Daily Archives: March 18, 2021

PROVO A new type of facial recognition technology designed by a Brigham Young University professor could make facial identification unlocking methods less vulnerable to hackers and it isn't just for your phone.

By now, we've all heard of Face ID, and some of us might even have it on our phones. You hold the phone up to your face, it recognizes you and then lets you unlock your device.

The technology does have downsides like it could be used by another person pointing a camera at someone while the user is sleeping. BYU computer and electrical engineering professor D.J. Lee decided to add another layer of protection into the face identification technology to create a two-factor verification process. Instead of simply a face as the access code, it's a face doing a unique movement.

Unlike fingerprint and retina scans, the Concurrent Two-Factor Identity Verification requires users to do something unique with their face for the device to unlock. It can be a raised eyebrow, a tongue sticking out, or some combination of a few different things.

The camera will take a 1-2 second video of the person, turn it into dots on a map, and then each time the person creates that face it will identify the person.

"That's a very good feature to have to make sure it's intentional, so the user is basically aware and conscious," Lee explained.

In the preliminary study for the project, Lee and his Ph.D. student Zheng Sun created a dataset using 8,000 recordings they took from 50 participants doing a quick and unique facial motion or combination of motions.

The dataset analyzed which matched to show how accurate the technology was and found that it was working with more than 90% accuracy. The dataset was small, but the researchers think with a higher sampling, the number of positive matches will remain high.

To ensure privacy concerns are met, Lee said the camera wouldn't store the video initially taken but instead stores the unique data it converted the video into. It cannot be reverse-engineered back into a video of someone's face.

The technology isn't just for smartphones, either; it can be used for pretty much anything, Lee said. In fact, he has a lot of different application ideas from hotel room entry to starting your car.

"We don't want to compete with iPhone or mobile devices. We want to look at other applications," Lee explained.

As with any biometric option to security, another added benefit is there's no risk of losing a key or forgetting a passcode.

"It makes it easier that you just carry your face around, but then also it's better than the existing technology because you also have this unique facial movement that only you know," Lee said.

Adding the facial movement ID to something like personal banking getting money at an ATM machine, for example can also be more secure with the technology, Lee said.

"If you have a face, plus your facial movement, that's going to be harder to break in other than just the PIN code," he explained.

While the technology is still in its early stages of development, there are even broader applications that it could be used for aside from personal identification and security methods. The facial movement features could be used to develop communication features to help increase accessibility for those in the disability community, so a person could control a computer by moving different facial muscles.

Depending on what the technology is used for, the camera can be adjusted to make it either more strict or less sensitive. In a high security area, it would probably be better to have a strict requirement where the facial movement needs to be precise and match nearly perfectly.

Right now, Lee and his team are working on commercializing the technology and looking for individuals interested in allowing the technology to be tested on their products. Lee filed a provisional patent this year for the technology, a customary practice for new technology developed at the university.

In the end, Lee hopes the technology can be used in a variety of different ways to help make it harder for hackers to steal someone's identity or information.

"We were focused on solving ... unintentional identity verification," he said. "We use a password, and the password could be lost or stolen. And we use fingerprints and fingerprints sometimes could be fabricated, and also could be done unintentionally because, for example when you're sleeping. ... We want to find a solution that can address this big issue that is to make sure the identity verification process is intentional."

See the article here:

This BYU facial recognition technology is designed with hackers and accessibility in mind - KSL.com

Israeli tech companies have recently joined the wave of initial public offerings on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. This is not the first time tech companies have gone public on the TASE and it will take some time to see if this is a real trend or a temporary phenomenon motivated by the tide of capital markets activity in the coronavirus era. Still, the growing number of high-tech companies wishing to go public, together with the ongoing overhaul of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, may indicate that local offerings will become a sustainable addition to Israeli high-techs known exit optionsM&A or IPO on the US markets.

Either way, an IPO of an Israeli high-tech company on the TASE is no less than a meeting of cultures. It requires some level of adaptation, both on the part of the capital market, which takes on a company with unique characteristics, and on the part of the companies, which must adjust to the status of a public company.

The Israeli capital market is accustomed to closely held companies controlled by an individual, family, or holding company. Such controlling shareholders sell a minority stake to the public and leave control in their own hands, along with the freedom to steer the company as they wish. The corporate regime governing Israeli public companies has developed around protection of the public against the controlling partys power. Such protections are irrelevant to most high-tech companies, whose holding structure is decentralized, after rounds of capital raising and share allocations to employees.

Thus, for example, tech companies with dispersed shareholding need to provide solutions for a different concern. The fear there is that shortly after the IPO, the companys entrepreneurs and primary shareholders may sell their holdings and leave the public with an empty shell. This concern has led underwriters to make new IPOs contingent upon stricter lock-up periods (which bar post-IPO sales by existing shareholders), beyond the existing Israeli regulatory requirements.

For high-tech companies, the road to the TASE requires many more changes. In these companies, the custom, developed over decades, has been to adapt their corporate structure to that common in the international technology investments market. As early as day one, companies adopt English language corporate documents in anticipation of welcoming foreign investors. Later, they prepare for the possibility of merger and acquisition transactions, be it to an investment entity or a strategic buyer.

Companies and investors also prepare for the possibility of an exit by means of an IPO in the United States. Preparation for the possibility of a public offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, with its unique characteristics, never even used to be considered.

Tech companies arriving at the IPO phase need to make three significant changescapital structure, corporate regime, and transparency.

Companies usually attempt an IPO after a series of capital raisings that create different classes of shares. The classes of shares form a hierarchy of rights, with recent investors at the top and entrepreneurs and employees at the bottom. A TASE IPO involves forgoing excess rights attached to different classes of shares and flattening the companys capital structure to a single class of share.

The more differences exist between the shares rights, the greater the conflicts of interest and the potential for disputes among the shareholders, when they consider initiating the IPO and consolidating the companys capital structure.

Another challenge presented by the capital structure of tech companies going public is the number of existing shareholders. Tech companies may have aggregated dozens of shareholdersentrepreneurs and investors, as well as employees and consultants who hold options and shares. That number may be even greater, for instance in companies who raised capital through crowdfunding. Managing the IPO process with a large number of shareholders, interested parties, and parties with various degrees of involvement may be particularly difficult and may even jeopardize the IPOs success.

The corporate regime of a high-tech company is enshrined in its articles of association, and is built gradually over the capital raising rounds undertaken by the company. This regime includes allocation of representation in the companys board of directors between the entrepreneurs and the investors. It also grants special rights to investor groups whose consent is required on important matters and secures their rights in the course of future capital raisings.

The offering and registration process on the TASE involves elimination of the previous corporate regime and replacing it with a regime of public companies. There will no longer be a board of directors comprised of holders of rights granted through past capital raising rounds. Instead, there will be a board of directors elected annually with external directors appointed by a special majority for a three year term. This also nullifies special decision-making rights, with decisions now to be made by a regular majority or a supermajority, where the law requires such.

Finally, companies also need to become transparent. Tech companies are clandestine creatures by nature. They take care to keep their affairs secret. From the companys value during capital raisings to strategic agreements and business results, few are privy to such information. Only board of director members and large investors are entitled to information. No one else, including shareholders and employees, is exposed to it.

An IPO, however, exposes a company. The primary theme of an IPO prospectus is full disclosure, centered on bringing all relevant information to the public. As a result, employers, customers, suppliers, and competitors may benefit from the disclosure of company secrets.

Here, too, it is possible not all interested parties will be equally welcoming of exposure. Since the rules of disclosure are strict, the choice may be between avoiding the IPO and a conflict with some of the companys shareholders, investors, customers, or strategic partners.

While we wait to see if the Start-Up Nation establishes roots in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, it is important to understand that these tech companies entry into the Israeli capital market requires adjustments from both parties, the local market itself and the companies and their shareholders.

For shareholders, the challenge is uncertainty. For them, a public offering is not in and of itself an exit event, but only a hope for the future. As a first step, in order to make the IPO possible, they should make a series of adjustments that involve forgoing their rights. They do so with the hope that when the lock-up period ends they will be able to trade their shares, if at that time the companys performance and marketability will be favorable. The assumption is that the advantages of the offeringmaking the company accessible to public capital raisings and creating the possibility for shareholders to realize their investmentsoutweigh the disadvantages associated with uncertainty.

Follow this link:

Technology IPOs A Meeting of Cultures at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange - JD Supra

DALLAS & LEUSDEN, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Transplace, the leading provider of advanced logistics technology and solutions, opened its first European office to better serve its customers while also extending its industry-leading supply chain strategies for global shippers. Located in Leusden, Netherlands, the new office is situated at the logistics gateway of Europe.

As our customers continue to expand their businesses internationally, there has been a growing need for our tech-enabled solutions to drive optimization and visibility across their global networks, said Frank McGuigan, CEO of Transplace. Were confident that by opening the Leusden office we can support these requirements with our logistics platform and solutions.

Transplace is well positioned for growth in Europe and expects to have $300MM / 250MM in freight under management by midyear. Powering the largest transportation and logistics network, Transplaces global repository of transportation data offers standardization across the world to optimize service delivery, lower operational risk and reduce costs.

Data fragmentation is a major issue for supply chain professionals in Europe as many shippers do not have a single platform that provides pan-European visibility for logistics, including services levels, costs and trends, said Etienne Visser, Managing Director of Transplaces European business. Our international logistics platform for North America and Europe combined with our passionate team of experts, continues to drive supply chain agility, efficiency and predictability for global shippers.

To learn more about innovations in logistics management services in Europe and North America, connect with a Transplace expert: transplace.com/contact/connect-with-an-expert/

About Transplace

Transplace is a technology and services company that hosts a proprietary logistics platform and provides engineering and execution services for global shippers. The platform and service offering deliver process automation, network optimization, and transparency driving an improved service and cost position. Transplace also provides value-added services through our strategic capacity services business (truck brokerage and intermodal) and our border management business, which includes customs brokerage and logistics services on the Mexican border. With over 1,000 customers and $11 billion of Freight Under Management (FUM) in North America alone, and a growing client base in Europe, Transplace continues to deliver the intelligent solutions that grow and differentiate the supply chains of its customers.

Follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, Transplace.com and the Transplace Industry Blog.

View original post here:

Transplace Expands Logistics Technology Platform to Europe with its Newest Technology Release and the Opening of an Office in the Netherlands -...

BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Quanterix Corporation (NASDAQ:QTRX), a company digitizing biomarker analysis to advance the science of precision health, today announced that its ultra-sensitive Simoa technology and various blood-based neurology biomarker assays were used by leading research teams to power 30 total oral and poster presentations at this years AD/PD 2021. The research efforts further underscore the vast utility of several blood-based biomarkers offered through Quanterix Neurology kits, including phosphorylated tau at threonine 181 (p-tau181), phosphorylated tau at threonine 231 (p-tau231), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Neurofilament light chain (NfL). Notable findings showcased at the conference validate the potential of these markers as pre-screening tools prior to costly PET scans, as secondary endpoints of drug efficacy, and as important tools for the recruitment and disease stratification of pre-symptomatic patients into clinical trials through non-invasive methods.

This years AD/PD presentations amplified the transformative potential of blood-based biomarkers to help researchers advance therapies for Alzheimers and other neurodegenerative diseases, said Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Quanterix, and Founder of Powering Precision Health (PPH), Kevin Hrusovsky. The ability to detect and quantify biomarkers indicative of cognitive performance non-invasively through the blood is game-changing for many of our academic and industry partners. Theyre witnessing firsthand the potential to leverage these markers to see signs of Alzheimers Disease (AD) prior to symptoms and enter patients into trials sooner, without the need for costly PET scans or spinal taps. We also observed an array of other applications made possible by Simoas extremely high sensitivity and multiplexing capabilities, including the development of robust blood biomarker panels to determine neurodegeneration early and discriminate between different forms of cognitive impairment. We anticipate expanding our growing menu of blood based neuro biomarkers for Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease and feel these advances represent an important opportunity for drug developers to increase their probability of getting an approval over the next several years.

During this years conference, researchers from institutions across the globe demonstrated the promise of Quanterix industry leading plasma biomarkers to aid in screening, diagnosing and informing therapy for various neurological conditions. In a presentation entitled, Blood Biomarkers For Alzheimers Disease The Promise For Screening, Diagnostics And Therapy Monitoring, Kaj Blennow, professor and chief physician in Neurochemistry laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Gothenburg University, demonstrated the ability to harness blood biomarkers to accurately detect core AD pathologies, including amyloid deposition, tau pathology and neurodegeneration, using easily accessible blood tests. Blennows colleague, Henrick Zetterberg, professor and chief physician, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenberg, further explored the role of blood biomarkers in clinical practice in his talk entitled, Blood Biomarkers For Alzheimers Disease And Other Neurodegenerative Diseases Utility In Clinical Trials And Practice.

Nicholas J. Ashton, assistant professor at the University of Gothenburgs Department of Pyschiatry and Neurochemistry presented another notable paper, Novel Plasma P-Tau231 In Alzheimer Disease: Early Increase Indicates Utility For Preventive Trial Selection, detailing the development and validation of a novel plasma p-tau231 assay using Simoa assays for the preclinical assessment of AD.

Additional Simoa-powered papers highlighted the role of markers such as GFAP and NfL in neurogdegenerative disease research. These include two studies from Andrea L. Benedet, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Gothenburg and Claudia Cicognola, assistant researcher at Clinical Memory Research, Lund University, which examined GFAPs utility as a biomarker for amyloid pathology in the AD spectrum and clinical evolution to AD, respectively. Daniele D. Urso, clinical research fellow at Kings College London and the Parkinsons Foundation Centre of Excellence, Kings College Hospital, London, also presented findings that suggest serum NfL could be utilized as a non-invasive clinical marker for worsening non-motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinsons Disease (PD) progression. Finally, several presentations demonstrated the role of blood based biomarkers, such as NfL, as secondary endpoints in ongoing Alzheimers drug trials.

Hrusovsky hosted a panel discussion highlighting more insights from the AD/PD 2021 conference, with Dr. Andreas Jeromin, Independent Medical Advisor, Dr. Mark Roskey, SVP, Quanterix and Dr. Paula Perin, Principal Application Scientist, Quanterix. The discussion can be viewed here. Hrusovsky also plans to present advances and host additional panel discussions with industry thought leaders in upcoming podcasts.

For a full list of Simoa-powered oral and poster presentations, visit https://www.quanterix.com/conferences/15th-international-conference-on-parkinsons-and-alzheimers-diseases/.

To learn more about Quanterix technology, visit https://www.quanterix.com/simoa-technology/.

About Quanterix

Quanterix is a company thats digitizing biomarker analysis with the goal of advancing the science of precision health. The companys digital health solution, Simoa, has the potential to change the way in which healthcare is provided today by giving researchers the ability to closely examine the continuum from health to disease. Quanterix technology is designed to enable much earlier disease detection, better prognoses and enhanced treatment methods to improve the quality of life and longevity of the population for generations to come. The technology is currently being used for research applications in several therapeutic areas, including oncology, neurology, cardiology, inflammation and infectious disease. The company was established in 2007 and is located in Billerica, Massachusetts. For additional information, please visit https://www.quanterix.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend" and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release are based on Quanterix expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause Quanterix actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in Quanterix filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors" sections contained therein. Except as required by law, Quanterix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, even as new information becomes available.

Go here to read the rest:

Quanterix' Simoa Technology Accelerates Critical Plasma Biomarker Research Presented at the 15th International Conference on Parkinson's &...

But Is Outsourcing Marketing Technology Right for Your Firm?

There are many factors to consider before deciding to outsource CRM, eMarketing or Data Quality functions. To help determine if outsourcing marketing technology support is right for you, consider these four questions:

If your existing staff is too busy with day-to-day tasks, processes and requests to focus on more strategic initiatives or goals, or if gaps in knowledge are preventing you from realizing the benefits of your marketing and business development technology systems, your team could likely reap a significant return from outsourcing.

Mapping out your goals and/or identifying problem areas in advance can help to clarify your needs and ensure that you enlist the right assistance.

Hiring marketing technology support staff with the necessary experience and training can be prohibitively expensive, and finding good candidates can be challenging. If hiring or training are not viable options for filling your in-house skills gap, outsourcing is a good alternative and will likely even bring added value.

Outsourcing can bridge gaps when there are staffing transitions or skill deficiencies, fill needs related to special projects and help the in-house team to meet critical deadlines. Outsourcing can also provide the additional capacity to manage routine tasks and operations when teams are focused on major projects or organizational change.

For firms considering outsourcing marketing technology support for the first time, a measured approach might be beneficial. Start by outsourcing some routine but essential functions such as CRM contact record cleanup and deduplication. Then, as confidence in outsourcing builds, you may want to tackle bigger projects such as industry categorizing for key companies, data migration from other systems into the CRM or categorizing key company records to help target and segment lists. In fact, many firms have been so pleased with the results and benefits of outsourcing for a project or initiative that they keep their outsourced staff on for a longer-term or even permanent basis.

With a reliable external team to handle specific essential functions, firms also experience fewer disruptions and gain operational stability and consistency and more streamlined workload management. These operational efficiencies lead to greater productivity and returns on marketing spend meaning greater profitability for the firm.

View post:

Outsourcing Marketing Technology Support To Boost Efficiency and Profits - Part 2 - JD Supra

Long before the current pandemic, the likelihood that an individual would experience positive or negative health outcomes could vary greatly depending on his or her education, income level, environment, and other social determinants of health (SDoH). In addition, historically, certain minority races and ethnic groups suffer health inequities leading to poorer health and health outcomes a point that has been underscored since the emergence of Covid-19.

Medical care is estimated to account for only 10 to 20% of healthcare outcomes, which is one reason healthcare leaders seeking to deliver high quality care must consider other elements impacting patient health including income, racial discrimination, access to healthcare, dietary intake, and adequate medication.

Consider, for example, diabetes, which impacts Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans at higher rates than white populations. Known risk factors for diabetes include certain SDoH, such as limited access to healthy foods, barriers to physical activity, high stress levels, and social isolation. By understanding the clinical, economic, and social factors impacting a patients health, clinicians are better positioned to identify at-risk patients and take early action to mitigate disease complications.

The challenge of identifying SDoHWhile SDoH can provide a wealth of information about non-clinical factors impacting a patients overall well-being, identifying a patients SDoH can be challenging because the details arent always easily accessible, especially when clinicians are making important treatment decisions. SDoH data often reside in EHRs but are essentially trapped as unstructured text within clinical notes, patient-reported data, secure email exchanges, patient portal messages and telehealth transcripts. In fact, an estimated 80% of clinical data is stored in an unstructured format that is difficult to search and access. As a result, clinicians are often unaware of key SDoH details that impact decision-making and patient outcomes.

To unlock insights from unstructured data and improve patient care, healthcare organizations can leverage the power of AI-based technologies, such as natural language processing (NLP). With NLP, providers can eliminate manual and time-consuming chart reviews to find critical patient information. Large volumes of unstructured clinical information can be automatically reviewed to identify and extract key concepts, including specific SDoH details. Such tools can be particularly powerful when combined with structured data to create a more complete 360-degree view of patients.

The disproportional impact of Covid-19Consider how Covid-19 has disproportionally impacted populations already suffering health inequities. Lower-income individuals, people of color, and those without ready-access to healthcare have suffered greater rates of Covid-19 infections, complications, and death. In fact, findings published in the NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery show that groups who are socially disadvantaged because of race/ethnicity, social position, and/or economic status have an increased risk of exposure to the virus that causes the disease and are more likely to have impaired immune systems that could lead to worse health outcomes.

Researchers note that Covid-19 infections in predominately black counties across the country are threefold higher and mortality rates are sixfold higher, compared to predominately white counties. And in New York City, mortality rates for African Americans and Latinos diagnosed with Covid-19 are 1.6 to 2 times higher than those of whites.

In addition, certain populations are at increased risk of Covid-19 exposure, including those whose employment prevents them from working from home, who rely on public transportation, who depend on childcare outside the home, and who live in larger households. Economically disadvantaged groups are at higher risk because they are less likely to have a primary care provider, medical home, or regular access to care, which may limit access to Covid-19 testing and treatment.Reducing health inequities with technologyThough a clinician can easily search structured data in EHRs to identify a patients weight, race, and age, critical SDoH risk factors are often less obvious because they are usually noted as free text in a chart note, perhaps mentioned only once in a single encounter long ago. Even the most conscious physician may overlook the red flags that suggest patients are at higher risk of infection, such as those living or working in crowded conditions where social distancing is difficult, or lacking access to personal protective equipment at work, or living in an area with high levels of pollution which is associated with higher Covid-19 mortality rates.

To reduce the systemic health inequities that have put so many individuals at higher risk of getting sick and dying from Covid-19, healthcare organizations must leverage advanced technologies such as NLP to identify SDoH and other critical information from unstructured notes. Using such tools, organizations can more accurately and efficiently assess high-risk patients. Providers can then take proactive measures to connect patients with additional resources, such as financial assistance for medication, educational materials on infection control, or health screenings to identify underlying health conditions that could promise outcomes, should a patient contract Covid-19.

All of us look forward to the day when the current health crisis is behind us. With the right technologies, healthcare leaders can also take action to put an end to health inequities and advance better patient care and outcomes for all.

Photo: Irina Shatilova, Getty Images

Originally posted here:

Leveraging AI/NLP technology to reduce health inequities and improve patient outcomes - MedCity News

"To have 170 nominees together virtually on one platform for a live event was a first for a major awards show."

The producers turned to TVU Networks (TVU) and its cloud-based video conferencing collaboration solution TVU Partyline, to help them address those requirements for the virtual portion of this prestigious show, which aired as a live, three-hour broadcast on The CW Television Network.

"With TVU Partyline, we were able to start with 170 nominees in the cloud and bring them into baseband with just a few TVU Transceivers in a seamless process under a single TVU platform," said Russell "Spud" Murphy, Senior Technical Manager, Spudtek. "If we'd used a standard video conferencing solution, we'd have to install dedicated hardware for every virtual nominee, adding substantial cost and complexity."

On the day of the show, all remote nominees joined the TVU Partyline conference by either clicking on a link in a standard web browser on their PC or using the TVU Anywhere app on their smart mobile device. Prior to the start of the live awards broadcast, many nominees were separated into virtual 'tables.' They were able to see and interact with each other at their tableand could view the live program as a group using TVU Partyline's integrated Return Video Feedback (VFB).

As each of the categories were announced, groups of six to ten nominees were switched from their remote locations to the live show broadcast. Category nominees were shown in a grid in the TVU Partyline screen next to the award presenter. Once the winner was announced, producers cut to the winner in full frame within TVU Partyline, with undetectable latency. All 26 award category presentations ran flawlessly throughout the evening.

"We could not be more pleased with the outcome of the show, and TVU really helped us deliver a top-notch production. To have 170 nominees together virtually on one platform for a live event was a first for a major awards show," said Cheryl Teetzel-Moore, Executive-In-Charge of Production, Bob Bain Productions. "TVU provided a cost-effective single platform for all virtual participants to connect using TVU Partyline from their homes or hotel rooms or sets all over the world."

"TVU did the impossible and brought in more live remote participants than either the Emmys or the Golden Globe Awards," noted Augie Max Vargas, Co-Producer. "In addition, they were highly responsive, and we appreciated the support and training we received from their team."

TVU Partyline, a revolutionary development for social production, enables all members in a remote production environment to communicate seamlessly as if they were all in the same physical space. It enables production crews, talent and guests to use production tools and collaborate remotely in real time with full HD video quality, perfectly synchronized audio and video and mix minus one audio feedback. Collaboration within Partyline is made possible through the use of a Real Time Interactive Layer (RTIL). With a simple shared URL, participants can join Partyline to watch all program feeds live and interact, discuss, control and participate in a production in real-time with undetectable latency.

"We're delighted to be able to help the producers of this distinguished awards show deliver a live production that could easily scale to a large number of remote guests on our cloud platform," stated Jared Timmins, SVP Solutions, TVU Networks. "TVU Partyline is well-suited for entertainment and sports show applications, and we've had many global customers use it for a broadcast quality remote video experience with live guest interaction."

About Bob Bain ProductionsExecutive Producer Bob Bain is one of the industry's leading producers of "next generation" event television. For two decades Bob Bain Productions has been at the helm of the popular Teen Choice Awards, Kids Choice Awards and the Critics Choice Awards. Bain has also produced Fox's New Year's Eve LIVE Special as well as the Billboard Music Awards, Miss America Pageant, American Country Awards and numerous music specials.

About TVU NetworksTVU Networks is a global organization with more than 3,000 customers using its IP and cloud-based workflow solutions across multiple industries including news, entertainment media, sports, corporate, streaming, houses of worship and government. Through the use of AI and automation driven technology, TVU helps broadcasters realize an efficient metadata and story-centric workflow through its TVU MediaMind platform for live video content acquisition, indexing, production, distribution and management. The company has been on the forefront of developing the tools needed to revolutionize and streamline the Media Supply Chain. TVU is a critical part of the operations of many major media companies worldwide and is a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award winner.

SOURCE TVU Networks

New home page

See the original post:

Bob Bain Productions and Berlin Entertainment Choose TVU Networks' Technology for Seamless, Virtual Production of the 26th Annual Critics Choice...

For many people with hearing loss, a normal conversation at a busy restaurant is the holy grail.

[Background noise] is the number one problem that needs to be solved, said Abram Bailey, a former practicing audiologist who now runs Hearing Tracker, a popular online resource. Weve been trying to solve it in this industry for years and years and years. But we have only made these really tiny, incremental steps.

Since digital hearing aids became available a quarter century ago, their audio quality in complex situations like a cocktail party has inched forward thanks to developments like directional microphones and pre-programmed settings for common sound environments. But dueling new entries to the market one from established Danish brand Oticon and another from California startup Whisper are trying to take a bigger leap forward using artificial intelligence to make noisy environments clearer than ever.

advertisement

Though other companies employ AI in parts of their hearing aids or apps, Whisper and Oticons new products use deep neural networks trained on giant data sets to isolate and sharpen the right sounds for people with hearing loss. By all accounts, the technology has promise for hearing aids. Deep learning already powers technologies we use every day and in controlled lab settings, it can perform impressive feats of sound denoising. But progress may move more slowly in the world of hearing tech.

Everybody would love to have a breakthrough technology, but even breakthrough technologies tend to be based on incremental changes, said Todd A. Ricketts, a professor and vice chair at Vanderbilts department of hearing and speech studies. He added: What we might see from the first generation of deep neural networks is maybe small incremental improvements.

advertisement

Dont tell that to Dwight Crow, the CEO and co-founder of Whisper, which launched its hearing system last fall. The three-year-old company has its eyes on the kinds of quantum leaps that Ricketts says are incredibly rare.

Whispers approach is intriguing both because of its unconventional design and its Silicon Valley roots. Its founders worked at Facebook, its executive ranks are peppered with recruits from Google, and the company is fueled by funding from Sequoia and other well-known venture capital firms.

Where traditional hearing aids are constrained by the batteries and processors that can be stuffed in a tiny capsule tucked behind someones ear, Whispers hearing system uses a small external processing box the company calls the brain. Microphones on the hearing aids send audio wirelessly down to the brain hundreds of times a second, where its processed and sent back at a similar latency as other products.

According to Crow, skirting the size limitations of a traditional hearing aid allows the company to run algorithms that require far more computational power to complete in real time. The result, the company claims, is the ability to better isolate desirable sounds, like speech, and to elevate them more precisely than what was possible without deep learning.

So far, Whisper can only describe the benefits in terms of computing potential, claiming the Whisper brain can perform 300 billion operations per second, compared to around 1 billion in competitors.

While Whispers hearing aids work without the brain, one crucial question is whether people will invest top-dollar for a system that needs a box to work optimally.

People with hearing aids have a history of adopting accessories in order to hear better, said Crow, pointing to Bluetooth technology. Before it was built directly into hearing aids, many people wore an electronic necklace to make wireless connection with phones possible.

I would see at least a decade where having an auxiliary device is going to transform your ability to hear clearly, he said.

In another potential advantage, the box also makes it possible for the company to issue software updates. Whisper announced its first such update Tuesday, which the company claims improves the brains sound separation engine. For now the upgrade must be performed by an audiologist, but Crow said the company hopes future updates can be done by the user.

Shortly after Whisper started rolling out its system last fall, the Oticon More launched using a similar deep learning algorithm trained on 12 million sounds, the technology crammed into the hearing aids themselves.

The goal behind the [deep neural network] here is to take the sounds in and essentially make them balanced and accurate, so that they actually sound the way that theyre intended to sound within that environment, said Annette Mazevski, a technology assessment manager at Oticon.

In a clinical white paper, the company describes a research study with 18 subjects with hearing loss and an average age 68.5: The More improved speech understanding by 15% compared to the preceding model, the Opn S, when using the most common default fittings for each.

Tracy Hagan Winn, a clinical audiologist at Northwesterns Center for Audiology, Speech, Language, and Learning, started practicing around the time Oticons first digital hearing aid was released 25 years ago. She said popular features in recent years include Bluetooth and rechargeable batteries.

In the context of general consumer electronics, Bluetooth and rechargeable batteries might seem humdrum additions but theyre relatively novel developments in the slow-moving world of audiology where miniaturization is half of the art.

Winn said though hearing aid sound quality has come an incredibly long way and that the skys the limit with technology, she cautioned that the latest developments may have a more limited impact than marketing would suggest.

Each individuals hearing loss can be very different, she said. And so just because its a great new technology doesnt mean its going to work for everybody and that we do have to set realistic expectationsSometimes the marketing makes it sound like this brand new product is going to be perfect for everyone. And everyones going to hear like they were 18 years old again. And we just know that thats not the reality.

And that hints at a challenge for Whisper. Audiologists are a crucial piece of any high-end hearing aid system because they perform tuning, maintenance, and sales. Whisper has opted to lease its system through a monthly subscription. For $179 over three years, a customer gets the hardware plus all the regular service. The overall price of about $6,500 is similar to what a person might pay for a competitive product from an audiologist. Despite some loss protections and introductory pricing, the overall math may not add up for all users.

Moreover, though the concept of Whispers system might be alluring, its still only available through some 20 audiologist offices across the country, and the company will need to battle the inertia of established players like Oticon that are widely available. Audiologists and consumers alike grow to trust certain brands.

Winn said that given hearing aids are long-term investments people should plan to keep for five to seven years, going with an established company guards against the possibility of a company going out of business relatively soon after a consumer bought their device.

I would be reluctant to try a new manufacturer until I saw some pretty good stability, she said.

Crow acknowledges the risk and insisted that Whisper is here to stay as a force to be reckoned with.

In the end, what may sway consumers to the startup is Whispers promise of a learning hearing aid system that gets better and better over time, especially if it cracks the problem of trying to filter out background noise with AI.

Whether its possible, whether its actually happening right now with some of these products on the market, I dont know, said Bailey from Hearing Tracker. But if it does prove possible, he said, it would be an absolute game changer.

Read the original:

Hearing aid makers tackle the technology's 'number one problem' with AI - STAT

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First American Data & Analytics, a division of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF) and a leading global provider of property and ownership data and advanced analytic solutions, announced today that it has been recognized by HousingWire Magazine as both a HW Tech100 Mortgage and HW Tech100 Real Estate winner.

The HW Tech100 program provides housing professionals with a comprehensive list of the most innovative and impactful companies that can be leveraged to identify partners and solutions to the problems that mortgage lenders and real estate professionals face every day.

We are honored to be recognized by HousingWire as one of the most influential technology companies in both the mortgage and real estate industries, said Jim Portner, vice president of product and strategy for First American Data & Analytics. This recognition speaks volumes about our team, the products weve built and our continuing commitment to invest in our data and technology solutions.

First American Data & Analytics was recognized for its critical property and ownership data, as well as the advanced analytics solutions it provides to companies in mortgage, real estate, title automation, fraud-risk management, compliance and valuation. The division continues to drive innovation, leveraging technology and data to deliver decisioning solutions to the mortgage, title and PropTech industries. First American Data & Analytics currently maintains the largest geographic collection of title plants, including a dataset of more than 7 billion recorded documents, which is further enhanced with more than 5 million new document images (and 20 billion overall data elements) each month.

After the uncertainty and unpredictability of last year, we expected a greater adoption of technology. However, these 100 real estate and mortgage companies took digital disruption to a whole new level and propelled a complete digital revolution, leaving a digital legacy that will impact borrowers, clients and companies for years to come, said Brena Nath, HousingWires HW+ managing editor.

About First American Data & Analytics

First American Data & Analytics, a division of First American Financial Corporation, is a national provider of property-centric information, risk management and valuation solutions. First American maintains and curates the industrys largest property and ownership dataset that includes more than 7 billion document images. Its major platforms and products include: DataTree, FraudGuard, RegsData, TaxSource and ACI. Find out more about how First American Data & Analytics powers the real estate, mortgage and title settlement services industries with advanced decisioning solutions at http://www.FirstAmDNA.com.

About First American

First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF) is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions that traces its heritage back to 1889. First American also provides title plant management services; title and other real property records and images; valuation products and services; home warranty products; banking, trust and wealth management services; and other related products and services. With total revenue of $7.1 billion in 2020, the company offers its products and services directly and through its agents throughout the United States and abroad. In 2020, First American was named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the fifth consecutive year. More information about the company can be found at http://www.firstam.com.

Read the original here:

First American Data & Analytics Named One of the Most Innovative Technology Companies in Both Mortgage and Real Estate by HousingWire Magazine -...

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla., March 17, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --Dicapta Corporation announces their app Access4All that allows everyone to experience "Feeling Through." Thanks to Dicapta's participation in providing their Access4All technology platform, all audiences with sensory disabilities can access the movie's accessibility features at any time. This is a unique film in that it casts for the first time a lead actor who is deafblind in real life.

Dicapta Corporation's founder and owner, Maria-Victoria Diaz, states "Doug Roland, the director of Feeling Through, has been outstanding in dedicating his talent to meet the needs of the viewers with disabilities. Our community with disabilities is interested in all kinds of movies, like everybody else, but this is the first time a movie about ourselves is offering all kinds of features to accommodate our needs. From captions adapted for easy reading to Spanish language tracks, Access4All accommodates to the needs of the viewers. I invite filmmakers and media producers to always consider audiences with disabilities among their target to reach."

"Feeling Through" has won 15 film festival awards across the globe. Currently this film is one of five in the Live Action Short Film category to be nominated for an Oscar on April 25, 2021. A total of 174 films qualified in this category, "Feeling Through" has made it to the final five nominations.

Thanks to the funds from the Office of Special Education-OSEP from the US Department of Education, accessibility for the film "Feeling Through" is available on the Access4All app. The app (1) allows participants the ability to automatically synchronize the film captions, audio description in English and Spanish, American Sign Language (ASL), and other features with the film.

Thanks to Dicapta Corporation's technology, viewers who are deaf and/or blind can have the same movie watching experience that people without disabilities enjoy. They have access from their Braille displays, or the screen of their mobile device. Whether the film is watched online or in person, viewers will always have the ability to access the tools customized for the blind and hearing-impaired community.

For a limited time, "Feeling Through" is available at the following link :

Download Access4All from the Google Play store or the Apple store, and enjoy the movie.

Dicapta Corporation is a technology company focused on making media accessible for people with visual and hearing disabilities. It has been offering high quality description, captioning, language customization, and interpretation services since 2004. Dicapta has served the TV industry, media companies, educational institutions, and variety of organizations in making communications accessible to everyone.

For more information on Dicapta Corporation or their Access4All technology visit online at https://dicapta.com/tvaccess/ or call (407) 389-0712.

(1) All the accessibility features for the movie are stored in the Access4All Digital Clearinghouse of Accessibility Assets, administered by Dicapta Foundation, https://access4all.dicaptafoundation.org.

Media Contact

Olga Collazos, Dicapta Corporation, (407) 389-0712, ocollazos@dicaptafoundation.org

SOURCE Dicapta Corporation

Read the original:

Dicapta Corporation Accessibility Technology Makes It Possible For DeafBlind Individuals To Watch An Oscar-Nominated Film About Themselves For The...