Lifeboat Foundation

High-end, futuristic malls in China and parts of the US are upgrading technology, hoping to attract customers with “smart” shopping centers.

“In the US, the malls look exactly the same they did 20 year ago,” Deborah Weinswig, executive director at Fung Business Intelligence Centre, said recently in a talk at a JDA Executive Luncheon. “We’ve got to make it more exciting, and more fun, and more experiential.”

Changing consumer tastes and the rise of e-commerce means shoppers are visiting malls less and less, with Weinswig reporting that the average American now visits a mall three to four times a year, as opposed to five to six. To compete with online shopping, malls need to match e-commerce in convenience and create experiential reasons to visit the mall that you cannot find online.

Read more

I usually keep my posts focused on business and technology; etc. However, as a professional, innovator, researcher, etc. I like sharing incredible finds that I come across. And, in my recent year, I came across a composer who is probably one of our greatest composers of our generation (at least to me he is). His name is Magnus Strömqvist, and he composed this incredible song entitled “” — there is truly one word that comes to mind when you hear this song “Powerful”.

© 2011 (M. Strömqvist) All rights reserved Music composed, arranged and produced by M. Strömqvist.

Read more

“The money pouring into ed tech tells a different story, however. Despite the volume of novel products aimed at schools, the biggest investments are largely going to start-ups focused on higher education or job-related skills — businesses that feed a market of colleges, companies and consumers willing to spend to promote career advancement.”

Read more

BMI is an area that will only explode when the first set of successful tests are presented to the public. I suggest investors, technologists, and researchers keep an eye on this one because it’s own impact to the world is truly inmense especially when you realize BMI changes everything in who we view how we process and connect with others, business, our homes, public services, transportation, healthcare, etc.

Implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMI) that will allow their users to control computers with thoughts alone will soon going to be a reality. DARPA has announced its plans to make such wetware. The interface would not be more than two nickels placed one on the other.

These implantable chips as per the DARPA will ‘open the channel between the human brain and modern electronics’. Though DARPA researchers have earlier also made few attempts to come up with a brain-machine interface, previous versions were having limited working.

Continue reading “DARPA’s to-be built wetware to prove immensely beneficial in medicine field” »

Go Hubo

The so-called ‘fourth industrial revolution’ will bring ever faster cycles of innovation, posing huge challenges to companies, workers, governments and societies alike Implantable mobile phones. 3D-printed organs for transplant. Clothes and reading-glasses connected to the Internet.

Such things may be science fiction today but they will be scientific fact by 2025 as the world enters an era of advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and gene editing, according to executives surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Continue reading “Here come the robots, welcome to the next industrial revolution” »

Another article highlighting the fears around Singularity. There are so many great things that will come from Singularity such as Cancer is wiped out, improved healthcare across the board and cheaper, etc. And, there are also downsides as Gates, Musk, etc. have warned folks especially around AI.

So, what are our options and obligations around Singularity? In reality, you will not be able to stop this evolution from happening. However, each person has a right to decide how much singularity is right for their own private use. As a business or a company, there are many things to consider such as Total Cost of Ownership v. ROI, tax codes or how government will view “humanoids” v. non-humanoids as it relates to CapEx and Taxes, etc. And, the company or business needs to ensure that there are appropriate safegaurds in place in order to protect their data, etc… Also, government has an obligation to the people in general in safegaurding our rights, security, and safety.

Another, question that will continue to be raised and will increase overtime is government and business obligations to the financial welfare of the people. And, this one will become more and more complex and interesting overtime. If AI was to truly displace millions of workers; how will the countries help feed, clothe, and house millions displaced people beyond what they have done in their own country’s past? Will the countries government place a special tax structure on companies and businesses to help fund the displaced workers and their families? Or, will it be a joint partnership with business and government? It does make one wonder.

Continue reading “Why you should be scared of robots” »

The real opportunities of our future is when we truly integrate technology and genetics/ healthcare together to the point that technology benefits from learning and evolving from what we do in genetics/ healthcare; and genetics/ healthcare truly evolve through technology discoveries and evolution. Does this sound like singularity? Yes; however, this is when we truly see some amazing advancements in both fields. And, several investors (even in Silicon Valley) are investing in technology that is positioned to focus on evolving technology through healthcare.

Scientists have been quietly working for decades to crack the genetic codes that allow humans to live forever, or at least significantly longer.

And judging by the bits of information on this research that is beginning to leak into the mainstream of human discourse, the idea may no longer be far-fetched.

Continue reading “Elites pouring billions into gene-therapy research” »

Although some journalists, etc. love writing these stories; I do believe that we must realize that folks like Gates, Musk, etc. have access to a lot of leaders in industry and government. So my advice for what it’s worth to you the reader is: We all must step back & look at the bigger picture; especially when you have folks involved who have access to people, conversations, and things that many of us will never have access to. We do owe this to ourselves, our people, our company, to our customers as well when we look at our own corporate & business future state.

Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking will share this year’s Luddite Award – an annual tribute to the worst anti-technology idea of the year – for stirring what the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation called “fear and hysteria in 2015 by raising alarms that artificial intelligence could spell doom for humanity.”

Read more

Tired of the leaves and hearts floating on the foam of your coffee? Then this Ripple Maker by the Israeli startup Steam CC is the answer for you. This machine reproduces photos, text or other graphics on coffee foam.

The Ripple Maker was first unveiled last June, when it was revealed that Lufthansa airlines would be using the devices in its First and Business Class departure lounges. Last week at CES, however, broader availability of the system was announced – it can now be purchased by any business that serves coffee, starting at US$1,299, and is available with an $85/month service plan.

Read more