Kozminski Techblog

The German company Volocopter has just announced the completion of the first test flight of its VoloConnect electric flying taxi. 

I think we’ve all noticed that the traffic jams are becoming more bothering every year. Commuting time keeps getting longer and people are wasting their valuable time.

Perhaps this problem will be solved soon by switching to air transport. More and more companies are working on flying taxis, and one of them is the German company Volocopter.

For several years, its experts have been working on an entirely new electrically driven VoloConnect flying vehicle. The concept, which can accommodate four passengers, just completed its maiden test flight, lasting 134 seconds. The aircraft achieved a speed of 65 km/h in forward flight and 45 km/h in sideways flight. The unit’s aerodynamics and performance were put to the test in real-world scenarios. However, this was not the vehicle’s first flight; it has previously completed three.

The vehicle’s range is only 96 kilometers and its top speed is around 250 kilometers per hour. It was not designed for long travels, but rather for short flights to destinations outside of major cities. You won’t need a private pilot, because the machine will fly entirely on its own.

Commercial operations of all Volocopter aircraft models will be managed via the VoloIQ digital platform. It is designed to handle all operational tasks, including passenger and aircraft servicing. According to Volocopter officials, the total market for all three of its flying vehicle models is potentially worth over $ 290 billion.

The vehicle will enter service in 2026.

Wouldn’t you be scared to take an autonomous flying taxi?

https://www.volocopter.com/solutions/voloconnect/

Squad Mobility has just officially announced its project – a two-person small car, which, among other things, has photovoltaic cells located on the roof.

Squad is a solar-powered tiny electric car with a simplistic design and is intended to be a low-cost alternative to other electric vehicles. It has retractable doors, wide windows and a solar panel on the roof that generates enough energy to drive 20 kilometers each day. It should be sufficient for average daily commuting. There is also a replacement battery that extends the range to 100 kilometers. The batteries can be charged at home from the socket or replaced at charging stations. Two engines will deliver 5 kilometers of power and a peak speed of 45 kilometers per hour.

Behind the design of Squad stands Mateusz Tomiczek –  Polish designer, who collaborated on the creation of electric cars before, such as the Lightyear One. Mateusz wanted the vehicle to maintain an attractive price and to be able to compete with two-wheelers. The car was a great stylistic challenge also due to the interior, which needed be as functional and simple as possible, and made of materials that are easy to clean.

Squad is much smaller than classic cars, which on average take up to 10 sqm of parking space. It only needs a quarter of this space, which means that up to three such cars could stand side by side in one parking space. The regulations of most European cities, according to the manufacturer, allow Squad to park on motorbike parking spaces.

The company is also working on a four-person version, but no date has been set for when it will be shown. The car will be offered for EUR 6,250 at first.

Personally, the design does not convince me, however Squad could be a great solution for moving around a large city, where finding a parking space is almost impossible. What do you think about that idea?

https://www.squadmobility.com

Have you ever been bored and start thinking what your friends are doing at the moment? Or maybe you were wondering if any of your friends is in your neighborhood right now?

BeReal is a new social media platform, where all your friends need to post a picture at the exact same time. The app allows its users to post only one picture a day without any preparation and editing. It was developed in 2019 and started gaining popularity this year. According to Apptopia, the number of active users increased by 315% since the beginning of the year. It is used mostly in Europe, however the data.ai report showed that it is rank on the fort place right after Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest in mobile apps downloads in the UK and USA.

As a BeReal user, you will get only one notification per day inviting you to take a photo. Within 2 minutes you are obliged to capture and share what you are doing at the moment. All your friends also get the notification and are posting at the exact time. 

Another interesting feature of the application is the possibility to react with RealMojis to your friends’ posts. The RealMojis are your photos, which you took while checking the posts. 

BeReal was developed as an app that will not make anyone famous like Instagram or TikTok does. It will not affect youngsters’ mental health, because there is no possibility to post edited pictures. Everyone must be real.

However, BeReal did not state their privacy goal and that is why some users are afraid that the app is storing their personal data to create a detailed profile of their daily routines.

Below you can see actual screenshots from the application.

What do you think about BeReal? Isn’t it better than Instagram, where everyone is faking their life and editing their pictures?

https://bere.al/en

https://www.axios.com/2022/04/11/bereal-gen-zs-favorite-app-authenticity

https://blog.apptopia.com/social-app-of-the-moment-bereal-grows-users-315-ytd

Probably all of you heard about image generation, transferring styles or generating images based on sketches. But have you ever heard of generating images from a text description?

Now it is possible thanks to DALL-E 2. It is the second, improved version of the AI system created by programmers from Open AI. This non-profit research laboratory was set up in 2015 by a group of founders, including well known Elon Musk. 

DALL-E 2 can easily generate realistic, original images and art from a description in natural language. For now, the program is not accessible to the public due to the dangers it can cause. It might help with spreading fake news or cause copyright scandals. However, for sure it will find application on the commercial market. Just imagine how easy it would be for customers to create endless arrangements based on the products they choose. Online shopping would become so simple!

Below you can see some examples of images generated by artificial intelligence:

DALL-E 2 can also add elements to already existing images. While making those realistic edits, it takes into account even the shadows and different textures. 

Personally, I cannot wait to try DALL-E 2 myself and see what it can generate from my text descriptions. And what about you? Aren’t you curious how it will revolutionize the photography and graphics market?

I encourage you to visit the Open AI website and check what DALL-E 2 is capable of!

https://openai.com/dall-e-2/

Are you a lucky owner of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies? Or maybe you are still wondering if the new digital money is worth to invest in? 

If you are a fan of exploring the world then you should definitely know how to turn your digital assets into rest and vacation. As the popularity of cryptocurrencies is growing every day, the travel companies realised that it is profitable to accept crypto payments. Of course, the debit cards connected to cryptocurrency portfolios do exist. However, to avoid extra fees for transactions, it is crucial to know the companies, which accept the cryptocurrency payments directly.

Firstly, it is possible to book the crypto-travel via an online travel agency called Travala. It works similarly to Booking, but accepts payments with crypto.

It is also possible to pay for a flight ticket with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Latvian airline Air Baltic was the first one to accept payments with Bitcoin in 2014. Now, it accepts also Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dogecoin and four USD-pegged stablecoins.

Many exclusive hotels like The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts, Sri Panwa Phuket, S Hotels & Resorts, The Chedi Andermatt and The Kessler Collection also accept cryptocurrency bookings. For instance to book a room in The Pavilions all the future guest needs to do is email the hotel reservation team directly and they will send a payment link. Then guests can complete the payment details from their wallets via QR code or wallet number. The hotel accepts payments with 37 different cryptocurrencies. 

Another interesting travel location is the Bitcoin Beach. It is the first sustainable Bitcoin economic ecosystem located on the coast of El Salvador. It helps small local businesses, which would never qualify to accept credit card payments. Travellers can take surfing classes there, eat local cuisine and pay for everything with Bitcoin.

Would you consider paying for your travel with cryptocurrency?

Reading Time: 2 minutesWhy use Photoshop when you can create artificial models?

If you’re planning on opening a new fashion brand and are worried about costs of advertising and fashion campaigns, don’t panic! There is a solution.

Artificial Talent is the first model agency creating print models using deep artificial intelligence and 3D art. The CGI body and an AI face can be chosen from the catalog or designed especially for the clients needs. The agency offers also face swapping, which is useful for international brands with customers from different regions. Artificial Talent can create an artificial environment and place a model in various exotic locations. 

How does it work?

First the company receives clothing samples from their client. Then they put the samples on a mannequin and isolate them from the body. They insert the clothes on a CGI body chosen before by the client and merge it with an AI face and artificial environment.

Premium campaign with unlimited pose, face, body type and background choice costs $799 (3 085,06 PLN). The basic one with 10 poses and 5 faces is a cost of $199 (768,37 PLN).

I think that artificial models are a great technological improvement. They help brands save time and money, are photorealistic, can ‚wear’ an unlimited amount of clothes, can be easily modified, can’t ruin your brand’s reputation and can be created exclusively for you. 

Are you willing to buy clothes promoted by artificial models? Or maybe they will appear in your future brand’s campaign?

References:

https://www.artificialtalent.co/#what

https://www.artificialtalent.co/whitepaper/

Reading Time: 3 minutesDo you know that 53% of Polish people would like to have a video consultation with a doctor? 

As it might sound unreal, some countries have already implemented virtual hospitals, where professionals can diagnose, treat or send patients to adequate specialists.

Health Village

The first country, which came up with this idea was Finland. In 2016 Finnish university hospitals together with Innofactor, Microsoft and Tieto as technology partners started a project called The Virtual Hospital 2.0 (Virtuaalisairaala 2.0). They were working on a new service- the terveyskylä.fi, which is translated into Virtual or Health Village. 

Health Village is a digital hospital, where all of us can check health information without charge or get support. It was created together with doctors and patients and that makes the service easier to use. Health Village is designed especially for monitoring life quality, lifestyle and symptoms. It also helps people struggling with long-time illnesses. To join a specific digital care path patients need to have a current doctor’s referral.

In the Health Village you can find 115 specific digital care paths and 32 hubs, which can be divided into two categories. First category focuses more on a specific illness or disease (for example Joint Hub, Heat Hub or Cancer Hub). There are also hubs helping various patients groups (for instance Surgery or Rehabilitation Hub). Every hub includes information, service guidance, self-care programs and symptoms navigators.

Health Village was developed using cloud services and generic service frameworks. It helps to quickly create new treatment paths. Symptom navigators are operating by rule and process engines. Health Village is accessible through a browser or a mobile device.

Currently Health Village is available for international users and the number of monthly visitors averages 615 000.

Visit their website and read more!

Samitivej Virtual Hospital

Another online hospital was created in 2019 in Thailand. Samitivej Virtual Hospital is a telemedicine application available through mobile devices. It is accessible from any place, at any time- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It helps patients to easily get in touch with health specialists by video calls or online chats. 

Samitivej Virtual Hospital is available to everyone, not only Samitivej Hospital Group patients. 15 minutes of online consultation costs 500 baht- 14,85 euro.

Please note that virtual hospitals can not be used in emergency situations and do not provide official medical diagnosis.

Visit their website and read more!

PwC, Digital Poland and IQS report says that 79% of Polish people would agree to share their anonymous medical tests to scientific institutions. Maybe it means that Poland is ready for its first virtual hospital? 

References:

https://www.pwc.pl/pl/publikacje/2019/technologia-w-slubie-spoleczenstwu-raport-pwc-fundacji-digital-poland-grupy-iqs.html

https://www.virtuaalisairaala2.fi/en/

https://www.tieto.com/en/newsroom/all-news-and-releases/trade-releases/2019/06/introducing-health-village-the-new-service-to-support-multiple-patient-groups-and-healthcare-professionals/

https://www.samitivejhospitals.com/samitivej-virtual-hospital/#

https://healthmanagement.org/c/it/news/virtual-hospital-app-becomes-reality

Reading Time: 2 minutesAre you interested in real estate market? Or maybe you want to evaluate your old apartment? 

If your answer is yes, then you should familiarize yourself with Centarium- the biggest real estate database in Poland. 

Data Base for agents is a variable source of information about real estate market, which is being built and updated on a regular basis since many years. It provides for an access to data about completed transactions. It contains information from notarial deeds on more than 4 million transactions of land sales, apartments, houses and commercial premises. For 5 years Cenatorium has been providing solutions based on data, used by most economic sectors and individual clients. The company connects experience and knowledge about the dynamics of economic phenomena in the sector with advanced technology data processing. It creates new IT solutions, like analytic tools based on machine learning systems, which search through big data collection and also performs services for banks in the process of decision-making, mortgage credit approval decisions, wallet monitoring, and forecast model. They also deliver system solutions essential for the proper valuation of real land, properties, and easement for big infrastructural and energy companies. The company cooperates with developers, real estate agents and investment funds.

In October 2017 Deloitte placed Cenatorium in the 50 fastest technology developing innovative companies in the Middle Europe.

With the Cenatorium database you will be able to easily and fast determine the optimal price of the property and gain information which your client would be interested in. You will also gain strong and objective arguments in negotiations.

To get an access into Cenatorium database you need to buy a certain package which depends on number of searches and transactions. It is different for Warsaw, because you will pay more for it, as it is the capital and the biggest city in Poland. For every agglomeration you can buy one package which you choose.

Urban.one

Cenatorium created also a platform, where everyone can make an evaluation for only PLN 29. Urban.one is a revolutionary and the largest tool on the Polish market, which allows instant analysis of the value of an apartment based on millions of sale prices on the real estate market. In addition, urban.one provides a comprehensive analysis of the property’s surroundings, such as the level of security, the expected benefit of short-term rentals and the frequency of property sales. The valuation is supplemented by aggregated information on the value and distribution of real estate sale prices in a given city. Obtained result determines the approximate property market value, established by algorithms and statistic models, with usage of the database of real transactions on a certain local market as primary data.

Don’t hesitate to visit urban.one website and create your own evaluation!

References:

Interview with Grzegorz Ignaciuk (Board Member) and Mateusz Chachulski (CTO)

https://cenatorium.pl

https://pl.linkedin.com/company/cenatorium-sp–z-o-o-

https://urban.one

https://urban.one/blog/

Reading Time: 3 minutesYou are probably aware that influencers these days play a significant role in marketing. They can promote your products by adding photos on their social medias or by showing with them publicly. It really does work, but on the other hand big companies can’t control what a public person is doing. What if an influencer gets embroiled in a scandal? It can ruin brand’s reputation.

That is why, to eliminate potential risks, companies started to use virtual influencers. They are defined as non-human online celebrities and are created by many digital artists. The main companies, which dominate this growing industry are Brud in California and ModelingCafe in Japan. 

Lil Miquela

The most popular computer generated image (CGI) influencer is Lil Miquela, which was created by Brud in 2016. Now, with 1,7 million followers on Instagram, she became a great marketing tool. Her posts are full of emotions, she even has a real boyfriend and best friends, which were created by the same company. Furthermore you can listen to her music on Spotify or watch her videos on YouTube.

You can follow her on Instagram at @lilmiquela.

Shudu

Created by photographer and 3D artist Cameron-James Wilson, Shudu is considered as a first digital supermodel. You can easily mistake her with a real human, because of her fashion campaigns. She can be spotted in photo sessions from all around the world. She worked for brands like Tiffany&Co or Fenty Beauty, but she is most known from Balmain’s Virtual Army.

You can follow her on Instagram at @shudu.gram.

Imma

Imma is a Japanese virtual influencer, created by ModelingCafe in 2018. What differs her from other artificial ‚colleagues’ is that her 3D animated head is transposed into the real body and background. 

You can follow her on Instagram at @imma.gram.

When it comes to influencers, the most important things are trust and realness. Are artificial influencers willing to give that to the audience? How can they connect with people if they do not feel anything, they do not have emotions? Their posts might sound real, but everyone knows that they are written by someone else.

Isn’t it to much? Maybe we don’t need to substitute humans in every field? Maybe in some business areas we are just better as real human beings? 

References:

https://itp.live/content/5994-cgi-virtual-influencers-2019

https://interestingengineering.com/9-virtual-influencers-taking-over-the-internet

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/virtual-influencers