This Week’s Advancements in Tech Will Save the Lives of Humans and Food
Emerging Tech Roundup — April 30
The Quantious team’s top picks for timely trending news in the tech world.
This week in tech: Facebook’s Oculus revealed its more natural looking avatars, AR interface was introduced to assist workers during critical missions, Jolly Good developed VR digital therapeutics, London AI startup partners with NHS for better patient predictions, AI develops an ear for birdsong, Sacramento uses VR police training to recreate real-world encounters, and Morton’s AR project addresses the problem of food waste.
Facebook’s Oculus Revealing Its More Expressive and Natural Looking Avatars
(Digital Information World, April 25)
Oculus is updating their avatars in select video games including Epic Roller Coasters, PokerStarsVR, and Topgolf with Pro Putt. Expected to be available by the end of 2021, the new avatars will have many more customizable, behavioral, human-like features and will no longer have a male/female gender toggle. The updated avatars are expected to appear across applications, outside of VR games. If the user wants to, they can use their avatar on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and more. New avatars can be created on Quest and Quest 2 headsets.
An AR Interface to Assist Human Agents During Critical Missions
(TechXplore, April 26)
Researchers at Polytechnique Montreal have developed an AR interface to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by using a head-mounted display (HMD). These technological advancements could help front-line workers see in situations where they can’t rely on their own eyes, such as when firefighting or on military missions. The team is planning to continue research on how to apply the same AR technology to other areas that could benefit from it, such as in hospitals and airplane cockpits.
Jolly Good/Teijin Pharma Develop VR Digital Therapeutics for Depression
(PharmaPhorum, April 26)
Jolly Good plans to use their expertise in VR and AI with application to the medical field to advance human understanding. A few of the areas they plan to target include mental health, physical health, disabilities awareness (and support), and general rehabilitation. Teijin Pharma will be contributing their knowledge and collection of resources in both healthcare and IT to the advancements.
London AI Startup Faculty Partners with NHS to Make Better Predictions for Patients’ Requirements
(UKTech, April 26)
Faculty pairs with NHS with intent to use AI to deepen capabilities, including making better predictions for patients and their needs. The data collected during the pandemic over the past year, such as testing data and hospital records, will help increase accuracy of the technology. The most anticipated AI development with the NHS is the Early Warning System (EWS), which will warn hospitals of possible spikes in cases so that they can prepare accordingly.
Artificial Intelligence Develops an Ear for Birdsong
(Scientific American, April 26)
Biologists and scientists are working together to pair recordings of nature with AI. This pairing will lead to advancements helping us better understand a plethora of insights, including how human practices affect a population, how natural catastrophes (such as wildfires) affect populations, and how species can recover from such catastrophes. BirdNET, an avian-sound-recognition system built by Stefan Kahl, a machine-learning expert, is used to make sense of recording samples collected by biologists. Scientists can further analyze animal interactions and breeding activity, track migration, and examine population variation from season to season. Although AI innovations like BirdNET still have a long road of development ahead of them, they certainly allow for hope in our future of studying animals. In the future, scientists anticipate using the tool to track insect population, study the effects of different pollution, and track endangered species.
With Virtual Reality Police Training, Sacramento Tries to ‘Get to a Much Better Place’
(CNN, April 27)
The Sacramento Police Department has decided to acknowledge the unfortunate, recent police killings and use them as teachable moments for their department as they move forward. The department will be using using virtual reality (VR) to emulate realistic situations that police run into regularly. Using VR headsets to immerse trainees into realistic situations is expected to be a lot more effective than having them sit in a classroom to learn the same practices. With VR, physical and physiological reactions are induced and in turn, make a greater impression. The department’s chief is committed to using this VR training to change police habits, moving forward. This is only the first step, of many, in the right direction to a comfortable relationship between police and citizens.
Morton’s AR App Will Have Veggies Dancing in Your Kitchen — and Hopefully Keep Them Out of Your Trash
(AdWeek, April 28)
Morton’s Erase Food Waste app will offer a simpler, effortless way to use veggies that are less-than-fresh. Users can scan the QR code on the salt label and choose whatever spoiled food item they may have in their kitchen. For instance, if you have bananas that are a bit past their prime, the app can likely give you a fabulous banana bread recipe that calls specifically for overripe bananas. Morton has high hopes to use this app as a way to lessen food waste and increase interest in cooking across all age groups.
