Intelligrated to Feature Robotic Palletizing and Depalletizing Solutions at PACK EXPO 2017 – Robotics Online (press release)

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Intelligrated Posted 08/10/2017

Booth demonstrations focus on the flexibility to accommodate variety of workflows, product types and layout requirements

(CINCINNATI: Aug. 10, 2017)More than 30,000 attendees, over 2,000 exhibitors, more than 40 vertical industries PACK EXPO 2017 is coming soon to the Las Vegas Convention Center. From Sept. 25-27, Intelligrated will showcase its robotic palletizing and depalletizing solutions in booth #C-3906. The robotic solutions on display enable reliable, high throughput with reduced labor requirements and offer the flexibility to accommodate a variety of packaging types, stacking patterns and layout constraints.

The booth demonstration showcases a unitizing approach to robotic palletizing in which loads are built directly onto slip sheets or conveyor, a practice common in manufacturing operations serving a variety of international markets or handling empty containers. Unitized loads travel to the robotic depalletizer on Intelligrated Palmat conveyor, a full-width, heavy-duty modular plastic belt designed for applications with column-stacked or unitized loads that are unstable or difficult to handle. Finally, the robotic depalletizer unloads items and places them on MDR conveyor for transportation back to the palletizer. The demonstration uses a Rockwell Automation-based HMI for clear visualization of equipment status and diagnostics. Attendees come to PACK EXPO facing a variety of competing demands, from expanding inventories and SKU proliferation to limited space and rigorous uptime requirements, says Matt Wicks, vice president, product development, manufacturing systems. As an RIA-certified robot integrator, Intelligrated offers the proven experience and expertise to solve these challenges, along with single-source accountability, dedicated support and integrated software and controls to make the most of automation investments and set up operations for long-term success. Booth visitors can also learn about Intelligrateds IntelliGen palletizing software. IntelliGen offers a user-friendly, flexible solution to easily adjust pattern and load configurations according to changing product dimensions and other variables, without the need for a service call or complex external software programs. Representatives from Intelligrated Lifecycle Support Services will be on hand to discuss system assessments part of the companys comprehensive lifecycle management framework. Engineers with equipment-specific expertise visit customer sites to evaluate component condition and provide recommendations for service, replacement, upgrades or modifications, ultimately helping maximize system uptime and performance.

About Intelligrated Intelligrated, now part of Honeywell, is a leading North American-based, single-source provider of intelligent automated material handling solutions that drive fulfillment productivity for retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers around the world. Through a broad portfolio of automation equipment, software, service and support, Intelligrated solutions give businesses a competitive edge and optimize operational performance through increased flexibility, efficiency and accuracy.

Intelligrated designs, manufactures, integrates and installs complete material handling automation solutions including conveyor, IntelliSort sortation, Alvey palletizers and robotics, and automated storage and retrieval systems all managed by advanced machine controls and software. Intelligrated Software offers warehouse execution systems, a scalable suite of software that manages the entire fulfillment process, including equipment, labor and business intelligence, integrated with voice- and light-directed picking and putting technologies.

From concept to integration to lifecycle support services, Intelligrated delivers dependable, sustained distribution and fulfillment success, and maximum return on investment. Intelligrated backs every project with 24X7 multilingual technical support and access to lifecycle service through a network of national, regional and local service centers.

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Intelligrated to Feature Robotic Palletizing and Depalletizing Solutions at PACK EXPO 2017 - Robotics Online (press release)

HSBC and IBM use robotics to speed up trade financing – Financial News (subscription)

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HSBC and IBM use robotics to speed up trade financing
Financial News (subscription)
HSBC has partnered with technology group IBM to bring the traditionally paper-heavy trade financing process into the digital age. The initiative is the latest effort to make trade transactions, which HSBC said can involve as many as 15 different 40 ...
HSBC taps IBM robotics & cognitive tech for process automationComputer Business Review

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HSBC and IBM use robotics to speed up trade financing - Financial News (subscription)

Webinar Replay: Investing In Robotics & AI – Seeking Alpha

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The replay of our webinar, Investing in Robotics & Artificial Intelligence is now available. In this webinar, we are joined by Eugene Demaitre, Senior Web Editor of Robotics Business Review, to discuss current trends in the robotics and artificial intelligence industries and how investors can approach this space.

Transcript:

Jay Jacobs: Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to join todays webinar on the topic of exploring robotics and artificial intelligence. My name is Jay Jacobs and Im the Director of Research at Global X Funds. We are an ETF provider based out of New York with over 57 funds, including 16 thematic funds including one focused on robotics and artificial intelligence, which is what were going to talk about today.

Were also really fortunate to be joined by an expert in the field, Eugene Demaitre, Senior Web Editor at Robotics Business Review, which is a leading publication in research news and information on the global robotics industry. Were very happy to have Eugene join us today.

In terms of todays agenda, Im going to spend a few minutes just going over some basics on robotics and artificial intelligence. Set up, what these disruptive technologies are, whats their potential, what types of sectors theyll impact. Then were going to switch to a little bit more of a radio-style Q&A with Eugene, to really pick his brain about current trends in robotics and artificial intelligence. Well do a hybrid, more traditional presentation with this radio-style interview.

At the end of our Q&A with Eugene, Im going to close it off with a few more slides on thematic investing in general, our perspective at Global X on how to best approach the thematic investing space. Were looking to leave about ten minutes or so at the end for questions. I believe theres a Q&A box; please do feel free to send in your questions along the way. If we dont get a chance to answer them during the body of the webinar, we will try to answer those towards the end.

I will pause for just one minute here to show some disclosures. I think we start off with a quick poll question here for the audience.

Moderator: Alright. This brings us to our first poll question. What aspect of robotics and artificial intelligence peaks your interest most? The options are: the high growth potential of the theme, concern about the future of employment, want to learn more about how the technology works, and other. Ill give you a moment to answer that.

Here are the poll results.

Jay: Well good to see most people are focused on the high growth potential of the theme. I think that aligns a lot with what were going to discuss today, but we certainly will touch on these other topics as well.

Specifically, lets just dive right into it. Lets start with the basics on robotics and artificial intelligence. We see these as two separate technologies, the first with robotics, really revolving around the idea, creation, design, and application of programmable mechanical devices that can perform tasks and interact with the environments without human input. Robotics has really been around for a few decades. Were obviously seeing a lot more interest in the space today. Eugene is going to touch a little bit on some of the reasons why thats happening.

Theres been some incredible advancements in things like advanced materials, batteries, additional sensors on robotics that are really starting to accelerate the adoption rate. I really think of robotics as the body, artificial intelligence is the mind. Thats the second technology. Its a division of computer science that emphasizes the conception of intelligent machines that can work, react, and learn like humans in order to recognize speech, plan, and solve problems.

When you combine these two technologies together is really when you start to see some very impressive technology that is starting to disrupt a variety of sectors. When you think in the past, robotics really has been around for a while. Weve seen it in places like automobile manufacturing. Its a really simple process, where the robot can pick up a piece sheet metal, punch it into a mold and bring it down the conveyor belt. When you include artificial intelligence with robotics, especially as those robots start to have more sensors, they start to be more dexterous.

What you see is no longer robots that are just taking a piece of metal and bringing it from Point A to Point B, but really robots that are beginning to interact with their environment. Theyre starting to sense things around them and in real time make decisions about where to go and what to do. This is really where we start to see the J curve, if you will, in terms of technology thats really starting to get wider and wider applications.

In terms of the macro trends, why is robotics such a popular theme today? Aside from the technology aspect, which Eugene will touch on, I think there are three important macro themes that are happening in the background here. The first is aging populations. This is really its own theme thats happening around the world. What were starting to see in some societies is really peak labor force. Meaning in places like Japan, were seeing that by 2060, its labor force will actually be about half the size of its peak.

Were seeing other places in the US and developed Europe and in China, where were seeing a leveling off of labor force size. Thats really starting to not only hit GDP growth going forward, but its actually going to start to make these economies very imbalanced. Youre going to see a lot more of the senior population, depending on a smaller group of workforce participants. Thats going to really challenge areas like healthcare or the services industry, where it really takes a lot of people to support the senior population.

What were seeing, especially in places like Japan, is robotics growing out of necessity. Were also seeing it grow out of opportunity. I think in one area, specifically with labor costs, if the 1990s were really characterized as the heyday for firms searching for outsourcing and looking for cheaper labor costs abroad, what were seeing is that now robotics is getting cheap enough where its actually surpassing offshore labor in terms of its costs. Weve seen some predictions that by offshoring you can save about 65% on labor costs, whereas robotics could save up to 90%. Were seeing a lot of interest from robotics as a way of saving on labor costs.

Third is performance improvement using machines because frankly they can do some things better than humans can, whether its in quality, speed, waste etc. This is not just in the manufacturing side; this is even transferring to places like medicine, where were seeing surgical robots that can do things even better than human surgeons. Were seeing three really broad trends outside of just the technological capability space that are starting to really propel the robotics and artificial intelligence themes going forward.

The question that we get probably most often is which sectors are going to be disrupted by robotics. Frankly, Eugene and I were talking before this call, and we were almost joking what sector isnt going to be disrupted by robotics and artificial intelligence. When most people think about the theme, the first thing they think about is manufacturing. Of course, robotics has been installed for the longest period of time but increasingly were seeing its involvement in military and defense with unmanned vehicles and drones. Were seeing it enter the medical space, with both healthcare providing robots, as well as surgical robots that are able to perform tasks, in some cases better than doctors. Were seeing artificial intelligence being used in diagnostics and trying to really try to figure out whats happening in the medical space.

On top of that, were seeing it in transportation. Weve heard a ton about autonomous cars over the last few years, as well as agriculture, where robotics are being used in place of tractors or to monitor things like crop yields across a very large acreage. Were seeing this as a very powerful theme that is not just limited to one sector, really something that can be disruptive across the entire economy.

With that introduction, I will call this the end of the intro and were going to turn it over to Eugene here and start to enter into the Q&A. First off Eugene, thanks for being on here. Were really excited to have you. Again, Eugene is coming from the Robotics Business Review, where he is looking at this stuff every day, publishing a lot reports and news and insights on the robotics space.

We have a few questions for you here; wed love to get your insights. Again, well follow up with a little bit about thematic investing towards the end and allow for a little bit of Q&A as well.

To kick it off, one of the questions were getting pretty frequently is why now? Why is robotics suddenly in the news all the time? Why are people asking questions? Why is it coming out in earnings calls, where companies are suddenly talking about how they have to respond to the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence? Whats happening now that wasnt happening five years ago, ten years ago, fifteen years ago?

Eugene Demaitre: Well, Jay, its actually a culmination of factors. Obviously industrial automation and manufacturing has been using robotics for decades, as you said. But more recently, improvements in sensors, thanks to things like cellphones and video games, and cheaper processors and the addition of AI capabilities combined with big data IoT abilities, all that has converged to make robots more flexible, smarter, more nimble and capable than they were before. Before, you had huge industrial arms on an assembly line behind a safety cage. Now, were starting to see robots that are more mobile and are more capable and can do multiple tasks.

Jay: Great. Thats very helpful. I do want to move to our second question. Weve been following this pretty closely, but in your opinion what do you think is the most cutting edge applications of robotics and AI? Weve seen so much in terms of what people are planning on coming out with, some moonshot ideas, as well as real applications of robotics and AI that are really impacting everyday lives, whether its peoples personal assistants on their phones or vacuum cleaners that are cleaning their houses. What are you seeing as the latest in the cutting edge technology in this space?

Eugene: We hear a lot about drone deliveries. While thats probably coming, I would say that drones are already being used to inspect bridges and to help out on construction sites in ways that previously people had not thought about. Also you mentioned agriculture earlier. There is a lot of use with drones for precision agriculture.

Another area, in addition to the ones you already mentioned is with artificial intelligence, were now using that not only for diagnosis but also for therapeutic uses. Were being able to interact with patients and I think thats definitely an area for likely growth in the near future. Then logistics/transportation, we talk about autonomous cars, but really its not just about passenger cars; its about delivery vehicles. Its about fleets of vehicles being controlled centrally, whether its in warehouses, on a campus somewhere or eventually out in the world. Those are areas where I think theres a lot of interest and a lot of development right now.

Jay: In your opinion, do you think the regulatory environment is going to have a big impact on the growth of this technology. In some instances, some people are saying this is a technology that just has so much momentum behind it theres nothing that can really stop it. But on the other hand, many people worry about the impact of regulation and how it could, potentially, derail a technology as it grows. Where do you think that stands in terms of the robotics and AI space? Is there something people who are considering investing in this space should be worried about as a risk or is it just something thats impossible to be tamed at this point?

Eugene: Its impossible to be tamed in that its happening in so many areas and so many ways. I dont think youll see one set of regulations governing all kinds of robots. On the other hand, there is definitely differences in how regulations that affect, say aerial drones, is being developed in Europe versus the US, or self-driving cars in US versus Asia. In addition to the investment climate, which Im sure you know much more about, the regulatory environment does matter. It matters in terms of trade. It matters in terms of supply chain. It matters in terms of the labor pool that may be affected or that has to work alongside these robots. For the moment, I dont think regulations are a threat but they definitely bear watching.

Jay: One of the things that weve been looking at is just how much of robotics is happening outside of the US. I think this is somewhat related to the regulatory question because, regulations could pop up in the US but that doesnt mean theyre going to exist in Japan or in Europe, which means there really is an opportunity, through regulation or the lack of regulation, for the US to emerge as a leader in the robotics space or to completely fall behind the rest of the world. Where do you see the US right now compared to places like Japan, in the development of robotics technology, in the application of robotics in its manufacturing and other sectors? How does it stack up?

Eugene: I think the US is still the leader in terms of investment and innovation. We have many excellent universities. We have a climate that encourages a certain degree of risk, which you need for creativity. At the same time, we should not rest on our laurels. We definitely have to watch China, which is a huge end-user market. We have to watch Japan, which culturally is more friendly; there are certain types of robots like as servants and social robots.

Even Europe has made a really concerted effort to develop AI and abilities around that. If any one country can be a leader across the board, I would say it is the US. At the same time, we face differential competition, depending on what technology, and what part of the world, and what news case youre talking about.

Jay: Now, weve seen robotics make a lot of headway in commercial capacities. Obviously the manufacturing applications that weve discussed but weve also seen them make headways in places like agriculture and healthcare. Is it already in the consumer space and were, kind of, missing it because its going on behind the scenes? Is it going to start to take off more, so its going to be more in our face? Why does it seem like robotics technology is taking off and yet I dont have a personal robot assistant yet?

Eugene: Thats a question I get asked all the time. I will say that in the past few years a lot of companies that started out on the consumer side, whether it was for drones or for social robots, actually pivoted over to the commercial space. So you see more efforts right now for robots in hospitality or in big box stores behind the scenes. I do think eventually that is going to change back toward the consumer, as, again, the robots continue to become more sophisticated and more capable.

Youll probably see it at first in areas like retail, where you may to go an airport or a shopping mall or a hospital and a robot will help you find your way. It may also help you do inventory at the same time. Eventually, those capabilities will become cheap enough and common enough that Rosy the Robot that you hear about so much will start to come into the home. I think at first, its going to be robots that come into the home will be for people with special needs, whether its the elderly or the handicapped. Itll be therapeutic but its not a matter of if; its more a matter of when.

Jay: You actually mentioned in one of your other answers, when we were talking about Japan, that there are some cultural differences where the Japanese are just more comfortable with robots as a society. Maybe thats one of the things thats holding back the consumer adoption in the US. Is that a big hurdle for consumer adoption here? Are people just uncomfortable sitting in a doctors office explaining to a robot whats wrong with them or is that something that you think is really going to become more every day and people are going to get more comfortable with over time?

Eugene: I think right now there is still a lot of discomfort in the US and in parts of Europe. Weve seen all the articles saying robots are going to steal jobs or heres the robot thats going to cause the apocalypse or whatever. A lot of that hype will subside once people start seeing robots in their daily lives. In fact, the consumer robots that we have seen, as soon as people are exposed to them they usually start giving them names. They in fact may even give them clothing and really treat them, maybe not quite as humans but really treat them with an enthusiasm that you might not expect.

I think at first, yes, there is resistance in the consumer market, particularly in North America and in other parts of the world. But I also think that, as with cellphones, well catch up pretty quickly, once they start becoming more common.

Jay: This reference is a little bit the slide that we have up here and another slide that Ill show but what inning are we in for robotics? I think its a little bit unusual the theme in that in some instances its been around for so long but in other instances its such a newly growing theme because of some of the new technology thats taking this to the next level. Are we in the early innings of robotics right now? Are we in the later innings and this is the last push? Where do we stand and how do places like China and its adoption of industrial robotics affect that change?

Eugene: Now, I would say robotics is maybe top of the fourth. Its farther along than people may realize. Its still not, again, ubiquitous and easy quite yet, but its getting there much quicker than people may realize. Id say, again, because industrial automation has been around for so long and theres a big push in logistics right now for automation, so Id say maybe were at the top of the fourth. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, its still relatively early days. Id say were maybe at the bottom of the second (inning). Weve had a couple waves now with development of AI technology and were trying to figure out okay, we can play chess, or we can play Go, but now, how do we connect that to our existing How do we derive useful insights that we can act upon right away and AI is beginning to really move into that area.

Jay: Yeah, I did want to share this one slide because I thought it was really interesting because so many people think about robotics as really sort of this industrial technology, but this shows kind of expected future growth rates over the next eight years or so in terms of different segments. Of course, were seeing growth in the industrial segment but also other commercial uses, military use and then of course one of the fastest growing segments is that personal kind of consumer side of robotics. I was just wondering if you have any commentary on this slide and why you think kind of the non-industrial components are actually growing even faster than the industrial components?

Eugene: Well, again the industrial has been around for a while, although it is still expanding considerably. I have been in factories where they have one part in the assembly line that is automated and then the packaging or some other step remains to be automated, so there is still a lot of growth potential in industrial. Commercial, we talked before about the use of drones. Thats likely to continue growing. Military, weve written robotics business review extensively on how different militaries are pursuing different types of automation in the hopes of saving lives and defending their troops.

In personal, youre right; it is growing and partially because its starting from the smallest number of the different proportions and also because, again, once people become comfortable it, with aging population, with shortages of skilled labor, theres going to be a need for both home care robots but also assistive robots and right now the one household name is a robotic vacuum cleaner. There are lots of other things that robots can do around the house and around yard that once people figure out the best way to automate it, they will. There will be a lot of attention there, I think, in the near future.

Jay: You mentioned something there that kind of piqued my interest which is the fact that you visited some factories and you see parts of it is automated and parts of it isnt. Is that a result of a lack of capital or just simple lack of skill of the robots, that theres certain things that humans can do that they cant? Whats the biggest hurdle for a lot of these factories to just go completely lights-out and be fully automated?

Eugene: For the largest companies and the companies that are the most heavily automated like those in the automotive industry, for them, its more a matter of the edge cases but for small and mid-size enterprises, which we expect is an area of rapid growth of automation, theres the idea of oh, we automated the stuff years ago that we needed to do, but were going to have to re-engineer our processes. Were really going to have to take a look from end to end; how do we tie in the robots in production with our AI systems that go back to the customer with our supply chain management. And so, there is a little bit of a reluctance but again, the companies that do that will be much more competitive. Once people begin to realize that, I think it will pick up. There is an install phase that people are going to say oh, I have all these interesting robots, but I think competitive pressure and the rise of more and more capable collaborative robots is going to change that.

Jay: Got it. I want to kind of discuss the actual technology a little bit itself more. I kind of eluded to the fact that theres the two sides to the equation, right? Theres the artificial intelligence side, which is kind of the newest, maybe fastest growing aspect of it, which is making machines more intelligent. Within artificial intelligence, theres a few different types of artificial intelligence, right? Theres machine learning and theres deep learning. I was wondering, one, if you could touch a little bit on those two differences but then in addition to that also talking a little bit about the robotics and kind of more of the machine side of it. These are in some instances more basic machines to build, but were still seeing a lot of advancements because were using things like advanced materials, better batteries and things like that. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about robotics as well as making these robots more capable outside of being smarter but being actually more physically gifted as well.

Eugene: Yeah, absolutely, I can talk about that. Lets start with the difference between machine learning and deep learning. Again, Im not a programmer, but I can tell you that artificial intelligence right now is being used in a very broad way. Machine learning, again, is thanks to a most recent wave in neural nets, and algorithms, and understanding that its easier in the long run to teach a robot to do something than to program a robot to do something. You have a lot of data, you train a robot on that data, and they can then adapt and learn to do things efficiently. Deep learning were to applying the next level of AI. Were applying insight. Not only is the robot learning how to do a task, its learning how to do it better. Its learning how to share that knowledge with other robots. Its observing its environment and maybe reporting on that. Theres a whole set, another, if you will, cognitive level thats arising with that. Again, most people dont realize that we take a lot of things for granted as humans. Robots and AI are still catching up. Theres still a lot to be done.

In terms of the physical or the hardware side of robots, the improvements in material science mean that we can have soft robots that have flexible grippers that can grasp a variety of objects. For pick and place operations, thats a big deal. You dont have to program it to rigidly pick up just one object over and over. Thats useful, but its much more useful to pick up multiple objects without crushing them or to place them in various types of containers. Also, soft robotics means that they become able to interact with humans better, that youre not worried about safety issues as much.

Another area you mentioned was battery. Honestly, thats a big issue. If you want to have a drone that is persistent in the air for a long time or you want to have a robot that rolls around the warehouse or shopping mall for a long time, you need a significant energy efficiency or battery storage to do so. All those things are steadily improving, and as they improve there is a greater flexibility and a greater capability that they offer.

Jay: Got it, now thats very insightful. Why dont we take a little bit of a break in terms of discussing robotics and artificial intelligence? I want to tap a little bit more into thematic investing because the way that we see robotics and artificial intelligence really fitting into the broader investment spectrum is within the thematic investing sleeve, which is really a top-down bottom-up approach starting with identifying powerful macro level trends. Thats kind of the top-down look. What are some big trends happening around the world that we have a lot of conviction in? Then the underlying the bottom-up analysis of looking at the underlying investment that stand to benefit from those trends.

If you think about this as a two-step process, the important thing is really on one hand looking for trends that we think are going to be very powerful and disruptive, that are highly likely to happen. This is what we call high conviction themes. Youre going to bet on a theme that you dont think is going to play out, thats probably not going to work out very well as an investment. The second aspect, that bottom-up approach, is really about investability. You could have a theme that sounds like a great idea, could be very high growth, but there simply arent that many companies out there to invest in. Through the ETF vehicle, of course, they have to be publicly traded as well. Some themes might just be not public in terms of these are private companies. The example I would like to use is space exploration could be a great theme, could be the final frontier, not very investible right now because there simply arent pure play companies that are listed on a stock exchange that could be invested in in an ETF.

The third thing we look at is time frames, so looking for themes that arent going to play out tomorrow or even over the next year but something that is really multi-decade in nature, perhaps even evergreen, if we apply this to robotics and artificial intelligence. Eugene, you were talking about how we are really in the fourth inning of robotics and AI, perhaps even earlier for AI. Thats exactly what were looking for within thematic investing. If youre trying to bet on something thats in the eighth inning, it puts a much bigger premium on trying to get the timing of the trade right rather than really doing your research on the trade and making it when you feel comfortable when theres a time and a place in your portfolio to make that trade, and then really letting it grow over time. Thats why we prefer the long-term timeframes over shorter term. In summary, really those three points, high conviction in the theme; highly investable, meaning a broad group of publically traded companies they can invest in; and third, the medium to long-term timeframe for that investment.

Specifically when were looking at robotics, we launched an ETF last year just about ten months or so ago. Its actually been one of our faster growing funds. I think it has about $180 million in assets now. The way we define robotics and artificial intelligence is really in four different categories, the first one being industrial robotics. This is really the traditional manufacturing companies, a lot of Japanese robotics manufacturers that are involved in everything from automobile manufacturing to the production of other industrial goods.

The second category is kind of a catchall for the non-industrial robotics. Not the automation aspect, but things closer to surgical robots, agricultural robots, etc., really everything outside of that industrial space. Third is unmanned vehicles and drones. This is where were seeing a lot of growth both in the consumer market as well as the commercial market. Obviously, a lot of people think drones are fun to fly around and a cooler version of a race car, but what were seeing increasingly is the usage of drones in terms of 3D imaging and mapping large spaces, whether its a building or doing quality control over a construction site, etc., really being able to use those imaging capabilities from a variety of perspectives.

Fourth is the artificial intelligence component. This is primarily a lot of imaging software. It also includes some hardware companies that are very crucial to artificial intelligence in terms of being able to compute lots of parallel computations at once. These are really the four sub themes that were looking for within the robotics and artificial intelligence space. We can probably glean from this that were not limited to just one geography or one sector, which is another important point to us about thematic investing. I like to think of this as the new sectors in a way. If you look at something like the technology sector, a lot of people will invest in it because they see it as this high growth segment of the economy. But that isnt a very precise way of targeting, certainly robotics, but also even just growth in general.

When you look at the technology sector, for example, about 20% of that sector is things like desktop computing, printers, credit cards, very basic technologies that are really growing at the pace of GDP growth around the world. Its not really the higher flying industries that people are looking for when theyre trying to access growth. Rather than just playing a broad sector thats going to include a mixture of these high-flying ideas with some of these slower-growing components, we think thematic investing is one way to isolate those higher-growth themes, whether youre looking at robotics and artificial intelligence, which some of these companies fit in technology, some of them fit in industrial, some of them fit in consumer staples or even healthcare. Also, looking at things like social media and looking at how thats a component of the tech space thats really faster growing,

The last thing that we like to look at for thematic investing is how these themes really interact with each other. I think a lot of people like to look at these themes in isolation. Robotics and artificial intelligence is one theme. The internet of things, which is about connecting ordinary devices to the internet, is a separate theme. Lithium is a separate theme on batteries.

What were seeing and what a lot of the research in the thematic space is showing is that when themes converge, they start to reinforce each other, which makes the themes all the more powerful. For example, what we see as the intersection of lithium, the internet of things, and robotics and artificial intelligence is a theme of autonomous vehicles. Why is that the case? Were seeing the car itself or the vehicle itself is the combination of robotics and artificial intelligence, being a machine thats able to operate in this environment. Increasingly, its relying on the internet of things in terms of were attaching a lot of sensors not only to the car itself to be able to understand its environment, but also to interact with other cars on the road, to interact with infrastructure, and to figure out if theres traffic somewhere or if theres a change in traffic patterns and it needs to move. Thirdly, the lithium theme in terms of autonomous vehicles, its much easier to refuel a car with batteries rather than with gasoline, which means that were seeing a lot of extra tail winds behind lithium because were seeing this rise of autonomous vehicles.

What does it mean that theres an intersection of these three themes? To us, if one theme is starting to lag behind, we believe the intersection of them together is going to pull it forward. For example, when we looked at autonomous cars a few years ago, what was the biggest hindrance to them being possible? It was actually a little bit of all of these.

On one hand, battery technology was too expensive and not dense enough for cars to travel large distances. Cars were not able to network with each other as effectively because of the lack of broadband, and also the artificial intelligence component wasnt there. Simply powerful computing was not able to be transferred to individual vehicles very effectively. What were seeing is a rise across all three of these themes, but its not necessarily felt equally across all of them.

For example, the robotics technology weve talked about has been available for decades. The machinery behind the self-driving cars is the same as the machinery behind a normal car. However, the artificial intelligence component and the lithium components have really been some of the faster growing areas that are necessary to build the larger theme. When we see the convergence of these themes, we really think it helps build the power behind all the themes collectively so that one really isnt going to lag behind the other. With that, were going to take a quick pause with another poll question here.

Moderator: This brings us to our second and final poll question. Which category of thematic opportunities is most appealing to you? Emerging technological themes, themes based on changing demographics and consumer habits, policy-related themes based on changes in regulations or fiscal spending, or other. As a reminder, you can click your response directly on the screen. Again, the question is which category of thematic opportunities is most appealing to you? The options are emerging technological themes, themes based on changing demographics and consumer habits, policy-related themes based on changes in regulations or fiscal spending, and other. Lets take a look at the results, and Ill hand it back over to you, Jay.

Jay: This certainly aligns with peoples interest in joining the robotics webinar today, looking at emerging technological themes. Also, probably somewhat of a relief to people that were taking a breather from policy-related themes, I know thats been very popular in the news today. Were obviously focused on technology, but also a little bit of the changing demographics and consumer habits. Some very interesting results

Eugene, I think were going to loop you back in here and do part two of the Q and A. We have a few more questions queued up, but we also see a lot coming in to the Q and A box here. Lets start getting you going again. First question for you, Ill probably chime in a little bit with this answer as well, but how do you think robotics and artificial intelligence is going to impact employment in the future?

Theres obviously a lot of fears that this could be such a disruptive technology that it actually starts to flip the economy on its head in terms of its really widespread replacing jobs. What does that mean for the economy going forward? What are your thoughts? Is that possible? How soon would that even be possible?

Eugene: I think we have to be careful not to panic. There is definitely going to be changes, and there are already changes just as there have been through the previous investor revolutions. Manufacturing is changing and is continuing to change, truck driving and farming is continuing to change, and so too is surgery. At the same time, we have to remember that at the end of the day, robotics and AI are heavy tools that companies and people use to make more money, be more efficient, so theres a choice in how those technologies are developed, and how theyre used. We dont have elevator operators in most places. We dont have people going out and harvesting wheat by hand anymore. That kind of change is going to continue with automation. I also think in terms of how soon the lower functions, the repetitive, boring work is likely to be automated, and that poses some problems for low-skilled employees, but the idea is that people with higher skills or who are able to operate these machines will actually find more opportunities.

Jay: Yeah, those are certainly interesting points. I pulled a couple of stats before this webinar that I thought were interesting. In 1840, 70% of the workforce in the US was involved in agriculture, which is down to 2% today, so weve already seen an entire industry that was even more powerful than manufacturing has ever been in the United States be completely collapsed into next to nothing. Of course, weve, over that time period experienced tons of wealth creation and growth across the country. In terms of manufacturing, if we look at 1950, this was peak manufacturing for the United States. It made up about 35% of the workforce, and now its down to about 20%, so a little shy of half the workforce in terms of percentages has gone out of manufacturing.

A lot of those gains have been felt by the services sector, but this isnt the first time this has happened. Technology has constantly been disrupting the economy and changing the nature of employment. I do think peoples worries are somewhat justified in the fact that technology is accelerating faster and faster, but I do think this also creates new opportunities for employment, whether its in programming, whether its at higher-value-add aspects of peoples jobs.

Theres actually a very interesting survey done by McKinsey, where they basically said 60% of jobs are going to be affected by robotics and artificial intelligence, and they found that about 30% of those jobs are going to be changed meaningfully. What they did is they specifically looked at the tasks that people do in their day-to-day job and figured out which ones can be automated and which ones cant with fairly proven technology. I think this really resonates with a lot of people because if we look at our day-to-day tasks, how often are we dialing a phone, setting up an appointment, responding to basic emails, doing the day-to-day household items in our email or in our office that isnt the best use of our time, or our intelligence, or our creativity?

I think those are going to be the first areas that really start to be automated with digital personal assistants or just smarter software. Thats not going to be a bad thing for the economy because thats going to free up our time to do the higher value add things, whether thats doing, from my perspective, researching and posting to our blog, whether thats from our clients perspective, being more client-facing, being able to get out in front of their clients more. I do think reasons to be worried because of the pace of technology, but at the same time this could actually be a very good thing for a lot of people who are being bogged down by tasks that really arent providing a ton of value.

Alright, the second question I think Eugene, you might need to explain the context behind this one a little bit, but we did get a question how large is the peril of AI entering in a new winter in the next four years?

Eugene: I think thats an interesting question because Im guessing that the questioner is referring to the fact that technology development is not always at a steady rate, and it can sometimes hit a period of slow down. In fact, that did happen with artificial intelligence. There were assumptions that we would have robots in our homes already back in the 1950s. People were designing things or imagining things, but we hit the limit of what we could program at that time. Then, again, with improved sensors, and neural networks, and machine learning, AI has again made a quantum leap forward.

Could it slow down again? Yes, but I dont think were at the limit yet of our current wave of innovation, so theres a lot of areas to which AI can still be applied. Also, one of the enabling technologies behind AI and as processors, and as processors become more dense, more capable, faster thanks to Moores law, and new materials beyond silicon make processors even more powerful, I think thats going to improve.

In the short term, weve also moved to cloud computing, so were not just trying to cram all of the intelligence of a robot into the robots body. If it has a proper 5G connection, in theory, it can share knowledge with other robots. it can tap into the wisdom of the crowd, so to speak, so theres going to be a lot of area in the near future where AI and robotics can still grow, but we should not assume that all technologies progress evenly, at all times, everywhere. I think thats a mistake.

Jay: Great. Thank you. Weve had a lot of questions about specifically our BOTZ ETF, so Im going to address a couple of those quickly before we turn it back over to Eugene for a few of his insights. First off, to bucket a few questions here together, so one, we do have an ETF with a ticker BOTZ, which is the robotics and artificial intelligence ETF. It invests in about 30 companies around the world. Specifically, we see about half of the exposure in Japan, which has been quite the hotbed for industrial automation companies, but theres also quite a handful of companies coming out of Europe and the US as well.

When we specifically look at which companies are to be added to the ETF, the index provider is looking at these four categories. I think the important thing to note is I made the comparison to a sector ETF. This is really how sector ETFs are constructed as well. If you think about the financial sector, how is a company classified as a financial firm? Maybe that question seems obvious to some people. Of course, a bank would be a financials firm, but really the way that its built up is the index provider starts to lay out what are the criteria that makes up financials? It could be regional banks. It could be trading firms. It could be asset management, down the line.

Thats essentially what was done with this ETF as well in the index that it tracks, which is looking at the specific segments of the robotics and artificial intelligence market, whether its industrial robotics, non-industrial robotics, unmanned vehicles and drones, and artificial intelligence. Those are what I guess I would call the sub-industries that fold up into the robotics theme, so were taking from those four different categories. The fund reconstitutes on an annual basis. We actually just underwent a reconstitution two weeks ago and saw two new companies added to the fund, so that, in one way, continues to stay updated as the industry matures. Hopefully, that answers a few peoples questions that were coming up.

Im going to pick through a couple more questions here for Eugene to answer. If you dont mind, Ill just pause one second. Alright, I think were getting a few questions on related topics as well such as 3-D printing and virtual reality. In your mind, Eugene, are these related to robotics and artificial intelligence? I guess a better question is how far and wide are these things going to impact all aspects of technology? Is it going to be involved in printing? Is it going to be in gaming? Is it going to be entering the energy space in oil and gas? How far can we really see this theme spread?

Eugene: Thats a great question, and in fact, we do see them as related technologies. Robotics Business Review, we cover robotics in a very broad sense because 3D printing is being used in automated manufacturing. Virtual reality and augmented reality are being used in the control of robots. Not all robots are fully autonomous, so if were talking about undersea drones for say, oil exploration, or maintenance of offshore oil rigs, that may be done with a human pilot but using cutting-edge technologies. I would say theyre all connected, and theyre all advancing, some faster than others.

Building manipulation are definitely key to the eventual development of household and consumer robotics, but at the same time, VR and AR have proven to be useful for inspections, whether its of facilities theyre even talking of using drones inside warehouses to help with supply chain flow. AI may eventually become ubiquitous in that its no longer just something that is a special characteristic of a robot but that your household is connected to whatever intelligence, or your factory relies on the intelligence to maintain optimal throughput. They are all related, and they are all advancing.

Jay: What does that mean for the owners of that data? We see search engines have made data so easy to access and so ubiquitous, but it also sounds like proprietary data is going to be a real competitive advantage for certain companies as well. I mean, if youre saying that the artificial intelligence is really the ability to tap into these databases, do you think people are going to start trying to hoard their own data because thats really where the value is? As maybe we progress, the computing aspect becomes a little bit more commoditized?

Eugene: Yeah, I think youre correct. I mean, were a long way from the hardware all being commoditized with, again, advances in materials handling and the materials science underlying it, but the differentiator for robots is, in fact, going to be their capabilities, their programming, their AI ability, and the amount of data thats being generated, and then the ability to analyze that data in real time and derive an insight. Imagine if you had a drone inspecting a bridge. Yeah, the human pilot may have sent it out, but the drone spots corrosion and can immediately start to repair it, without human instruction on where to fly, and how to apply the sealant, and all that. The drone can do all those things on its own.

Thats going to be a big area of differentiation and an area where innovation will still matter. Theyre not all going to be equally smart. Theyre not going to be equally capable. Youre still going to have single-purpose robots, but what really makes the robot useful is can it understand and interact with its environment immediately and not necessarily wait for human interaction or wait for the data to be collected, analyzed, and then flown back out. Thats a technical challenge, but its also an opportunity.

Jay: This actually, I think, dovetails nicely with the next question, which is how do you really weight the opportunity between autonomous robots and robotic assistants? Or the difference between robotics being able to just be sent out and do their own thing and not need a lot of input versus machinery that really enhances what humans are capable of, whether thats advanced tools, or exoskeletons, and things like that.

Eugene: I think a lot depends on the use case. In manufacturing, or in energy production, or in agriculture, you dont necessarily need a human on sight the whole time, but ultimately, the robots that interest people are the ones that interact with people, so whether its an exoskeleton helping someone walk, or a robot reminding your grandmother to take her pills, or a robot that goes out and mows the lawn, theres different amounts of autonomy that are desirable, and there are different amounts of interactivity that are desirable depending on the function. I think, again, thats an area where theres a lot of room for development. I covered the DARPA Robotics Challenge a year or two ago, and we think oh, a robot walking up the stairs and opening a door by using a gripper to hold the hinge. We think thats easy, and it proved that its not easy, let alone looking around and understanding oh, thats a flower, or thats a dog. Theres a lot of room there to apply all kinds of AI. Again, the interactivity with humans I think is going to be an area of a lot of interest as they become more capable.

Jay: Great. Heres another question that I think is interesting. Who is funding the growth of robotics and AI? Is it coming from private companies, from private equity venture capital, governments, universities? Where do you see those in the pecking order?

Eugene: Thats also a good question. Thats one that actually varies a lot by region. In the United States, we do rely a lot on private investors, such as your audience. I think thats one of the reasons why there is a focus on useful robotics. Thats an important trend both for AI and robotics is that theyre not just interesting projects. Theyre projects that have a practical application. At the same time, a lot of the early stage research in robotics and in AI is done through universities, is done through government funding like DARPA, or the Horizon 2020 program in Europe.

Whats interesting is that a lot of other countries have national strategies around automation, and so youll have a country like China, or Japan, or France that will say okay, were going to make an effort to develop automation in this area, or in these areas. In the United States, we rely on private funding and on major institutions to do that.

Jay: Oh, thats fascinating. Theyve actually come out and said we know that in this segment of the economy we specifically want to target it with automation, and essentially either protect the jobs in the other segments or make this segment as cheap as possible through automation. Is that essentially whats happening in places like Japan and France?

Eugene: In China in particular obviously, we know that China is the worlds factory, and there is a definitely policy to try to encourage domestic innovation, domestic production of robots. Right now, China imports most of its robots, but thats something that theyre working to change, understandably. At the same time, the United States as a net exporter of technology has an interest in finding new markets and in places that you would not think. Oh, agricultural robotics is big in Australia, or healthcare robotics could be really big in Africa, or drone delivery could be big theres so many areas where these technologies are just beginning to be applied.

Jay: Alright, I think we have time for just one more question. I think this is an interesting one as well. We dont focus on this in the BOTZ fund, but are there any specific materials that are really crucial to the advancement of artificial intelligence and robotics? Any unique metals or other types of materials that we dont really think of as being a crucial input?

Eugene: The one I think thats interesting that goes back to the 3D printing question is what materials do you want to build your robot out of? In general, the things that youre looking for are strength, and weight, and reliability. One of the challenges has been historically the motors, the actuators that are involved, the components of the robot. You can make a case that you actually want the best possible components because the sum total is going to be more reliable, or more lightweight, or have greater endurance because of that.

We were talking before about lithium batteries. If a new technology displaces that, thats going to be huge. In terms of soft robotics, we talked about compliant grippers, so were not talking about necessarily metal on metal contact. Were talking about new, flexible materials, and 3D printing has already revolutionized a lot of that manufacturing, not just prototyping, but within two or three years, all hearing aids in the US went from being produced by plastic injection mold to being 3D printed. That is a tremendous change because of automation and related technologies. Were going to see that kind of thing continue.

Jay: Excellent. Well, Eugene, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate your insights. Please do check out Robotics Business Review where Eugenes writing constantly about everything across the industry and across the globe. Really some of the most cutting-edge information out there on the robotics space. Also, thank you everyone on the line for joining as well. I really appreciate you dialing in today. We did use up all the time, but we will do our best to reach out and continue to provide the answers that you guys sent in. Thank you so much for your time. If you do have more interest in robotics, I would suggest that you visit our site at http://www.globalxfunds.com/research, where were putting out constantly different reports and insights on whats happening in the robotics space, but thank you everyone for joining, and Eugene, thank you very much.

Eugene: Thank you.

The post Webinar Replay: Investing in Robotics & AI appeared first on Global X Funds.

IoT stands for the Internet of Things

Surveys & data cited in the webinar:

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The investable universe of companies in which BOTZ may invest may be limited. The Fund invests in securities of companies engaged in Information Technology which can be affected by rapid product obsolescence, and intense industry competition. In addition to normal risks associated with investing, international investments may involve risk of capital loss from unfavorable fluctuation in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles or from social, economic or political instability in other nations. The fund is non-diversified which represents a heightened risk to investors. Shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

Carefully consider the Funds investment objectives, risk factors, charges and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Funds full or summary prospectus, which may be obtained by calling 1-888-GX-FUND-1 (1.888.493.8631), or by visiting globalxfunds.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

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Webinar Replay: Investing In Robotics & AI - Seeking Alpha

Robotics camp shifts into gear – Gaston Gazette

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Eric Wildstein Gazette staff TheGazetteEric

Middle-schoolers are spending the week building robots for solutions to real-world logistics.

Joshua Crowder and his teammates spent Tuesday at Cramerton Middle School planning how to build a remote-controlled metal robot that can drive debris from one location to another. Though their design wont carry the tonnage of a real-life snow plow, bulldozer, backhoe or excavator, the team is confident their scaled-down creation will work similarly to its life-sized counterparts.

To solve real-world problems, its fun, said Crowder, a rising seventh-grader at Cramerton Middle. Were actually building something physically to help other people.

Crowder is one of about 120 students participating in the school systems first-ever summer Robotics Camp for rising sixth- to eighth-graders. The weeklong camp started at Cramerton Middle on Monday, Aug. 7, and ends Friday, Aug. 11.

Throughout the week, campers will learn robotics-related vocabulary, design and plan their robots, and then begin to build, piecing together a chassis, wheels and affixing battery-operated motors. The camp culminates Friday when teams compete head-to-head, using their robots to move as many pieces of debris to specified locations in two minutes.

The camp is led by six teachers from Gastons public schools, many of whom also serve as coaches for First Lego League robotics teams or teach robotics classes at the countys 11 middle schools.

Elizabeth Bobee, a science and social studies teacher at Belmont Middle School, says the camp is intended to teach students skills such as how to work together and be part of a team, to troubleshoot, and to perseverance when faced with a challenge.

The knowledge and skill is important but youve got to use it and apply it, she said. So I think that having these robotics teams really helps the kids have a real-world application where they have a little bit of fun but theyre also learning those crucial skills.

Many campers already compete with their schools First Lego League robotics team, where they use plastic Lego kits and motors to build robots for local and state competitions.

Aimee Wucherer is a rising eighth-grader at Belmont Middle School and a camper at the Robotics Camp. She joined her schools First Lego League robotics team last year, helping them to build a robot contraption that in real-life could hypothetically guide a shark into different areas of a tank.

I just like the challenge and that you have to think outside the box and sometimes who have to think of the box, said Wucherer, of robotics.

She and Crowder are also excited to see the designs their peers create this week.

Cleanup after Fridays final day should be a breeze; the robots will take care of it.

You can reach Eric Wildstein at 704-869-1828 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteEric.

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Robotics camp shifts into gear - Gaston Gazette

US Armed Forces Order 32 Endeavor Robotics SUGVs (Multi-Video) – 107.180.56.147 (press release) (registration) (blog)

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All of us at Endeavor Robotics are singularly focused on the development, delivery, and sustainment of life-saving robot technology, saidSean Bielat, CEO.

The delivery of 32 SUGVs equipped with our uPoint Multi-Robot Control System advances the entire install base in terms of interoperability across the family of Endeavor Robotics systems.

These systems will augment the approximately 1,000 SUGVs already in use by our Armed Forces.

We could not be more proud of the American warfighter and remain a dedicated partner to the United States Armed Forces.

The Endeavor Robotics SUGV has been in service across the United States Armed Forces since 2009, providing dismounted operations with a back-packable, easily deployable, rugged less than 20 lb robot.

(See the Endeavor Robotics Kobra participating in the Army Warfighter Assessment (AWA) at Fort Bliss, TX. Courtesy ofEndeavor Robotics and YouTube)

SUGV meets IP67 ratings, operates in all environmental conditions, integrates multiple sensors and hardware for increased capabilities, climbs and descends stairs, provides dexterous and robust manipulation and lift/inspection capabilities while also being capable of extending operational range through mesh networking with other deployed Endeavor systems.

The Endeavor Robotics uPoint Multi-Robot Control System consists of an Android-based, rugged, tablet controller and Persistent Systems, LLC, MPU5 Radio network.

The integration of the mesh networking with Endeavor Robotics robots is a force multiplier for our warfighters by significantly increasing the distance of unmanned ground operations and enabling operators to control or observe multiple robot assets through a common controller interface.

Endeavor Robotics robots serve on the front lines around the world.

To date Endeavor Robotics has delivered more than 6,000 unmanned ground vehicles worldwide and brings decades of experience sustaining, integrating, and developing new end-user identified capabilities for ground robotic systems.

Endeavor develops their tactical mobile robots in concert with operators worldwide and systems have been delivered and operated in areas of conflict and in response to natural disasters.

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US Armed Forces Order 32 Endeavor Robotics SUGVs (Multi-Video) - 107.180.56.147 (press release) (registration) (blog)

Looking at the new wave of soft robotics – Medical Plastics News

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Lu Rahman looks at the new wave of robotics. Soft and pliable these new devices take their inspiration from nature offering great potential for healthcare. Are we about to witness a new group of very useful and compliant, flexible friends?

Mention robots and chances are most people conjure up Dr Who-style Cybermen or the automated machines like the ones we see in todays car manufacturing plants. These hard-framed, human-like devices are a familiar sight using their metal limbs to imitate arms, or carry out repetitive tasks at both speed and with great accuracy.

But theres a new wave of robots making their way into our imaginations and our lives. Soft and squishy and stretchy, these devices take a lead from nature while boasting the ability to squeeze and move in a more flexible and compliant manner. And the healthcare world is casting its eye on these flexible structures made of elastomeric material.

Soft robotics offer a new generation of technology compliant, flexible material that mimics natural tissue and can be used to interact with humans. Powered by artificial muscle these devices are the new frontier of automation and in the healthcare sector opportunities for this technology are immense and exciting were hearing more and more about its potential life-changing applications.

Last year Nature magazine reported on the work being carried out at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy where Cecilia Laschi and her team studied the movements of an octopus and how it handled food the idea behind this was to create a robot that could mimic those movements twisting and shaping and wrapping, free from the rigours of computer programming and inflexible hard bodies.

In the UK SoftLab Bristol, at the University of Bristol, is carrying out major research on soft robotics. Projects include artificial muscles using soft electro-active and chemo-active actuators, artificial stomachs and soft sensors.

At the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Virginia, US, work has been done looking at the way polymer-based materials can be turned into artificial muscles. Its thought that these novel robotic devices offer a range of benefits over conventional robots. Due to their flexibility, they could offer hope in a variety of healthcare situations, acting as replacement muscles for disabled people, for example.

The role of polymer

With his team, Kwang Kim, University of Nevada and the NSF has been researching the development of artificial muscles using polymer-based material. Last year the NSF revealed that getting the material right is one of the biggest challenges. Kims team was using an ionic polymer-metal composite the electroactive nature of the polymer allows electricity to be run through it so that the shape can changed this of course is markedly different to conventional robots which require motors to move.

The robotic market is strong and offers great potential. According to Crystal Market Research, the value of the healthcare assistive robots sector is set to hit $1 billion by 2025. If the soft robotic develops theres every chance it could have a significant slice of the financial pie.

Soft hearted?

Earlier this year Harvard University and Boston Childrens Hospital revealed some exciting work involving a customisable soft robot that fits around a heart to help it beat. The research has huge implications for anyone who has suffered heart failure.

According to Harvard, the soft robotic sleeve, twists and compresses in synch with a beating heart, augmenting cardiovascular functions weakened by heart failure. Unlike currently available devices that assist heart function, Harvards soft robotic sleeve does not directly contact blood. This reduces the risk of clotting and eliminates the need for a patient to take potentially dangerous blood thinner medications. The device may one day be able to bridge a patient to transplant or to aid in cardiac rehabilitation and recovery.

The device is attached to a pump that uses air to power soft actuators. Each sleeve can be customised for each patient and according to for example, the side of their heart where more power is needed.

Ellen Roche, the papers first author and former PhD student at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and The Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University commented: This research demonstrates that the growing field of soft robotics can be applied to clinical needs and potentially reduce the burden of heart disease and improve the quality of life for patients.

This work represents an exciting proof of concept result for this soft robot, demonstrating that it can safely interact with soft tissue and lead to improvements in cardiac function. We envision many other future applications where such devices can deliver mechanotherapy both inside and outside of the body, said Conor Walsh, senior author of the paper and the John L Loeb Associate Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS and Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute.

Soft wearable robots

Not quite mimicking artificial muscle but none the less highly exciting for the future of healthcare, are soft wearable robots which combine the latest in textile science with robotics.

Recently the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University collaborated with ReWalk Robotics to develop wearable exosuits for patients with limited walking ability.

"This is a very exciting for soft exosuit technology," said Conor Walsh, John L Loeb associate professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab and a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

The exosuit - a soft wearable robot - was developed at the Wyss Institute by Walsh and his team through prototyping that included the involvement of roboticists, mechanical and biomechanical engineers, apparel designers and software engineers.

Using form-fitting, fabric-based designs that are lightweight and non-restrictive, the Wyss Institute's soft exosuit uses compact, powerful actuators packaged in a belt to provide assistance to the wearer's legs in a physiologically relevant manner.

These enhanced movements have the potential to assist wearers in walking with greater stability and metabolic efficiency, which could prevent injury and reduce fatigue, the Institute said.

Over the course of its development, the soft exosuit has been the catalyst for entirely new forms of functional textiles, flexible power systems and control strategies that integrate the suit and its wearer in ways that mimic the natural biomechanics of the human musculoskeletal system, according to the Institute.

Larry Jasinski, CEO of ReWalk, said: "There is a great need in the health care system for lightweight, lower-cost wearable exoskeleton designs to support stroke patients, individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and senior citizens who require mechanical mobility assistance.

Walsh scooped Rolex Award last year for his work. Given that globally 15 million people suffer a stroke each year, the product has huge potential.

Soft and stretchy sensors

Its not only robotics that are becoming increasingly flexible. And the Wyss Institute is once again behind a breakthrough. Wearable technologies have exploded into both healthcare and consumer markets. Recognising that most of the electronic sensors used in these devices are made from hard, inflexible materials, a team of researchers at the Wyss has created a highly sensitive soft capacitive sensor made of silicone and fabric that moves and flexes with the human body to unobtrusively and accurately detect movement.

"We're really excited about this sensor because, by leveraging textiles in its construction, it is inherently suitable for integration with fabric to make 'smart' robotic apparel," says Walsh.

"Additionally, we have designed a unique batch-manufacturing process that allows us to create custom-shaped sensors that share uniform properties, making it possible to quickly fabricate them for a given application," says Ozgur Atalay, postdoctoral fellow at the Wyss Institute.

This research is published in Advanced Materials Technologies, and the protocol is available as part of the Harvard Biodesign Lab's Soft Robotics Toolkit.

Soft robotics offer great potential for our health and wellbeing. Free from the metal clad structures of conventional robots, these flexible designs herald a new future for healthcare and medical device pioneers seeking to push the boundaries in design. As Laschi commented in Nature magazine, Its a completely different way of building robots.

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Looking at the new wave of soft robotics - Medical Plastics News

Internet service providers in Nigeria: which one is the fastest? – NAIJ.COM

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Nigerian internet speed history started in 2001 when the Global System for Mobile Communication was introduced to people. Nigeria has developed and changed since then. Today, a lot of internet service providers in Nigeria compete for the best place on the market! Still, the question is simple who is the fastest of them? Find the answer here!

It`s true that the history of internet in Nigeria started in 2001, but it was also the first year when the competition between providers started. Today, Nigerians can enjoy all the pleasures of technologies. The first 3G network was introduced to Nigeria by Alcatel and Globacom in 2008. Also, the first 4G network was presented in 2016.

According to the data from the http://www.dospeedtest.com, the average download speed in Nigeria is 3.87 MBps for today. Keep in mind that there is not much data after 2016. According to the data from http://www.netindex.com, the last available speed test run in Nigeria was made in 2015. According to this data, it was very easy to create the top internet service providers in Nigeria 2015. Take a look at the top 10 best in 2015!

- Globacom Limited 6.04 MBps;

- Spectranet Limited 6.66 MBps;

- Smile Communications Nigeria 7.01 MBps;

- IPNXNG 8.32MBps;

- Vodacom Business Nigeria 8.35MBps;

- Internet Solutions Nigeria Limited 8.51MBps;

- IPNX Nigeria LTD 9.30 MBps;

- MTN Nigeria 11.65MBps;

- Cyberspace Limited 15.86MBps;

- CoolLink 16.07 MBps;

- Netcom Africa Limited 17.94MBps.

What has been happening with the best internet providers in Nigeria for the past two years? What about the internet speed? If you want answers to this question, then you need to check our speed test investigation 2017!

Naij.com used one of the best web portals http://www.speedtest.net to check internet speed of the Nigerian internet providers! For today, there are only fourteen Nigeria internet service companies presented on this website. Let`s take a look at the download speed in Nigeria today!

Attention! Naij.com has used the information connected to Lagos city!

READ ALSO: How to stop MTN auto renewal subscription?

From the list of internet service providers, it has the lowest download speed of internet. You can clearly see from the picture that it`s only 7.57 MBps. Still, it`s a newcomer when it comes to speed service providers in Nigeria.

This internet provider shows good results if you compare it to the results of 2015. However, when it comes to the download speed and development, the results are not so good. So, right now, Spectranet did not make it to the list of top 10 fastest internet service providers.

It`s strange, but this internet company did not show the best results according to http://www.speedtest.net. Netcome Africa LTD showed only only 12.08 MBps.

It`s another player in the league of top internet service providers in Nigeria. As you can see from the picture above, it`s also one of the internet providers in Nigeria that has shown very modest results on http://www.speedtest.net.

Smile internet can certainly be considered as one of the best internet providers.! According to the data from http://www.speedtest.net and ww.netindex.com, Smile managed to increase the speed of their internet to up to 12.98 MBps.

It`s another new player on the internet service market in Nigeria. It clearly shows good results with 13.52 MBps download speed!

Another internet service provider that showed great results in the internet speed test is MTN Nigeria. It offers a download speed of 13.8 MBps.

This internet service provider shows good results with a download speed of 13.63 MBps.

Another internet service provider that showed great results in the internet speed test is MTN Nigeria. It provides a download speed of 13.8 MBps.

Another good performer from the top internet service providers in Nigeria. It has a good download speed with 14.24 MBps, but the upload speed is even greater with fantastic 21.67 MBps.

Airtel opens our top 5 fastest internet service providers in Nigeria. The download speed of Airtel is good, but the upload speed is low only 10.59 MBps.

Only a few KB difference was enough to get kick this one off the list of our top three best internet providers in Nigeria. Still, 17.09 MBps of speed is pretty fantastic for this internet company!

What is so special about Internet Solutions? It`s their speed of uploading! Just take a look at 21.31 MBps! Therefore, the bronze medal in our top 14 goes to Internet Solutions!

The silver medal goes to Cool Link ISP! This company earned this medal by providing 17.33 MBps at http://www.speedtest.net!

The leader of our top 14 fastest internet service providers is CobraNet Ltd! This company can provide 19.27 MBps download speed and 20.68 Mbps of upload speed. Therefore, the gold medal today goes to CobraNet Ltd!

It`s important to say that the internet service market in Nigeria is booming and constantly changing. Newcomers can completely change the overall face of the market. However, these newcomers will need to implement new technologies! The situation keeps changing, and Nigerians should expect new ideas and plans from internet service providers!

What is clear for today is that Nigerian internet service markets is going the right direction! It provides new services and new speed limits to the users!

READ ALSO: How to unroot with Kingroot app?

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Virtual reality ads are still more hype than reality – Digiday

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Any medium is an advertising medium, so the industry is now waking up to the prospect of advertising in virtual reality.

A growing number of experimental technologies are trying to place advertising in VR, a technology that still lags behindaugmented reality (think Pokmon Go) and mixed reality (a 3D version of AR).

Unity, a VR development company, announced last month it would launch Virtual Room, an ad network of sorts that lets brands to place ads across VR apps. The company worked with Lionsgate to use the platform for the upcoming movie Jigsaw, so people will see ads in an immersive VR experience.

Thats a step ahead ofbrands current forays in VR, which have mostlybeen standalone experiences and not ads. For example, USA Networkcreated a VR experience that let fans of its show, Mr. Robot, venture deeper into the dystopian world the showinhabits. Korean company Innisfree let people take a VR bicycle ride through Jeju Island, which is known for its natural wonders. Samsung, in a bid to increase attention for its VR products, created Bedtime VR Stories that let parents and kids go on far-flung adventures right from their bedrooms.

Another big player in the VR ad bonanza will, of course, be Google. In late June, it announced it was working on native, mobile VR ad formats at Area 120, its workshop for new, experimental ideas.

The first experimental idea is a cube that VR users will see. When a user taps it or looks at it for slightly too long, it will open a video player the user can watch.

Google is asking VR developers to apply to Google if theyre interested in testing the format.

VR ad formats should be easy for developers to implement, native to VR, flexible enough to customize and useful and non-intrusive for users, developers Aayush Upadhyay and Neel Rao wrote in a blog post about the cube.

But like most things in advertising, the hype is so far unfounded.

A Forrester Research report found that 42 percent of adults in the U.S. have never heard ofVR headsets. A report by Yes Lifecycle Marketing found just 8 percent of marketers are using VR in ads, with 35 percent saying they have no intentions to use it. Widespread adoption is years off. According to Deutsche Bank, there will be 154 million mobile VR usersby 2020. By then, hardwarewill have improved and gaming and entertainment companies will have increased their use ofthe technology, with othersfollowing suit, according to Forrester analyst Samantha Merlivat.

A lot of it is just about how slow the consumer adoption rate is, said Joe Croson, director of interactive production at BBDO, which last year debuted a traveling VR experience for AT&T and Toms that let people take a virtual shoe-giving trip to Colombia. Because so few people ownheadsets, he sees the most promise in brands have to put their ads in an installation where people can experience it.

Cost is another hurdle. While brands would love immersive, entertaining ad formats that people actually want to watch, VR ads can be pricey. Time and money is spent at just the concept stage, even beforeresearch and development and production costs come in.

In a Forrester report,Ogilvy innovation director Dayon Daumont said for a high-quality VR experience, brands need to spend $500,000 just for content creation. Meanwhile, the reportestimated the cost to createa 360-degree video, which is considered VR-light, runs between $10,000 and $100,000.

Jourdain May, senior content producer at The Program in Portland, Oregon, said brands can cut costs can be cut by doing 360-degree video, which doesnt require a headset as VR does. Focusing on things like spatial sound design, branded interactive menu selections and noise-canceling headphones can make the video feel more like reality youre there in the scene,May said. Cameras with multiple lenses will do the 360 stitching internally and spit out an image that can be posted directly to social media, May added.

Thats why 360 ads are slightly ahead of the market. Many companies now create sponsor ads. One is VirtualSky, which makes five- to 10-second 360-degree experiences that play when someone is in the middle of VR content. The company also makes longer ads up to 30 seconds long. Viewability is not an issue, companies say, since the advertising literally surrounds viewers. VirtualSky recently worked with Posts Fruity Pebbles cereal for a 30-second pre-roll spot that sprays viewers with water and hits them with dodge balls. Other brands such asBMW and AT&T have all used 360-degree film, which is supported on YouTube and Facebook.

For Croson, the ideal approach now isto make experiential VR ads like BBDO did with AT&T, which can be watched usingGoogles inexpensiveVR headset, Cardboard,then shoot 360-degree videos for Facebook or YouTube, which dont require any headset. Platform developers need to provide more of the technology and adoption needs to get there, he said. Gaming is driving forward a lot of this interest, but were a waysbehind. And so people find that a 360-degree video is a more effective way, or mixed reality.

What may drive intent for brands to create VR ads will be the technology itself catching up.

Weve seen the most success with 360-video and VR-type work when the client finds the right opportunity to use immersive experience, said May. If its not something that would be best communicated through an immersive experience, then stick to traditional mediums.

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Global Virtual Reality Ecosystem, 2017 – PR Newswire (press release)

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This study aims to analyse Virtual Reality (VR) and its applications across vertical industries 2017.

Research Scope: The research scope of the study includes the following: Technology Trends (which includes smartphone, tethered and all-in-one headsets, tracking technology and platforms) Industry Trends (which includes consolidation, expansion away from gaming and partnerships) Innovative start-ups and vendors in VR The applications of VR in industries and case studies

A general overview of Virtual Reality is given and its relevance to business in 2017. Applications of VR in recent years which offer new opportunities and value propositions are listed for each industry, with a case study analysed. Strategies for navigating Virtual Reality as a enterprise software or IT services company are assessed and the imperative for both to invest and experiment is explained.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a set of technologies with create immersive experiences through digital simulation. VR exists on a spectrum of digital experiences from reality to full digital immersion. Breakthroughs in computing performance, hardware economies of scale and 3D expertise have enabled a resurgence of VR's promise in recent years, and 2017 could mark the beginning of VR's hockey stick growth trajectory.

Companies across vertical industries are testing and implementing different applications of VR from pure branding exercises through to training and customer service optimization. The Healthcare, Defense, Manufacturing and Automotive sectors have plenty of historical experience with simulation technologies including VR. However, the current wave of software innovation, low price point for hardware and growing developer ecosystem bring radical new possibilities at a much lower cost.

There are many unexplored opportunities in VR across training, media and simulation. Each industry may find new solutions to their own unique challenges. Experimentation is key to finding the biggest opportunities for innovation. This dynamic may be led by content and media platform producers over single-product startups, given the efficiency benefits of reused assets and optimizations for realism in VR. Facebook and Google have already made bold strides towards this future with Social VR application experimentation and YouTube experience respectively.

Key Questions this Study Will Answer: The following are some of the key questions that this study will provide answers to: What is virtual reality and why is it relevant to the enterprise? What are the key applications of VR for each industry sector? Who are the key providers of VR platforms for consumers? What best practices can be determined from successful strategies using VR in industries?

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p05057863/Global-Virtual-Reality-Ecosystem.html

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Virtual reality arcade, creation studio to open this week – WKYC-TV

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Virtual reality arcade coming to Summit County

Amani Abraham, WKYC 6:15 PM. EDT August 09, 2017

CUYAHOGA FALLS - A new virtual reality arcade is set to open this week in Summit County, but this arcade is more than just about having fun.

"I realized there was a need in the community for something more," said Myers.

The duo has taken their passion for VR and transformed it into a brick-and-mortar business.

"From nine to four were a creation studio," said Bill Myers. "In the evenings, we open up as a virtual reality arcade."

The team will spend the first portion of the day developing program for local businesses. Take for instance a plumbing company:

"We would build a virtual reality solution for them, so they can put on a headset, and using hand controllers, theyre able to replicate the real world with the tools and piping they may need to fix things."

New Territory's mission is to create a space that encourages using the virtual world in everyday life.

"That's why it was so important for my wife and I to create a space where people can come at all hours of the day, learn about this technology, build with it, grow their businesses, grow personally, learn how to develop and be able to have fun all at the same time."

New Territory VR Arcade is scheduled to open on Friday.

2017 WKYC-TV

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Virtual reality arcade, creation studio to open this week - WKYC-TV

The First Mind-Controlled Virtual Reality Game Has Arrived – Futurism

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In Brief Startup Neurable just unveiled the first virtual reality game that users can control with their minds. The game is just one example of the rapidly growing field of tech based on brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs. Telekinetic Powers

Part of the appeal of virtual reality (VR) is the ability to control the digital world using only your hands and simple movements. Startup company Neurable, in collaboration with the Madrid-based company Estudiofuture, is eliminating controllers and hand movements altogether with their first game:Awakening, which aims to show what its like to have telekinetic abilities.

Neurable Vice President Michael Thompson announced the game last week ahead of its appearance at the computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH. The game, set to be released in VR arcades in 2018, has a story similar to that of the Netflix series Stranger Things:You are a child held prisoner in a government science laboratory. You discover that experiments have endowed you with telekinetic powers. You must use those powers to escape your cell, defeat the robotic prison guards, and free yourself from the lab.

Speaking with IEEE Spectrum, Neurable CEO Ramses Alcaide explained that his companys headset strap, attached to a modified HTC Vive headset, uses several electrodes positioned in specific areas that detect brain signals known as event-related potentials. These small electric changes in the brain are tied to movements, sensory experiences, or thoughts as they happen.

Though Neurables technology might be exciting for gamers, such brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are being researched for much more widespread applications: from neuroscience research to mind-controlled web development, to brainwave-based marketing and tracking brain activity the way many track their steps. The technology is also being developed to help those with locked-in syndrome unable to move or talk communicate with the outside world.

Some researchers have expressed skepticism that this technology can ever be commercially viable; Jack Gallant, head of UC Berkeleys Neuroscience Lab, told theGuardianitwas conceptually trivial but just about impossible to do due to the difficulty of decoding brain signals through the thick human skull. But Alcaide seems to think the ease with which people have usedAwakeningbodes well for the techs future.

A lot of people come in highly skeptical, because BCI has been a disappointment so many times before, Alcaide told IEEE. But as soon as they grab an object, theres a smile that comes over their faces. You can see the satisfaction that it really works.

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Typography in virtual reality: the new frontier – The Drum

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Modern typography marches in lockstep with technology, as it has since the written letters infancy hundreds of years ago. In the 21st century, the newest frontiers for typography are the worlds of virtual, mixed, and augmented reality.

These brave new design environments put fresh demands on type designers as well as graphic designers, and raise a thorny yet fascinating tangle of questions about legibility, letterform design, and typeface selection.

For a user, the spatial aspect and immediacy of being surrounded by type within a VR environment requires a different way of thinking about both typography and the information it conveys.

VR, AR and MR now mean designers must consider such variables as motion, volume, UI/UX, and sound to get the most benefit out of the full, immersive experience they provide. Because VR is a closed digital experience replacing the sensations of the haptic world, and AR or MR superimposes digital information onto the real environment, the typographic considerations of each have some key differences.

VR can be entirely its own fantasy land, while MR means the type has to play nice with all the available sensory input.

Jay Iorio, director of innovation at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), says: In AR, imagine you have email coming in, somebody at a remote location who wants to conference with you as a hologram on the street, plus a constantly updating news feed, all of it integrated in real-time through artificial intelligence.

"So what is type in that scenario? Is it a crawl, a bunch of floating texts? Pop-ups? It comes down to an issue of interface design for a relentless stream of content. Whats the mechanism to manage and interact with all that? None of this has been decided yet.

Joshua To, design director at Google, says: Many of the basic rules around typographic contrast and readability for print or 2D screens change in VR. When type becomes even a little bit more volumetric, the way people perceive it and interact with it changes. The type needs to be rooted in something real, otherwise it gets a little uncanny for the user.

Sigmund Freud defined the uncanny as that species of the frightening that goes back to what was once well known and had long been familiar, which explains why its potentially disturbing to experience the passive and flat alphabets, words, sentences, and texts we know and love joining us in the 3D world and taking on a suddenly active, volumetric role.

The biomechanical aspects of how we read in a VR environment are of key importance to designers as well.

Dan Rhatigan, senior type manager at Adobe, says: Our binocular vision means that our eyes are meant to work in tandem, but in VR each eye gets its own direct input.

Many users of VR find themselves nauseous as their brains struggle to adjust and process the flood of information coming in via a previously unknown delivery system.

VR introduces many factors and variables that can interfere with the reading process, says Jaime Van Wart, a recent graduate of the MFA Program in graphic design at the California Institute of the Arts.

Paragraphs of text might function adequately as texture in a VR environment, but to really render the text readable, the amount of movement needs to be controlled to a point where the VR itself might not add anything to the experience.

In VR, type becomes physical, elastic, monumental, dimensional, confrontational and distorted. Sharleen Chen, another alumnus of the CalArts MFA design programme, says: Designing for VR is designing for a 360 globe with you at the centre. How do you warp type around a concave surface without distorting it? Or do you decide to embrace the distortion and just say: "This is how it works here, that's all."

As the technology for content delivery improves, type will evolve too. Web type initially primitive and not graphically pleasing, by and large became sophisticated and far more artfully nuanced as type designers addressed the requirements of letterform creation for screens, and as screens gained in sharpness and pixel resolution.

A book is a framing device for a narrative; a painting in a museum has a frame around it; a piece of music has its own structure and framework. VR is the first design environment to dispense with the frame, because the user is an integral part of the experience. Across a range of design contexts, text is still how our civilization gets passed down images are powerful but imprecise, too open to individual interpretation and manipulation.

Type cleanly conveys the best of our ideas, literature, science, art, poetry. What if VR becomes a way to reintroduce the culture to text and the depth of thought that goes with it? Apart from the satisfaction of overcoming the formidable typographic challenges presented by this recent format, the social goal is one well worth pursuing. Text is what keeps us together

This article was originally published in The Recorder Issue 5. Angela Riechers is a writer specialising in typography, design, media and visual culture. Follow her on Twitter @AngelaRiechers

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New technology could revolutionise the way we do our shopping and banking, but does the reality live up to the hype? – Coutts

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Like Westfield, Visa is also experimenting with the technology. It has developed a prototype stadium preview that people could visit in advance of an event at a physical location. At the conference Bill Gajda, Global Head of Innovation and strategic partnerships at Visa, says: You can get a 360 view, choose a seat, check the sight lines and even order and pay for food.

So what will that payment experience look like? In a WorldPay prototype, it is almost exactly like the real world. The user picks a virtual card and taps it on a virtual card machine. He or she can even tap in a PIN (though the numbers hover in space).

This might seem unimaginative, but according to Nick Telford-Reed, Director of Innovation at WorldPay, familiarity counts. VR is a completely new frontier for payments, so we have to ease people into it. But Im sure clever designers will come up with better prompts.

Beyond transactional experiences, VR has the potential to alter the way businesses interact with their clients. Many of our clients are often travelling and have busy schedules, but hugely value the face-to-face relationship with their Coutts advisors explains Robert Hemphill, Head of Innovation, Coutts; imagine if we could emulate that very same experience, wherever our clients happen to be in the world.

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New technology could revolutionise the way we do our shopping and banking, but does the reality live up to the hype? - Coutts

Wayde van Niekerk, the anti-Usain Bolt, on way to athletics immortality – iNews

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Wayde van Niekerk is half-way to becoming an athletics icon. As if he needs any more help, after the fastest man in the world endorsed him.

The man who Usain Bolt believes has the chops and charm to take over track and field blasted apart a stellar field on Tuesday night in a 400 metre race overshadowed by the controversy concerning Botswanas Isaac Makwala being ruled out of the race by the IAAF on suspicion of norovirus despite the athlete and his coach saying he was healthy to form the first part of his ambitious World Championships 400m-200m double.

You can see why Bolt is so impressed. Van Niekerk sauntered into the London Stadium on Tuesday to the strains of Guns and Roses Welcome to the Jungle with a laconic grin on his face, before cantering to victory in 43.98 seconds, almost half a second clear of Stephen Gardiner of the Bahamas, with Qatars Abdelah Haroun in third.

He barely smiled after his victory. After all, he goes again on Wednesday, in the 200m. He later said the dank London summer evening was a little freezing.

But Bolts anointment of the South African goes beyond him being able to run fast.

The Jamaican, whose reach is so broad that he has been hailed in some circles as the man who saved athletics, knows a thing or two about how to transcend a sport.

And since Van Niekerk broke Michael Johnsons ancient 400-metre record at the 2016 Olympics, he has steadily moved from the confines of athletics into the public consciousness, bringing with it sponsorship deals totalling seven figures with brands including Audi and Visa.

He has even become a household name in his native country, where usually you have to chuck a rugby ball or wield a cricket bat to move beyond the back pages.

His rise to prominence is no doubt connected with the fact that Bolt named Van Niekerk as his heir apparent.

There is a story that after his first World Championship victory, in 2015, Van Niekerks mother was the only person to meet him at the airport.

If he does the double in London and becomes the first person to achieve the feat since Johnson in 1995 you can bet there will be a few more to greet him.

Van Niekerk has little of the swagger and showmanship of Bolt. You wont see dance moves at the start line as his name is being called out.

In fact on Tuesday night, as he normally does, he merely held his hands together in prayer. Whoever he spoke to must have listened.

Nor will you hear bon mots that we have become used to from Bolt the Jamicans admission that he ate chicken nuggets all through the 2008 Olympics still stands out from Van Niekerk.

In place of Bolts cheeky chutzpah, there is modest politeness and prolific mentions of the Almighty from Van Niekerk. But one thing they do share is an ability to run darn fast.

And if things go to plan on Wednesday and Thursday, Van Niekerk will get ever closer to Bolts exalted status.

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Immortality & Mind: Dalai Lama Brainstorms the Universe With Russian Scientists – Sputnik International

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AP Photo/ Khin Maung Win

Konstantin Anokhin, prominent Russian neurobiologist and member ofboth Russian Academy ofSciences and Russian Academy ofMedical Sciences, said duringhis presentation that Russian scientists have been studying consciousness forover 150 years, and their materialistic conception ofconsciousness differs fromthe classic materialism ofWestern science, according to RIA Novosti.

"I believe that what we need now is a new, bold fundamental theory instead ofexperiments This is our message toBuddhist science: we need a theory that isnt based onsubjective experience alone. This new theory may influence our methods and techniques, and draw the attention tomeditation," Anokhin said.

Sputnik/ Olga Lipich

Russian scientist David Dubrovsky converses with Dalai Lama during a conference in New Delhi

Notable Russian neurolinguistics researcher Tatyana Chernigovskaya who acted asmoderator duringthe conference concurred withAnokhin.

"The amount ofempirical data that we have grows bythe minute. Weve even reached an impasse ofsorts because we dont know what todo withthis data. We could sort it, ofcourse, and there are processing methods available, butwe are not advancing further. If I study each and every cell inyour body, I wont learn anything aboutyour personality. And delving intobrains and pulling outeach and every neuron outwont help me understand how it works. Okay, so weve studied 30 billion more neurons, now what? What question have we answered? None. We need a genius who can tell us you need toask a different question. Its clear that atthis point that a new theory is badly needed," Chernigovskaya said, adding that philosophy plays a key role inthis matter.

For the Good ofMankind

The goal ofthe conference was tofacilitate dialogue betweenRussian scientists and Buddhist scholars related toa variety ofscientific disciplines such asphysics, cosmology, biology and axiology.

"Ive had useful discussions withscientists formore than30 years withtwo purposes inmind. The first is toextend our knowledge. Until the late 20th century scientists mostly investigated external phenomena, including the brain. These were things they could measure and which a third person could agree about. However, inthe late 20th century and early 21st century more and more scientists have begun tofind evidence that experiences such asmeditation and mind training affect our brains inpreviously unforeseen waysthis is called neuroplasticity," the Dalai Lama said.

AP Photo/

The 14th Dalai Lama

The second purpose, he added, was tohelp raise awareness and foster compassion amongpeople, tohelp stop the endless cycle ofviolence and todeal withthe issue ofdisparity betweenrich and poor.

"We have tolearn fromexperience and enter intodialogue, remembering that other people are our brothers and sisters. We have tolive together. The global economy and the effects ofclimate change are not limited bynational borders. Its the idea of us and them we have torestrain, because it so easily becomes the basis forviolence. We have toeducate people tounderstand that we are all part ofhumanity, he added.

Dalai Lama: Consciousness Does Not Equal Brain

According tothe Buddhist leader, consciousness consists ofseveral levels and is not fully connected tothe brain.

"For example, these different levels ofconsciousness manifest duringsleep, when we do not possess our senses butremain aware, or when a person faints. Even when a man dies, we (Buddhists) know that the consciousness continues toexist," he said.

Sputnik/ Olga Lipich

Dalai Lama and Russian scientists take part in a conference in New Delhi

The Dalai Lama explained that, according toBuddhist teachings, consciousness is intrinsically connected tolife, and the most subtle level ofconsciousness is devoid ofgenetic basis and transfers fromone life toanother aspart ofthe rebirth cycle.

He also remarked that it is very hard totell whether an artificial intelligence can possess a consciousness.

"Everything inthe world is determined bycause-effect relationships, and a consciousness even the most subtle level ofit can only be the continuation ofconsciousness. But artificial intelligence is just particles," the Dalai Lama said.

Professor David Dubrovsky fromthe Russian Academy ofSciences Institute ofPhilosophy also pointed outthat a thought is devoid ofphysical dimensions such asmass or length, and that it all comes downto explaining the relation betweenthoughts and brain activity.

Sputnik/ Olga Lipich

Russian scientist David Dubrovsky and Dalai Lama

"It is called the hard problem ofconsciousness. Western science has been dominated byreductionist concepts that narrowed thought processes downto physical processes or tobehaviorism. The prevalent concepts inRussia, however, have retained the aspects ofsubjective reality and non-physical process," Dubrovsky said.

The Origins ofthe Big Bang

The participants ofthe conference also broached the Big Bang theory, asKonstantin Anokhin argued that consciousness did not exist when Earth was devoid oflife, and that consciousness appeared asa result ofevolution.

"The origins ofconsciousness lie inemotions. Even the simplest organisms have emotions; theyre capable ofexperiencing satisfaction or suffering depending onwhether they succeed or fail toachieve something," Anokhin said.

AP Photo/ Luca Bruno

Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, center, leaves a Tibetan Buddhist institute, in Milan

"But the Big Bang must require a vast amount ofenergy, so where did it come from?" the Buddhist spiritual leader inquired.

"Not fromthe mind or consciousness," Anokhin replied.

"But how do you know that? Energy is immaterial. We need toexplain why vast amounts ofenergy have material basis Theres a contradiction here," Dalai Lama retorted.

He also remarked that onthe most subtle level, consciousness and rocks were created outof the same particles.

"So why does one particle become a rock while another becomes consciousness?" Dalai Lama mused.

Schrodingers Cat and Language

During the conference professor Tatyana Chernigovskaya also presented her report Cheshire Smile ofSchrodingers Cat: Language and Consciousness.

She cited Niels Bohr, one ofthe pioneers ofquantum mechanics, who said that the observer is a part ofthe scientific paradigm and that the results ofan experiment are influenced bythe person who conducts it, and Albert Einstein who called the intuitive mind a sacred gift, adding that many prominent scientists inthe pastclaimed that the outsideworld is "built fromthe inside."

"Would music or mathematics continue toexist withoutthose who listen and think? My answer is no: Without man, Mozarts music would merely become vibrations ofair," Chernigovskaya said.

She added that neuroscientists should focus their attention onmusic and music and language, especially poetry.

"Today a new science called biolinguistics seeks todiscover universal traits ofthe evolution ofbiological systems and language," Chernigovskaya said.

The Dalai Lama also remarked that her findings have a lot incommon withBuddhist teachings aboutthe interdependence ofall things.

The conference was hosted underthe auspices ofthe Tibet Culture and Information Center (Moscow), Save Tibet Foundation, and withthe support ofMoscow Center forConsciousness Studies.

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Immortality & Mind: Dalai Lama Brainstorms the Universe With Russian Scientists - Sputnik International

Using alternative medicine only for cancer linked to lower survival rate – Medical Xpress

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August 10, 2017 Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Patients who choose to receive alternative therapy as treatment for curable cancers instead of conventional cancer treatment have a higher risk of death, according to researchers from the Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research (COPPER) Center at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center. The findings were reported online by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

There is increasing interest by patients and families in pursuing alternative medicine as opposed to conventional cancer treatment. This trend has created a difficult situation for patients and providers. Although it is widely believed that conventional cancer treatment will provide the greatest chance at cure, there is limited research evaluating the effectiveness of alternative medicine for cancer.

While many cancer patients use alternative therapy in addition to conventional cancer treatments, little is known about patients who use alternative therapy as their only approach to treating their cancer.

"We became interested in this topic after seeing too many patients present in our clinics with advanced cancers that were treated with ineffective and unproven alternative therapies alone," said the study's senior author, James B. Yu, M.D., associate professor of therapeutic radiology at Yale Cancer Center.

To investigate alternative medicine use and its impact on survival compared to conventional cancer treatment, the researchers studied 840 patients with breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer in the National Cancer Database (NCDB)a joint project of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and the American Cancer Society. The NCDB represents approximately 70% of newly diagnosed cancers nationwide. Researchers compared 280 patients who chose alternative medicine to 560 patients who had received conventional cancer treatment.

The researchers studied patients diagnosed from 2004 to 2013. By collecting the outcomes of patients who received alternative medicine instead of chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation, they found a greater risk of death. This finding persisted for patients with breast, lung, and colorectal cancer. The researchers concluded that patients who chose treatment with alternative medicine were more likely to die and urged for greater scrutiny of the use of alternative medicine for the initial treatment of cancer.

"We now have evidence to suggest that using alternative medicine in place of proven cancer therapies results in worse survival," said lead author Skyler Johnson, M.D. "It is our hope that this information can be used by patients and physicians when discussing the impact of cancer treatment decisions on survival."

Cary Gross, M.D., co-author of the study, called for further research, adding, "It's important to note that when it comes to alternative cancer therapies, there is just so little knownpatients are making decisions in the dark. We need to understand more about which treatments are effectivewhether we're talking about a new type of immunotherapy or a high-dose vitaminand which ones aren't, so that patients can make informed decisions."

Henry Park, M.D., MPH, was also a study author.

Explore further: Study finds breast cancer driver, HER2, in 3 percent of lung cancers

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Using alternative medicine only for cancer linked to lower survival rate - Medical Xpress

Internal Medicine and Pain Clinic: Dr. J.B. Chung | alternative … – Madison.com

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Dr. Chung's career has spanned forty years and thousands of patients. He has successfully treated a vast array of ailments... from ADHD to asthma, from fatigue to fibromyalgia, and all points in between. Dr. Chung employs both Western and Eastern medical techniques to both alleviate and mitigate pain. Your pain is as unique as you are... Dr. Chung knows this, and makes it his primary mission to treat what you feel.

M.D.O.M. Medical Doctor in Oriental Medicine Dong Yang Medical College KOREA

Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy in Oriental Medicine American Liberty University U.S.A.

1993 Acupuncturist of the Year 2004 Acupuncturist of the Year 1999 American Association of Oriental Medicine Granted Lifetime Membership as a FOUNDING PATRON and in recognition and appreciation for distinguished service in the advancement of Acupuncture. 2007 International Health Professional of the Year 2013 Board Certified in Integrative Medicine

Member of American Association of Integrative Medicine American Association of Oriental Medicine Lifetime Member American Association of Oriental Medicine Esteemed Member Wisconsin Oriental & Medical Association Wisconsin Back Society American Academy of Pain Management

National Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine License Diplomate in Acupuncture & Diplomate in Herbology

Dr. Chung helped establish the State Acupuncture Board in Wisconsin in conjunction with the Department of Regulation & Licensing and was the principla author of the board's administrative rules.

Dr. Chung has helped me greatly with my dizziness and balance problems. Before being treated, I had many problems just standing up and dressing myself. Ed C.

Before seeing Dr. Chung for ADHD, it would take my 12 year old son 1 to 2 hrs. to fall asleep and when he would he would toss and turn all night. Now it only takes 20-30 minutes and he sleeps soundly. He no longer gets so emotional, aggressive or angry; his anxiety and crying are rare. His teachers have seen a great difference in him. He is much happier and doing so much better. We appreciate all Dr. Chung has done for him. Karonna A.

Fifteen months ago, I thought my life was over at 55 and it would be downhill from there. I realized recently that I had not thanked you and I could not let more time pass without telling you. Thank you sincerely for giving me my life back. Carol B.

Dr. Chung, thank you, thank you, thank you! Your knowledge wisdom and magical touch helped us in creating our precious daughter! We are thrilled and delighted each time we look at her. Andrea R.

Thank you so much Dr. Chung for once again giving me back my life. My hip and leg pain last week was terrible and I was, and continue to be, amazed by the results of the acupuncture treatments youve given me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Darlene W.

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PITAHC: Reshaping, rebuilding Pinoy’s health-care system – Business Mirror

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LONGbefore we learned about modern medicine, our ancestors have already designed tools and means to aid their sick people and have unlocked and deciphered the healing powers of the plants and herbs that surround them.

From simple tapal (patch) using leaves of tuba to hilot (traditional massage), aromatherapy andchiropractic, among others, it cannot be denied that Pinoys are accustomed to traditional and alternative medicine. In places where there are no doctors, most people rely on their alternative-medicine healers for immediate health solutions.

Traditional medicine as defined by the World health Organization is the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.

With these facts, former Health Secretary Juan Flavier in 1992, through the Department of Health, launched the alternative medicine program, which was institutionalized two years after a traditional medicine law was drafted.

However, it was former President Fidel V. Ramos who integrated the alternative and traditional medicine in the governments health care delivery system when he signed into law Republic Act 8423, also known as the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act of 1997, an Act creating the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) to accelerate the development of traditional and alternative health-care in the Philippines, providing for a traditional and alternative health care development fund and for other purposes.

It was also Flavier who sponsored the said Act.

As mandated in RA 8423, Pitahc will encourage scientific research on and develop traditional and alternative health-care systems that have direct impact on public health care; promote and advocate the use of traditional, alternative, preventive and curative health-care modalities that have been proven safe, effective, cost effective and consistent with government standards on medical practice; develop and coordinate skills-training courses for various forms of traditional and alternative health-care modalities; formulate standards, guidelines and codes of ethical practice appropriate for the practice of traditional and alternative health care, as well as in the manufacture, quality control and marketing of different traditional and alternative health-care materials, natural and organic products, for approval and adoption by the appropriate government agencies; formulate policies for the protection of indigenous and natural health resources and technology from unwarranted exploitation, for approval and adoption by the appropriate government agencies;formulate policies to strengthen the role of traditional and alternative health-care delivery system; and promote traditional and alternative health care in international and national conventions, seminars and meetings in coordination with the Department of Tourism, Duty Free Philippines Inc., Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp. and other tourism-related agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations and local government units.

The Philippines has several traditional health-care methods, and with more than 1,000 plants species that are believed to have medicinal properties, the birth of the Pitahc opened many doors of opportunities.

Numerous seminars, trainings and other educational talks about alternative and traditional medicine were conducted. Research and development of products made from herbs and plants were also carried out.

The institution is also successful in publishing books that collated all the medicinal plants that can be found in the Philippines. A number of researches about the common medicinal herbs were also conducted to better identify their uses and the benefits they provide to users.

The herbal medicine is a $100-billion industry and is growing continually, as many people around the world are adapting natural medicines. Nonchemical cosmetics, or those made from plants and other natural ingredients, are also currently in demand globally.

However, instead of contributing to the growth of the industry, Pitahcs purpose was once accused of deviating from its original mandate. According to reports, Pitahc has been manufacturing and distributing products in direct competition with the private-sector producers.

Going back to its original objectives and functions, the institute made a big change in their structure to focus on the works that it is directed to do.

A new face

A revered doctor from the Visayas recently joined the roster of Pitahcs executives, with her 25 years of experience as a medical doctor and six years as a hospital administrator, Dr. Annabelle Pabiona-De Guzman was recently appointed by President Duterte as Pitahcs director general.

In taking over the institution, Pabiona-de Guzman brings with her not only the education, numerous citations and even her years of expertise, but a heart with compassion to serve and be a channel of change and blessings to everyone who will come her way.

Pabiona-de Guzman maybe a petite woman but during an interview with the Health & Fitness, she bravely discussed the direction that the Pitahc will take in order to deliver the assignments the institution is tasked to do.

According to her, to clear up all the issues concerning the role of the Pitahc, the agency hired some experts who will help them to really transform the Pitahc as a research institution. To utilize the funds provided for them, Pabiona-de Guzman shared that this year they will commission their own research.

There are a number of research proposals on her table, but Pabiona-de Guzman is excited to announce their first commissioned research, which is very controversial due to the fact that it is included in the prohibited drugs.

Our first commissioned research will be about medical cannabis [marijuana] used for cancer. The Pitahc allotted P10 million for this endeavor, she shared, adding If we are successful with the research about medical cannabis, the Pitahc will have the intellectual property rights.

The soft-spoken doctor also shared with us the vision that she and PITAHC executives have for the traditional and alternative medicine industry in the country is to grow bigger, better and recognized as an effective and safe health-care solution.

She envisioned the countrys alternative-medicine healers to be on a par with their counterparts from Thailand and Malaysia, where they are recognized as doctors of alternative medicine. She said that in Thailand there are educational institutions for alternative-medicine healers.

After several years of schooling, there will be an examination they need to pass and those who will qualify will have a license to practice alternative medicine. Some of our neighboring Asian nations that have been advocating traditional medicine are very advanced, thus, giving their people more health-care options.

Aside from the researches the Pitahc will commission, Pabiona-de Guzman wants the Pinoy traditional healers to have know-how and skills upgrading, where they will be aware of the development and trends in the industry.

She said the agency is looking into more ways and channels where they can help the traditional healers to learn the other techniques that are effective and popular in other countries, such as Malaysia and Vietnam.

Many Filipinos dont have access to western medicines and technologies, with alternative-medicine methods, drugs made from herbal plantswhich are known for their medicinal use are more affordable and also effective, we are giving the poor, the indigenous people a health-care option that they are accustomed to but, this time, improved and backed by science.

Pabiona-de Guzman, together with her people in her agency, vowed to make traditional and alternative medicine a part of our national health-care delivery system, for real.

Image Credits: Photos courtesy of PITAHC

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PITAHC: Reshaping, rebuilding Pinoy's health-care system - Business Mirror

Watching Your Weight Chromatography Analyses Brazilian Supplements – Chromatography Today

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Dietary supplements are big business with close on 400 million per year spent in the UK. Vitamins, minerals, botanicals and amino acids are just some of the pills and potions that can be found in supermarkets and health food shops. Over one third of adults regularly take a supplement despite most people not really needing anything other than a healthy balanced diet.

One of the main supplement types are those marketed to aid weight loss. A recent study on supplements seized by the police in Brazil has suggested that some of the supplements contained significantly more caffeine than the amount stated on the labels and even some drugs were detected including laxatives. The researchers aim was to validate a chromatography method, but the work highlights some of the risks that people face when they take unregulated supplements.

The research, published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology Determination of caffeine and identification of undeclared substances in dietary supplements and caffeine dietary exposure assessment analysed supplements seized by the Brazilian police between 2010 and 2016 as being products not allowed to be sold in Brazil and focused on weight loss supplements.

One of the aims of the work was to validate a GC-MS method for the quantitation of caffeine and identification of other substances in supplements, mainly weight loss products, and to estimate the caffeine intake by consumers. The team used a simple sample preparation method that included extraction with chloroform and water, centrifugation and then analysis of the organic layer.

Of course, chromatography can be used for many different aspects of food analysis including contamination as discussed in the article, How Safe is Safe? Analytical Tools for Tracing Contaminants in Food, or making better chocolate as discussed in the article, Rapid Screening of Volatile and Semi-Volatile Organic Components in Cocoa Beans and Chocolate Products Using a Portable GC/MS System.

The researchers aim was to validate a chromatography method, but the work highlights some of the risks that people face when they take unregulated supplements. Out of 213 samples tested from 52 different products almost 27% of the samples contained more than 120% of the caffeine levels stated on the labels.

The researchers argue that by considering the maximum recommended dose on the product labels, several of the samples could lead to people taking a dose of caffeine above the recommended daily allowance of 400mg.

Equally worrying, in 28 of the samples the researchers identified undeclared drugs including drugs banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency particularly troubling for any athletes taking one of these supplements.

The work highlights that you must be careful what you take. Can you trust the manufacturer of the supplement? Regulations on labelling vary around the world and the internet means you can shop anywhere. Be careful.

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Watching Your Weight Chromatography Analyses Brazilian Supplements - Chromatography Today

America desperately needs to modernize its nuclear weapons – The Hill (blog)

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Bad news from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency: North Korea has developed a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles.

The Hermit Kingdom is not alone in its nuclear pursuits. Russia and China have also committed to exploring new weapons capabilities, and Iran still harbors nuclear aspirations. In the United States, however, attempts to modernize our nuclear arsenal face tremendous resistance.

The scale, scope and capacity of the Russian and Chinese nuclear modernization programs far outstrip current U.S. efforts. Failing to modernize our aging warheads and platforms carries tremendous risk that goes well beyond those posed by not keeping up with the Joneses.

B-52 bombers, introduced in the 1950s, are so old that occasionally a grandson jockeys the same tail number that his grandfather flew. Even our newest systems, the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines and B-2 bombers, are more than two decades old.

The nuclear triad is the bedrock of U.S. strategic deterrence and a core component of U.S. security assurances to over 30 allies around the world. It must be modernized regardless of the fate of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, also known as New START. The centerpiece of the Obama administrations failed Russian reset policy, New START has not served the strategic security interests of the United States.

It called for and delivered disproportionate reductions to the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. Moreover, the Russians have flagrantly violated the spirit of the treaty, deploying more than 200 nuclear warheads more than the treaty permits. (Nothing new there. Russia is also violating several other arms control agreements, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.)

Former officials of the Obama administration, who had a hand in the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, now recognize that the strategic environment has become significantly more dangerous since that review was concluded. The review was based on two questionable assumptions: that Russia was no longer a threat and that Russia (or any other country, for that matter) would not be a major adversary in the future.

But much has changed since those calculations were made. Russia, for example, has annexed Crimea, sent troops into Ukraine and propped up Bashar Assad in Syria. China has become more aggressive and belligerent in the South China Sea. And then theres North Korea. No one can know the future, of course. International developments have a way of taking the United States by surprise. And this unpredictability is precisely why the U.S. must maintain a credible, viable and robust nuclear deterrent.

Modernization is essential because the determined efforts of Russia, China and even North Korea leave the United States at risk of losing its competitive edge and thus its strategic deterrent. Both Moscow and Beijing reportedly include nuclear warhead testing as components of their modernization programs. And both are likely pursuing innovative design and development work to create warheads capable of generating special effects, such as enhanced radiation or electromagnetic pulse.Robust modernization programs also mean that their warhead workforce and production facilities remain skilled, capable and agile.

This is another area where the United States risks falling behind.U.S. scientists and nuclear engineers primarily focus their work (and thinking) on warhead maintenance and life extension programs a different set of skills than actually designing and building new warheads. The former attempts to sustain what is already known, while the latter explores new possibilities and leads to new designs and potential uses critical things to know if only to know what to defend against.

At present, the U.S. national laboratories are doing little to improve their understanding of foreign nuclear weapon designs. Those limited efforts should be expanded. Not only would it educate the current and upcoming generation of nuclear weapon designers, it would help ensure that the next generation tasked to certify our nuclear stockpile reliable has the experience and know-how of designing, building and testing actual warheads.

It made no sense for the French, British and Americans to remain committed to horse cavalry while the Germans were developing mobile tank warfare. So, today, it makes no sense for the U.S. to remain committed to merely certifying vintage nuclear weapons while our competitors race forward with new research and development efforts.

U.S. nuclear weapons policy must evolve as the nuclear threat evolves. Making changes to the U.S. nuclear posture as the threat environment grows more challenging will ultimately put the United States and its allies in a better strategic position. Congress and the Trump administration must not waver in their support for the U.S. nuclear modernization program.

Michaela Dodge is a senior policy analyst specializing in missile defense and arms control in the Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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America desperately needs to modernize its nuclear weapons - The Hill (blog)