How San Francisco’s ban could impact facial recognition tech video – CNET

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DOCOMO Develops Safe, Blade-free Drone Propelled with Ultrasonic Vibrations

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Press release

May, 17 2019 12:08 JST

Source: NTT DOCOMO

TOKYO, May, 17 2019 – (JCN Newswire) – NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced that it has developed a blimp-style drone that is propelled safely through the air with ultrasonic vibrations, offering promising applications in homes, concert halls and other indoor spaces.
Unlike conventional drones that require propellers and sometimes wings, DOCOMO's propellerless and wingless drone blimp simply requires helium to remain airborne. Moreover, it can travel forward, backward or up/down propelled via ultrasonic vibrations generated by several small modules to move air.
Conventional drones can cause serious injury or damage if their propellers or wings strike people or objects. DOCOMO's drone blimp, however, simply uses ultrasonic-vibration modules, so coming into contact with the drone presents no danger.
In the near future, DOCOMO will deploy its drone blimp at concert halls and other indoor events for entertainment, informat..

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Counter-Drone Technology to be Commercialized by Embry-Riddle and Drone Defense Systems LLC

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., May 15, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — New technology that detects and commandeers unauthorized drones, guiding them to land safely, will be commercialized under a licensing agreement between Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Drone Defense Systems LLC of Daytona Beach, Fla.

The technology, developed by Embry-Riddle faculty member Dr. Houbing Song, suggests a safe, affordable way to neutralize rogue drones – without having to shoot them down or force them to crash-land – even in civilian settings such as large outdoor entertainment arenas and airports.

Under the newly inked licensing agreement, Drone Defense Systems LLC received exclusive rights to commercialize the technology, said Dr. Stephanie A. Miller, executive director of technology transfer for Embry-Riddle's Research Park. In addition, company Founder and CEO Sotirios George Kaminis will work with Song and Embry-Riddle to further refine the concept, build a prototype, and pursue related products,..

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Flying high on drone tech

By Anu KuruvillaExpress News Service
CHENNAI: This team of four engineers are going great guns since the launch of their start-up AI Aeronautics six months back. It has been incubated at Maker Village, and is making waves even in international market due to their penchant for customisation.
“The idea emerged while I was pursuing my PhD in Aerial Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. But, the idea to launch a start-up is a recent one,” said Vishnu V Nath, founder and VP, engineering. It was set up with a seed investment of Rs 15 lakh. “The money was pooled in by us. Later, we got Rs 10 lakh from the government as a part of Niti Prayas,” he said.

The aim was to develop a viable product that matches the requirement of the customer at a minimal cost. “We build a customised flying platform that can be used in reconnaissance, aerial 3D mapping for survey, smart agriculture and disaster management,” he said. The efficiency of the product was proved during a demonstration that was held for t..

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San Francisco’s facial recognition technology ban, explained – Vox.com

Big Brother may be watching you, but not in San Francisco.

Steffi Loos/Getty Images

San Francisco isthe first major city to ban local government agencies’ use of facial recognition, becoming a leader in regulating technology criticized for its potential to expand widespread government surveillance and reinforce police bias.

The “Stop Secret Surveillance” ordinance passed 8-1 in a vote by the city’s board of supervisors Tuesday. The ordinance will implement an all-out ban on San Francisco city agencies’ use of facial surveillance, which tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft currently sell to various USgovernment agencies, including in Amazon’s case, US police departments and in Microsoft’s case, a US prison. These technologies can detect faces in images or live video streams and match those facial characteristics to someone’s identity in a database.

Today, facial recognition technology is widely used by the Chinese government for Orwellian mass surveillance of ordinary cit..

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Q&A with drone pilot Ben Nyberg

For decades, botanists at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) in Hawaii have rappelled down dangerously steep cliff faces using ropes, hung out of helicopters and walked through some very remote valleys to look for, and conserve, rare, native plants. Several cliffs and valleys, however, have remained inaccessible.
Drones are now helping the NTBG staff access and survey some of these difficult-to-reach parts of the Hawaiian islands.
Mongabay recently spoke with Ben Nyberg, a GIS coordinator and drone specialist at NTBG, about the use of drones for plant conservation.

Sometimes looking for rare plants can mean taking extreme steps. And for decades, botanists at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG), a nonprofit based on the island of Kauaʻi in Hawaii, have done that. They’ve rappelled down dangerously steep cliff faces using ropes, hung out of helicopters and walked through some very remote valleys — all in an effort to search for Hawaii’s rare native plants, and find ..

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