Minority Report Reality
Facial Recognition
Using facial recognition to access buildings or even pay at stores is trending in certain parts of the world. Chinese startup Face++ is used anywhere from entering a building to using Alipay (owned by Alibaba) on your phone, all through facial recognition. The company’s tracking software places 83 connecting points on your face, with varying distances between the dots, allowing for accurate facial recognition. The software is being used by regular consumers, as well as Chinese police to help solve crimes. With Face++ being valued at $1 billion, there’s no telling where the company can go from here. (Source: MIT Technology Review)
An Apple a Day
The mRhythm project developed an algorithm that monitors heart rates to detect atrial fibrillation (AF), the leading cause of heart failure. This new study in conjunction with Apple Watches holds the potential to place a modern medical device in the hands of an everyday consumer.The hope is that medical professionals and everyday users will be able to use this real time data in the future to help prevent heart attacks before they occur. (Source: Mashable)
Spider Silk Tie
Bolt Threads has created the first tie made out of spider silk. At a whopping price of $314 the tie was unveiled at Austin’s SXSW festival. Though this first tie took seven years to manufacture, the next one was woven in just 60 days. The time to produce these ties has been cut down, yet the company has only made 50 due to the large amount of time needed to harvest the silk. Spider silk is one of the toughest yet softest materials in the world; it has been compared to steel and even Kevlar for toughness. Maybe the saying should be “tough as silk”? (Source: TechCrunch)
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