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More insights for AI research.

The complex multi-stage architecture of cortical visual pathways provides the neural basis for efficient visual object recognition in humans. However, the stage-wise computations therein remain poorly understood. Here, we compared temporal (magnetoencephalography) and spatial (functional MRI) visual brain representations with representations in an artificial deep neural network (DNN) tuned to the statistics of real-world visual recognition. We showed that the DNN captured the stages of human visual processing in both time and space from early visual areas towards the dorsal and ventral streams. Further investigation of crucial DNN parameters revealed that while model architecture was important, training on real-world categorization was necessary to enforce spatio-temporal hierarchical relationships with the brain. Together our results provide an algorithmically informed view on the spatio-temporal dynamics of visual object recognition in the human visual brain.

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Creative way to treat Cataracts.

What affects 20 million people, robs the global economy of billions of dollars and can be fixed with a five-minute procedure?

The answer is cataract blindness. The disease, which begins with clouding of the eyes and can lead to loss of vision without treatment, will probably afflict 12 million more people by 2020, as a shortage of skilled doctors limits access to care in developing nations, according to the Rand Corporation.

Jim Ueltschi wants to change that. Through his nonprofit HelpMeSee, he wants to train 30,000 people for a procedure to remove the impairment using a virtual-reality simulator that replicates the human eye and feel of live surgery. Restoring vision to the “avoidably blind,” as the afflicted are often described, could inject $517 billion into the world’s poor economies over a decade at a cost of $128 billion, according to reports by PricewaterhouseCoopers commissioned by the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Continue reading “Virtual Reality Could Be The Next Big Thing In Curing Cataract Blindness” | >

Cannot wait for the new AR contacts.

NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — This new IDTechEx report is focused on how the market for smart glasses and contact lenses is going to evolve in the next decade, based on the exciting research and developments efforts of recent years along with the high visibility some projects and collaborations have enjoyed. The amount of visibility this space is experiencing is exciting developers of a range of allied technologies into fast-tracking/focusing their efforts, as well as creating devices and components designed specifically to serve this emerging industry.

Some of the newest devices that have ignited significant interest in smart eyewear are going above and beyond the conventional definition of a smart object; they are in effect, portable, wearable computers with a host of functionalities, specially designed apps etc. that add new ways for the wearer to interact with the world along with smartphone capabilities, health tracking options and many other features. The features of some of the more advanced devices have been based on and have sparked worldwide innovation efforts aiming to create an ecosystem of components that will enable what is bound to be a revolution in form factor for wearables.

User interface is probably one of the most significant features in this revolution. As interfacing with computers undergoes a constant evolution, allowing for wider adoption as interaction becomes more “natural”, smartglasses are bringing about the next big step in this ever-changing space. From keyboards to touchscreens to cameras & positioning/location/infrared sensors, a new wave of innovation is making interfacing with computers gesture-based, and nowhere else is that more obvious than in eye-worn computing.

Continue reading “AR & VR Smartglasses and Functional Contact Lenses 2016−2026” | >

Interesting

Scientists have implanted a wireless device the size of a peppercorn inside mice to stimulate nerves.

The technique combines optogenetics—using light to control the activity of the brain—with a newly developed method for wirelessly powering implanted devices. It’s described in a paper published in Nature Methods.

“This is a new way of delivering wireless power for optogenetics,” says Ada Poon, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University. “It’s much smaller and the mouse can move around during an experiment.”

Continue reading “A tiny device inside of mice sends light to nerves” | >

Maybe an opportunity to hire some pretty talented women in the mix this time. If you think about it, women are very strong in communications & multitasking which is perfect to lead Twitter’s product innovation; and not to mention what women could do for wearables innovation. Some amazing female execs in wireless (ISPs & Devices), online communications and marketing firms, Google and Microsoft has some amazing female leaders, etc. Tons of capable women that could really make some magic happen for Twitter.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has confirmed the departures of Twitter execs, who oversaw the product, engineering, media and HR teams.

Was really hoping to talk to Twitter employees about this later this week, but want to set the record straight now: pic.twitter.com/PcpRyTzOlW

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This is a bit concerning ; it is feeling a lot like 1972 again when my mother and sisters took a special trip to D.C. for a special meeting and event.

When I moved to the Bay Area in 2007 to run the Wikimedia Foundation, the first thing that struck me was the eerie absence of women. I’d spent most of my working life at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., where we used to joke that women took power when the men went off to war in 1939, and afterward refused to give it back. At the CBC, easily half my colleagues, regardless of their gender, were overt, confident, unashamed feminists.

The Bay Area tech community was different. In my first three months I had dozens of meetings with tech executives, entrepreneurs and investors, and the only women I met were scheduling the meetings and bringing drinks to the boardrooms. I started asking myself what year it was in Silicon Valley for women. Had we reached the point where we could wear pantsuits and play golf, or was it still the Mad Men era?

Women make up a tiny fraction, roughly 15%, of people working in technical roles in the tech industry. And amazingly, that percentage is dropping, not rising. Multiple studies have found that the proportion of women in the tech workforce peaked in about 1989 and has been steadily dropping ever since.

Continue reading “Why women are leaving the tech industry in droves” | >

DoD spending $12 to $15 billion of its FY17 budget on small bets that includes NextGen tech improvements — WOW. Given the DARPA new Neural Engineering System Design (NESD); guessing we may finally have a Brain Mind Interface (BMI) soldier in the future.

The Defense Department will invest the $12 billion to $15 billion from its Fiscal Year 2017 budget slotted for developing a Third Offset Strategy on several relatively small bets, hoping to produce game-changing technology, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

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“According to many industry observers, we are today on the cusp of a Fourth Industrial Revolution. Developments in previously disjointed fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing and genetics and biotechnology are all building on and amplifying one another…”

The World Economic Forum (WEF) published an analysis today on the technological and sociological drivers of employment.

The report, titled The Future of Jobs, validates the accelerating impact of technology on global employment trends, and also highlights serious concerns that job growth in certain industries is still very much outpaced by large scale declines in other industries.

The report surveyed senior executives and chief human resources officers of various companies “representing more than 13 million employees across 9 broad industry sectors in 15 major developed and emerging economies and regional economic areas.”

Continue reading “The World Economic Forum On The Future Of Jobs” | >