MIT researchers use drone fleets to track warehouse inventory

Imagine a warehouse buzzing with tiny drones that automatically track and monitor inventory from afar, leaving workers free to manage and move material. That’s the new system developed by MIT researchers, which could prevent mismatches and help employees find particular items faster on top of looking really cool with a bunch of worker drones zipping around.

Most importantly, small drones fly around safely as they read RFID tags on inventory from “tens of meters away” with a 19 cm margin of error, according to a report introducing the system. But warehouse-safe tiny UAVs aren’t big enough to carry RFID readers that reach such a range — so the MIT researchers simply made the drones relay signals from standard readers to items and back. That means these little fleets can work with existing RFID-reading systems, software and tags.

Per MIT’s news outlet:

“Between 2003 and 2011, the U.S. Army lost track of $5.8 billion of supplies among its warehouses,” says Fadel Adib, the Sony Corporation Career Development Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, whose group at the MIT Media Lab developed the new system. “In 2016, the U.S. National Retail Federation reported that shrinkage — loss of items in retail stores — averaged around $45.2 billion annually. By enabling drones to find and localize items and equipment, this research will provide a fundamental technological advancement for solving these problems.”

RFID isn’t the flashy tech it once was, with flash-in-the-pan applications to preserve sake, track aquarium wildlife or update patient tracking in hospitals. But it’s still used in plenty of warehouses, so MIT’s system, cutely titled RFly in the research team’s paper, could be a novel way to autonomously keep track of inventories. Especially whenever Amazon’s drones start flying deliveries directly from warehouses.

Source: MIT News

Korg’s revives another classic synth in its latest iOS app

Korg has a habit of reviving old synths via an app for iPad and iPhone, and this week the audio company revealed its latest creation. Korg claims the new, $20 iMono/Poly app for iOS reproduces every feature of the original Mono/Poly analog synth, first released in 1981. The mobile app recreates the original’s 4 voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) that let you dial in a seemingly endless variety of harmonic and melodic sounds. The app also adds a couple of modern additions, including two multi-effects units and eight virtual patches for even more functionality.

The original synth, while not an initial breakout success, has since become a favorite of many electronic artists, and has been used by acts including Hardfloor, Tangerine Dream, The Orb, 808 State, Juno Reactor, Megaton Matt Haines, Freddy Fresh and the Chemical Brothers. The Mono/Poly synth’s unique sound came from its then-innovative ability to either combine oscillators into polyphonic sounds or chain them together for monophonic synth leads.

The new app has 128 presets so you can get to playing immediately without having to create your own synth sounds. There are 128 more presets you can purchase in-app, as well. Since a synthesizer like this has a ton of options and settings to mess around with, so Korg has designed the screens that let you rotate between the main synth, key assignment, virtual patch and effects screens with ease. In addition, if you have Korg’s music-production software, Gadget, you’ll be able to pull the iMono/Poly synth sounds into your digital audio workstation, free of charge. Whether you’re looking to simply make some vintage sounds with presets or really dig in to the back-end settings of this analog synthesizer emulator, the Korg iMono/Poly synth app could surely up your retro game.

Via: FACT

Source: Korg

Polygram is a new social network powered by facial recognition

There’s a new social network in town and it’s packed with some pretty smart and savvy features. Polygram’s main contribution to the hard-to-break-into social media world is its ability to detect facial expressions, allowing users to to respond to messages with an emoji based on their actual expression. And rather than just tallying likes or a selection of reactions that viewers have to choose between and click, Polygram allows users to see the face-based emotional response of those that viewed their post.

Along with face-controlled emojis — which Polygram creates via a neural network that detects viewers’ facial movements and then chooses the emoji that corresponds to their reaction — the app offers analytics like where viewers are located geographically and breakdowns by demographic. And users can animate emojis that stay animated even when posted to other social media.

Some other features of the app include filters that actually make you more attractive rather than just add things to your image or change your voice, which Polygram says were designed by plastic surgeons. Additionally, for images you want to keep private, the app provides a “wipe-to-reveal” function that requires viewers to wipe away a fog-like covering in order to see the image underneath. But that blurriness rapidly reappears so recipients can never see the whole picture, preventing unwanted screenshots.

While new social networks often have a hard time breaking into the scene, Polygram’s features are pretty neat and stand out from those offered by others. If you want to give it a go, the iOS version of the app launched today.

Polygram from Faryar Ghazanfari on Vimeo.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Polygram

Apple Wins Top Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition Award for First AI Research Paper

Back in October, Apple published its first research paper related to artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The paper, titled “Learning from Simulated and Unsupervised Images through Adversarial Training,” focused on advanced image recognition techniques and the use of both simulated and real images to train an advanced AI image program.

Apple’s research paper was accepted to the 2017 Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) back in July, and as it turns out, Apple’s work won a “CVPR 2017 Best Paper Award,” coveted in the machine learning field.

MacRumors reader Tom, who holds a PhD in the field, says that CVPR is the most influential AI/machine learning conference, and that winning the award is a rare achievement “even for the top people in the field.”

The paper was written by Apple researchers Ashish Shrivastava, Tomas Pfister, Oncel Tuzel, Joshua Susskind, Wenda Wang, and Russell Webb.

In addition to publishing research papers, Apple’s AI and machine learning teams now maintain a Machine Learning Journal, detailing the work of Apple’s engineers. The blog was just updated this week with articles that were shared at Interspeech 2017 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Thanks, Tom!
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Save up to $80 this weekend with our top 4 Amazon Warehouse tech deals

You can save a lot of money by shopping for re-packaged items from Amazon Warehouse, so if you’re planning to do some online shopping this weekend then we’ve hand-picked a handful of the best tech deals available right now. These weekend Warehouse deals can save you as much as $80 on brand-name gadgets including a Chromebook, mesh Wi-Fi router, home theater system, and a Bluetooth speaker.

The Best

Our favorite Amazon Warehouse deal for this week is also one of our all-time favorite laptops. The Asus Chromebook C202 was named the best budget Chromebook by our review team, who noted that this compact 11.6-inch computer is “built like a tank,” making it the perfect choice for students and other users who frequently take their gear on the go and don’t like delicate hardware that they have to baby all the time.

The Asus Chromebook C202 is already highly affordable at its usual price of around $218, but you can score this rugged little laptop from Amazon Warehouse for $168 in very good condition or $178 in like new condition, saving you as much as $50.

More great deals

Looking for more savings? Here are some other great Amazon Warehouse deals to brighten your weekend:

• Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi system: The Netgear Orbi is a fantastic and easy-to-use mesh wireless system that blankets a wide area (such as a larger multi-story home) in fast, stable Wi-Fi internet. Amazon Warehouse has the Netgear Orbi 2-pack for $280, saving you $70.
• Samsung HT-J5500W home theater system: Setting up a home theater takes time and money, but the Samsung HT-J5500W package gives you almost everything you need (minus a TV) to get started. The 5.1-channel surround sound system includes a Blu-Ray player, five speakers, a soundbar, and a subwoofer, and can be yours for $225 in “very good” condition for a $73 discount.
• Sony XB10 Bluetooth speaker: Summer is nearing an end but fall weather is just around the corner, so it’s still a great time to grab a good Bluetooth speaker like the Sony XB10 to enjoy your music outdoors. Available for just $32 on Amazon Warehouse, the XB10 speaker saves you $16, or 50 percent, off of its normal price.

Remember that Amazon Warehouse inventory is limited and these low prices won’t last forever, so if something catches your eye, be sure to act fast before it’s out of stock. If you are curious about how Amazon Warehouse works, feel free to read more about how these items are inspected, tested, and graded.

Looking for more great tech deals? Check out our deals page to score some extra savings on our favorite gadgets.

Robotic exoskeleton helps kids with cerebral palsy to walk

Why it matters to you

Half of cerebral palsy patients stop walking by the time they reach adulthood. This exoskeleton hopes to help change that.

Some amazing work has been done over the past several years developing robotic exoskeletons that can aid adults with paralysis or mobility impairments by replacing the lost function of muscles to restore walking ability. A new project carried out by researchers at the National Institutes of Health is setting its sights a little lower, however. Literally. What NIH scientists have developed is an exoskeleton designed to help kids with cerebral palsy (CP), a neurological disorder that affects movement and coordination. In particular, the exoskeleton is intended to help with a prevalent type of cerebral palsy-induced walking disorder — also known as a gait pathology — called crouch gait.

“Rather than restoring lost function, our exoskeleton was designed to change the way children with crouch gait from CP walk,” Dr. Thomas Bulea, a staff scientist in the NIH rehabilitation medicine department, told Digital Trends. “The exoskeleton does this by tracking the child’s limbs and supplying motorized assistance for knee extension at the appropriate times of the walking cycle. These children have developed their crouched posture to compensate for the way their nervous system developed, and thus, it was unknown how they would respond to this new type of robotic assistance.”

Fortunately, the robotic assists turned out to work well. Of the seven kids outfitted with the robot leg exoskeletons as part of the NIH’s study, six demonstrated improved knee extension and were able to walk better with the additional robotic assistance. “Our results show that the exoskeleton can safely and effectively change the posture of a child while they wear it,” Bulea continued. “The exciting part is that the children’s muscle activity was preserved when they walked in this new way with the exoskeleton, suggesting that long-term use of this device might be a viable way to train a new walking pattern in this population.”

Given that increasing physical difficulties mean that roughly 50 percent of cerebral palsy sufferers stop walking by the time they reach adulthood, this correction of crouch gait at a young age could have a major lasting impact on mobility. “The next step is a long-term study of the exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation in children with CP,” Bulea said. “Our ultimate goal is to train these children to walk in a new way — thus the key remaining challenge is to translate the improved walking pattern we observed with the exoskeleton to walking without it.”

A paper describing the research was published this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Shave strokes off your putting with the Gen i1 smart golf ball

Why it matters to you

For a lot of golfers, putting makes or breaks their game. With the Gen i1, golfers get an inside look into what they are doing on the green.

When it comes to golfing, putting can really get on people’s nerves. Golfers do the calculations in their head, account for the slope and the weather, but it is not always enough. Sometimes the ball ends up narrowly missing the hole or stops right on the edge. With a smart golf ball like the Gen i1, golfers could gain some insight into what went wrong.

Developed by Coach Labs, the Gen i1 is an intelligent golf ball with an embedded nine-axis sensor, onboard MCU, and Bluetooth radio. These allow the golf ball to measure initial direction, speed, impact force, and ball rotation. Additionally, the ball comes with a sensor to put on the putter. This keeps track of the back stroke, forward stroke, tempo, and club face angle. Working in tandem, the sensors can show the cause and effect of the player’s stroke and ball.

To ensure that a nine-axis sensor could fit inside a real golf ball along with the printed circuit board assembly, Coach Labs founder Jason Koo work with top Aerospace engineers. It was important to make the Gen i1 weigh and feel like a standard performance golf ball. Any deviation would defeat the purpose and effect training for putting.

“Did you know that on average, amateurs miss up to six putts inside six feet per round,” Koo said in a statement. “The putter is the only club you use on every hole. So, by practicing your putting with the Gen i1, we can help lower your scores and make the game more fun and entertaining.”

Enhancing the whole experience is the smartphone companion app. With it, users can check out easy to understand metrics and training tools. Once someone makes an account, the Gen i1 accesses their skill level and provides a custom practice plan that both entertains and improves their skills. These games and drills challenge golfers while creating a routine that improves squaring up, distance control, and accuracy. Players can even try out simulations of their favorite courses with people all over the world from the comfort of their living room.

Gen i1 is available for pre-order on IndieGoGo for $99.

Microsoft releases Windows Insider Build 16275, focused on stability, not features

Why it matters to you

As Microsoft continues to polish the forthcoming Fall Creators Update, Insider builds like this one give us a sneak peek at what we can expect when from the next major Windows update.

With the aptly named Fall Creators Update coming soon, Microsoft ramped up production of Windows Insider builds. That means there is a new one on Friday and we will probably see more than a few in September as Microsoft irons out the kinks in the upcoming Windows update.

So what does that mean for you? Well, if you’re an Insider on the Fast Ring, you can expect more frequent updates in the coming weeks. The bad news is, they will not have much in the way of blockbuster new features. At best, you’ll see a bunch of bugfixes and stability improvements. That’s not bad, but it just means updates like the latest one, Build 16275, will be a bit less than exciting.

“We are now at the point of the development cycle for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update where our focus is now on stabilization for release to the world. This means that we intend to release new builds to Insiders more quickly and that these builds will include mostly bug fixes,” wrote Microsoft’s Dona Sarkar.

Build 16275 is filled to the brim with bug fixes, it’s overflowing even. First up, Asphalt 8 players will be pleased to learn that the latest build includes a patch for an issue which caused the game to stop accepting player inputs, which are fairly important for any game.

More than that, though, the latest Insider Build, unlike the previous one, is packed with minor adjustments you might not even notice. Like misplaced progress wheels when you load up some websites. Yep, sometimes your cursor might be in the wrong place, not too wrong, just a little wrong.

Additionally, sometimes the Slideshow app would decide it’s time to hard-lock your PC, and make it impossible to resume from a sleep mode without using Ctrl + Alt + Del.

Another bug fix addresses overlarge taskbars. That is right, sometimes Windows decides your taskbar is too small and makes that little guy a bit thicker than it should be. Usually this only happened after switching from a monitor with a high DPI to a monitor with a low DPI. But worry no longer! Build 16275 fixes that issue, and your taskbar should remain as thin or as thick as you like.

Tesla’s music streaming service pops up in software update

Tesla has continued its foray into safe, eco-friendly and autonomous electric vehicles of late, as well as moves into the solar roof, municipal energy station and home-based power markets. Last month, however, was rumored that the energy company was in talks with major music labels to create a proprietary streaming service it could bundle with its cars. It looks like the reports were true, as a reader of website Electrek has found a spot for a new app, TTunes, in Tesla’s most recent auto software update.

This doesn’t mean that you’ll have a new music service in your Tesla automobile anytime soon, of course. Last year, Tesla owners found a Spotify app in the code, but the feature did not appear in US or Canadian autos. Tesla’s already has a built-in streaming service, which is powered by Slacker and includes a Tesla-sponsored DJ station. A branded streaming service (Tesla Tunes?) tied to the company’s electric vehicles really only makes sense if the auto maker can scale its car fleet up quickly and/or offer it as a freebie to current and future Tesla owners.

When reached for comment, a Tesla spokesperson referred us to an earlier statement on the matter: “We believe it’s important to have an exceptional in-car experience so our customers can listen to the music they want from whatever source they choose. Our goal is to simply achieve maximum happiness for our customers.”

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Electrek

Microsoft discontinues the original Xbox One

Microsoft has stopped selling new Xbox One consoles in the US and UK. Technically, it’s listed as “sold out” on the Microsoft Store and doesn’t even show up in searches for Xbox systems. It seems the original version of the console that launched in November 2013 has finally been retired; All hail the slimmer S and souped-up X versions.

If you really wanted to, you can still buy a refurbished original Xbox One for $200 on the Microsoft Store, which is $50-$80 cheaper than you can find its replacement, the Xbox One S. Or you can join the horde of psyched users who already preordered a big-but-undisclosed amount of Xbox One X’s for $500 and wait for it to launch on November 9th. Either option will arguably look better on your shelf than the original console’s odd VCR facade.

Via: The Verge

Source: Microsoft Store