Deep Learning

A digital model overlaid on a real hand, showing just how well the FingerTrak system can predict the positions of a wearer's fingers. At the bottom right, a robot hand copies the wearer

Wearables

Thermal camera bracelet reads your wrist to track your fingers

Capturing the complexities of the human hand is very tricky. Now engineers have developed a new wearable system that uses thermal sensors to accurately predict hand positions, with potential applications in VR, robotics and translating sign language.

The Sightbit system will soon be put to the test at Palmachim National Park, in Israel

Outdoors

AI system designed to aid – or perhaps replace – human lifeguards

Lifeguards do play a vital role in the prevention of drownings, but at busy beaches, they can't always keep track of all the swimmers at all times. That's where Sightbit is made to come in, as it uses AI to catch what lifeguards may miss.

A preliminary step in the process, with the original video visible at right

Science

System uses smartphone video to produce detailed 3D facial models

Ordinarily, if you want to create a lifelike 3D digital model of someone's face, a 3D scanner and/or multiple cameras are required. Now, however, scientists from Carnegie Mellon University have created a system that lets a smartphone do the job.

Astro utilizes a deep neural network to learn new tasks through a process of trial and error

Robotics

Astro robo-dog packs an AI-enabled "brain" in its 3D-printed head

We've already seen several dog-like quadruped robots, which move by walking with their four backward-bending legs. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University are now getting in on the act, with their artificially-intelligent (and dog-headed) Astro robot.

The distinctive boundaries of the image of this cat give away the fact that it was digitally added to the photo

Good Thinking

Learning from photos, a deep neural network identifies deepfakes

They're known as deepfakes – photos or videos that have been very convincingly manipulated to depict people saying or doing things that they never actually said or did. They're potentially quite the problem, so an experimental new deep neural network has been designed to spot them.

The system incorporates a camera mounted above the crossing light

Good Thinking

Smart pedestrian crossing system forgoes buttons for cameras

Starting at the end of next year, some of Vienna's walk-light push-buttons will be disappearing from the city's pedestrian crossings. Instead, a new system will be trialled, that uses cameras and computers to visually detect when people wish to cross the road.

Mona Lisa comes to life thanks to Samsung's generative adversarial networks research

Computers

Samsung AI brings the Mona Lisa (or any other picture) to life

Using the latest trend in artificial intelligence – adversarial learning – Samsung has demonstrated that it can take a single image of a person and turn it into a talking head. And if watching the Mona Lisa come to life doesn't send chills down your spine, you need to check your pulse.

The new AI model identifies 31 percent of patients at the highest risk of developing breast cancer within five years

Science

MIT’s new AI model detects future breast cancer risk better than current models

A deep learning model, trained on thousands of mammograms, can now predict whether a person is at a high risk of developing breast cancer. Better than any current model, the new system can identify subtle changes in breast tissue and determine how likely cancer could develop within five years.

The VaakEye system accepts a live feed from all the security cameras on a premises, and uses AI processing to detect when somebody might be committing a crime

Good Thinking

Vaak's AI theft-detection system is already 81% accurate

Already deployed in over 50 stores around Japan, the VaakEye system constantly monitors security camera footage, detects suspicious activities and alerts staff, who can instantly review the footage and act on it. And the company is getting ready to launch Amazon-style auto-checkout as well.

Wayve co-founders Alex Kendall and Amar Shah. Their fast-learning AI autonomous car is now doing short trips on unfamiliar roads in the UK.

Automotive

After just 20 hours of training, Wayve's fast-learning AI car is already driving itself on unfamiliar roads

Forget large arrays of sensors and radars. Forget hard-coded road rules. British startup Wayve taught a car to teach itself to drive, and using only some cameras, a sat-nav and 20 hours' worth of experience, it's already driving itself short distances on unfamiliar UK roads.

Intel's new supercomputer, named Aurora, will be the first of a new generation of exascale systems when it boots up in 2021

Computers

Intel's next-gen supercomputer to usher in exascale era in 2021

Intel and the US Department of Energy will deliver the world’s first exascale supercomputer in 2021, boosting many different fields of research. Named Aurora, the new system will be a thousand times more powerful than the petascale generation that began in 2008 and is still in wide use today.

NEC says that accuracy rates of up to 90 percent have been recorded during testing

Computers

NEC recognition tech can spot people even when their faces are obscured

You might think you're safe from being spotted by a camera if your face is covered or turned away, but the latest developments in AI-powered recognition tech are coming for you. NEC has announced a system that can identify people who are partially obscured, or even facing the other way.