A Spiderman Robot, and Big Moves From Google This Week
Emerging Tech Roundup — February 10
The Quantious team’s top picks for timely trending news in the tech world.
This week in tech: Google Shares Gmail Updates, ‘Spiderman’ Robot Uses Tape Measures as its Web, Google Announces ChatGPT Rival Bard, Scientists Discover New Layer of Earth’s Crust, Robot Uses AI to Paint, Google Maps Launches Immersive View, and DoorDash Introduces New Safety Features.
Your Gmail is Permanently Changing Soon — Here’s What to Expect
(Tech Radar, February 1)
Gmail is rolling out a number of updates to offer users a more complete Google Workspace experience. Among the new updates is enhanced video conferencing and chat options, all located now in one central location. This will soon be available to all Google Workspace user accounts, G Suite Basic users, and Business customers.
This Robot Uses Tape Measures Like Spider-Man Uses Webs
(Gizmodo, February 3)
Researchers at Stanford University have created a robot that can navigate rough terrain with the help of a tape measure. “ReachBot” has grippers — able to lock onto objects like rocks, drag them closer, grab samples, or reposition the rock as an anchor point for its next move. NASA hopes ReachBot can be used to explore underground caves and caverns, including caves on other planets.
Google Announces ChatGPT Rival “Bard”, With Wider Availability in ‘Coming Weeks’
(The Verge, February 6)
Google is working on a competitor to ChatGPT. The experimental conversational AI service, dubbed “Bard”, is able to answer users’ questions and participate in conversations using information pulled from the web. The company is only making the software available to a limited group of testers at this time.
Melt: Scientists Discover a New Molten Layer Under Earth’s Crust
(Interesting Engineering, February 6)
Researchers have found a unique new layer under the Earth’s crust. The recently discovered layer is called “melt” by the research team and is composed of hot molten rocks. The findings suggest that not everything containing molten rocks is supposed to be linked to plate tectonics, adding a new level of complexity to studying the planet’s interiors.
This Bizarre Robot Uses AI to Paint Whatever You Tell It To
(CNET, February 8)
Students at Carnegie Mellon University have created an AI-driven robot, Frida, that transforms prompts into physical paintings. Frida uses its robotic arm and fixed paintbrush to create the artwork and can alter the piece as the art progresses. The robot is able to create art based on artistic styles, flash photographs, and audio or musical prompts.
Google Maps Launches Immersive View in Five Cities, Will Roll Out ‘Glanceable Directions’ Soon
(Tech Crunch, February 8)
Google is launching new updates to make their Maps app more immersive and intuitive. Immersive View, designed to help users plan ahead and get a deeper understanding of a city, fuses billions of Street View and aerial images to create a digital model of the world. The update uses an advanced AI technique called NeRF (neural radiance fields) to show details about the weather, traffic, nearby restaurants, and how busy a location may be.
DoorDash Introduces New Safety Features for Riders Including Reduced Notifications
(Tech Crunch, February 9)
DoorDash is introducing new features to reduce notifications and improve safety for riders. The update will mute notifications unless it’s regarding a delivery address change, is a message from a customer, or pertains to a reassigned order. The company will also request customers not to text delivery people while driving, encouraging users to be mindful that their Dasher cannot respond while on the road.
