Innovators of the week
Science Eye
The co-founder of Neuralink has revealed plans for an eye implant that could one day cure blindness. Called the ‘Science Eye’, it plans to tackle two distinct types of blindness for which there is no cure currently. It will work by stimulating the optic nerve with an implanted, flexible ultradense microLED display panel inserted directly over the retina. The company will then employ gene therapy to act as a go-between and link the two. Eventually, the Science Eye could work as a brain-computer interface itself and unlock benefits to wearers. This could include removing the need for glasses or even serving as a virtual reality device instead of a clunky headset.
https://science.xyz/products/vision/
Connected energy
Some 227 GWh of used EV batteries will become available by 2030, a figure which would exceed the anticipated demand for lithium-ion battery energy storage systems that year. This could create a huge potential to repurpose used batteries. The battery would start its life as a car battery. Once it’s degraded it could be used as stationary energy storage. Then when it's below 70% capacity, it could be used as a backup power supply. That way a battery could be used for up to 40 years after its creation.
https://c-e-int.com/energy-storage/products-services/e-stor
Wastefront
Each year, 29 million metric tonnes of end-of-life tires are thrown away. In the US alone, 290 million tires are taken off cars, vans, and trucks annually. Wastefront is a rubber waste recycling company that converts disused tires into useful commodities, including liquid hydrocarbons and carbon black, which can then be reutilized in processes such as alternative fuel manufacturing or ground rubber production. These hydrocarbons could then be used to create tires again or generate power. They are currently building their first 30 million dollar plant in the U.K. It will be able to process around 80,000 tonnes per year of end-of-life car and truck tire material.
Icon
Icon, a 3D printing company based in Texas just signed a 50 million dollar deal with NASA. Their mission will be to work on project Olympus, which plans to develop technology that will allow humanity to build outposts on the moon and Mars using locally available dirt and rock. ICON is a pioneer in the use of advanced construction technologies on Earth and has already produced a simulated Mars habitat that NASA will use to train astronauts for long-duration missions. ICON plans to use the money to test its tech and procedures on a space mission that simulates lunar gravity, and to build humanity's first construction on another world. NASA's Artemis program is sending an uncrewed Orion capsule to the moon to establish a sustainable human presence by the end of the 2020s.
Ottonomy
A robot vendor called Ottobot is currently being tested at Pittsburgh International Airport. The robot rolls around the terminal on wheels and delivers orders placed through a smartphone app. It will help alleviate peaks in customer demand and ease line congestion at shops. The robots can be scalable to airports around the world as they all share a similar setup. Ottobot isn’t the only autonomous robot at Pittsburgh International Airport. There also are autonomous floor scrubbers roaming the terminal. The company offers free bottled water and sodas to volunteers who order on the app during the testing phase.
Commonground
CommonGround wants to make video conferencing better by moving it from 2D to 3D, and enabling closer connections than what we have today with simple video calls. The meeting software will not require a VR headset just your computer or iPhone. The first step will be to scan yourself in minutes using your phone. Then the app algorithms will create your realistic avatar that you can use for live meetings. The more the avatar is used, the better it gets. During meetings users will be “seated” in a room that will be shown on a video screen.
https://www.commonground-ai.com/
Disney
Disney researchers have developed an AI tool that makes it easier to make an actor appear younger or older in a scene. The researchers created a database of random faces, re-aged them using existing machine learning aging tools, and then fed the results of that process into FRAN (face re-aging network), which can apply effects like wrinkles or skin smoothing as a layer on top of the original face. Disney wants to develop a tool to make actors look younger, to help keep budgets in check. It has already de-aged actors in Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
https://studios.disneyresearch.com/2022/11/30/production-ready-face-re-aging-for-visual-effects/
