innovate Archives - Ination

Your iPhone will soon be able to replicate your voice after 15 minutes of training

ination online — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 12:35:04 +0000

Apple on Tuesday announced a series of new accessibility tools for the iPhone and iPad, including a feature that promises to replicate a user’s voice for phone calls after only 15 minutes of training.

With an upcoming tool called Personal Voice, users will be able to read text prompts to record audio and have the technology learn their voice. A related feature called Live Speech will then use the “synthesized voice” to read the user’s typed text aloud during phone calls, FaceTime conversations and in-person conversations. People will also be able to save commonly used phrases to use during live conversations.

The feature is one of several aimed at making Apple’s devices more inclusive for people with cognitive, vision, hearing and mobility disabilities. Apple said people who may have conditions where they lose their voice over time, such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) could benefit most from the tools.

“Accessibility is part of everything we do at Apple,” said Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, in a company blog post. “These groundbreaking features were designed with feedback from members of disability communities every step of the way, to support a diverse set of users and help people connect in new ways.”

Apple said the features will roll out later this year.

While these tools have potential to meet a genuine need, they also come at a moment when advancements in artificial intelligence have raised alarms about bad actors using convincing fake audio and video – known as “deepfakes” – to scam or misinform the public.

In the blog post, Apple said the Personal Voice feature uses “on-device machine learning to keep users’ information private and secure.”

Other tech companies have experimented with using AI to replicate a voice. Last year, Amazon said it’s working on an update to its Alexa system that would allow the technology to mimic any voice, even a deceased family member. (The feature has not yet been released).

In addition to the voice features, Apple announced Assistive Access, which combines some of the most popular iOS apps, such as FaceTime, Messages, Camera, Photos, Music and Phone, into one Calls app. The interface includes high-contrast buttons, large text labels, an option for an emoji-only keyboard and the ability to record video messages for people who may prefer visual or audio communications.

Apple is also updating its Magnifier app for the visually impaired. It will now include a detection mode to help people better interact with physical objects. The update would allow someone, for example, to hold up an iPhone camera in front of a microwave and move their finger across the keypad as the app labels and announces the text on the microwave’s buttons.

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This jet-propelled, self-inflating paddleboard is making a splash

ination online — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 12:27:15 +0000

In the world of water sports, stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) has been riding a wave of popularity in recent years. But the sport requires a degree of strength and stamina.

Inspired by his daughters’ struggles to navigate strong currents, Slovenian entrepreneur Sebastjan Sitar is on a mission to make the sport more accessible to people, regardless of their physical ability.

In 2016, he founded SipaBoards in Kamnik, Slovenia, and created the world’s first jet-propelled, self-inflating paddleboard. Although electric and self-inflating boards exist separately, Sitar’s design was the first to incorporate both features in one board.

“The idea was not to change the sport but to give it a wider audience. People feel much safer if they know an engine will help them get back to shore,” he said.

The next wave of technology

The Sipa Drive All-Rounder is the company’s latest e-SUP model, featuring a fully integrated jet engine powered by dual batteries that last up to six hours.

The board also has a built-in compressor that inflates it at the push of a button, promising optimal pressure in a matter of minutes. The board can reach up to 4.3 miles per hour on the water and comes with a Bluetooth smart paddle that acts as a remote for the motor.

Riders can inflate their board and control its speed through the SipaBoards app, which also monitors battery life and tracks the distance covered.

“The engine is like a small submarine. It has an easy-to-remove cover so you can access the batteries, recharge the board, and hit the water,” Sitar said.

A remote control attached to the paddle allows users to control the board’s speed via Bluetooth

Nejc Ferjan

Currents of change

When SipaBoards first introduced the concept of an electric motor in its paddleboards, people were hesitant to combine electricity with water, according to Sitar. But he says its innovative design ensures the rider’s safety.

“Once people try the board and experience how stable and enjoyable it is to use, we find that they quickly change their minds,” Sitar said.

There are now other options for those looking to power their paddleboards. Scubajet produces a portable jet system that can be used by divers and swimmers, but can also be fitted to canoes and SUPs, and Jobe produces an SUP with an integrated motor, which can also inflate it.

With the global standup paddleboard market forecast to be worth $1.65 billion in 2023, according to market research company Fact.MR, Sitar believes that SipaBoards’ electric models will revolutionize the sport of stand-up paddleboarding in a similar way that electric bikes have transformed cycling – letting users go faster and travel longer distances with less effort.

However, they are considerably more expensive than standard inflatable SUPs, which can cost upwards of $160. Sitar says his various e-SUP models are now available in 38 markets worldwide, starting at €3,025 (about $3,260). SipaBoards is now trying to set up SUP rental locations worldwide and is aiming to partner with 30 rental locations before the start of the 2024 season.

“We want to create a social network for electric water sports, where people can share their experiences, create new paddle routes, and connect with other riders,” Sitar said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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China’s Xiaomi dreams of building a car ‘as good as’ Porsche and Tesla

ination online — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 12:20:57 +0000

Xiaomi has unveiled its first electric car, just days after Huawei launched another one of its own, showing that the efforts of Chinese tech giants to join the electric vehicle race are beginning to bear fruit.

Xiaomi unveiled the SU7 sedan Thursday, two days after Huawei launched its Aito M9 SUV. The two companies have made their names as manufacturers of smartphones and other consumer electronics, but in recent years have revealed big ambitions in autos.

In 2021, Xiaomi announced that it would invest $10 billion over the next decade into a subsidiary focused on smart EVs.

Speaking at the launch event Thursday, CEO Lei Jun said the company was entering a “new decade” and hoped to become one of the world’s top five automakers in the next 15 to 20 years.

“It’s a new starting point for Xiaomi, and I’m convinced that one day in the future, there will be Xiaomis running on every road of this world.”

During a three-hour-long presentation, Lei said the company wanted to create “a dream car that is as good as Porsche and Tesla.”

It quickly realized the uphill battle it faced, he added. “To build a good car, it is still very, very difficult,” he told the audience.

However, Lei suggested that after several years, Xiaomi had come up with an offering similar to Tesla’s Model S and Porsche’s Taycan Turbo, directly comparing the performance statistics of all three models on a slide shown onstage.

Mark Rainford, an automotive industry commentator based in Shanghai who hosts the YouTube channel “Inside China Auto,” called Xiaomi’s offering “a winner,” predicting it would sell well in China.

“It looks very compelling on paper, both performance- and tech-wise,” he said, noting that the car could easily connect with Xiaomi’s smartphones.

By creating what is a luxury product, the company also appears to be targeting a different market, Rainford suggested.

“It’s clear they believe they’re a match (for) or even better than Porsche and Tesla’s flagship models, which is very ambitious for a brand most might consider a very strong consumer electronics brand but not necessarily perceive as premium,” he added.

Xiaomi did not reveal the model’s price at the event, though Lei said it would be “a little bit high.”

The company’s EV debut comes the same week as Huawei’s launch of the Aito M9, a six-seater vehicle priced starting at 469,800 yuan (about $66,500).

Customers are looking at Huawei’s Aito M9 model at a store in Shanghai on December 27.

Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Huawei said the SUV has “the largest space performance in its class,” and the company has incorporated premium features, such a projection screen designed to replicate the experience of watching a movie in a cinema and not cause motion sickness to the viewer. The vehicle also comes with seats that have massage functions, and double armrests to allow passengers to relax during rides, it added in a statement Tuesday.

The new vehicles add to China’s crowded auto market — the world’s largest — which has seen a price war in recent months due to fierce competition and high inventories.

Last month, Huawei also launched an electric sedan that was designed to take on Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA).

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