Gadgetory

good morning on Tuesday March 13th its episode 360 of the 359 podcast I'm BVG and your host today are Alfred and Ben I'm back I'm Alfred sorry for being gone for a little while everybody I lost power for four days but I'm back in the office I didn't realize I had four whole days of that yeah it was pretty miserable but you know I held down the fort did okay and now we're back talking about tech so let's jump into what we're talking about today we're gonna be starting off on hospitals using VR as a useful distraction or a way to reduce pain for patients our co-worker Abrar wrote about that today we'll start off with that also on the MMA front Trump blocked broad comms effort to try to buy Qualcomm this was expected to be the biggest tech merger ever so that's why we wanted to talk about that and then last we'll round out with Alfred telling us about an AMD chip security flaw yay so let's get to the podcast send in your questions and comments BVG we'll get to as many as we can at the end of the show and let's get moving here we go for the recording of the audio podcast and we'll be back to see in the chat in 3 minutes and 59 seconds from 3:00 to welcome to the 359 I'm Ben Fox Ruben I'm alfred hang the medical industry is building more virtual reality into its treatments using VR as a useful distraction for painful or uncomfortable procedures it's another way for VR to grow into the mainstream and become a useful tool beyond just entertainment or gaming so obviously the medical industry has been using virtual reality for I think it's like decades now for quite a few years but VR was way too expensive before for it to really be used significantly now with cheaper headsets folks can use it much more often yeah I thought it was really cool so the her story leads with a ten-year-old boy who he was experiencing so much pain that he had to be sedated to like just get dressed and the idea was they tried out this like VR headset for him where would go on these like underwater adventures or anything like that or like be like a penguin yeah edging pebbles yeah so he would be basically distracted in VR instead of having to take like like drugs to like stop the pain like for him just to get dressed and I thought it was really cool I I think you know I try to avoid any kind of like painkillers or anything like that whenever I have a procedure most of the times I end up taking it anyway cuz just cuz I feel like there's no other alternative and I think something like this using technology as a way to get around that is really cool obviously it's not for everybody and you know this isn't this yeah this isn't gonna replace like all medicine but like or something like that you know you want to try out I think it's it's a really cool like alternative that you can yeah so from from our story that we published today about that it mentions that maybe could help reduce some dependence on opioids obviously we don't over promise on that but it could be used as a first attempt before actually using prescription drugs one other thing from the story there was the see nurse I died cedars-sinai study that talked about how VR could reportedly reduce pain much more than if you just watched like a like a regular video on TV of like calming stuff you could instead watch it in VR and it would actually be way more effective they should just have that instead of the the clown that's supposed to come cheer you up and say laughter is the best medicine I don't know I like the clown keep the clown's going next up president Trump weighed in on what was expected to be the biggest tech merger ever with Broadcom trying to by fellow chip maker Qualcomm Trump though killed the 117 billion dollar bid claiming national security concerns this had a lot to do with 5g actually Broadcom is currently based in Singapore Qualcomm is in San Diego the argument is is that if Broadcom for whatever reason was going to reduce Qualcomm research and development on 5g China could then get ahead on 5g and that was considered too much of an issue too much of a concern for the trumpet minute rump administration has been very protective of 5g they had also there were rumors before about them trying to buy their own like portion of the 5g Network we now haven't really seen that go anywhere from the FCC but yeah I mean it makes a lot of sense this is the second time now they've pointed to 5g as like a security concern issue yeah last stop we also wanted to touch on an AMD security flaw alfred tell us a little bit yes so some reach researchers from israel pointed out these security flaws of AMD chips today so AMD is probably Intel's biggest rival in computer chips they take about like 22% over the market and they're found in phones laptops and on servers and they found 13 vulnerabilities with them that essentially affect the chip where you can infect the chip itself with malware that's different from like a virus on your computer in general because that usually affects your software so if it is on the chip itself that means that they get access to all the sensitive data that's like usually stored there that like it's supposed to be secure there and they can alter it so that they can infect like a lot of your devices now the catch here is that they only notified AMD like within the last 24 hours a standard vulnerability protocol is to tell them like within 90 days in advance so they can think so they can actually respond yeah before it yeah so AMD doesn't really have a response right now but they said they've they've gotten the report and they're like Reese Bob looking into it now all right if you want to read more about these stories check us out on CNN I'm Ben Fox Ruben I'm Alfred Inge thanks for listening I love hearing stories about this VR stuff when it comes to actually it's fascinating is the right word tricked it's it's fascinating what you can trick the human mind yes you could say tricked one one so a one piece from of our story a simple distraction is believed to be at play the brain is so busy processing signals from VR that it has a harder time processing other signals like pain that's at least believed to be what's actually happening obviously the brain is so complex that strapping on a VR headset it doesn't fully explain exactly how the brain responds to it but that's expected to be one of the primary signals yeah I used to be really skeptical about this VR in cooller like I remember uh did you see the commercial during the Super Bowl or like the Olympics for Samsung VR nowhere it was like they were showing all the things you could do in VR and one of them it was like a woman going through rehab with like learning to walk again even like with crutches and she couldn't do it but them and she puts on the VR set and it looks like she's walking on the beach and then she all of a sudden she's able to walk again yeah a very skeptical of that a problem with like over-promising some of this stuff so like it obviously sounds positive to help people reduce the potential dependence or future dependence on opioids tonight anytime the tech industry really dives into medical you do have to cap yeah this kind of stuff and say let's not say that this is this is gonna solve everything right so yeah and I you know from like the few VR sets that I've used it's like I look at and I always think you know who would believe this is real kind of thing well that was like you know Apple came out with a commercial that talked about how the Apple watch you know saved the little kid's life that sounds really positive but I would love to delve into that a little bit more to be like okay well you have a SmartWatch that somehow like all right what I was gonna say though is that like so from Claire Riley story out in Las Vegas with the the VR zombie shooting thing that we did I was there for that and that was like stupid realistic like there was a point where so the whole room is flat like they do for all like VR sets like gaming rooms I guess the whole rooms flat and there was one point where we're supposed to be on a roof and I'm like walking on the edge of the roof and I'm like what if I just like I just jump like this nothing's gonna happen to me like what happens to me in the game it's all flat I'm not really gonna fall but I'm like looking over the edge and oh yeah that's pretty high up the rules of self-preservation sure that you're not getting a job that's like that's what my point that was like VR does a pretty good job now or at least the really good ones do a really good job for like tricking your mind yeah the problem too is is that with VR you're so immersed in VR that that's why a lot of folks expect AR to take over because AR you're not completely shut out or the rest of the world with this use of VR it actually makes sense for you to get shut up yeah and be in that world so that actually makes a lot of sense to use it for medical purposes it is just hard to imagine that you could be so distracted something like chronic pain you know and then it with plenty of warrant there are skeptics Danny Green being one of them he says if I'm hurt and VR is not gonna help certainly not just absolutely I don't around with a video game but if they immerse you so much like I don't I've never experienced anything where I can even begin to measurably consider what that's like to be so let's detach from the real world so going back to the seniors side I it's cedars-sinai study excuse me it talked about the the patients that used VR reported a 24 percent drop in their pain scores other patients that just use like a standard 2d nature video it was a smaller reduction in pain it was about a 13% reduction those are those are very specific numbers obviously so like I didn't see that study I'm reading this from a borrower's piece but that is that that is a notable percentage difference but at the same time it doesn't get rid of pain entirely I'm probably know and we're not trying to say that VR is medicine itself but if it can give you relief holy cow yeah I think it's more so of like a distraction than like an actual yeah total medication kind of thing yeah I don't like I think if you know if you're experiencing like chronic pain or something like that then oh yeah it's not good yeah yeah and it's not it's not like some like magical hocus pocus oh it's good it's good to totally caveat that kind of stuff that's interesting for us to write about and talk about but let's definitely not over promise that it is something that it isn't certainly certainly it is nice to see actual practical application of this though for the longest time like fears a gimmick it's just a silly game it's like it's yielding some pot like measurably positive results so one of the things also in the story that I think maybe might help Dana Greene be less of a skeptic about it is like let's say you're really like you have a needle phobia if you strap on a VR headset you're not looking yeah then yeah anyway yeah cuz that's not gonna hurt that much yeah cuz the lead of the story was talking about how like most of it like wasn't the pain that he felt from getting dressed it was more so like his fear of like experiencing that like let that like small like ish nuts I don't want to discount like what the kids going through but yeah mostly bored that like fear of that right and and reduce like the compounding problem yeah every single time he sees the doctor now he's now he's like freaking out about it no yeah I wonder how many people you could really get to it excuse me adopt into this certainly the younger audiences more adept and acclimated to the concept of virtual reality but you think the elderly could possibly be open I don't see why not especially in a medical environment it's something where anybody would get you know walked through the process and you're not just doing it on your own that's a lot of what I've seen I'm where VR is enabled as successfully where there's somebody that actually is experienced and knows what they're doing to like actually help you walk through it as opposed to you just having a headset and fumbling through and trying to figure it out on your own right Suren drawing the chat says not a replacement to medicine but why aren't we seeing more VR in a more widespread measure for therapy there have been success stories of dementia care or paralysis therapy therapy but not so mainstream yet and then he goes on to mention a company named tribe mix who has a dementia of virtual reality project now I have definitely not heard about this but he says their videos are extraordinarily joyful and I definitely have to go look this up if you heard anything about this no but I would probably say to answer string Joy's question that everything in VR is very new and it's all just really in development and it's all it's it's starting to trickle down and cycle through in a lot of different ways so especially in the medical industry anytime new technologies get involved that aren't medical technologies like they're not specifically medical instruments medical devices it's going to take a long time for those to get approved and for hospitals to get them so I would say that some cases this is going to be available but it's going to take a while for it to really start becoming more readily available in the mainstream certainly yeah I remember reading this story about a VR startup based in New York called virtual rehab where they try to help prisoners like really like you know get back into society we acclimate yeah react I mean using like VR so they duh our sister website as Z denied actually wrote this in 2016 but it would be just like helping them like learn like useful skills and things like that like learning how to replace a car battery like through VR so like they could probably try to land a job when they when they get out or anything like that yeah in training is an interesting opportunity there I mean I'm like replacing a car battery you could do that in like the real world you don't necessarily need to use VR for that I would probably also argue that AR has been found to be in general more useful in a lot of ways for training because again you're not taking yourself completely out of the world that you're surrounded in but so you could overlay instructions on to whatever work you're currently doing points well-taken all around let's take another question from the chat shall we Matthew doctor says I wonder if there is a solution that combines VR with techniques like Lamaze and goes on to note Lamaze is not reserved just for childbirth is i yes that's true I have you realized that it's a breathing exercise to help again curtail pain to an extent and focus concentration and that's an interesting thighs because that's not very great I'd kind of replace Lamaze in a sense since it's more of a mind over matter thing yeah I think I I like catches idea of potentially using both at the same time as like potential dual treatments because and and and the other way to think about it too is is that some things won't work for some patients so having multiple tools that doctors can use sometimes you want to use both sometimes you want to use one or the other I think having all of those tools at doctor's disposal to help patients it has the potential of creating some level of pain reduction on the edges you know not you know the disappearance or elimination of pain certainly not and I mean we'll probably never figure out the ultimate end-all be-all to that but to see technology getting implemented in very very unique new ways is always fascinating to see I think yeah definitely I like this consideration from all things Austin he says I'm really excited for a are to help the medical field in iron at Man esque methods totally yeah the potential of doing this specially in surgery where there are you know like where two type of forms of surgery that a doctor might be able to utilize where they would get augmented to reality like like instructions from the best in the field wherever they are located internationally there's a lot of potential there and that's why a lot of the major tech companies and major tech CEOs talk about the potential of a are being much broader and much more mainstream than VR rayar is expected to be in general more targeted but it's the one that came to the market first got it another comment from Danny Green saying may be useful to release or relieve anxiety disorders yeah and that's a dead arm application VR has definitely been used for phobias and anxiety disorders many times in the past with cheaper VR headsets that's now much more prevalent than it used to be so I hate being the guy to do this but we might need to talk politics for a hot second because I think I'm one of the very few and it's well documented I don't agree with the administration on a lot of things but I think blocking the Broadcom Qualcomm merger was the right choice yeah as reporters I can't say when I edit or Eli's personally as a not reporter for Cena and comments not supported by C net ever I think it was good to block any further monopolization of the 5g yeah and if I didn't make this clear during the podcast this was an unsolicited offer so this was a a aggressive effort by Broadcom to try to take over Qualcomm Qualcomm has been in a weakened position because of multiple lawsuits that rock has been down Broadcom makes less revenue they're a smaller company than Qualcomm but they're they were going after them while Qualcomm was like kind of a wounded beast Apple is currently suing at Qualcomm there are a lot of issues there in Qualcomm maybe five years from now is going to be in a much stronger position and potentially a bigger company by market cap it's a broad statement on my behalf I know but I in a case like this in a technology that is still young and developing we need to encourage more competition not less yeah that's my two cents yeah I mean it's usually we don't talk a lot about business on the show I thought it was really important because this was really expected to be the biggest possible tech murderer ever it's over a hundred billion dollars and the possibility of a chip maker controlling that much of the market it's it could have been a very big deal for consumers and it's and it's now it's not gonna happen so yeah you don't have to worry about that from like a competitive perspective anymore let's give a quick shout out the syringe Roy again he says when are we have in the Martian cocktail party elfrid I don't know we don't have a he's the only person that entered I'd like to give it let it be more of a competition but I don't know when do you want to do it I don't know you've been snowed into a barricade yeah yesterday is a podcast we talked about Elon Musk and his appearance at South by Southwest and how he talks about oh we need to go to Mars and you know preserve humanity also we should have some great bars there as long as the music is like those guys from Star Wars Cantina band yeah yeah yeah so we we did like put a call out to our viewers basically asking you know what what Mars themed cocktails would you drink and like submit the recipes for us and the best ones well if any of them aren't red I'll be shocked so I was the only person that that like energized great yeah enjoy is great hey you remember when I invented a CNET cocktail yeah yeah it was no red ball that was it was it was delicious I liked it cinnamon II it was cinnamon and what cranberry I got to drink it during work hours or something I forget what I even did it or by the way with the time we have left is it is it cool to you like a hard pivot and talk about your tattoo oh yeah sure sure okay so we Brian got a tattoo like a couple weeks ago and we finally published the video it's like this awesome nine minute video of BVG getting this really cool tattoo where it's a sound wave that if you point your phone at it it'll actually play a clip of a song I'm potentially butchering this whole explanation so maybe I should pitch it to you because it's your tattoo I mean it's it's just kind of what it sounds is it magic no but it's kind of a unique new way to implement AR it's essentially turning a tattoo into a QR code but it's letting you get really really personal with it and that's the kind of thing that appealed to me yeah I can't believe you got the whole 359 podcast on your arm like that no I really love this I'm truly dedicated truly dedicated I know that it's totally not for everybody but you hear some of the stories behind it I talked to the guy who invented the app his name is Nate Sigurd and there's people that he's like this was the last voicemail my mother left me before she passed away just really like my baby's first cry you know in the degree bro guy got tattooed yeah that people got tattooed and just the ability to keep that with you I think is really really endearing and heartwarming and you know I was gonna I was a sound I'm a sound junky I'm I've been a production guy for a long time I wanted to do a wave form tattoo and then when this kinda came into the fold it all just kind of lined up so you were gonna do a wave form already but this way you could actually have the wave form play if you pointed your phone at it yeah like I toyed with the idea of trying to write my own code so I can make a QR code that opens like a Spotify playlist but then I was restricted to the Spotify library and who knows where Spotify is gonna be next year this way like I own this this is mine I pay for the storage for this file through the app and I granted that's probably a non palatable solution for a lot of people out there it's like you gotta pay to listen to your tattoo I'm like then they can stop paying and I still have my tattoo that I like mmm you know this way it's always with me and Merida ways and yeah I'm very happy with the way it turned out so what song is it it's a song called 43% burnt by The Dillinger Escape Plan some of you may notice I tend to wear a lot of black t-shirts on this show I'm a old crust punk from back in the day so yeah so it's heavy metal right it's heavy metal quite quite the opposite of what I listen to but I celebrate your love of tattoos and I thought it was a really cool video I think everybody check it out on CNN or you could see it on YouTube whichever and it's a really cool video all about BVG and yeah now shoutouts to see net for letting me take them along for the ride and to experience this this is something that kind of hit home pretty good for me so thanks to everybody yeah very cool do we have any other questions or we could take it home no I think it's about time we got to wrap it up or right at the end of the day okay cool so it's over here now the 3:59 podcast is available on itunes toon and stitcher Feedburner google play music the Amazon echo and of course cnet.com what is this stuff you can also subscribe watch and join the conversation weave day mornings unseen up on the scene at periscope livestream and YouTube channels the script actually it tells us to yell what is this stuff what is this is on the script it's right over there if anybody ever accused us of being over scripted anyway thanks everybody for your questions really appreciate it we'll see you again tomorrow take care everyone see you tomorrow