Latest Technology-
1) On-Demand Eyes for the Blind-
Andrew Myers for TIME
On-Demand Eyes for the Blind
Aira For people who are blind, everyday tasks such as sorting through the mail or doing a load of laundry present a challenge. But what if they could “borrow” the eyes of someone who could see? That’s the thinking behind Aira, a new subscription service (starting at $99 per month for its standard plan) that enables its thousands of users to stream live video of their surroundings to an on-demand agent, using either a smartphone or Aira’s proprietary glasses. The agents, who are available 24/7, can then answer questions, describe objects or guide users through a location. Greg Stilson, Aira’s director of product management (who himself is blind), used the service to navigate airports for an entire year before agreeing to join the company. “It was the most emotionally freeing year I’ve had in my entire life,” he says. —Samantha Cooney
2) 3D Metal Printing
In the past few years 3D printing has gone from a little known technological achievement appreciated by artists and hobbyists to a household name. Still, the printers and materials have remained expensive enough to prevent widespread acceptance and affect its ability to cause significant change. However, costs are declining and it’s possible to print with materials other than plastic, namely metals.
Companies like Desktop Metal are already shipping low cost metal printers capable of generating small metal creations and are offering software that helps users create a design for their metal objects. Similarly, GE is testing a printer capable of making larger metal pieces and plans to make it available by year-end. This could have a huge impact on manufacturing, making it now routine for manufacturers to print materials on demand, requiring less room for inventory and making it easier to customize and adapt to ever-changing customer demands.
3. Sensing city
Many smart city plans have faced delays and operational and cost issues, but a new smart city project in Toronto, called Quayside, is working with Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs to rebuild the urban neighborhood around digital technologies.
The project aims to base decisions about design, policy, and technology on data gathered from an extensive network of sensors, that can measure factors such as air quality, noise level, and human activity. It also calls for all vehicles to eventually be autonomous and shared.
4. AI for everybody
Up to this point, artificial intelligence (AI) tools have only been accessible for big tech companies like Amazon, Baidu, Google, and Microsoft, along with some startups. But new machine learning tools based in the cloud are helping more enterprises tap this emerging technology.
"Sectors such as medicine, manufacturing, and energy could also be transformed if they were able to implement the technology more fully, with a huge boost to economic productivity," according to the report.
