Daily Archives: March 8, 2017

A3 Announces Finalists in Automate Launch Pad Startup Competition – Robotics Online (press release)

Posted: March 8, 2017 at 1:24 pm

Robotic Industries Association Posted 03/08/2017

Emerging Companies with Range of Offerings from Platform-as-a-Service to Actuators to 3D Vision Technology

ANN ARBOR, MI Today the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the leading global advocate for the benefits of automating and producers of Automate 2017, announced the eight finalists in the Automate Launch Pad Startup Competition. The competition highlights the industrys most innovative young companies in robotics, machine vision, and motion control who are competing for the spotlight at the Automate 2017 Show and a $10,000 cash award. Sponsored by GE and co-produced by Silicon Valley Robotics, the competition provides innovative startup companies with an opportunity to generate awareness of their technology and find new sources of funding.

The eight finalists will compete for the top prize at Automate 2017 on April 5 at 3:00pm in a theatre on the exhibition floor at McCormick Place in Chicago, where they will pitch their technology solution to a panel of judges. All finalists will also be awarded booth space at Automate, giving them the opportunity to engage with over 20,000 expected attendees. The eight finalists were chosen from a field of over 30 contestants offering a mix of products and services.

Automation is among the most dynamic emerging markets, with venture funding increasing robustly each year, stated Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. The finalists in the Automate Launch Pad Startup Competition represent the many types of innovation that will transform the manufacturing and services sectors over the next decade.

Automate Launch Pad Competition Finalists

Meet the Judges A distinguished panel of automation industry leaders and investors will select the competition winner. The judges will be participating in a Fireside Chat in the theatre on the show floor, April 5, 10:30am 12pm about their experiences in investing in robotics and automation. Andra Keay, Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics, will moderate. Below is the list of judges:

Final Round at Automate 2017 The winner of the grand prize will be announced at the end of the competition on April 5. Automate 2017 will be held at Chicagos McCormick Place April 3-6. Attendees may register here. Prospective exhibitors can find more information on exhibition opportunities at the event website.

About Association for Advancing Automation (A3) The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. A3 is the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, and Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA). RIA, AIA, and MCMA combined represent over 1,000 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward. For more information, please visit our websites: A3 - RIA - AIA - MCMA.

Company Contact Bob Doyle, Director, Communications Tel: 734-994-6088

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Robotics team makes impressive strides – Pamplin Media Group

Posted: at 1:24 pm

North Marion hosted latest event Feb. 25 and will send students to state competition in coming weeks

The Presidents Day weekend was a busy one for the North Marion Voltmasters.

Three new robotics teams, along with their robots, joined the North Marion High School roster: Teams C (The Claw), D (DumDum), and E (The Beast), along with Team B (Scorpion), attended the rookies-only tournament on Feb. 18 at Dallas High School.

Though the varsity squad didn't enter its robot, Juggernaut, some of the team members traveled to Dallas to support the younger teams.

The Scorpions made their way through the qualifying rounds and when it all over, Samantha Patton was the last member standing, alone in first place.

And with that finish, Patton had the first choices in selecting other teams to join her alliance heading into the quarterfinals. Her alliance would make it to the finals before falling, earning a second place.

Teams C, with members Daniel Gonzalez, Brice Ferrell and Grace Bramel, finished in seventh place, while Team D's Hunter Wierstra and Beau Wilson managed to take 10th.

But the newbie tourney wasn't the end of the robotics weekend.

All North Marion robots attended the rescheduled Sandy tournament on Feb. 20 "and most performed respectably against far more experienced teams," said adviser Sherie Moran. "For some members that had been unable to attend the rookie tournament, it was a bit overwhelming, but they still put in a solid showing."

Teams C and E were able to select their own alliances going into the quarterfinals and although none of the teams made it to the semifinals, "a lot was learned about engineering, robotics and computer science," said Moran.

She added that, thanks to the Presidents Day weekend events, everyone better understood the challenges and were prepared for hosting the Feb. 25 tournament.

"Running a tournament is way different than just watching or participating in one," Moran said. "This is my second year being involved in the VEX robotics tournament circuit and you look at things differently as a host than you do as a coach or spectator, because if it goes well, no one notices, but if it goes badly everyone does!"

But after the event, Moran said all the feedback she's heard said that North Marion ran a professional event that went smoothly and efficiently. Attendees, participants and volunteers had a great time.

Even with their coach busy with hosting duties, the young teams did well and ended up in the middle of the pack at the end of the qualification matches, with the lowest of the five teams beating at least 10 teams and the top team, led by the Scorpion (Team B) ranked at seventh place against some stiff competition. The teams from Molalla, West Salem, Silverton and Sandy took the other top positions and got to be Alliance captains heading into the quarterfinals.

Three of the other North Marion teams were also lucky enough to make it to the quarterfinals and are excited to try again at state tournament, which will be held at Chemeketa Community College on March 10 and 11.

Without missing a beat, the Voltmasters returned to the classroom to make further modifications to their robots, programs and strategies, more determined than ever to improve their standing and chances for a favorable alliance.

"If nothing else, our little club doesn't quit," Moran said, "and we look forward to growing more and doing better at each and every event."

Anyone who would like to learn more about what is getting students excited to enter the field of robotics is invited to volunteer or sponsor a team.

North Marion is looking for volunteers to fill in as judges, referees, field setters, greeters and other helping hands to set up, manage and tear down. Anyone interested can email Moran at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Robotics team makes impressive strides - Pamplin Media Group

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A man with vitiligo who was called ‘zebra’ by bullies has defied their cruel comments by becoming a model – The Sun

Posted: at 1:24 pm

Curtis McDaniel, 22, from New Jersey, USA, was just 11-years-old when white speckles began to appear on his skin caused by vitiligo

A MAN who was bullied for his rare skin condition has defied those who tormented him by becoming a successful magazine model.

Curtis McDaniel, from New Jersey, USA, was just 11-years-old when white speckles began to appear on his skin caused by vitiligo an autoimmune disorder that stops cells from producing pigment.

Caters News Agency

Soon, his face and body developed large white patches and bullies labelled him zebra and Michael Jackson while kids would run away from him crying.

But, when he was 17, the teen stopped seeing his condition, which affects one per cent of the worlds population, as a curse and a couple of years later he was scouted as a model after uploading a selfie.

Now Curtis is a part-time model and soon he will feature on MTVs True Life show, which he hopes to use as a platform to educate others about vitiligo.

Caters News Agency

Caters News Agency

Curtis, 22, said: I was the only person in my family to have vitiligo and took it pretty hard at school, I was bullied a lot by people for my skin.

They would call me burnt lips, Michael Jackson, zebra, giraffe and people thought I was contagious I had a lot.

Girls would ask if I was burned and would say Ew whenever they saw me.

I was a spectacle everywhere I went, I once had kids running out of a store crying when they saw me and was called a monster.

Vitiligo is a skin condition which causes patches of skin to lose their pigmentation it is causes by a lack of the pigment melanin in the skin.

One percentof the population suffers from it and it affects every ethnicity and gender equally.

The main symptom of vitiligo is flat, white spots or patches on your skin.

Initially, the vitiligo may start as a patch of skin that is paler than the rest. Gradually, the patch will become completely white.

Vitiligo does not cause discomfort to your skin, such as dryness, but patches may occasionally be itchy.

If you have vitiligo, the pale areas of your skin are more vulnerable tosunburn.

Treatment for vitiligo is based on improving your skins appearance, you cannot reverse the depigmentationandthe effects of treatment are not usually permanent.

For smaller patches of vitiligo you may be prescribed a steroid cream, thiscan sometimes stop the spread of the patches, and may restore some of your original skin colour.

Before I used to think my skin was a curse, but now I realise my skin is a gift, its allowing me to influence people.

Once I had this new outlook on my skin, I stopped getting so angry and started to smile more.

Before, I hated having my picture taken, so to me I never would have believed I could model.

Caters News Agency

Curtis suffered a deep depression for five years, while he struggled to understand why he had been affected by the condition.

He said: It took over my wrists, arms, then went under my nose, around my lips and my left eyelid too.

Whenever I saw a new white spot while looking in the mirror it would make me angry, once it started to affect my face I punched a mirror in anger.

I was in a bad place.

But, after returning to Christianity, Curtis mind-set changed, and he realised he should see his skin in a positive light.

Curtis said: Its all a process, confidence isnt something you just get, youve got to look at yourself in the mirror and change your mind-set.

Caters News Agency

Caters News Agency

Caters News Agency

Skin is so materialistic, you have to love who you are.

Now, Curtis models while studying and hopes that by proudly showing his skin he can inspire others with vitiligo to not hide away.

Since embracing his condition, Curtishas found people are more attracted to him for both his appearance and his personality.

Curtis said: Its pretty cool, people like the pattern of my skin and also the confidence I have too, I never could have imagined this would be my life now.

Whenever I model or speak I dont want people to see my skin but my heart, I want them to see my heart through my skin.

A lot of people have told me that when they first saw me they liked my skin but what was most attractive was reading about me as a person, thats what makes them fall in love with me.

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A man with vitiligo who was called 'zebra' by bullies has defied their cruel comments by becoming a model - The Sun

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A More Accessible and Eclectic Future for Virtual Reality – Hyperallergic

Posted: at 1:23 pm

Neurospeculative Afrofeminism, a VR project incubated by NEW INC (all images courtesy NEW INC)

Near the beginning of the second annual Versions conference on creative practice and virtual reality, writer and lawyer Tim Wu posed one of the most sneakily salient points of the day. Discussing virtual realitys place among mass media like film and broadcast radio, Wu suggested that its possible VR is just not destined to be mass technology.

As unassuming as Wus words may seem, they actually issue a resounding challenge to a technology that is presumed to become not only a radical new medium for creative expression, but also a revolutionary computing platform with major repercussions for fields like healthcare, product design, video games, journalism, sports and live event spectatorship, social media, marketing, and more.

While new media are actually still new exciting, uncertain, rapidly changing, and overflowing with speculation and cash it can be easy to forecast their success as imminent or inevitable. Boosterism and hype, however, often tend to skirt the very instabilities, shortcomings, and dead ends that need to be looked straight in the eye if this media is to become anything more than an ephemeral novelty.

Consistent with Wus healthy skepticism, this years Versions titled Facing Reality mostly encouraged a more sober, productive, and critical probing of the cultural landscape of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality (although VR predominated in volume in both the discussion and sidebar exhibition). Held at the New Museum, co-presented by NEW INC and Kill Screen, and hosted by Julia Kaganskiy and Jamin Warren, this years conference gathered a slew of rich panels and events, assembling artists, organizers, academics, designers, and writers such as Jon Rafman, Opeyemi Olukemi, Cory Doctorow, Nick Montfort, Claire Evans, and more.

As VR becomes more familiar, both culturally and technically, the level of discourse turns more sensible and specific. At the same time, as earlier practical challenges are overcome, aspirational goal-posts can be moved further into the distance: so, there was less talk about the travails of nausea-inducing VR, but more about widening the scope of possible experiences in VR, and the range of people who can access them.

Topics of access and accessibility were front and center at this years Versions. More than addressing the obstacles inhibiting mainstream adoption of VR, Versions plunged into issues of exclusivity and the barriers to entry for creative professionals and marginalized communities. And indeed, whenever yet another article giddily announces the arrival of VR, one would do well to ask: for whom?

The days first panel, Who Owns the Future? (perhaps named after Jaron Laniers book of the same name), opened with a flurry of questions in this vein: Where are we in VRs development as a viable commercial medium? How do we make it truly democratic? How do we make it truly global? The moderator additionally let slip, How far behind are we in a no child left behind sense? Though certainly well-intentioned, these latter, bigger questions demonstrated that, when talking about VR, there can be a fine line between ethical inquiry and techno-utopian solutionism or the paper-thin addressing of real, material inequality with often vague or trivial fixes (making VR more democratic and global sounds more like corporate PR copy than actually achievable outcomes).

Where more ambitious, faintly TED-talk style questions felt a little hollow, more modest and precise ones rang far truer, if still difficult to answer, like, How do we incentivize equity of access without capital reassurance? Speaking in a later panel on agency and storytelling, Nancy Bennett, head of VR at Two Bit Circus, suggested that design and specifically user experience (UX) design could be a powerful tool for fostering inclusion in VR. And certainly, theres plenty in this area for a more socially engaged design practice to draw from. For example, Paul Dourishs writings on social computing and ethnography in design, which, instead of relying on more decontextualized cognitive data derived in laboratory-like settings, aim to account for the living social context of diverse, and often excluded, subjects. Or, more recently, Kat Holmess inclusive design, which designates disability and diversity as the very starting points for design practice, rather than an asterisked afterthought. Per Holmes: Designing for inclusion starts by recognizing exclusion.

From a more cultural standpoint, scholar and writer Judith Donath intimated that new conceptions of authorship can motivate more enthusiastic and plural participation in VR. Authoring, she said, is too often seen as the domain of experts. Donath emphasizes different standards for creation things you can author while walking down the street, using even rudimentary assets like sound and text (rather than advanced 3D modeling, etc.). Following this line of thinking, meaning-making in VR can begin to take on more folkloristic and amateur proportions, yielding a sensorium of everyday sensation collections of sounds and stories all mapped out in three-dimensional, navigable space.

Donaths points runs parallel with Versions overall interest in how we can explore and embrace new and different paradigms for cultural forms in VR. In pursuit of this, Versions later panels were a refreshing push toward the more experimental and eclectic. As the introduction for the panel Sensing Stories reads, Sound designers, cooks, dancers, and masseuses know as much about taking us on a journey as anyone and yet we rarely consult their expertise when designing for VR and AR, much to our detriment.

In Sensing Stories, Robin McNicholas, creative director of Marshmallow Laser Feast, suggested that VRs specificity hasnt been properly reckoned with. For crafting engaging experiences, you dont need much at all you just need a little nudge for the imagination to fill in the gaps One of the problems of VR is the use of restraint and respecting the audiences intelligence.

Renowned VR maven Brenda Laurel broached the concept of emergent gameplay as a way of respecting audience intelligence and creating riper conditions for freedom, experimentation, and surprise. Emergent VR experiences would resemble expansive sandboxes in which the storytelling is more ambient than actively (or intrusively) exposited.

Speaking of ambient solutions, Chandler Burr, the former New York Times scent critic, convincingly argued for the importance of scent to our perception of space, asserting that VR (or MR, mixed reality) should consider incorporating smell design just like it does sound design, plopping scent-tracks on top of soundtracks.

Whereas Burr talked about deploying scent to manipulate our perception of space, magician Marco Tempest talked about how illusionism can be used to manipulate and deceive perception more generally. Tempests experiments in fusing virtual reality technologies with magic are not only an ironic, ingenious twist on Arthur C. Clarkes dictum that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. They also hearken back to the very origins of cinema, which was significantly propelled by illusionists like Georges Mlisand scientists like tienne-Jules Marey. In many ways, its precisely this union of science and magic that needs to be bottled and tirelessly cultivated if VR is to win the favor of mass audiences. And it returns to the kind of future of VR that the Versions conference is trying to help steward: one in which new directions are explored to the fullest and most experimental degree while a dedicated ethical commitment is maintained in full view.

The second annual Versions conference, Facing Reality, took place at the New Museum Theater (235 Bowery, Lower East Side, Manhattan) on Saturday, February 25.

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A More Accessible and Eclectic Future for Virtual Reality - Hyperallergic

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CNN launches a virtual reality news unit – Engadget

Posted: at 1:23 pm

CNN has been experimenting with virtual reality for years, producing more than 50 news stories in 360-degree video. It also teamed up with VR broadcaster NextVR to live stream the full Democratic presidential debate in 2015. In a Q&A on the Time Warner blog, CNN Vice President of Premium Content Video Jason Farkas said virtual reality provides an opportunity for journalists to transport their audience and leave a lasting impression.

"I believe VR is the most powerful tool we have to accomplish that goal," he said at the time. "The whole experience feels like time-travel: you put on a headset, and suddenly you are somewhere else, feeling remarkably close to the story. You are in the story - or at least your senses tell you that you are. The viewer walks away feeling the emotional impact much more viscerally, and memorably."

Other outlets have integrated virtual reality into their newsrooms as well. Huffington Post started offering VR videos last year on the web and its mobile apps. Months later, The New York Times began creating its own daily VR content in a feature called The Daily 360. In its so-called 2020 report, the Times said it's making progress in using a richer mix of journalistic forms, including VR, but it thinks it can do better.

CNNVR's first story is about the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. During the 5:29 minute video, viewers can rotate the camera 360 degrees to look anywhere they like. They can get a better view of the crowds in a bullfighting arena, for example, or check out a matador's swanky office. CNNVR's videos are available on PC (Chrome or Firefox), the CNN app on iOS and Android, Samsung GearVR, Oculus Rift and Google Daydream.

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VIRTUAL REALITY breaks new ground with STARTRACKER from inventor Mo-Sys – Express.co.uk

Posted: at 1:23 pm

GETTY/POR

The company makes versatile camera and lens control products for the film and broadcast industries, some of which were integral to the making of blockbuster Gravity and it saw revenues rise 70 per cent to 2.3 million last year as it exported to 40 countries.

Much of that rise was down to the success of StarTracker, its system now adopted by broadcasters internationally.

Based on camera tracking, which combines real and computer-generated images so they have same perspective in real time, StarTracker can be used in studios or attached to virtual reality (VR) headsets. Think TV presenters walking round voting maps on election night.

Users have unlimited freedom of movement with the power to interact with moving objects or navigate static obstacles like walls.

Take a VR beach scenario for instance, with StarTracker you can walk across the sand, check out the waves, then on a whim turn to the right and find a cocktail waiting for you on a caf table. The only downside is you cannot actually drink it, but thats VR for you, for the moment at least.

Mo-Syss smart know-how has however made huge strides, devising reflective 'star' stickers attached to the ceiling above, that monitor accurate position, rotation and lens data in real time.

Its scaleable technology that utterly disrupts says Mo-Sys founder and chief executive Michael Geissler.

StarTrackers development has been pioneered by former University College London post-graduate student and now Mo-Sys business partner Martin Parsley.

What began as a project between the company and UCL has evolved into ground-breaking technology that enables a robust and reliable way to walk around a virtual environment, explains Geissler.

Current VR technology is designed for single users in a confined space, mostly for gaming. The next generation is for multi-users unconfined and the applications are almost limitless, from commercial to consumer retail.

Defence simulation, enabling personnel on the ground gauge territory risks, has huge potential.

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But theme parks and training generally are also among the most obvious, and Geissler sees a role too for StarTracker in the medical sector.

This would involve preparing patients to help them deal with difficult tests, for example children having scans, being able to give them some idea of what happens can ease stress, he says or clinical teams planning a big operation, anyone coping with a complex physical layout.

Another sector is ship-building, what we do relates directly to submarines, one of the biggest challenges when considering confined space navigation.

Architects too could benefit from trialling landscapes and functions, he explains. We certainly see a role for our technology which brings to life the plans of construction companies and designers of hotels and leisure centres. It could help them avoid very expensive mistakes.

SONY

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Driveclub VR on the PlayStation VR demo disc

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Geisslers multi-disciplinary skills as a model-maker proved a perfect grounding to become an entrepreneur, providing an income while he explored camera tracking concepts back as early as 1997.

South London-based Mo-Sys then went on to develop robotic camera systems employed on movies like Slum Dog Millionaire and tracking solutions where there is no studio present.

For the Red Bull Air Race the camera accuracy was calculated to a 1/10000 of a degree but with no mechanical reference to go by, while on top of a swaying 150 foot boom lift, so not a bad result, he adds.

Although making in the UK was previously more expensive than the Far East and Europe, according to Geissler now it is the same, so our decision that it was better to make high value products at home was the right one.

Support has come from various innovation grants including the Royal Academy of Engineering Pathways to Growth scheme last year.

This was a game changer, says Geissler. Fast growth can be difficult. We now employ 25, taking on 11 more staff in the last three months. But Academy support included a mentor and has made growing more exciting and mind-opening not something scary.

For engineers the temptation is always to focus on the technology, but its taught us to nourish other aspects such as administration.

Were in a new, bigger unit, making StarTracker to order and with the Academys expertise we have halved lead times to just four weeks.

GETTY

Mo-Sys is also a member of the Academys new Enterprise Hub in its refurbished Taylor Centre at its headquarters in central London.

Designed to promote engineering entrepreneurship, the centre aims to make more of its international programmes and talent by linking innovators and opportunities.

Our business is virtual reality, yet when you are a small company you can sometimes feel a bit isolated, theres a need for human interaction, says Geissler. But with the Hub you can always be in contact with like minds.

http://www.mo-sys.com, facilities at the Taylor Centre can also be hired by engineering businesses and investors who are not Hub members. Enquiries should be directed to enterprisehub@raeng.org.uk or 0207 7660625. More information about the Taylor Centre can be found on the Enterprise Hubs website.

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Soylent Found A Way To Make Itself Even Creepier: An AI Spokesperson – Co.Create

Posted: at 1:23 pm

WHAT: "Trish," the washing machine-looking artificially intelligent spokesperson for Soylent.

WHO: Soylent, Wieden + Kennedy's The Lodge

WHY WE CARE: Soylent staked its ground in "this product is kind of creepy" territory from the moment they named their nutritional meal-replacement "soylent," after the 1973 horror-thriller Soylent Green. That film starred Charlton Heston as he attempted to discover what the processed meal replacement that people consumed was made of (spoiler: Soylent Green is people!!), which is not context you can avoid when discussing the product that bears its name.

However, if that alone isn't creepy enough for you, worry not: Now Soylent has teamed with agency Wieden+Kennedy to launch "Trish," an AI-powered spokesperson, who joins the company's sci-fi dystopian messaging like "Food That Frees You," and an eerily sterile design. According to press materials, Trish "is rational, cares about humans, knows a ton about nutrition, and above all elseis helpful." Certainly, "cares about humans" is high on the list of things that humans should look for in an AI buddy (it beats the alternative, anyway). And having a robot pal who can help customers aspiring not to eat actual meals with figuring out what to do with their tubes and/or powdered bags of sort-of food, how much to eat, what flavors they might enjoy, and more. If getting those answers from an AI bot that looks like a washing machine appeals to you, congratulations! You are definitely in Soylent's target demographic.

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Nvidia’s Jetson TX2 makes AI computing possible within cameras, sensors and more – TechCrunch

Posted: at 1:23 pm

Nvidia has a new generation of its Jetson embedded computing platform for devices at the edge of a network, including things like traffic cameras, manufacturing robotics, smart sensors and more. The Jetson TX2 has twice the performance of its predecessor, the TX1, or it can also redirect efficiency to power savings, using less than half the power consumption of the original to achieve the same processing abilities.

The TX2 uses a Pascal-based GPU, as well as two 64-bit Nvidia quad-core ARM chips, with 8GB of RAM on board and 32GB of fast flash storage. It also features built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi networking, Bluetooth connectivity and 1GB Ethernet for wired connections. It makes it possible to push edge-of-network computing even further, allowing for the running of distributed neural networks right on edge devices that can more accurately do things like identify objects in images, recognize speech or interpret surroundings for autonomous navigation.

Alongside Jetson TX2, Nvidia is also announcing JetPack 3.0, a new version of its AI SDK for the Jetson family, which includes support for TensorRT 1.0, cuDNN 5.1 for deep neural networks, VisionWorks 1.6 for computer vision, as well as all the latest graphics drivers and APIs.

Cisco say that it can use TX2 and Nvidias Jetson to add local AI-powered features including face and speech recognition to its Spark enterprise network devices, which could potentially offer a lot of advantages in terms of security and authentication. The TX2 is also set to help students and researchers do a lot more with a lot less investment than youd typically require for getting started with AI the developer kit for the new Jetson launches today, with a $599 price tag for preorders in the U.S. and Europe, and a ship date starting March 14.

Nvidias shipping TX2 module will retail for $399 when it arrives in Q2, and the existing TX1 and TK1 Jetson embedded computing platforms will also continue to be made available, at reduced prices.

A connected city is also going to have to be an intelligent city, and not just one where the smarts are centrally located in a server facility each component needs to be somewhat intelligent to help keep things running smoothly throughout the network, without having to worry about infrastructure continuity and latency concerns. Improvements like the generational jump for Jetson TX2 help make that potential future much more achievable.

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Cognitiv+ is using AI for contract analysis and tracking – TechCrunch

Posted: at 1:23 pm

Another legal tech startup coming out of the UK: Cognitiv+is applying artificial intelligence to automate contract analysis and management, offering businesses a way to automate staying on top of legal risks, obligations and changing regulatory landscapes.

Co-founder Vasilis Tsolis might therefore be forgiven for viewingBrexit as a sizableopportunity for his startup though he more tactfully describes it as a legislative challenge that we can help out with.

Theres going to be a lot of changes in legislation, theres going to be a lot of changes in regulation,and you really need to know whats going to happen to your contracts and if you need to do any changes on your legal documents or not. So its going to be a huge challenge, he says of Brexit.

I think this is going to happen more and more often, he adds, pointing to another incoming EU regulation that will be upping businesses compliance needs in the near future: aka the GDPR, coming into force (including in the UK) in May 2018.

Because you see legislation changing so fast and its getting so much bigger that actually its impossible to monitor and impossible to read it. Who can read half million of pages?

This is about day-to-day contract management but we think that compliance is going to be more and more strict, and its going to be much more difficult there are so many new regulations, about Slavery Act, about GDPR, MiFid II and so many other compliances that all thisaccumulated risk analysis from your contracts we think its not possible to be viable for humans anymore you need to bring the robots, he adds.

Cognitiv+s data-parsing toolis not being designed to interpret legislation but rather to monitor it in a structured fashion, combining that tracking with analysis of a companys own contracts with a view to flagging compliance risks and requirements.

The overarching thesis is that contract analysis space/legal process outsourcing has yet to be disrupted by technology.Tsolishas both an engineering and a legal background, as youd hope give the natureof the startup. Other co-founder, Achilleas Michos, background is in computer science.

When you do contract analysis and compliance and when you do regulatory analysis theres a lot of repetition, and the majority of the people spend a lot of time perhaps the majority of the time looking for basic stuff Legal but also admin assignments. So the majority of those tasks can be accelerated by automation, argues Tsolis.

Cognitiv+ is using what he describes as a number of AI technologies to perform the contract analysis at near real-time speeds, leaning on open source algorithms for the coretech. But hedescribes theIP as the process and all the stages we take for analyzing a contract, the training so, in other words,the legal expertise needed to get a proper handle on compliance.

We use machine learning, we use NLP [natural language processing], we use neural networks We aim to be a risk management tool; we identify as much as possible that the machine can do, he tells TechCrunch. When it comes to [analyzing an area such as] limit of liability if the contract is not very well drafted then obviously we cannot help you on this one but we can help you for the vast majority of the contracts that you have on your library.

Presumably the techmight also be able to flag up a badly drafted contract.

Contracts areuploaded to thesystem for analysis and tracking, with examples of the sorts ofcritical information Cognitiv+ can extract including the parties of the contract; the limit of liability; renewal and termination information; and jurisdiction.

Users are deliveredintel on an ongoing basis viareports, dashboards and notifications. The tool is generally being designed for use by in-house lawyers, commercial staff, procurement, financial and compliance departments.

The current industryfocus for the team is procurement in the financial sector, but next year itplans to expand to target the insurance, real estate and engineering industries too. Theyre currently also only tracking UK-related compliance, but are intending to add EU and US in the coming months.

Given the financial services focus, theyre alsolooking at how thetech could be used tohelp combat financial crime, according to Tsolis.

The early stage startup has been bootstrapping since being founded in late 2015, and has just gone through Londons Winton Labs accelerator for data-focused businesses. Its also in the midst of closing a seed round, and is running pilots of v1 of itscontract-parsing platform with a small number of UK companies.

Tsolis says the first version is a fairly generic analytical tool, but a more vertical-specific v2 is coming in September forfinancial and procurement users and anotherversion planned for March 2018 will target the other three target sectors. The aimisto begin revenue generating this year, via a SaaS business model.

Could the tech also be applied for drafting contracts in future, not just analyzing them? UK startup Juro, for example, already offers both contract authoring and management, though itlooks to have a bit of a different focus(on marketplaces and sales contracts).

The legal world is a long livedworld for centuries now, and its a very traditional sector. And actually I think you need to disrupt it step by step, saysTsolis, emphasizing the need tobring together all the stakeholders to ensure buy-in.

Its not just the lawyers a lot of people read contracts, like the financial people, commercial, procurement, compliance, so you need to bring all the stakeholders together to ensure that people understand what the machine does. And move on to new ways of interacting with the machine and NLP and new technologies.

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Cognitiv+ is using AI for contract analysis and tracking - TechCrunch

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AI And The Agency: How Publicis.Sapient Helps Marketers Navigate AI – AdExchanger

Posted: at 1:23 pm

This is the secondof three stories in a mini-series on how artificial intelligence is affecting the work that agencies do. The nextinstallment will publish on Friday. Read the first story about Xaxis.

As marketer interest in artificial Intelligence (AI) grows, Publicis.Sapient sees opportunity to provide guidance.

It has a dedicated unit that provides AI-related advice for 30 clients, including Patrn and Dove soap. The AI practice informally launched about four years ago and has seen an uptick in spend over the past year and a half, said Josh Sutton, global head of AI at Publicis.Sapient.

A year and a half ago, there was very minimal spend [in AI], he said. In 2017, companies are acknowledging that AI and its intersection with big data is going to enable business transformation in a fundamental way.

Sutton works with a team of about 50 AI specialists who help marketers select and deploy AI tools. That work involves setting initial expectations.

Theres a fairly wide gap in most peoples knowledge based on what theyve seen and read from academic journals to Hollywood movies, he said. Setting expectations around whats real is one of the most time-consuming and critical tasks.

For example, marketers worry that AIs ability to automate certain tasks will leave them jobless. In reality, AIs ability to automate more mundane, machine-like functions makes marketers more effective and efficient at their jobs and able to focus on more high-level work like strategy in order to achieve better results, Sutton said.

Marketers can use AI to create conversational tools like voice assistants and chatbots and accelerate automated tasks within their own organizations. In programmatic, marketers can tap machine learning and natural language processing to crunch massive data sets at the individual level for more targeted media buys.

Its a tremendously large data set that, prior to AI, you wouldn't have been able to do a ton with because it wouldve taken an army of data scientists to get the information out, Sutton said.

At that level of granularity, marketers can funnel their media spend toward channels where they know an individual will be to eliminate waste. Machine learning helped a major airline client recognize waste was coming from its out-of-home advertising and reduced that spend by 15% by targeting with more accuracy.

We could create a real persona of that individual and look at where they travel, what routes they take to drive to the airport and where they live, Sutton said. We knew exactly who we were going after.

Publicis.Sapients AI team also helps clients rethink their marketing strategies and shift media spend out of product and P&L silos and toward audience-based insights. The process can be bumpy and painful, Sutton said.

Its still an early-days transformation, he said. The majority are still centered around P&L lines.

Retail and finance have shown the most initiative embracing AI and audience-based buys, while CPGs and the heavily regulated health care vertical trail behind, Sutton said.

Often, Publicis.Sapients AI practice is pitted against consultancies rather than agencies in pitches, given the systems integration and technology expertise required to deploy AI tech.

The AI Players

While the group is AI-agnostic, Publicis.Sapient works most often with the biggest players, including Google, Microsoft and IBM.

IBM has set the vision for whats possible with AI, but its advertising is a bit more aspirational than its product as an enterprise solution, Sutton said. Google, on the other hand, has great technology but isnt communicating how it can be deployed at the enterprise level. And Microsoft has quietly become to go-to solution for specific verticals.

If I was going to put my chips down on a few companies today, [IBM, Google and Microsoft are] where theyd be, he said.

Salesforce and Amazon are up-and-comers. Sutton sees the former becoming more of a niche play rather than an enterprise solution and the latter expanding on its great work in experience design with Echo.

But a clients AI stack often involves bits and pieces of integrated technologies. Publicis.Sapient keeps an ear to the ground for smaller players with better point solutions than the big guys.

Locking yourself into one partner is very dangerous, he said. I have concern with companies that are unwilling to be part of a broader enterprise infrastructure because I have yet to see anyone who can put all the pieces together. If the Googles, IBMs and Microsofts arent there yet, I struggle to think anyone else will be.

Even with the bigger players, Sutton and his team do their due diligence to make sure the technologies they select are easy to use, scalable and have worked in the past for brands.

This is an industry where unfortunately the gap between the hype and reality of what a product can deliver is fairly wide, he said. Even in the forgiving realm of technology overstatement, the AI space has taken it to a new level.

While Sutton declined to share exact numbers, he said Publicis Groupe will likely invest millions in AI this year both in its client-facing AI practice and to optimize the core functions within its own business, including media planning and buying.

And as with most centralized functions in agency holding groups, AI is beginning to trickle down into Publicis.Sapients agency brands to become core to their individual capabilities.

It gets very fuzzy as to who are or arent pure AI team members as we start to scale out, Sutton said.

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AI And The Agency: How Publicis.Sapient Helps Marketers Navigate AI - AdExchanger

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