Badges will soon be obsolete with facial recognition cameras
Alcatraz AI is developing FACE ID — technology that enables your face to replace your plastic ID badge. The camera includes three sensors (RGBs and infrared) and mounts on the wall to convenient read passers by and determine if the door should be unlocked or security alerted to your presence. TechCrunch
dis-rup-shun: Traffic snafus caused by employees who left their badge at home is a common problem in most large lobbies. Imagine the productivity gains achieved by whizzing through access points. The evolution of this technology will move from corporate lobbies to factory floors, to smart doorbells at home, and hopefully to the TSA at an airport near you. Once peace officers install ID cameras on their uniforms, toting a driver’s license will be unnecessary and, when adopted by the neighborhood pub, junior’s fake ID is toast.
Please pass the power
Two way charging, or the ability for your phone to charge other devices, presently available in the newest Samsung Galaxy smartphones, will be coming soon to the iPhone. Analysts expect battery size and capacity in newer phones to increase to support this “mothership” configuration. MacRumors
dis-rup-shun: Bigger mobile battery packs will spur development of even more hungry cord-free appliances, following the success of AirPods and competitors. Expect a new class of wireless Bluetooth speakers, additional wearables, smokeless cigarettes, and even smart glasses that now have a more persistent power source and can piggy-back on the smartphone while you are on the go.
Toyota’s Cue3 and Duke’s Zion Williamson — not perfect
A Toyota robot called Cue3 made 5 of 8 3-point shots in a technology demonstration. Using a series of sensors that identify the rim, position the torso and the arms, then calculate the motion required to shoot, the robot was not as accurate as in its pregame warm-ups. Washington Post
dis-rup-shun: Despite impressive gains in robotics, note that successes have been for specific tasks, such as painting undercarriages, vacuuming floors and shooting basketball 3-pointers. Cue3 is unable to dribble, walk or run and combining those tasks is several years away. If Toyota’s technology makes 63% of 3 point attempts, can it build an autonomous car that makes the right stops, starts and turns 100% of the time? I think I will wait.
Leviton’s smart Wifi breaker is a vision of the future
Leviton’s new IOT Load Center is a home breaker box with snap in WiFi breakers that can be controlled through a home’s WiFi network. Using Leviton’s smart home mobile app, all circuits can be switched, managed and remotely monitored . CEPro
dis-rup-shun: This is perhaps the most exciting smart home product I have seen in a long time, and a sure sign that smart home has moved beyond novelty. Today’s wall worts, multi-protocol hubs, retrofit plugs, switches, sockets and surface mounted sensors can be unattractive, clumsy and too complex for many. Leviton puts home automation in the hands of electricians and software developers and creates a platform (your home wiring) on which solutions providers such as Amazon, SmartThings, People Power, and Google Nest can build elegant multi-vendor solutions. With an applications interface that other vendors can address, Leviton will make smart homes as standard to new homes as power windows are in new cars.