The future of surveillance: Watch this A.I. security camera spot a shoplifter

Whether it is facial recognition tech that is (allegedly) able to pick a wanted criminal out of a crowd of thousands or aerial drones which use image recognition smarts to predict fights before they take place, there is no doubt that we are living through a major paradigm shift for automated surveillance technology. But this kind of tech can have more grounded, everyday applications, too — like helping prevent shoplifters stealing goods from their local mom-and-pop corner store.

That is something seemingly demonstrated by a new artificial intelligence security camera called the “A.I. Guardman,” built by Japanese telecommunication company NTT East and startup Earth Eyes Corp. The camera uses a special pose detection system to identify behavior it deems to be suspicious. In the event that this kind of behavior is spotted, it sends an alert to the store owner’s smartphone, allowing them to take action.

While it’s seemingly not been the subject of any specific peer-reviewed papers, the camera has reportedly been shown to be capable of reducing shoplifting by up to 40 percent. Positive-sounding numbers are to be expected from a marketing department, but the technology in this case comes from a reputable source: Being based on open-source technology first developed by Carnegie Mellon University.

As noted, technology such as this is not unheard of. Heck, while it is a bit less advanced, we have even covered homebrew hacks such as a home security camera system designed to set off the garden sprinklers whenever a neighbor’s cat enters uninvited. What is promising about this technology, however, is the fact that it is a plug-and-play system which can be easily installed by shopkeepers without them necessarily having to have much technical knowledge.

Figures given to The Verge suggest that the camera will go on sale at the end of next month, priced in the vicinity of $2,150, with an extra $40 monthly subscription to cover the necessary cloud computing-based video analysis. NTT is planning to roll the camera out in 10,000 stores over the next three years.

In other words, we suggest that you get your shoplifting done as soon as possible. (Note to would-be shoplifters: We’re kidding!)

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Microsoft wants artificial intelligence to catch cheaters on Xbox Live

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application filed by Microsoft that describes a method of cheat detection for games on a platform level using machine learning. The idea is to bring cheat detection outside the game itself given platforms like Xbox Live and PlayStation Network can’t detect any wrongdoings within the game. To do this, Microsoft proposes using artificial intelligence. 

“A platform that hosts third-party games may not be able to detect cheating that occurs in third-party games, even where achievements in third-party games are managed at the platform level,” the patent states. “When the third-party game notifies the game platform of the improperly awarded achievement, the game platform may award the player an item in response to the achievement, thereby rewarding the cheating behavior.” 

According to Microsoft, artificial intelligence would be trained to track interactions between games and gaming platforms such as Xbox Live. These “interactions” would include notifications of achievements, game scores reported to the platform, and/or a player rank achieved on the platform based upon game activities. If something abnormal is spotted, the data would be analyzed for possible cheating behaviors. 

The problem is that the player data would be huge, thus recognizing cheating patterns within all that data would be easier for artificial intelligence to handle than manual techniques used by humans — and quicker, too. To create a cheating detection system on any given gaming network, it needs to start with a goals management module that provides the player with rewards based on their completed goals. 

“The goals management module confirms that the player’s information meets the relevant policy, and then updates the goals information in the user accounts database to show that the goal has been met (and to award any items for meeting the goal),” the patent states. “Goals information also may contain information regarding the meeting of goals in other platform activities.” 

Joining the goals management module would be a cheating detection module. Games would provide this module with information regarding gameplay and the progress of the player. Two classifying functions within this model, both trained by machine learning, would examine the patterns provided by the game to determine if the player’s account should be flagged for cheating. In other words, artificial intelligence will compare the gamer’s activities with data comprised of non-cheating gameplay to see if there’s a deviation worth flagging. 

If the cheating detection module suspects foul play, the player’s account is then sent over to the enforcement module. Actions taken against the player may be based on his/her history: A first offense may be manually dealt by a human using a slight scolding in an email. A repeat offender may automatically be suspended or permanently banned from the network. 

Microsoft filed its patent, “Detecting Cheating in Games with Machine Learning,” in May 2017. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published the application on Thursday, June 28. 

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With faster, modern interface, Corel Painter 2019 expands digital art tools

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The digital art canvas Painter now has a modern, user requested interface. This week, Corel launched Painter 2019 with an updated interface, more speed, and new brushes. The update uses a redesigned user interface with a dark theme to keep the focus on the artwork and larger, refined icons for simplifying tool access.

Chris Pierce, the Corel product manager for Digital Arts, said the new user interface includes several user-requested updates. The task involved redesigning more than 650 icons along with switching the traditional light design to a dark theme. The dark theme is the new default for the program, while users can customize the interface, including switching back to the old colors while keeping the updated icons. The update also enhances the program for use on high-resolution monitors.

“Knowing our users live in Painter every day, we’ve modernized its look and feel to make the experience of creating art more fluid, streamlined, and enjoyable,” Pierce said. “These elegant updates make all the difference not only in terms of overall comfort but also to the efficiency of your workflow.”

Inside the enhanced workflow, the color options are more easily accessible with the option to pin the Temporal Colors Selector to any part of the workspace. The program will also now suggest complementary colors after using the color selector.

Corel says that, along with the new look, Painter 2019 also has several performance updates. Brushes are up to 50 percent faster while document rendering after zooming or panning has also improved. Support for the latest processors and GPUs mean that artists using a computer with AVX2 see the most speed improvements.

Painter’s brushes that mimic the real thing have also expanded in the 2019 version. Stamps is an entirely new category designed to add a specific pattern either one time, like adding a tattoo, or several times to create a background pattern, like with a flame. Unlike a brush, stamps remain separate when dragging the mouse across the canvas. 

The update also includes five new pattern pens. Additional brushes were also added throughout, expanding the existing categories such as airbrushes, thick paint, watercolor, and blenders.

The update also includes new gesture controls for Windows touch devices. Two-finger rotate, pan and zoom options are included along with a double tap to reset the view. Using a stylus or mouse, a click and drag works as a new zoom shortcut.

Painter 2019 is now available, retailing for $429 or as a $229 upgrade for existing users.

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Nuheara IQbuds Dynamic True Wireless Earbuds Review

Headphones are generally simple devices, with the purpose of intimately pumping tunes into our ears. In recent years, we’ve seen several updates to the traditional formula, such as wire-cut solutions and active noise-cancellation, but the general idea remains.

However, if you’ve taken a deeper look, a couple cool developments have also risen to make the headphone more than what is dictated by its musical roots. The Nuheara IQbuds are one of these innovative selected few.

They aren’t just truly wireless earbuds for convenient music listening on-the-go, but also pack intelligent noise adjustment, from canceling noise to amplifying ambient speech. We’ll cover the benefits of this neat system in our review.

Design

On the surface, the Nuheara IQbuds aren’t a big deviation from the slew of true wireless earbuds we’ve seen emerge as of late. That is, an entirely plastic construction and basic, pod-like shape. Nuheara has adopted a lot of what works for this type of headphone, such as a compact and ergonomic design. The earpieces have maybe a bit more girth than average, but this is expected from the extra technology packed in.

You’ll also see the common series of electrical plates on their undersides. These match up with corresponding pins within carrying case for effortless charging. A note is that unlike many of the type, the silos for the buds don’t have a latching mechanism (i.e. magnetic or clip). You get a lack of finesse sense, as the buds easily wobble when seated. However, the tolerance is tight enough that the contact points reliably match up, and closing the lid locks the buds in place.

In typical fashion, the case has its own battery pack, able to charge the IQbuds 4x over (at about 5 hours of playback at a time, that’s 20 hours from a full case). This is great, but if you care about slimness, the case may be a bit thick for your taste. It’s definitely pocket-able, but you’ll have a clear bulge (may be especially concerning for skinny jean wearers).

Nuheara didn’t go easy on the case’s LED indicators. There are six sizable lights in total (which switch between red and green), and it can look like a light show when they’re all lit up.

It’s not complicated; there are three indications shown. The two red interior lights are dedicated to the status of their corresponding earpieces (red for charging and green for fully charged). The four at the front display whether the case is open or not. They’re mainly used to show battery level of the case (they light up green from left to right per 25% of battery capacity). However, every time you place the buds in and close the lid, you’ll see a left and right flash of red (the buds are charging) or green (the buds are already fully charged).

Primary 4-step battery level indication of the case. There’s a small button that will toggle the lights.

You’ll see these two lights flash when you close the case, to show that the earpieces are properly inserted and charging.

Also included in the box is a very generous selection of ear tips. There are no foam tips, but four different sizes of either round or oval silicone tips. We had no problem getting a secure and fully-sealing tip.

Function

The IQbuds are top-notch when it comes to fit. The contour of the earpieces match up with the ear opening immaculately, and the angled and appropriately long nozzle (coupled with the various tip sizes) makes for an effortless insertion. You should even be able to work out with them; they stay in place as good as any true wireless earbud that we’ve tried.

Packaging contents. Charging the case is done through a microUSB port on the back.

Regarding water resistance, Nuheara claims that they’re waterproof but didn’t formally certify them with an IP ingress rating. The company says that the internal components are coated with nano-proof water protection tech that is plentiful, so take that as you will.

The interface of the IQbuds is touch. Both earbuds have a touch panel on their outside surfaces. We’re a little wary of touch controls on true wireless earbuds due to past failed attempts, but it works pretty reliably on the IQbuds. Nuheara limits the number of functions (only within a single tap, double tap, or long tap), so there’s only a slight learning curve.

The outer, flat surface is the touch pad.

The earpiece contour and angle of the nozzle make for a great fit.

The left bud just handles play/pause or answering/ending phone calls, while the right bud turns off or switches among the dynamic sound features. Double tapping on either bud toggles the phone’s virtual assistant. One other control is a longer-press, which puts the buds into Pairing mode.

App tutorial shows how the system works

How to don the earpieces

The available functions. Note that there’s no volume or track controls. There’s no power switch either; the buds turn off when you place them in the case.

To unlock the capabilities of the IQbuds, you must install the company’s app. Within it, you’ll be able to select between presets to suit your current environment. Nuheara has options for settings we are often in, like the office, traveling, outdoor, etc. These specifically tune the earbuds transmission to be most beneficial in these situations.

For instance, if you’re outdoors, you may want to still be able to hear cars approaching. A typical sound isolation system won’t pick and choose what to isolate (hence, the “intelligence” notion behind the IQbuds), and could potentially make for a dangerous situation if you’re walking about outdoors. You can adjust the audio as you desire (complete silence or more/less ambient noise).

Nuheara’s available presets that tunes sound for common situations.

You can easily choose how much of the world to include or tune out of your audio.

Furthermore, you can isolate just speech to come through if you want.

A big advantage of this system is that you can go about your day without having to take the earbuds out. Typically, you have to take your headphones

AT&T Fined $5.25M for Two 911 Outages that Affected 15,000+ Emergency Calls

AT&T is paying the Federal Communications Commission a $5.25 million fine to settle an investigation into a pair of 2017 outages that blocked over 15,000 people from making 911 calls.

According to the FCC [PDF], during a five hour outage on March 8, 2017, 12,600 unique users across the United States saw their emergency 911 calls fail, while during a 47 minute outage on May 1, 2,600 users had 911 calls fail.

The outages, which impacted AT&T’s Voice over LTE network used by many modern smartphones, were caused by planned network changes that were implemented on those days that inadvertently interfered with the routing of 911 calls.

During the March outage, the FCC says that AT&T also failed to “quickly, clearly, and fully notify” affected 911 call centers. These kinds of outages are “unacceptable” and according to the FFC, carriers have a responsibility to both prevent outages and in the event of an outage, notify call centers immediately.

Such preventable outages are unacceptable. Robust and reliable 911 service is a national priority, as repeatedly expressed by both Congress and the Commission. Carriers have a responsibility to both prevent outages and, if they do take place, quickly inform the Commission and affected 911 call centers. FCC rules mandate that mobile phone service providers “transmit all wireless 911 calls” and inform 911 call centers of any 911 network outage that lasts 30 minutes or more.

In addition to paying a $5.25 million fine to end the investigation, AT&T is also required to implement “proactive system changes” to reduce the likelihood and impact of future 911 outages, improve its processes for notifying 911 call centers of future outages, ensure reliable 911 call completion, and file regular compliance reports with the FCC.

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Instagram Stories Gain Support for Adding Soundtracks

Instagram today updated its Stories feature with the ability to add a soundtrack for background music, with Instagram offering thousands of popular songs to choose from.

You can add music to Stories by tapping to add a sticker and then choosing the new “Music” sticker that’s available in the list alongside other stickers like Location, Mention, Hashtag, and more.

Tapping on the Music sticker opens up a library that includes thousands of songs, with search tools for finding a specific mood or genre, along with a list of what’s popular. You can press the play button to hear a preview of a song.

Once a song is selected, you can then fast forward and rewind to choose the exact part of the song that fits your story. Songs can also be chosen before taking a video by swiping to the new “Music” option located under the record button. From here, you can choose a song, select a portion of the song, and then record a video as the song plays.

Instagram Stories with songs attached will play the song and a sticker will be added with the song title and the artist name.

Along with music options in Instagram Stories, Instagram today also announced that Stories has 400 million daily active users.

Instagram says the music sticker is available in Instagram 51, which is the latest version of the Instagram app in the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]

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Sony Mobile rumored to be ‘ceasing operations’ in multiple areas

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According to a rumor, Sony’s mobile division will be ceasing all operations and pulling out of offices in Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa. The rumor comes from celebrated and leakster and Venture Beat reporter Evan Blass, and simply states that Sony will “shut down its operations and offices” by October.

Bad news for Sony Mobile fans in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa: I'm hearing that the company will "shut down its operations and offices" in the region by October.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) June 27, 2018

If true, this certainly doesn’t mean good news for Sony. A major company like this pulling out of areas can only mean that sales are failing and that consolidation is the aim of the game to try and keep the most major sales areas afloat. Sony’s own analysis of its mobile department’s performance has laid the blame purely on its own inability to improve its line-up fast enough and seems to presume that falling smartphone sales are the outcome of its own failings.

Looking at the wider market, it’s clear that Sony’s mobile division no longer has the sort of oomph it may have once commanded. The IDC’s quarterly report for the first part of 2018 failed to mention Sony’s phones at all, and it’s obvious that the Xperia brand is somewhere south of big names in the business in terms of sales. Sony had been sluggish to adapt to the new trend for trimming bezels on smartphones, and we had originally hoped that 2018 would see a design refresh that would put the looks of the Sony Xperia brand back up with some of the best looking phones out there.

Alas, while the redesign happened, it wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for. The much awaited “Ambient Flow” design hasn’t hugely changed the dated look of the Xperia smartphone. While phones like the Xperia XZ2 are impressive, the still rather chunky bezels let it down, at least in our eyes.

Sony wouldn’t be the first of the smartphone industry’s big dogs to have to pull out of specific regions, as LG was forced to pull out of China in February. With smartphone sales plateauing, and even the biggest companies on the block starting to worry about the future, Sony isn’t likely to be the last company to look at cost-cutting methods in the face of a new world.

We have reached out to Sony for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

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This algorithm identifies the key ingredients to winning a debate

Debate has always been integral to democracy. In its most beautiful form, a presidential debate is a meeting of minds, a moment when two or more upright and well-spoken potential statesmen argue over the fate of a nation and enlighten listeners about their policy positions. In its ugliest appearance, debate devolves into a charade viewed for entertainment rather than illumination, a circus performance full of eye-rolling, name-calling, and deflections.

A team of researchers at Northeastern University have taken on the task of predicting debate “winners” by deconstructing their arguments, hoping to encourage more meaningful meetings. The researchers aren’t focused on style but content — they’re concern isn’t with fancy rhetoric or theatrics but with sound reasoning. It’s an idealized outlook of debates but one they hope will help support the democratic practice.

To aid in their efforts, they developed an artificial intelligence algorithm that can pick out features of a strong argument. They trained the system on 118 Intelligence Squared debates and, simply by analyzing the argument, the algorithm was able to predict the winner nearly three-quarters of the time. A paper detailing their research was published in the journal Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics.

“Using just the debate transcripts, our model is able to predict debate … which side is likely to win over more audience support with around 74 percent accuracy,” Nick Beauchamp, an assistant political science professor at Northeastern and one of the project leads, told Digital Trends. “Many people have tried to predict debate winners before using only surface stylistic features, and ours uses all these sorts of features as well — sentiment, abstraction, sentence complexity — but using those things only gets you about 66 percent accuracy. It’s only when you add in this notion of latent arguments and argument strength that you able to predict winners so accurately.”

Despite focusing mainly on the strength of arguments, the researchers found that certain stylistic features appeared in more winning debates. Namely, concrete language (nouns, verbs, numbers) and simpler sentences. Stronger arguments also emphasize more negative emotions like anger and disgust, while weaker ones feature more positive sentiments like hope and trust. Weaker debaters also tend to use “you” and I,” while stronger ones include “we” and “us.”

Beauchamp admits that predicting a presidential debate winner (particularly after the fact) has limited use in the real world. However, he sees some utility in using this type of tool to explore and explain how and why debates are won. He envisions such a tool providing real-time feedback to viewers during a debate, from highlighting a strong and sound argument to flagging a weak one.

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Kids help Volvo and Lego design the construction vehicles of the future

When Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) and Lego Technic gathered a group of children to design a new earth mover, the result was more than a new toy. The Lego Technic Volvo Concept Wheel Loader Zeux is also a digital prototype for a future Volvo autonomous machine.

If involving children in real-world construction equipment design seems odd, consider this: The collaboration has resulted in several patents, some of which are “potentially revolutionary,” according to Volvo.

“We have enjoyed a truly fun and productive collaboration with the Lego Technic team over the past few years,” Volvo CE’s global communication manager Arvid Rinaldo said in a statement. “It allowed us to test ideas for new types of construction machines for the future, both in terms of functionality, scale, design, and interaction.

“This model may seem futuristic now, but autonomous, connected and electric construction machines are already starting to be a reality. The Volvo Concept Wheel Loader Zeux is a realistic next step in the exciting evolution of our construction machines.”

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When Volvo sought ideas to heighten safety and add human considerations in the artificial intelligence programming and capabilities of autonomous construction equipment, the children suggested two novel features: A scout drone and a camera boom called “the Eye.”

The scout drone looks ahead of and around the Zeux wheel loader. The Eye, mounted on an adjustable boom on the vehicle’s roof, is more than just a camera — it can acknowledge human presence. The idea of directing autonomous vehicle attention and making “eye contact” sprung from lessons children learn about crossing roads.

When we walk across roads shared with cars, at stop signs or traffic lights, for example, we’re taught not to move until we’re sure the driver in a stationary vehicle acknowledges our presence. But what about driverless vehicles? Training the Eye to sense human presence and indicate that it knows the person is there is as important for vehicles on busy construction sites with workers on the ground as it is on city streets.

Lego Technic Senior Design Manager Andrew Woodman referred to his group’s “AFC promise” in model design, that models include “Authenticity, Functionality, and Challenging Building.”

“Volvo CE and the LEGO Group share the same values when it comes to our requirements for quality and usability, while at the same time pushing the boundaries of creativity and functionality,” Woodman said. “It has been very motivating helping Volvo CE to develop what could be the future of construction machines.”

The Lego Technic Volvo Concept Wheel Loader Zeux model will include a working boom and bucket, a moving counterweight to raise and lower the chassis, a mapping drone, and articulated four-wheel steering. The 1,167 piece model, available for sale in August, will also have online instructions for building an alternative piece of construction equipment, the Volvo Concept Hauler Pegax.

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This Minion-looking robot will nag you to improve your posture as you work

Imagine telling someone half a century ago that, here in 2018, our watches would order us to get up out of our chairs, we would have always-listening smart speakers in our homes, and a data-collecting tech giant would probably know more about you than your immediate family. Nineteen Eighty-Four-style dystopia? Jetsons-style utopia? Whatever it is, it’s happening! The latest example of this is a new Alexa-connected gadget recently launched on Kickstarter, taking the form of a miniature robot and connected smart mat that will nag you to stand up straight — even in the comfort of your own home.

Called Giiro Bot (the associated mat’s referred to as the Giiro Mat), it looks a bit like a cute Minion from Despicable Me, but is, in fact, a pretty nifty posture coach that will warn you whenever you begin standing in a way it deems to be less than optimal.

“The Giiro Mat uses more than 600 sensors that can detect 256 levels of pressure to draw a hyper-accurate map of how you stand,” GazeLab CEO Juyoun Lee told Digital Trends. “It tracks your posture over time, provides alerts, shows weight distribution in real time, and makes recommendations on ways to improve your posture. The Giiro Bot is a personal posture robot, paired with Giiro Mat. It sits on a desk and mimics your posture, while you work. It provides feedback with nine different facial expressions, by moving its legs, and leaning in the same direction as you do.”

The company behind Giiro previously launched the Gaze Desk, a smart Internet of Things standing desk, which raised more than $150,000 on Kickstarter. Now its makers want to go further because, as it turns out, even owning a standing desk is no guarantee that you’re standing correctly. Whether you lean forward to focus on your computer monitor, or twist your legs in a way that can damage your backbone, Giiro is there and ready to pick you up on your bad habits.

The results are a bit like what would happen if 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000 moved to California, got hooked on yoga and core fitness, and decided its new mission in life was to harangue its friends into leading healthier lives.

As ever, we offer our usual warnings about the inherent risk in crowdfunding campaigns. (Although, as noted, the team has successfully delivered a product before.) However, if you’re interested and want to get involved, head over to the team’s Kickstarter page. Both the mat and robot are available separately, although if you want to get the pair prices start at $199. Shipping is set to take place in March 2019.

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