• Ultra-cold-atom quantum compasses using rubidium were discussed as a way to cut submarine positional drift from ~1 km to ~1 m per day, yet no open-source details have surfaced since 2014; meanwhile NIST has shrunk the concept into a MEMS gyroscope that fits in a mini-refrigerator.  
• Obsolete TI TALP1000B analog micromirror arrays were identified as scarce but still-available parts capable of joystick-controlled laser steering, while Sony’s curved image sensors and Shimadzu concave diffraction gratings were cited as parallel advances that simplify optical systems.  
• Project Tango’s depth-sensing technology has matured into commercial devices such as the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and Asus ZenFone AR, illustrating the rapid transition from research prototypes to consumer AR hardware.  
• Participants criticized mainstream VR headsets for ignoring human saccade dynamics, sharing links to saccade-contingent updating research and Valve’s judder-fixing blog post as evidence of how eye-movement-aware rendering could improve immersion.  
• Google’s Soli radar chip for millimeter-wave gesture recognition was lamented as an “awesome thing abandoned by Google,” though some speculated that development continues within ATAP.  
• DIY neuro-modulation remains active in the community, with one participant asking who is currently experimenting with trans-cranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS).  
• A UC Berkeley student job posting (https://www.sujobopps.com/postings/69030) was circulated, prompting speculation that compensation might be offered in Bitcoin, highlighting the intersection of academia and cryptocurrency.  
• Spanish researchers have 3-D bioprinted human skin (https://phys.org/news/2017-01-spanish-scientists-d-bioprinter-human.html), underscoring steady progress in bio-fabrication and regenerative medicine.  
• The channel’s tooling preferences were revealed in a brief exchange praising OpenSCAD while criticizing FreeCAD, reflecting practical priorities in open-source hardware design workflows.