Japan eyes safety certification for AI tech

Seal of approval would limit user liability, promote development

DATE: 31/12/2016
SOURCE: NIKKEI


Artificial intelligence technologies could undergo scrutiny to receive public certification as safe and secure, as Japan looks to create a system that limits user liability while encouraging a promising business field.

The system proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications would cover everything from AI-equipped computers like IBM's Watson to intelligent robots. No specific regulations or guidelines exist on research and development in the field.

The government seeks to address the risk of unrestrained AIs harming humans, or acquiring or leaking sensitive information.

The Japanese ministry, knowing that severe restrictions could hinder technological advancement, aims to design a certification program that allows safe products to stand out in the market.

AI technology receiving certification would need to be under constant supervision by a human or other AI, with a safeguard letting a human take control at any time. High security also is essential, to prevent AIs from being taken over or having information stolen in a cyberattack. Privacy measures, such as limiting access to or instantly anonymizing personal information, are on the checklist as well.

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http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/Japan-eyes-safety-certification-for-AI-tech

3 Technologies Will Utterly Transform Your World in the Next Decade

DATE: 30/12/2016
SOURCE: REASON


Blockchain
The digital currency Bitcoin is the first way most folks heard of blockchain technology. By one simple definition, a blockchain is a kind of independent, transparent, and permanent database coexisting in multiple locations and shared by a community. (For nice simple explanation of how blockchains work, go here.) The beauty of a public distributed a blockchain is that records are permanent and cannot easily be falsified. It basically solves the problem of trust since everyone can see what was agreed to and what transactions actually have taken place.

CRISPR
Biology is kludgy and complicated and therefore biomedical and biotech progress is maddeningly slow compared to digital technologies. However, precise genome editing made possible by CRISPR greatly simplifies experimentation and will speed up the development of medical therapies, biotech enhanced crops, and even enable humanity to curate wild landscapes. CRISPR genome editing is derived from what is essentially a bacterial immune system in which how bacteria protect themselves against attacking viruses. Cheap and easy to use CRISPR can edit genes much like a word processing program can edit text. And progress has been rapid.

Machine Learning
Various machine-learning algorithms are being deployed as increasingly effective techniques for dealing with the growing flood and complexity of data. Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. Such learning algorithms are generally trained to organize and extract information from being exposed to relevant data sets. It is often hard to discern exactly how the algorithm is devising the rules from which it makes predictions.

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https://reason.com/archives/2016/12/30/three-technologies-will-utterly-transfor

AUGMENTED REALITY MARKET SIZE

DATE: DECEMBER 2016
SOURCE: GLOBAL MARKET INSIGHTS
TYPE: SUMMARY


Increasing technology penetration across the healthcare, retail, e-commerce and automotive verticals is anticipated to drive the augmented reality market growth in the coming years. Rising number of mobile devices including tablets and smartphones with built in AR functionalities that is becoming an important tool in the workplace to enhance smooth business workflows and operations further contributes to the growing industry size.


Increasing usage of social media and mobile applications that assist customers to have access to information provides ample opportunities to the AR market. Moreover, the growing demand for user engagement along with enhanced customer service across the application like real estate, retail and healthcare also contribute to the augmented reality market share.


Rising privacy issues pertaining to the technology is expected to hinder the augmented reality market over the forecast timeframe. The technology is able to reveal personal information to strangers or a group of people, which is the cause of considerable privacy concerns.


Component Trends

Hardware devices in the augmented reality market are forecast to grow at a CAGR of over 90% from 2016 to 2024 due to the advances in displays, processors, and sensors. Increasing adoption of smart glasses and advanced HMDs & HUDs across the globe is anticipated to boost the segment demand over the future. Moreover, increasing penetration of the technology across applications such as manufacturing and healthcare is expected to positively influence augmented reality market share.


Software in augmented reality market will witness substantial growth over the future owing to the rising penetration of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets offering richer media and enhanced experience through mobile AR apps.


Display Device Trends

Smart glass market size is projected to observe significant growth at over 95% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. Rising customer expectations have led organizations to bring digital world into person's perceived real world in an interactive way. Moreover, transforming workflow in industrial and enterprise sectors have led to rise in demand for advanced glasses to develop feature rich products. Such factors are projected to fuel the AR market over the future.


Technological advances in AR devices including smart glasses and head-mounted displays that use technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, are expected to propel the augmented reality market growth. For instance, Microsoft HoloLens is a wireless, self-contained holographic device that projects images over individual’s vision so they appear as holograms and provide information about the world. It has wide variety of application across healthcare, manufacturing, and warehouses. DHL warehouse workers are equipped with AR smart glasses that guides them through item picking to fulfil orders and increases efficiency.


Increasing R&D investment has led to the development of sensors used in HMDs escalating the segment demand in the global AR market.  For instance, Meta introduced HMD headset that uses array of sensors for positional tracking & hand interactions, 90-degree visual field view and 2560 x 1440 resolution display.


Application Trends

Industrial applications accounted for over 25% augmented reality market share in 2015. Several industry players are developing AR for the industrial sector to leverage the full potential. Rising demand to handle complex machinery, assemble and maintenance will propel augmented reality industry growth. Several companies such as Bosch, Boeing and Airbus invest immensely to improve their manufacturing capabilities. For instance, Boeing has started using Google Glass to assist aircraft wire harnessing. Bosch has also started using the technology from stat-up Reflekt for its various application including maintenance. Airbus is using Smart Augmented Reality Tools (SART) for error prevention. This technology has been considered mature for quality inspection, training, work instruction and is poised for extensive deployment across industries.


Automotive augmented reality market size is projected to witness significant growth with a CAGR of over 80% from 2016 to 2024. Rising demand in vehicles to reduce driver distractions and safety enhancement propels the industry adoption across the segment. Moreover, AR mitigates the reluctance towards conventional showroom visit with virtual experience and improves user experience. Ferrari created AR showroom app using 3D tracking technology that lets customers in the showrooms to choose vehicle and virtually change brakes, rims and paint job and offers customize as per requirements.


Regional Trends

China augmented reality market is predicted to witness significant growth and drive the Asia Pacific AR industry over the next few years. Increasing funding and investment in the technology is expected to augment the regional demand. Increasing penetration of smartphone & tablets and huge number of manufacturers based in the countries including China, South Korea and Taiwan is anticipated to contribute towards the rising augmented reality market size. Moreover, increasing investment from local vendors in merger & acquisitions activities provide tremendous growth opportunities. For instance, Tencent Holdings Ltd. And Lenovo Group Ltd. joined hands to buy Silicon Valley augmented reality start-up Meta.


U.S. augmented reality market share will drive the North America regional industry, and is forecast to exceed USD 24 billion by 2024. An increased adoption is forecast in the industrial and automotive sectors in the country, which are both set to grow faster than the regional average over the forecast timeframe.


Competitive Market Share

Augmented reality market leaders include Magic Leap, Sony, Blippar, Microsoft, Google, Infinity Augmented Reality, etc. Other notable players that account for augmented reality market share include Total Immersion, Apple, Daqri LLC, ODG, Wikitude, among others. Industry participants are engaged in establishing relationships with the third parties to increase the ability of their technologies and address the needs of the prospective customers. These companies are trying to expand their business with new innovations, product launch and merger & acquisitions to maintain competitive market share.


Industry Background

Technological advancements and innovation drive the global augmented reality market analysis and ecosystem. Firms invest massively in R&D operations to provide differentiated solutions to maximize AR market share. For instance, in 2015, Sony developed SmartEyeglass that connects with smartphones to superimpose information such as symbols, text, and images onto user field of view.


Moreover, rising penetration of mobile devices and applications are increasing the augmented reality market size. Innovations in the technology are offering new opportunities across several applications including real estate, banking, healthcare, and manufacturing. For instance, development of AR in Android application or iOS provide new experience for online and offline shopping. Furthermore, GPS mobile apps with AR assist tourist in routes and directions, translate the signs on the street, and provides information about sightseeing.


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https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/augmented-reality-ar-market
 

ALIEN LIFE FOUND ON ENCELADUS OR EUROPA: SCIENTIST PREDICTS EXTRATERRESTRIALS DISCOVERED IN 2017

DATE:01/01/2017
SOURCE: INQUISITR
VIA: GOOGLE

The search for living organisms on other worlds — alien life — is ever ongoing, and it came up empty again in the calendar year of 2016, but a physicist in the United Kingdom believes that everything will change in 2017 and extraterrestrial life will finally be discovered. He suggests that it won’t come from SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) or from the various devices gathering data on Mars. It won’t come from UFO disclosures that reveal that certain governments have known about alien beings and extraterrestrials for decades. No, proof of alien life will come from Jupiter or Saturn, or more precisely, one of the moons of Jupiter or Saturn.

The Daily Express reported this past week that physicist Simon Foster, a physicist from Imperial College London, is of the opinion that, even though there could be signals of life from faraway stars or biosignatures detected on exoplanets, the most likely candidates to reveal signs of alien life are the moons Enceladus (Saturn) and Europa (Jupiter). Foster says that the spacecraft Cassini is about to end its mission in the coming year and a scientific breakthrough “is just around the corner.”


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http://www.inquisitr.com/3842699/alien-life-found-on-enceladus-or-europa-scientist-predicts-extraterrestrials-discovered-in-2017/

IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) to invest billions in cyber operations

DATE: 01/01/2017
SOURCE: YNET
VIA: GOOGLE


Cyber units throughout IDF will be strengthened, according to a senior officer; the Computer Service Directorate will incorporate some other IDF entities, but a unitary command for cyber affairs will not be established.

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A senior IDF officer said on Sunday that, "for the first time in the multi-year Gideon project," which began last year, "the IDF will invest billions of shekels in cyber matters. We are currently writing the operating concept of the cyber affairs, establishing an entity of the General Staff to give the cyber perspective for all operational activity and the significance of cyber matters for the regional commands and for the air, land and sea forces. We are conducting war games and simulations and are learning from foreign countries on the subject. Our cooperation with other armies has principally raised two issues: terrorism and cyber affairs.

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4901547,00.html

Trump Promises a Revelation on Hacking

DATE: 31/12/2016
SOURCE: NY TIMES



Speaking to a handful of reporters outside his Palm Beach, Fla., club, Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump cast his declarations of doubt as an effort to seek the truth.

“I just want them to be sure because it’s a pretty serious charge,” Mr. Trump said of the intelligence agencies. “If you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong,” he added, referring to intelligence cited by the George W. Bush administration to support its march to war in 2003. “So I want them to be sure,” the president-elect said. “I think it’s unfair if they don’t know.”

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Mr. Trump, who does not use email, also advised people to avoid computers when dealing with delicate material. “It’s very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way, because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe,” Mr. Trump said.

“I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe,” he added. “I have a boy who’s 10 years old; he can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-hacking.html

N. Korea's leader hints of long-range missile test launch

DATE: 01/01/2017
SOURCE: AP, CBS


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hinted Sunday that Pyongyang may ring in the new year with another bang — the test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In his annual New Year's address, Kim said that after testing what the North claims was its first hydrogen bomb last year, preparations for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile have "reached the final stage"

Kim did not explicitly say an ICBM test, which if successful would be a big step forward for the North, was imminent. But he has a birthday coming up on Jan. 8, and last year Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test on Jan. 6.

Kim threatened in the address to boost his country's military capabilities further unless the U.S. ends war games with rival South Korea. But he also said efforts must be made to defuse the possibility of another Korean war and stressed the importance of building the economy under a five-year plan announced in May.

The year ahead could be a tumultuous one in north Asia, with Donald Trump set to become the new U.S. president on Jan. 20, and South Korea's politics in disarray over a scandal that brought the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kim-jong-un-hints-north-korea-test-intercontinental-ballistic-missle/