Welcome to our weekly selection of digital innovation news. Based on our opinionated automated token based selection algorithm we present some top innovation news to get you thinking, debating and collaboration on making our world better.
1 Microsoft to acquire Bonsai in move to build ‘brains’ for autonomous systems
While envisioned in science fiction for a long time, truly intelligent autonomous systems are still elusive and remain a holy grail. The company is building a general-purpose, deep reinforcement learning platform especially suited for enterprises leveraging industrial control systems such as robotics, energy, HVAC, manufacturing and autonomous systems in general.
To achieve this inflection point in AI’s growth, traditional machine learning methodologies aren’t enough. The reality today is that training autonomous systems that function amidst the many unforeseen situations in the real world is very hard and requires deep expertise in AI — essentially making it unscalable.
2 How Can Neural Network Similarity Help Us Understand Training and Generalization?
We also found that trained networks with identical structures but different learning rates converge to distinct clusters with similar performance, but highly dissimilar representations. Intuitively, this result suggests that while there are many different ways to memorize the training data (resulting in greater CCA distances), there are fewer ways to learn generalizable solutions. We found that groups of different generalizing networks consistently converged to more similar representations (especially in later layers) than groups of memorizing networks (see figure below). CCA distance was calculated between groups of networks trained on real CIFAR-10 labels (“Generalizing”) or randomized CIFAR-10 labels (“Memorizing”) and between pairs of memorizing and generalizing networks (“Inter”). However, CCA can also be applied to calculate representational similarity in RNNs, both over the course of training and over the course of a sequence.
3 Faster analysis of medical images
The paper presents a mathematical model that validates the algorithm’s accuracy using something called a Dice score, a standard metric to evaluate the accuracy of overlapped images. Medical image registration is a common technique that involves overlaying two images, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, to compare and analyze anatomical differences in great detail. If a patient has a brain tumor, for instance, doctors can overlap a brain scan from several months ago onto a more recent scan to analyze small changes in the tumor’s progress. In a pair of upcoming conference papers, MIT researchers describe a machine-learning algorithm that can register brain scans and other 3-D images more than 1,000 times more quickly using novel learning techniques. In doing so, it acquires information about how to align images and estimates some optimal alignment parameters.
4 Plans for new blockchain phone revealed
Do blockchain phones represent the telecoms of the future? HTC plans on creating a native blockchain network, in which each Exodus phone will act as a node. We have already seen a wide variety of financial and retail services offered using blockchain technology. The Exodus is not the first blockchain phone to be introduced. Sirin Labs is developing the Finney – a blockchain powered smartphone and PC. The release date for the Finney has not yet been set.
5 How to control robots with brainwaves and hand gestures
But what if we could control robots more intuitively, using just hand gestures and brainwaves? By monitoring brain activity, the system can detect in real-time if a person notices an error as a robot does a task. Meanwhile, Rus’ team harnessed the power of brain signals called “error- related potentials” (ErrPs), which researchers have found to naturally occur when people notice mistakes. Getting robots to do things isn’t easy: Usually, scientists have to either explicitly program them or get them to understand how humans communicate via language. To create the system the team harnessed the power of electroencephalography (EEG) for brain activity and electromyography (EMG) for muscle activity, putting a series of electrodes on the users’ scalp and forearm.
6 Shopping centre debuts vision for the future of retail
It looks at transforming the entire retail destination to cater to visitors’ wellness, entertainment, retail and leisure needs. From smart loos to sensory gardens, Destination 2028 looks at innovation in every aspect of a retail destination. Is the future of retail a wider vision than the shopping experience itself? What other technologies can shopping centres adopt to improve visitor experience?
7 User satisfaction with train fares: A comparative analysis in five Australian cities
Two data sources are used: a nation-wide survey, and objective information on the train fare structure in each of the targeted cities. An intercity comparison reveals that a city’s train fare structure also affects a traveller’s perceived satisfaction with their train fare. Mazharul Haque, Simon Washington, Paul Hyland In the public transport industry, travellers’ perceived satisfaction is a key element in understanding their evaluation of, and loyalty to ridership. In particular, this study reveals that female respondents tend to be less satisfied with their train fare than their male counterparts. In addition, notable heterogeneity is detected across respondents’ perceived satisfaction with train fare, specifically with regard to the one-way cost and the waiting time incurred.
(PLOS ONE)
8 “Artificial blubber” protects divers in frigid water
Normally, diver thermal protection in very cold water is by use of dry suits rather than wetsuits. Strano and Buongiorno found that if the trapped air is replaced with xenon or krypton, the material’s insulating properties increase dramatically. Finding ways of extending that survival time without hampering mobility has been a priority for the U.S. Navy and research divers, as a pair of MIT engineering professors learned during a recent program that took them to a variety of naval facilities. The work was supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and the U.S Department of Energy.
They learned about the military’s particular needs and were asked to design a technological project to address one of those needs.
9 Automotive Grade Linux Powers New Solutions for Commercial and Consumer Vehicles
Automotive Grade Linux is hosted at The Linux Foundation. In order to bring these new commercial solutions to life, Mercedes-Benz Vans is developing a next-generation onboard operating system using Automotive Grade Linux (AGL).
10 New Voting System Vulnerabilities in Congo
We call on the DRC government to allow independent technical examination of their use of this system and to commit to mitigating any serious vulnerabilities found before such a system is deployed in Congo. As detailed in the report released today, the DRC machines appear to be the same machines that Miru attempted to sell to Argentina. Reading headlines, it might surprise some that the United States is not the only country with serious voting technology challenges. The Sentry worked with Argentinian security researchers Javier Smaldone ( @ mis2centavos) and Alfredo Ortega ( @ ortegaalfredo) and myself to examine what little public information is available about this system.
(CDT)