Capabilities of AI Grow Across Leading Companies

Emerging Tech Roundup — October 15

The Quantious team’s top picks for timely trending news in the tech world.

This week in tech: Facebook is launching their creator fund for Horizon Worlds, an ‘Audio’ hub, and Ego4D, Pepsi brings Josh Allen to fans’ living rooms, Snapchat rolls out new safety features, Bank of America trains staff using VR, and Google prevents high risk with security keys.

Facebook is Investing Millions into a User-created Metaverse

(CNET, October 7)

Facebook just announced a $10 million creator fund for Horizon Worlds in hope of attracting early adopters. The metaverse offers in-app coding tools for creators and portal doors to other spaces, including games and events. For now, the concerts and events in Worlds offer limited attendance space and there is no set release date for the public.

AR Technology Brings Bills QB Josh Allen into Your Living Room

(Buffalo News, October 7)

Pepsi launched an interactive augmented reality experience for fans through the “Made for Bills Watching” campaign. Bills fans can scan Pepsi’s QR code to enjoy an interactive AR cooking experience with Bills Quarterback Josh Allen, from the comfort of their home.

Snapchat Rolls Out Safety Features to Cut Down Illegal Drug Sales

(Insider, October 7)

Snapchat is introducing new safety features to its app, including Heads Up, which will provide the user with educational materials about drugs when they search certain key words. Snapchat is also planning to enhance their keyword detection system to flag drug sales over the app.

Bank of America Turn to VR for Training Staff

(Biz Journals, October 7)

Bank of America plans to disburse 50,000 headsets to their branches for staff training. Branch members will be trained on building client relationships, customer service, listening, and exhibiting empathy. So far, employees have reported increased confidence from the pilot training.

Google Delivers 10,000 Security Keys to High Risk Users

(Google, October 8)

Google has partnered with organizations to provide over 10,000 free security keys to high risk users throughout 2021. Google’s Advanced Protection Program is available to everyone, but was created for users who are more likely to be targeted online, such as elected officials, political campaigns, human right activists and journalists. One of the partnered organizations is the UN, where Google offers support to high risk women.

Facebook Launches an ‘Audio’ Hub in the US for Podcasts, Live Audio, and Short-form Clips

(TechCrunch, October 11)

Facebook launched Live Audio Rooms in June for U.S. public figures, and is now rolling this out to creators outside the U.S. Facebook audio investment expansion also includes the launch of Soundbites, which offers short audio clips. Soundbites has been in testing since June is will also be rolling out to more creators in the U.S. Recently, Facebook just officially launched Audio, an app for all of its audio content, where users can find new creators and receive personalized recommendations.

Facebook Introduces Ego4D: 3,000 Hours of Interactive, Egocentric Video

(Facebook AI, October 14)

After collaborating with various reputable universities, Facebook is rolling out 3,025 hours of video scenarios from 74 worldwide locations. Some of the video has audio included as well. Facebook plans to train AI assistants on various tasks using the video, including social interactions, forecasting, episodic memory, and more.