Spotted: In the midst of a war for talent, security costs in real estate are rising. The good news, however, is that investment – including in new technologies – can help to keep these costs under control. AI is one such technology, and one area where it can help is in reducing the costs associated with monitoring security systems.
Animals, moving objects, and even the weather can trigger false alarms and, if these false alarms become repetitive, it can distract from real threats and necessitate large, labour-intensive, and costly monitoring centres. To combat this, startup promiseQ is harnessing advancements in AI to centralise video surveillance management and filter out false alarms.
Using computer vision and generative AI, the startup forwards only real threats to its customers. And on the rare occasions where the AI is uncertain whether a threat is real or false, the footage is forwarded to the company’s remote ‘crowdforce’ of expert human reviewers. The hybrid human-AI system has a fast learning rate, with the human feedback improving the quality of the AI continuously.
Meanwhile, a ‘Camera Integrity Check’ feature prevents equipment downtime, while ‘Privacy Zone Control’ enables companies to set parameters and exclude certain zones from surveillance. The system’s ‘Device Tree’ feature further enables companies to monitor multiple sites and cameras from a single dashboard. Finally, a reference picture of an area can be uploaded to the system, which is then continuously compared to the live footage to identify any deviations in real time.
Springwise has spotted other innovations boosting safety, including a security robot on wheels and computer vision tech that helps to prevent workplace accidents.
Scientists from South Korea’s Yonsei University have invented what they believe to be a sustainable, high-protein food in the form of “beef rice”, made by growing cow cells in grains of rice.
Tinged a pale pink from the cell culturing process, the hybrid food contains more protein and fat than standard rice while having a low carbon footprint, leading its creators to see it as a potential future meat alternative.
The beef rice was made by inserting muscle and fat stem cells from cows into grains of rice and leaving them to grow in a Petri dish.
The hybrid “beef rice” is made by growing cow muscle and fat cells within rice grains
Because the rice grains are porous and have a rich internal structure, the cells can grow there in a similar way to how they would within an animal. A coating of gelatine – in this case, fish-derived – further helps the cells to attach to the rice.
Although beef rice might sound like a form of genetically modified food, there is no altering of DNA in the plants or animals. Instead, this process constitutes a type of cell-cultured or lab-grown meat but with the beef grown inside rice.
Soy and nuts are the first foods that have been used for animal cell culturing, they say, but their usefulness is limited because they are common allergens and do not have as much cell-holding potential as rice.
It contains more fat and protein than standard rice
The nutritional gains for their beef rice are also currently small, but the researchers from Yonsei University’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering say that with further optimisation, more cells and therefore more protein could be packed in.
The hybrid rice contains 3890 milligrams of protein and 150 milligrams of fat per 100 grams – just 310 milligrams more protein and 10 milligrams more fat than standard rice.
“Although hybrid rice grains still have a lower protein content than beef, advances in technology that can improve the cell capacity of rice grains will undoubtedly improve the nutritional content of hybrid rice,” the researchers said in their paper.
The scientists also believe the product could be inexpensively commercialised and tout the short time frame required to boost nutrition through culturing.
Whereas beef production usually takes one to three years and rice 95 to 250 days, they say their cell culturing process took less than 10 days.
“Imagine obtaining all the nutrients we need from cell-cultured protein rice,” said researcher Sohyeon Park. “I see a world of possibilities for this grain-based hybrid food. It could one day serve as food relief for famine, military ration or even space food.”
If commercialised, the hybrid grain is expected to have a low carbon footprint, similar to growing standard rice, because there would be no need to farm lots of animals. While the stem cells used for the process are extracted from live animals, they can proliferate indefinitely and don’t require animal slaughter.
An obstacle for some may be the taste; the cell culturing process slightly changes the texture and smell of the rice, making it more firm and brittle and introducing odour compounds related to beef, almonds, cream, butter and coconut oil.
The meat alternative was grown in a Petri dish
However, lead researcher Jinkee Hong told the Guardian that the foodstuff tastes “pleasant and novel”.
The team is now planning to continue their research and work to boost the nutritional value of the hybrid rice by stimulating more cell growth.
However, scaling up production, clearing regulatory hurdles and creating an appealing taste and texture have proven a challenge, and there are few examples on sale anywhere in the world.
In the meantime, speculative designers have explored the issue. Leyu Li recently created three conceptual products that, similar to beef rice, combine lab-grown meat with vegetables, calling them Broccopork, Mushchicken and Peaf.
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As remote work continues to dominate the workplace landscape, tools and devices designed to improve the virtual experience are becoming increasingly important and popular amongst designers. Indeed, most firms in the United States are offering hybrid work models to their employees, a potentially revolutionary change that certainly transforms the design profession, where office culture and collaborative processes are integral to the success of many projects.
While working from home offers numerous benefits and perspectives, the office atmosphere is hard to replicate and often missed. Thankfully Owl Labs has developed a new and improved technology to facilitate collaborative work from a distance. The recently-launched Meeting Owl 3 multitasks as a 360° camera, microphone and speaker device that elevates the video conference experience, fosters connectivity and improves overall productivity.
Meeting Owl 3 integrates with the most used conferencing platforms today, such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and GoToMeeting among others. Its compatibility is ideal for designers whose work is conducted over multiple conferencing platforms. Owl Labs has integrated their Owl Intelligence System into the device, which consists of AI-driven software that regularly upgrades to make collaboration as immersive, inclusive and reliable as possible.
The output resolution is 1080p HD, with a field view of 360°, ensuring clear and crisp video quality that helps team members feel connected while working apart; this level of detail can be vital when showing physical objects, including models and sketches, rather than doing a screenshare. Moreover, the device’s microphone comes with 8 omnidirectional beam-forming Smart Mics and an audio radius of 18 inches. The speaker quality and output quality help to ensure that both designers and project teammates can hear one another as clearly as possible.
The Meeting Owl 3 is designed to automatically focus on the voice actively speaking, which creates the best possible meeting experience without having to intervene and consistently check-in with those listening. Owl Lab’s easy-to-use connection system makes it ideal for those running multiple meetings back-to-back or those signing into last-minute calls. It can be simply plugged into the host computer via USB-C or can be connected to the Expansion Mic via micro-HDMI. Once connected, users can immediately start their video conference call.
Beyond home work, The Owl Lab is useful to architects working in the office who would like to collaborate with teammates or meet with far away clients virtually. Indeed, it is especially helpful for design firms that conduct international business with overseas clients. This device’s ability to mimic the office environment and in-person feel will aid in building client confidence and maintaining a good rapport between team members.
This ind of tool is also useful for larger conferences or for those working in big spaces. In such cases, Two Meeting Owl 3s can even be paired together to expand the video and audio coverage within a space. Meanwhile, the device is small and compact and blends seamlessly into any environment without creating an eye sore or distraction.
Since its release, the Meeting Owl 3 has been widely revered for its effortless set-up and ability to foster connectivity. One Amazon user explained how the “system was so simple to install, plug it in, initiate the system and you are off and running on your zoom meeting” and how it “made the meetings fun, functional and will allow our in person and remote teams greater ease and access to each other, a win for us in productivity and connectivity.”
Meeting Owl 3 is one of those devices that enables designers to maintain the best of both worlds: to continue working remotely without having to compromise on collaboration and communication. Equally, it allows studios to seamlessly present projects and make virtual connections with far-off clients around the world.
For more laptops and workstation recommendations for architects, checkout 15 Top Laptops for Architects and Designers, and watch out for more in our Tech for Architects series, coming soon.
