Important Innovations

  President Biden Targets Intoxicated Drivers                                                                      Source:  Stock Images $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Tucked into President Joe Biden's $1 trillion Infrastructure package is a big initiative to fight drunk driving with highly advanced technology.  The push against drunk driving is not just a number of public service announcements with warnings not to drive drunk on the road.  The law has teeth and requires automakers by 2026 to install new technologies in new cars that detect and prevent intoxicated drivers from hitting the roads. New Law with Teeth Currently in the US, 10,000 people a year are needlessly killed in drunk driving accidents and nearly 300,000 are injured.  Drunk drivers ...

  President Biden Targets Intoxicated Drivers                                                                      Source:  Stock Images $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Tucked into President Joe Biden's $1 trillion Infrastructure package is a big initiative to fight drunk driving with highly advanced technology.  The push against drunk driving is not just a number of public service announcements with warnings not to drive drunk on the road.  The law has teeth and requires automakers by 2026 to install new technologies in new cars that detect and prevent intoxicated drivers from hitting the roads. New Law with Teeth Currently in the US, 10,000 people a year are needlessly killed in drunk driving accidents and nearly 300,000 are injured.  Drunk drivers ...

Using Artificial Intelligence to Track Your Feathered Friends                                                  Source: Bird Buddy Bird Buddy If you love to watch and feed birds, this new technology will enthrall you as it takes you into a new space of flight.  It's a smart bird feeder called Bird Buddy that through artificial intelligence and, a lot more technology, acquaints you with the species of birds coming into your feeder for a treat.  It recognizes more than 1,000 bird species including your favorite locals like Robins, Blue Jays and Chickadee's.  But, you also learn about migrating birds from faraway places who are making a stop at your smart feeder as they travel across oceans and visit your backyard.  It lets you know if your backyard is an international destination place.  You can even add a solar roof to pr...

  New Type of Classroom: Multiple Displays, Virtual, Connected Source:  Virtual Classroom New Research for Students & Schools During the COVID-19 pandemic, most US schools, colleges and universities have taken an online and hybrid approach to teaching students.  Another more connected, virtual classroom model has emerged.  A new research study just published in Elsevier suggests that students work best and achieve more when multiple screens and collaborative technology bring them together in virtual and hybrid classrooms.  The study found that the technological combination deeply impacts and improves academic performance. Multiple Screens Make The Difference Multiply displays enables the teachers and students to easily see each other and engage in classroom discussions.  And experts suggest that this model can be easily accomplished in classrooms.  According to eSchool News, schools should use their latest budget friendly display projectors and pre...

Very Controversial Street Surveillance System Stock Image:  Surveillance Camera Purpose to Stop Violent Crime London is becoming one of the largest city in the Western world to utilize advanced and highly controversial facial recognition cameras on its streets.  China is the biggest user of the technology.  Critics are calling London "Beijing Lite".  Critics argue facial recognition technology violates individual's privacy and has an extremely high false positive rate of 81%, according to independent research. European Union, Google and Microsoft Snooping Wars Major players are weighing in on this emerging, disruptive technology.  The European Union has proposed a 5 year temporary ban on use of facial recognition technology until the kinks are ironed out and abuses can be thwarted.  At Davos this week, Alphabet/Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that he supports a temporary ban.  On the other hand, Microsoft CEO Brad Smith does ...

Next-G Refrigerator With Internal Cameras & AI Tracking Your Food Samsung's Highly Intelligent Refrigerator Samsung's Family Hub Fridge This is the next generation in highly intelligent, functional refrigerators.  And, it's nothing like your Mom's refrigerator.  Samsung Electronics has incorporated advanced AI and internal cameras, plus other advanced technology, into the new, Family Hub fridge that it's going to unveil at the CES in Las Vegas next week.  The array of advanced technology and functionality is very impressive.  It brings a whole new level of intelligence and meaning to a fridge. Monitors Food Inventory, Generates Meal Planning Using the cameras and advanced AI, the fridge monitors the food inventory, spots changes, updates you on what's been added and depleted and creates a shopping list of what's needed at the supermarket.  It has a Quick Plan function to recommend meals for the week to save money and cut food waste.  The meal...

Grocery Shopping with No Checkout Lines Source:  Amazon Amazon Tech - Amazon Go Amazon is introducing a grocery shopping experience with no checkout lines.  Your grocery shopping is monitored by cameras, machine learning and a smartphone app.  When you leave the supermarket, you're automatically billed for your purchases by Amazon. There are no checkout lines, no cashiers.  It's grocery shopping ease through new Amazon technology which it's expected to rollout and expand store operations in the first quarter of 2020.  The base technology is Amazon Go. Amazon Go Amazon is a global retailing behemoth created by entrepreneurs Jeff Bezos and his mother, first to sell books.  It's made Jeff Bezos, by expanding his retail lines way beyond books, into the #1 or #2 richest person in the world.  It's only natural that Bezos would target grocery shopping through his proprietary online technology in a big way.  It looks like he's ready to greatly ...

Bot in the Driver's Seat Source:  IVObility. Beyond Autonomous Israeli start-up IVObility is developing a robot that can sit in the driver's seat of an ordinary car and drive it.  The robot does this with sensors and cameras that see exactly what a human driver sees and the bot drives accordingly.  This is a new iteration on autonomous vehicles. Remarkable Technology & Innovation The driver robot is set to launch in 2020 at first for government and commercial uses that don't run on public roads.  A consumer version is also being considered.  What's remarkable is that the robot in the driver's seat doesn't require special drive-by-wire equipment.  It's able to drive autonomously on its own technological capacity.  IVObility stands for Intelligent Vehicle Operator and mobility.

AI Algorithm Monitors Your Pet Source:  Comcast "Pet Filter" from Comcast Comcast has just unveiled advanced AI technology for pet lovers to remotely monitor their pets.  Comcast has created its own AI algorithm to zero in on pet activity.  They call it the Pet Filter.  The company says it something different from other solutions commercially available.  It detects anything from a dog sitting still to one running outside in your yard 30 feet away and distinguishes that activity from cars and people. Spot On Xfinity Pet Camera The new system "Pet Filter" is for Comcast Xfinity Home security cameras. The filter enables the system to detect pets in video clips and allows customers to check their pet's movements. The system's cameras and continuous video recording service zoom in on pet activity.  When pet motion is detected, it creates a smart thumbnail image, allowing the customer to find it quickly and easily.  It lets you see wha...

Smart International Pedestrian Traffic Lights Source:  Vienna's UT  Innovation from Vienna These may be the world's most intelligent traffic lights.  Created by a research team at TU Graz, they incorporate cameras, computers and algorithms to predict the intention of a pedestrian moving toward a road.  This is not just a smart traffic light.  It's very advanced technology to make roads safer for pedestrians and drivers.  Just invented in Vienna, Austria. For a great news blog, go to Important Innovations Collection: Vienna's Intelligent Traffic Lights : Making Streets Smarter and Safer for Pedestrians and Drivers Source:  TU Graz, Vienna Lots of Technology and Research Involved A tea...