Part of my job is to keep an eye on what's going on in the tech world, especially how it relates to Cadence technology. These few articles caught my eye, so I wanted to share them with you. Researchers Have Linked a Human Brain to the Internet for the First Time Ever I dunno, my brain has been connected to the internet pretty fully since about 1998 or so. *shrug* No, no, no. Of course that's not what it means. To save you the click, here's more: A team of researchers at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa have made a major breakthrough in the field of biomedical engineering. ...For the first time ever, researchers have devised a way of connecting the human brain to the internet in real time. It’s been dubbed the “Brainternet” project, and it essentially turns the brain “…into an Internet of Things (IoT) node on the World Wide Web.” The project works by taking brainwave EEG signals gathered by an Emotiv EEG device connected to the user’s head. The signals are then transmitted to a low-cost Raspberry Pi computer, which live streams the data to an application programming interface and displays the data on an open website where anyone can view the activity. For more information, see Medical Press . Electric Cars May Rule the World’s Roads by 2040 Based on how quickly horses and buggies disappeared in the early 1900s, the researchers argue, more than 90 percent of all passenger vehicles in the U.S., Canada, Europe and other rich countries could be electric by 2040 . I don’t know. I think National Geographic' s premise might be flawed. Comparing horses and buggies to electric cars seems like a stretch. The question is how quickly old cars are replaced by new ones, and how frequently people choose electric cars over gas- or diesel-powered ones. People make changes in their lives only if they are convinced to do so, and when they realize the benefits to them to make the change. All idealism aside, the majority of a population won't change because it's better for humanity. (If that were the case, we would probably all be vegetarian and living off our own gardens and have composting toilets.) People change when making the change makes a detectable improvement in their lives. If we can get that formula right to figure out where that tipping point may be, we can make a valid prediction. Still, we have to rely on some kind of measuring stick. The writers at National Geographic make a good case. Check out the article itself. In addition, a paper published last May by RethinkX, Rethinking Transportation 2020 – 2030: The Disruption of Transportation and the Collapse of the Internal-Combustion Vehicle and Oil Industries , makes the argument that not only will electric cars replace what’s on the road now faster than we realize, but also the implications of consumers choosing autonomous vehicles will bring disruption to the entire transportation industry, mostly for the better. Super analysis. This isn’t really news, either, but it really needs to be taken into consideration as we move forward in planning for the couple dozen years. Check out the report --- it’s interesting reading, at least for geeky folks like me. The first ten pages alone are worth the price of admission. Samsung’s Bendable Phone? Foldable phones are coming – it’s only a matter of time – and it's looking increasingly like Samsung could be the first company to commercially launch one, possibly as soon as this year. We may even know what it’s called, with the mysterious Samsung Galaxy X being the subject of several bendable leaks, foldable patents and flexible rumors. But whether X marks the spot or not, we’re clearly entering a foldable future. How cool would that be? A phone you can wear as a bracelet (just like a watch! …oh wait, Apple has already come out with one…), or fold a tablet to hold it like a book or compress down to fit in your back pocket. The screens will be made from plastic that’s thin, light and flexible enough to fully fold or roll. I don’t understand how this is possible, but it’s clearly a source of innovation for future mobile technology. According to the linked article, this was originally debuted at CES 2013. Seeing as it’s now almost 2018 and no one has a working model yet, I would guess there are some more challenges facing manufacturers with the technology. Now if only they could have the tablet emit the scent of old books… For Disposable Voice Recognition, Take Cheap Chips and Add Simple AI Pete Warden wants you to throw your voice-recognition hardware in the trash. And then buy more—and more, and more. This … engineer is on a quest to make voice recognition dirt cheap. His idea is simple enough: cut down the neural networks that are usually used to process sound until they’re efficient enough to run on cheap, lightweight chips. “What I want is a 50-cent chip that can do simple voice recognition and run for a year on a coin battery,” he explained ... “We’re not there yet … but I really think this is doable with even the current technology that we have now.” This article was published by Technology Review , and talks about how "...the devices could be used to build cheap dolls that respond to your kids, for instance, or simple home electronics like lamps that are voice-activated. But Warden also says they could find a use in industrial settings, listening for noises rather than voices—hundreds of sensors spotting tell-tale audio signatures of squeaking wheels in factory equipment, or chirping crickets in a farm field." This seems like a ready-made market for the Cadence Tensilica HiFi 3z DSP , specifically the HiFi Mini DSP. Stay tuned, this looks incredibly promising. What would you do with this kind of technology at your fingertips? What is possible? What articles have you seen lately that set your mind adrift? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. —Meera![]()
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