Important Innovations

  Lifestyle on Autonomous Wheels                                                       Source:  LG Fascinating Future of Travel South Korea based electronics giant LG unveiled one of the most fascinating and avant-garde travel vehicle concepts at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 in Las Vegas.  Called the Vision OMNIPOD, the concept offers an intriguing perspective on the future of travel.  It's an autonomous travel vehicle designed for entertainment and lifestyle and showcases the most advanced technologies.  The modular vehicle   contains modular household appliances that can be put into use as you drive along autonomously. Uniquely, it contains a digital avatar called Reah that serves as your artificial intelligence (AI) guide and  personal assistant as you travel. Reah can also respond to various cabin themes from gaming to working.  LG calls Vision OMNIPOD a mobile, futuristic cabin concept that can reconstruct the customer's space for specific needs. Rolling Showca

  New Tech Education Tools                             Source: Online Class During COVID On-Demand Learning Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are predicted to have a profound impact on how children and adults learn and absorb new information.  New research suggests the big benefit is that the new technologies have the capability to personalize from data analysis the specific educational content and needs for individual students. Experts say with the prevalence of virtual remote learning due to COVID-19,  artificial intelligence and virtual reality have the potential of disrupting the traditional models of both teaching and learning for the greater good. Big Data Driven With the help of big data, these new technologies can track individual and group learning patterns.  And based on the data and analysis, they can create customized tools to solve individual students' learning issues and opportunities for teachers to implement. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Technolog

TUMI's Virtual Stores :    Retail Innovation                                          Source:  TUMI Virtual Store TUMI's Virtual Stores Global luxury brand TUMI, headquartered in South Plainfield, NJ, is launching a highly innovative, virtual store platform. to deliver an immersive, multichannel retail experience.  The virtual approach will roll out to customers in the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East.  The virtual store launch ties into the debut of TUMI's spring 2021 collection of bags, luggage, backpacks and other luxury travel items. TUMI defines itself as a leading international lifestyle, international travel and performance brand. Digital Retail  TUMI's virtual store is a look at the future of digital retail.  Using interactive touchpoints, customers will be able to explore products through 360 degree, 3D and AR (augmented reality) presentations. They can also share photos on social media through TUMI's Magic Mirror.  The technology even includes Insta

New Augmented Reality Based APP for Smartphones Source:  AR Cut & Paste Your Phone and Augmented Reality A just invented new APP called  AR Cut & Paste lets you point your smartphone camera at a real life object and cut & paste it to your computer.  The process takes about 2.5 seconds. And you can use the image in your digital documents. New Invention This is a research prototype invented by Cyril Diagne. He's the Director  of Media at the Lausanne University of Art and Design.  He's also associated with Google's Cultural Research Lab.  The app he designed uses augmented reality and machine learning to make this real-world "cut & paste" happen.  The process is so easy.  Once your phone captures the image, you point the camera to your computer screen and paste it where you want it to go. Bringing the Physical World to the Digital World What's intriguing about Diagne's invention is that AR Cut & Paste brings the physical i

Genesis GV80 2020 Source:  Hyundai Available in South Korea, Coming to US Hyundai's Genesis GV80 is the South Korean automaker's first luxury SUV.  Of great interest, it has an advanced augmented reality navigation system with displays to help the driver better understand the road.  The vehicle has concept car styling and a 14.5 inch infotainment screen. It's available in South Korea and will be coming to the US this summer. Loaded with Advanced Technology The GV80 has three rows of seats and is loaded with technology including a new system that detects driver drowsiness or inattention behind the wheel.  It also has a handwriting recognition interface and advanced safety features.  It packs a 3.0-litre turbocharged, 6 cylinder, diesel engine.  When it reaches the US, gas engine options will be available. Quiet Technology The SUV is designed to be quiet.  The engines can hardly be heard because the vehicle has a noise cancelling system.  The sys

Augmented Reality Headset and Glasses Source:  Apple 2022 and 2023 Apple is looking to release an AR headset by 2022 and a sleek set of AR glasses by 2023. CEO Tim Cook believes AR technology will be potentially as important as the iPhone.  Apple executives briefed their employees on the plans in the past few days. New 3D Sensor Operating System Reports indicate that Apple intends to use a 3D sensor system to support the AR headset and glasses.  These systems would have the capability to create 3D reconstructions of objects, rooms and people.  New, top of the line iPhones and a new iPad Pro could be available with the 3D sensor operating system in 2020. New Mixed Reality Systems There are also indications that Apple engineers in the iPhone and iPad groups are working on a mixed reality headset and glasses operating system called rOS.  No details from Apple on that intriguing technology.  For a free Kindle borrow of one of the books I co-authored "How t

Smart Sunglasses Source:  SNAP SNAP's Spectacles 3 Sunglasses with HD Cameras and AR SNAP just unveiled its Spectacles 3 very smart sunglasses.  They enable you to take pictures and videos in HD and 3D, upload them to Snapchat and add 3D effects.  There's a lot of augmented reality features to the new, limited edition sunglasses.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Smart Sunglasses with Snapchat : SNAP's Spectacles 3 AR Push Source:  SNAP Uploading Content from the Sunglasses to Snapchat SNAP will launch a new, limited edit...

NORM  AR Googles  Source:  Human Capable NORM Glasses Your Glass Prescription Enabled The company is called Human Capable, Inc. Their innovation is NORM glasses.  It's a new form of smart glasses for augmented reality that are normal looking, lightweight and comfortable for wearing.  Importantly, they can incorporate your eye prescription into the lenses so that you can use them for normal glasses. This innovation comes from a US company based in South Florida.  The inventors behind NORM say this type of eyewear could be the primary interface for human machine interaction because of the proximity of the smart glasses to the eyes, ears and mouth. Your Digital World The company says that NORM offers a 24/7, hands free connection to your digital world.  It can function as everyday glasses with your prescription and then morph into something very different.  By pairing the glasses with a smartphone, it can offer many applications like making and receiving texts, calls, social

VR, AI and AR Combining Forces to Advance Medicine Source:  University of Michigan New Tech Enables Doctors to See Patient Pain for Better Treatment New technology that allows doctors to see their patient's pain, including its location and intensity, has just been unveiled by scientists at the University of Michigan.  It combines virtual reality, artificial intelligence and augmented reality and is called the CLARAi VR.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Virtual Reality Advancing Medicine : VR Seeing Your Pain Source:  University of Michigan VR, AI & AR Showing Doctors Where It Hurts New technologies, including Virtu...

"How to Use AI & AR" by Journalist Edward Kane This new book by journalists Edward Kane and me, Maryanne Kane provides news summaries on the latest,  most innovative uses of artificial intelligence and augmented reality.  It's an invaluable reference guide on the exciting, new applications of AI and AR across industries, including robotics, medicine and entertainment.  For more information, including a free Kindle borrow, go to Important Innovations Collection: "How to Use AI and AR" - Book by Edward Kane : “How to Use AI and AR”   by Journalist Edward Kane There are several emerging areas of innovation that are leading avenues of e...

Smart Mirror Superimposes Outfits on Your Image No Need for Fitting Rooms Artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality are beginning to dramatically change the retail industry and the shopping experience for customers.  An example:  smart, digital mirrors that show you in various outfits in seconds without having to try them on.  Neiman Marcus has deployed the mirrors in 34 stores.  For more details on the future of retail through new technologies, go to Important Innovations Collection: Smart Mirrors Superimpose Outfits on Your Image : Artificial Intelligence Changing the Retail Industry Source:  MemoMi No More Fitting Rooms The retail industry will be dramatically ...

Artificial Intelligence, Augmented & Virtual Reality - Handy Guide Book on the Latest "Important Innovations Collection" by Edward Kane My journalist colleague has authored a great guide to the latest and biggest innovations in AI, AR and VR.  These innovations are impacting every aspect of our lives.  They're exciting and important to know about.  The book is an easy to read, series of news summaries that bottom-line what you need to know.  If you're curious and would like to sample or do a free borrow, check out I mportant Innovations Collection: AI, AR & VR - New Book : "Important Innovations Collection - Latest in AR, VR, AI" Unique, Handy Guide Book on the Latest Innovations If you are fasc...

First Look at Microsoft's New AR Headset Display - HoloLens2 Source:  Microsoft's HoloLens2 Just Unveiled in Barcelona Microsoft says its new Augmented Reality headset display HoloLens2 has greater immersion, comfort and usefulness.  They say the immersion is greatly enhanced, making holograms more vibrant and realistic.  There's also a new time in flight depth sensor, combined with built-in AI and semantic understanding, that lets you manipulate holograms like real objects.  For a great news blog on this, go to my journalist colleague Ed Kane at Important Innovations Collection: Microsoft's AR HoloLens 2 Headset Just Released : Augmented Reality, Intelligent Edge Device for Holograms Source:  Microsoft HoloLens 2 Greater Immersion, Comfort, Time-to-Value Micr...

Pittsburgh Steelers AR App Source:  Heinz Field - Pittsburgh Heinz Field Becoming an AR Experience The Pittsburgh Steelers have added an AR portion to their official app.  It enables fans inside Heinz Field to watch the game with embedded augmented reality.  The AR portion is a first of its kind and was created by Carnegie Mellon spinoff Yinzcam, a mobile sports technology startup. AR Being Enabled and Expanded The potential use of AR at live sporting events is awesome.  To start, the Steelers' AR app will allow fans to get a totally different experience of the game than those watching at home.  They can view videos, have touch access to view replays, visit one of the most popular parts of the stadium - the Terrible Towel Wall and a lot more.  The team says it's building a lot of functionality into the AR tech and rolling it out in the very near future. Y inzcam Yinzcam is an innovation company with a mission to bring fans closer to the game through technology. 

Real Time Look at AG News Source:  ABC News National News Experiments  Here's a new example of how augmented reality might impact on another industry -  the news business.  A national television network used AR for the midterm election night coverage.  ABC custom-made a 360 degree election stage and used advanced AG technology to deliver election vote results. This is an AG tech wrap-around attempt.  As a journalist, I expect we're going to see more utilization of augmented reality to immerse viewers more deeply into coverage. It's a Lot More than a Set To effectively deliver AR news, it takes a lot more than an AR set.  For example, the graphics have to be in AR.  For ABC that minimally  required 36,000 lines of computer code and more than 1000 AR tracking markers within the set.  It also requires in-camera AR tracking systems. How about reporters on live locations?   It took ABC a year to develop this system at a considerable cost. A priority was to provide d

Augmented Reality's 3 Dimensional Precision Source:  AR Tech in the Operating Room AR Goggles in the OR AR is a technology that superimposes computer generated information on the user's view of the real world.  It's being tested at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.  And it seems to greatly help surgeons visualize complex medical data particularly during heart surgery. Surgeons with AR Goggles A new self-contained AR device provides surgeons with the opportunity to interactively explore data in 3 D and real time during complex surgical procedures.  Here's how it works.  The surgeon wears  AR goggles that are similar to the glass screens worn by divers.  The AR images are projected onto the surgeon's facial screen to augment their view and vital information on their patient during complex surgical procedures.. NIH Funded Successful Test Pilot Program This is a pilot program and has been used successfully on 5 animal models.  The program is

IDC Forecasts AR/VR Spending Source:  Stock Augmented vs Virtual Reality Big Escalation through 2022 Global spending on AR/VR will soar at a 5 year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 72% over 2017-2022.  By the end of 2018 it will hit $27 billion, up 92% year over year.  What's happening to fuel the growth is escalating use across industries, including a number of new industries.  This is the latest tracking by the International Data Corporation, IDC. Industry Use Rising, Along with China's IDC is tracking a number of global industries increasingly using AR/VR. The number of industries is on the rise and is now up to 39 including consumer, education, media and government.  Another big growing user is China. Industry Rankings Consumer industries are the biggest user through 2022, reaching $53 billion by 2022.  This is followed by retail, manufacturing and transportation.  Gaming is the biggest user in 2018.  But by 2022 the biggest percentage increase users in

Breakthru for VR & AR - New Ultra Lite Gloves Source:  ETH Zurich Enables Touching Virtual Objects for Real It's the ultra-lite glove that's less than 8 grams per finger.  The gloves enable you to feel, grasp and manipulate virtual objects.  The system developed by Swiss scientists provides extremely realistic feedback and could run on a tiny battery. That allows unparalleled freedom of movements for VR and AR.  This is a big development in VR, AR tech. Global Quest for This Tech Globally for years, scientists, engineers, and software developers have been trying to achieve what the scientists at ETH Zurich and EPFL have just done.  It's the quest for tech that lets users grasp, touch and manipulate virtual objects while feeling they're touching something real. Swiss Scientific Achievement The gloves are called DextrES.  They've been successfully tested on volunteers and will be presented at  an upcoming international symposium.  The gloves are comp

Trillion Dollar Industry By 2025, Augmented Reality technology will be a $trillion industry.  And it will impact a slew of economic sectors. Augmented reality is a view of the real world in which elements are augmented by computer generated sensory, like sound, graphics and video.  Here's the revenue forecast put together for Lumus, a maker of optical displays for AR, by nowsourcing.  The dollars reflect the amount of AR tech that will be sold for use in each industry in 2025. 2025 AR Revenue Forecast Video Games  $11.6 billion Health Care $5.1 billion Engineering $4.7 billion Live Events $4.1 billion Travel $4.1 billion Video Entertainment $3.2 billion Real Estate $2.6 billion Military $1.6 billion Retail - $1.6 billion The list goes on.  Augmented Reality is a disruptive technology that will change business as usual and generate tremendous revenues.  Clearly video games dominate the market.  But the tech is going way beyond that.