Computer Technology News

New Technology-Microsoft's new AI makes gliders more smart As its rivals get busy in developing self-driving cars, Microsoft is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to empower autonomous gliders take decisions while they are aloft and has conducted a successful flight test in the US state of Nevada. According to a report in The New York Times late on Wednesday, Ashish Kapoor, an Indian-origin Principal Researcher at Microsoft, is leading a project in which his team tested two gliders designed to navigate the skies on their own. "Guided by computer algorithms that learned from onboard sensors, predicted air patterns and planned a route forward, these gliders could seek out thermals -- columns of rising hot air -- and use them to stay aloft," the report added. Microsoft plans to build an autonomous aircraft that can eventually ride the air for hours or even days at a time while consuming very little power and help scientists track weather patterns, monitor farm crops or eve...

New Technology-AI in hospitals to maintain staff hygiene ENEVA: Scientists have developed a new artificial intelligence system that can track medical staff through cameras and detect whether they maintain proper hand hygeine, an advance that could reduce the risk of hospital- acquired infections. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) conducted a study using a combination of depth cameras and computer-vision algorithms. They tracked people around two hospital wards and automatically identified when they used gel dispensers. "We're trying to shed light on the dark spaces of healthcare. Understanding the problem is just the first step," said Alexandre Alahi from EPFL. In the initial study, researchers collected images from cameras installed overlooking corridors, patient rooms and alcohol-based gel dispensers, among other places. Of the 170 people they recorded entering a patient's room, only 30 people correctly used the gel dispensers. The te...

New Technology-Intel's Movidious Myriad X VPU to give devices new AI capabilities Intel on Monday introduced its new Movidius Myriad X vision processing unit (VPU), advancing Intel's end-to-end portfolio of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to deliver more autonomous capabilities across a wide range of product categories, including drones, robotics, smart cameras and virtual reality. Myriad X is world's first system-on-chip (SoC) shipping with a dedicated Neural Compute Engine for accelerating deep learning inferences at the edge. The Neural Compute Engine is an on-chip hardware block specifically designed to run deep neural networks at high speed and low power without compromising accuracy, enabling devices to see, understand and respond to their environments in real time. "With Myriad X, we are redefining what a VPU means when it comes to delivering as much AI and vision compute power possible, all within the unique energy and thermal constraints of modern unt...

New Technology-A virtual reality game to help detect Alzheimer's Sea Quest Hero is more than just the usual computer game in which players find their way through mazes, shoot and chase creatures -- it also doubles as scientists' latest tool for studying Alzheimer's disease. The game -- downloadable from Tuesday in its virtual reality version -- seeks to stimulate players' brains through a series of tasks based on memory and orientation skills, while gathering data to research dementia. One of the first symptoms of Alzheimer's is loss of navigational skills. But data comparing cognitive response across a broad spectrum of ages is rare, and this is what the game seeks to provide. The game -- billed as the "largest dementia study in history" -- has been developed by Deutsche Telekom, Alzheimer's Research UK and scientists from University College London and the University of East Anglia. The mobile version, which came out in 2016, has already been downlo...

New Technology-Discovered a new method to convert dried tree leaves Scientists have discovered a new method to convert dried tree leaves into a porous carbon material that can be used to produce high-tech electronics. Researchers from Qilu University of Technology in China used a multi-step, yet simple, process to convert phoenix tree leaves into a form that could be incorporated into electrodes as active materials. The dried leaves were first ground into a powder, then heated to 220 degrees Celsius for 12 hours. This produced a powder composed of tiny carbon microspheres. These microspheres were then treated with a solution of potassium hydroxide and heated by increasing the temperature in a series of jumps from 450 to 800 degrees Celsius. The chemical treatment corrodes the surface of the carbon microspheres, making them extremely porous. The final product, a black carbon powder, has a very high surface area due to the presence of many tiny pores that have been chemically etched on...

New Technology-robot can follow pedestrian traffic rules Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed an autonomous robot that can keep pace with foot traffic while observing the general social codes that pedestrians follow to avoid oncoming obstacles while keeping up a steady walking pace. In drive tests, the robot, which resembles a knee-high kiosk on wheels, successfully avoided collisions while keeping up with the average flow of pedestrians, said the researchers who have detailed their robotic design in a paper scheduled to be presented at the IEEE Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems to be held in Vancouver, Canada, in September. "Socially aware navigation is a central capability for mobile robots operating in environments that require frequent interactions with pedestrians," said lead author of the study Yu Fan (Steven) Chen. "For instance, small robots could operate on sidewalks for package and food delivery. Similarly, persona...

New Technology-smartwatch that tracks your every move Scientists have created a new algorithm that enables smartwatches to not only record your exercise session but also detect when you are brushing your teeth or cooking, an advance that will provide a richer and more accurate picture of your daily life. Current smartwatches can recognise a limited number of particular activities, including yoga and running, but these are programmed in advance. The new method, developed by researchers from University of Sussex in the UK, enables the technology to discover activities as they happen, not just simply when exercising, but also when brushing your teeth or cutting vegetables. Traditional models "cluster" together bursts of activity to estimate what a person has been doing, and for how long, researchers said. For example, a series of continuous steps may be clustered into a walk. Where they falter is that they do not account for pauses or interruptions in the activity, and, so, a ...

New Technology-San Francisco official pushes robot tax to battle automation Security guard Eric Leon watches the Knightscope K5 security robot as it glides through the mall, charming shoppers with its blinking blue and white lights. The brawny automaton records video and sounds alerts. According to its maker, it deters mischief just by making the rounds. Leon, the all-too-human guard, feels pretty sure that the robot will someday take his job. "He doesn't complain," Leon says. "He's quiet. No lunch break. He's starting exactly at 10." Even in the technology hotbed stretching from Silicon Valley to San Francisco, a security robot can captivate passers-by. But the K5 is only one of a growing menagerie of automated novelties in a region where you can eat a delivered pizza made via automation and drink beers at a bar served by an airborne robot. This summer, the San Francisco Chronicle published a tech tourism guide listing a dozen or so places where touri...

New Technology-New system can reconstruct faces using your DNA Scientists have reconstructed faces from people's DNA, an advance that challenges the idea that genetic databases can be anonymous. Research institutions regularly collect thousands of human genomes to understand diseases. Most promise volunteers that their identity will be protected. However, the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that in the long run, such anonymity may not be possible. By training an algorithm to link genetic information with facial features and voices, researchers were able to identify people from their genomes. "The genome contains all the information that determines your identity. It is used in criminal courts around the world to identify people," said Craig Venter, from the US-based company Human Longevity Inc. Given a sample of ten people, researchers were able to match headshots with the genome 80% of the time. The system was trained...

New Technology-cheaper quantum computers to drive the future Researchers in Australia have found a new way to build quantum computers which they say would make them dramatically easier and cheaper to produce at scale. Quantum computers promise to harness the strange ability of subatomic particles to exist in more than one state at a time to solve problems that are too complex or time-consuming for existing computers. Google, IBM and other technology companies are all developing quantum computers, using a range of approaches. The team from the University of New South Wales say they have invented a new chip design based on a new type of quantum bit, the basic unit of information in a quantum computer, known as a qubit. The new design would allow for a silicon quantum processor to overcome two limitations of existing designs: the need for atoms to be placed precisely, and allowing them to be placed further apart and still be coupled. Crucially, says project leader Andrea Mello, this so-...

New Technology-App helps compose music using power of mind Researchers have developed a new application which may help physically impaired persons write songs and surf internet as well as write emails -- all with the power of their mind. Using the new brain-computer interface application, developed by Gernot Muller-Putz, scientist at Austria's Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), people can compose music and transfer onto a musical score by wearing an electrode-equipped cap that measures their brain waves. Such systems are utilised to help users do things such as writing text. The interface works when users select from the various options, such as letters or notes, pauses, chords, which flash by one after the other on a computer screen. They can also stipulate tone length and pitch. As these things are selected, they appear as notations on a separate music-composing programme. Once the piece is completed, it can then be played back through that software, the researchers said....