Author: Aneesa

As voice assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa increasingly make their way into internet of things devices, it’s becoming harder to track when audio recordings are sent to the cloud and who might gain access to them. To spot transgressions, researchers at the University of Darmstadt, North Carolina State University, and the University of Paris … Continue reading Researchers identify dozens of words that accidentally trigger Amazon Echo speakers Continue Reading →

Basemark, a maker of graphics software for autonomous vehicles, has raised $7.9 million in funding. ETF Partners was the sole investor in the round, which will be used to accelerate Basemark’s growth in autonomous vehicles. Basemark has created the Rocksolid Engine, a real-time graphics and compute software solution for industrial applications. In just a few … Continue reading Basemark raises $7.9 million for autonomous car graphics software Continue Reading →

Xmems is unveiling Montara, a new speaker that uses a chip to eliminate bulky and hard-to-manufacture wiring in earbud speakers without sacrificing performance, cost, or reliability. Montara uses micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS, a semiconductor technology that replaces the voice-coil wires used to generate vibration and produce sound waves in speakers. This could be a big market opportunity, as … Continue reading Xmems’ Montara replaces wire-coil earbud speakers with tiny audio chips Continue Reading →

In a new preprint study, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University claim sound can be used to predict an object’s appearance — and its motion. The coauthors created a “sound-action-vision” data set and a family of AI algorithms to investigate the interactions between audio, visuals, and movement. They say the results show representations derived from sound can … Continue reading Researchers use AI and audio to predict where objects will land Continue Reading →

In a preprint paper published on Arxiv.org, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Adobe Research describe the Swapping Autoencoder, a machine learning model designed specifically for image manipulation. They claim it can modify any image in a variety ways, including texture swapping, while remaining “substantially” more efficient compared with previous generative models. The researchers acknowledge that … Continue reading Researchers detail texture-swapping AI that could be used to create deepfakes Continue Reading →

Micromobility is evolving in a northern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, where the sight of an electric scooter rolling down the street without a rider is likely causing more than a few double takes. The City of Peachtree Corners has launched an experiment with partner companies Tortoise and Go X to deploy 100 scooters that can be remotely … Continue reading Teleoperated scooters: Go X and Tortoise test micromobility’s future in Georgia pilot Continue Reading →

  Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Microsoft Research India have developed a system — WattScale — that leverages AI to pick out the least energy-efficient buildings from a city- or region-level population. In a preprint study, they used it to show that half of the buildings in a 10,000-building data set … Continue reading WattScale is an open source AI tool that identifies energy-wasting homes Continue Reading →

Verizon shows off its 5G network in Los Angeles, California at Mobile World Congress L.A. Image Credit: Jeremy Horwitz/VentureBeat Building a cell tower is typically time consuming, requiring not only permits and the construction of a high perch for new wireless network hardware, but also less obvious wired infrastructure including power and fiber data lines. … Continue reading Verizon and Ericsson test instant 5G cell towers for emergencies Continue Reading →

A new commentary published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, and co-signed by 239 scientists from around the world, is calling for international health authorities to recognize COVID-19 can be spread by airborne transmission. Based on growing cluster case study data, the scientists call for greater mitigation measures to control indoor airborne spread of the virus. … Continue reading Scientists present case for airborne spread of COVID-19 Continue Reading →

Built-in options will soon become subscription services under BMW’s new sales model BMW BMW is looking to start standardizing its manufacturing processes, selling cars with options like adaptive cruise, smart headlights and active suspension built in, and then charging car owners on a monthly or yearly subscription model to use them. It’s a model that’ll … Continue reading BMW will start charging by the month for smart cruise and seat heaters Continue Reading →