communication – Page 7

AI, Artificial Intelligence, communication, Machine Learning, Science & Technology News

The big deal about an AI model that can talk like you

February 6, 2019

Meryl Streep is pitch perfect as the narrator of the Norah Ephron novel Heartburn. In the audiobook version, Streep’s classic delivery brings alive the emotional turmoil as well as the self-deprecating wit of Rachel Samstat, who has just found out about her husband’s affair. In the Harry Potter audiobooks, it’s singer-actor Jim Dale who creates the magic.

Now let’s say you are discomforted by American and British accents. You prefer to hear Heartburn and the Potter books in voices you can relate with. You want to switch the genders of the narrators. You want the Muggles speaking in the voice of your favourite Bollywood actor. You want to be the narrator.

Those are real options a Bengaluru startup expects to offer as it develops an artificial intelligence model for cloning voices. It reckons there is massive business opportunity in impersonating voices, and not just from the growing popularity of audiobooks. Think voiceovers for ads, narrations for education-technology platforms, real-time translations, automated responses, voice assistants, smart speakers.

Continue reading… “The big deal about an AI model that can talk like you”

communication, Internet, mobile apps, Money Talk

Kakao Pay passes 20 trillion won transaction mark for 2018

January 29, 2019

Chat giant Kakao’s mobile payment app surpassed 20 trillion won, or $17.7 billion, in transactions during 2018, cementing itself as the undisputed sector leader in South Korea.

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AI, Artificial Intelligence, communication, Google

Google Brain built a translator so AI can explain itself

January 22, 2019

A Google Brain scientist built a tool that can help artificial intelligence systems explain how they arrived at their conclusions — a notoriously tricky task for machine learning algorithms.

The tool, called Testing with Concept Activation Vectors or TCAV for short, can be plugged into machine learning algorithms to suss out how much they weighted different factors or types of data before churning out results, Quanta Magazine reports.

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communication, Great New Product, mobile technology

Zanco pen phone hits Kickstarter from $49

December 13, 2018

A new pen phone has been created by Zanco in the form of the S-Pen to provide a portable yet versatile combination of phone, stylus, pen and Bluetooth headset. Watch the demonstration video below to learn more about the pen phone which has launched via Kickstarter this week and is now available to back with early bird pledges available from just $49.

The team at Zanco explain more about the inspiration behind the pen phone and its features. “After years of upsizing, what happens when smartphones try to shrink? Is it possible to put the most important features into a device the size of a pen? We challenged ourselves to create something unique, compact and powerful, something that can help you every day.“

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Big Problems, communication, Famous Inventor, Internet, Science & Technology News

The father of the internet wants to save the web from itself

November 16, 2018

Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Internet, sits in front of a 1994 computer displaying his creation.

Twenty-nine years ago, as the architect behind the web’s first browser and server, Tim Berners-Lee built the internet. ”I imagined the web as an open platform that would allow everyone, everywhere to share information, access opportunities, and collaborate across geographic and cultural boundaries,” he wrote in a 2017 open letter. But, he says, he’s become “increasingly worried” about new online trends, like lack of privacy, the spread of misinformation, and lack of transparency in online political advertising. Over the last decade, Berners-Lee’s focus has become saving the internet from itself, and now he’s recruiting companies, governments, and citizens to join his cause.

Berners-Lee’s non-profit the World Wide Web Foundation studies internet accessibility and usage, and details the barriers to a free and open internet, like harassment, privacy infringement, and cost. For instance, a recent study found that over 2 billion people live in places where internet is prohibitively expensive to access. And today, Berners-Lee announced a “Contract for the Web,” which lays out principles for using the internet ethically and transparently for all participants.

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communication, cutting edge, Internet

‘Twisted’ fibre optic light breakthrough could make internet 100 times faster

November 4, 2018

A new development in fibre optics could make internet speeds up to 100 times faster – by detecting light that has been twisted into a spiral.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, can be used to easily upgrade existing networks and significantly boost efficiency, scientists say.

Fibre optic cables use pulses of light to transmit information, but currently information can only be stored through the colour of the light, and whether the wave is horizontal or vertical.

By twisting light into a spiral, engineers effectively create a third dimension for light to carry information: the level of orbital angular momentum, or spin. “It’s like DNA, if you look at the double helix spiral,” said Min Gu from RMIT University. “The more you can use angular momentum the more information you can carry.”

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Botnet, Business, communication, Internet, Legal Issues

A California law now means chatbots have to disclose they’re not human

November 2, 2018

There’s nothing loljk about Microsoft’s teenage chatbot, Zo.

California governor Jerry Brown signed regulations into law last Friday (Sept. 30) that should make it easier for Californians to know whether they’re speaking to a human or a bot.

The new law goes into effect on July 1, 2019—Botageddon, as we’re going to call it—and could have far-reaching consequences for how automated systems communicate with people online. It will require companies to disclose whether they are using a bot to communicate with the public on the internet (something like “Hi, I’m a bot.”) A representative for California state senator Robert Hertzberg, who authored SB-1001, says the law specifically targets deceptive commercial and political bots, not those meant to help you, for example, pay a bill on a company’s website. Still, companies that have built their businesses around automated messaging and chatbots will in coming months need to figure out whether their approaches are compliant with the new law.

The bill also specifically defines online content as publicly-facing, which raises questions about whether bot-sent emails fall under the new law. Overall, Landers expects there will be a “lot of litigation” before the law is actually implemented.

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Analysis, Children, communication, Human Behavior

Here is how much sexting among teens has increased

September 13, 2018

Guess what, people are more likely to sext or receive sexts if they have smartphones. Yes, somehow sexts aren’t quite the same with a rotary phone or semaphore flags. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics revealed that sexting (which is the electronic sharing of sexually explicit images, videos, or messages) has increased among teenagers since 2009. Oh, and the number of teenagers with smartphones has also increased since 2009. Coincidence?

The study found that about 1 in 7 (or 14.8%) of those between the ages of 12 and 17 had sent sexts and approximately 1 in 4 (27.4%) have received them. Hmm, sounds like not all sexting is being reciprocated. More on this later. These numbers are significantly higher than those from a 2009 Pew Research Center study that revealed that 4% and 15% of 12 to 17 year olds had sent and received sexts, respectively.

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Breakthrough Thinking, communication, Military

MITdevelops water-to-air wireless Communication

August 28, 2018

You can wirelessly communicate with people on the other side of the world in real time, but it’s still impossible for a submarine to talk to an airplane. They both use systems designed for their environment, and those systems aren’t compatible. At least, they weren’t until now. Researchers from MIT have developed a technology to link the underwater world with the open air.

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Automobiles, communication, Crazy Stuff, Science & Technology News

Mercedes-Benz Digital Light LED headlights display messages on the road

August 27, 2018

With more than one million micromirrors per headlight, Mercedes-Benz Digital Light HD headlights do much more than just illuminate the highway.

Drivers can project messages on the road in front of a car equipped with the new headlights. The lights can also project navigation guides and road conditions or traffic warning symbols.

Digital Light onboard computers control the HD headlights, which are available in limited quantity for Mercedes-Maybach S-Class sedans. The car shown in the images and video that accompany this article is the Mercedes-Maybach S 560 4Matic, which has a $168,600 U.S. starting list price.

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Biotech, communication, Employment, New Viewpoints

This company embeds microchips in its employees, and they love it

August 18, 2018

Last August, 50 employees at Three Square Market got RFID chips in their hands. Now 80 have them.

When Patrick McMullan wants a Diet Dr Pepper while he’s at work, he pays for it with a wave of his hand. McMullan has a microchip implanted between his thumb and forefinger, and the vending machine immediately deducts money from his account. At his office, he’s one of dozens of employees who have been doing likewise for a year now.

McMullan is the president of Three Square Market, a technology company that provides self-service mini-markets to hospitals, hotels, and company break rooms. Last August, he became one of roughly 50 employees at its headquarters in River Falls, Wisconsin, who volunteered to have a chip injected into their hand.

Continue reading… “This company embeds microchips in its employees, and they love it”