AI & RoboticsNews

AR, VR, and AI startups win Verizon’s $1 million Built on 5G Challenge

During the 2019 CES, Verizon announced the Built on 5G Challenge, a nationwide search for solid 5G innovations that could be commercialized using its low latency, high-bandwidth millimeter wave 5G network. Today, the carrier announced three winners across the fields of AR, VR, and artificial intelligence, earning $1 million, $500,000, and $250,000 prizes, plus special 5G lab access to develop…
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AI & RoboticsNews

Directly raises $20 million to improve customer service with AI

According to CustomerTheromometer, 54% of people have higher expectations for customer service today than just one year ago. Antony Brydon, Jean Tessier, and Jeff Patterson argue that a degree of automation is required to keep up with demand. The three are cofounders of Directly, a San Francisco, California-based startup helping enterprise companies launch and train virtual agents that can double…
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AI & RoboticsNews

Microsoft’s Project Tokyo helps visually impaired users ‘see’ with AI and AR

The number of people of all ages who are visually impaired is estimated to be 285 million globally, of whom 39 million are blind. In an effort to provide assistance where it can, Microsoft in 2016 launched Project Tokyo, a partnership among researchers in the U.S., U.K., China, Japan, and India to explore technologies that might help those with impairments interact with the world around them. Four…
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AI & RoboticsNews

AI Weekly: Calls for facial recognition moratorium highlight need for protection from surveillance tech

The debate over whether to ban or place moratoriums on the use of facial recognition started last year in cities like San Francisco, but the debate reignited this week when Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he’s open to a moratorium on facial recognition. “It [facial recognition regulation] can be immediate, but maybe there’s a waiting period before we really think about how it’s…
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