SMART TECH FOR LIFE
Start-ups inspire, empower and re- Create
Melissa Baird stepped out of her comfort zone and attended the Pioneers17 Top 50 Start-up event in Vienna Austria to discover how artificial intelligence (AI) and smart tech start-ups are changing the world one app at a time and at a rapid eye movement pace
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he venue was Vienna’s Hofburg palace; an astounding architectural masterpiece (and relic) of the grand Austro – Hungarian empire replete with ornate frescoes on its ceilings, wide staircases and thick marble columns in enormous halls lit by glossy chandeliers and whispering ballrooms that spoke of a glamorous past, and survival in the face of the destruction of war. There were five stages showcasing the best in tech and inspiration, infotainment and empowerment; masterclasses to help start-ups pitch their product to investors—and the media—and inspiring interviews with the likes of Virgin Galactic (yes, they are going to the moon) Google discussing their AI assistant (you can ask it anything and it will search your files for the answer and the entire Internet too). I listened to start up pitches as the inventors took the challenge to present their ideas to investors. They included BeeAnd.me—smart monitoring for bees that enables apiarists to monitor changes in hive behaviour and develop scientific knowledge about the habits of the world’s most precious and productive pollinating resource. Another included using artificial intelligence (AI) to enable doctors to make better diagnoses and have access to the latest research—who on earth can read 150 000 research papers and still have a life or enable it in a patient? No problem—AI can do it and give feedback. Sen wants to ‘consumerise space’ by recording videos and capturing space data to send it back to earth—what is out there can soon be ‘brought’ to you by a famous brand. Their aim is to share information ‘universally’ so what happens on earth is also taken out there for there to the Moon and Mars (missions planned) “as the space economy and activities expand in these worlds”—yes other than earth. That was just within the first few hours and, while I was taking lots of deep breaths as I processed the information overload, I met a robot named Pepper that responds to human touch through mechanical undulation and murmurs sweetly like a cat would purr. Smart homes are the homes of tomorrow. They are energy efficient and can control temperatures for better living conditions. I interviewed Morten Bremild, co-founder of Anyware Connected Living. They have created a smart device that
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acts as both an energy regulator and intrusion detector in your home. The device looks like a light bulb, is as easy to install and what will be of interest to South Africans is its one-system sensors that can detect intrusions, turn lights on and off while you are away and regulate the temperature of your home. The indoor climate monitoring sensor detects humidity levels and if above 75% humidity, the sensor alerts you. Their aim is to make smart homes simpler and Morten is very keen to find partners in the energy utility and insurance industry in this country. Currently, smart homes are in the realm of the early adopters of technology (16% of the overall market) and their target is for the early majority market who want a meaningful smart home experience so the product is easy enough for anyone to install and there is valuable data for insurance companies and energy companies to give back to the customer in terms of health and safety. You can pre-order a device at this link but only for the next few weeks. https://igg.me/at/Go-Anyware/x/14273983 The device was a great success at the largest consumer expo in the US and the product will also be available via Amazon.com. From an energy
perspective, a household can save 5-7% per degree Celsius—over a year if temperatures are regulated correctly. There is an app to help you develop your happiness muscle—HIMoment that I have been trying out. The ‘happiness industry’ is massive (USD 60 billion) but this is not about encouraging more social media narcissism, rather it is a personal timeline of sorts but complete with videos, images and voice recordings. A good ‘get out blue’ use for your phone. I rely on my memory and pictures for that but I could see its point and purpose. On the music is front an amazing speaker from Zylia.com that can record all the instruments in a room making sound engineering unnecessary and helping musicians record top quality clips without having to spend fortunes on sound studios. In sport, there is a fabric (SUPA.AI) that records your biorhythms and reports on fitness levels. Capitalising—or aiming to—on the legal cannabis growing industry is a start-up called Leaf that has created their own fridge, which is a grow room and monitoring system all-in one, so medical cannabis can be grown free of pesticides and by individuals who require the prescription.
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