Kozminski Techblog

Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday, December 19 that he has achieved his goal of creating his personal assistant “Jarvis”, in tribute to artificial intelligence manufactured by Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. This machine can understand the Facebook founder’s demands, whether in writing, via the Facebook Messenger application, or via Oral Orders (thanks to an application he specially developed for the occasion).

Jarvis can control the light, heating, music, but also the front door of Mark Zuckerberg’s house. In his report, the founder of Facebook has faced several problems, not simple to solve.
Because if some equipment is more and more connected, like thermostats and lamps, this is not the case for all. If you are looking for a great place to stay, this is the place for you. More Was this review helpful? Yes Problem with this review? It was a great experience. We hope to see you again soon.
Mark Zuckerberg has also set up numerous cameras all over his home. They allow the person to find themselves in the right room, for example. Thanks to the recognition of faces, there is also an automatic entrance door, which only opens if the person is attending the Zuckerberg family.
If the founder of Facebook found the voice control interesting, it was also realized that it was sometimes better to write to his assistant, if only to not create a bizarre situation with his guests, he . One way of asserting subtly that personal assistants by cats, like those arriving on Messenger, have a future.

Making Jarvis asked him about 100 hours of work over the year, says Mark Zuckerberg. For now, it has not given the technical details of the project, but would like to publish the source code so that others can understand try … even use this basis to create a “new product”.
It must therefore be specified that the idea of ​​a house is automated, thanks to home automation, is not new. Before Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates had also built a house of the future, called Xanadu 2.0 … in 1997. But with the recent developments in artificial intelligence, this type of project is becoming more and more efficient and “Easy” to achieve.

References:

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/mark-zuckerberg-jarvis-ai
http://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/high-tech/intelligence-artificielle/le-pdg-de-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-presente-jarvis-son-valet-numerique-qui-fait-des-toasts_109303

How do we ever lived without drones? Now with the help of this device, we can obtain information in any environment and continents.

For example today we can watch videos from the construction of the new Apple campus, which began to build in 2013.

“This building looks like a spaceship. We have a goal to build the best office building in the world. “- These are the words of Steve Jobs, which are addressed to the consul of the city council in Cupertino.

And so, Apple Campus 2.

The central building is a four stroey ring with a giant park, located in the center, filled with hundreds of fruit trees. New footage shows some species of trees that grow in the open courtyard of the building. The new campus will also include areas for sports, it is 100, 000 square feet and a huge underground parking, with bike and walking paths.

The roof of the building is 65% of the solar cells. Apple seeks to create an autonomous structure, which will be completely powered by renewable energy sources.

Who knows, maybe we wait for Apple’s breakthrough product, and Apple in front of everyone making a revolution in the construction industry? Given that the construction business – it is the largest business in the world, it does not look so doubtful.

Sources: Wylsa.com

Mark Zuckerberg dreams of gadgets that allow us to read through thoughts and communicate through brainwaves.

A new secret research division created by Facebook last year is developing “brain-computer interface technology”, which is very similar to the phenomenon of telepathy seen in science fiction movies.

Several recent job offers listed by the Building 8 group of Facebook describe a project involving “brain imaging” and “data in electrophysiology” to create “the platform of

“One day I think we’ll be able to exchange rich thoughts using this technology,” Mark Zuckerberg said during a question-and-answer session in June 2015. “You’ll just have to think of something and your friends will Immediately feel it also if you wish “.

Cerebral imaging is an advanced scientific field that uses a variety of techniques to scan and understand what happens in the human brain, while haptic technology simulates the sense of touch through computers.

It is not yet known what kind of technology could finally allow Facebook to realize this dream. Other companies have used banners with special sensors to measure brain signals in the past, and Facebook may take a similar approach.

Such a product, which would not emerge any time soon, would represent a major step forward in the IT field and would place Facebook, the world’s largest social network, at the forefront of the intersection between technology and science. Little is known about Building 8, apart from its general mission to develop computer products to advance the Facebook project of “Connecting the World”.

References:
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-building-8-working-on-brain-computer-communication-platform-2017-1

A little movie showing what was the prototype of the first iPhone. Despite that it looks like first iphone, approach for interface design here is different.

There were 2 development teams, one led by the godfather of iPod Tony Fadell (he later resigned from Apple and started his own company Nest for the production of household appliances), the second led Scott Forstall (he also resigned from Apple, having been engaged in theater work).

Yes, here you will not see a full review of the interface or a prerelease version of the system, but it is interesting to see first steps to IOS.
Model P1, which is engaged in team Fadell, reminiscent of iPods last years. That only is the famous wheel about which few people remember in modern. We can say that this iPhone with the iPod OS inside. 10 years ago, according to Apple players went crazy in the same way as it is now on the iPhone, so Apple experimented with this option.

Model P2 is quite different, there is nothing beautiful in the menu, but it shows the principle of a future iOS separate paragraphs, there’s no scroll wheel.

Devices under the letter «P» – very early prototypes, they rarely even leave the walls of Apple offices, find them very difficult. They may outwardly resemble production models, but does not have anything to do with them in terms of performance. So here: Home button is in its infancy, all plastic and no glass screens unevenly treated edge.

Sources: Appleinsider, Sonnydickson

By now, we are increasingly destined to a world with much less interaction between human beings and fast food market is no exception.

McDonald’s has already started this process through its “touch easy order” or rather a touchscreen where you can order, pay (in case you pay by credit card), print the receipt and wait for your order is ready. In this situation there is still interaction between employees and consumers. You can see them into the kitchen, you may ask them something that you forgot, you can ask them some clarifications about ingredients or something like this, etc (I recommend this article to elaborate further McDonald’s position about the topic => http://www.businessinsider.com/what-self-serve-kiosks-at-mcdonalds-mean-for-cashiers-2015-8?IR=T). But, McDonald’s main goal of this is a more efficiency, to speed up ordering service.

Instead, “eatsa” has decided to completely remove interaction between consumers and “who stands behind the counter”. So, what is “eatsa” and what does it do?

Obviously it is the nth company founded in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 2015.
Currently the company has five stores, three of which on the West Coast in California and the other two on the East Coast in NY and in Washington D.C.

Which is the news? Eatsa offers a completely new  fast-food experience based on:

• Healthier food (Get more from your fast food. Better protein, more flavor, and always fresh. The company serves only meals based on quinoa);
• Customization;
• No interaction with employees;
• Taste (With craveable flavors you won’t believe, you can have a healthy addiction to fast food);
• Speed of service (No lines. No cashier. No nonsense. They’re engineered to get you in and out fast).

So, the experience consists in these steps:

1. you order your customized menu through the iPad;
2. you pay and take the receipt;
3. you wait for your order is ready;
4. when you read your name on the screen you can take your menu from the box assigned to you.
5. enjoy your meal.

A further advantage for the consumers might be that in this way people aren’t “under pressure” to order, because when you are at the fast food and you want to check the menu before ordering, cashiers often animate you to order faster. For many people may be an issue.

I think it is a nice and new idea. I like this concept of fast-food chain, it is a good and new alternative to the fast-fast chains that already operate in the market, especially for the food they serve.
They have followed the recent trend focused on eating healthier.
It may be a blockbuster. It all depends on what its competitors will do, especially if they want to copy this new concept that probably may not work on them or rather they probably have to change really slowly because their consumers are used to their current standard and consumers may not accept this change.

In the end I recommend you this article that offers a different point of view on this new food experience => http://www.forbes.com/sites/eveturowpaul/2016/09/27/why-eatsa-scares-me/#2a626b3e2f64

Sources:

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/eatsa#/entity

https://www.eatsa.com

Eatsa, A Futuristic Restaurant Where Robot Cubbies Serve Quinoa

In the shade of the company’s most recent innovations in the field of disguise, it is easy to overlook Volkswagen’s attempts to bring autonomously driving cars to the streets. Especially since everyone else seems to do the same thing and everyone else seems to do it so much better. Europeans love Tesla, Americans can’t get over the Mercedes F015 and “Google’s self-driving car” always delivers when a journalist doesn’t know what to write about.

Volkswagen is a bit late to the party. Last year they presented the Budd-E, an electronic van, that could drive autonomously if it existed, because what VW actually presented was a mere concept study. At a time when Google’s vehicles already got crashed by other cars, the Mercedes drove around in San Francisco and Tesla (S Model) and BMW (5er) have parts of the technology in their serial cars already.

One thing that is easily forgotten though is that autonomous driving will work infinitely better for every other car that also drives autonomously. The benefit for a city with only self-driving cars will be greater than the sum of benefits for the individual car owners, think traffic jams, resource efficiency, parking spaces and so on. And in case the future doesn’t hold Teslas, BMWs and Mercedeses for everyone, it will be Volkswagen’s job to deliver. Volkswagen analogously means ‘car for the people’. It is not so much about innovating but making innovation available and affordable. It is debatable whether its new 150 kW charger system is a step in that direction. In Germany it takes a while to find a 50 kW charger already, but it seems to be consensus among car producers to aim for 30 minute charging time for 80 percent battery life. There seems to be trust in the state concerning infrastructure development (within Europe that is).

The car Volkswagen presented at this year’s CES was basically a VW Bulli. A continuation of its old transporter series. My parents drove a fossilized, rusty version of that car when they were my age, the thought of the next generation driving a then old fully automated VW T11 on their road trips is actually more futuristic to me than a Swiss dentist in his Mercedes F. Innovation is for everyone.

NB: No camouflaged advertising for VW intended, everybody knows Toyota HiAce is the better car.

Everybody buys stuff online – it is a fact.

E-commerce became an integral part of our life styles. We love to buy stuff online because it’s cheap, easy and less time consuming than shopping in regular, brick and mortar stores. Just by few clicks from the smartphone we can buy practically anything, anytime, anywhere. Online or mobile shopping is very convenient but it also has its limitations.

“The primary drawback to online shopping is that many of the sensory elements that customers use to make their purchasing decisions are often lost. When shopping online, a customer cannot touch or feel an item, see how it works, or know how it will fit in their home.”

This lack of proper visualization is often the main reason why people decide to take this effort and go to offline store to buy stuff. But what if e-commerce companies already have solution for that?

You bet they do! Augmented Reality (AR) is the answer. Through blending together virtual objects with surrounding environment, in real-time AR gives customer a possibility of seeing how selected product will fit.

IKEA augmented reality catalogue

Yesterday during press conference at CES 2017 ASUS introduced ZenFone AR, a smartphone that contains a TriCam system for immersive and high-quality AR experiences.

ASUS ZenFone AR

One particularly interesting application of this smartphone was shown at CES and it is connected with e-commerce. In collaboration with clothing mogul GAP, ASUS presented augmented reality shopping application that provides user with a digital mannequin to try different clothing. User is able to try various clothing pieces in all available sizes right on his own avatar. How cool is that?

Sources:

https://www.dezeen.com/2013/08/05/ikea-launches-augmented-reality-catalogue/

http://www.augment.com/blog/future-augmented-reality-online-shopping/

http://www.augment.com/blog/vr-vs-ar-in-online-shopping/

http://uploadvr.com/gap-google-asus-ar-shopping/

https://www.asus.com/Phone/ZenFone-AR-ZS571KL/

http://tylko.com/