Cathi also shares some exciting news. She has a new book coming out in April. Check out more here!

Every year on the podcast, we have a holiday special featuring outrageous, kooky gifts we'd love to have in an alternate reality!

This time, we set ourselves a different challenge: each of us picked a gift (for ourselves, naturally) that clocks in at under $100. We wanted it to be a surprise (for us and for you) so you have to listen to the episode to find out. No 'advertorial' or affiliate marketing; we just think these are cool products.

Hope you have a great holiday break and warm wishes for the new year from your pals at The Sniffer! And don't forget to watch Cathi and Nora's favourite holiday movie: The Thin Man!

Then, Nora and Cathi talk about what to do when you feel stuck creatively. There's this idea of working with creative constraints, or Twyla Tharp's practice of building a creative habit.

We've been talking about online dating recently. This WIRED article says Gen Z is over dating apps. Is it now time to go back to --gasp--friend networks?

Cathi found a new service that promises to let you do a 30 minute drone tour of amazing sights, with a co-pilot/guide. It's not like really going, but could it be an eco-friendly and cheap-ish form of eco-tourism?

This time on the podcast, Nora Young talks about Spotify's project to offer AI-based voice simulation for podcast translation. So, you can listen to your pod-of-choice in a different language, but in a simulated version of the podcaster's own voice. First languages to be available are Spanish, French, and German.

Cathi Bond brings you 'giraffenap', a body-sized box that lets people take a 20 minute nap while standing, sorta. Your feet, shins, buttocks, arms, and head are supported. The goal is for a quick nap, sleeping lightly, rather than a full-on snooze fest. It comes in 2 different models, and you can check out the deets here. 

Things get a little wild as Cathi Bond looks at Cortical Labs, which is researching how to design computational systems from a mixture of stem cells and a silicon substrate (via New Atlas). We take a speculative look at a potential future of biological computing.

Meanwhile, Nora Young looks at this Wired article on research into watermarking AI-generated images, and just how difficult that is turning out to be. How will we deal with the proliferation of deepfakes and similar forms of disinformation?

This time, Cathi Bond talks about this Gizmodo article on the issue of shadow banning on dating apps. 

Nora Young refers to this Guardian article on a virtual assistant/life coach that Google's DeepMind is working on. She also references this Atlantic article.

Hard to believe it's Labour Day already! Cathi and Nora are back at it for a new season. We met at Cathi's place to talk about our summers and of course, new gadgets.

Nora talks about this Wired article on the popularity of 'ice vests': wearable gear to keep outdoor workers cool in the summer heat. It reminds Cathi of the breathing tech in Dune. Is this kind of thing part of the future of climate change adaptation?

Cathi has her eye on the Barsys, a stylish drink-making appliance for those looking for cool cocktail culture accountrements. Do people want to do their own mixology, or could this be a high end party favourite?

Nora refers to this UBC business school study on one reason people prefer automated checkout: embarrassing purchases. 

This time, Nora talks about this article in The Economist (registration required) on research into adding smells to VR/Metaverse spaces. Cathi came across this ad for muscle-building that reminded her of the history of fitness gear. Our childhood memories of the fitness tech of our parents' generation ensues! 

Cathi Bond has a summertime take on personal watercraft. How about the GoBoat? 

This time, Cathi Bond talks about the Norman Foster Foundation's participation in the Venice Biennale of architecture. It's a sustainable, durable, and beautiful prototype for emergency shelter in the wake of natural or human-caused disasters. You can see it and read more here. Nora Young mentions the Canadian delegation's Venice project.

Nora's come across two recent articles on the importance of embodiment in therapy. The New York Times piece on somatic therapy is here. The interview in Atmos on embodiment is here. Cathi describes Dialectical Behavioural Therapy.

On this episode, Nora rediscovers Modern Farmer, and this article on using the waste heat produced from server farms to provide needed heat for greenhouse farming. Researchers Jannah Frenzel and Sarah-Louise Ruder point out the potential benefits, but also note that this is not a magic bullet: there remain potential issues with agricultural labour practices and the environmental impact of greenhouses.

Cathi points out that iconic sunglasses company Ray-Ban is experimenting with a new line of concave glasses frames. Gimmick or cool new aesthetic?

Cathi also has an update on her ongoing hands-on experiments with text generators. This time, it's the Chrome extension Monica.

This time, Cathi Bond talks about Beacon, a room disinfectant that uses far-UVC, and comes in a variety of sizes for different spaces (via Fast Company).

Nora Young talks about this article by New York Times tech writer, Brian X. Chen. With so much influencer, branded, and sponsored content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, is it time to think of niche social media that's more truly social? Cathi is still an avid Facebook user, and shares thoughts on its value as a political tool.

This time, Nora talks about this MIT Technology Review article on classrooms using mood-tracking software for students in Denmark.

Cathi has written a new novel, and she's looking for an agent and a publisher. That means lots of 'paperwork'. She's been experimenting with using text generators like Jasper  for the more formulaic parts of this process: query letters, synopses, etc. She walks us through her experiments.

Nora mentions this fascinating essay on GPT-4

This time, architecture aficionado Cathi talks about Neom, a highly ambitious megaproject in Saudi Arabia, which includes multiple regions, with different purposes. Read more and see images here. Also, check out Cathi's previous discussion of The Line, one part of the Neom project, here.  

Nora  talks about Panera food chain's plan to use (optional) hand scanning to pay and sync your purchases to your loyalty cards (via NPR). Biometric chat ensues!

Thank you for listening!

Also, check out the visuals of this beautiful, almost biomimetic house called Chuzhi House (which means whirlpool in Malayalam).

This time, as cameras in public places become all the more pervasive, Cathi Bond looks at a company called Capable. Their Manifesto Collection of clothing is designed to elude iris scans. Dystopian sci fi future discussion ensues!

Nora Young talks about this Pew study on the online dating habits of Americans. Read more on the results here.

Cathi Bond discusses this intriguing research into a smart walking stick for blind and visually impaired users. The goal is to use cameras and image recognition to improve navigation. For more on related technology, here's Nora's Spark interview with Chancey Fleet. 

This time, Amazon's Astro home robot was at CES this month, though it's still invitation-only. That got Cathi Bond thinking about both the approachable design, and possible future implications of bots in the home. Watch Amazon's promotional video here. Read a detailed review here.

Nora Young came across this article about one author's encounter with AI-generated, rip-off "summaries" of his memoir. With more and more machine learning-generated music, images, and text, it has her thinking about a possible future of automated culture, where human-created work sits alongside a slush pile of automated knock-offs. She mentions this excellent article about the IP implications. You might also be interested in Nick Cave's response to a Cave-esque Chat GPT-generated lyric.

All good wishes for 2023!

Nora talks about the resurgence of interest in cassette tapes. Check out this Wired how-to article. You may also be interested in this recent episode of Nora's show, Spark, on the long range impact of the Sony Walkman.

Cathi's gift pick, should you care to buy it for her, is this Nemo personal submarine.

She also has an update on The Line megacity. You can see drone images here. Read one of the critiques of the project here. Cathi has concerns that these sorts of projects are a sign of a climate crisis future.

Thank you for listening! We hope you have a lovely, restful holiday, and all good wishes for 2023

This time, Nora Young talks about a range of technologies (discussed in this excellent article) that aim to create a virtual presence of people after they die, some based on interviews with people while they're still alive, some based on taking their writing to construct a 'presence'. 

 Cathi Bond has long raved about the 'tiny house' movement; however having spent part of her summer holiday in a (surprisingly) tiny house, now she's not so sure. She looks at this very cool example of a 20 foot long home.

Nora Young talks about this great Rob Walker article about Minoan and the idea of IRL product placement. 

This time, Nora talks about this Wired article on 'rurbanization': growing more food in urban spaces. What would it take to make it actually work? Cathi has an idea or two!

And, interested in cool-n-costly personal transportation? Cathi talks about the SkyFly Axe personal quadcopter/plane/flying car

Nora Young talks about The Verge's look at Rouge Sur Mesure, Yves Saint Laurent's take on customizable lipstick shades you 'print out' in your own home. Why not do this for more products, especially for perishable items?

We recorded this episode a little while ago, so we added an 'end-of-season' tag at the end.

Have a great summer, and as always, thanks for listening. 

Your pals, Nora and Cathi

Cathi Bond looks at Create Structure, a plan for emergency housing in natural disasters that aims to be cheap to make and ship, but more durable than tents.

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond looks at these cool, flexible, stretchable screens. Minority Report aesthetic in our future?

Nora Young talks about this thought-provoking article in The Atlantic about our nature deprivation.

Cathi talks about this company, which uses drones to harvest fruit. Are we likely to see ever more automated farm labour? And what does this mean for farm labourers and seasonal pickers? You can read more and watch the video here.

A little before the holidays, Cathi and Nora recorded our first ep for 2022.

This time, Cathi talks about the news, initially reported by Politico, that facial recognition company Clearview AI received patent approval for what's being dubbed a 'search engine for faces'. Read Gizmodo's account of the details here.

Nora talks about Technology Review's look at the possibility of training machine learning systems on speech data from sessions between mental health professionals and clients. The idea is to look for patterns that would help improve therapy and train more (human) therapists, but Cathi and Nora talk about the potential for actual AI therapy to address the shortage in mental health access. 

Nora would like a home robot. Product Hunt's newsletter recently touted some cool examples of home robots. She wonders whether home robots are ready for prime time.

Cathi would like...lab-grown meat for Christmas. Nora doesn't eat meat and Cathi's a hard-core carnivore. What will they make of it?

Hope you have a wonderful holiday, and here's hoping things are brighter in 2022. Thanks so much for listening!

This time on the podcast, Cathi Bond talks about social commerce, which has taken off in China, and is growing elsewhere in Asia (via Fast Company) Fast Company talks in particular a company called Pinduoduo, which is a sort of group buying platform. 

Nora talks about Gobble, a meal kit delivery service that uses AI to learn more about customers' tastes, and customize food. Check out the article on Venture Beat (H/T @hypervisible) 

Nora talks about this plan to attract so-called 'digital nomads' to work in small villages in Spain. After a year and half of remote work, will (former) office workers opt to work wherever they want? What's the role for the face-to-face in the future?

Cathi talks about this intriguing design for transitional housing as an alternative, temporary option for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. Toronto, like many cities, has an increase in tent encampments in the wake of the pandemic. Could this type of thing be a bridge to permanent housing?

On this episode, a couple of thoughts on the importance of access to nature.

Cathi Bond talks about "farmscrapers": giant skyscrapers that incorporate organic-looking podlike structures and lots of trees and greenery to help with pollution. Check out the photos here.

Nora Young talks about this thought-provoking article on virtual exploration through walking simulations in game environments. The author did it as a solution during the pandemic, but are there limits to simulations of the natural world?

This time, Cathi and Nora talk about the potential commercial future of deepfakes and related technologies. Could we see a future of more manufactured images take jobs formerly done by real individuals? Would you sell your image for use in deepfakes? (story via Technology Review)

Meanwhile, Cathi loves a good alternative energy story! This time, it's a tiny, lightweight and inexpensive hydrogen engine. Read more and see how it works here.

Back in late June, Cathi and Nora connected virtually in the middle of a scorching heatwave to talk sustainable futures in retail and materials.

Cathi brings you a plan by Ralph Lauren to let shoppers customize their own clothes, which would then be created on demand. The plan is also to disburse manufacturing more broadly, so clothes would be created closer to where they're purchased. Check out the interview with Chief Innovation Officer David Lauren in Fast Company. 

Meanwhile, Nora brings you a cool story via Scientific American about 3D printing ink made from microalgae, as a sustainable material for household objects.

Cathi and Nora are taking a much needed summer break, but will be back in late August fresh and ready to rock. Have a lovely, safe, summer!

Cathi Bond and Nora Young meet again virtually with a look at some intriguing retail trends. 

Cathi got a Uline catalogue delivered in the mail. It's basically a company that will ship you...shipping materials. It's got her wondering if more regular individuals will be developing their own retail side gigs, and whether she should open "Cathi's Shed".

Nora talks about Levi's Buy Better Wear Longer campaign, which encourages people to skip the fast fashion and wear jeans for longer. It follows on their move to encourage people to customize and resell their denim (via Fast Company).

Nora talks about this great Guardian article by Rhik Samadder on how we've lost the art of small talk in our socially isolated pods, and why the pandemic-imposed isolation has just sped up our tech-driven communication problems.

Cathi talks about this article on the therapeutic uses for psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, in treating depression. 

Thanks for listening, and be well!

Cathi Bond looks at a pilot project to use pre-existing natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen for use in vehicles (via New Atlas). 

Cathi talks about Showfields, a digital/physical hybrid store in New York, and their new Magic Wand app (via PSFK). 

Nora talks about this article from two Université de Montréal professor/researchers on the 'hidden infrastructure' required for machine learning: the carbon footprint of training machine learning applications on lots of data. 

Hope you're all well and coping ok! 

Nora talks about Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company (check out the details and images at Fast Company). The shuttle design reminded Nora that Toyota is aiming at a similar shuttle application, and that autonomous vehicles supported by LIDAR technology was a buzzy topic at this year's CES. 

Cathi Bond has been thinking about Netflix, which has commissioned a ton of original content for 2021. She wonders if it could signal a return to the old Hollywood studio system for a new era.

Cathi Bond talks about Oceanbird, a huge, wind-powered shipping vessel that relies on very innovative technology. It's being designed by Wallenius Marine out of Sweden. Check out the images at Dezeen.

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about this Guardian article about a pilot project in the Netherlands to cut the power to speeding ebikes. Sensible safety measure or nanny state run amok? 

Cathi has an innovative use too: little walking robots that can move huge buildings to make way for a new development. Watch the video of them in action here.

This time, Nora Young talks about the news that Amazon-owned Ring home security company is releasing the Ring Always Home camera and drone to patrol your house. Cathi Bond talks about the news that they are also planning a car cam which you can engage when you're pulled over by police.

Cathi Bond talks about this fascinating research into tiny power generators that harness the breezes that blow by while we walk.

This time, Nora talks about this Scientific American article on research into noise cancelling tech for bigger spaces, so you can open the windows (amen!) in urban environments and still have peace and quiet.

Meanwhile, Cathi talks about speculation that Major League Baseball will use drones to police mask wearing in the stands, if/when fans are allowed in the stands again (via Gizmodo).

Cathi Bond brings you the Luno Air Mattress, an inflatable mattress designed to fit in the back of your vehicle, so you can camp in your car in comfort. Cathi and Nora reminisce about old timey camping with terrible gear!

Nora Young talks about Drive and Listen, a charming website that lets you virtually drive around various cities around the world while listening to local radio from those cities. They chat about the indie internet and VR.

This time, Cathi has an update on architect Moshe Safdie's eight skyscraper development in Chongqing, topped by a horizontal skyscraper called The Crystal. Now you can go and tour the development and take a 50 second ride to the top.

See Cathi's previous look at Raffles City Chongqing here. Find renderings of the development here.

Meanwhile, Nora mentions Stacey Higginbotham's podcast and newsletter. Recently, Stacey weighed in with some thoughts on the real use case for Augmented Reality: in the workplace, and in particular, in helping workers in the field do repairs or complete other production processes. The thought is that this can help address the shortage of skilled, experienced older workers by using AR to walk employees through a complex process using the visualization capabilities of AR. Perhaps, in the COVID era, older workers can work from home, coaching younger workers with AR. 

Cathi has been a hard core gym rat for many years...like, *many* years. She's dying for the gym to open again, and talks about the impact on people's well being. Will folks in small spaces be able to have home gyms? What will we do when the long dark winter returns?

What are your health strategies (mental and physical) during the pandemic? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Nora Young talks about Jukebox, Open AI's neural net that aims to create pop songs in the style of popular artists. She also mentions Spark's coverage of the impact of Spotify on music.

Nora here. Hope you're faring as well as possible in the circumstances. Cathi and I have been missing our Sniffer sessions, so we decided to record remotely, with Cathi recording herself in the country, and me recording myself at home in Toronto. This time, we look at some examples of the amazing speed of innovation in the midst of the pandemic, and how some people are re-imagining innovations to respond to the crisis we find ourselves in.

We look at research into a washable fabric that repels liquid, for potential use in PPE, and an idea for an antimicrobial coating for high touch surfaces. 

Cathi talks about innovation from a friend's company, Signifi, which is launching a plan to make disinfectant lockers for workplaces.

How are you faring through all this? Are there aspects you're finding particularly tough, or maybe things you're learning that you want to take into your future life? Let us know in the comments.

Cathi Bond, who has always wanted her very own jetpack, loves the Jetman personal jetpack (via New Atlas) Watch the full video here. It really 'takes off' around 2:30.

Cathi Bond loves her Stan Smith footwear (like, a lot!) so she was intrigued when she came across Stockx, a streetwear social shopping platform. Read more at PSFK.

Meanwhile, Nora read an interesting article on so-called Harbingers of Failure: people who tend to pick products, and even political candidates, that don't succeed (via BoingBoing). Nora thinks they could be seen as niches to target rather than signals of 'failure'.

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond talks about Bosch's upcoming smart glasses, which offer an augmented reality display that aims to be non-intrusive. Use cases include cooking with recipe instructions in front of you, instead of referring to a book, or driving directions. Cathi points out how distracting today's car dashboards are.

This time on the podcast, Cathi Bond and Nora Young share their resolutions for the year ahead. 

Cathi has decided to try out the Wim Hof method, which combines breathing exercises and fffffreezing cold baths, with an eye to greater health and wellness. Cathi talks about her personal experiences and will report back. You can read more about the method, as well as some of the controversies, reservations, and questions some researchers have in this Discover article. See also Wikipedia's entry for a good overview.

Meanwhile, Nora points out that unlike most years, 2020 has seen very few tech predictions for the year(s) ahead. She talks about this great, short article by Kara Swisher, where she builds a business case for tech innovation.

On this podcast, Nora and Cathi look back at the decade that was. What are your picks for highlights (and lowlights) in your own life and in the culture? Leave a comment!

Nora mentions this New York Times look back at the 2010s.

Meanwhile, Cathi talks about Woondering, a cool pop-up on Brick Lane in London, where you can check out actual physical versions of products with crowdsourcing campaigns at Kickstarter or Indiegogo. It's wrapped up for the year, but there are plans to take it to other cities in the future.

Cathi also mentions Genussee, a Flint-Michigan company that makes glasses from discarded water bottles.

All the best for the season, and we'll be back for a New Year's special!

Nora Young talks about why the spike in traffic problems may be due to our convenience economy, especially quick delivery of online ordering, and ride hailing. See this well-researched Boston Globe article. 

Meanwhile, Nora Young mentions Wired's article on the Phonocut, described as an "analog vinyl lathe". It's a machine that lets you produce your own custom vinyl!

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond mentions this PSFK article on a sort of 'loyalty card 2.0' approach some retailers are using. Customer loyalty earns people experiences and makes them 'part of the club'.

Cathi Bond talks about the potential power of art and design to address species diversity. Read Gizmodo's description of the Nature—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial exhibit here.

Cathi Bond talks about this New York Times look at the workers who label the data that machine learning is trained on, in particular, in a medical context. 

Nora Young talks about machine learning hype and this article on how to spot "AI Hype". She also mentions this Atlantic article by the excellent tech writer Sidney Fussell.

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about this lovely and helpful post over at Legal Nomads. It's a curated 10 week introduction to meditation, that gives you a taste of a number of mainstream meditation approaches, so you can see what works for you.

And, are you having a bad day? Could you use a little sweetness in your life? Check out these Swiss cat ladders over at Core 77!

Cathi Bond has some summer fun for you! Tesla came out with this limited edition, super stylish surfboard (via New Atlas). And, looking for a little, um, calm water fun? How about this? The Wheeebo disc that lets you glide, slowly, along the water.

Nora Young raises this article in The Verge on the use of AI in the design of Hollywood film.

Over the summer, we'll be releasing new episodes once a month, and then back to a proper bi-weekly schedule after Labour Day. Have a great summer!

This time, Nora talks about this Nautilus article on using VR headsets to foster empathy, and the disturbing idea that empathy may be on the wane.

Cathi has a more lighthearted story with Digit, a bipedal robot that would deliver packages to your door via autonomous vehicle, when those cars are not otherwise being used (via New Atlas). Check out the video!

Nora mentioned a few related stories that ran on Spark in the past:

Friction-free racism (relevant part is at the end of the interview)

Paul Bloom on rational compassion 

Cathi Bond looks at this review of the EEGSmart Udrone, which lets you control a drone's flight with your mind. It also contains features that enable facial and gesture recognition. As drones get 'smarter' and more popular, are we enabling a surveillance culture?

Are you in a Mad Men mood? How about a visit to the TWA Hotel? A development company is opening a hotel built around Eero Saarinen's vintage hotel at JFK airport. It comes equipped with Florence Knoll furniture, and even rotary dial phones (via Quartz).

So, you have your small urban space, how are you going to get around in our increasingly crowded cities? Romanian company, Carpii has the 4ciclet, a four-wheeled bike/Segway sort of thing designed for covering relatively small distances (via New Atlas). You 'pedal' the 4ciclet using a couple of treadles with your feet while standing, so it doesn't require the same effort as conventional cycling, suggesting its use for older people. See videos here.

Nora Young mentions this article in the British Library blog, documenting the strange history of Johann Struensee, who brought in freedom of the press to 18th century Denmark, only to be immediately publicly ridiculed in that newly free medium. Well worth a read, as the author describes Struensee's mockers as 'proto-internet trolls' (H/T Hacker News)

This time, Nora Young talks about "aeroponics": a sort of next gen hydroponics where the plant roots are just dangling out in the air, nourished by nutrient-rich misters (via Modern Farmer). You can even "plant" them vertically. Whole new potential for a plant wall!

Nora also mentions the fine folks at Normative Design in Toronto, and their smart and engaging series on Design + AI.

Cathi Bond talks about this PSFK article exploring how brands are starting to use cartoon characters and mascots in real world physical experiences, such as hotels and cafes; examples include a Toy Story hotel, and a Hello Kitty cafe. The aesthetic is colourful, childlike and plastic-y. What's up with that? We have some theories!

This time on the podcast, Cathi Bond talks about Affetto, this startlingly realistic android robot. Cathi wonders about having something like this, or Rock Hudson, say, as a home companion. Personally, I (Nora) find it kinda creepy. What do you think?

We take a quick look at the city of Helsinki's decision to go for a hiring system that removes all personally identifying info (eg sex, age, mother tongue) in an effort to get beyond bias in hiring. It seems to have worked for orchestras; could it work for city governments?

Cathi is also pretty obsessed with drones these days, like the tiny dji Mavic Pro (see the review at New Atlas) Would you like a drone of your own? How should they be regulated in light of the recent events at Gatwick airport?

And as always this time of year, the greatest Christmas movie ever, The Thin Man! 

This time, Nora Young talks about the challenges streaming film services have, and this Forbes article about how two niche movie streaming services have managed -- or not -- to make a go of it. Cathi Bond thinks there's a lot to be learned from the cable world in the form of Turner Classic Movies.

Cathi looks at a really cool idea in place in China: dropping small, modernist, smartly designed housing 'inserts' called "Plugin Houses into dilapidated buildings. Check out the story and lots of images at New Atlas. Could this be a model for elsewhere?

Also, super snappy recommendation: this Vox explainer on those iconic Blue Note album covers! 

This time, dockless bikes are all the rage, promising wheels when you need them, without having to lock them up at dedicated stations, the way you do with Toronto's Bike Share, or Montreal's Bixi. Now, one of the leaders in the dockless bike space, Lime, is taking advantage of the GPS-enabled nature of the bikes to share anonymized data with cities (via Technology Review). Smart use of data being collected anyway, and smart PR move to get cities onside.

Meanwhile, Cathi looks at this story by New Atlas about a laser rifle from China, that is supposed to be powerful and lightweight. Some are skeptical, some are worried. 

Meanwhile Cathi Bond has two cool earbud designs for you. Firefly are quick charging, inexpensive wieless earbuds with long battery life (via NewAtlas). Then there's Bose's innovation: sleepbuds, designed to be noise cancelling and super comfortable to help you sleep (via Engadget)

What would it take to get you into a mall in 10 years? One vision from British retail development group, Westfield, is for a sort of one-stop retail, wellness entertainment hub (via Springwise). It's actually really quite cool. Check out the interactive images here.

Cathi Bond points us to this Gizmodo article about the late painter, Bob Ross, whose PBS instructional show was a surprising hit. Now, his soothing voice is being used as a sleep aid. Apparently, Calm.com has added the audio from one of his episodes to their 'sleep tracks' series.

Article Links

IKEA partnerships: http://fortune.com/2018/06/12/ikea-partner-lego-adidas-sonos/

IKEA expands in India: https://www.fastcompany.com/40584160/ikea-is-swapping-swedish-meatballs-for-samosas-in-its-india-stores

Rumtid line borrows from design for outer space: https://www.psfk.com/2018/06/ikea-rumtid-urban-space.html

Bob Ross sleep aid: https://gizmodo.com/this-bob-ross-sleep-mediation-is-the-mental-escape-i-ne-1826796037

Nora Young chats about this article in The Outline on Spyce, a new restaurant in Boston, which is almost entirely automated. Is this a novelty, or a sign of the future? 

Links: 

The Outline: https://theoutline.com/post/4657/please-welcome-the-humanity-free-grain-bowl-lunch?zd=1&zi=gwqnvsso

New Atlas: https://newatlas.com/psychedelic-medicine-ketamine/54970/

Cathi Bond loves outdoor living, tree houses, and mini-homes, so she was in heaven when she found Sky-Pod, a gorgeous, teardrop shaped tree house inspired by Victorian crinolines (via New Atlas. Check out the images).

Nora Young talks about Mylo, a leather-like material made from mycelium, which is the underground network underneath mushrooms (via Core 77, complete with images). She also mentions high end sneakers made from tree fungus. Cathi and Nora both mention Matt and Nat.

Cathi talks about the city of Daye in China. Streets are equipped with technology to catch people jaywalking...and spray them with water! Read more at Gizmodo.

Nora also mentions the book vending machine at The Monkey's Paw bookstore in Toronto (via Narcity).

Cathi Bond talks about Peloton (via PSFK), which is basically gym spin class as a service. You buy the bike for your home, and a membership, and you participate virtually in a class, alongside other spinners.

Nora mentions this review of Peloton at the excellent review site, The Wirecutter.

Nora Young talks about SK Telecom out of South Korea. They're partnering with a VR developer to come up with a hologram avatar that lives in a cylindrical "HoloBox" in your home (via PSFK). Is this just the natural progression of Alexa, Siri et al on your smart speaker?

Nora also mentions the Super Monster Wolf (via BBC). It's a novel idea for a scarecrow designed to frighten wild boars away from crops in Japan. It has flashing red eyes, and a range of howls! Why not get one for your next party?

Meanwhile, Nora talks about this report on how fashion is starting to use the data analytics power of AI in design. The idea is that designers can query things like, for example, "what's emerging as the hot new colour palette?"

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond talks about a cool project from Nissan. In a temporary project, they're placing 'self-parking' slippers at an Inn. The slippers return to their spot by the door - by themselves - thanks to an application of Nissan's ProPilot technology, normally used to help park your car (via PSFK). They had previously used the same technology to move chairs. See more here.

Nora also mentions the Nite Hood sleep mask

Nora Young talks about this article in Technology Review. It looks at the potential for brain-computer interfaces in the future. A brain surgeon and speculative fiction author believes in a possible future of so-called "neural prosthetics" that would allow us to communicate with our computers, and each other, directly with our brains. Freaky!

Cathi Bond has a gift for drivers: the FIXD dongle for diagnosing what's wrong with your car (via Daily Wise)!

Happy Holidays from your Sniffer pals!

Nora Young talks about barriers to working remotely, and whether truly realistic virtual reality might eventually bridge that gap (via Technology Review) BTW, there's more on remote working solutions on this weekend's episode of Nora's show, Spark.

Cathi Bond looks at a study on the benefits of fasting, in particular, 5 days of 'regular' eating a week, and 2 days of extremely limited calorie intake (via New Atlas). 

Do you have rituals to get in the mood to work? Have you tried fasting, and if so, have you seen any benefits? Let us know!

Nora Young looks at the interactive 'proof of concept' movie Otis (via Engadget). You can watch and interact with Otis for free here.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

On this podcast episode, Nora Young talks about this Technology Review profile of Douglas Eck, who works on creativity and AI at Google's Magenta.

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond discusses Jack Ma's idea that in the future, we'll all work a 16 hour work week (via Gizmodo). 

What would you do if your working life was 16 hours per week?

Cathi Bond offers you this summertime travel help: how to spot and deal with bed bugs (via Lifehacker)!

Nora Young talks about an exhibit in London UK called Perfume: A Sensory Journey through Contemporary Scent, and how perfume can be a barometre of social conditions (via PSFK).

Just in time for summer, Cathi Bond talks about the RhinoWolf tent system. You can sleep anywhere from one to 100 people by attaching more and more modular tents (via New Atlas) 

Nora Young talks about this Guardian article, which takes a walk through Amazon's latest bricks-and-mortar store in New York. In the wake of their purchase of Whole Foods, what's Amazon's end game?

Nora also mentions Cathi's fabulous story in the new collection, Any Other Way

Cathi Bond talks about a fascinating Manual Standing Wheelchair that users can manipulate to raise themselves to a standing position (via MedGadget)

Here it is in action:

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about Adidas' plan to partner with innovative 3D printing company, Carbon, to produce customized midsoles for sneakers (via Technology Review) 

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond points to this Gizmodo article questioning why people still need to use Word. Cathi's been having her own frustrations, and wonders whether she should find an alternative. In the comments, Gizmodo's readers, however, seem to like Word. How about you? Is it still the industry standard where you work? If not, what do you use instead?

People have been talking about modular smart phones for a while now, where you swap out parts of your phone that need upgrading, instead of trading them in for a whole new one. Are they ready for their close-up? Nora Young says there are a bunch of modular phones around (see the comparison at CNet) including a new version of the Fairphone (via PSFK), which ethically sources materials. What would it take to make modular phones sexy rather than just worthy?

Finally, astonishingly, people watch a billion hours of content on YouTube per day! What if people actually did something for the public good with all that time?

Nora looks at Kerv, a cool-looking ring that gives you the ability for contactless payment without a card, or a phone, at all (via Tech Radar). 

Meanwhile, HOLY CATS! Nora Young talks about Boston Dynamic's cool/freaky new robot, Handle (via Mashable)

And, Cathi Bond shares this video on the trend in Japan towards adult women being swaddled and rocked.

Nora Young talks about cute home robots (via Technology Review). There's Kuri, which can control things in your house, but can also roam around and check on different parts of your home when you're not there. Or consider Lynx, which is integrated with Amazon Echo. It's starting to look like the smart home will increasingly be integrated with one of the big players' voice activated systems, like Echo, or Google's Home. Would you have one in your home? Do you? Let us know in the comments!

Nora Young talks about new research suggesting just how good - and fast - humans are at visually distinguishing reality from unreal images. What does this mean for virtual reality design, as well as the design of robots?

Cathi Bond picks out some of her favourite Christmas gifts from Gizmodo's gift guide for the hermit on your list.

Nora's favourite is one she also saw at Technology Review: Cozmo the cutie robot!

Happy Holidays!

Cathi Bond talks about Habit, a startup that aims to create custom meal plans based on your nutritional profile, including things like vitamin levels and blood sugar (via Fast Company)

Nora Young talks about the Rochambeau Bright BMBR smart jacket, which comes loaded with digital "tags" that give the wearer VIP access (via Read Write). It ties into several trends, including products that incorporate 'experiences'.

Meanwhile, Nora Young mentions the Tube Chat project, where London commuters were urged to talk to strangers on the Tube. A lot of hilarious riffing on Londoners' famous reserve followed (via CityLab). 

Meanwhile Cathi Bond talks about Zume, a roboticized pizza system that aims to complete the cooking in the delivery truck, solving the problem of "dwell time" and soggy pizza crust (via New Atlas). Cool innovation or harbinger of Wall-E?

Nora Young looks at Explain to Me, a tool that scans and summarizes web-based articles so you can decide whether it's worth your time to read the whole thing (via Lifehacker). Is it a handy helper, or a sign that we're spending way too much time online? 

Meanwhile, Cathi looks at Grobo, a very cool, design-forward, internet-enabled system for growing your own plants, whatever those plants may be! 

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about this Fast Company article by Veronique Lafargue on how the folks at Google brainstorm. Some of it is familiar (eg, don't shoot down ideas), but some is really new: in particular, don't follow up brainstorming with more meetings. Instead, go straight to prototype!

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about Smart Slab, a design for a 'smart' table that offers heating, cooling, and device charging. In addition to being great looking, it's the kind of design Nora and Cathi think we could see a lot more of in our connected future (check out the pictures via Core77)

Cathi Bond continues on the artificial intelligence tip with research out of Stanford into robots that can navigate pedestrian sidewalks, where we chaotic humans can behave in unexpected ways (via Gizmag). The Jackrabbot, as it's called, is even cute!

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Nora Young talks about Imzy, a new online community (currently in private beta) that has strategies to try to make sure it is a "nice" place (via Ars Technica). Is bad behaviour something that can be solved by strategies and design, or are some people always going to be bad actors?

Cathi Bond looks at the HET Health and Environment Tracker (via Gizmag). It's a combination wristband and chest patch for people with asthma. It monitors both the wearers biometric data (including signs of wheezing) and environmental data. Smart! 

Thanks for listening, and we hope you'll consider rating us!

Cathi Bond talks about the use of ADHD medication to increase focus for a generation having trouble focusing at school, thanks to the constant task-switching of digital media. She points to these tips for improved study habits. Nora says she really notices her focus and attention slipping. Do you? Leave a comment!

Thanks to everyone who has rated us. If you like the podcast, please consider doing so! 

Meanwhile, Nora Young points out this terrific story The Guardian did on how Uber approached taking on the London market. Regardless of what you think about Uber, it has great lessons about how to really nail the user experience.

Did you like this episode? Please consider sharing it, rating us, or leave a comment! Thanks!

Meanwhile, Nora talks about a convenience store in the isolated Swedish town of Viken, which is unstaffed (via Springwise). It operates through a combination of an app which unlocks the door, monthly billing and trust (plus security measures!). Nora and Cathi chat about the trust economy.

Cathi also talks a bit about the legacy of Zaha Hadid, the architect who died this past week. Cathi toured her MAXXI project several years ago. Check out the pictures here.

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about a cool research project which uses data from sources like cell phones, FourSquare, and census info (via Technology Review). The researchers want to test Jane Jacobs' theories of urban vitality. Nora thinks it's cool and smart, but Cathi thinks it's just another example of the surrendering of 'human' approaches to the rule of technology. They are friends in the end, though! 

Continuing the self-tracking trend, Nora talks about Neumitra, a start-up that aims to help individuals monitor their stress levels (via Kernelmag). The intriguing thing is the potential to use aggregated data to understand the stressful parts of the city.

Cathi Bond continues her love of tiny, perfectly planned spaces with the Tiger Moth, a really cool trailer designed by a former NASA engineer. There's a neat-o video tour!

Meanwhile, Nora talks about this intriguing study designed to learn more about how people slip out of consciousness. To do so, they used fMRI tech to observe brain states under the anaesthetic propofol. Read more about the research at Technology Review. Nora also mentions that we still don't really understand how brain activity produces consciousness. For more, listen to this interview over at Nora's show, Spark.

On the next edition of Spark, Nora will do two interviews on a related issue: what do new players in the video content world (formerly known as TV and movies) mean for the future of the entertainment biz?

Cathi Bond refers to Mixcloud as a source of great curated, streaming music. Here's one of her favourite DJ/curators.

Meanwhile, Cathi looks at the growing push for connected cars and autonomous vehicles, including the Obama administrations efforts to get national standards (via PSFK). She is ticked off, and feels that autonomous vehicles are being shoved down our throats. Do you agree? Also, Cathi's first car was a Spitfire; what was yours? Leave us a comment!

Meanwhile, Nora Young mentions the MyMe camera and personal digital assistant, a sort of Siri-meets-Google-Glass device that you wear unobtrusively around your neck or on your belt (via New York Times). Would you wear something like this? Leave us a comment!

Cathi Bond discusses Mark Zuckerberg's New Year's Resolution to build an intelligent personal assistant to run his home. What intrigues Cathi the most is Zuck's approach to setting goals. She's going to try to apply it to her life. Nora mentions this article on speech recognition tech, and design approaches to life. 

Cathi Bond, meanwhile, has her eye on a special drone which can be used on the farm, in particular, for crop dusting (via PSFK). 

Have a wonderful holiday, and all the best for 2016. Thanks for listening!

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about research that looks at motion sickness in virtual reality, and also in HD video with lots of rapid action watched on mobile (via The Guardian). Cathi and Nora reflect on how much of our use of screens is contrary to how our bodies naturally work.

Oh, and here's the early Walter Cronkite newscast Nora mentioned:

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond discusses a new generation of humanoid robot, Surena, from researcher Aghil Yousefi-Koma from the University of Tehran (via IEEE Spectrum). Nora mentions a fascinating robotics panel at this conference, and Baxter, the pretty darned inexpensive robot. Nora promised to check out the Robot Operating System, which is "...a collection of tools, libraries, and conventions that aim to simplify the task of creating complex and robust robot behavior across a wide variety of robotic platforms".

Nora Young talks about emcee-ing the B3Dimensional conference in October, and some of the cool stuff she saw, including a replica of the Erebus Bell. One of the speakers, Tatjana Dzambazova talked about the use of 3D scanning and printing in a museum context. Check out the scanned work The Smithsonian has here.

Cathi Bond talks about PSFK's report on the Future of Retail 2016. You can get a teaser glimpse for free, but if you want the indepth document, it'll set you back about $900. Cathi and Nora talk about the future of paid content. What's the right mix of free info that's useful promotion and value added material that you can charge a lot for? PSFK is presumably targeting businesses at that price point, but what about for individuals? What are you willing to pay for in online news? 

Meanwhile, Nora Young mentions the recent trend report at Trendwatching. It talks about life beyond demographics, where people increasingly create their own narratives and can be marketed to as individuals. The down side? All that data that's known about us.

What uses would you like to see for VR? 

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond talks about Better Humans, a site she used to visit, which is now back in revitalized form, with funding from the Methuselah Foundation. Their goal is to work on healthy life extension and it's got Cathi and Nora talking about what a world of healthy old people might be like, and who might benefit if that were to come about.

What do you think?

Meanwhile, how would you like to make your own realistic avatar using selfies? Nora talks about research from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. You use your phone to take pictures of yourself from various angles, and shoot short videos of yourself, in order to create avatars that actually look (more or less) like you (via New Scientist). As we move into more VR spaces and situations, would you want to look like yourself, or an idealized version...or maybe a cartoon?

Leave us a comment!

The Atlantic has a great, thought-provoking look at the office of the future. Give it a read here. Nora Young and Cathi Bond kick around some of the ideas. Share your pet peeves about office life in the comments.

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond talks about the Polarmond 'sleep system' (via Gizmag, where you can take a look at the images). Say goodbye to cumbersome tent, groundsheet and sleeping bags when you camp, in favour of an all-in-one unit. We'd love to hear from campers out there. It's due out in the spring. Would you use it?

Also, you've no doubt heard all about the trend in standing desks to avoid the health pitfalls of constant sitting. Cathi Bond talks about a Kickstarter for the Lean Chair. The premise is to avoid the hazards of sitting OR standing too much...by leaning (via Gizmag)! Would you use this? Do you try to stand more at work?

Plus, these days, writers really have to hustle: be active on social media, cultivate their own audiences, and of course, hustle to be recognized by editors. A former editor at a literary magazine talks about the differences between men and women when it comes to following up with editors, and resubmitting work. 

And, just for fun, check out the "Flike" - a flying bike - that's basically like three drones stuck together. Dude! Your own hovercraft!

Cathi talks about Avakai, a super cool 'smart' toy. It keeps the physicality of traditional toys that get kids playing in nature and using their imaginations, but is also built for our internet connected, modern world.

Plus, if you want to be more mindful, is it enough to rely on your own education in mindfulness, or can technology help? Cathi Bond brings you the Wellbe, a wristband that monitors your heart rate, looking for signs of stress, and notifies you. It also offers calming and mindfulness lessons. Cathi and Nora chat about contemplative technologies, such as those discussed on Buddhist Geeks, and their own thoughts on effective strategies. 

Sharetable is a very cool desk designed for people who work with clients. The table has a computer on one side and a sort of 'mirror image' set right into the desk on the client side. The client can not only look at the images, but scroll through and manipulate them using touch.

And, just for fun, play a simulated theremin in your browser here!

The future of virtual reality has long promised that we'd hang out together with our friends virtually, from the comfort of our separate living rooms. Maybe now that VR headsets are nearly ready to go, the time has (nearly) come! AltspaceVR is designing social hangouts for the VR future (via Technology Review). Would you do socialize with pals virtually? Go to concerts together? Or would you miss the meatspace connection?

Plus, Cathi mentions TextBlade. If you don't like tapping things out on your mobile touchpad, this may be for you!

Cathi Bond, talks about the DARPA Robotics Challenge coming up in June, and in particular, the Atlas robot (via Gizmodo).

Nora mentions David McCandless' infographic about online music services and artists' compensation (via The Guardian)

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about Zoolafix, which aims to connect travelers to London or New York with a local 'fixer', based on shared common interests in nightlife. Your 'fixer' does things like line up for drinks and getting you into nightclubs (via Springwise). It's a good example of the ongoing trend in matching up people and services in different cities. Would you use it?

Researcher Pulkit Budhiraja and his colleagues have been thinking about a problem with virtual reality: how do you pick up physical, real world objects while you're in an immersive, virtual environment? (Via Technology Review)

Nora Young also mentions the Reality Cave at Communitech.

Has this happened to you? You get a link on social media that sounds like an interesting read, and then you're taken to a 5,000 word article? Great read, maybe, but so long! Cathi Bond talks about Pith.li, a sort of 'highlighter for the Internet' that allows you to share an article but highlight what you find interesting (via PSFK).

Nora on robot-only opera plans

Nora mentions article about unsafe wifi in public

Nora on New Scientist on wearables at work and surveillance

Nora on Ami, AI scheduler, and etiquette

Nora on Internet Archive making searchable public domain images.

Cathi on Meg Watson re AI taking off

Nora on writers pushing their fans to help sell the book

Cathi on boutique hotel styled STI testing

Nora on tactility and physicality fueling creativity

Cathi on Selfie money

Nora on blog post about how infographics deceive

Cathi on automated traffic cop

Nora on Lean Machine health beer

Nora on Collective Arts brewing

Cathi on Culture Island crazy park

Cathi on trampoline highway

Cathi on going over Niagara Falls

Cathi on Gen Z and social shopping

Nora on Motorola's skin tattoo

Nora on plug-in that models early version of web from CERN

Nora on Relately, which reminds you of your social networking connections

Cathi on Indiegogo

Cathi on Bunker Couch

Nora on relation between gut and mental health

Nora on everyone traveling with their phones

Nora on neuroscience of memory - changing emotions without drugs

Cathi on QR codes on sushi

Cathi on the Chillsner and Pintogo auto pet feeder

Cathi on Found House and Wiki House

Nora on Twigitecture

Nora on Qantas publishing books based on time to read

Nora on AI taking people's jobs

Cathi on nest and model rainforest in Cornwall

Nora on wethedata.org

Cathi on APE: Guy Kawasaki's publishing model

Cathi on The Attendant cafe urinal

Cathi on the Frankendrone modular drone

Nora on Barabasi's visualization of connection on the web.

Cathi on mindfulness meditation for kids on Kickstarter

Cathi on the RP-VITA remote medical robot

Nora on Swisshotel etiquette guide

Cathi on the iPotty ipad baby potty

Nora on polaroid style printer that prints out digital memories

Cathi on the giant easel TV

Nora on colour and Pantone's colour of 2013

Nora on eBay for custom-made stuff and Bemz

Cathi on two sustainable rocking chairs that knit hats and charge idevices

Cathi on proposal for swim lanes in London Canals

Nora on replicating human expertixe (Quora etc)

Cathi on Oyster Ring and return of RFID-enabled wearables

Cathi on the Oyster Ring and personalized RFID-enabled tech

Nora on Kindle Serials

Nora on IKEA hack

Nora on asana.com

Cathi on land-based long board thingy with pusher

Motorcycle that converts to Gyrocopter (PVL) and car that converts to an airplane

Cathi on jeans with cell phone in the thigh

Cathi on 215 sq ft. Whitehorse minihome

Meghan Perry's map project

Cathi on Spanish architecture project using flow through and co-generation power

Nora on Orbis: Google Maps for ancient Rome

Nora on Fujitsu's dog collar sensor for monitoring exercise

Cathi on DIY cell phone from MIT

Cathi on intercontinental Maglev trains to China

Nora on order from your car drive-though service in Japan

Cathi on Stylizer traveling boutique

Cathi on video recording glasses

Nora on Kevlar socks

Nora on Little Printer and Feedair readout device in managing information

Cathi on the CHIP experimental eco house designed in California

Nora on Coffee House vintage video

Nora on IT causing unemployment

Cathi on Seabird personal sub

Cathi on Ikea-built development

Nora on swarm-like robots for sale

Nora on Metrics that Matter personal evaluation

Nora on man trying to get access to his heart defibrillator data

Cathi on the Acoustic Alarm

Cathi on rooftop camping in New York

Nora on cellphones in class study

Nora on books with RFID tags for added info

Nora on peer-to-peer health apps and websites

Nora on Alpha Dog robot

Nora on Thing Quarterly and The Thing Co, for subscribing to get real goods delivered.

Nora on Diaspora

Cathi on Sony's 3D headset

Nora on preventing hacking of wireless medical implants

Nora on Swift.fm as another example of audio sharing social communities and a tie in to searchable audio using Google Voice Search

Cathi on 4th tallest building in the world in China with sustainable features

Nora on sponsored RSS feeds and Listgeeks as niche social network

Cathi on pepper spray alarm

Nora on optical illusion to control crowds

Night shirt sleep monitor.

Nora on the F Factor

Cathi on The Supple

Cathi on foldable tablet computers from sony and asus

Nora on Zenware and Pomodoro

Cathi on jewelry designer advocating dressing without a mirror and putting your undies on the outside

Nora on the song Being a Dickhead's Cool

Cathi on nasal screen inserts

Nora on EARINALM alarm earbuds

Cathi on collaboration and advertising learning from design

Cathi on Milan Fashion Week

Nora on bike trendiness

Cathi on soundcloud.com

Cathi on the taser for keeping wildlife away.

Nora on the app that shares the TV shows you're watching

Nora on Google Art Project

Cathi on people buying hardcover books

Nora on GPS specific briefcase

Cathi on cave hotels in Capadoccia

Nora on caves in Sicily

Nora on the Whee.me massaging robot

Nora on the Blink charger system

Cathi on the Pleo

Cathi on Microsoft's voice to text hands free phone.

Nora on digital boom box

Cathi on iPhone dock

Nora on end of utopias

Cathi on the hempcrete-based house.

Cathi on the virtual campfire

Nora on Alain de Botton and best places to write

Nora on 3D printer printing out shell of hybrid car.

Nora on Friendship Pages on Facebook

Cathi on the tea bag water purifier

Nora on Cyborg Cities

Cathi on diversity of age, size, and image in models

Cathi on Cradle to Cradle innovation

Nora on babysitters for urban chickens

Nora on ASL over cell phone technology

Cathi on spray-on solar

Cathi on helmet that detects brain damage

Nora on Facebook Places

Nora on face2face and less intrusive location aware services

Nora on the Hitachi life microscope

Nora and Cathi on the digital slingshot

Nora on Cloud Music app for Google Docs, and Google Music

Cathi on Californian ads on license plates

Nora on free sampling cafes in Japan 

Cathi on the String Rail

Cathi on super strong beer

Nora on virtual bagpipes for the iPad

Cathi on the vending machine for gold.

Nora on introverts and extroverts online

Cathi on thermodynamic power in Indonesia

Nora on The Limelight becoming a retail space.

Cathi on The Office Pod

Cathi on the old rotary phone used as an iPhone dock

Cathi on 3D tv without glasses

Nora on Supercool Schools

Cathi on HP's new tablet computer.

Nora on Venn diagrams

Cathi on Earplug and Knife

Cathi on the return of Paris to the cultural peak

Nora on virtual drinking in Japan

Nora on Design for Disassembly

Nora on Peugot concept electric dune buggy cars

Nora on learning from termite architecture

Cathi on Apple's decision to pull sexy apps

Nora on UnhappyHipsters.com

Cathi on Fantasy Childlike Architecture

Nora on Apple patent for solar-powered iPod

Cathi on return of flannel and military style for men for Fall 2010

Nora on Dow Solar Shingles