New Florence. New Renaissance.

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

Smart pajamas

In her lab, Andrew is capitalizing on this softness to develop pajamas that monitor your sleep posture. It’s not as random as it sounds—bad sleep posture has been linked to chronic spinal pain, and there’s not currently a good way for doctors to monitor it over time. Andrew’s smart pajamas have five strategically placed RVD-based pressure sensors that track heart rate, breathing rate, and body position throughout the night. They’re all connected to a microprocessor hidden in a button that beams data to a receiver via Bluetooth.

Andrew is also testing the same pajamas with an REM sleep-sensing mask. Currently, when a doctor wants to diagnose sleep apnea or investigate insomnia, the patient has to travel to a sleep center, be wired to monitoring machines, and then try to fall asleep while a technician watches them over video. Andrew hopes her pajamas will bring sleep studies into a patient’s home, allowing doctors to collect data remotely while the patient sleeps in familiar surroundings.

Wired

2019 in review - Where were you last year? last decade?

These days, there’s more than one way to reminisce. Thanks to the modern surveillance state that is Google, and the marvels of modern data visualization, you can actually map the last few years of your life. The Location History Visualizer heatmap is a totally free and private tool that can import your location data stored by Google, then chart that onto a global map that shows where you spent the most time.

FastCompany

 

 

IBM's High Res Weather Model

IBM, in collaboration with its subsidiary The Weather Company, has developed a new high-resolution weather model it claims will cover the entire world with a resolution and update frequency unseen in other weather models in use today.

The new IBM GRAF, short for Global High-Resolution Atmospheric Forecasting system, will utilize a finer grid—giving users a more detailed view of the atmosphere—and a faster update speed than other global models currently in operational use. IBM GRAF boasts a grid of just 3 km and updates on an hourly basis, which would allow forecasters to quickly predict the development of small-scale weather

Forbes

 

 

 

Smart Cane

It comprises of a traditionally-looking cane, completed by a handle. The innovative device features dual sensors which vibrate to alert the user of upcoming danger at ground & chest level. The battery can be charged via a USB and it functions up to five hours.

WeWALK is mobile-integrated: connecting to apps via Bluetooth, it enables control with a touchpad or voice command, with no need to hold the phone in one’s hand.

The integration of apps like Uber and Lyft means access to easy urban mobility, while Google Maps provides an accurate navigation system when walking. WeWALK also features an LED light to assist partially sighted people.

Due to the rising interest in the segment WeWALK faces direct competition with other products such as the MIT awarded Smart Cane Device, the Malaysian engineered BAWA cane and the GPS integrated SmartCane.

DesignWanted

Thanks for Frank Scavo for pointer

 

 

 

More exciting hockey broadcasts

Using a chip-based system, the league tracks the puck and players on the ice in a more seamless and comprehensive way than ever before. Marrying the new tracking information with its existing in-house Hockey Information Tracking System (HITS), which tallies all the essentials to properly log and score a hockey game (time-on-ice, face-offs won/lost, shots on goal, missed shots, shot types, penalties, etc.), the league and stats and broadcast-graphics partner SMT are simplifying the packaging and visualization of data in producing on-screen visuals that are both compelling to the viewer and easy to integrate for the producer.

Broadcasters dropped in IDs (or pointers) that followed players, trails of players or the puck, and advanced performance analytics at or close to real time. Even NBC Sports Digital streamed out an alternative version of its broadcast dedicated to showcasing this rich data.

SMT

 

 

Skin based sensors

A new breakthrough out of Tufts University, just published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, could fast-forward us into a new era of wearable electronics that are woven like clothing, and even might be sewn into our skin and organs to track our health.

The scientists developed a transistor out of linen thread. That means the thread can transfer electricity like an insulated wire, be turned on and off instantaneously like a processor, and connect a network of sensors on or inside your body.

Fast Company

Image credit

 

 

Big Data for Farmers

But to help farmers better prepare for the risks of the dramatic climate swings this year, Ford says Land O'Lakes is working with technology and farmer data to provide predictive models that may help farmers understand what to plant, when, and how. To Ford, the advantages of using compilations of predictive models, satellite imagery, and drone information has never been more important in the U.S. than it's been this year.

But it isn't only farmers in need of this data. Menker says that everyone from companies to banks to even commodity traders need this data to better prepare for the inevitable "extreme shifts" created by climate changes.

Fortune

 

 

Tracking the hotel shuttle

For anyone who frequents airport hotels, one of your biggest frustrations may be locating (or waiting for) the complimentary shuttle to a given property. You may frantically rush outside only to stand outside for 20 minutes — sweating or shivering — when you could’ve casually grabbed a snack or cup of coffee en route to your designated pick-up location. In some cases, travelers may forgo the free ride entirely and order an Uber or Lyft instead of attempting to deal with the headache.

Sensing these woes, one major program is moving in a direction to remove this confusion. As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Marriott is now offering shuttle tracking at 15 of its hotels, with plans to roll out the availability to 200 total by year end. The new feature — which can be accessed via the Marriott app — offers patrons the ability to see exactly where a shuttle is located as well as its estimated arrival time and distance.

The Points Guy

Image Credit

5G - the rural advantage?

People living in six major cities are now able to access the UK's first 5G network for the first time.

But the latest superfast technology has already been available for months - to islanders in Orkney, farmers in Shropshire, and some cows in Somerset.

They have been taking part in a trial, part funded by the UK government, which is designed to make the case for investment in areas without lots of customers.

5G Rural First is being delivered by a consortium of more than 30 partners, including tech companies, universities and the BBC.

In Shropshire, researchers have been running what's known as a hands-free hectare, with a drone and a tractor operating autonomously using data sent over 5G to farm a field.

BBC.com