Join us for a series of talks on how AI is making XR an even more powerful medium. We'll begin with an overview of how to think about artificial intelligence and it's applications in XR, followed by talks that introduce different AI products into the XR ecosystem. Hugh will outline the three ways XR developers, designers and entrepreneurs should be thinking about AI, and give some examples, including an open source Unity plugin Aquinas are developing for data capture & encoding 2. AI Assistants: David Gene Oh, Samsung Bixby. David will talk about AI assistants and what Samsung is doing 3. Conversational Interfaces: Jeff Meador, Portico True Talk. Jeff will talk about how Portico is using their amazing conversational interface for employee training in XR.

Following in the footsteps of Amazon, South Korean companies Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are now planning to open their artificial intelligence platforms to third-party manufacturers. This move is expected to not only help them business-wise, but it could also make Bixby and Deep ThinQ ubiquitous. On Monday, South Korean news site Etnews reported that Samsung and LG are to open their AI platforms to outside developers that are interested in incorporating Bixby and Deep ThinQ into their upcoming devices. This is seen as Samsung and LG's way of catching up with what Amazon did to its Alexa platform. There is no definite date yet on when can third-party developers have access to Samsung and LG's AI platforms.

Despite my less than stellar interaction with Samsung appliances, we saw that they were likely to be champions in the Smart Home through sheer presence in complex devices. Recall Samsung's acquisition of Harman-Kardon for advanced audio. Now since, their Bixby voice recognition and intelligence is expanding, I will be following. Expect to hear much more of this Samsung to expand Bixby, voice recognition features to more smart home appliances by 2020 By Deidre Richardson For four consecutive quarters up through May, Samsung has dominated the home appliances market. With the announcement of the Galaxy Note 8 and its expanded Bixby capabilities such as Quick Commands (using small phrases to perform multiple actions simultaneously), as well as the global rollout of Bixby voice in English to over 200 countries earlier this week, Samsung is making a firm statement: that its Bixby AI, whether you want it or not, is here to stay.

Nobody wants an assistant they can't trust. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't put my faith in Samsung's Bixby. It's the newest entry in the crowded field of virtual assistants, and its youthful inexperience shows. After living with Bixby on the Galaxy S8 for a week, I couldn't wait to kick it to the curb. To its credit, Bixby has some intriguing features that make it potentially more functional than the competition.

Voice assistants are becoming commonplace with many companies investing in them and both Android and iOS devices coming with at least one pre-installed. They are also slowly taking over the household, with presence in other hardware in addition to the smartphone, such as the HomePod -- Apple's smart speaker. According to research firm Verto Analytics, a total of 72 million or 43.8 percent smartphone users use voice assistants and AI-based apps as of May. Among major smartphone companies, Apple was the first mover in the voice assistant segment with its Siri. Samsung and Google did try to match up with S-Voice and Google Now, respectively, but these voice assistants lacked the conversational capabilities that Siri possessed.

Samsung has high hopes for its upcoming new Bixby voice assistant and Apple has been planning 3D sensing capabilities for its next iPhones. However, It's unlikely that these new features will ready when Samsung and Apple launch their new smartphone models this year. The voice assistant component of Samsung's Bixby feature won't work out of the box when the new Galaxy S8 and S8 smartphones go on sale starting April 21, according to an April 11 report by Axios.com. But other Bixby components, such as its visual search and reminder capabilities will be available. An unnamed Samsung spokesman told Axios.com that the voice assistant features will be available in the U.S. later this spring, the report continued.

Recently, I finished binge-watching the first season of HBO's popular series, Westworld. The show sheds light on machines coming of age and the extent humans can go to exploit technology. From Matrix to Ex Machina, all these sci-fi movies reveal a darker side of not only humans but also the machines. I dread the idea of machines becoming smarter than us or a day when machines lead our lifestyles. But that might or might not happen in the next century, most probably I will not live to see that time.

Samsung Galaxy S8 is tipped to launch by the third week of April, reports reveal. Ahead of the launch, rumors regarding the flagship device is making rounds on the internet regarding the display, camera set-up, battery, storage capacity and more. Well, there's one very interesting feature the Galaxy S8 is confirmed to come packed with, guess what? Well, Samsung Galaxy S8 will be equipped with a newly developed digital assistant called - Bixby. Being just a rumor all this while, Samsung finally confirms Bixby's arrival.