It’s 2025! It’s the future. We have wearables and in-home medical care now like the Jetsons. But, what do patients think about these things?

The health care landscape is experiencing a dramatic transformation through the increasing adoption of wearable medical technologies. These sophisticated devices, worn directly on or close to the body, represent a paradigm shift in how we monitor, prevent, and manage health conditions. From simple activity trackers to advanced cardiac monitoring systems, wearables are revolutionizing patient care through continuous, real-time data collection and analysis.

It is important to note that the wearable market is largely divided into consumer health products and medical-grade wearables. There is some overlap in this space related to how, in the US, the Food and Drug Administration classifies technologies and how companies adapt. For example, the Apple Watch should fall under a consumer-health technology, but Apple has, in fact, incorporated certain validated, medical grade technologies into it.

But, while the industry and tech companies tout these technologies as transformative, what do patients think about them and their incorporation into clinical care services?

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Wearable Medical Device Technologies

Modern wearable medical devices incorporate various sensor technologies that enable comprehensive physiological monitoring. Typical sensors include photoplethysmography (PPG) for heart rate monitoring, accelerometers and gyroscopes for movement and position detection, electrodes for electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements, and biosensors for tracking metrics like blood oxygen saturation, glucose levels, and skin temperature. These sensors work in concert to collect a wide array of health metrics, including vital signs, activity levels, sleep patterns, and specific disease markers. The systems that use these sensors then leverage internet of things (IoT) technologies to transmit their data via short-distance Bluetooth technologies or cellular technologies on common cellular networks (e.g., AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile).

Medical grade wearables are frequently divided into invasive and non-invasive technologies. Invasive technologies are implanted within or otherwise penetrate the human body (e.g., continuous glucose meters and central blood pressure catheters). Non-invasive technologies include wrist blood pressure cuffs, heart rate monitors, watches, patches, and other technologies. Some of these technologies are worn continuously whereas others are worn or used periodically. Non-wearable medical devices technologies that remotely collect physiological or health information (e.g., blood pressure cuff units, tradition glucose meters) can be classified as connected medical devices.

The growth in the wearable medical device market has been remarkable. Market research indicates exponential expansion, driven by increasing consumer health consciousness, aging populations, and the rise of chronic diseases. The global wearable medical device market, valued at approximately $21.3 billion in 2021, is projected to reach over $110 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate exceeding 19%. Almost all of the medical device start-ups and larger manufacturers I encounter are adding IoT technologies to their medical devices to transmit data to care teams and patient smart phones.

A Growing Clinical Interest in Medical Grade Wearables

Health care providers and organizations are increasingly interested in wearable technologies for several compelling reasons. These devices enable continuous monitoring outside traditional clinical settings, allowing for early detection of health deterioration and more timely interventions. They support preventive care approaches by tracking daily health patterns and identifying potential risks before they become serious issues. Additionally, wearables empower patients to take a more active role in their health management through real-time feedback and improved health literacy.

In the inpatient setting, wearables are touted as time-savers for nursing staff. Instead of using the bedside monitors to take vital signs each two hours, wearables like watches that can transmit vitals to the nursing station allows for better time management for nurses.

Remote Physiological Monitoring as a Catalyst

A significant catalyst for the adoption of wearable medical technologies in the United States has been Medicare's expansion of reimbursement policies. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced coverage for Remote Physiological Monitoring (RPM) and Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) services. These policies, implemented through CPT codes, provide reimbursement for the collection and interpretation of physiologic data from wearable devices, as well as the time health care providers spend reviewing and responding to this information. This financial framework has encouraged health care organizations to integrate wearable technologies into their care delivery models.

However, the success of wearable medical technologies ultimately depends on patient acceptance and sustained use. Reimbursement models like RPM require 16 days of each 30 days of data transmission to receive payment. That means patients must wear their wearable or otherwise collect data every other day, so patient engagement is critical to success.

Understanding Patient Perceptions of Wearable Technologies in Clinical Services

A systematic review by Ferguson et al. (2021) provides crucial insights into the barriers and facilitators affecting the adoption of wearable cardiac monitoring technologies, particularly among older adults. Their meta-synthesis of seven qualitative studies revealed four key interrelated themes* that influence adoption:

• Trust (including safety and confidence)

  • Early detection of conditions, communication and interaction, and learning and health promotion

• Functionality and Affordability

  • Design, Costs, and Usefulness

• Risks

  • Medical Compliance, Stress and Anxiety, and Self-Management

• Assurance

  • Unforeseen technical issues, assurance of data quality, and timely feedback from providers

*These are pulled from the study and I am not so sure I would have made the same groupings of the underlying themes into the four over arching categories, but you get a sense of the patient experience.

The review highlighted several critical findings. First, while wearable devices can enhance patient engagement and self-management, their effectiveness is limited by various barriers. Design considerations are paramount - devices must be user-friendly, comfortable, and adaptable to individual needs. The study found that older adults often struggle with technical aspects and may experience anxiety about using the technology correctly. In my experience operating an RPM program, this is critical, but if a program is properly designed, patients can access and use the program with ease.

Cost emerged as a significant barrier, particularly for individuals on fixed incomes1. In the U.S. patients on Medicare may also use social security as their primary means of income, so costs are a major consideration. In some circumstances, care programs may provide devices to patients, but in others, it is important to note that many patients cannot afford to purchase an Apple Watch for atrial fibrillation monitoring.

The review also emphasized the importance of appropriate training and technical support, noting that family members and health care providers play crucial roles in supporting successful adoption. Interestingly, while some patients valued the reduction in face-to-face medical visits and corresponding travel, others worried about losing personal connections with their health care providers.

Health care providers expressed mixed views about wearable technologies. While acknowledging their potential for improving patient monitoring and early intervention, they raised concerns about increased workload, legal liability, and the risk of creating dependency rather than promoting self-management.

Patient Experiences with Remote Patient Monitoring Programs

A similar, yet different question to ask about patient perceptions with wearables is how they feel about programs that are actively using the wearables to manage their care. Another study, conducted by Walker et al., assessed this question and analyzed 16 qualitative studies involving 307 patients with various chronic conditions including COPD, heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, and end-stage kidney disease across eight countries. The review's methodology involved searching multiple medical databases through July 2017 and using a rigorous thematic synthesis approach to analyze the findings.

Through their thematic synthesis, the researchers identified four major themes (which I think are better groupings) in patients' experiences with remote monitoring:

• Gaining knowledge and triggering actions (patients report better understanding of how to manage their conditions and what do to)

• Reassurance and security (patients like health care providers reviewing their data as it provides peace-of-mind)

• Concern about additional burden (patients worry about the complexity and need for technical support)

• Jeopardizing interpersonal connections (patients worry about whether it will reduce their time with their providers2)

The findings revealed that remote monitoring generally enhanced patients' understanding of their conditions and supported better self-management. Patients reported that the technology helped them track changes in their health status, enabled earlier clinical interventions, and increased their confidence in making health-related decisions. Many patients, particularly those living alone or older adults, felt an increased sense of safety and peace of mind knowing they were being monitored.

The study also uncovered several challenges and barriers to remote monitoring adoption. Some patients, especially older adults, expressed reluctance to learn new technology and worried about their ability to use it correctly. There were concerns about the potential costs of the technology and skepticism about its reliability. Perhaps most significantly, some patients worried that remote monitoring might reduce their face-to-face interactions with health care providers, potentially compromising the personal aspect of their care. The researchers concluded that while remote monitoring offers significant benefits for chronic disease management, its implementation should carefully consider these patient concerns, particularly regarding the maintenance of personal care relationships and the need for adequate training and support.

Looking to the Future of Health Wearables

Looking ahead, the successful implementation of wearable medical technologies requires a balanced approach that addresses both technical and human factors. The review suggests that future development should focus on user-centric design processes, incorporating input from end-users early in development. Additionally, health care systems need to consider comprehensive support structures, including training programs and clear protocols for managing the data generated by these devices. However, the largest barrier to widespread adoption is cost and reimbursement models that must change to incorporate these technologies at scale. This must be balanced with the clinical effectiveness of these programs so as to ensure additional payments are resulting in better health outcomes.

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I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this Star Wars map, but I appreciate the spirit of visualizing fictional spaces.

Tags: fiction, Star Wars

It’s the beginning of a new year, and I started thinking about the future of immersive realities for 2025 and beyond. There is one question that is recurring in my mind: with the possible advent of the standalone Deckard headset with inside-out tracking, is Lighthouse-based SteamVR tracking still going to be relevant? Will it survive this year or the next ones? In this article, I try to summarize my thoughts about it.

[Note for the readers: For the sake of clarity and simplicity, in this article, I will consider SteamVR tracking outside-in because of the external beacons, even if the beacons are only lights, so the tracking is technically still inside-out. Plus I will use the terms OpenVR tracking and SteamVR tracking interchangeably, even if the two terms are not identical]

SteamVR tracking

When Valve launched its tracking system based on Lighthouses, it was a revolution, because it brought room scale and tracked controllers to VR, when Oculus wanted to put people playing with gamepads on a couch. Valve’s OpenVR was also incredibly well thought out, bringing with it an open ecosystem potentially compatible with many headsets and peripherals. Not to mention that the tracking was fast, accurate, reliable, and with amazing sub-mm accuracy. Soon the Vive Tracker was launched, and people were able to track objects, and especially their full body, in VR.

It’s been a revolution, the way to go to do proper VR until inside-out tracking proved to be good enough to support the creation of standalone headsets. Standalone headsets like Quest removed the cost of having an associated PC, and the hassle of having to configure a VR room with Lighthouse stations to install on the walls. At a cheap sub-500$ price, Quest opened up a new market that got the attention of millions of users, while leaving PCVR to XR enthusiasts who wanted the best experience possible.

Today SteamVR is still the gold standard for what concerns PCVR tracking and many enthusiasts have Lighthouses installed in their rooms to play VR games on their Valve Index, HTC Vive, or Pimax Crystal Light. But with the attention of the market going towards standalone and always more PCVR headsets experimenting with inside-out tracking, what is the future of this technology?

SteamVR strengths and competition

To understand how SteamVR is still relevant today and how it will play out in the future, let’s analyze what are the biggest strengths of this technology, and how its incumbents are working in this sense.

Precision

SteamVR Tracking supports sub-mm accuracy, and this is simply amazing. The thing is: you rarely need this precision in applications… I’m not even sure if the human brain has the perception of the hands’ position with such accuracy (I guess not considering the micro-tremblings of the hands). Anyway, sub-mm accuracy, together with the precision and speed of the tracking contributes to making this tracking not only precise but also very reliable, even when you are moving your controllers pretty fast. Anyway, we have seen now that controllers like the ones of the Quest can obtain pretty good performances, too, for what concerns speed and reliability (consider that people are playing Beat Saber at insane speeds with standalone headsets). This means that for most use cases, the precision of standalone controllers is now more than enough.

Tracking range

One of the superpowers of SteamVR is that it tracks your controllers everywhere they are: behind your head, behind your body, on the floor, up in the air, etc… Inside-out tracked headsets do have not this capability and there are things you are not able to do without SteamVR, like hiding your hand holding a virtual gift behind your back while you are in social VR.

But first of all, these are edge cases, and nowadays thanks to the big success of Quest headsets, many people are designing VR experiences to avoid these situations. Then, a smart positioning of the tracking cameras can cover a field of view that is large enough to serve most cases. Not to mention that new technologies will make the tracking-everywhere capability available also on standalone devices: think about the self-tracking controllers of the Quest Pro. They are pretty expensive and show their problems, but they prove that controllers may track themselves, with their tracking working in any condition, without worrying about the field of view, occlusion, or other problems. This would even solve the problem of controller-to-controller occlusion that is typical of any other system where the controllers are tracked from the outside.

Returning to inside-out tracked controller, I guess in the future some AI inference using body tracking data may help in estimating the pose of the controllers when they are out of range of the tracking cameras, too.

All these new technologies make the tracking range of SteamVR less unique.

Controller tracking

SteamVR tracking is meant to track controllers or tracking pucks. Now there is anyway always growing attention towards hand tracking. Some people are even convinced that long-term, controller tracking will be niche, and hand tracking will be dominant everywhere in XR. I agree with this statement about outdoor use of XR (for sure I’m not going to use controllers with my AR glasses while I’m in the streets), but for indoors, and especially some content like gaming, I still think controllers are (and will be) a must-have.

In any case, the growing attention towards hand tracking, which is not supported by pure SteamVR tracking but is supported by camera-based tracking, weakens a bit the position of the technology.

Body tracking

If you check online forums like Reddit, people mention that Full Body Tracking, e.g. in VRChat, is the strongest use case for Lighthouse-based SteamVR tracking. This is for sure true today, but there are already hints of this being less relevant in the future.

First of all, HTC has released the Vive Ultimate Tracker, which has onboard cameras and does not need base stations. It is pretty expensive and, according to some feedback online, its tracking quality is not comparable with SteamVR tracking, yet. But with time, for sure, both of these characteristics are going to improve.

Then, the Pico Trackers are proving that using the knowledge of the human body and some ML magic, it is possible to have a full body pose with very cheap and lightweight tags that do not need any external beacons. My quick hands-on with these devices left me impressed, because they were able to track my body pose incredibly well.

In the end, I can also mention that Meta is experimenting with the use of AI to track the human body using just the onboard cameras of the headset and the controllers (if any): the accuracy of these solutions is still not reliable enough, but who knows what the future will reserve us in this sense in the next 5-10 years (the usual magical timespan, according to Vitillo’s law of technology).

Motion capture

If you want a cheap system for motion capture you can use Vive Trackers and full-body VR to record animations of yourself moving. For sure SteamVR can be useful to create a cheap animation studio in your home.

But thanks to AI advancements, it is now possible to do motion tracking with regular cameras and without wearing any device on your body with good accuracy. We also used such a system when we were doing concerts with VRROOM, and the results were surely good. Not to mention that even in this case, the Vive Ultimate Tracker or the full-body solution with Pico Trackers may substitute Lighthouses in the future.

Object Tracking

You can attach a Vive Tracker to an object, to have it reliably tracked for you in VR. This is used for instance in LBVR arcades to let you have a gun in your head while you are in VR.

Even in this case, SteamVR trackers may be substituted by Vive Ultimate Trackers or Pico Tracker, removing the need for lighthouses. But Vive Ultimate Trackers do have not the same accuracy, and Pico Trackers need to be in sight of the Pico headset, so this solution may not work in all cases if you need to grab an object and keep it outside the tracking range of the headset. So short term, object tracking is still best with Lighthouses, but long term, other solutions may have comparable performances. Consider that anyway object tracking is only relevant in out-of-home entertainment since no one is going to use props in VR at home.

Compatible peripherals

Valve’s OpenVR is an open standard and many peripherals have been built to be compatible with it. On this side, it is still a unique ecosystem, even if more widespread standards like OpenXR have nowadays created standardization in XR as a whole.

SteamVR is also very useful for those companies that are creating a VR peripheral and want to focus on developing their unique characteristics without wasting time on positional tracking. Many VR gloves have come out using Vive Trackers for positional tracking, so that their companies could work on finger tracking and haptic feedback.

The other positive side of SteamVR is that you can mix and match controllers with headsets (e.g. having a Vive headset with Valve controllers). Theoretically, this could happen also with other technologies if companies would like to open up for that (practically, this never happened, though).

LBVR

The Location-based entertainment industry has been one of the first great adopters of SteamVR headsets. Thanks to its accuracy, robustness, compatibility with external peripherals, and support for full body tracking and object tracking, it was the perfect fit for this market. But now also this industry is moving to standalone headsets, which guarantee faster setup and cheaper costs while guaranteeing tracking in large areas and multiplayer colocation.

Headsets compatibility

When HTC Vive came out, it was a revolution for the virtual reality field: Oculus tried to copy its tracking system, but the Constellation tracking was not comparable… and I say this as a Rift CV1 owner. SteamVR has been the gold standard for tracking for a while, with other headsets implementing it: even nowadays, the headsets from BigScreen, HTC Vive, Pimax, Varjo, and Somnium, are all compatible with SteamVR.

But while until a couple of years ago, for a PCVR headset outside-in tracking was a must, nowadays many companies are working on their inside-out tracking, too. Of the aforementioned brands, for instance, Pimax and Varjo have their camera-based tracking for hands and controllers, with SteamVR being optional. Vive launched its last lighthouse-tracked headset (Vive Pro 2) more than 3 years ago, and its last Vive Focus Vision device is optimized for PC usage while being a standalone headset. This means that SteamVR is still supported because of its quality, but that most companies are working to have their tracking solution that does not require base stations. And when these solutions become as accurate as SteamVR, then Lighthouses will probably be abandoned. Consider that most PCVR headsets are used by simmers (i.e. people who play games about racing or piloting airplanes), which usually require seated playing, so the room-scale accuracy of SteamVR is not needed.

Even Valve, the company that started it all, is rumored to launch its standalone Deckard headset that should work with inside-out tracking… (even if it could provide a faceplate for SteamVR)

The Destiny of SteamVR tracking

All the above considerations make me think that the SteamVR tracking technology is destined to be abandoned by most of the XR space, being substituted by camera tracking and AI algorithms. Freeing the users from having to set up a room to use XR (and from the cost of lighthouses) is such an advantage that many companies will go for that route.

Anyway, it won’t happen tomorrow because out there there are still many Lighthouse-tracked headsets like the Valve Index and because many of the inside-out tracking solutions out there are still not reliable enough. It will take some time, maybe another 5 years, maybe even more, but in the end it will become less and less relevant. I don’t think it will completely disappear, though: it will still be relevant in some niches, especially enterprise ones: for instance, Vive has created a solution to use Vive Trackers for mixed reality cinema productions and there it could still be a valid help.

But most of the consumer XR space, including the PC one, will most probably let it go. The hardware to support it will still be carried on by startups for which it can be a lucrative market. I think it may happen something similar to the Kinect For Azure: Microsoft didn’t consider its market profitable enough, so it licensed its algorithms to a startup making depth cameras called Orbbec, which is much smaller, so the revenues coming from this market are good for it.

All technologies are destined to become obsolete, and Lighthouse-based tracking won’t make any exception. But it will have a special place in the history of VR (and in our hearts) because it changed the paradigm of how we interact with VR technology.

The post What’s the future of SteamVR tracking? appeared first on The Ghost Howls.

Ce retard dans le développement du MeLE PCG02 est assez facilement compréhensible si on considère la cible de ces engins. Le fabricant ne cherche pas à séduire des clients grand public, mais plutôt des professionnels qui vont utiliser la clé pour piloter des affichages numériques.

Lorsque le MeLE PCG02 est sorti sous Celeron J4125, il était déjà en retard par rapport au reste du marché des MiniPC. Le premier modèle de la marque sorti en 2015 embarquait un processeur Atom Bay Trail et a été produit pendant cinq ans avec cette puce. Un modèle Celeron N4000 a pris la relève puis une version Celeron J4125… Le nouveau venu reprend exactement le même design et évolue donc vers un Intel N100. Pourquoi ne pas passer au N150 puisque celui-ci est annoncé ? Peut-être justement parce que MeLE choisit des puces considérées comme dépassées à chaque évolution. Probablement pour les payer le moins cher possible. Ces puces ont toutes en commun le bon goût d’être peu gourmandes en énergie et donc d’être exploitable sans ventilation.

L’idée derrière ce type d’engin est assez simple : afficher des vidéos ou des pages web, rarement plus, sur un téléviseur. C’est pour cela que la marque suit un mouvement lent d’évolution de son matériel. Pas besoin d’aller trop vite, ce qui compte, c’est plus la forme que le fond. Le N100 assurera tous les décodages de flux nécessaires à l’usage de ce type de clé et avec une double sortie vidéo, cette simple solution pourra piloter un double écran facilement. Disponible en 8 ou 16 Go de LPDDR4-4266 et 128 Go de stockage eMMC, la clé pourra aussi bien piloter un Windows que de nombreuses distributions Linux.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54244054435_ddaf350e01_o.jpg

On reste donc sur un format « Clé PC » de 14 cm de long et 6 cm de large pour 1.95 cm d’épaisseur et un poids de 130 grammes. Un objet qu’on pourra brancher directement dans un téléviseur ou qui pourra être accroché à un câble HDMI facilement. Le MeLE PCG02 propose toujours sa sortie HDMI mâle proéminente qui vient se brancher sur une prise HDMI femelle et un câble Mâle-femelle est livré dans le paquet pour permettre une intégration plus simple. On retrouve pour le reste de la connectique un USB 3.2 Type-C qui assurera la charge en Power Delivery et permettra également un affichage en DisplayPort.

Un second port USB Type-C servira d’alimentation tandis que deux ports USB 3.2 Type-A offriront la possibilité de contrôler l’engin ou de lui connecter des extensions de stockage. Un port jack audio combo 3.5 mm est présent ainsi qu’un Ethernet Gigabit et un lecteur de cartes MicroSDXC. Enfin, un module Wi-Fi5 et Bluetooth 5.1 avec une antenne orientable permettra de se connecter simplement au réseau.

L’engin bénéficie d’un BIOS très travaillé qui lui offre de nombreuses possibilités réseau. On pourra le démarrer à heures fixes, le réveiller à distance, utiliser un stockage distant pour son système avec un mode PXE et le rallumer automatiquement à la reprise du courant. Des fonctions de démarrage sobre, sans logo fabricant sont disponibles et il est même possible de désactiver ses ports pour éviter toute intrusion technique.

Au final, ce produit est très intéressant pour des usages variés. Avec son équipement de base, il est suffisant pour se transformer en TV-Box efficace par exemple. Il pourra lire des flux en UltraHD sans soucis et piloter des abonnements de streaming ou un système de média personnel sans sourciller derrière un téléviseur. C’est également un PC suffisant pour des usages classiques. Avec un MeLE PCG02 fixé au dos d’un écran de PC classique avec son support VESA, un clavier et une souris premier prix connectés dessus, on se retrouve avec un poste basique pour travailler correctement. Le stockage eMMC ne sera pas des plus rapides ce qui n’empêchera pas une exploitation bureautique ou comme poste de consultation ouvert au public. Enfin, dans une optique pro, pour piloter un écran accroché à trois mètres de hauteur qui va lancer en boucle des contenus piochés sur un réseau, cela reste un outil parfaitement adapté.

Pour le moment, le MeLE PCG02 N100 n’est toujours pas disponible en France ou des stocks de versions N4000 et J4125 sont encore listés dans la boutique Amazon de la marque. Mais les nouveaux venus sont en approche.

Minimachines.net en partenariat avec Geekbuying.com
La CléPC MeLE PCG02 évolue (enfin) vers l’Intel N100 © MiniMachines.net. 2024.

Looktech AI Glasses are AI-powered smart glasses with a “privacy-focused design” and several lens options. They are similar to Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses but support GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini instead of Meta AI. Like Meta’s smart glasses, the Looktech AI Glasses incorporate headphones, a camera, and an AI model for a hands-free experience and personalized AI assistance.

According to Looktech, the smart glasses can track calories, find recipes, set reminders, and perform image searches. The in-built 13MP camera can be used to capture high-res images and videos and the open-ear dual speakers provide “rich, spatialized immersive audio while keeping you aware of your surroundings.”

Looktech has given some hardware specifications for the product but the list is a bit sparse. We have covered the much cheaper but underpowered LILYGO T-Glass. Although there are no promises of a physical AI agent, the Looktech glasses are similar to the M5Stack’s Module LLM and SenseCAP Watcher.

Looktech AI Glasses specifications:

• SoC – Not specified
• Memory – 32GB flash storage (Good for 500+ photos, 100+ 30s videos)
• Wireless connectivity – WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4
• Camera – 13-megapixel camera
  • Super anti-shake, 2K video, horizontal orientation
  • Default video length: 15s, 30s, 60s
• Audio
  • Noise-canceling microphones
  • Voice commands
  • Open-ear speakers with spatialized immersive audio, sound leak-proof design
• Buttons – Digital Crown, AI Button, Capture Button
• Power
  • Charging: Magnetic charging cable
  • Battery life: 14 hours
• Sizes – Medium and Large models
• Weight – 37 grams (without lenses)
• Material – TR-90 thermoplastic frame with titanium alloy hinge
• Water resistance – IPX4
• Compatible Operating Systems – iOS 15+, Android 10+

The Looktech smartphone app connects to a supported smartphone model and features certain mini-apps for running specialized use cases. Looktech claims that data is anonymized before being sent to AI services. Users control the data “stored, deleted, or exported with the Looktech smartphone app.”

The crowdfunding campaign has launched on Kickstarter with 2000 backers and over $500,000 raised at the time of writing. The smart glasses are currently priced at $209 for early backers but will be sold for $349 MSRP once the offer ends. The product comes with a charging cable, cleaning cloth, manual, and carrying case. You can also add a charging case for $35 and a custom engraving for $11.

The Looktech AI Glasses are about the same price as the Meta Ray Ban glasses at MSRP, although they feature a slightly better camera and have a higher battery life (14 hours). Looktech also offers transition, polarized, and prescription options at “no extra cost”.

 

The post Looktech’s AI-powered smart glasses offer a 14-hour battery life, 13MP camera, and linear audio for $209 and up (Crowdfunding) appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

LG Electronics a officiellement dévoilé aujourd’hui sa plateforme Cross Domain Controller (xDC), développée en partenariat avec Qualcomm Technologies. Cette annonce précède le CES 2025, qui se tiendra à Las Vegas du 7 au 10 janvier. La plateforme xDC promet de révolutionner la gestion des systèmes de véhicules modernes grâce à une solution unifiée et centralisée. […]

L’article CES 2025 : LG et Qualcomm dévoilent la plateforme xDC pour véhicules est apparu en premier sur BlogNT : le Blog des Nouvelles Technologies.

JMGO’s N3 Ultra Max projector simplifies setup with a motorized gimbal that handles alignment automatically. Once positioned in a room, you can change where it’s projecting using its motion-sensing wireless remote. The all-in-one projector will handle the rest of the fine-tuning, including focus, optical zoom, and keystone adjustments to ensure the image is level and perfectly aligned.

Although the 4K N3 Ultra Max debuted in China late last year, JMGO is announcing a new version for the global market at CES that includes improved software, Google TV, and native Netflix support. The company expects it to be available globally, including in the US, sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025, but pricing details haven’t been finalized yet.

Image: JMGO

The N3 Ultra Max joins a growing line of gimbal-mounted projectors from JMGO but is one of the first from the company to feature motorized movements. To increase the projector’s range of motion, JMGO relocated its two HDMI and other I/O ports to the gimbal’s base. However, since the base rotates 360 degrees, there’s still a risk of tangling or the projector’s movements being limited if cables aren’t long enough.

In addition to automated movements, the projector uses a camera and 3D distance sensors to detect and avoid projecting over obstacles on a wall such as artwork or light switches. That will help eliminate visual distractions but could also result in a smaller image depending on how cluttered a wall is.

Image: JMGO

Using a triple laser system, the N3 Ultra Max outputs around 4,000 ISO lumens of brightness, but JMGO says the projector’s performance hasn’t been verified by a third party yet. That’s enough brightness to project an image up to 180 inches in size, the company says, and it will potentially allow the projector to be used in the daytime in a room with ambient light with a smaller image size.

Samsung is starting 2025 with a fresh attempt at popularizing 3D displays. Announced today, Samsung’s Odyssey 3D is the follow-up to prototypes that Samsung demoed at last year's CES technology trade show. This year, Samsung is showing off a final product, which is supposed to make 2D content look 3D.

Those who have dealt with 3D glasses may be relieved to hear that the Odyssey 3D doesn't require them. According to the South Korean company’s announcement, the monitor's use of a lenticular lens that is “attached to the front of the panel and its front stereo camera" means that you don't have to wear glasses to access the monitor's “customizable 3D experience.” Lenticular lenses direct different images to each eye to make images look three-dimensional. This is a notable advancement from the first 3D monitor that Samsung released in 2009. That display used Nvidia software and Nvidia shutter glasses to allow users to toggle between a 2D view and a 3D view through a few button presses and supported content.

Another advancement is the Odyssey 3D's claimed ability to use artificial intelligence “to analyze and convert 2D video into 3D.” We’ve recently seen similar technology from brands like Acer, which announced portable monitors in 2022 and then announced laptops that could convert 2D content into stereoscopic 3D in 2023. Those displays also relied on AI, as well as a specialized optical lens and a pair of eye-tracking cameras, to create the effect. But unlike Acer's portable monitors, Samsung claims that its monitor can make 2D content look like 3D even if that content doesn’t officially support 3D.

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RM Sotheby's, le département de la maison d'enchères spécialisé dans le domaine des voitures de collection, a vendu pour un total de 887 millions de dollars de véhicules en 2024.

We’ve always found the various methods for adding text and graphics to 3D prints somewhat underwhelming. Embossed or debossed characters are fuzzy, at best, and multi-color printers always seem to bleed one color into the next. Still, the need for labels and logos is common enough that it’s worth exploring other methods, such as this easy toner transfer trick.

Home PCB makers will probably find the method [Squalius] describes in the video below very familiar, and with good reason. We’ve seen toner transfer used to mask PCBs before etching, and the basic process here is very similar. It starts with printing the desired graphics on regular paper using a laser printer; don’t forget to mirror the print. The printed surface is scuffed up a bit, carefully cleaned, and coated with a thick layer of liquid acrylic medium, of the kind used in paint pouring. The mirrored print is carefully laid on the acrylic, toner-side down, and more medium is brushed on the back of the paper. After the print dries, the paper is removed with a little water and some gentle friction, leaving the toner behind. A coat of polyurethane protects the artwork reasonably well.

[Squalius] has tested the method with PLA and PETG and reports good results. The text is clear and sharp, and even fine text and dithered graphics look pretty good. Durability could be better, and [Squalius] is looking for alternative products that might work better for high-wear applications. It looks like it works best on lightly textured surfaces, too, as opposed to surfaces with layer lines. We’d love to see if color laser prints work, too; [Squalius] says that’s in the works, and we’ve seen examples before that are reason for optimism.

Thanks to [greg_bear] for the tip.

CES 2025 kicks off January 7, but many of the biggest events and reveals actually begin today through a series of live streams and press conferences. The annual Las Vegas event sets the tone for the year’s consumer electronics and automotive industries. As always, TechCrunch will be there, sniffing out stories from the most exciting […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is proposing new cybersecurity requirements for healthcare organizations aimed at protecting patients’ private data in the event of cyberattacks, reports Reuters. The rules come after major cyberattacks like one that leaked the private information of more than 100 million UnitedHealth patients earlier this year.

The OCR’s proposal includes requiring that healthcare organizations make multifactor authentication mandatory in most situations, that they segment their networks to reduce risks of intrusions spreading from one system to another, and that they encrypt patient data so that even if it’s stolen, it can’t be accessed. It would also direct regulated groups to undertake certain risk analysis practices, keep compliance documentation, and more.

The rule is part of the cybersecurity strategy that the Biden administration announced last year. Once finalized, it would update the Security Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which regulates doctors, nursing homes, health insurance companies, and more, and was last updated in 2013.

US deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger put the cost of implementing the requirements at “an estimated $9 billion in the first year, and $6 billion in years two through five,” writes Reuters. The proposal is due to be published in the Federal Register on January 6th, which will kick off the 60-day public comment period before the final rule is set.

It’s the end of the year and I’m reflecting on how was this 2024 in XR. I strongly believe it has been a slightly negative year, but also a year that makes us think positively about the future. In this article, I’ll explain to you the reasons behind this opinion of mine, and also give you some suggestions on how XR professionals should navigate these complicated times.

The positive outlook

I’ve been in XR for 10 years, and the more we go on, the more I think I made the right bet. I don’t only love this technology, I also believe that it will be disruptive for humanity. And the more we go on, the more we have clear signals that the prime time for immersive realities will come. 2024 gave us clear signs in this sense: let me list some key moments of this year in XR that make us understand that the outlook of this industry is very positive.

Apple launched the Vision Pro

Apple, probably the most important consumer-oriented technology company, has released this year its first XR headset: the Apple Vision Pro. Apple is not a company that launches random products: usually, when it launches something in a new market it is because it strongly believes in it, and it is going to stick for years until it dominates. See what it did with smartwatches: in the beginning, the Apple Watch was not that great, but now it is the market leader in the smartwatches sector, and it also found some niches where it is overly successful (fitness and healthcare).

If Apple launched the Vision Pro, it means it thinks about dominating the AR/MR market in the next 10 years. And Apple is a trendsetter, so if it enters the field, others are coming, too. All the companies will also do their best to compete with Apple: see what has happened with Meta, which has speeded up the updates of this Quest 3, “copying” many features from the Vision Pro, with a huge benefit for all the Quest users. Apple’s presence is already enriching the ecosystem.

Google and Samsung’s headset

Talking about companies that entered the field because of Apple, Google this year launched the Android XR operating system, fully dedicated to AR, MR, and VR headsets (you can read all that we know about it in this dedicated article). And Google together with Samsung teased a mixed reality headset they are building together codenamed Project Moohan. 

Google does not have the same reliability as Apple, but still, if the company that controls most of the smartphone market re-enters the XR field, and it does that with Samsung, which is one of the best manufacturers of phones, there must be a reason. Most probably these companies are thinking that now is the time to enter again the immersive realities field because they believe the market is going to grow in the next years.

Meta and its Quest 3S

Notwithstanding all the online articles mocking it for the many billions it has spent in XR, all the mess about the “metaverse”, and the hype around AI, Mark Zuckerberg has always been committed to building the metaverse. Yes, Meta has fired people, cut funds, and focused a lot also on AI lately, but there has never been a moment where Mark, Boz, or Meta in general, said that they were going to abandon XR to focus only on social and AI. This has been incredibly important to keep the whole boat of XR afloat, because if the market leader Meta had left immersive realities, this would have made the tech ecosystem and its investors lose any faith in XR, leading to a disaster for all of us.

This year Meta has also launched a new headset, the Quest 3S, that for a ridiculous price gives you mixed reality and a good processing power. While I don’t expect the Quest 3S to sell like hotcakes, I think it will have good sales and attract new people to XR. The fact that the Meta smartphone app has come to first place on the App Store at Christmas proves that the headset had good sales during the holidays. This is for sure a good indicator of the XR market growing.

It seems the sales of Quest were not that bad during the holidays if some people are sharing pictures of the Meta Horizon app being first on the stores after Christmas…

source: https://t.co/sEInErK0b0#VirtualReality #MetaQuest pic.twitter.com/tPTGuEDttR

— TonyVT SkarredGhost (@SkarredGhost) December 29, 2024

Valve Deckard is coming

While the rumored new headset by Valve has become a bit of a joke in the industry, the recent finding of the 3D models of the Roy controllers in the SteamVR runtime makes us think that the headset is close to launch (probably 2025 will be the year). The launch of a new headset by Valve means first of all that Valve, which is the company that owns the biggest store of PC games, still believes in immersive realities. And then for sure Valve is bringing some innovation in the space, like it already did with the first Vive and with the Index, and these innovations will benefit us all in the future.

Smaller VR headsets

One of the problems of Virtual Reality is that it forces people to put big shoeboxes on their faces. But Bigscreen Beyond, Visor, and MeganeX 8K Superlight are proving that it is possible to make very small and performant VR headsets. The more we go on, the more the headsets are getting smaller and more socially acceptable. Even the Quest 3, while still a bit bulky, is much better than older headsets in this sense. This is amazing progress towards the wearability of headsets also in public places.

Young generations are playing VR games

A few months ago, a VR professional told me that Virtual Reality is one of the few markets where there is serious growth among young generations. We can see that in the huge success that games like Gorilla Tag, Penguin Paradise, and I Am Cat are having. 

While many people complain on Reddit about the children squeaking inside games and being annoying to adults, this is an amazing thing for all of us. First of all, a growing market is always a great sign. And then, these are young guys that will grow up as VR natives, so they will be the ones that will be able in the future to build companies that will truly capture the essence of this technology (like it happened in the past with people that grew up with the Internet and then created startups like Facebook).

Ray-Ban Meta is a hit

Ray-Ban Meta has been one of the most successful XR products of 2024. These smartglasses have been a huge hit and for this reason, many other companies are now trying to emulate them: it is rumored that even Apple is internally experimenting with smartglasses.

The success of Ray-Ban Meta is in my opinion due to a few key factors:

1. They are fashionable. These are not glasses for nerds, these are stylish Ray-Ban glasses that have also some technology inside.
2. They are distributed in glass stores. Again, these are not tech gadgets sold at MediaMarkt, these are glasses sold in the standard glasses stores. This means that the target market is not only innovators, it is everyone. This can happen because they are distributed in thousands and thousands of stores worldwide, exploiting the huge sales network of Essilor-Luxottica.

Ray-Ban Meta showed that with the right product, the right price, and the right distribution strategy, an XR product can be successful. These glasses are also making people used to have technology on their faces when they are outdoors. It is something that gives us hope for the future of AR.

Meta Orion

The highlight of this year’s Meta Connect has been Meta Orion, the prototype of AR glasses showcased by Meta. Let me say this straight: it was a marketing stunt for journalists, enthusiasts, and investors. The device is ridiculously expensive (some people say even $25K per unit) and full of problems. It is a tech demo straight from Meta’s labs.

But it was a very cool demo, and it was something that showed for the first time to the general public that we are close to consumer-oriented AR. When I started, in 2014, glasse like Orion sounded like a dream, a vision. Now it is “doable, but expensive”, which is a huge step forward. Orion made AR tangible for many people, creating hype that is beneficial for us all (because also investors are going to be hyped about XR again and give money to XR companies).

Analysts have a positive opinion of XR.

Almost all analysts have a positive outlook for XR in the next years. And if there is consensus between them, then we have a high chances that they are right.

And it is not only about analysts: Andresseen Horovitz, one of the biggest tech VC funds in the world, publicly stated that it is the right time to invest in XR. If they believe in XR for the next years, there should be a reason.

We believe ARVR is among the most underrated markets today. Most people fixate on past (and current) missteps, leading to assumptions that are simply wrong.

With ~30m Meta Quest headsets sold and a favorable industry outlook, we think the time is now. pic.twitter.com/QyYsm41p13

— Jack Soslow (@JackSoslow) April 25, 2024

The negative present situation

After reading the above points, you may be tempted to think that it’s a great moment to be in XR, now. Unluckily, this is not the case: the market is mostly static, and it’s hard for businesses to survive. Above I talked about a “positive outlook”, not about a current positive situation. Let me tell you some key indicators that show that things are not working well as expected.

Vision Pro sales have been disappointing

Let’s put it straight: Vision Pro sales sucked. The headset is simply too expensive to have mainstream appeal, and the fact that there is not a clear use case for it is not helping. Some people before the launch said that the Vision Pro would have disrupted the big TV market, because with it you could have had an enormous virtual screen wherever you wanted it, but this has not happened, yet.

The generalistic press, always interested in selling doom and gloom, at first overhyped the headset and then overcriticized it for not selling enough. The obvious conclusion of some journalists has been “If even Apple could not sell XR, no one can, so XR is dead”.

While we all know this is the stupid conclusion of people who are just looking for easy engagement on social media, the result is that this has created disappointment and distrust towards XR in the whole tech industry, which is not beneficial for anyone.

Anyway, being fully honest, even if we XR professionals were not expecting this headset to become mainstream, we still hoped it could sell more than it actually did. Having an app on the VisionOS store brings very little money to developers and it is mostly done to establish a presence rather than to truly earn money.

Orion and the next Vision headset are distant away

The Vision Pro is not selling super-well, but a cheaper headset maybe could have a better destiny. The problem is that all the rumors point to a cheaper MR headset by Apple in around 2026, so two years from now. The reason is that there is simply not the technology to make such a quality headset cheaper today. Also, XR has not shown clear use cases to people, so Apple has no rush in releasing a new device (considering that also has other product lines that are making huge amounts of money).

Samsung’s Project Moohan may follow suit: if the headset costs $2000 as it is rumored, it is not going to have huge sales this year, but it may perform better with a cheaper iteration. But this may need at least one year to happen, so it’s again 2026-2027.

And by the way, a similar destiny regards Orion: rumors say that a commercial version of a downgraded version of Orion may happen around 2026-2027.

This means that if you are thinking of targeting these platforms, you are not making real money anytime soon.

PSVR 2 was not a hit

The PSVR 2 headset has not been as a big hit as we hoped for. Sony did not support enough the headset after launching it at a very high price and did not release exclusive content for it after “Horizon: Call Of The Mountain”. I can’t say it abandoned the headset because the library of content is growing, the device is now also compatible with PC, and it has just been discounted to increase its sales. But it is not investing enough in it, and the sales are a bit lacking.

This will reinforce the belief of many gamers that VR is a niche tech and that the console world does not need it.

Lukewarm assessment by the analysts

The above-mentioned analysts all have a positive outlook for XR for the longer term, but a negative-ish one for the short term. They say the market is mostly static, with some of them highlighting a slow growth for 2024-2025, and some others even a slow decline. This clearly shows we are not in the best moment for XR.

Companies are closing

This year we had many news of companies closing or reducing their staff count. One example is Ultraleap, a leading company in hand tracking, where I had many friends who had been laid off. Or Glue, one of the main XR platforms for business meetings, that went bankrupt. It’s hard to do business in XR now, and this is visible through these sad pieces of news that we read.

AI is the trend

via GIPHY

Artificial Intelligence is the tech under the spotlight now. And while we all keep chanting that AI and XR are two technologies that get along very well, the sad reality is that currently the press and the investors are all just chasing AI, with many of them considering XR and the metaverse like “that old gimmick that failed”. Such strong attention to AI is for sure justified by the big impact this technology will have on our lives but is also diverting a lot of attention and resources (i.e. money) that we in the XR spaces would need and deserve. Probably the AI hype will deflate a bit in the upcoming times, but that day is not today yet.

My personal assessment

As an XR professional (contact me if you want to collaborate), I’m living this situation on my skin, and I’m seeing all the trends that I described above. 

I can confirm that this year has been a slightly negative year for the ecosystem. In the social media era, we are all used just to talking about the positive things that happen to us, writing on Linkedin motivational posts on how we managed to become a “1000 under 1000” on Forbes by just truly believing in ourselves and bribing the journalist making the classification. But then the sad reality is much different and it is the one that you discover when you are having lunch at XR events: people have been fired and are desperately looking for a job, others have been relocated, some companies have closed, others look successful and popular but are not profitable yet and can just go on thanks to investors’ money. Not to mention the fact that at XR events I’m mostly seeing always the same faces, showing that the market is mostly static.

I’m doing a not-so-much-Linkedin thing by publicly saying that money-wise, this has been my worst year since 2020. Not to mention the fact that the very promising company I was the CTO of at the beginning of the year, is no more. And I even lost the support of some people on Patreon. I’m not saying that it is a full disaster, though: I’m following some projects I’m doing as a consultant, and I have some interesting plans for 2025… so it’s not that everything is lost and we should all cry in a corner. There are opportunities around. But this shows how this has been a negative year for most people in the industry.

Some friends suggested I leave the XR field, and I’ve seen some people I know leaving the field as well, promising to return when the situation is better. Or at least more economically sustainable.

Yes, I have heard stories of success, too: the guy behind Gorilla Tag is probably using $100 banknotes as toilet paper in his house. This proves that it is possible to make a sustainable business in XR. At XRCC I met the CEO of the company making Puzzling Places, and they are managing to make good money with that. But he also told me that he’s being very practical and he’s not investing in a new game unless the internal tests prove that the new title can truly become a new hit. Otherwise, investing in a new game with little returns may risk impacting too much his company.

Of course, companies like Meta are trying to put the spotlight only on the people that are succeeding, so that to show that everything is going well. But for every Gorilla Tag that you see, probably other 50 studios are struggling to make money.

As I’ve said, I’m personally not going away because I truly believe that XR is going to succeed. And all the indicators prove that it is going to happen: this year alone we had so much good news that is giving us hope. And I see this hope in the eyes of all the people that I meet during my trips. But the problem is “when” it is going to happen, and “how”. 

Because all the seeds that we are planting today (the Vision headset, Orion, etc…) may lead to fruits that we harvest in 3-4 years maybe. But we need to eat today. And then there is the “how”, meaning also which technologies are going to succeed: maybe in 2027 the big hit will be smart glasses, and so if you are a developer of virtual reality games are not benefitting from this in any way. We have many unknowns in front of us.

May 2027 be the year of XR? 

When people ask me about the predictions for 2025 in XR, I say that I expect a year very similar to 2024. I’m not seeing on the horizon (pun intended) anything that makes me think that the next year will be disruptive. Yes, there will be the launch of Project Moohan, but it will be expensive; Valve Deckard will be expensive and dedicated to the niche of gamers probably; the new Ray-Ban Meta will be a nice toy, but I don’t see a critical mass of people rushing to buy them. 

I think we need at least another 2-3 years for something more relevant to happen: cheaper Apple and Samsung headsets, probably Quest 4 and Quest 4S powerful and cheap headsets, more useful smartglasses, better integration of AI with XR, better development of 5G networks (that now are mostly hybrid); and especially, more understood use cases for XR in general. And this is just to have a step forward, the start of a new positive cycle for the technology. For a more explosive adoption of the technology, like it happened with smartphones, I think we are beyond 2030.

So with the data I have now in my hand, I think that sometime in 2026-2027 may be the moment when XR will stop being “dead”, and the ecosystem will enter a more positive era. But that’s just my opinion.

How can a VR professional survive the current moment of XR?

Since we are all in the same boat, you may think about asking me how I plan to survive the next 2-3 years in XR, if I think that the trend is not being very positive for the upcoming times. Well, I don’t have a perfect answer for you, but I have some suggestions.

Diversify your efforts

Do not put all your eggs in one basket: try to have multiple revenue streams. For instance, I earn money mostly as a developer, but I can also do XR business consultancies and I have this blog through which I get donations from my amazing patrons.

Work with different technologies

Even if we are XR people, it is not a sin if we do other things. If you are an XR Unity developer, you can still sell yourself to do contract work on flatscreen 3D games or 2D mobile applications. The gaming market is huge and there are opportunities everywhere. 

Now it is also the moment of AI, so you could come up with some AI + XR ideas and try to exploit the AI hype to get funds for it.

I think it is the moment to open up our horizons. I’m not planning to leave XR, but at the same time, I’m opening up a bit to opportunities that are also beyond it.

Follow the trends

XR is a new cutting-edge technology and the trends are constantly changing. For instance, when I started, Reddit was the place where everyone shared super-deep-tech news about virtual reality, while now people mostly talk about games, memes, or complain about their technical problems. Things change and this creates new opportunities: on Reddit now I know I can have success if I make a good meme.

Now that there is this new influx of young people, there is the opportunity to create content explicitly dedicated to them, which is not a lot in the stores. Boz mentioned a few days ago that one of the three most used apps on Quest 3S is Youtube VR, which shows that there is also a renewed interest in media enjoyment. If you follow the trends, you can understand what are the new opportunities you have to shine.

Do not oppose the fact that things change, but adapt to that and try to transform every change into a new opportunity. Charles Darwin would be proud of you.

Do something new

This is a bit of a mix of the above points: don’t be static, if things do not work in 2024, you can not expect to do the same things and succeed in 2025. Try new revenue streams, new communication strategies, try to enter into new markets, move to another country, ask more favors from people, do cold outreach, find more grants and contests, open an OnlyFans account and sell pictures of your feet with Vive trackers on, etc… 

Do whatever you can to try to stay afloat: remove the strategies that do not work, invest more in the ones that are working, and try new strategies that you have never tried before. Rinse and repeat. This is the only way to succeed.

Do not rely on headset manufacturers

Meta, Apple, Samsung, and Google, are huge companies with specific goals to pursue. They do not care about you or the community, they have just to fulfill their business goals. If Apple thinks that the best thing for them is releasing a new headset in 2026, then it is going to do that, even if it means making its Vision Pro developers starve for two years. The same with Meta allegedly cutting funds to gaming studios. These big companies may provide interesting opportunities and you should exploit them as much as you can, but remember that they may also change plans and crush you. So try to create a business that counts on multiple platforms, if you can.

Partner with people

It’s hard to succeed alone, so create partnerships with other people and try to help each other. I always say that the network of people you know is one of the biggest professional assets you have: use it!

—

I have been in the XR space for many years and this is not my first rodeo: in 2017 there was an even colder XR winter. But then 2019-2020 came and things got much better thanks to Quest. New technologies have ups and downs until they eventually become mainstream: this is going to happen with XR as well, and we have to endure this rollercoaster. Remember that the season that there is after winter is spring: if we survive, together, in these cold times, we can all enjoy the blossoming of XR in the future. And with this hope, I wish you all (cold) XR people a wonderful 2025.

The post An objective analysis of XR in 2024 appeared first on The Ghost Howls.

Le retail traverse une période marquée par une pression accrue sur les prix et les acteurs, avec notamment la mise en place de réglementations fortes et une baisse du trafic en magasin. Dans ce contexte, Lucky Cart dévoile son analyse des perspectives du marché du retail et de la datatech pour 2025.

The odds of an increase in regulation of the massive, and growing, sports-betting industry may be shifting.

The sports betting industry only picked up more steam in 2024. Americans wagered $30 billion in the third-quarter alone, according to the American Gaming Association, and the legal betting industry generated more than $53 billion in revenue in the US through the first three-quarters of the year — 8% higher than 2023 and placing the industry on track to notch its fourth-consecutive year of growth. But it didn’t escape the year without a closer eye from government regulators.

Hedge Your Bets

Is there a greater sign of officially making it as an industry than getting dragged in front of a Senate committee? In mid-December, the Senate Judiciary Committee did just that to the sports betting world, calling in bigwigs across the increasingly entwined sports and gambling industries to discuss the increasingly visible presence, and possible malignancies, of the expansion in sports betting.

While the lame-duck session mostly amounted to a holiday-season airing of grievances, it could foreshadow regulation to come. Some legislation is already sloshing around the halls of Congress, and at least some leaders in sports are calling for more oversight:

• During the hearing, National Collegiate Athletics Association President Charlie Baker called for a ban on “prop bets” — or wagers unrelated to the final outcome of a game — in college sports. Gambling experts have frequently pointed to prop bets, particularly in lower-profile events, as ripe for generating both integrity scandals and harassment of athletes; the NCAA has already successfully lobbied some states for a prop-bet ban. 
• A piece of legislation called the “SAFE Bet Act” has been introduced to do just that — ban college-level prop bets as well as limit promotional “bonus bets,” curb advertising during sporting events, create affordability checks, and introduce restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence to set betting lines. While the bill itself dies at the end of the current Congress (in early January), the sponsors of both House and Senate versions will be returning next year.

Problematic: The gambling industry, unsurprisingly, lobbied for regulation to be left up to the 30-plus states that, along with Washington, DC, allow sports betting. Meanwhile, the scale of problematic gambling is becoming clearer as the industry develops. The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates around 2.5 million US adults may have a severe gambling problem, while 5 million to 8 million more may be afflicted with a mild or moderate gambling problem. A full 15% of respondents in a poll from St. Bonaventure University and the Siena College Research Institute released last year said they knew someone with an online sports-betting problem.

The post Will 2025 be the Year Regulation Comes for Sports Betting? appeared first on The Daily Upside.

En 1998, la cosmologie, c'est-à-dire l'étude scientifique portant sur les propriétés de l'Univers, fut bouleversée par des observations de supernovæ, cataclysmiques explosions d'étoiles, hors de notre galaxie et permettant de mesurer les grandes distances. Adam Riess et Saul Permutter, lauréats en 2011 du prix Nobel de physique pour cette découverte,...

Nvidia, leader mondial des puces électroniques, franchit un nouveau cap en 2025 avec sa solution Jetson Thor. Ce lancement stratégique vise d'ailleurs à révolutionner l'écosystème robotique en proposant des solutions clés en main aux fabricants de robots humanoïdes. Ce lancement pourrait ainsi transformer l'industrie.

Jetson Thor : une révolution dans la robotique humanoïde

Nvidia prévoit de transformer l'industrie robotique avec Jetson Thor, son ordinateur compactv dédié aux robots humanoïdes. Ce lancement, prévu pour le premier semestre 2025, offre notamment une solution performante et polyvalente pour répondre aux besoins croissants des fabricants. Grâce à Jetson Thor, Nvidia ne concurrence pas directement des acteurs comme Tesla, mais s'impose comme un fournisseur incontournable pour les « centaines de milliers » de fabricants dans le monde.

Cette avancée repose sur deux piliers technologiques majeurs : les modèles d'IA génératifs et la formation accélérée de robots en environnements simulés. Ainsi, ces innovations permettent aux robots de s'adapter rapidement aux situations complexes. Cela ouvre ainsi la voie à des applications dans des secteurs variés comme la logistique, la santé ou encore la production industrielle.

Une réponse stratégique aux défis du marché

Le développement de Jetson Thor intervient dans un contexte où des géants comme Amazon et Google cherchent à réduire leur dépendance aux puces Nvidia en produisant leurs propres technologies. Plutôt que de se limiter au marché des pucesv, Nvidia diversifie son offre pour devenir un acteur clé de la robotique et de l'intelligence artificielle.

En collaborant étroitement avec des entreprises comme Tesla, Nvidia fournit effectivement des technologies qui alimentent des machines avancées. Cela renforce ainsi sa position sur le marché. Ce choix stratégique montre d'ailleurs que Nvidia anticipe les besoins de l'industrie et s'adapte aux nouvelles exigences technologiques, tout en consolidant son leadership.

Les impacts de l'intelligence artificielle dans la robotique

Les modèles d'IA génératifs révolutionnent la robotique en rendant les machines plus autonomes et adaptatives. Ces technologies permettent de former des robots dans des environnements virtuels. Cela réduit ainsi les coûts et les délais de développement. Nvidia exploite ces avancées pour proposer des outils performants et accessibles à un large éventail de fabricants.

Les robots équipés de Jetson Thor bénéficieront de capacités d'apprentissage continu en optimisant leurs performances dans des tâches variées. Cette avancée ouvre la voie à des robots capables de s'adapter à des environnements dynamiques, indispensables dans les industries modernes.

Perspectives d'avenir pour Nvidia et la robotique

Avec Jetson Thor, Nvidia ne se limite pas à fournir des outils : elle façonne l'avenir de la robotique. En misant sur des collaborations stratégiques et des solutions technologiques innovantes, l'entreprise s'impose comme un pilier incontournable dans un secteur en pleine expansion.

Alors que la demande en robots humanoïdes augmente, Nvidia se positionne pour répondre aux besoins croissants des fabricants. Son engagement envers des solutions durables et performantes promet de transformer durablement le paysage technologique mondial.

Le lancement de Jetson Thor marque un tournant décisif dans l'histoire de Nvidia et de la robotique humanoïde. En exploitant les avancées de l'IA et en s'adaptant aux défis du marché, Nvidia s'impose comme un acteur central de l'innovation. Les prochaines années promettent d'être riches en innovations technologiques, portées par des entreprises visionnaires comme Nvidia.

Cet article Nvidia pourrait bien révolutionner la robotique avec des robots humanoïdes bluffants en 2025 est apparu en premier sur OBJETCONNECTE.COM.

En 2025, l'Internet des objets (IoT) s'apprête à franchir une nouvelle étape révolutionnaire. L'intelligence ambiante et les écosystèmes hyper-personnalisés redéfiniront nos environnements connectés. Ces avancées promettent une interaction plus fluide, mais impliquent également des défis liés à la confidentialité et à la durabilité.

L'émergence de l'intelligence ambiante

L'intelligence ambiante vise à rendre les environnements intelligents capables de détecter et s'adapter à l'utilisateur. Contrairement aux systèmes IoT traditionnels, elle opère de manière discrète pour une expérience plus intuitive.

Les progrès de l'intelligence artificielle (IA) et de l'IoT ont permis cette évolution majeure. Les systèmes IoT intelligentsutilisentl'IApouranalyser les données en temps réelen ajustant automatiquement les paramètres en fonction des habitudes de l'utilisateur. Par exemple, les maisons intelligentes ajustent la température et la lumière selon vos préférences quotidiennes. Dans le secteur médical, les appareils portables détectent les anomalies et préviennent les soignants en cas d'urgence.

L'informatique de pointe joue également un rôle crucial dans cette transformation. En traitant les données localement, les dispositifs IoT offrent des réponses plus rapides et fiables, indispensables pour des applications critiques comme les véhicules autonomes. Avec l'adoption croissante de ces technologies, 2025 marquera une étape clé dans l'évolution de l'intelligence ambiante.

Les écosystèmes hyper-personnalisés

L'hyperpersonnalisation dans l'IoT promet des expériences sur mesure, adaptées à chaque utilisateur. En combinant analyse avancée et apprentissage automatique, ces systèmes ajustent les environnements selon vos besoins spécifiques.

Dans les maisons intelligentes, les appareils connectés ajustent les paramètres en fonction de votre routine et préférences. Cela permet de proposer des playlists ou réglant la température idéale. Sur les lieux de travail, les systèmes IoT optimisent l'éclairage et la disposition des espaces pour maximiser le confort et la productivité.

L'hyperpersonnalisation s'étend également aux espaces publics et villes intelligentes. Par exemple, des systèmes IoT peuvent fournir des itinéraires adaptés aux personnes à mobilité réduite ou proposer des recommandations locales basées sur votre localisation. Ces innovations transformeront nos interactions avec les espaces connectés en rendant chaque environnement unique et réactif.

Les défis liés à la confidentialité et à l'éthique

Malgré les promesses de l'IoT, l'utilisation croissante des données soulève des préoccupations majeures. L'intelligence ambiante et l'hyperpersonnalisation reposent sur des volumes massifs de données personnelles. Cela engendre des questions sur leur sécurité et leur utilisation.

Les gouvernements et les entreprises devront établir des cadres robustes de gouvernance des données pour répondre à ces enjeux. Le respect des réglementations comme le RGPD et la transparence sur la gestion des données seront incontournables pour instaurer la confiance. Les utilisateurs doivent pouvoir contrôler leurs informations, avec des options pour limiter la collecte ou privilégier un stockage local.

Par ailleurs, la gestion éthique des données deviendra un facteur clé pour garantir une adoption responsable des technologies IoT. Les entreprises devront s'engager à protéger les droits des utilisateurs et à prévenir les abus.

L'IoT au service du développement durable

En 2025, l'IoT jouera un rôle central dans la transition vers des pratiques plus durables. Les solutions connectées permettront de réduire l'empreinte carbone et de maximiser l'efficacité énergétique. Dans le domaine de l'énergie, les réseaux intelligents optimisent la consommation électrique en déplaçant les usages vers les heures creuses ou en intégrant les énergies renouvelables.

L'agriculture de précision, facilitée par l'IoT, minimise l'utilisation des ressources tout en augmentant les rendements. Enfin, les capteurs intelligents soutiendront l'économie circulaire en suivant le cycle de vie des produits pour favoriser leur recyclage ou réutilisation. Ces avancées technologiques aident à répondre aux enjeux mondiaux comme le changement climatique et la pénurie de ressources, faisant de l'IoT un outil clé pour le développement durable.

L'année 2025 marquera une étape décisive pour l'IoT, avec l'intelligence ambiante et l'hyperpersonnalisation au cœur des innovations. Ces technologies promettent un véritable changement de la vie quotidienne en offrant des environnements connectés plus intuitifs et efficaces. Cependant, cette évolution s'accompagne de défis importants, notamment en matière de confidentialité et de durabilité. Répondre à ces enjeux sera crucial pour garantir que l'IoT reste une force positive dans nos vies. Alors que nous avançons dans cette nouvelle

Cet article “Hyperpersonnalisation” et “intelligence ambiante” : deux concepts IoT qui vont tout changer en 2025 est apparu en premier sur OBJETCONNECTE.COM.

If 2023 was a year of wonder about artificial intelligence, 2024 was the year to try to get that wonder to do something useful without breaking the bank.

There were plenty of business losers in 2024, but only one for whom the sky was literally falling.

For the second time in half a decade, Boeing faced a worldwide grounding of its 737 MAX passenger plane after a mid-flight door blowout forced an emergency landing in January. Things only got worse from there. 

Clipped Wings

Boeing just can’t leave its past behind. A pair of fatal crashes that claimed 346 victims across five months in 2018 and 2019 cost the company tens of billions of dollars in fines, compensation, legal fees, and cancelled orders — concluding with a $2.5 billion settlement with the Department of Justice after the planemaker was charged with conspiracy to defraud Federal Aviation Administration safety inspectors. 

While Boeing’s entire MAX fleet was grounded for more than a year in that case, only a portion (737-9 MAX aircraft) were grounded this year. The Alaska Airlines incident wasn’t the last of Boeing’s nightmare fuel headlines. A tire fell from a jet shortly after taking off in San Francisco. A fiery engine malfunctioned over Texas. Rudder pedals became “stuck” after touching down in New Jersey. The FAA slapped Boeing with a three-month deadline to address serious quality control issues. And just this week, tragedy struck again as a 737-800 jet crashed in South Korea, killing 179 people.

By March, The New York Times got its hands on a leaked copy of the FAA’s audit of Boeing’s manufacturing process. And, well, aerophobes may seriously want to refrain from reading any further:

• In its report, the FAA found Boeing failed 33 of 89 specific audits, with the total instances of alleged non-compliance amounting to 97.
• Even more concerning were the instances in which workers used makeshift tools such as hotel room key cards and Dawn dish soap in their production process. We hope your holiday flying is over.

By the end of summer, Boeing faced another historic challenge: the first strike among its more than 30,000 Pacific Northwest-based machinists since 2008. The work stoppage lasted nearly two months, and concluded when workers won a 40% pay raise — well above Boeing’s initial 25% offer. Speaking of Boeing workers: Did we mention that not one but two former longtime employees-turned whistleblowers died this year while raising quality-control issues? 

Turbulence: Through the first three quarters of the year, Boeing lost around $7.7 billion — an amount expected to reach around $10 billion for all of 2024. Meanwhile, airlines were left reeling following the 737 MAX grounding earlier this year, all while backorders of Boeing planes stacked up. “This is not a 12-month issue. This is a two-decade issue,” United CEO Scott Kirby said about Boeing at an investor conference in March. In other words: When Boeing loses, well, so do the rest of us.

The post Loser of 2024: Boeing appeared first on The Daily Upside.

Picture this: It’s the end of the year, and a few hardy souls gather in a hackerspace to enjoy a bit of seasonal food and hang out. Conversation turns to the Flipper Zero, and aspects of its design, and one of the parts we end up talking about is its built-in 125 kHz RFID reader.

It’s a surprisingly complex circuit with a lot of filter components and a mild mystery surrounding the use of a GPIO to pulse the receive side of its detector through a capacitor. One thing led to another as we figured out how it worked, and as part of the jolity we ended up with one member making a simple RFID reader on the bench.

Just a signal generator making a 125 kHz square wave, coupled to a two transistor buffer pumping a tuned circuit. The tuned circuit is the coil scavenged from an old RFID card, and the capacitor is picked for resonance in roughly the right place. We were rewarded with the serial bitstream overlaying the carrier on our ‘scope, and had we added a filter and a comparator we could have resolved it with a microcontroller. My apologies, probably due to a few festive beers I failed to capture a picture of this momentous event.

A Nasty Circuit That Just Has To Be Made

Here on the Morning After the Night Before, I’m sitting thinking about 125 kHz RFID, as this is honestly the first time in many decades playing with radio I’ve given one of these a look. (Though we’ve pondered its 13.56 MHz cousin.) An evil thought forms in my mind; would it be possible to make a single-transistor, self-oscillating 125 kHz RFID reader? It would be an extremely nasty circuit and there is no possible need for one to exist, but it’s the electronic engineers equivalent of an earworm. I know how I would approach it but I don’t know whether my idea would work. I’m thus going to set it as a New Years exercise for you readers.

So, how would I approach this? One of the first electronic projects I made over four decades ago was a regenerative radio. This is a one-transistor receiver for AM radio which applies positive feedback to an RF amplifier to the point at which it’s almost but not quite oscillating. This has the effect of narrowing its bandwith hugely, to the extent that it makes a passable narrowband radio receiver. I would approach the RFID reader using a variation on this circuit; a single transistor regenerative receiver which is just oscillating at 125 kHz, but whose oscillation is quenched momentarily every time the RFID tag loads its coil to indicate serial data. I should thus be able to pull a DC voltage from my emitter resistor, filter it, and return something that could be turned into a square wave. I think something like this could work but I stand ready to be proved wrong What do you think, would this circuit function?

Every Contest Needs a Few Rules:

Your circuit must use only one transistor, no ICs. Diodes and RCL passives are allowed, but also no vacuum tubes, tunnel diodes, or other active components, you lateral thinkers. It must demonstrably read a 125 kHz RFID tag placed within its range, and output something capable of being resolved by a 74 series logic gate of any family, thus decipherable as the serial payload by a microcontroller etc. That doesn’t have to be a TTL-level-compliant gate, and can be a Schmitt trigger. Otherwise it’s up to you. If you do a write-up somewhere, I’d even write it up for Hackaday. So go on, have a go at this one. I’d love to see what awesome awfulness you come up with!

The ESP32-AIVoice-Z01 is an affordable ESP32-S3-powered AI voice kit designed for creating voice-controlled AI applications. It features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity through the ESP32-S3 SoC, a dual digital microphone array for accurate voice recognition, and an onboard amplifier. The system also implements audio algorithms for noise reduction and echo cancellation.

The ESP32-AIVoice-Z01 board supports Espressif’s WakeNet voice wake-up framework and integrates with the AiLinker open-source backend service framework to enable the connection to various large AI model services like OpenAI, ZhiPu QingYan, TongYi QianWen, and DouBao. These features make this device suitable for developing AI-powered toys, IoT devices, mobile devices, and smart home applications.

ESP32-AIVoice-Z01 ESP32 AI voice kit specifications

• Wireless module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U
  • SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor
  • Memory – 8MB PSRAM
  • Storage – 16MB flash
  • Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity with external antenna
• Storage – MicroSD card slot
• Audio
  • Dual digital microphone array (SNR 65dB) with PDM interface
  • 4 Ohm 2.5W power amplifier
  • I2S interface for external DAC or amplifier
  • Support for noise reduction, VAD (Voice Activity Detection), and AEC (Acoustic Echo Cancellation) algorithms
• USB – USB-C for power and programming
• Other interfaces
  • SPI screen interface
  • DVP camera interface (not supported in the voice version)
  • GPIO, UART, I2C, I2S, PWM
• Misc
  • RGB LEDs
  • power toggle switch
  • Speaker connector
  • ESP Reset and BOOT buttons
  • battery connector
  • SPI interface with 1.25mm x 8PIN terminals
• Power Management
  • 3.3V to 5V input via USB-C, <10mA in deep sleep mode
  • 3.7V lithium battery interface with battery voltage measurement
  • Battery charging current 555mA @5V
• Dimensions – 77 x 36 x 33 mm
• Temperature Range  – 10°C to 60°C
• ESD Protection – Air ±8kV, Contact ±4kV

The board comes with pre-trained wake word detection for hands-free operation, speech recognition for command processing, and AI-based speech synthesis (TTS) support for generating natural responses. The board can be programmed with Arduino IDE or ESP-IDF framework. Sadly all documentation is only available in Chinese right now including a Quick Start guide and Hardware guide.

Previously we have written about Espressif’s ESP32-S3-BOX AI development kit which is ideal for online and offline voice applications, we have also covered Banana Pi BPI-AI-Voice dev kit which is a Speech Recognition Development Kit based on MicroSemi ZL38063. M5Stack also released their AX630C-powered offline LLM module which has speech recognition features and can be used for applications like smart homes, voice assistants, and industrial control.

The ESP32-AIVoice-Z01 ESP32 AI voice kit costs $23.02 on the YouYeeTtoo’s store. The demo below shows the solution work with both Chinese and English languages.

The post ESP32-AIVoice-Z01 is an ESP32-S3 AI voice kit with dual microphones, wake word detection, noise reduction and echo cancellation appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

Frédéric Rose, fondateur d'IMKI, spécialiste de l'intelligence artificielle générative dans le design et la mode, explore les nouvelles opportunités offertes par cette technologie.

———
La société Imki utilise des algorithmes génératifs, comme Stable Diffusion, pour optimiser la création et réduire les coûts dans le secteur dynamique de la mode. Par exemple, l'intégration de l'IA dans la production d'un spectacle a triplement réduit le temps de conception tout en garantissant une interactivité enrichie. Frédéric Rose explique qu’Imki ne se limite pas aux modèles standards, mais entraîne l'algorithme avec des données spécifiques aux stylistes pour produire des designs conformes aux attentes des marques. Cette méthode précise permet d'améliorer la qualité et le respect des critères esthétiques.
Concernant les risques d'hallucinations, le fondateur d'Imki souligne que la précision de l'IA s'améliore, rendant la production plus fiable tout en ouvrant la voie à des découvertes créatives grâce à des imprévus. Frédéric Rose insiste sur l'importance pour les stylistes de comprendre le fonctionnement des outils d'IA, car leur œil aguerri reste essentiel pour guider cette technologie de manière efficace.

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Distribué par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

In today’s competitive retail landscape, customer satisfaction is more important than ever. With so many opportunities available, customers expect outstanding experiences based on what they are looking for.

From a personalised shopping perspective to a seamless omnichannel experience, tech innovations are redefining the retail industry completely.

That being said, let’s dive deeper into this article to learn more about the latest trends and innovations in retail technology, and find out how they are impacting customer satisfaction and promoting long-term success.

Technology’s Role in Retail Customer Satisfaction

Technology has become a cornerstone of modern retail, driving efficiency, personalisation, and increasing engagement. Technology is now more important than ever and let’s find out how it increases customer satisfaction:

●      Personalisation: Customers appreciate experiences that fulfill their individual preferences. 71% of customers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions. Advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) allows retailers to analyse purchasing behaviours, provide personalised product recommendations, and tailor marketing campaigns.

●      Omnichannel experiences: Seamlessly integrating online and offline channels and ensuring a consistent customer journey. Regardless of where customers interact with your brand, they expect a consistent customer journey on product availability, pricing, and your service quality.

●      Efficiency and convenience: Technology helps in providing you with real-time inventory updates, mobile payment options, and self-checkout kiosks.

Tech innovations help customers save time in their shopping experience, and this keeps customers happy over time. After all, nobody wants to waste too much time shopping.

Trends and Innovations in Retail Technology

While technology does strongly impact how customers feel when shopping, let’s take a deeper look at some trends and innovations in the industry itself.

1.   Partnering with High Quality Vendors

When you are operating in the retail industry, it’s always important to know how to manage a vendor relationship. Vendor relationship management (VRM) is a buyer centric business discipline.

Moreover, VRM systems serve as software tools that you can use for monitoring and developing vendor partnerships. Effective vendor relationships are important for implementing and maintaining cutting-edge technologies. Managing vendor partnerships play an important role in the retailer’s ability to satisfy customers, and here are only some perks of a successful vendor relationship management process:

●      Risk mitigation

●      Improves performance

●      Improves rate negotiation

●      Reduces time consumption

●      Risk assessment 

2.   The Role of PCB Manufacturing in Retail Technology

Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are fundamental to numerous technological advancements in the retail sector. They serve as the backbone of electronic devices, from self-checkout kiosks and digital signage to IoT enabled systems and AR/VR devices. Ensuring high quality PCB manufacturing is crucial for the smooth functioning of these technologies.

Why Quality PCB Manufacturing Matters

Partnering with a reliable PCB manufacturing service helps retailers maintain operational efficiency and deliver seamless customer experiences. A trustworthy PCB partner offers:

●      Custom Solutions: Tailored designs that meet the specific requirements of retail technologies.

●      High Volume Production: Scalability to support the growing technological demands of large retail chains.

●      Rigorous Quality Assurance: Comprehensive testing to ensure durability and functionality, reducing downtime.

●      Rapid Turnaround: Fast production cycles to keep up with innovation and market demands.

Real-World Impact on Customer Satisfaction

Consider self-checkout kiosks. The smooth operation of these systems depends on advanced PCBs that ensure reliable processing and connectivity. Similarly, IoT sensors embedded with high quality PCBs monitor inventory levels in real-time, preventing stockouts and improving customer experiences.

By investing in exceptional PCB manufacturing services, retailers can enhance their technology driven operations and stay competitive in the ever evolving market.

3.   Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)

AI powered tools are transforming retail operations and how customers engage with each other. These applications include:

●      Chatbots: Providing instant customer support and answering queries 24/7, and assisting customers in the buying process.

●      Recommendation engines: Many platforms use AI powered algorithms to suggest products based on browsing habits.

●      Predictive analytics: Retailers can predict sales trends and prepare for seasonal demand spikes.

●      Predictive modeling: ML algorithms determine which promotions will resonate with specific customer segments. AI analyses customer feedback and social media to gauge brand perception and improve strategies.

●      Fraud prevention: AI makes sure that all online and in-store transactions are secure. It detects unusual patterns in transaction data to identify and prevent fraud.

●      Eco-friendly recommendations: Suggesting sustainable alternatives to customers. AI systems analyze production and sales data to prevent overproduction.

Overall, AI and ML are reshaping the retail industry, allowing businesses to deliver a personalised and seamless experience while improving operational efficiency. As these technologies continue to evolve, they continue to drive innovation and keep retailers ahead of the curve, meeting customer expectations in a competitive market.

4.   Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

AR and VR bridge the gap between physical and digital retail by offering immersive experiences. Retailers use both these technologies to give customers a real-life virtual experience and see how a product feels when they use it.

AR and VR technologies allow retailers to engage with customers directly, which strongly impacts buying behaviors. Interactive AR overlays guide employees through tasks like product demonstrations or shelf stocking.

You also have smart mirrors that are equipped with AR and they allow shoppers to virtually try on clothes or accessories in-store. AR-powered displays offer additional product details, reviews, or tutorials scanned with a smartphone.

Then we have VR that is used to train staff members in customer service, product assembly, or store operations in a risk free environment. VR allows customers to browse in a virtual store, interact with products, and make purchases all from the comfort of their own home.

Otherwise, both AR and VR gather data on customer preferences and behaviour, allowing much more personalised marketing strategies. Combined with AI, these technologies create dynamic and tailored experiences that adapt to real-time individual customer needs.

5.   Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT connects systems and devices, allowing much smarter retail operations. IoT adds three benefits to the retail industry:

●      Inventory management: You have the “Smart Shelves” technology that is equipped with sensors, which monitor stock levels and notify staff when items need to be replaced. This helps prevent inventory stock-out or false claims associated with your inventory. IoT enabled tags also include real-time RFID track inventory across supply chains, reducing loss and optimising stock levels.

●      Personalised shopping experiences: Small IoT devices can send personalised offers and notifications to customers before they visit your store, regardless if it’s physical or online.

●      Checkout automation: IoT enabled systems like Amazon Go, for example, use cameras to track purchases, allowing customers to instantly walk out without having to wait in line if they visit a physical store.

Moreover, you have many other IoT devices such as smart homes, smartwatches, and even IoT sensors that monitor vehicle performance and optimise delivery routes.

IoT continues to evolve, and with the latest advancements in 5G connectivity, edge computing, and AI integration, its integration is making devices much faster and smarter. This means that in the future, IoT will make purchasing experiences even more personalised and connect buyers even more than ever.

6.   Voice Commerce

Voice commerce has been on a rise lately and has increased by more than 300% in the past two years.

This allows customers to search for products, place orders, and manage purchases through voice commands. The very first case where voice commerce is used is for reordering products. If you are frequently purchasing groceries or household essentials, you can easily reorder them with a voice command.

Secondly, voice commerce can be used for product search. Shoppers can ask any type of questions that are associated with their product purchase. For example, “What are the best phone cases to purchase under $20?”

Thirdly, voice assistants are great for providing product information, handling queries, and assisting customers with cancellations and returns.

You can integrate voice commerce with payment systems like Apple Pay or Google Pay to make the payment process much easier.

7.   Sustainability and Green Technology

Customers are valuing sustainability more than ever and this is encouraging retailers to invest in green technologies as well, which is beneficial since it reduces environmental footprint and meets growing demands for eco-friendly operations.

Many retailers are starting to use electric delivery vehicles and partnering with logistics companies to reduce emissions and offer more green options. Moreover, online stores holding inventory in warehouses are starting to use renewable energy and are equipped with energy efficient systems.

However, some challenges that might bother retailers are the amount of investment required at the beginning. This includes installing renewable energy systems or retrofitting stores.

Next, we have technology integration which includes aligning green tech with existing infrastructure that requires careful planning.

Last but not least, the biggest challenge is to find sustainable suppliers. Many retailers might struggle with this part, but if you are firmly focused on it, you should clarify this part from the beginning before you make a deal.

Technology Is Becoming a Game-Changer in the Retail Industry

Technology is a game-changer in the retail industry, offering endless opportunities to increase customer satisfaction. By embracing these trends such as AI, AR, IoT, and blockchain, retailers can take over personalised and efficient experiences that increase customer loyalty and delight.

As the retail landscape continues to evolve, the key to being successful in the long term is to remain agile, customer focused, and open to innovation. Retailers who take over technology not only meet customer expectations but can also set new benchmarks in the industry itself.

About The Author:

Tony Ademi is a freelance SEO content and copywriter. He has been in the writing industry for three years and has managed to write hundreds of SEO optimised articles. Moreover, he has written articles that have ranked number one on Google. Tony’s primary concern when writing an article is to do extensive research and ensure that the reader is engaged until the end.

C’est Noël ! On partage des moments autour de bons repas et de cadeaux, mais qui s’invite à la fête sans qu’on ait rien demandé ? Un nouveau gouvernement ! Le Gouvernement Bayrou/Macron a été annoncé le 24 décembre 2024, composé de ministres dont plusieurs traînent des casseroles : condamnations, suspicions, enquêtes… des dossiers lourds, surtout pour des fonctions régaliennes censées être exercées au plus haut niveau de l’État.

Comme vous le savez, j’adore le design actif, vivant, graphique et engagé. Alors, le 25 au matin, après un rapide croquis, j’ai conçu et codé un Calendrier de l’Aveu. Chaque jour, il vous révélera quel ministre se cache derrière une condamnation, une polémique ou une controverse.

En bref, essayez de deviner qui a fait quoi sur ces 20 Ministres avec ce petit site web que je mettrai à jour avec le temps

→ https://geoffreydorne.com/aveu/

Mon croquis vite fait réalisé avant de coder le site.

Et joyeux Noël !

ThredUp’s chief product and technology officer, Dan DeMeyere, admits that shoppers can be overwhelmed when searching on the resale platform, which has more than 4 million unique items. Because of that, the company first looked to search when beginning to implement generative AI features to improve the shopping experience.

“If you came and you searched for, like, ugly Christmas sweater one year ago, you’d get no results because nowhere would you find ‘ugly’ or ‘Christmas sweater’ in our database,” DeMeyere said. Now, searching for that, or even Star Wars memes or “mermaid core,” will get you relevant results. Customers have realized that and changed how they use the search bar, he said. “We saw the diversity of search terms triple within less than a year.”

The natural-language search tool is one of three customer-facing AI shopping features ThredUp launched in 2024. The others were image search and a chatbot that creates tailored outfits from a given prompt. The company also found people using any of these three features are 55% more likely to return within the next seven days, and they’re 65% more likely to get to an item that they like — as in, they add it to their cart or press the favorite button. 

Continue reading this article on modernretail.co. Sign up for Modern Retail newsletters to get the latest on the shifting dynamics between retail’s old and new guards.

Une équipe de chercheurs a découvert que le cancer laisse des "empreintes" uniques, offrant une nouvelle piste pour détecter la maladie plus tôt, et avec une précision remarquable. Chaque...

Researchers at Caltech have calculated how fast the human brain processes information — and the number turned out to be hilariously low.

As detailed in a new study published in the journal Neuron, the team concluded that the speed of human thought is a measly ten bits per second.

"This is an extremely low number," said team lead and Caltech biological sciences professor Markus Meier in a statement.

While that may indeed sound agonizingly slow, the team also found that our bodies' sensory systems also process many orders of magnitude more bits per second of other information about our environment.

"Every moment, we are extracting just 10 bits from the trillion that our senses are taking in and using those ten to perceive the world around us and make decisions," Meister explained. "This raises a paradox: What is the brain doing to filter all of this information?"

Scientists have estimated that our brains have 85 billion neurons, a third of which are used for high-level thinking.

But since our brain is limited to just one thought at a time, the researchers' findings leave plenty of major questions unanswered. For one, what exactly is happening with all of those other neurons? Why are our thoughts so constrained compared to our sensory system?

In their paper, titled "The unbearable slowness of being," the team suggested that evolution may be to blame. Brains used to be used by primitive beings primarily for navigation or to get away from predators. Over the eons, human brains evolved to follow a single "path" of thought at a time.

"Human thinking can be seen as a form of navigation through a space of abstract concepts," the paper reads. "Our ancestors have chosen an ecological niche where the world is slow enough to make survival possible."

"In fact, the 10 bits per second are needed only in worst-case situations, and most of the time our environment changes at a much more leisurely pace," the researchers wrote.

The findings could have significant implications for our efforts to develop brain-computer interfaces, which may well also be restricted to this extreme speed limit.

In the paper, the team singled out multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk's lofty claims regarding the capabilities of his startup Neuralink's device, giving him a harsh reality check.

"Based on the research reviewed here regarding the rate of human cognition, we predict that Musk’s brain will communicate with the computer at about 10 bits/s," the team wrote. "Instead of the bundle of Neuralink electrodes, Musk could just use a telephone, whose data rate has been designed to match human language, which in turn is matched to the speed of perception and cognition."

More on the brain: Doctors Intrigued by Treatment That Makes Dead Brains Show Signs of Life

The post You'll Laugh When You Hear How Many Bits Per Second the Human Brain Processes... Once Your Sluggish Human Brain Finally Comprehends It, That Is appeared first on Futurism.

L'avenir de la mobilité aérospatiale repose en grande partie sur le décollage et l'atterrissage vertical électrique ou eVTOL. En effet, l'adoption massive de cette nouvelle technologie va changer le moyen de transport utilisé pour les passagers et les marchandises. 

Après des décennies de projets avortés, une nouvelle catégorie de véhicules commence à voir le jour. De nombreuses entreprises, qu'il s'agisse de start-ups ou de fabricants établis, développent des eVTOLs. Ceux-ci sont attendus sur le marché d'ici quelques années. Découvrez dans ce dossier ce que sont les eVTOLs ainsi que leur fonctionnent. 

Qu'est-ce que l'eVTOL ? 

eVTOL est l'abréviation de décollage et d'atterrissage verticaux électriques (electric Vertical Take-off and Land). Il représente l'une des dernières innovations de l'industrie aérospatiale. De grands ventilateurs omnidirectionnels aident l'appareil à se déplacer dans toutes les directions et même à décoller verticalement. Si les conceptions varient selon les développeurs, la plupart d'entre elles ressemblent à un drone et sont alimentées en énergie électrique.

Pour qu'un eVTOL fonctionne comme un « taxi aérien », il doit décoller verticalement. Un autre élément critique concerne la transition entre le vol vertical et celui vers l'avant.  Aucune conception d'eVTOL n'implique une structure semblable à celle d'un hélicoptère. 

Bien que l'eVTOL soit de nature un appareil silencieux, ses cabines disposent d'une technologie de suppression du bruit pour un vol confortable. Par ailleurs, les chercheurs font beaucoup d'efforts pour perfectionner ce taxi aérien afin de le rendre totalement autonome. Mais pour l'instant, les concepts seront pilotés. 

Caractéristiques de l'eVTOL

Il y a près de dix ans, les scientifiques de la NASA ont émis l'hypothèse que le vol vertical du futur se caractérisait par une propulsion électrique répartie. Cette conception repose sur des propulseurs multiples et une structure d'aile efficace pour des raisons de sécurité, de bruit et d'émissions. Ainsi, elle remplace les systèmes de rotor utilisant des cycliques, des transmissions, des boîtes de vitesses, des essieux et des systèmes hydrauliques. 

Le livre blanc d'Uber Elevate sur l'avion eVTOL détaille les spécifications suivantes : 

• Capacité pour quatre passagers (dont un éventuel pilote). 
• Poids brut du véhicule de 1 800 kg. 
• 500 kW de puissance pendant une minute lors du décollage et de l'atterrissage. 
• 71 kW de puissance nécessaire en vol à une vitesse de 150 mph. 
• 120 kW de puissance nécessaire en vol à une vitesse de 200 mph. 
• Au coût de 0,12 $ par kWh. 
• Avec une capacité de fonctionnement d'environ 40 heures par semaine pendant un an. 

Les atouts de la mise en œuvre de l'eVTOL

Bien que la technologie eVTOL soit destinée à des aéronefs plus volumineux à l'avenir, elle se prête actuellement à des voyages point à point plus courts. Comme son nom l'indique, l'avion eVTOL effectue un décollage semblable à celui d'un hélicoptère sans nécessiter de piste d'atterrissage, ce qui le rend idéal pour les zones urbaines hautement peuplées.

Alimentés par l'énergie électrique, les eVTOL constituent un moyen de transport silencieux et peu polluant qui va révolutionner les déplacements. Les taxis aériens eVTOL peuvent offrir une mobilité rapide, directe et propre. Surtout face à la congestion des routes, à la saturation des réseaux de transport public et à d'autres problèmes de transport qui touchent de nombreuses zones urbaines dans le monde.

Par exemple, le géant du covoiturage Uber a calculé qu'un trajet de deux heures dans les embouteillages de Sao Paulo serait réduit à 18 minutes grâce à l'eVTOL. D'autres taxis aériens électriques ont été commercialisés comme étant « 100 fois plus silencieux que les avions conventionnels ». En termes de prix, les modèles suggèrent que les taxis aériens coûteront à peu près le même prix au kilomètre que les services de covoiturage existants.

Les défis de l'eVTOL

En 2019, Deloitte a publié un document de recherche décrivant les obstacles à l'adoption des eVTOL. Ce rapport y détaille ce qui constitue un frein au développement de la mobilité aérienne du futur. 

En effet, les véhicules eVTOL ont des applications qui vont au-delà du « taxi aérien ». Parmi les possibilités futures figurent le transport interurbain et les possibilités d'expédition de marchandises. Pour des entreprises comme Amazon, qui a déjà investi dans des essais de livraison par drone, l'eVTOL pourrait réduire davantage les coûts et accélérer les livraisons. 

Mais avant que cet avenir puisse se réaliser, il y a des difficultés importantes à surmonter. Ces derniers ressemblent pour la plupart à ceux qui freinent l'adoption de la voiture autonome. 

Réglementation 

Les eVTOL vont devoir élaborer des plans de vol et communiquer avec d'autres avions. Ainsi avant leurs mises en place, les entreprises devront s'occuper des certificats de navigabilité et des licences de pilote. En effet, il est évident pour toute personne travaillant dans le secteur aérien qu'il y a également des certifications strictes à respecter. 

Technologie 

Le développement de l'eVTOL va s'accompagner de l'adoption de la 5G et de l'IoT. En effet, les aéronefs devront communiquer entre eux et avec tout centre de contrôle. 

Les capteurs embarqués et les systèmes de prévention des collisions nécessiteront également une intégration de l'IoT. Les informations en temps réel sur la localisation et les besoins de maintenance ont une importance cruciale. 

Si les eVTOL autonomes prennent leur envol, l'intelligence artificielle jouera un rôle important. En fait, la technologie de l'IA aura besoin de réseaux fiables pour communiquer de grandes quantités de données. Au-delà de cela, l'efficacité constitue un grand sujet de préoccupation pour cette nouvelle technologie.

En ce qui concerne l'extension de la technologie eVTOL pour des trajets plus longs et des appareils plus grands, la capacité des batteries reste un obstacle majeur. 

Infrastructure 

Bien qu'il existe de nombreux aéroports, ils ne sont généralement pas situés au milieu de villes très fréquentées. Or, la plupart des passagers se serviront des avions eVTOL pour des voyages de courte durée. Par conséquent, il faudra construire des pistes de décollage et d'atterrissage dans les grandes villes très fréquentées. 

Parmi les changements, il faut également prévoir les stations de recharge électrique. L'avion aura également besoin d'infrastructures lorsqu'il ne sera pas utilisé. Des hangars de maintenance ou des parkings devront être construits non loin des hubs centraux. Les villes et les municipalités devront planifier les emplacements le plus tôt possible, en collaboration avec les fournisseurs de technologie et les autorités réglementaires.

Sécurité 

L'adoption massive des aéronefs eVTOL ne pourra se faire qu'avec un bilan de sécurité exemplaire. Les centres de formation comme le Spartan College doivent développer et adapter des programmes pour la certification des nouveaux avions. Avec des technologies et des conceptions aussi différentes, l'étude s'annonce passionnante. 

Psychologie 

Se déplacer à bord d'un petit avion avec un pilote représente une véritable alternative aux déplacements en taxi et aux vols commerciaux. Cependant, les vols autonomes constituent une tout autre approche.  

En fait, près de la moitié des personnes interrogées dans le cadre de l'enquête Deloitte considèrent que les avions eVTOL réduisent la congestion routière. Pourtant, 80 % des répondants pensent également que les avions électriques présentent des risques. Ainsi, les investisseurs doivent apprendre à façonner et à apaiser l'opinion des consommateurs.

Gestion du trafic aérien 

La gestion du trafic aérien constitue déjà un processus coûteux et compliqué. Le besoin d'une bonne organisation du trafic dû à l'eVTOL augmentera considérablement. Les cieux deviennent plus encombrés au fil du temps. 

Le trafic aérien va devoir intégrer les autres aéronefs déjà en service ainsi que les autres aéronefs eVTOL. Tous les aéronefs eVTOL devront être capables de communiquer entre eux et de se détecter mutuellement. 

La difficulté réside dans le fait que des entreprises privées concurrentes doivent collaborer entre elles pour assurer la sécurité du ciel. Des réglementations sont indispensables pour garantir que les nouvelles « compagnies aériennes » respectent les règles. 

La mise en place d'un système de gestion du trafic aérien sans pilote se révèle compliquée. Trois éléments clés permettront d'y parvenir : 

• Une surveillance fiable 
• Des communications efficaces 
• Une navigation cohérente

Les acteurs principaux de l'eVTOL 

Malgré tous ces défis, la course à la domination de l'espace aérien est déjà bien engagée. De nombreuses entreprises se montrent naturellement intéressées par cette technologie émergente, notamment les grandes compagnies aériennes. 

Les grands constructeurs aéronautiques, Boeing et Airbus, jouent un rôle important dans le développement des eVTOL. Airbus travaille sur ses concepts Vahana (monoplace) et CityAirbus (quatre places). Quant à Boeing, la société collabore même avec le constructeur de voitures de luxe Porsche pour développer un véhicule eVTOL haut de gamme.

Uber a créé Uber Elevate en 2016 afin de développer un véhicule pour les services de covoiturage aérien. La société a vendu Uber Elevate en décembre 2020 à une autre société d'aviation, Joby Aviation. 

De son côté, Joby Aviation s'est associée au constructeur automobile Toyota pour développer un autre service de taxi aérien. Ce service implique des taxis aériens eVTOL à cinq places avec une autonomie de 150 miles et des vitesses de pointe pouvant atteindre 200 mph.

Plusieurs compagnies aériennes explorent également cette technologie, souvent en partenariat avec des start-ups. Au début de l'année, United Airlines a annoncé son partenariat avec la société de mobilité aérienne Archer pour développer des véhicules eVTOL. L'objectif consiste à concevoir des taxis aériens électriques court-courriers pour les environnements urbains denses. Archer élabore actuellement son propre véhicule eVTOL, qu'elle espère déployer à Los Angeles d'ici 2024.

La révolution des eVTOL : une sécurité renforcée pour l'avenir du transport aérien

Arborant des avantages notables en matière de sécurité par rapport aux hélicoptères traditionnels, les eVTOL sont en train de transformer le paysage du transport aérien. Les hélicoptères à moteur unique sont souvent vulnérables aux pannes. Contrairement à cela, les eVTOL sont conçus avec plusieurs moteurs électriques.

Cette architecture permet une redondance vitale. Effectivement, même en cas de défaillance d'un moteur, les autres peuvent compenser. Ce qui garantit la continuité du vol et un atterrissage sécurisé.

En outre, les moteurs électriques sont intrinsèquement plus fiables en raison de leur conception simplifiée, avec moins de pièces mobiles. Par conséquent, ils représentent moins de risques de pannes. Sinon, les avancées technologiques incluent également des systèmes de gestion sophistiqués qui ajustent la puissance en temps réel. Résultat : réduction du risque d'erreur humaine, souvent à l'origine des accidents.

Ainsi, cette combinaison de redondance, de fiabilité et de gestion intelligente de l'énergie permet aux eVTOL de fournir des niveaux de sécurité inédits dans l'aviation urbaine. Une telle avancée, qui promet de faire des voyages aériens plus accessibles et beaucoup plus sûrs pour tous.

 

Cet article eVTOL : tout ce qu’il faut savoir sur ces aéronefs électriques est apparu en premier sur OBJETCONNECTE.COM.