World Economic Forum’s Strategic Intelligence Immersive Experiences spotlights FluxHouse™ for the Future of Smart Home
Fluxus is part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Innovators community, amongst four leading companies selected to participate in the Forum’s augmented reality pilot project. The World Economic Forum’s Strategic Intelligence Group has introduced the use of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) into its curated content offering for immersive experiences.
"Our digital future is becoming more interactive and spatial, so these first steps into the nascent world of immersive technologies through easily accessible augmented reality represent a paradigm shift towards a new type of user-interface for our interactions with both the physical and digital worlds." - Andrew Berkley, Lead, Immersive Technology and Content, World Economic Forum.
About Fluxus
Founded in 2013 in New York City, Fluxus is a privately held construction technology company, committed to advancing global housing solutions to improve quality of life through a new way of delivering affordable, energy-efficient and healthy homes across the economic spectrum by implementing smart methods of construction, where measurable ESG metrics are woven into the value chain for creating new homes.
See the full story here: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/06/07/2242615/0/en/World-Economic-Forum-s-Strategic-Intelligence-Immersive-Experiences-spotlights-FluxHouse-for-the-Future-of-Smart-Home.html
European Union Plans Framework for Secure Digital Identities
The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, announced a proposal yesterday to create a European Digital Identity system that would “be available to all EU citizens, residents and businesses in the EU.” The goal is to enable citizens who are interested “to prove their identity and share electronic documents from their European Digital Identity wallets with the click of a button on their phone.” In addition, these citizens would “be able to access online services with their national digital identification,” that would be recognized throughout European Union’s Member States.
“The European digital identity will enable us to do in any Member State as we do at home without any extra cost and fewer hurdles,” stated Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition and EVP for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age. “Be that renting a flat or opening a bank account outside of our home country. And do this in a way that is secure and transparent. So that we will decide how much information we wish to share about ourselves, with whom and for what purpose.”
... the EU’s proposal emphasizes security and privacy: “The new European Digital Identity wallets will enable all Europeans to access services online without having to use private identification methods or unnecessarily sharing personal data. With this solution they will have full control of the data they share.”
However, the proposed European Digital Identity faces a number of hurdles regarding adoption. For example, there is no requirement as of yet for Member States to develop an interoperable Digital Identity wallet; it would certainly require significant effort to drum up awareness and support from individuals, business and platforms; details will likely be necessary to prove how certified wallets would store and protect user data; and web browsers would be required to honor qualified trust certificates for website authentication.
See the full story here: https://www.etcentric.org/european-union-plans-framework-for-secure-digital-identities/
The NFT market bubble has popped and we’ve got the charts to prove it
See the full story with many charts here: https://protos.com/nft-market-bubble-popped-crypto-collectibles-are-over/
The idea of a university: Newman’s vision and our reality
Newman emphasises the essential need for interconnectedness of diverse branches of knowledge. He conceives knowledge as an integrated whole, and recommends an interdisciplinary or "holistic" approach as a basic pedagogical principle. Rather than making students capable only of doing some particular job or producing mere professionals or technical hands, the university, according to Newman, produces "liberally educated gentlemen" (and gentlewomen) who are endowed with "[a] cultivated intellect, a delicate taste, a candid, equitable, dispassionate mind, a noble and courteous bearing in the conduct of life." The university trains humans to think, "to reason well in all matters," and aims at a general, comprehensive, holistic development—that is, formation of character—of a person, the value of which is often undermined in the prevailing social and market parameters.
Since there are sustained attempts at valorising and legitimising bureaucratic invasions and reproduction of corporate values in our universities, we need to remain alert to diverse hegemonies hatched and launched by different establishments. But perhaps the most serious threat comes from within—from the formidable presence of people in our universities who are not academically inclined and almost clueless about Newman's "liberal education", "philosophical habit of mind" or "inner eyes"… who are not in search of knowledge and ideas, and whose eyes are rather fixed on immediate material rewards and lucrative positions.
We also need to understand the university's essential connection with, and disconnection from, the lived life (or the reality around); it has the responsibility to contribute to the material developments and needs of the present, but at the same time it should function as an "alternative social space" that creates and circulates new ideas and knowledge, and sets a higher ethical and intellectual tone for the community to aspire for.
See the full essay here: https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/news/the-idea-university-newmans-vision-and-our-reality-2103693
This VR Tool Knows What You’re Thinking Before You Do [Theia Interactive’s Claria and the HP Reverb G2 headset]
This is where Theia Interactive comes in. The visualization firm and software developer is launching a brand new set of tools called Claria, which incorporates eye-tracking technology and biometric sensors to determine how you’re feeling by recording your physical reactions while in VR. It’s so efficient, in fact, that the system knows what you’re feeling before you do.
Claria accomplished this by tracking six key physical responses: heart rate, heart rate variability, cognitive load, eye vector, pupillometry, and rapid movement of the eye between fixation points, otherwise referred to assaccades. These biometric responses and subsequent data can be incredibly valuable for designers, marketers, researchers, and creators by giving them the ability to understand exactly how you feel about a given product or experience.
This could have a huge impact in multiple industries, from design and product marketing to healthcare.
Claira works specifically with the biosensors within HP’s Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition VR headset. That’s because while other headsets can only track one or two of the metrics needed to read your physical reactions, the Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition is stacked with state-of-the-art sensor systems capable of capturing all of the measurements needed for Claria to work effectively with real-time insights.
Claria is currently available through an early access program, with perpetual licenses available in packs of three, five, and ten. Full access to Claria is expected by the end of 2021.
See the full story here: https://www.virtualrealitypulse.com/edition/daily-amazon-apple-2021-06-02?open-article-id=16252505&article-title=this-vr-tool-knows-what-you-re-thinking-before-you-do&blog-domain=vrscout.com&blog-title=vrscout
A Smart Lamp That Watches Kids When They Study Is a Hit in China
The product, made by TikTok owner ByteDance, monitors study habits and offers aid to students—but also raises privacy issues
The lamps come equipped with two built-in cameras—one facing the child and another offering a bird’s-eye view from above—letting parents remotely monitor their children when they study. There is a smartphone-sized screen attached to each lamp, which applies artificial intelligence to offer guidance on math problems and difficult words. And parents can hire a human proctor to digitally monitor their children as they study.
In addition to the basic version of the lamp, a $170 upgraded model sends alerts and photos to parents when their children slouch. That version of the lamp sold out on China’s largest e-commerce platforms earlier this month.
See the full story here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-smart-lamp-that-watches-kids-when-they-study-is-a-hit-in-china-11622466002
Facebook says U.S. is the top target of disinformation campaigns
Why it matters: While most of the campaigns targeting the U.S. have originated abroad, Facebook found that a significant number of campaigns targeting people in the U.S. have originated from inside the U.S.
One campaign the company points to was the network operated by a U.S. based marketing firm, working on behalf of its clients, including a pro-Trump organization.
