Episode 133 – Game Brains was recorded on Friday, the 18th of February 2016.

Does playing video games make you smarter?  Michael and Michael answer this question with a resounding “maybe”, as they go through a tour of several interesting links, from Google’s DeepMind computer playing Go, to Volvos starting up without keys, to toys that think and 3D printing going back to 1964 with plastigoop.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Selected links

Can Video Games make you Smarter? — https://youtu.be/OOsqkQytHOs

Luminosity — http://www.lumosity.com

Gmailification — http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/17/google-launches-gmailify-a-way-to-use-gmails-best-features-with-non-gmail-accounts/

Mailbox — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailbox/id576502633?mt=8

Airmail — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/airmail-your-mail-with-you/id993160329?mt=8

Google Now — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Now

Connected Toys and the Serious Business of Play — http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/15/the-serious-business-of-play/

Mattel 3d printer — http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/15/mattel-thingmaker-3d-printer/

Mattel’s Creepy Crawler Thingmaker with Plastigoop — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepy_Crawlers

Sphero — http://www.sphero.com/starwars

Teddy Ruxpin — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Ruxpin

Monopoly — http://www.avclub.com/article/monopoly-now-cashless-economy-232281

DeepMind plays Go —  http://mashable.com/2016/01/27/google-ai-beats-go-champ

Pacman 256 — http://pac-man256.net

Rogue on iOS —  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rogue/id298113808?mt=8

Volvo keyless cars — http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35611130

Keyless remote app — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/car-remote-keyless-entry/id718121721?mt=8

Smartphone app ride pickup zone — https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/700734551132282880

Global Gamification Market estimated to be $11.1B by 2020 — http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160218006350/en/Global-Gamification-Market-Worth-USD-11.10-Billion

Games Michael & Michael are playing

Michael R — A Tiny Game of Pong —