We are now at an all-time high when it comes to the state of the economy. Business Insider once again ranked San Jose as the #1 metro in the US when it comes to economic performance (GDP growth was an astounding 6.9%). In the first half of 2018, San Jose companies received about $400 million in venture funding through 14 different deals. Oh, and our unemployment rate is a jaw-dropping 2.4%. The only other time we were ever in that zone was during the .Com shenanigans of 1999-2000. In fact, we have added over 70,000 jobs in the past 8 years, which more than makes up for the 35,000 jobs lost during the Great Recession.
Yes, it is very expensive to live here and traffic is horrible. However, the root cause of these two issues is a positive thing--our economy is at its pinnacle.
The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck has periodically been roaming the Bay Area, but now there is a permanent home for fans of Hello Kitty-shaped treats. The first Hello Kitty Mini-cafe in Northern California opened last week at Santana Row. Food items include cookies, pastries, lemonades, and teas. The store also sells merchandise such as shirts and mugs.
Who could resist a cat-shaped macaroon?
Source: Alt 105.3, hat tip to Arnold Kwok for sending this in!
Animaker is the first exhibit in the world that teaches kids about AI while actually teaching machines how to recognize objects in the real world. Visitors are invited to form animals out of lego blocks, which are then analyzed by a 3D scanner in conjunction with AI software and virtually placed in a jungle temple that is projected onto a wall. There is a two minute video below that shows how it works and it is quite an impressive concept.
Animaker is now open and will be at The Tech for at least a year. For more info, head over here.
New exhibit explores the future of creative play in an Artificial Intelligence driven world Animaker invites visitors to collaborate with AI-powered robots and bring their creations to life
May 31, 2018, San Jose, CA-- The Tech Museum of Innovation is opening a new immersive exhibit which invites visitors to collaborate with AI-powered robots to bring their creations to life. In Animaker, visitors step into a large-scale projection of a jungle temple where robots invite them to form animals out of LEGO/Duplo bricks. Their creations are analyzed by the robots, incorporating cutting edge 3D-scanning technology and an AI powered search engine that understands 3D content. The animals then come to life in a virtual ancient temple, and can be personalized by changing their look and behavior. This is the first experience in the world where children play and learn about AI by training machines to recognize different interpretations of real world objects.
Bringing together primitive and futuristic creative expression practices from cave art, graffiti, video games, LEGO and digital art, the installation breaks down barriers between the physical and the virtual world and enables completely new play experiences. Animaker incorporates cutting-edge cross reality (XR) developments while avoiding the genre-typical technological barriers such as headsets or AR-enabled mobile devices.
Animaker is developed by a global team of educators, engineers, and artists from The Tech Museum of Innovation (San Jose, Ca), AI technology startup Resonai (Tel Aviv/Palo Alto), digital art studio OMAi (Vienna, Austria) and 3D scanning startup Occipital (San Francisco, Ca).
“Animaker allows visitors to experiment with new forms of human machine interaction that are enabled by artificial intelligence, and extend one of the most beloved play experiences, LEGO building, into the virtual space,” says Galia Rosen Schwarz, VP business development at Resonai. “Our visual search engine, that understands 3D geometry and structure, analyzes each build and recognizes the animal that it represents. One of the key challenges here was teaching a computer to recognize builds that even the human eye may misinterpret.”
“It is thrilling to watch children so creatively engaged in a learning activity that so seamlessly combines the physical and virtual world. When educators, artists and tech makers come together, the possibilities for inspiring the next generation of innovative leaders are endless. We see the power of this creative confidence and knowledge of how to use new tech to solve problems last far beyond our exhibition walls,” says Nadav Hochman, experience developer and program manager, Art & Technology, at The Tech. Animaker is a collaboration The Tech is facilitating as part of a new Art + Tech initiative. The goal is to build a bridge between the global creative community and the high-tech sector of the greater Silicon Valley to create new experiences with emerging technology.
About the Animaker collaborators:
Resonai powers machines to understand the world through super-human visual perception, allowing them to recognize objects, complex scenes and context. Resonai’s search engine, that analyzes the precise geometry and structure of 3D content, powers real time visual search and recognition. For more information visit www.resonai.com.
Vienna based art studio OMAi create visual experiences around the world. Their iPad app Tagtool, a live instrument for spontaneous digital creation, has sparked a global community of artists and educators and was featured in Apple’s WWDC keynote videos twice. For more information visit www.omai.at
Occipital makes the Structure Sensor & SDK, Skanect, Canvas, TapMeasure, 360 Panorama and the PX-80 by Paracosm. Occipital focuses on making advanced computer vision technologies simple enough for everyday use. Occipital is based in Boulder, CO, San Francisco, CA and Gainesville, FL. For more information, visit Occipital on the Web at http://occipital.com and http://structure.io.
The Tech Museum of Innovation is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. The museum — located in the Capital of Silicon Valley — is a non-profit experiential learning resource established to engage people in exploring and experiencing applied technologies affecting their lives. The Tech’s mission is to inspire the innovator in everyone. thetech.org
At the SubZERO Festival last weekend, I stopped by a booth promoting this year's Sacred Art event. This is an annual immersive art and music show that is free to attend, but requires registration. This year's event will be at Forager, and the theme for Illuminate will focus on technology, spirituality, and the South African food crisis. Eat, drink, and enjoy the designs and installations!
Here's a video from the previous event to give you an idea of what to expect:
The event will be on Saturday, June 30 at 7pm, and will go until 1am the next day. The location is Forager. You can register for tickets here and learn more about the event here.
Well this is pretty neat. The San Jose Blog was ranked as the top San Jose blog by Feedspot. Blogs were ranked based on Google reputation, Google search rankings, influence and popularity on social media, quality and consistency of posts, and Feedspot's editorial team. Lots of other great blogs such as San Jose Inside, SJEconomy, and Grateful Hubby also made the cut. Check out the full list over here!
As a sign that smaller tech companies can also thrive in San Jose, Okta is doubling their footprint and workforce Downtown. Last year SF-based Okta decided to build a second headquarters in Downtown San Jose at River Park Tower I. The original idea was to attract talent regardless of where they live in the Bay Area (Splunk had as similar approach when they opened a Santana Row office). The results have been strong enough that they are adding another 125 jobs across a whole second floor in River Park Tower I--and may expand more in the future.
With abundant housing and transit options, Downtown is quickly becoming the hottest market for tech companies wanting to get into the South Bay.
Four Music in the Park performances (Jun 22, Jul 12, Aug 3, and Aug 24)
A weekly Downtown Farmer's Market each Friday on San Pedro Street from 10am-2pm
Starlight Cinemas on Jun 16, July 21, Aug 18, and Sep 15
Dine Downtown restaurant week from Jul 13-22
City Dance on eight Thursdays from August to October
Groundworks has achieved a 92% approval rating for 2018.
Strategic SJDA objectives for 2018-2020 are to make people feel safe Downtown, minimize the impact of the homeless population, improve the Downtown brand, create a Downtown vision focused on strengthening districts and connectivity between them, and to support the BART extension to Downtown while minimizing impact to local businesses.
The Theatre on San Pedro Square has been renamed the Tabard Theatre.
A 87-unit, eight-story affordable housing building is being proposed for Almaden Boulevard and Balbach.
KT Urban is proposing a 220-room, 19-story hotel next to Axis on Santa Clara Street.
Love to hear live blues music? Can't get enough from the winter and summer Jazz Festivals? Then you may want to check out the upcoming Fountain Blues & Brews Festival at Plaza de Cesar Chavez on June 23rd. Five artists headline the main stage this year:
The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Featuring Kim Wilson
Roy Rogers & The Delta Rhythm Kings
Wee Willie Walker; Terrie Odabi & The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra
Nikki Hill Band with Laura Chavez
The Sons of the Soul Revivers
There will also be a SJZ mobile boombox stage before and between the performances.
In addition to the music, you will also enjoy over forty beers on tap from the below breweries:
Abita • Allagash • Anchor • Anderson • Ballast Point Coronado • Deschutes • Devils Canyon • Drakes • Elysian • Golden Gate • Golden Road • Gordon Biersch • Hermitage • Hop Valley • Karl Strauss • Knee Deep • Lagunitas • Lost Coast • North Coast • Oskar Blues • Santa Clara Valley Brewery • Shipyard • Sierra Nevada • Stone • Tilt Brewery • Uinta
The event goes from 11am to 8:30pm. General admission is $25 (children under 12 get in free with a paid adult). There's also a $75 VIP ticket with access to a shaded area, full bathroom, private bar, and two drink vouchers.
