How Tech Is Keeping up With the Times
By: Quantious Team
Tags: Slack, VR, AI, Technology, Tech

Emerging Tech Roundup — December 04

The Quantious team’s top picks for timely trending news in the tech world.

This week in tech: AI helps predict severe pneumonia in Covid patients, Facebook acquires Kustomer, Salesforce buys Slack, Microsoft and Code.org partner to teach AI + ethics, facial recognition software upgrades to work on people wearing masks, Google AI creates an endless loop of Billie Eilish covers, a senior living facility brings in VR for its residents, and ARtillery Intelligence looks at the VR Forecast from 2019–2024.

AI Predicts 96% of COVID-19 Pneumonia Cases That Will Require Intensive Care

(Science Alert, November 29)

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers developed an algorithm that predicts if COVID-19 patients will require additional treatment, including ICU intervention. Using the AI-based tool, medical centers will be able to better determine the right course of treatment for each patient. The tool makes its prediction based on CT images of the patient’s lungs, as well as other data like lab results, vital signs, and demographic information. Researchers believe that this tool can be used for not only COVID-19 but for other lung diseases as well.

Facebook to Acquire Start-Up Kustomer as It Faces Antitrust Glare

(The New York Times, November 30)

Facebook is at it again, acquiring a customer relationship management (CRM) company called Kustomer. This $1 billion deal aims to improve the company’s social commerce offerings. By using Kustomer’s AI technology, Facebook is looking to analyze customer messages and generate replies via chatbots. Kustomer gathers customer data from several different avenues, which companies using Kustomer’s services can then see in a centralized view for convenience and research purposes.

Salesforce Buys Slack in a $27.7B Megadeal

(TechCrunch, December 1)

Having recently passed $20 billion in annual revenue, CRM leader, Salesforce, announced its acquisition of Slack in a $27.7 billion deal. As a tool for enterprise collaboration, Slack is a strategic acquisition for Salesforce to enable communication among customers and partners. The deal aims to put Salesforce at the top of the pack against competitors like Microsoft with its Teams product. Slack is likely to help Salesforce emerge as a leader in this space by integrating easily with other enterprise software and giving customers a centralized location to work and interact.

Microsoft, Code.org Partner to Teach AI + Ethics from Elementary to High School

(Code.org, December 1)

Artificial Intelligence is spreading to more aspects of everyday life — from smart speakers to self-driving cars, we’re only just beginning to discover its potential use cases. To help tap into the potential of this technology, Microsoft recently donated $7.5 million to Code.org to provide a comprehensive approach to teaching elementary and high school students about AI. Exploring not only how AI works, but also the ethical considerations that accompany this technology and its use cases, the curriculum aims to help students explore the wide-reaching impacts of AI.

Facial Recognition is Getting Better at Making Matches Around Face Masks

(CNET, December 1)

Facial recognition algorithms have improved, better recognizing people’s faces while they’re wearing masks. However, according to research conducted by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), error rates are higher when masks cover more of a person’s face. Round masks generate fewer errors than lengthier ones, and black and red masks cause more errors than light blue and white masks. Since May, NIST has been analyzing independent test findings from different facial recognition algorithms, and they found that error rates are still higher with masks, ranging near 5%, while errors without masks hover around 0.3%.

Google’s AI Experiment Syncs every ‘Bad Guy’ Song Cover in an Endless Video

(The Next Web, December 2)

Google has been experimenting with AI-based musical technology, and they have created an infinite version of Billie Eilish’s hit song, “Bad Guy.” Using YouTube‘s ContentID system, the newly-developed tool syncs all of the YouTube covers of the song in clips sequentially, until the song ends. To accomplish this, Google trained a recurrent neural network, technology often used in speech recognition, to play different cover videoclips in a new sequence every time the song repeats.

Commonwealth Senior Living Brings MyndVR’s Virtual Reality Program to its 33 Communities

(Yahoo Finance, December 3)

Commonwealth Senior Living has partnered with MyndVR to bring its virtual reality program to all seniors living across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee. MyndVR was designed specifically for seniors to immerse them in a variety of fun virtual experiences. With it, seniors will now be able to enjoy a variety of experiences — from pets to music, traveling, art and more. The best part is that they’ll be able to do so all from the comfort of their homes.

VR Global Revenue Forecast, 2019–2024

(ARtillery Intelligence, November 30)

ARtillery Intelligence conducts market sizing several times a year centered around virtual reality. In their latest report, they took a focused approach to study VR solely, exploring the revenue outlook for key categories like VR hardware, software, consumer and enterprise. Overall, their outlook toward VR is cautiously optimistic. The full report includes financial models that cover things like unit sales, company revenues, pricing trends, market trajectory and more.