New Florence. New Renaissance.

Tequila as Smart City

They have invested in an intelligent system for managing the overall tourism experience. Today, they have 15 working cameras, APs and sensors that have been positioned around the town to capture data on people and traffic volumes as well as the frequency of visits to restaurants and shops. With the Parking Space Analyzer and People Counter from Hitachi, Tequila can turn this data into valuable insights around visitor experience, behaviour, and safety.

“We want to help communities around the world create hospitable environments for people to live and work,” comments Sergio Severo, President and Manager, Latin America and Caribbean at Hitachi Vantara. “Our solutions will equip Tequila with meaningful analytics that can used to drive beneficial actions.”

To help gauge the success of its smart city efforts, Tequila uses Smart Spaces and Video Intelligence to track and visualize public sentiment across a range of sources, including social media, public wi-fi, capacity planning for local businesses and traffic montoring across the town.

Social Innovation from Hitachi

Air Taxis evolve

One scenario presented by German manufacturers Volocopter is air taxi ports build around the city. Air taxis would arrive on landing platforms built on VoloPorts, where travellers can get checked in quickly and board their ride.

But air taxis are being developed for a future where such ports are obsolete, being able to pick passengers with ease from carparks and other spaces.

For that to happen, technology will have to catch up, greatly shrinking the wingspan of many of these vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft to fit safely into these urban spaces.

Slash Gear

Lidar - not just for AVs

Self-driving cars employ lidar, a remote sensing technology using pulsed laser light the way radar uses radio waves, and lidar makers waiting for the automotive market to take off are courting new customers who would use the technology for everything from monitoring cattle to helping a disc jockey synchronize dance music.

Ouster, a San Francisco tech startup, is tapping new markets including delivery robots, disaster relief and even an approach from the disc jockey. Another Bay area startup, AEye, is talking to a bank that wants to monitor cattle growth to ensure the financial health of a rancher who is a loan customer.

British Herald

https://britishherald.com/from-dance-competitions-to-self-driving-cars-lidar-laser-sensing-technology/

Video shows how Lidar is helping archaeologists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ENPZ3Xe0I&t=163s

Nanostore

The future is in a Shell gas station in the sleepy Silicon Valley suburb of Campbell, Calif.

Customers who walk into the service station's adjacent convenience store to buy Kettle Chips and Arizona Ice Tees never deal with human cashiers. Instead, technology is the shopkeeper.

The store, owned by the chain Loop, officially opened in December after a few months of testing. AiFi, the startup that created the software for managing the store, is pitching its technology as a way to help retailers remain competitive by converting their brick-and-mortar shops into cashierless markets.

Fortune

 

 

Healthier Homes

Wellness and real estate company Delos has developed a system that calibrates the home environment to support occupants’ health through air filtration, water purification and circadian lighting.

The system known as Darwin is the result of about $100 million in research with doctors, architects and the Mayo Clinic over nearly five years. It is set to be introduced to Sydney properties through a partnership with developer Lateral Estate.

Darwin is an integrated system. Air, water, light and a sleep program work together to enhance living conditions.

A mix of carbon and MERV8 filters remove unwanted extras from the air and water. The air filters team with sensors which monitor pollutant spikes in the home. Poor air quality or even a bad smell will activate the home’s heating ventilation and air conditioning systems.

An exterior air quality monitor also allows users to check what’s happening outside with a smartphone.

Filtered water is delivered from every tap and showerhead.

Realestate.com au

 

 

 

 

 

Tech firsts at the Super Bowl

Steaming in 4K. Fox Sports "will produce all its coverage of Super Bowl LIV (Feb. 2, in Miami) in 1080p HDR (high dynamic range), while also offering an upconverted UHD (ultra-high-definition) stream to viewers."

5G coverage. For the first time in Super Bowl history, the stadium and much of the city around it — including the airport and downtown Miami — have been outfitted with 5G Technology

Protection from elements. Unlike the last Super Bowl in the city when rain ruined the experience, this time, a 14-acre canopy, weighing more than 17,000 tons, will provide shade over the stadium seating while leaving the area above the playing field open. The canopy is an engineering feat designed to survive hurricanes that are common in S. Florida.

Here is drone footage of the stadium

 

 

Smart shopping carts

These companies have added cameras and sensors to the carts, and are using AI to tell what you've placed in them. A built-in scale weighs items, in case you have to pay by the pound for an item. Customers pay by entering a credit card, or by using Apple Pay or Google Pay.

When a customer exits the store, a green light on the shopping cart indicates that their order is complete, and they're charged. If something goes wrong, the light turns red, and a store employee is summoned.

CNN

Here is one called Caper

Sony's electric concept car

Called the Sony Vision-S, it’s an electric concept sedan that is meant to showcase the Japanese tech conglomerate’s many different strengths, from entertainment products to camera sensors and more.

In fact, the Vision-S features 33 different sensors inside and outside of the car, multiple widescreen displays, 360 audio, and always-on connectivity, with some pieces coming from industry players like BlackBerry and Bosch. It’s also powered by a “newly-designed EV platform” — which appears to have been engineered by automotive supplier Magna — that Sony says will be able to power other vehicle types, like SUVs.

The Verge

 

Smart swim goggles

Typically, swim monitors reside on your wrist. An Apple Watch will track your performance, as will other wearables, like a Garmin watch. But a new gadget from a Vancouver, Canada company called Form does it differently: with a head-up display right in your goggles.

Slip them on, and simple yellow, pixelated text appears in front of one of your eyes, superimposed over the scene before you. Whether you’re underwater or turning your head for a breath of air, the information floats there. Two buttons on the side let you take actions like selecting the pool size, or actually starting the swim. While you’re swimming, the display allows you to see information like how far how you’ve been going and how many lengths you’ve completed. A companion app provides a place to make more granular changes and see the full results of your swim afterwards.

Popular Science

 

 

 

 

The Coke Freestyle machine evolves

I first wrote about the Coke Freestyle machine in 2009. I was at Firehouse Subs last week picking up a sandwich for my son and noticed a newer version of the machine, the 9100. Firehouse is a charter customer and has over 1,000 machines in its stores nationwide.

You can now communicate with the machine via bluetooth on a mobile app. An improved content management system allows Coca-Cola to release “digital recipes” over the air, right to the dispenser, surprising Firehouse guests with unique drink offerings like Team USA custom mixes, Fanta Halloween and Coca-Cola Holiday mixes. New brand choices include Orange Vanilla Coke and Sprite Lymonade, plus limited-time flavors of Minute Maid Lemonade. The machine has microphones, speakers, optical sensors and a new equipment option that will eventually support the addition of drink categories not available on Freestyle today, such as teas and new varieties of juices.