Welcome to The Immersive Lens - the show where emerging tech meets creativity, education, and real-world impact. Hosted by Paul Engin (Professor of New Media) and Dave Ghidiu (Professor of Computer Science) at Finger Lakes Community College, this podcast dives into the technologies and creative innovations reshaping how we live, work, and learn - from AI and augmented reality to the future of media, design, and learning.

In this episode, Paul and Dave launch their first-ever multi-part series focused on "Frontier Models" - the heavy hitters of the AI world like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. The discussion begins with a fascinating look at Paul’s hands-on demo of the Meta AR glasses, which feature live captioning and "bone conduction" audio, setting the stage for how AI is escaping the screen and entering our physical world. They also share a "vibe coding" success story where Dave used Claude to build a functional medical monitoring app for a doctor friend in under an hour, illustrating the power of subject-matter expertise paired with AI.

The core of the episode evaluates the OpenAI ecosystem, covering everything from the standard ChatGPT interface to specialized tools like Codex for programming and the Atlas web browser. While they acknowledge OpenAI's "first-to-market" advantage, the hosts provide a surprisingly critical perspective, ultimately labeling the current suite as "mid-tier" compared to emerging competitors. The final verdict suggests that while OpenAI is a solid entry point, the "switching cost" for users to move to other platforms is lowering, and the race for AI dominance is far from over.

https://www.vidday.com/

Meta Glasses

https://www.meta.com/ai-glasses/shop-all/

Meta Security Researcher's AI Agent Accidentally Deleted Her Emails

https://www.pcmag.com/news/meta-security-researchers-openclaw-ai-agent-accidentally-deleted-her-emails

EKG Simulator

https://inlineteaching.com/medical/ekg/

A Timeline of the Anthropic-Pentagon Dispute

https://www.techpolicy.press/a-timeline-of-the-anthropic-pentagon-dispute/

Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads mocking AI with ads helped push Claude’s app into the top 10

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/13/anthropics-super-bowl-ads-mocking-ai-with-ads-helped-push-claudes-app-into-the-top-10/

ChatGPT

https://chatgpt.com/

ChatGPT Codex

https://chatgpt.com/codex

ChatGPT Atlas Browser

https://chatgpt.com/atlas/

ChatGPT - Custom GPTs

https://chatgpt.com/gpts

ChatGPT Video - Sora

https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001152-what-to-know-about-the-sora-discontinuation

Gemini - Bring in chats from other AI

https://gemini.google/import-memory/

Mentions: @MIT @Apple @Samsung @Meta @Android @Google

FLX AI Hub: https://www.flcc.edu/ai/

FLCC New Media: https://newmedia.csc.flcc.cloud/

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Recorded at Finger Lakes Community College in the heart of New York’s Finger Lakes region.

https://www.flcc.edu/

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Episode 14: Frontier AI Models: Open AI