- Charbel X
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- Real-time AI Gaming Arena, MacBook Pro Revamp, Apple's Smart Glasses and beyond
Real-time AI Gaming Arena, MacBook Pro Revamp, Apple's Smart Glasses and beyond
Every W.A.S.D on your keyboard will further generate the game world in real time. Dig deeper...
Charbel Zeaiter
November 06, 2024
Good morning!
Lots going on in the world of design, tech - in particular AI. There’s a lot of discussions in the design community about the use of AI and the preservation of the craft. I find the different applications of AI incredibly exciting, as they have the potential to free us from mundane tasks and allow us to focus on the craft of our work—the truly enjoyable parts. By reducing repetitive work, AI enables us to engage more deeply in creative problem-solving, making our roles not only more fulfilling but also more impactful.
What are your thoughts? How are you using AI, if you’re using AI-technologies at all?
Good Things Come To Those Who Make.
Yours in wonder,
Charbel
Founder of Velvet Onion, Faster Zebra and more to come …
Today’s Highlights
AI: Real time AI-generated gaming arena
Design: MacBook Pro Revamp: Eye-soothing design and heart-blooming performance
Science & Tech: Apple’s Smart Glasses: What is cooking in the company
Founding: Overfunctioning is fatal to your well-being and your relationships
Product: Freemium OR Free Trial - which one best suits your SaaS product?
Creativity: The Paradox of Receptive Resistance
Today’s AI image: Bee Disaster in Meta and Amazon’s AI Data Centers
Quote for the day: Stoic Wisdom from Greece
AI
Real time AI-generated gaming arena
Google recently announced it’s building “generative infinite games,” where graphics, plot, rules everything is spawned out of the Artificial Mind in real-time.
This new system is Google’s bet that most games will eventually be fully generated. Wild, right?
The gaming industry is set for AI-driven transformation
AI moderation has cut voice-chat toxicity in Call of Duty by 43%. Sony improves quality assurance honing on AI. Moreover, game engines like Unity and Unreal keep adopting more AI-driven features.
The possibilities for AI-powered fun in games are exciting too:
Generative AI art for more immersive visuals
Text-to-game development tools (as seen in projects from Roblox and EA)
NPC dialogue improvements (check out Ubisoft’s demo)
Opinion:
With fierce competition for players’ attention, 61% of it goes to games six years or older, like Fortnite and Roblox. For new, high-budget games, the market is densely packed to be a success.
So summing up the circumstances, stakes are pretty high that AI-equipped gaming will disrupt the chaos and become the new cool in the gaming world.
Also in AI
Design
MacBook Pro Revamp: Eye-soothing design and heart-blooming performance
Mark Gurman from Bloomberg is spilling the beans that Apple is set to roll out a “total redesign” of the MacBook Pro in 2026. While Apple usually plays the long game with a four-year design cycle, it seems the M5 refresh is more of a chip bump than a full makeover.
Prepare for a delay, as the upgrade for the MacBook Pro will not be available until next year.
2026 Overhaul Details
Delay Reasons: Originally, Apple aimed for a 2025 redesign, but delays in display technology pushed the timeline back.
Display Transition: The next major refresh is expected to feature OLED displays, similar to the M4 iPad Pros.
Design Changes: Anticipated to be thinner, reversing the previous trend of thicker models with the shift to Apple Silicon.
Performance Boost: The M6 chip is likely to be manufactured using a new 2nm process, promising enhanced performance along with updated design and display technology.
2025 Updates
Incremental Upgrades: The 2025 MacBook Pro lineup will include upgrades to the M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chips.
Limited Changes: Aside from the chip enhancements, no significant changes are expected in 2025.
Also in Design
Science & Tech
Apple’s Smart Glasses: What is cooking in the company
After unveiling the Vision Pro last year, Apple seems to be on a mission to amp up its AR and VR game, and the buzz around smart glasses is picking up steam.
A recent Bloomberg article has revealed that Apple is diving into a new internal study with its sights set on developing its own stylish specs.
Apple’s Employee Insight Initiative
An email to select employees stated, “Testing and developing products that all can come to love is very important to what we do at Apple. This is why we are looking for participants to join us in an upcoming user study with current market smart glasses”
According to Bloomberg, Apple often assembles secret teams when it’s gearing up to launch a new product category, opting for the insider scoop rather than public opinion to keep things confidential. This suggests they’re serious about getting into the smart glasses arena.
A Peek at the Competition
While whispers of Apple’s smart glasses have floated around before, it appears the concept is maturing. The Vision Pro may come with a jaw-dropping price tag of $3,499 and isn’t exactly flying off the shelves, but over at Meta, things are looking sunnier thanks to their partnership with Ray-Ban.
Ray-Ban Meta Glasses:
Not as flashy as the Vision Pro—no display here!
However, users can groove to tunes, answer calls, chat with an AI assistant, and snap photos—all without the weight of a full-blown headset.
Orion
A few months back, Meta teased its own shiny project named “Orion”—smart glasses that pack Micro LED projectors to beam images right in front of your eyes. While they’re not ready for launch yet, early testers have raved about the tech.
So, keep your eyes peeled—those smart glasses might just be worth the wait!
Also in Science & Tech
Entrepreneurship
Overfunctioning is fatal to your well-being and your relationships
If you feel an urge to say “yes, of course” to almost every task sliding through your hand, your day often gets crammed with unnecessary obligations to fulfil and hence, confusions and “overfunctioning”.
“I’ll get this project done by today and then will catch a good nap.” You decide so but what happens is these are the last things you do after
-Filling in for a colleague who ‘has to go’
-Helping your kid with his essay
-Engaging in an in-depth conversation with your friend to listen to their break-up story
It’s harmful in ways you’re not aware
Overfunctioning gradually nudges you into an anxiety pit. You feel restless for trivial reasons or for matters that don’t even concern you a bit. A little deviation from accuracy sweats you and drives you irritable.
While you may avoid errors, pleasure your perfectionist self with perfect outcomes, be a good person at the moment, in long-term such obsession can backfire.
How to solve it?
Learn to let go and say “No”.It doesn’t make you selfish or spoil the work. For starters, define what truly needs to be done by you. Make time for just that and try to set boundaries against excess work.
Also in Entrepreneurship
Product
Freemium OR Free Trial - which one best suits your SaaS product?
Let us first briefly understand both these models.
Freemium is a pricing model where users get access to a part of your product for free, forever. It’s just that this forever-free version is limited and doesn’t include access to the paid features. Example- Canva’s free version.
Free Trial is where users get to use the full paid version of your product for free, but for a limited trial period. Once the trial ends, users have to pay then onwards to use the product. Example- Adobe’s 7-day free trial.
Questions to Ask yourself when choosing between the two
What type of market are you targeting?
Crowded market? Freemium is the way as users have to commit less and hence, builds trust.
Underserved market? Free Trial since you can easily enhance adaptability of your product by offering a short free trial as consumers already need your solution.
How complex is your product?
Simple product? Free trial. Users won’t take long to familiarise with your product.
Complex product? Freemium. Freemium allows enough time for users to get the hang of your product.
Do you have sufficient resources to support free users?
Yes? You can go for freemium.
No? Better go with Free trial.
How necessary & helpful is your paid version to users?
Are your users likely to be more desperate to use the features? Free trial since consumers are already tilted towards purchasing your thing.
If not, you should go for freemium. Users will take some time to realise the need of the features and soon convert.
How large is your market?
Large market? Freemium doesn’t hurt as you can manage with lower conversion rates.
Small market? Free trial since it’s not feasible to spend on freemium for a small group of customers. Here, lower conversion rates might harm your business.
Creativity
The Paradox of Receptive Resistance
When we are young, unaware and newbie, we desperately require guidance, feedback and most importantly constructive criticism. But paradoxically, this is the peak time of our resistance against opinion and critique as our ego is too delicate to accept them.
Why is constructive feedback painfully necessary for mastering creation?
I know we never enjoy much thinking of ourselves as mistake-makers. Pretty much a part of the common human psyche. But this mostly happens when we misunderstand the feedback given to our work as judgement of our own personality.
As we learn to keep it separate, we are able to sagely process the feedback and apply it to our work.
Today’s AI Image
Bee Disaster in Meta and Amazon’s AI Data Centers
Source - Meta AI
Source - Bing Image Creator
Source - Bing Image Creator
Quote of the Day
Some Stoic Wisdom from Greece
“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”
Epictetus
What we’re working on
 Velvet Onion & Friends We’ve been building a complex, enterprise wide, data-rich, AI-enabled product for our friends at IAG. As their product development partners, our process with their great team has been faster, leaner and more cost-effective for the company. |  We’re redefining the way students learn skills in Strategy, Business, Product Development, Design, RevOps, Marketing and Pitching. We’re soon launching our flagship program where students learn everything from strategy to pre-launch. The winners get their idea built by Velvet Onion. |
