A license is granted once the applicant, typically a spry and eager teenager, passes a written test and the state sponsored or licensed driving test. Permits are issued under certain circumstances, but require a fully licensed driver to be present at all times while the permitted driver is behind the wheel. There is an early age requirement for both the license and the permit, and both require a very basic understanding of the laws of the road and basic vehicle operation.

Likewise, a license can be revoked by the issuer for many reasons… DUI, medical issues, too many “points” for infractions, etc.

It is a license to drive. There is no right to drive. It’s a privilege, earned by proving your understanding of the law and basic vehicle operation.

I have a simple proposal that would revolutionize the safety of drivers and pedestrians, and would lead to a guaranteed increases of funding for public roads.

Ready for it?

This is an idea so simple, it’s unbelievable.

I’m a software developer by trade with 25 years of experience behind me. One of the items I have to deal with on a regular basis, and something everyone reading this is familiar with is the “Software License Agreement.” License agreements are the little modal boxes that appear when you open software for the first time. Or when boot your new phone for the first time. Your computer, tablet, TV… they’are all bound by license agreements.

My proposal is to tie a similar license agreement to the driver’s license. This license agreement could be updated whenever necessary to incorporate new technologies related to driving, tolling, and public safety. It would require that each licensee have a correct and current method of contact tied to their license (as is already required by law).

Every update to the physical license requires a new agreement. Get a new license? Change your address? Renew your license? Lose it? You must agree to the new terms. This would ensure that every US citizen would have to agree to the terms within the next 5 to 10 years.

Typically it’s incumbent upon the user to check the license agreement for changes periodically, but the grantor also sends update notifications via email, text message, or snail mail. In this case, media would most certainly cover changes. Each state office can issue updates via social media channels, or via a simple newsletter subscription.

Why on earth would I propose such a preposterous scenario? It’s simple. While most people are good honest law abiding citizens, there is an ever growing group of individuals that would follow the law to the T with a little more encouragement. States and municipalities have tried various versions of automating the law – red light cameras, speed traps (vans with speed sensitive cameras and measurement), and more.

If your state sees it fit to implement automated methods to ensure public safety, that could easily be incorporated into the agreement.

For example, all toll roads could become speed monitors. They know when you enter and when you leave each entrance and exit. This is a math problem. They already have the vehicle’s license plate, so tying this back to the licensed vehicle and its owner is simple. Other automated means of speed patrol could be implemented – autonomous drones, sign affixed apparatus, etc. If given a range of tolerance (+10%), this would be highly effective at deterring speeding.

Another item in the agreement is red light cameras, and other automated traffic safety items. Driving through a crosswalk when the pedestrian present notification lights are flashing, school zone infractions, passing on the right, trucks in the left lane on freeways, and the list goes on and on. All of these can be automated, and should be.

Imagine going through a toll booth, then hearing your favorite navigation app tell you that you’ve just earned a point on your license and a $75 bill from the state because your average speed between booths was more than 10% of the stated speed limit. That $75 would be charged directly to your toll bill. It’s simple.

This could be implemented in no time, and with a relatively small budget (that would pay for itself quickly), with a simple state issued Mandatory Driver’s License Agreement.

A state mandated license agreement could be updated when new technologies enter the market. For example, what needs to change when autonomous vehicles enter the retail landscape?

If you oppose this idea, I encourage you to take a step back and think about why. It will always come down to the law. Rules are made to be broken, laws are not. If you speed (like I do, mind you) then you’re knowingly and intentionally breaking the law. Any aversion to automated testing is a personal plea to allow you to break the law. I know for a fact that I’d speed less (I’ve already been far more aware, and try to stay under 10%).

Pedestrian safety is an issue that needs to be addressed, and current methods are falling short. We have the technology to solve this. And we should.

The early days of VR were research (funded by the military), big business, health, and science. The latest generation is about intense immersive gaming – sweat, fatigue, adrenaline, and anxiety all present. The experiences are as genuine to your brain as they need to be.

As we move toward the future of VR, it’s important that we recognize its strengths and weaknesses. The immersion is real, the interaction is real, and the relationships are real, too. Affordability is no longer the barrier, with incredibly immersive HMD (Head Mounted Display) experiences starting at $276 and VR ready PCs at around $719 (less if you build your own). If you’re on a budget, Google’s Daydream platform is a good starting point, as is Samsung’s Gear VR platform– each under $100.

So what’s the opportunity? Here’s a fact: I haven’t seen a VR native spreadsheet, presentation software, or a word processor. No calendaring, time tracking, coding environments, email, you get the idea. In fact, I’ve seen very little in the productivity space that isn’t a simple github proof of concept done over a weekend to prove it can be done.

This isn’t to belittle the efforts of pioneers, to the contrary. It’s to point out that many of these were built before Sony sold 2 million PSVR systems, and Microsoft threw their hat into the VR ring with Windows Mixed Reality.

The opportunity is now.

Opportunity 1) games don’t require much in the way of input. In fact, many of today’s use cases don’t require a keyboard at all, and this is a good thing. Getting text into VR is a slow process: a) you learn to touch type, b) use a virtual keyboard with the same level of patience (and time) it took to learn the physical one (sometimes decades), or c) wait until dictation isn’t awkward in a shared physical space.

Opportunity 2) In the same way that the web changed what it meant to compute (“The network is the computer.” John Gage, Sun Microsystems, 1984), the web can change what it means to experience work. All of the major technology companies have web based versions of the basic productivity suites, and they’re all solid implementations. What does it look like to combine these with WebVR, an open, web based graphics library for virtual and augmented reality?

What’s stopping you from building TextEdit or Notepad for VR, using the WebVR A-Frame as the framework? Companies building VR tools for work today are going to be the Apple, Microsoft, and Google of the future. It’s an open, green pasture, and no one is on the field.

What do you think? Are we ready to start thinking about what it means to work in VR? Are you ready for meetings in a virtual shared space? Does VR allow home office workers to feel like a part of the team?

DFW Nouveau. 2013 to Present.

You’ve more than likely been a part of an event I’ve led (Dallas Startup Week, Dallas New Tech, BigDOCC (the 8 other spinoffs technically count as there were zero when I started the first two), Ignite DFW, Player’s Lunch, the “tunnel tour,” or you’ve at least heard my name attached to DFW and startups. It’s appeared in Dallas News, D-Magazine, Dallas Business Journal, Launch DFW (of course) and many others outside of the region. I’ve mentored and judged at The DEC, Startup Weekend, Lean Startup Machine, and dozens of other events.

None of this happens in a vacuum. When I first arrived in 2013, remarkable people welcomed me. Gabriella Draney Zielke started it all, Trey Bowles, Jennifer Conley, Joel Fontenot, George Barber, Matt Himelfarb, Matt Alexander, Pam Gerber, Daniel Oney, and many, many more helped the new guy from Boulder understand what was here, and who was doing what. That’s community. Every one of them: “How can I help?”

And that’s the “startup” side of my life. I’ve also been entrenched in the homelessness conversation: a dozen 40+ people meetings at Dallas City Hall that produced the Commission on Homelessness, and of course Dignity Field. I was the President of the Cedars Neighborhood Association (2015-2017), and routinely meet with people about my ideas in solving poverty issues. That too has landed my name in the press.

But that’s 2013 to present. To understand why I’m leaving you have to understand the full story. Some of you have heard this, hang in there, I’ll make it quick.

Early Dallas: 1994 to 2006

My good friend Bracken and I built several internet things in Dallas in the 1990’s: Apartments On-Demand (1994), Coupons On-Demand (1995), Classifieds On-Demand (1996), and finally sold one in MeetMeOnline.com (1997-1999). We did this with no support, no formal education (business, technical, etc.). In fact, we didn’t know a soul building anything like this in the 90’s. It was just us, building. I also ran Intelligent Networks, and zerologic corporation – both Apple related technology consulting companies (1993-2001). There are at least a dozen other experiments that never succeeded/got traction.

Boulder, CO. 2006 to 2013

While building HyperSites (in Dallas, 2001-2007), we decided to move the operation to Boulder, CO. We’d end up selling it in Boulder in 2007 (coincidentally, to Dallas based investors). That’s an important point, but the Boulder story doesn’t end there. Later came Callisto.fm (2010 to present), which evolved into Epic Playground (and MediaGauge). I also dabbled with GrillM (2009), Michael’s Garage (videos produced in my garage on how to build PCs from scratch), four podcasts (Boulder Open Podcast, Three Insight, Blipcasts, and OS Perspectives) and produced This Week in Techstars w/ David Cohen. I took over BOCC (2010) and started DOCC (open coffee clubs).

But Boulder was different. The power and confidence of being a part of that community was something that I hope everyone feels at some point. Sure it had its pain points (right Andrew?), but over all the experience was like getting a PHD in “startups.”

In fact, Andrew Hyde is one of the most influential people in my life. He gave of his time and energy constantly to help foster the very things I remember as great. He started Startup Weekend. By that, I don’t mean Startup Weekend Boulder. I mean Startup Weekend, period. He launched Boulder Startup Week, which I’d later implement in Dallas, and hundreds of others would all over the world. He also ran the largest Ignite event ever, in Boulder. But I digress.

Techstars would have a tremendous impact as well. Not just because two of the founders had committed a little money to the HyperSites round if we could get a lead (didn’t work out), but because that accelerator would bring in 10 new teams to Boulder every year, feeding the ecosystem with new blood. Eventually, it would have a more direct impact as my team and I went through Techstars Cloud in 2012.

Exodus 1.0

Over the course of the seven years in Boulder, several of its high profile members would leave – Andrew Hyde, Matt Galligan, Micah Baldwin, Rachel Ryle… and many more. Many of the teams that came in for Techstars would leave too, going back to their home towns, or on to other adventures.

How does the community respond with changes like this? There’s the natural “OMG, everyone’s leaving! What are we going to do!?” reaction. There’s the “I guess they weren’t committed to the community, man!” response. And the “Who needs them anyway, this place rocks!” response.

Something remarkable happens in a strong community though, as we’d come to find out. Other people step in, and step up. People that have played a role increase their visibility, and become the next change agents. New events, new relationships, and new opportunities for serendipity. Growth happens.

Today.

Instead of casting any doubt on the state of the DFW startup community, I’d encourage you instead figure out how to step up and take an active role in building the next version. Don’t just go to events, participate. Don’t just talk about a startup idea, build it. Don’t complain about things, take actionable steps to fix them (see The Five Why’s). Every strength and weakness in this community starts with you, dear reader. Be a part of something. Make it better by participating. Reporters/journalists, focus on the great things, and not the obvious drama… we need more from you. Use your power for good.

Back to us, and the fact that we’re leaving Dallas. The “why” is actually quite simple. Frankly, it has nothing at all to do with the Dallas Startup Community, and has everything to do with the fact that Heather and I want to do something epic. We want to travel the country in an RV for a few months, to experiment with a truly mobile lifestyle. We want to build a mini (550 sq. ft.) home by hand, and we want to be near Disney World when we do it. Remember, Heather is a Disney travel planner. But the bottom line is that we want to get the most out of life – today.

Heather and I wish you the best, and we’d be thrilled to have you along for the adventure. If you’ve ever dreamed of selling everything and hitting the road… follow us as we do exactly that: EpicMini.life. It might just inspire you to do the same.

Heather and I have been fascinated with smaller for a while. We proved we could do it when we moved from 3,400 square feet in the burbs to 1/2 that in The Cedars. We’ve arranged our lives around reducing our overhead, not increasing it. We are focusing on fewer “select” things. We took a trip in October with nothing more than a backpack each, including our tech, clothing, and toiletries. Flawless.

All of this talk has become more than a conversation, and we’d like to share what we have in store for 2017. I promised late last year that changes were coming, and it’s finally time to share the full scope! It’s a doozy.

We’ll be hosting a Facebook Live feed on Saturday at 5:30PM Central, and we hope you’ll join us. Many of you have reached out with specific questions about how you can make changes in your lives to live better with less, so we’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A too if the need arises!

Join us? This link will automatically point to the right place at 5:30 PM Central.

What follows is a short story about each piece, then a video showing how this piece fits today. The concepts, taken as a whole, will form the foundation of an idea that could potentially change how we get things done in real life. It’s worth the read, and it’s a doozy. Grab a cup of your favorite whatever.

As always, if you like this content, please share it so others can enjoy it too. You never know who will read these things… they might be the one to take this and actually change the world.

Input: the human voice.

Human-computer interaction (HCI) has taken many forms over the years. We know the keyboard and mouse, the stylus, touch, motion, and now of course we have person to person, or social chat. One of the fastest growing segments in tech is voice recognition, and owning the home of your users. This is voice to text to [internet/cloud/action] to text to voice.

Apple has Siri, Amazon has Alexa, Microsoft has Cortana, and Google has, well, “Hey Google.” All of these services empower their owners to ask questions about seemingly anything, to change the TV channel, to order more diapers, or close the garage. They’re all early from a technology standpoint, and have varying degrees of friendliness and usability. But the core is here, and they’ll only get better with time.

All you have to do is talk, in your native language, and magic (or algorithms) happens.

Input: plain old text.

Another interface is text to text. We know these as chatbots, and you interact with them through several input channels: Twitter, SMS, Facebook Messenger, and dozens of others. Companies like Conversable are doing a great job in this space: “I’d like a large cheese pizza delivered to my house. Use my saved payment method.”

While one is initiated by voice, and the other by text, they’re just hairs apart from a technology perspective. Speech to text is nothing new, it’s been a work in progress since the earliest times in computing. Add assisted intelligence to the text output, and now we’re cooking.

Need something? Just type it, and the tech will respond.

Input: human emotion.

While voice and text are great inputs, video is an even better input. Recognizing a person has become so trivial that it can be done with a simple API call. Technology can be sure it’s “you” before you interact with it. Microsoft uses this to automatically log you into XBOX with a Kinect device.

More than detecting who you are, computers can also detect emotion in video. This used to require a room at a university, and was only done as a part of a research project. Today, we can accomplish this with just about any standard web cam, or a front facing camera on a smartphone.

We know it’s you, and how you’re feeling at this precise moment. “How can I help, Michael?”

Output: human voice.

Even the best synthesized voices still sound, well, electronic. Enter a new technology from Adobe called “vocal editing.” This tech was demoed at Adobe MAX 2016, and uses a recorded voice to allow the “photoshopping” of that voice.

It’s early, but this tech exists, and could be the voice interaction component of this idea. This demo uses a recording, just a few seconds long. Imagine what would be possible with dozens of hours of training recordings. The only input required after that is text. Text is the primary output of all of today’s Assisted Intelligence (AI) applications, like Watson for example (IBM Watson, How to build a chatbot in 6 minutes). This the next logical step:

This technology could easily be used in real time to allow “bots” to make calls to humans, and the humans would be none the wiser. They could even use your voice, if you allow it to. Bots can take voice as input (voice to text), and output text which gets sent back in the form of audio (text to voice), using this technology.

Any text input, from any source, with one remarkably consistent voice response. Maybe even your own.

Display: character-persistent, animated avatar.

When I had the original idea, the avatar the user interacted with was a simple CGI character, an obviously rendered character that would remove any interaction distraction. I wanted every touch point with the the avatar to be as simple as possible, so you’d spend all of your time focused on the task, and not distracted by its interface. This may still be the best option, but I see that gap closing quickly.

Here’s Faceshift at GDC 2015 (since acquired by Apple), but others (like Faceware, nagapi) exist in the market. Notice two completely different actors playing the same character.

Disney Research Labs has similar technology already in use.

The movie viewer never sees the actor, only the character. With the voice tech above, and a character representation, we’ve removed two persistence problems. Voice and character. Any one (or thing, including AI) can provide consistent human voice, and anyone (sex, build, race, location, whatever) can power the physical representation.

Every single time you interact with the tech, the avatar looks and sounds the same – no matter who the actor is on the other side of the animation.

Display: the human presence.

We’ve seen remarkable leaps forward in what is an age old (in computer years) tech called motion capture. Meat space actors wear a variety of sensors and gadgets to allow computers to record the motion for later use. This used to appear in only the best of the best games and movies. Just about everything you see in major releases today (from a CGI standpoint) is based on motion capture, if it involves humans.

Traditional motion capture was just a part of the process though. Scenes would be shot on a green screen, then through (sometimes) years of perfection, a final movie would grace theater screens or appear in an epic game release.

At Siggraph 2016, Epic Games (makers of the Unreal Engine) featured a new process that amounts to “just in time acting.” Instead of capturing the actors, then using that motion later in scenes, Epic used a process that rendered results in real-time. It’s mind blowing – using the camera in the game engine to record a motion captured actor-in game.

Display: enhanced human presence.

The problem with CGI and humans is something called the uncanny valley: “a computer-generated figure or humanoid robot bearing a near-identical resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or revulsion in the person viewing it.”

Explained in Texan: “Well, it might be close, but it ain’t quite right.” It may be getting close enough.

There are several ways humans protect themselves from attack. One of the simplest is recognizing fellow humans. Sometimes they may want to harm us, other times hug us. But either way, we’re really, really good at recognizing deception.

Until now. This piece was created with Lightwave, Sculptris and Krita, and composited with Davinci Resolve Lite – in 2014 (two years ago).

In 2015, a video was released by USC ICT Graphics Laboratory showing how advanced skin rendering techniques can be deceptively good. Another video by Disney’s Research Hub shows a remarkable technology for rendering eyes. And earlier this year, Nvidia released a new demo of Ira.

Display: enhanced facial reenactment method.

An advancement I didn’t expect to see so soon takes standard digital video footage (a newscast or a YouTube video, for example) and allows an actor, using a standard webcam, to transfer expressions to the target actor. It’s a clever technology.

If the technology works as well as it appears to with simple, low resolution sources, imagine what could be done with professional actors creating 48 hours of source video. That could in turn be targeted by digital actors using a combination of the above video technologies. The interface to this technology would be a recorded human actor with transferred facial expressions from a digital actor, all rendered in real time.

Bringing it all together.

Inputs: voice, text, video, and emotion.

Processing: assisted intelligence, APIs: input to voice.

Outputs: text, human voice, and/or photo realistic CGI/animated characters/human.

But wait. There’s one more thing.

This is great for an AI powered personal assistant. Marrying all of this tech together into one simple and cohesive interface would make everything else feel amateur.

But what if we could add an actual person (or 4) to the mix. Real human beings available 24/7 (in shifts) to note your account, or to call your next appointment to let them know you’ve arrived early? What if your assistant could call the local transit agency, or cancel a flight using voice in whatever the local language happens to be?

All of the technologies mentioned above create and intentional gap between the inputs and outputs, allowing any number of “actors” in between. If a task is suitable for a bot to handle, then a bot should handle it, and reply. If a human is required, the user should never know a human stepped in to take control of the interaction. The voice, text, and display will be 100% the same to protect the experience.

Think about it: any language in (from either side), and your specific language and video representation out. If there were a maximum of four people that knew you more intimately than your family, but you knew you’d never, ever have to think about this problem again, would you do it?

In summary, I’ve outlined a highly personalized virtual assistant, with 100% uptime and omnipresence across every device and interface you have (including VR, but let’s save that for another time).

What you won’t know is whether you’re talking to a human, or machine.

If you liked this, please share it. Your friends will dig it too. Thank you!

First, failure is OK, and is actually encouraged as long as you do it early (fail fast), or really, really learn from it. Dissect the event and learn from it, you'll be better prepared for new challenges.

Second, we're encouraged to “pivot,” or change direction if that direction is more inline with what we feel is right for the company. A famous example here is that Caterina Fake's Flickr started as a gaming website, and made a pivot to social photo sharing early on.

These two thought processes are also the meat of happiness in your personal lives.

As you live your lives, you'll have successes and failures – as long as you're trying, it's inevitable. You've been taught only to embrace the success and view the rest as, well, failure – and failure in the bad way.

I encourage you to see the positives and negatives in every situation. So what if you didn't do as well on the test, or so what if you missed the bus. So what if you've been laid off, maybe you should stop “looking for a job” and go make one!

If that frightens you, keep in mind that every single one of us is ultimately self employed. Our job, no matter the official description, is to do the task we have before us as well was we can, with the tools available. If your “boss” or customers aren't happy with the product, what happens?

Many people are doing things outside of their chosen degree. Maybe you have a masters in theology, but opening a flower shop is more interesting? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Do you have a degree in something with no great financial opportunities ahead? Here's an idea: pivot. The most important thing you can do with your time is to keep the psychological peace at home. The definition of peace “at home” means different things to different people, though one thing is common and always near the top of the list: being able to pay your bills.

So, go get a job at Target. Or maybe a local coffee shop. Put yourself outside of your routine – it's almost guaranteed to present amazing opportunities, doing things you never would have imagined.

You have the power to change everything about yourself – every second of every day. Embrace it.

With the success of StartupWeekend, Andrew Hyde will be traveling to different cities around the country helping other like minded individuals get the same thing going in their neighborhood. Unfortunately I can't make those, but I'm every bit as excited to see the turnout and resulting products as I was to see ours. It is exciting to watch it evolve and improve. Andrew will have a blast with it and with the team he's surrounded himself with, I see good things for him.

StartupWeekend in Boulder had 58 participants that dedicated roughly 54 hours in a row to the project. The premise was to show up at 6PM on friday, and leave at midnight Monday morning. Of course it didn't work out that way, but that was the idea. I know several fantastic people that didn't participate because of time constraints. They dropped by to see how it was going, but didn't stay. I am fortunate enough to have a wife that understands me… so much so that she gave me a pass for the entire weekend.

My participation in StartupWeekend was inevitable. I'm a serial entrepreneur and can't stop thinking about ways to improve the world in some way or another. Just look at my Ideas section for a sampling of what I mean. As a matter of fact, while on a recent trip with a good friend of mine through the Tetons and Yellowstone, we came up with no less than 10 solid ideas in the course of normal conversation. We weren't brainstorming ideas, just talking. That is who I am, who we are.

StartupWeekend has been on my mind since it happened. There are people around the world that just want to contribute to something. They want to see an idea through from start to finish because that is their nature. They have spare cycles here and there, but can't or don't want to commit to anything long term or even for more than a few hours per week. Retirees, stay at home parents with successful careers, busy serial entrepreneurs, students… you get the idea.

These people need something to work on, something to contribute to, with the very real possibility of financial reward. I've been talking with friends about a project called “Social Ingenuity,” and while it isn't ready for general feedback, it is close enough to bring it to light. It is a combination of two concepts: idealRealm (an idea Bracken, Rich, and I had in 2003), and the reality that the world is indeed flat… there are people all over the world that want to do stuff, just to do it. This project is significant, so significant that I'm going to focus all of my energy on HyperSites and “Social Ingenuity.”

Here's a teaser: Good ideas are a dime a dozen. We don't have the time/resources/specialized knowledge to move most of our ideas beyond the napkin phase. We're busy… we have other demands of our time. Jobs, kids, family, hobbies, exercise… we just don't have time. But what if that wasn't the case? What if you could test your idea's viability, have it implemented, and possibly funded?

Stay tuned.

There are 70 people signed up. Think about that for a second. An entire company's worth of high level talent, coming together to build something cool over the course of a weekend.

For updates on the project, keep an eye on http://startupweekend.com

I have to thank my wife Heather for her support on this. She'll be responsible fully for Z and will have little time to herself while I'm off creating something cool with my friends. She has plans to take our 3 year old son Z to the Colorado Renaissance festival on Sunday. She'll have fun! Thanks Heather! Don't forget about daycare!

Chris and I were banging out grillm when I read about this event for the first time. We looked at each other and said, “Wow, what a great idea!”

Unlike our two man show, this a is a group of world class people teaming up from all areas of business. Management, funding, marketing, bizdev, application development… everything you really need to create a viable business.

I can't wait for the result, there are some phenomenal people involved. I'll be just back from the Butte, ready and refreshed. Who's catering coffee and pizza? Brad?

StartupWeekend: “July 6-8 in Boulder, Colorado. Let's create a startup.”

http://grillm.com is a simple social networking site… with a twist. You don't know anyone and the way you get friends is to earn their friendship by asking questions. You click their picture and ask a question. They answer the question and if you like the answer, you ask another and so on.

Eventually you'll decide to add them as a friend, and when you do they'll have access to your full profile. That access grants them the ability to see your myspace, facebook, vox, etc. accounts and to see your grillm.com friends as well. If they like you, then they'll probably like your friends, too.

Remember, you know nothing about these people before you ask them a question… you've only see their icon.

This thing is cool, and if the first private beta day was any indication, we're going to be busy guys keeping up with the requests… and traffic. It is a good thing we have H5's app servers to power it

Thanks to everyone that signed up, you guys ROCK! See it for yourself here: http://grillm.com