Technology Review

Epic Games has unveiled a technology to build digital humans in just an hour This new browser-based app allows to create digital humans that look just like us. This is especially good news for game developers and creators of real-time content The created character can be exported to the Unreal Engine game engine. To do this, a tool called Quixel is used. The MetaHuman Creator technology was designed to simplify and speed up the process of creating video game characters, allowing developers to focus on the more important aspects of their projects.

Three Phase One is an electric bike with a power reserve of 80 km, featuring a stylish design The cherry of the project is the bike’s versatility, simplicity of design and all the necessary set of functions at a fairly attractive price compared to analogues. The developers use a Shimano speed switch, 700C 40mm wheels with tires, and an ergonomic seat. Removable Samsung batteries provide for decent independence of operation. The batteries are installed on the frame with a simple click.

Oki Makeup Printer Procter and Gamble has developed a manual makeup printer that can visually rejuvenate the skin. Opte is equipped with a camera that scans the skin for freckles, spots, moles with a unique color, as well as a printer with 120 heat-jet nozzles that apply a little makeup and moisturizer to a certain area. According to the manufacturer, Opte is dramatically reducing world-wide usage of cosmetics.

Sally the salad robot can whip up a great salad in a matter of seconds DoorDash, a food delivery company, announced the acquisition of Chowbotics, a startup that produces salad-making robots. It is claimed that the number of meal options depends only on a set of basic food bowls, and users can choose the ingredients they want to include in their salad. The cooking time is equal to the time it takes a coffee machine to make cappuccino.

Researchers using AI to train dogs Before training dogs to obey certain commands, the researchers had to train AI to correctly recognize different animals' actions and postures. The Stanford Dogs database (20,000 images) and ImageNet were engaged in this process. What was the result? We can state the success of the project — the recognition accuracy is 92%, and this is not actually the limit. At the same time, the system is capable of recognizing the animals' actions in real time, taking 40 pictures per second. For the correct command execution, the pet receives food through a connected servomotor.

Bagel: The World's Smartest Tape Measure With three different measuring modes, Bagel lets you measure just about anything. It can also save measurements, record voice memos, and send data to its mobile app, where you can easily organize and analyze your measurements.

Oceanix City: a floating city concept This project was presented by an association of well-known companies BIG, OCEANIX, and MIT at a special meeting convened by UN-Habitat. Oceanix City is a collection of floating platforms moored to the ocean floor, connected to each other by crossings and walkways for easy movement around the city. Life here wouldn't differ from life in conventional cities, except for greater interaction with the marine environment. The number of citizens can range from 300 to 10 thousand.

Focals Smart Glasses by North North has unveiled the Focals smart glasses and is already working on a new model. Focals are similar to regular glasses with slightly heavier frames. At the same time, they are equipped with a device that displays the information you need on the lenses. The device features a controller, the tiny Loop joystick attached to the finger. The glasses are an accessory to your smartphone rather than a separate device. However, you can easily control your smart home through them.

Hyundai is engaged in the development of a universal wheeled walker TIGER The TIGER device is a drone on a universal wheel-walking chassis, where each manipulator has six degrees of freedom and an autonomous power plant. All key elements of the structure are made of carbon composites and are created by 3D printing. The carrying capacity of the TIGER is not specified, but the developers assured that a stretcher with a person, a module for sowing seeds, environmental analysis sensors for studying other planets and other equipment are placed on the platform.

Electric Tankers A Japanese consortium of cargo and engineering companies, commissioned by Asahi Tanker, has begun building two all-electric tankers under the e5 Project. The 62-meter, 500-tonne tankers will be powered with two 1,740 kWh lithium-ion batteries. This is enough to accelerate the ship to a speed of 10 knots. The first tanker will be released in 2022.

Uber for toilets This is the creation of the company WeeWeeFree, whose founder decided to help people find a toilet in unknown surroundings. So they have created an application that already has 180 thousand toilets stored in its database. All you have to do is open the app and turn GPS location on. The app will immediately show you the nearest toilet and the route to it. Thus, it doesn't show horrible toilets in the back alleys, but decent ones available in restaurants, hotels, and public places.

Mechanix Wear introduces smart gloves with an inside heating system The owner of one of these ColdWork M-Pact work gloves will be able to independently choose the mode and create an optimal profile for themselves. For this you will require an application on your smartphone. There is an indicator on the gloves that signals when the glove is heating. The gloves themselves are made of high-quality cowhide leather with nylon stitching, they feature an ergonomic design that facilitates grip, making them comfortable to work in. You will not have to take off your gloves to use a smartphone.

Autonomous electric minibuses Volkswagen I. D. Buzz Volkswagen are attempting conceptual revival of the legendary VW T1 minibus. However, they haven’t left much of the iconic model. The I. D. Buzz model is an electric vehicle based on the MEB universal platform. There is not a single button inside the cabin – only sensors. The minibus is capable of accelerating up to 160 km/h and conquering distances of up to 600 km on a single battery charge. It takes about 30 minutes to recharge up to 80% of the car battery. There is also an autopilot function.

Bird Buddy - Smart Bird Feeder Bird Buddy notifies you about feathered visitors, takes their photos and organizes them into a beautiful collection to admire and easily share with the public. Also, Bird Buddy will recognize all the birds that visit you, and you will be able to build a collection of new species of birds that you have discovered.

Aleph Farms - 3D-printed lab-grown steak The experts of the Israeli company Aleph Farms have managed to reproduce such a popular dish as steak using 3D bioprinting and the test tube meat technology. Since they used harvesting stem cells from the muscle tissue of living livestock, the tube steak shares the same taste and texture as conventional meat. It is worth pointing out that this is not a synthetic product, but real meat cells grown under laboratory conditions.

Eavor-Loop: affordable geothermal energy The startup Eavor has received investment from BP and Chevron to develop its geothermal energy extraction system, which can produce cheap electricity with a fairly high efficiency. What makes the Eavor-Loop special is that, unlike analogous technologies, it doesn't need a water pump, which decreases a waste of energy by 50-80%. Turbines are driven on the surface by the heat of water vapor and electricity is produced.

Facebook's AI can take anyone to the virtual world This is an old (2019) development of Facebook experts, which allows you to transfer any person into the virtual world, game or video. The process is quite straightforward: the AI (two neural networks are used at once) cuts out a person from the movie creating his or her a virtual image. And the image can be copied to any background, including a moving picture.

Philips Hue: the smart lighting system It is a system of smart lights, designed by Philips experts. A special feature of the Philips Hue is the ability to control lights (up to 50 lamps) and adjust them to the needs of the owner with a special remote or directly from a smartphone via Bluetooth. Furthermore, it makes it possible to synchronize lighting with movies, games, and music.

Bike with circular saws This is the creation of a popular YouTube blogger, The Q, who came up with the idea to replace regular bicycle wheels with circular saws in order to adapt it for cycling on ice. The first prototype was a failure, but the second... Just watch the video.

KUKA Robot vs. Human The German company KUKA Roboter, which produces industrial robots, has released three viral commercials showing the capabilities of their bots. In two of the clips, the KUKA KR AGILUS model faces off against one of the best table tennis players Timo Ball. First in a game of ping pong, then in a game of playing grand symphonies on wine glass rims. The last video shows the ensemble of bots performing a music piece. The KUKA KR AGILUS is is the smallest robotic cell on the market for arc welding tasks.