Driverless minibuses make a debut on the streets of downtown Dubai
SELF-DRIVING BUS: Developed jointly by French group Easy Mile and Dubai-based Omnix, the new self-driving minibus is powered by an electric motor and can reach speeds of 40km/h. Image: Online
A driverless bus service was unveiled in downtown Dubai on Thursday in a month-long trial period for the electric vehicle with a view to expanding it across the futuristic Gulf city state.
The autonomous EZ10, jointly launched by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority and the Emaar Properties, can carry up to 10 passengers to travel short distances over pre-programmed routes, according to Xinhua News Agency. It can travel at a high speed of 40km per hour.
The 10-seat vehicle made its first trip on Thursday along a 700-metre stretch of road in downtown Dubai, near to the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.
Developed jointly by French group Easy Mile and Dubai-based Omnix, the minibus is powered by an electric motor.
The new ride is free to public during the test run, and after the trial run the vehicles are expected to be used as shuttle buses between the city’s most iconic tourist attractions, including the Burj Khalifa and Mall of the Emirates, among others.
Its developers say the bus can adapt its speed to the surrounding environment and even come to a complete halt if a pedestrian were to cross its path, thanks to cutting-edge guidance technology.
It can be programmed to navigate between Dubai’s main tourist attractions, including the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Mall, Dubai Opera and the Souk al-Bahar shopping centre, the emirate’s Road Transport Authority (RTA) said in a statement.
The test run was “the first and very important stage in our efforts to introduce this type of vehicle into Dubai’s transport network,” RTA official Ahmed Bahrozyan told AFP.
VIDEO COURTESY: AFP
According to Mattar al-Tayer, the RTA’s director general, the transport authority aimed to have a quarter of all Dubai transport automated by 2030.
Dubai is a leading tourist destination in the Gulf, attracting 14.2 million visitors in 2015.
Why walk through an airport when you can ride? And no, we are not advocating a joyride on those motorized carts designed for people with a disability. We prefer you leave those for the people who need them. We are talking about Modobag, the world’s first rideable travel bag.
Modobag is the first hybrid luggage — it is a part carry-on suitcase and a part motorized vehicle. Modobag can be used as a traditional wheeled bag — just extend the handle and pull it along on its wheels. When that Superman moment hits and you need to travel fast, you can quickly lower the bag into its riding position, jump on the built-in seating area and hit the throttle to go.
With its 200-watt electric motor at full throttle, this “little bag that can” is capable of whizzing 6 miles through the airport terminal at speeds up to 8 mph on a single charge. At that rate, you’ll be able to get to your destination three times faster than those slouches who have to walk their way to their boarding area. It also features a dual braking system for those “uh-oh” moments when you are about to crash into a travel companion or a fellow Modobag operator.
More than just a pretty bag with wheels, Modobag also has a high-performance, sealed bearing steering column, touch control dashboard and dual USB charging ports for power on the go. It even has an optional GPRS/GSM tracking system that’ll help you locate your bag with a companion iOS or Android app. It offers 2,000 cubic inches of packing space, has a base weight of 19 pounds, and can seat riders up to 260 pounds. Best of all, it’ll fit in an airplane’s overhead bin and is completely compliant with TSA, FAA, and IATA regulations.
Production of the Modobag is being funded via an Indiegogo campaign. You can pre-order yours with prices starting at $995 for the bag and $69 for the companion mobile app. The estimated ship date for both the luggage and app is January 2017.
The latest viral video sensation sweeping social media depicts an incredible piece of wearable technology that you can use while biking, riding transit, or even in the bath.
The Cicret bracelet is “like a tablet… but on your skin” the video proclaims. The users in the video are wearing a thin plastic wrist band and simply flick their wrist to summon forth an Android touch-screen surface on their forearm. Ostensibly, a projector is creating this image and a set of eight proximity sensors along the wrist band create the touch interface. The wrist band is loaded with unseen electronic components that give it all the functionality of a smartwatch and more, according to a schematic-style diagram shown in the video.
To put the icing on the cake, the Cicret bracelet is advertised to be available in two storage sizes – 16 GB and 32 GB – and 10 different colours.
Here’s the problem – this bracelet doesn’t exist. There’s no selection of colours available, no storage size options, no advanced projection system that reacts to your touch on your skin. What’s depicted in the video is the work of post-production special effects, not a prototype piece of technology in action. That’s because no prototype exists.
WTOP journalist Neal Augenstein got to the bottom of this secret with some inquiries to Guillaume Pommier, the co-founder of Paris-based Cicret. In his story, Pommier tells Augenstein that the video is an illustration and the company consists of four partners that are trying to raise donations via PayPal to fund development. Furthermore, three of the four team members work for other companies and are hiding their involvement with Cicret “because we don’t want to be fired.”
For Bret Conkin, the CEO of Crowdfund Suite, he first noticed the Circret bracelet campaign when it had a brief stint on Indiegogo.
“It looks too good to be true, it kind of defies your BS meter,” he says.
People interested in crowdfunding campaigns should carefully consider giving money to independently run efforts, he says. Platforms like Kickstarter require a working prototype for example, but the Cicret bracelet is based on a mock-up.
“Do your homework,” Conkin says. “If it feels the claim is so fantastical, its worth spending 15 minutes scanning what the conversation is around the product before you make a decision.”
Although no prototype for the Cicret Bracelet exists, the video depicts components in detail.
Unlike the crowdfunding campaigns we’re used to seeing on Kickstarter or Indiegogo where contributors are promised to be shipped products as soon as they’re completed, Cicret is just asking for donations with no strings attached. Pommier had previously launched an Indiegogo campaign, but closed it after raising only $1,357 of the $500,000 goal. Pommier told Augenstein he closed it because he wouldn’t be able to deliver on the product if their goal wasn’t reached.
There have been other crowdfunding campaigns that promised products that seemed too good to be true, Conkin says. He points to the Healbe GoBe campaign on Indiegogo that raised $1 million but is well beyond its promised shipping date for its product – which promises to measure calorie intake automatically by placing a sensor on your skin. The company missed its promised shipping date of Sept. 22.
The projector bracelet isn’t Pommier’s only project. The same website also advertises another product that does exist – in fact you can download the beta on the Google Play store right now. Cicret offers Android users a secure and private way to communicate with contacts, share files, and access files remotely through an encrypted communications channel. Its features include the ability to have your messages auto-destruct after being sent, the ability to edit messages you’ve previously sent, and to delete messages you’ve sent previously so the recipient can no longer access them.
According to Cicret’s call for donations page, it needs 300,000 euros ($425,062) to make the Cicret app available on all platforms. To make the Cicret bracelet’s first prototype, it will need 700,000 euros ($993,177). The website reasons that “if everyone gives us 1 euro, we will make it and release our products!”
There’s a term for hardware that companies promise and is never released – vapourware. While it’s only fair to give Cicret its fair chance at developing the prototype its viral video promises, there seems to be a lot of hot air around this bracelet’s development so far.
Microsoft had been planning to introduce a unique 3D Touch feature with a flagship Windows phone back in 2014. While the device was canceled, the work behind Microsoft's Kinect-like gestures lives on. In a new Microsoft Research video, the software maker is revealing some of the features it was working on under the guise of "pre-touch sensing for mobile interaction."
Microsoft had been planning to use a number of sensors on the sides of a device to detect how a phone is held by grip, allowing 3D Touch-enabled phones to block an orientation switch when you're lying down in bed. In the Microsoft Research video you can also see features allowing additional gestures to be unearthed as a users' finger gets closer to the screen. Video controls are used as an example, but Microsoft was also using the same concept to allow Windows Phone users to hover over Live Tiles (MixView) and reveal information relevant to a particular app.
MICROSOFT'S 3D TOUCH WORK IS SERIOUSLY IMPRESSIVE
All of this work would have enabled Microsoft to have a truly unique interaction model, but The Vergeunderstands the company canceled its flagship Windows phone as developers found it difficult to build compatible apps. Both Sony and Samsung have tried similar floating touch features for various Android apps, but nothing quite like this. Apple has also enabled its own 3D Touch technology, but the interactions are based upon holding your finger on the screen to reveal additional features. Apple's 3D Touch is often confusing as you're never sure how an app is going to react when you hold down, but Microsoft's 3D Touch appears to anticipate and sense interactions and provide contextual features.
It's not clear whether Microsoft will ever bring its 3D Touch work to the market. The software giant is largely retrenching from its Lumia Windows phones, and rumors suggest the company is focusing on a "Surface Phone" launch for next year. While Windows Phone might not have a competitive advantage on the app side, this type of 3D Touch interaction is truly innovative and unique. We just might never get the chance to test it in reality to see if it works as well as Microsoft's concepts.
Developed jointly by French group Easy Mile and Dubai-based Omnix, the minibus is powered by an electric motor.
