Daily Archives: August 3, 2017

Next-Level Integration

As automakers like Tesla, Toyota, and Volvo focus on developing vehicles that can interact autonomously with their environments, Ari Teman is exploring ways the cars of the future could interact with you. The inventor, designer, and technologist told Futurism he sees biometrics, which is the ability for a vehicle, an environment, or a service to recognize who you are and how you are, as one of the biggest developments in transportation in recent years.

Though the tech may sound futuristic, biometrics are already a part of our everyday lives the fingerprint sensor you use to unlock your smartphone or the voice recognition software that lets you command your tech via speech are two fairly prevalent examples. While the use of biometrics in the automotive sector isnt as common, it is predicted to grow steadily over the next few years, and a report by Frost & Sullivans Intelligent Mobility Team predicts that a third of new cars will incorporate biometric sensors by 2025.

Teman is currently working with Deutsche Telekoms datacom division to take biometric technology to the next level. He envisions a future in which cars are able to do far more than simply transport passengers from point A to point B. This smart transportation experience will begin before you even enter the car, he predicts.

Your vehicle will recognize you as you approach, says Teman. Theres no driver whos going to look out the window and go, Oh, its Neil. Its going to be a camera, and its going to say, I have to pull up to Neil, whos standing on the sidewalk, and not Joe, whos standing 10 feet away from him.

As soon as a rider enters the vehicle, the cars biometric sensors will go to work. Once youre in the car, were reading your vitals, and were reading your neurological signs, asserts Teman. Everything from how a car operates to the route it chooses can be automatically adjusted based on this information to best suit the passenger.

The car may notice that every time it makes a turn, your heart rate rises, Teman explains. The vehicle could interpret this information as a sign that youre nervous and that it should make an adjustment. The car will think Maybe I should slow down or Maybe theres something in this neighborhood that is bothering this passenger, and it will consider taking a detour or different route next time, says Teman.

He thinks the biometric-equipped car of the future will even be able to make subtle environmental changes based on the biological data it collects: If the car sees youre tired, it can dim the lights. If it sees youre shivering, it can turn up the heat.

While the technology Teman is working on is still on the horizon, several companies have already demonstrated examples of how biometrics can be applied to the transportation sector to make driving safer and more comfortable today.

At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas, German automaker Continental debuted theirBiometric Access System. Drivers in cars with the system must provide fingerprint authentication to start the engine, helping prevent theft. Meanwhile, an interior camera uses facial recognition software to adjust the cars settings based on the driver, ensuring a more comfortable, personalized experience.

At the same event, electronics company Gentex revealed theirbiometric system. This iris-scanning technology can be incorporated into a vehicles rear-view mirror and is 99.9 percent accurate at confirming a drivers identity. If the person in the car isnt recognized, the system can text the cars owner or limit functionality. If the driver is recognized, everything from the seat to the radio can be adjusted automatically to suit their preferences.

Other companies are taking a focus on safety with their biometric innovations.

Two firms are currently developing car headrests with built-in electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors to tell if a driver is distracted or even falling asleep. If one of these systems notices a problem, it can trigger the cars steering wheel or seat to shake to return the drivers attention to the road.

Meanwhile, Olea Sensor Networks has created a device that attaches to the seat belt in a car to monitor the driver or passengers vital signs. In the case of an accident, it can even automatically notify first-responders, letting them know the passengers identities and conditions.

These innovations are just the beginning. The relationship between ourselves and our cars is poised to shift dramatically in the coming years, transitioning from one in which we dictate the transportation experience into one in which we are quite literally along for the ride.

This interview has been slightly edited for clarity and brevity.

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In The Future, Your Car Will Read Your Biology to Make Decisions for You - Futurism

In Brief U.S. President Donald Trump decided to back out of the Paris climate deal two months ago. This doesn't mean, however, that the nation has hung up the gloves in the global fight against climate change. A group of states is taking the lead. The Will to Fight

When a door closes, a window opens, says an old adage. Well, for a number of states and their effort to fight climate change, its not enough to open a window theyre keeping the door open. Almost immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to withdraw the countrys commitment to the historic Paris Climate Agreement, the United States Climate Alliance was born.

First there were three California, New York, and Washington State. I dont believe fighting reality is a good strategy not for America, not for anybody, California governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. previously said in a statement. If the President is going to be AWOL in this profoundly important human endeavor, then California and other states will step up.

Now, the alliance boasts a membership of 13 states and Puerto Rico representing a bi-partisan coalition committed to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions [26-28 percent from 2005 levels] consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Latest to join the group is Colorado, after governor John Hickenlooper passed an executive order to cut the states greenhouse gas emissions before 2025.

So far, the U.S. Climate Alliance represents more than 33 percent of the U.S. population. Thats roughly $7.16 trillion of the nations GDP. The 14 members also cover a total of 1.3 million clean energy jobs. This is a grassroots-based movement, Gov. Hickenlooper said in a statement, the Denver Post reported. That groundswell will build into a national movement.

Clearly, the alliance is not something that can be ignored or easily dismissed and theyve been showing it. Each of the governors of these states have firmed up efforts in their respective states to make sure they meet the goals set by the Paris accords.

Above all, what these states represent is hope for a cleaner future. At the very least, it means that the U.S. currently the second largest contributor to greenhouse gasses, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists isnt letting up on efforts to save our planet, despite the seeming absence of federal support.

As Washington state governor Jay Inslee said, Our collective efforts to act on climate will ensure we maintain the [United States] commitment to curb carbon pollution while advancing a clean energy economy that will bring good-paying jobs to Americas workers.

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An Alliance Upholding the Paris Agreement Now Represents a Third of the US Population - Futurism

2012 TC4

Our Solar System is littered with chunks of space rocks that whizz around in different orbits and varying speeds and its no big deal until one of those rocks turns out to be on a nasty unexpected trajectory and smashes into Earth.

Itsactually a pretty unlikely apocalypse scenario, but even with one in 10,000 odds its a good idea to keep an eye out. Now NASA scientists are excited theyll finally get to test out some of their defence systems with an upcoming asteroid fly-by in October.

Dont run for the panic room just yet the inbound asteroid, called2012 TC4, is estimated to safely pass our planet at a distance of about 6,800 kilometres (4,200 miles). We dont have a more concrete number because the space rock has been out of telescope range since 2012.

At a width of roughly 10-30 metres (30-100 feet), TC4 is pretty small. So far astronomers have only caught a glimpse of it once when it hurtled past Earth back in 2012 at a distance much closer than our own Moon.

Back then they only had a window of seven days to make observations and calculate when this asteroid will show up next.

But based on that data, it looks like TC4 will zoom around again on October 12 this year, and researchers are making preparations to not only update their observations of this particular object, but also to test out some of their planetary defense strategies.

This time we are adding in another layer of effort, using this asteroid flyby to test the worldwide asteroid detection and tracking network, assessing our capability to work together in response to finding a potential real asteroid threat,says observation campaign lead Michael Kelleyfrom NASA.

This is the first time NASA researchers get to use an actual space rock for their planetary defense efforts, which involve astronomers from all over the world.

The Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) wasonly established last year, with the goal to survey the skies for any near-Earth objects that are big enough and close enough to pose a risk to us.

Just last October the offices new space monitoring systemsgave us a heads-up about an unexpected asteroid flyby, calculating its timing, risk, and potential flight paths.

But this time around researchers can actually plan to coordinate their activities.

This is a team effort that involves more than a dozen observatories, universities and labs across the globe so we can collectively learn the strengths and limitations of our near-Earth object observation capabilities,says Vishnu Reddy from the University of Arizonawho will coordinate this new exercise.

While we know for sure that TC4 is not going to smash into Earth, theres so little astronomers know about its orbit that its actually a great test subject for strategies that can improve our ability to track and predict near-Earth objects.

It will be incumbent upon the observatories to get a fix on the asteroid as it approaches, and work together to obtain follow-up observations than make more refined asteroid orbit determinations possible,explains Paul Chodasfrom NASAs Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Even though so far a space rock apocalypse is relatively unlikely, NASAs efforts to detect and catalogue as many asteroids as possible is commendable it only took one stray chunk of space debris to wipe out the dinosaurs, after all.

Unfortunately, even with the coordinated efforts to find these space threats, for now theres not a lot we can actually do about them. Thats why some experts warn we really should build anintercepting spacecraft before we need it.

You dont have to lose any sleep over the October 12 flyby, but lets hope that by the time PDCO has sharpened its skills and does find a real threat, we actually have some space bombto blow it up with. Or something.

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An Asteroid Headed Our Way Is About to Test NASA's Planetary Defense System - Futurism