Lifeboat Foundation

UK-based design agency Layer has teamed up with Chinese electric car maker Nio to create a smart scooter that can learn where you want to go.

Once “Pal” learns your preferred routes, the smart scooter can autonomously take you to your destination. On its website, Layer calls the scooter a “near-future prototype” that “embraces AI and machine learning to offer flexible and convenient ‘last mile’ travel.”

It’s a stunning example of industrial design that could make short-distance travel much more convenient — whether it will ever actually be sold to the public or not.

Continue reading “Autonomous Scooter Uses AI to Learn Your Favorite Routes” »

We need more than engineers and computer scientists shaping the future of AI.

By Alex Vikoulov

The number of staff members and students who were under quarantine on Friday was up by about 400 from the day before, according to the authorities.

What do the inventions of the future look like?

This article is the first part in a series on smart cities. See more from Christine Wong.

Smart cities are coming under siege.

In Songdo, South Korea, clusters of concrete high-rises sit empty, waiting for an influx of foreign workers that hasn’t materialized. The $40 billion smart city, which was to be completed last year, is only 70 percent finished. Just 100,000 people live in Songdo so far, well short of its target population of 300,000.

Continue reading “Building the smart cities of the future” »

Researchers close in on how low levels of a kind of RNA may trigger lupus — offering hope for future treatments for the autoimmune disease.

We look back at every year’s Hype Cycle this millennium to see which emerging technologies captured our imagination.