Reach an Emergency Contact By Disconnecting Your Headphones

PSFK by Teo Armus

Not Alone allows users to discretely reach out to family members or the police in times of crisis by simply pulling the headphones out of their smartphone.
The app—which was created by five students in Uppsala, Sweden for an entrepreneurship class—is meant to be used in any situation where a user might feel unsafe.

Uber and the Negative Side of the On-Demand Economy

PSFK by Guardian


In February, Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky compared his firm’s defiance of local housing ordinances with that of Gandhi’s passive resistance to British rule. Meanwhile, a tweeter compared Uber to Rosa Parks, defying unjust laws. Chesky quickly backed down after widespread mockery. Companies acting out of self-interest comparing themselves with the noble heroes of civil rights movements is as absurd as it is insulting.

But there is a better analogy from the US civil rights era for law-flouting firms of the on-demand economy. It’s just not the one corporate leaders claim. They are engaged in what we call “corporate nullification,” following in the footsteps of Southern governors and legislatures in the United States who declared themselves free to “nullify” federal law on the basis of strained and opportunistic constitutional interpretation.

Welcome to a City Designed for Testing Driverless Cars

PSFK by Teo Armus


Autonomous cars may not be driving down real roads anytime soon, but with Mcity at the University of Michigan, they now have their own private small town.

MCity—a fully functional, 32-acre suburban landscape located just outside Michigan’s flagship campus in Ann Arbor—was unveiled earlier this week as it begins hosting research by the university’s Mobility Transformation Center.

“There are many challenges ahead as automated vehicles are increasingly deployed on real roadways,” says Peter Sweatman, the center’s director. “Mcity is a safe, controlled, and realistic environment where we are going to figure out how the incredible potential of connected and automated vehicles can be realized quickly, efficiently and safely.”

The site is designed to include every obstacle a driverless car could encounter while out on real roads, especially environments where a car would be challenged. A series of straight and curved roads atop different kinds of material goes past traffic signals, sidewalks, and mock construction obstacles, in addition to signs covered in graffiti and faded lane markings.

Cyclist-Favoring Weather Sensors

This Traffic Light Sensor Prioritizes Bike Riders in the Rain

Published: Dec 31, 2015 • References: rotterdam.nl & springwise

This traffic light sensor in the Dutch city of Rotterdam gives cyclists a green light faster in rainy weather. The sensor system is currently part of a trial that only makes bike riders wait for 40 seconds for the light to turn green when it's raining.

Other cities are also experimenting with traffic priority, but this is the only one to focus in on inclement weather conditions. This allows wet commuters to get to their destination faster while dry drivers compromise with longer sitting time at traffic lights. Currently the traffic light sensor only exists at one intersection, but there are plans to extend their reach in the future.

Rotterdam already has dedicated phasing for bicycle lanes, showing how invested the city council is to encouraging environmentally friendly (not to mention healthy) modes of transport.

Makeup Mirror at CES 2016 Takes All the Guesswork Out of Beauty

Pucker your lips and watch augmented reality transform them

World’s first hotel run entirely by robots opens in Japan

The time has arrived when robots replace humans with the opening of the world's first hotel run entirely by machines. The Henn-na Hotel ('Strange Hotel'), located in Sasebo, Japan aims to cut down on labor costs by using robots to welcome guests, carry their luggage and clean their rooms. Featuring young Japanese humanoids, cute little cyborgs and even a robotic dinosaur receptionist, the bizarre hotel is designed to exemplify efficiency through technology.

Movie-Based Dating Apps

Netfling' is a new dating app that matches individuals based on their Netflix viewing history. If your idea of a perfect date is curling up on the couch with your favorite Netflix movie or TV show, this app may just be for you.

The Netfling app uses the same interface as Tinder, but with a Netflix-inspired twist. The app gathers data from your Netflix account and figures out what your most watched films and TV shows are. The app will then present potential matches based on those who share your taste in pop culture. The idea behind the app is that since binge watching has become such a key element of modern relationships, why not connect potential mates based on their favorite shows?

While there is much more to compatibility than a shared love of television, this app may be a good way for movie aficionados to connect with like-minded individuals. 

Should Amazon Add This Rolling Delivery Drone to Its Courier Squad?

Drone delivery has been discussed, promised and tested frequently over the past three years, with most of the focus on quadcopter and similar flying drone methods. Challenges to that model include some dangers of unregulated air traffic and a restrictive weight limit for feasible flying. Transwheel, a design concept by industrial engineer Kobi Shikar, could solve both of those problems with a reconceptualization of the best drone model for the job.
Shikar’s idea replaces the flying drone with a self-stabilizing, self-driving unicycle. The chassis rests below the payload, carrying the package on its head like an old-world porter as it bears the delivery along roads and sidewalks to its destination. Long or heavy packages could be carried by multiple, linked drones operating in concert.
A Transwheel unit would use both GPS navigation and a suite of sensors to safely get a package to its destination. A camera unit would both detect nearby obstacles while in motion and interface with a facial recognition unit to identify the recipient of their delivery. Shikar asserts that the optics are sensitive enough to recognize whether a street light is red or green, though still expresses concerns about dealing with unexpected movements from cars or pedestrians. A related problem stems from Transwheel’s low profile and small size: it would be even more difficult to spot than a bicycle or motorcycle.

Though this is a slightly different take on the idea, Transwheel is not without precedent. Amazon’s delivery drones and Google’s driverless car are clearly the conceptual parents of the robotic drone — a fact which could streamline the delivery robot’s development since both programs have done much of the heavy lifting.

Shikar’s website details models of the Transwheel working together to carry boxes above their heads or manning a full lane for a delivery. The concept remains at the design and idea stage. He has made no announcements about if and when he will move into the prototyping or development stages, but a consumer can wish.
Transwheel

Amazon Set to Surpass Macy's as Top American Apparel Retailer

Believe it or not, reports show that millennials are choosing not to spend on clothes.



Department stores continue their trend of downward decline, with the latest news from financial consultants Cowen that Amazon will overtake Macy’s as the top U.S. apparel retailer by 2017. Amazon’s lack of physical overhead costs has allowed it to undercut department stores in the price of its offerings, with accessories like handbags and jewelry doing an especially roaring trade. This comes at a time when apparel sales in the U.S. are slumping, declining 1.5% in June alone as part of a general downward trend beginning last year. Macy’s is not alone, with JCPenney and Kohl’s also reporting worse-than-average sales figures, citing delayed inventory shipments, bad weather, and a decline in the number of tourists as reasons. However, the Commerce Department blames veering priorities of shoppers has a major factor, with millennials choosing to spend their money elsewhere on things such as rent, phone bills and personal services instead.

Internet-Connected Umbrellas : high-tech umbrella

This High-Tech Umbrella Contains a Multitude of Advanced Features

Published: Jul 14, 2015 • References: hazumbrella & trndmonitor

Taipei-based company HAZ Digital developed a high-tech umbrella that connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth. Dubbed "the world's first fully automatic smart umbrella," this handy device does more than just keep you dry.

Unlike traditional umbrellas, the 'HAZ Umbrella' contains a high-capacity lithium-ion battery that allows it to open and close in under two seconds. Beyond its convenient opening and closing features, the high-tech umbrella also features integrated Bluetooth technology that connects directly to your smartphone device. Through the accompanying app, you will receive weather updates telling you when you need to carry your umbrella. The app will also let you know if you have left your umbrella somewhere, ensuring that you never lose your umbrella again.

In an increasingly Internet-connected era, the HAZ Umbrella provides a more convenient and reliable form of rain coverage than traditional umbrellas.

Modify the color layout of your sneakers with shift concept by rehabstudio

the potential of apparel lies in materials that alter circumstances, or that are designed to have unexpected properties, combined with integral electronics. rehabstudio opened their minds and envisioned what apparel of the future might look like, what it might do, how it might live and react to our world with the ‘shift sneaker’ concept.

En Suède, les donneurs de sang reçoivent un SMS lorsqu’ils sauvent une vie

Une initiative simple mais qui encourage à faire des dons, indispensables aux malades, en mettant en valeur les donneurs. Quand on sait qu’on a aidé concrètement une personne à guérir, le don de sang prend une autre dimension. Pour rappel, en France, 114 malades sont soignés chaque heure grâce aux dons de sang.




Comme nombre de pays développés, la Suède fait face à un déclin du nombre de donneurs de sang. Aussi, pour inciter un plus grand nombre de personnes à faire preuve d’esprit civique, le service suédois de transfusion sanguine a décidé d’envoyer des sms personnalisés à tous les donneurs. Dans un premier temps, ils reçoivent un sms de remerciement lorsqu’ils font un don. Mais ils reçoivent aussi un sms le jour où leur don est utilisé pour sauver la vie d’un patient et où leur sang coule dans les veines d’un autre.

« Nous essayons constamment de développer de nouveaux moyens de souligner l’importance des donateurs" a expliqué Karolina Blom Wiberg, responsable de la communication au service de transfusion sanguine de Stockholm dans une interview au journal britannique The Independant.
Selon les services de transfusion sanguine, les donneurs de sang ont favorablement accueilli cette marque de reconnaissance et cela les a incités à donner leur sang plus souvent. "Cela fait une réelle différence de savoir que ce petit geste a réellement sauvé la vie de quelqu’un".

Attention Shoppers: Brace Yourselves For Beacons

The spread of mobile payment platforms opens a door for stores to cater to customers' personal preferences on site.

Written By Giovanni Calabro

You won’t truly be happy until a company knows everything about you. Where you live, how much you make, whom you married, what you buy on your phone and what you buy at a store, favorite sports team, everything. Don’t like hearing this? Take a ball-peen hammer to your phone and smash it repeatedly.

In-Suite Fashion Bars

Pimkie International Converges the Mini Bar Concept with Clothing

Knowing that many travelers tend to mistakenly leave a few important items at home, or fail to pack according to the weather, Pimkie International developed the Mini Fashion Bar.

This idea works in exactly the same way as a hotel mini bar, by supplying guests with clothing that is carefully selected based on the weather, location and events around the hotel. For instance, knowing it will rain, Pimkie International will stock its Mini Fashion Bars with stylish rain gear. If a guest chooses to take out a single item or an entire outfit, they are simply charged for what they take when checking out.

Currently the Mini Fashion Bars can only be found in Antwerp hotels, although it's not hard to imagine that putting irresistible fashion at the fingertips of consumers could catch on around the world. Beyond hospitality, this idea could also be used to supply a variety of on-demand needs.

Here's a way retailers can grow customer loyalty

As a retailer, you're always thinking of ways to make your customers happy and deepen the relationship between them and your brand. However, it can be easy to overlook the one thing that matters most: your value proposition.
You probably already define what your business offers — and how that's different, or better, than what your competitors do. But is it unique and compelling enough?
Crafting a strong value proposition takes a lot of time, effort, and creativity, but it makes a huge difference to customers.
Synchrony Financial, a leader in consumer financing and the largest issuer of private label credit cards in the US (based on purchase volume and receivables), has done extensive research into how value propositions drive customer loyalty. Its findings are consolidated in an infographic (embedded below) that outlines three steps every retailer should consider taking.

Google’s Plan to Eliminate Human Driving in 5 Years

Google’s adorable self-driving car prototype hits the road this summer, the tech giant announced last week. Real roads, in the real world. The car has no steering wheel or pedals, so it’s up to the computer to do all the driving.
As cool as this sounds, it isn’t a huge technological step forward. The goofy little cars use the same software controlling the Lexus and Toyota vehicles that have logged hundreds of thousands of autonomous miles, and Google’s spent the past year testing its prototypes on test tracks. And, in keeping with California law, there will be a human aboard, ready to take over (with a removable steering wheel, accelerator pedal, and brake pedal) if the something goes haywire.
What’s important here is Google’s commitment to its all-or-nothing approach, which contrasts with the steady-as-she-goes approach favored by automakers like Mercedes, Audi and Nissan.
Autonomous vehicles are coming. Make no mistake. But conventional automakers are rolling out features piecemeal, over the course of many years. Cars already have active safety features like automatic braking and lane departure warnings. In the next few years, expect cars to handle themselves on the highway, with more complicated urban driving to follow.
“We call it a revolution by evolution. We will take it step by step, and add more functionality, add more usefulness to the system,” says Thomas Ruchatz, Audi’s head of driver assistance systems and integrated safety. Full autonomy is “not going to happen just like that,” where from one day to the next “we can travel from our doorstep to our work and we don’t have a steering wheel in the car.”
Google thinks that’s exactly what’s going to happen. It isn’t messing around with anything less than a completely autonomous vehicle, one that reduces “driving” to little more than getting in, entering a destination, and enjoying the ride. This tech will just appear one day (though when that day will be remains to be seen), like Venus rolling in on a scallop shell, fully formed and beautiful.

Concierge E-Commerce Apps

The Operator App Brings the Personalized In-Store Experience Online

The Operator app was developed by the co-founder of Uber and is designed to make online shopping easier than ever. CEO Robin Chan told TechCrunch writer Josh Constine the goal is to "unloack the 90% of commerce that's not on the Internet."

Refered to as a request network, the app uses human concierge to execute a variety of commercial customer requests. They hope to combine the best of real world and online shopping by offering expert personalized service that you might find in-store, but with the convenience and mobility enabled by the Internet. They are also flirting with the idea of integrating delivery in the future.

A full break down of how the Operator app works can be found in Constine's TechCrunch article.

In Five Years, Your Car Will Prevent You From Driving Drunk

Automatically saving lives

By Jason Cipriani 

Drunk driving kills 28 people a day, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report in 2013.
Attempts to curtail deaths caused by drunk driving, from organizations like Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, have long tried to educate the public on the topic. Yet people continue to get behind the wheel after drinking. A new technology, recently demonstrated by the Department of Transportation (DOT), might be able to prevent that.
Using special touch pads, either located in the push-to-start button or in the steering wheel, the vehicle can measure whether or not the driver has been drinking. If it’s determined the driver is over the legal limit with blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher, the vehicle will not start.

Le consommateur assisté

Si le Do It Yourself vous fatigue un peu et que vous préférez vous faire servir sans rien faire, Duval Guillaume vous livre quelque clefs.

Avec l'avènement du phénomène DIY, les tutoriaux YouTube font des ravages chez les internautes avides d'explications visuelles pratiques. La vidéo how-to est devenue une tendance tellement ancrée dans nos mœurs digitales quotidiennes que l'agence belge Duval Guillaume s'en sert pour une campagne ubuesque dont le principe repose sur une stratégie simple: le contre-pied.

"Admettez-le, parfois vous préfèreriez ne rien faire, vous allonger et vous détendre en laissant quelqu'un d'autre vous apporter votre boisson ". Le pitch des web-épisodes conçus par Duval Guillaume pour Seth & Riley’Garage résume parfaitement le principe d'antithèse de la série "How-Not-To Videos". Dans une série de films online, la marque de boisson alcoolisée au citron vous explique comment éviter de faire les choses et mieux se relaxer en laissant les autres s'y coller à votre place.

NYC taxis are going high-tech to compete with Uber

Graham Rapier

If you can’t beat them, join them.

Rather than fighting Uber in courts, the Taxi and Limousine Commission has found a new way to go after their high-tech competitors: catching up.

NYC cabs will be outfitted with "black box" data recorders to evaluate the safety of drivers. The boxes record data including speed, acceleration, braking and other “unsafe driving factors,” a press release said.

The pilot program comes as part of Mayor de Blasio’s highly touted Vision Zero initiative, which has a mission of eliminating traffic fatalities.

“The data collected by this piloted technology will help our industries reinforce good driving practices that will ultimately keep drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists as safe as possible,” TLC commissioner Meera Joshi said in a statement.

For now, the technology has been installed in ten vehicles, including yellow cabs, Boro Taxis and private for-hire vehicles.

The release did not say when the technology would be rolled out for all cabs.