A collection of news articles about technology and its impact on society.
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Tech startup Electreon Wireless is working with Ford and DTE to build an electrified road that charges cars through inductive charging. Through a special receiver that costs about $3,000 to $4,000 to install, cars can be charged while driving or stopped. The hope is that wireless charging will aid in mass EV adoption by easing concerns related to driving range. Similarly, researchers at Cornell have been working on wireless charging using electric fields instead of the magnetic ones that Electreon uses, a change that might make the process cheaper and more efficient.
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Zoox robotaxis are already mingling with the public on semi-private test courses
Amazon subsidiary, Zoox has begun testing out dozens of custom-built robotaxis on various campus-like environments across California. The cube-shaped robotaxis, unveiled in December 2020, can drive bidirectionally, with four-wheel steering, and are capable of transporting four people at up to 75 mph. While the company has no planned date for public release, a spokesperson for the company believes its "really not that far away." Concurrently, Zoox has also equipped several Toyota Highlanders with their autonomous driving system, testing them out in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Foster City with human safety drivers behind the wheel monitoring the vehicles.
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To protect consumers, Congress should secure the app store supply chain
Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Open App Market Act, a bill mandating that smartphone makers allow users to install unvetted applications on their devices. This bill is a big change from the "walled garden" distribution model of today that only allows app installation from official app stores. The "walled garden" model ensures higher levels of safety through basic safety screening, but cuts down on the amount of available free apps for users. Allowing users to install unvetted apps poses bigger security risks especially for individuals and smaller businesses that do not have the necessary security features to monitor software. With that said, Congress has the ability to enforce regulations that mitigate those risks, including requiring all app stores to have base levels of security, moving away from unrestricted "side-loading", and educating users on good device hygiene.
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White Castle to hire 100 robots to flip burgers
Having first experimented with 'Flippy 1' robotic cooks back in September 2020, White Castle has plans to roll out the upgraded 'Flippy 2' at over 100 locations. The robots, made and manufactured by Miso Robotics, have the capability to take over the entire fry station, allowing employees to focus on customer-facing duties. The combination of fast food and AI is not novel to White Castle, as other popular chains like McDonald's, Sonic, and Checkers have been working to streamline their drive-thru operations with AI tools. Nonetheless, White Castle's program is being phased in by region, with hopes to be in over a third of the 350 locations they have across the Midwest, Southwest, and New York area.
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Injectsense collects $1.7M grant for its eye implant smaller than a grain of rice
Tech startup Injectsense has been developing an eye implant built to measure intraocular pressure, a significant risk factor for glaucoma. The device is injected into the eye painlessely and is capable of staying in your eye for over 80 years, charged by a pair of special glasses. Based on recent animal studies performed by the company that showed high levels of success and no major issues, the National Eye institute recently awarded Injectsense with a 1.7 million dollar grant. While eye pressure is something routinely measured by an eye doctor, the device stands out because it can transmit the eye pressure data continously, which allows for better insight into the daily fluctuations in eye pressure that most people experience. Although the device is not necessarily a "flashy" implementation of injectable technology, the possibility of continous sensing means people at risk for or living with glaucoma can gain a better picture of the progression of the condition and build better plans of care with their doctor.
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We met the founder of Europe's largest vertical farm
Nordic Harvest, Europe's largest vertical farm, is located in the Danish city of Taastrup, and spans over 7,000 square feet with 14 levels of agriculture. Providing about 5% of Denmark's consumption, the farm produces over 1,000 tons of salad and herbs each year, powered entirely by wind energy and low-energy LEDs. Vertical farming is an incredible tool for resource optimization, providing crops that can be harvested much more frequently than regular, keep for longer without rotting, use zero pesticides, and maintain the same flavor and nutritional profile. Because of this effectivness, vertical farming has the potential to greatly supplement the food supply chain, reduce food waste, and reduce food transportation. Thus, even though the intial cost of vertical farming infrastructure is hefty, vertical farming is in a position to support the never-ending rise in human population alongside booming urbanization while still reducing energy consumption and waste.
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A new free app makes using iPads easier for people with hand tremors
Global company Havas Creative, in collaboration with the German Parkinson's Association, has recently release their app Stabyl which takes advantage of native iPad features to provide support for people with hand tremors. Using the built-in accelerometer, Stabyl detects device shakes and responds by moving the on-screen web page in the opposite direction to keep the screen stable. Furthermore, the app adds smaller quality of life features including removing swipe gestures for navigation, increasing the size of buttons so they are easier to click, and additional settings for adapting to a person's needs. What I find most interesting here is that the app is taking advantage of features already in the iPad. I belive this shows the great potential for making technology more accessible that many companies are just not thinking of including. All in all, if the goal of technology is to improve people's lives, then we need to make sure that all people are included.
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The Census is Broken: Can AI fix it?
Reaching historically underrepresented groups has always been a critical issue for the US Census Bureau, especially because those results have real and serious impacts on those communities. In 2020, there was an undercount of Black, Latino, and Native American people. Much work has been done to introduce AI techniques in an effort to improve population surveys and gather socioeconomic data. For instance, many research groups have introduced models to verify addresses via satellite imagery or predict population density and income information. However, these models are certainly not perfect and find themselves struggling to identify houses in a variety of environments, in addition to just not knowing what's going on in the building its looking at (are there multiple families living there? Is it being subleted?). Thus, while new work has come out to lower the costs and improve the accuracy of the US Census, these tools are still somewhat nascent and must be used with care. Personally, I believe that a lot of discussion must be done before using any AI-generated data for decision making. I belive one huge issue is using training data from a certain community and believing it will apply to all communities. I am especially worried that AI tools will succumb to the same biases that already undercount minoritized communities. All in all, while I believe there is potential to use AI towards creating equity in socioeconomic data collection, these tools will reflect the goals and care of the people in charge of creating them. The fact of the matter is that more often than not, those people are not taking a justice-centered approach.
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Applied for Student Aid Online? Facebook Saw You
Based on code found embedded in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) website, nonprofit news organization The Markup discovered that the FAFSA website is sending user information to Facebook via their Meta Pixel tool. Personal data including first name, last name, address, and zip code was included in these transfers. After questioning the U.S Department of Education, they revealed that the data was being used for advanced marketing tackets. Since then, the feature has been turned off, yet the tracker still remains on the website. This tracking occurs even before the user is logged into the system and collects information even on those without Facebook accounts. Personally, I believe this is an absolutely terrible practice. The Department of Education maintains that the data was anonymized, yet how anonymous can personal data get? I find it incredibly exploitative to collect data without express, informed consent, especially when someone uses a form that is almost unavoidable for pursuing higher education. Oftentimes, the FAFSA is the only way for people to go to college. What I find even more disturbing is the mention that an internal Facebook document suggests that Facebook itself doesn't have control over where data goes or how it is used. They place responsibility on companies to use their tools "responsibly." The bottom-line here is that a government agency sending data to Facebook is outrageous. Facebook should have complete responsibility over the tools they provide. If they can't control their data, they shouldn't be allowed to collect it.