 287 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 1: do say that there's going to be a lot more 288 00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: interaction and have more heavily populated places. Sure, so cities 289 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: are more likely to have a lot going on. So 290 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: moving around, you know, just by moving around and following 291 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,400 Speaker 1: the directions on the gap, you can start to secure portals. 292 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 1: Actually getting to a portal is step one. Then you 293 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:16,640 Speaker 1: have to hack the portal. Yes, what actually involves in hackey, 294 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 1: I don't know. I haven't had a chance to play, 295 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: do you do you well? From what I understand, um, 296 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: and I'm trying not to to bring us back to 297 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: real reality too much. But from what I understand, portals 298 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: are basically places of interest, um, which would kind of 299 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: go with you know that the current m O of 300 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: Niantic Labs. Yeah, if you look at some of the 301 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:39,640 Speaker 1: there's a video in particular where there's a guy who 302 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: is complaining about cell phone he bought from an auction 303 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: and he says, look, it seems to work. But when 304 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: I walk up to the statue and hold up the phone, 305 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,160 Speaker 1: this weird screen comes up. And it's this this very 306 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: odd screen that shows up. And also if you pay attention, 307 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 1: in the background, there's a man in black watching. Yeah, 308 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,439 Speaker 1: but but yeah, it's it's That's kind of the idea, 309 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: is that that when you get to these places of interest, 310 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: weird stuff happens, and there's probably some sort of mini 311 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: game I would imagine in the smartphone that allows you 312 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: to hack. Yeah, I understand that that hacking is essentially 313 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 1: a check in at that portal, like four square, Facebook 314 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: places that kind and I imagine it will be sort 315 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: of a combination of um, something simple that you know, 316 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: it doesn't frustrate people too awfully much. You know, you 317 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:28,919 Speaker 1: don't you don't want to set the barrier too high 318 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: or you end up with a very small group of players, 319 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: But you don't want to set too low or people 320 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: lose interest very quickly. So yeah, it's a delicate and 321 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: people who have run alternate reality games probably have a 322 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: lot to say about this, about how what you know 323 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: all the challenges that are involved in designing and running 324 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: one of these games. It's got to be pretty monumental. 325 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,920 Speaker 1: But but you do collect energy along the way. Yes, uh, 326 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 1: it was an exotic material or x M. Yes it's 327 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,439 Speaker 1: not the Satellite Radio company. No, this exotic material. I 328 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: like to think of it like pac Man pellets. Yeah, 329 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: that's the I've seen it described. So what I thought, 330 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,199 Speaker 1: You don't actually have to you don't. You don't know 331 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: if you actually see the balls of energy or something 332 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: like that, but I think you walk. As you walk, 333 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: you collected. If you look at the map on your 334 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: smartphone through INGRISS, it will show where the little XM 335 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 1: dots are, and as you get close to them, it 336 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: collects them for you, those x M dots. That energy 337 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: also kind of counts as your health because sometimes when 338 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,199 Speaker 1: you're hacking these portals, some of them are boomy trapped 339 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: and they if the booby trap goes off, then you 340 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: take you take damage within the game, so you have 341 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:44,880 Speaker 1: to collect more exotic material, and if you have been 342 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: walking around a certain part of town quite a bit 343 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: for you, there may not be very much exotic material life. 344 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: You have to go to some other location that you 345 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: have not you know, scoured, so that you can collect it, 346 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: whereas someone else who's just playing the game, they might 347 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 1: be able to find exact material. Because part of this 348 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: game is to get people out and about and exploring 349 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: their environments and interacting with their environments and not just 350 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: you know, passively playing a game at home. Hey, it's 351 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,880 Speaker 1: Jonathan from two thousand nineteen again, um interrupting Jonathan from 352 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,639 Speaker 1: two thousand and twelve. That's just a wild guess. I 353 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: don't know where tarr is gonna put this ad break, 354 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: but just based on statistics, it's more likely she's interrupting 355 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: me than Chris. Anyway, we're gonna take a quick break 356 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: to hear a word from our sponsor. So there's there's 357 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: this part where you are trying to discover hack and 358 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,879 Speaker 1: control these portals, and as you control more portals, you 359 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: can link them together and strengthen your position Meanwhile, the 360 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: opposing team is trying to do the same thing. And 361 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,640 Speaker 1: there will be times where you'll have a portal under 362 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: your team's control and then through a coordinated effort, the 363 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: other team rests it away from you, and then you 364 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:01,840 Speaker 1: have to figure out how you're gonna get it back 365 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: within the context of the game. And meanwhile, you still 366 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: have this other mystery going on between the two factions 367 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,239 Speaker 1: where they're they're really talking about this exotic material, what 368 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: it's doing, why is it here, and is it a 369 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: good thing or not? And bits and pieces of that 370 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,680 Speaker 1: mystery are going to play out over time, and in fact, 371 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: from what I understand a Google they're talking about it 372 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: lasting about a year and a half. Yeah, yeah, so 373 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: it will end um, and they've made it clear that 374 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: that it will end UM. So yeah, this this will 375 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,199 Speaker 1: be an interesting experiment to see, uh, you know, the 376 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: kind of thing that that can be done with with 377 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: these games on this scale. Because at the moment um 378 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: UH the app is only available for Android devices, which 379 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: make up the majority of the market at least here 380 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 1: in the United States, UM, but it will also be 381 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,359 Speaker 1: available for iOS UH smartphones. The Apple operating system that 382 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: runs the iPhone um, so you know there, this is 383 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: the kind of thing that that's going to be available 384 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: to quite a few people. And the more they get 385 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 1: involved with it, um, you know that the more interesting 386 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,120 Speaker 1: it will get just to see how how well it does. 387 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 1: But it'll be um. And it may also end up 388 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: being a source of revenue for Google to rite. They've 389 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:25,119 Speaker 1: partnered with some companies. Uh, and there may be some 390 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,080 Speaker 1: advertising or cross promotional stuff going on through the app 391 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: that will generate revenue. Uh. They may also eventually have 392 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: other ways of generating revenue through this besides advertising. But 393 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: advertising is certainly something that could be part of this, 394 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: and it wouldn't surprise me at all. You know, it 395 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 1: wouldn't surprise me if you're following the path to the 396 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,720 Speaker 1: portal and you're like, huh, it's amazing. This massive portal 397 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 1: that's going to be key to the success of my 398 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: faction is right here at this Jamba Juice yes, which 399 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: is one of their partners. Yes, yes, And you'll say, hey, 400 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: this portal is hacked. This portal that I'm here, it's 401 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: smoothie Yeah. Yeah, I mean, but I mean there's you 402 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,000 Speaker 1: know there. They have to be able to fund the 403 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: stuff or else there's no stuff, right, so I don't 404 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: I don't really object to that. It's it's as long 405 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: as it's handled well. So and it'll Since we haven't 406 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: been able to play yet, we aren't really sure how 407 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: it's handled. True, I would hope it's handled pretty well. 408 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,920 Speaker 1: But it'll also be interesting to see how the mystery 409 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: plays out. And I'm sure we're going to see more 410 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 1: and more instances of real world stuff, uh playing into 411 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,399 Speaker 1: this game. For instance, Like like when I mentioned Tycho, 412 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:41,479 Speaker 1: I didn't really get into it. But the thing they 413 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: did at Comic Con was this guy, Tycho, who is 414 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: a character within the world of Ingress, who is this 415 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: artist who has had visions and has developed art based 416 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:55,360 Speaker 1: on those visions that have hidden messages in them. Not 417 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 1: not that hidden actually if you look, if you look 418 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 1: at it for more than a second, but anyway, he's 419 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: developed these these images, he's developed these posters, um and 420 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 1: he's known as Tycho. Well, he showed up as Tycho 421 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: at Comic Con, like he was. It was Tycho who 422 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 1: was there, this guy who then started to shout out 423 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 1: stuff relating to this game during a panel. And this 424 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,679 Speaker 1: was all planned, It was all all pre orchestrated, but 425 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 1: he was shouting out this this weird information and then 426 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: eventually is carded off by security and so, um, it 427 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:35,920 Speaker 1: was all part of the game. But at the time, 428 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: that was one of the earliest, um examples of the 429 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,359 Speaker 1: information from the game getting out there into the public, 430 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 1: and a lot of people whould have no idea what 431 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: it was all about. They were just they'd hear this 432 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: and dismiss it as well. That was that guy was nuts, 433 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: And maybe people who you know, there might be two 434 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 1: or three people in the audience who are like, I 435 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: wonder what that was all about and start looking into it, 436 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 1: and that would just be the very beginning of the trail. 437 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:02,880 Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll see more of that, Like at at 438 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 1: big conferences, they'll probably be things that play into this. 439 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: I'm gonna be going to c E S. I don't 440 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: necessarily think we'll see anything there, but if we do, 441 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,400 Speaker 1: that'd be pretty cool. Yeah, And it's um it's possible 442 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: too that that someone else will gobble up a lot 443 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,920 Speaker 1: of the XM before you get there. Well yeah, I mean, 444 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: mostly what I want to see is just the actual 445 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: physical event play out in front of me, because I 446 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: mean I've I've I've played in these games, these types 447 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: of games before, where I've taken part with problems, solving 448 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: teams and trying to decipher messages, things like that. Uh, 449 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 1: and I've played from behind a screen, but I've never 450 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 1: been to one of the ones that has a physical 451 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: gathering or or you know, something happens at another event 452 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:54,879 Speaker 1: that plays into the game. I've never actually witnessed one 453 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: of those. I've heard about them, and I've seen video 454 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:00,239 Speaker 1: and stuff, but I've never been at one. So something 455 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: I would actually like to experience, just to see, you know, 456 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,919 Speaker 1: how is that handled? I mean, part of that is 457 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: because I love games, part of it's because I'm an 458 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:09,200 Speaker 1: actor as well, and part of it because I just 459 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,879 Speaker 1: love technology and seeing those those worlds of acting and 460 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: technology come together to produce something really compelling is a 461 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: lot of fun. So I'm curious which side are you 462 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: going to choose, Dude, enlightened, I'm all about grabbing that 463 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: power and using it to subjugate others to my will. 464 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 1: I feel I haven't decided yet. Resistance is useless. What's 465 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: funny is that I've on on some of the articles 466 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,199 Speaker 1: that I've read in the last couple of days and 467 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,120 Speaker 1: most of them are have about the same amount of information. 468 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: And since this this is still very new, um, there 469 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: are commenters who are have completely in their heads I guess, 470 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 1: joined up and they're arguing on the you know, the 471 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: comments on these different forums saying, you know, well, the 472 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: interesting thing is these games and land can really start 473 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 1: off some truly uh truly interesting conversations, philosophical conversations. I 474 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: mean the The The Beast had an element in it 475 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:21,160 Speaker 1: where they were discussing the idea of artificially intelligent beings 476 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:22,639 Speaker 1: and whether or not they should be given the right 477 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,360 Speaker 1: to vote. And there was a real debate, and there 478 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: was actually a vote held within the context of the game, 479 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,040 Speaker 1: and all the players in the game could vote on 480 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:35,440 Speaker 1: the issue of whether or not AI constructs should be 481 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:39,120 Speaker 1: given the right to vote. And I was in one 482 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: of the very vocal members of that community arguing for 483 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: one of the signs. Can you guess which one I would? 484 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:50,959 Speaker 1: I would be thinking that you'd want them to I 485 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,160 Speaker 1: argued against voting. Really, I said they should not. I said, 486 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,879 Speaker 1: first of all, giving AI sentience was a mistake, and 487 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: that too, to continue down that road was a horrible idea, 488 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:05,920 Speaker 1: and it was just going to lead to our own 489 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: uh extinction down the line, and therefore you don't give 490 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: a toaster the right to vote. That was my that 491 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: was my motto. I figured in the confusion, you would 492 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:20,480 Speaker 1: try to take control. No, no, that's ridiculous, there's no no. 493 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: Robots are too strong and they're more than meets the eye. 494 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:28,959 Speaker 1: So I was not for that anyway. It'll be interesting 495 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: to see where Ingris goes. Uh, And once we have 496 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 1: access to it, I'm sure we'll play a play it. 497 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: And probably mentioned it a couple of times. So these 498 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: games are becoming a lot more widespread though in knowledge, 499 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:43,520 Speaker 1: and I think this is gonna do a lot for that. 500 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: Plus I think they're becoming a lot more sophisticated. They 501 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: have to be, because, as I was saying to Chris beforehand, 502 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: it's gotten to the point now where when a game 503 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: like this comes out and people have the chance to play, 504 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 1: you have such a wide base of people with such 505 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 1: a wide range of skills and knowledge that it is 506 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:07,520 Speaker 1: really difficult to design a puzzle that will last more 507 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: than like half an hour under scrutiny and within there 508 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:16,239 Speaker 1: were puzzles that I looked at that completely confused me 509 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: back at the I Love Bees game, and then other 510 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: people would take one look at because their brains work 511 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: in a different way than mind do. They'd say, Oh, 512 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: I bet that that's a topographical map and that the 513 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:32,479 Speaker 1: colors relate back to elevations. And I was looking at 514 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: like I was just counting how many yellow blocks there were. 515 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: So I mean, that's the kind of thing, though, is 516 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,600 Speaker 1: that you get enough people there and all of them 517 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 1: think in different ways. There are ties where I was 518 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: solving puzzles that other people were completely confused about. Um, 519 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: it's a huge challenge to the people running the game. 520 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: That wraps up this classic tech Stuff episode. Tech Stuff 521 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: takes the Ingress. As I said at the beginning, Ingress 522 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: is still being played today. They did a major update 523 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: in late two thousand seventeen early two thousand eighteen, and 524 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,120 Speaker 1: you can still download the game and play it. The 525 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: update ended up changing some of the narrative backstory for Ingress. 526 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: I haven't been playing for quite some time, but the 527 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: company behind Ingress also created a couple of other notable 528 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:24,200 Speaker 1: alternate reality games, including Pokemon Go. So if you've played 529 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: Pokemon Go, you two have played a game designed by 530 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: the people behind ingress. Well. That wraps up this episode. 531 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: If you have any suggestions for future, brand new episodes 532 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff, reach out to me. You can send 533 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 1: an email to tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com, 534 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: or send me a message on Facebook or Twitter, or 535 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: the handle at both of those is text Stuff hs W. 536 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 1: Pop on over to our website that's tech stuff podcast 537 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: dot com. You'll find an archive to all of our 538 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 1: past episodes, as well as a link to our online store, 539 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: and every purchase you make goes to help the show. 540 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 1: We greatly appreciate it, and I'll talk to you again soon. 541 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How 542 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 543 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,280 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 544 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.