Apple Vision Pro, a developer’s take | Bezos plans Amazon stock sale

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: We get an inside look at developing software for the Apple Vision Pro spatial computing headset, with Ken Case of the Omni Group. Then, we dive into AI, politics, and a new attempt to detect and defuse deepfakes, with Oren Etzioni, the founder of the TrueMedia nonprofit, nonpartisan technology organization.

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Speaking of the new Apple headset, check out this 2016 video for Microsoft HoloLens, “Imagining the future for NFL fans.” It will look very familiar to anyone paying attention to this week’s Vision Pro launch. As we explained last year, this is just the latest example of Microsoft being too early, leaving the door open for Apple and others to popularize a product category years later, when the technology and the market are ready. Read more.

To help visually impaired people get a better feel for art, a team of Seattle-area students has developed tech that produces 3D-printed tactile versions of paintings. Competing in the FIRST LEGO League robotics program, the kids ranging in age from 11 to 13 use software, hardware and artificial intelligence for their project, called “Reliefeelable.” The tech is currently in use at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. Read more.

Hot Links:

• Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell as many as 50 million shares in the company over the next 12 months, which would be his first sale of Amazon stock since 2021. (Reuters and Bloomberg)

• Amazon is warning investors that climate change could materially impact its business, in a new disclosure added to the risk factors in its annual 10-K filing. (CNBC)

• Driven in part by AI demand, cloud infrastructure spending jumped 20% to $74 billion in the fourth quarter, reflecting growing corporate usage of Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. (Synergy Research Group)