Blockchain was the dominant theme at DeveloperWeek 2018. Operating environments like the Friend Unifying Platform (FriendUP) made discussions of a decentralized internet more real. The new California Gold Rush was fueled by connected technologies, as well as the opportunities they might bring to programmers, industry professionals and students.

Over 8000 people attended the DeveloperWeek held at the Oakland Convention Center, February 3–7, 2018. Events are also held under the DeveloperWeek brand in New York and Austin, Texas.

Introduction

Blockchain, distributed computing and cloud based operating environments played a fundamental role at DeveloperWeek 2018. The hype surrounding blockchain — a way of encrypting information across a network — was immediately apparent. Though the term blockchain was linked to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, little was said about ledger systems in general. How the need for a more efficient way to exchange information created an applied solution based around cryptography. How blockchain as a form of applied mathematics may ultimately lead to secure networks in distributed or cloud based computing workflows. The pathway that would enable users to reach this point was yet to be determined as of February 2018. That is, based on the hype cycle in play at DeveloperWeek and the San Francisco Bay Area in general.

Berkeley Blockchain MeetUp. Part of a strategy to marry the University of California Berkeley research community to venture capitalist funding and other investment via “the blockchain”.

Looking Beyond Buzzwords

The way in which buzzwords were used at DeveloperWeek made it hard not to draw parallels to the California Gold Rush of 1848–1855. This was especially the case every time the word blockchain was mentioned. It had clearly become the term to use in the local technology scene — a signifier of knowledge used to normalize rapid change. It miraculously transformed its user into an expert (also seen at the Berkeley Blockchain Meetup later in the week). That is, regardless as to whether the person wielding it knew much about cryptography or not.

Blockchain can be used to encrypt information across a network of computers. The real power of Blockchain is based in cryptography — though it has been popularized because of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

This aspect of the trip acted as a general reminder. Ingrained within the culture of California’s Bay Area was a desire to maintain a constant sense of newness. It was something that had developed over a long period of time. Something that was last experienced to this extreme when the dot com bubble reached its zenith in the late 1990s. Potential reward of a better life was seen to come for those who reacted quickly to emerging opportunities. This time around it was through blockchain. In some respects, however, the need to capitalize on opportunity made it no different to reasons why an estimated 300,000 people had migrated to California. That is, as a result of the Gold Rush experienced in the mid 1800s.

After The Gold Rush

The area around Market Street and the Transamerica Pyramid — once a shallow body of water called Yerba Buena Cove — is a graveyard for many ships. Vessels dating back to the time of the California Gold Rush, 1848–1855. There is no noticeable evidence for the existence of Yerba Buena Cove in the parts of San Francisco where it was once located. It was filled in over a short period of time. So, that the new area of land created could be claimed for property development. One of the most famous ships from that time is the Niantic. It was intentionally run aground — converted into a warehouse, saloon and hotel before it burnt down two in 1851. The story of the Niantic and its legacy is discussed later in the Reality Computing section of this article.

With that California Gold Rush, however, also came physical signs of expansion like buildings and streets. These laid the foundation for an Infrastructure of Things — channels of communication like transport and telecommunication networks. Features on the landscape that encourage communities to form, ideas to spread and countercultures to emerge.

The Homebrew Computer Club (HCC) was an enthusiast group. It played a fundamental role in helping to define what the architecture and feel of personal computers would look like. Lee Felsenstein — moderator of the HCC— grew up in and around the counterculture scene in the US , 1950s — 1960s. Famous alumni of the club include Steve Wozniak — one of the main founders of Apple. Folklore includes a letter written to the HCC by Bill Gates. This helped shape his views on paying for software, which he implemented at Microsoft.

The conditions that helped create personal computing, for example, were not solely defined by technology development. Cooperative countercultures like the Beat Generation, the Free Speech Movement and hippies were the sociological building blocks upon which it was built. The California Gold Rush set the tone for these countercultures because it created the physical infrastructure that enabled them to exist.

The Vesuvio Cafe is a place where barriers of communication broke down after World War II. The prehistory of the Silicon Valley technology scene was fully realized because similar meeting grounds existed all over the San Francisco Bay Area (listen to the podcast below for more details). The Vesuvio Cafe was frequented by key figures of the Beat Generation literary movement like Jack Kerouac. It also fed into the San Francisco Renaissance, which emerged shortly after World War II in 1947.

FriendUP

Rapid growth and fast paced change seldom lend themselves to time for deep reflection. It was, however, interesting to reflect upon the idea of a new Gold Rush as DeveloperWeek played out — especially when being at a conference with the team at Friend Software Labs. The Norway based company had taken time to develop its Friend Unifying Platform (FriendUP). It was not following a trend linked to connected technologies or blockchain. Instead, it spotted that the internet was evolving circa 2014. Private and public networks of information were becoming more affordable. FriendUP was the reaction to this fact.

DeveloperWeek 2018. Attendees expressed a clear desire to better understand and shape emerging technologies — especially those tethered to an evolved internet. FriendUP provided a clear infrastructure that could help with this. It was what the terminal interface had been to mainframe based computers. It was a window to understanding the information contained within the machines being used.

The FriendUP operating environment was also well received. It was a working product at a time when blockchain as a concept was still in its infancy for most people. The technologies and infrastructures upon which FriendUP was built were now in fashion. It was an exciting time for Hogne Titlestad — Chief Architect of the Friend Unifying Platform. The presentation he and Paul Lassa gave satisfied the current needs of their audience. It gave people an operating system that existed over the internet.

Using the Friend Unifying Platform to Empower Developers

FriendUP was four years old by the time DeveloperWeek came around. It was available to download and use through Github, which made it stand out at the Oakland Convention Center. Expectations linked to “the blockchain” clearly fell in line with the distributed computing ambitions of Friend Software Labs. Its potential was showcased via person to person demonstrations of FriendUP and presentations like Using the Friend Unifying Platform to Empower Developers. The future of secure and efficient networked computing was not just conference floor hype. FriendUP demonstrated that the relationship between hardware, software and code had evolved. That it was an already established technology — linked to a form of connectivity DeveloperWeek wanted to tap into.

Michael Beale — Software Engineer at Autodesk — holding a mixed reality HoloLens headset from Microsoft. Autodesk products like Forge had a strong presence at DeveloperWeek. It was part of a portfolio of applications that were a reaction to distributed computing. Specifically, its potential to be used for reality based 3D design workflows. The success of a Sketchbook Pro application for iOS phones was the starting point for distributed computing at Autodesk in 2009.

Reality Computing

Reality based computing is important to consider when developing a roadmap for an internet based operating environment like FriendUP. It centers around specific design and documentation applications. Surfaces are typically generated as 3D points, polygons and triangles. The computational power required to work with this information can still be to supercomputer standard.

CloudCompare for Windows running in FriendUP via Liberator. The initial case study — solid surface mesh of a medieval inscribed stone — demonstrated that 3D based workflows could be supported over a Friend based network. It is an example that showcased one way in which FriendUP could be used in a paperless workflow. Though the next phase for this application would need to include accelerated performance and full shader implementation.

There is, for instance, a difference in using a network of computers to work on point cloud based information to that of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) based information. Point clouds are dense files — typically made up of x, y, z, r, g, b and greyscale information. Whereas, AR and VR can be more forgiving in terms of computer processing. They can be used as an extension to display technologies — typically based on high or low resolution surface generation or stream rate. They can be used via mobile devices, with applications like Pokemon Go serving as a worthwhile example to explore. Even video streaming sites like YouTube can be used to provide VR experiences.

Depth sensing devices like Project Tango started to find a use in AR and VR based applications. That is, before the platform was absorbed into ARCore . It is inevitable that AR and VR will continue to grow in popularity.

This is especially the case as technologies related to sensors and sensing continue to get smaller, as well as more affordable. For example, legacy platforms like ARCore have already emerged from the embers of Project Tango. The latter being an attempt by Google engineers to bring 3D imaging to smartphones and tablets.

Reality based computing is even changing the way manufacture and production can take place — be it an image or a product. Hence, the rise of Maker communities and terms like Industry 4.0.

San Francisco Makers

Developments in computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacture (CAM), for example, are still driven at a technical level by infrastructure and asset management based applications. Projects like The Bay Lights in San Francisco also demonstrate how the emergence of a maker culture — users working with CAD and CAM outside of the traditional factory setup — is transforming once specialist solutions and expanding horizons in terms of application.

The western span of the Bay Bridge, as of February 2018. Low cost 3D printing and a photograph to 3D image workflow made The Bay Lights project a reality.

The Bay Lights

As a designer, Gian Pablo Villamil replicated a 4 inch piece of suspension cable from the Bay Bridge using 123D Catch derived meshes and 3D printing. The plastic facsimile produced using a MakerBot 3D Printer informed the design of a clip that made the project possible — preventing wear on the wires that supplied power to 25,000 LED lights.

A total of 50,000 clips were produced in order to make the project work. Each was used to keep wires in place across 1.8 miles of bridge at every 12 inches of cable. Using real world data provided a simple solution to an otherwise complex problem.

Nvidia

The trip to Nvidia’s new facility in Santa Clara resulted in discussions about networked 3D graphics and open standards like Khronos. For example, solid surface mesh or 3D point cloud applications remain difficult test subjects for distributed computing. Running this type of information through FriendUP is important to its evolution as an operating environment — especially as reality based apps and workflows become the norm on smart devices. In fact, they serve as present indicators to how distributed computing will continue to develop, as discussed via Niantic Labs below.

Adam P. Spring and Hogne Titlestad at the Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, which opened in October 2017. Gensler designed the building as a giant triangle — paying homage to Nvidia and 3D geometry in general. The vehicle in the background is a self driving Formula E car.

Connected Futures…Other Than “The Blockchain”

AR is changing the way connected technologies like smart phones and tablets are being used. User interactions in mixed reality applications — where real world information is combined with digital artifacts— give insight into how distributed computing will continue to evolve. How processor intensive applications will only be used more frequently as time goes on.

For example, apps like Ingress — the gaming platform Pokemon Go was based on — fuse real world maps with a sci fi driven narrative. The game was designed to be a gateway for bringing people together via AR. It raises questions about how users interact with technology and access information.

Ingress

Ingress uses real world locations and monuments collected on Android devices. The Enlightened and the Resistance battle to save humanity by supporting or opposing an alien race called the Shapers.

Ingress was created by Niantic Labs — a startup company that is part of Google. The company took its name from a whaling vessel that brought people to San Francisco in the California Gold Rush, 1849.

The Niantic Hotel with Storehouse nearby, 1850.

The boat was run aground and converted into a warehouse, saloon and hotel in 1850. Since that time, parts of the ship have been destroyed by fire, incorporated into new buildings and rediscovered in situ . It is literally part of the fabric of San Francisco as a city.

Parts of the Niantic were rediscovered on the corner between Clay and Sansome in 1978. Fragments of the bow remain under a parking lot in San Francisco.

Bruce Upbin, a writer for Forbes, made an astute comment about Niantic as a name: “A giant sailing ship buried beneath the inattentive thrum of high-tech SF–it’s an all-too-perfect metaphor for a team of people using tech to unearth hidden context.”

The Niantic and other ships from the California Gold Rush era remain hidden under the streets of San Francisco. They act as an unseen but ever present reminder. How rapid change and development can be seen within the material culture of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Shifting Perspective

Games like Ingress are designed so that mobile devices are used to interact with the real world. It is a process John Hanke, founder of Niantic Labs and creator of Google Earth, has described as “seeing with new eyes.” In other words, Ingress has been designed to engage with reality as opposed to divert attention away from it. Mobile devices are used to bring people together.

User Engagement

Ingress is a focal point for users. It has utilized information and communication technologies (ICT) to bring people together from all over the world. Simulacrum — a digital anthropology blog written by a University College London (UCL) based researcher — even used social media to examine the demographic of Ingress players.

A complete breakdown of this social media driven survey was originally located at http://www1.simulacrum.cc/ . The site can now be retrieved via WayBackMachine at Archive.org

Endgame

Startups like Niantic Labs are using AR to bring different user communities together. On a base level, Ingress could be seen as a digitally fueled role playing game (RPG). It is, however, not as simple as that.

Ingress is location aware and interactive. It is driven by handheld computers that contain multiple sensors. Abandoned releases like Endgame were going to build upon lessons learnt by Hanke and the team at Niantic Labs. The AR experience would be incorporated into other forms of entertainment, such as novels and films. Social media would also continue to play a vital role in bringing users together.

Summary

DeveloperWeek 2018 came at a time when a new gold rush was enveloping the San Francisco Bay Area. Where prospects of a future made better by connected technologies generated excitement, as well as expectations not dissimilar to those of prospectors and miners. Those people who made the area what it is today.

Aspirations tethered to a better way of living — which was an integral part of the California Gold Rush — were still alive in 2018. Blockchain was seen to be the next rich vein of wealth ready to be mined. It would not, however, be the last. That is, in a place where the future was always in sight but the past (and the information that could be gained from it) remained hidden in plain sight.