Innovation & Tech Today, Fall 2018

JASON LATIMER AND THE MAGIC OF SCIENCE ■ PIXAR VETERAN KUREHA YOKOO ■ SNEAK PEEK: RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

OLIVIA MUNN TAKES ON

THE PREDATOR PLUS:

CYBERSECURITY MEETS THE NFL ELIJAH WOOD’S VR VISION SORCERY MEETS SCIENCE: AN INSIDE LOOK AT MIND-READING TECH Fall 2018 • Display until Dec. 18, 2018

JULIE MOSS REVEALS THE TECH BEHIND TRIATHLONS POLITICS & SNL: DECADES OF SATIRE

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Charles Warner, Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief

“ Throughout the years, we’ve seen our publication change, featuring new writers, fresh perspectives, and a great number of forward-thinking personalities.”

Transformation As fall is a time of change, this season’s edition of Innovation & Tech Today is a reflection of transformation. Throughout the years, we’ve seen our publication change, featuring new writers, fresh perspectives, and a great number of forward-thinking personalities. We’ve gained new readers, expanded to new events, and seen massive creative and professional growth.

A perfect reflection of this theme is our cover star Olivia Munn, who has experienced an immense transformation throughout her career. While she started out hosting the popular gaming program Attack of the Show!, Munn’s trajectory has led her to big-screen roles and complex scientific interests. The star of the newest film in the Predator franchise and a rapidly rising star, Munn reveals the evolution of her career and her newfound focuses outside of gaming.

But our exclusive feature with Olivia Munn isn’t the only piece that shows themes of change. We take a look at how Saturday Night Live has evolved over the years in how they tackle politics, presenting satiric takes on everyone from George H.W. Bush to our current much-maligned Commander-InChief. Our writers examine how technology is growing to assist those stricken with diabetes.

Our founding editor Robert Yehling profiles the evolving technology landscape of Grand

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

Junction. Jason Latimer discusses his growth into STEM-related entertainment, inspiring young science enthusiasts to seek more answers. And, in our popular Lighter Side section, comedian David Rodriguez takes a comedic look at the evolution of the microphone.

These are only a small handful of the incredible stories our editorial team has put together. Kate Gorman of Fort Mason Games discusses how the changing gaming industry is beginning to highlight female gamers. Elijah Wood reveals details behind his incredibly innovative new VR game, an unsettling experience that our team was able to demo at E3 earlier this year. New York Jets offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum talks about his enthusiasm for STEM education and his favorite sports technology. Our Innovator Profile feature takes a look at the delightfully absurd artificial intelligence projects created

by Botnik Studios. Last but not least, kayakers Leonie Mahlke and Rebecca Grim discuss their efforts to combat the oil crisis in Alaska.

With all of these amazing features and more, I am incredibly proud to present you with the fall issue of Innovation & Tech Today. Enjoy!

SINCE LAST ISSUE

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Charles Warner cwarner@goipw.com SHOUT OUTS FROM GARY VEE Our Summer 2018 issue featured the illustrious talent and insights of motivator and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. The “King of Crushing It” shared behindthe-scenes footage of his interview with his loyal fans on social media and even cleared room on his mantle for a framed copy of Innovation & Tech Today.

INCUBATING INNOVATION AT THE NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY When given the opportunity to tour the facilities that house the world’s largest supercomputer, take it! The I&T Today team scored an exclusive look at the amazing tech being developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.

We spoke with program coordinator Trish Cozart to learn how NREL teamed with Wells Fargo to create IN2, a massive startup funding program devoted entirely to renewable and sustainable commercial building innovations. Check out our YouTube channel for the full interviews.

A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY… Fans of E3 and I&T Today had the opportunity to win this year’s E3 Golden Ticket Prize Pack Giveaway. Grand Prize winners Randy Horn, Peter Hsieh, and Arwin Lall scored some incredible gear from Andaseat, Razor, Royole, Patriot Memory, and 1MORE. Runner-up winners received the greatest gift of all, a one-year subscription to Innovation & Tech Today. A huge thanks to the #E3PrizePack sponsors and all our fans who participated in this epic gaming giveaway.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Shane Brisson shane@goipw.com

MANAGING EDITOR

Dylan Rodgers

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Anthony Elio Alex Moersen

GAMING EDITOR

John Gaudiosi

AUTOMOTIVE EDITOR

Michael Coates

HEALTH TECH EDITOR

Paul Sonnier

SENIOR VIDEO EDITOR

Adam Saldaña

VIDEO EDITOR

Evan Kelley

SENIOR WRITERS

Everin Draper Louie Fox Patricia Miller Ebby Stone

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Steve Broback Al Elio Catherine Johnson Scott Jung Jason Preston David Rodriguez Andrew L. Rossow, Esq.

Robert Yehling

FOUNDING EDITOR

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Charlie Hernandez Dave Van Niel

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Bret Campbell Jonathan Easterling Steven Higgins Mike P. Kelly Robert Lorber Michael McGuire Nick Milano Sean Ortlieb

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Caz Potts

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Kelsey Elgie Domier

OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

SALES COORDINATOR

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Bruce Campbell, Peter Alexander, Russ Trainor, Kimberly Truong, Birgit Buchart, Joey Monroe, Marcel Pariseau, Rachel Hosseini, Krissy Bailey, Taylor Hillhouse, Botnik Studios, Ashley Smith Becker, Michael Beadle, Natalie Green, Dora Williams, Dan Unger, Peter Girard

CLIENT RELATIONS SPECIALIST

DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER

This publication is dedicated to the dreamers, the innovators, the collaborators, and the doers – who can’t be bothered by those saying it can’t be done. Nicholas and Aria, the future is yours!

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For print or digital subscriptions, visit innotechtoday.com, or find us on popular digital newsstands and readers.

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Advertising inquiries, please contact: 720-476-4920 Published by: INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES WORLDWIDE, INC 3400 E. Bayaud Ave., #280, Denver, CO 80209 | (720) 476-4920 www.innotechtoday.com | info@innotechtoday.com

INNOVATION & TECH TODAY – Issue 23, Fall 2018 is published quarterly for $19.99 per year by Innovative Properties Worldwide, 3400 E Bayaud Ave., #280, Denver, CO 80209-9507. Periodical postage pending at Denver, CO, and additional mailing offices.

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contents FALL 2018

Departments 12 Event Wrap-Ups 14 By the Numbers 16 Quick Bytes 22 Women in Tech 24 Politics 26 Social Impact Spotlight

28 Dent Files 118 Product Revolution 125 Events 126 Coming Next Issue 128 Lighter Side

30 Innovator Profile Botnik’s Absurdist AI

62 O livia vs. Predator

32 Connected Car

By Anthony Elio Cover Photo: Maarten de Boer/The Licensing Project

Outshining the Competition with Ceramic Pro 34 Smart House Meets Smart Car 38 The U.S.-China Trade War

40 Security NFL’s New Defensive Strategy 42 Securing Your Smart Home

46 Outdoor+Adventure Tech Tackling Tech with Kelvin Beachum 48 Paddling North: Voices from Alaska’s Inside Passage 52 Julie Moss: Technology of a Triathlete 54 Gear Guide

58 Health Tech How Tech is Arming the Battle Against Diabetes

62 Gaming+Entertainment 68 Sneak Peek: Red Dead Redemption 2 70 Elijah Wood’s VR Vision 72 Searching: Computer Screen to Silver Screen

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

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contents FALL 2018

74 Tech Zone A Truly Grand Innovation Junction 78 Taking Growing Indoors, Naturally 79 Building Tomorrow’s Economy, Locally 80 Sandboxing Toward Colorado’s Tech Future

82 Connected Life Facts and Fictions: Mind-Reading Tech 85 Reinventing the Digital Display 86 Enhance Your Entertainment Center 90 Money Wasters Guide to IoT Devices

92 Business Innovations PepsiCo CIO Jody Davids 94 ONEFlight to Change Them All

96 Blockchain Today Rock the Blockchain 100 DJ 3LAU Talks Blockchain and Music Festivals 101 The Case Against Blockchain

102 STEM Today

Produced in Partnership with the USA Science & Engineering Festival

Mars, Meet the Valley of Boom 106 Jason Latimer on the Magic of STEM 110 Mapping the Job Market

112 Sustainability Today Produced in Partnership with Sustainable Brands

Five Summer (Sustainability) Stories 114 Save Money, Save the Planet 116 Overcoming the Plastic Problem 117 Lighting that Protects Us

122 Art & Tech Kureha Yokoo’s Path to Pixar Photo National Geographic

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[ Event Wrap-Ups ]

Photo E3

E3 2018

Green Sports Alliance

The largest video game event in the world, E3 is best known for its massive gaming setups and big reveals. And the 2018 event was no different. With blockbuster games such as Kingdom Hearts 3, Assassins Creed Odyssey, and Super Smash Bros.

Ultimate being showcased, E3 2018 did not disappoint when it came to grandiosity.

Additionally, the event attracted some massive guests, such as Avengers: Infinity War director Joe Russo, Jack Black, and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima. Innovation & Tech Today also spoke to Elijah Wood at the event, discussing his new VR game Transference in an exclusive interview (pg.74).

A celebration of sports culture and sustainability, Green Sports Alliance highlights the importance of recycling, renewable energy usage, and other environmentally conscious practices with organizations such as college conferences and sports leagues. This year’s event had a collection of accomplished keynote speakers, such as Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur M. Blank, Captain Planet Foundation Chairperson Laura Turner Seydel, and City of Atlanta Director of Sustainability John R. Seydel. Additionally, many former athletes made speaking appearances, such as former NBA player Mark Davis and MMA fighter James Wilks.

Photo E3/ Christopher Duff Photographic

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

Denver Comic-Con A celebration of all things geek, Denver ComicCon 2018 featured everything from incredible cosplayers to thought-provoking panels. The convention, which had its first official event in 2012, offered three different main stages and tons of demos, workshops, and question-and-answer events to tens of thousands of comic book fans. In addition to voice actors, comic creators, and authors, there was a large array of actors who have portrayed superheroes, such as Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), and Pom Klementieff (Mantis). Photos IPW/Adam SaldaĂąa

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A look at the metrics shaping the technology market — and our lives

Home automation is no longer a fad, it’s an expectation.

With 81 percent of home buyers saying that they’re more likely to purchase a home with smart technology already in place (according to the 2016 Coldwell Banker Real Estate Smart Home Buyer Marketplace Survey), smart home devices don’t just add convenience, they add value. With that in mind, we’re diving deep into the statistics that show that this trend is here to stay.

5.3

%

9.2

%

45-54 years

17.7%

55-64 years

In 2013 there were 2.4 million wireless lightbulbs and lamps.

That number is expected to grow to over 100 million by 2020.

In 2013, 23 million cars were connected to the internet.

That number is expected to grow to 152 million by 2020.

Forecast value of the global smart home automation market in 2013 and 2020 (in billions)

2013

4.4

21

Internet of things services spending worldwide from 2014-2017 (in billions)

18-24 years

2017: 273.0

Smart Home 28.1% Users by Age 39.6%

35-44 years

2020

2016: 234.8

25-34 years

2015: 192.9 2014: 156.8 0 35000 30000

100

150

200

Smart Home Revenue by Category until 2022

(in millions)

20000

250

300

32,806 29,046

25000 15000

50

15,422

18,877

22,106

25,407

11,928

10000 5000 0

2016

2017

2018

Control and Connectivity Home Entertainment

In July 2016, an auto research group predicted that

55% of cars

will be connected to the internet by 2020.

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

2019

2020

Comfort and Lighting Energy Management

2021

2022

Security Smart Appliances

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of connected devices and products, including those in home automation. One analyst group predicted there would be 6.4 billion connected devices in 2016, with that number growing to 50 billion by 2020.

Data sources: Statista.com, Graphics: I&T Today staff, Vecteezy.com

QUICK BYTES 001001100100110010010011001

Boy, do I regret eating that last cheese stick.

This illustration depicts a photomicrograph of a specimen derived from a patient’s lepromatous skin lesion, and reveals the presence of numerous Mycobacterium leprae bacteria.

Courtesy CDC

Rodent Regret Sometimes a decision is made that should not have been made (I’m looking at you, weekend in Cabo). Perhaps there was a better decision, one that wouldn’t fill you with woeful self-loathing whenever you think about it. Humans in particular demonstrate a strong desire to avoid feeling regret. It seems humans are not the only species to feel this way, as a recent study bluntly titled “Mice Learn to Avoid Regret” found that mice can also hate themselves for their ill-conceived failings.

Further, they make decisions to avoid future scenarios that may induce regret. This is the first time the behavior has been observed in nonhuman studies. As one researcher stated, “We separated principal commitment decisions from secondary reevaluation decisions across space and time and found evidence for regret-like behaviors following change-of-mind decisions that corrected prior economically disadvantageous choices.”

At least now we know humans aren’t the only animal to regret their “economically disadvantageous choices.”

Cocoa Currency

The Dangers of Dining on Armadillo Leprosy, a debilitating disease, is known in ancient legends mainly for its contagiousness and its ability to separate people from their appendages. The disease is largely on the decline across the globe, except in several Amazonian countries including Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia. What do these areas have in common, aside from a higher incidence of leprosy? Armadillos.

A recent study conducted in the Amazon basin concluded that 62 percent of armadillos in the area carry Mycobacterium leprae, the bacteria that causes leprosy. This is concerning for local residents, as more than 60 percent reported regularly eating, handling, or hunting the well-armored mammal. Since the disease is readily transmissible from armadillo to human, it may not come as a surprise that chowing down on the hearty little creatures is a great way to catch whatever disease they’re keeping tucked inside their armor-plated shells.

When you’re a child, a Kit Kat bar is likely more appealing than a crisp $20 bill. And, now that some of us have grown up ... Well, it’s still not a very easy choice. As it turns out, though, there was a time when the two were essentially the same to certain cultures.

A recent study claims that, in Mayan times, chocolate was used for payment. According to anthropologist David Freidel, chocolate was “almost certainly used as a currency,” as the ancient Maya did not use coins.

Interestingly enough, the growth of chocolate as a currency may have ultimately been a poor decision, as a drought (and subsequent loss of cacao) might have caused economic turmoil, leading to the ultimate collapse of Mayan civilization. A sketchy form of currency that fluctuates extremely in worth and demand? Surely that could never exist nowadays.

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

hoto.com Photos iStockp

LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER — YOU’LL BE SURPRISED. This isn’t Broadway, it’s Cleveland’s thriving Theatre District — Playhouse Square. With nine beautifully restored historic entertainment venues, it’s the second largest performance arts district in the country, perfect for entertaining clients or for a special date night out.

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Photos: Muotri lab/UC San Diego

QUICK BYTES 001001100100110010010011001

Modern human and neanderthalized brain organoids. Inset photo Alysson R. Muotri, Ph.D.

For the experiment, the team focused on the protein-coding gene NOVA1, which likely helped produce more than 100 proteins in Neanderthal brains. It takes months to grow a minibrain from Neanderthal stem cells and the results have not yet been officially published. However, Muotri and his team think that the study could shed light on the links between the human and Neanderthal brain. Plus, many academics hope that this new brain-growing tactic could help Scarecrow achieve his dream of having a brain.

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

Grease Me Up, Scotty Photo Wikimedia Commons/Montanabw

To study the brains of Neanderthals, researchers have mainly focused on analyzing fossilized skulls to infer what they might have contained. However, a team at the University of California, San Diego is employing a new tactic: growing Neanderthal minibrains in a lab. At the UCSD “Imagination and Human Evolution” conference, geneticist Alysson Muotri, Ph.D., revealed that his team had used stem cells containing Neanderthal DNA and the genome editor CRISPR to create pea-sized lumps that could mimic the brain’s cortex.

Photo Pixabay

If I Could Only Grow a Brain...

Curing Colt Cavities While we may always dread that occasional trip to the dentist, the practice of oral care has definitely improved over its long history. Dentistry itself dates back to 2600 BC, where the firstever reference to dental work was made. However, we know what you’re thinking, “But when did horse dentistry get started?”

Admit it, that’s exactly what you were thinking.

According to researchers, horse dentistry may have dated back to 3,200 years ago, when Mongolian pastoralists attempted to remove teeth from the animals in order to utilize metal bits. The researchers, who published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also made a connection between this discovery and the dawn of mounted battles and longer travel in certain Asian civilizations soon after.

You have to admit, it’s not often that you get the opportunity to read a story that teaches you the early history of equestrian dental hygiene. Well, now you have something to talk about at your next dinner party.

The Milky Way is one of the most magnificent sights in the universe. In addition to housing our very own solar system, the Milky Way is extremely large, as it has been discovered that an entire trip across the galaxy would take, at light speed, a total of 200,000 years. Well, that’s not the only recent discovery about the Milky Way as, much like a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, it is large, beautiful, and covered in grease.

But how much of this “space grease” is out there gunking up the beauty of the universe? According to a recently published paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, it’s at the very least known that there’s enough grease that your spaceship would need a trip to the carwash.

Thankfully, due to the solar wind, experts don’t expect the grease to have any major effects on our own solar system.

This is great news, as this solar system already has plenty enough grease in our restaurants, meals, and arteries.

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QUICK BYTES 001001100100110010010011001 All-Sparrow Cover Band Throughout history, humans have passed down stories from generation to generation. But we’re not the only species with this tradition. Researchers at Duke University found a species of bird that has passed their songs down for hundreds of years. In fact, one of the authors, Robert Lachlan, went so far as to claim, “According to the models, some of the songs could go back as far as the Vikings.”

The team developed a mathematical model to simulate how each new song spread within groups in order to establish how young sparrows decide which songs to learn.

After recording the songs of 615 male swamp sparrows across New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, the researchers estimate that some song types have persisted among the species for at least 500 years. They also found that sparrows were able to match the notes and patterns of the songs 98 percent of the time. However, there is now some debate among the sparrow community as the younger generation is choosing to play Songbird Hero rather than practice their actual songs.

Photo Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries

Photo by Robert Lachlan, Queen Mary University of London

Game Over, Man! The Science of the Invisibility Cloak Cloaking technology and invisibility have long been plot devices for the sciencefiction and fantasy genres. Everyone from Harry Potter to The Avengers have utilized the technology for their own needs. Now, researchers from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) in Montreal have successfully rendered an object invisible to broadband light, using a new technique called “spectral cloaking.”

By using a cloaking device that can change the light’s frequency, researchers were able to manipulate light into moving around a target object before passing through another filter to return it to its original frequency. Essentially, the light bends around the target object instead of interacting with it. However, the technology will most likely be applied to security rather than helping Harry and friends sneak around Hogwarts. Photo: Mohamed Seghilani and Luis Romero Cortés, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

Imagine you’re a cuddly caterpillar, just inching along, living your best life. Suddenly, a swarm of black fury attacks from all sides, needle-like ovipositors jabbing wildly at your soft belly.

In a few weeks a new wave will emerge, chewing its way to the fresh air on the other side of your sternum. Sound like a nightmare? It’s the true life journey of a caterpillar injected by the deadly and newly discovered species of Australian black wasp, Dolichogenidea xenomorph.

Named in honor of the fictional creature from the 1979 film Alien, the wasp must deposit its eggs into a sacrificial host in order to complete its life cycle. The wasp larvae then devour their host from the inside, leaving the wounded caterpillar alive to act as a zombie bodyguard for their nest. Of the thousands of species of parasitic wasps around the globe, none are capable of injecting their eggs into human hosts. Which is unfortunate, because I would love to get my hands on one of those zombie bodyguards for my shelf of the fridge.

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Designing for Equality

WITH FORT MASON GAMES FOUNDER KATE GORMAN

By Patricia Miller

Fort Mason Games focuses on creating fun, engaging games for mobile platforms. According to Newzoo’s most recent Global Games Market Report, mobile gaming will make up more than half of all game revenues in 2018.

Generating more than 70 billion dollars a year, mobile gaming is an undoubtedly lucrative industry. Its portability and accessibility draws a diverse audience, with women making up more than 60 percent of users. Despite the statistics, the majority of games developed for mobile platforms are still marketed to men.

First person shooter and role playing games continue to dominate the market despite numerous studies indicating women are more inclined to play games in the puzzle or casino genres. According to game analytics company deltaDNA, a female-focused game “has a much greater chance of being profitable than a malefocused one.” Women are more likely to make in-game purchases, making them 44 percent more profitable to the mobile gaming market than men.

This revelation led us to seek out the insights of Kate Gorman, CEO of Fort Mason Games.

Her games have a high profit margin, strong

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

playability, and a targeted demographic of engaged female players. “We found, by surveying our own users, that women play games to relax and escape. And so we’re making games with the goal of creating an environment where everyone, but especially women, can relax and escape for a few minutes multiple times each day,” noted Gorman.

Gorman is developing games that encourage users to connect with other players: “Social is first and foremost in all of our games. We’ve actually built this social hub where players can make profiles, interact, and send gifts in a way that you can’t do in any other casino-style game right now. We’re allowing people to create these fun environments that they want to show up to a few times a day.” Fort Mason Games is focused on understanding their audience and creating games that become a part of the user’s daily life.

This philosophy allows Gorman to design games that appeal to both sexes. She says of the

company’s strategy, “We have this deep customer empathy where we seek to understand what kind of jobs they work and what kind of day they’re going to have so that we really understand how our game will fit into their lives.

It’s not just about male or female, it’s about purely understanding who’s on the other end, who’s playing, and how they’re going to feel while playing our games.”

At 26, Gorman has already had a big impact on the world of mobile gaming. Aside from founding her own company, she’s made hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for her past employers with casino games like Hit it Rich. Now, Gorman aims to help change perceptions around women in the space. “When girls of future generations look back, they’ll find it hard to imagine that there were ever games that weren’t designed with their interests in mind and that games weren’t part of everybody’s daily lives. So that’s really my goal, is to bridge that gap in the meantime.” ■

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DEPARTMENTS / Politics

The Symbiotic Relationship Between SNL and Politics

By Al Elio

Photos NBCUniversal

When you think of Saturday Night Live, there’s a good chance that the skit or impression that is conjured took place during an election season.

SNL was at the peak of its powers when Chevy Chase played the klutz, Will Ferrell took liberties with the English language, Tina Fey’s virtuosic performance blurred the distinction between reality and art, and most recently, Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of a lip-puckered, temperamental man-child ushered a new era of political satire. There is no question that elections have resulted in some of SNL’s most hilarious and memorable skits. But, in looking at the show’s long history, have these routines had any effect on the politics they skewer?

The show took some time to grow into its powers as a vehicle for political satire. Chevy Chase’s impression of a clumsy, inept Gerald Ford made Inspector Clouseau seem suave in comparison. The impression stuck, but the comedy was more Three Stooges than Voltaire.

The early years of SNL focused primarily on sketch comedy and let the “Weekend Update” segment take care of the politics.

The politicians of the 1980s emerged largely unscathed from SNL’s satire. Joe Piscopo, Harry Shearer, Robin Williams, and Randy Quaid all attempted to land a comedic impression of Ronald Reagan, but each impression of the

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Gipper ultimately fell flat. George H.W. Bush, however, became a goldmine for SNL and served as the launching pad for the show’s political future. Dana Carvey’s nasally, reedy-voiced impersonation of H.W. helped to cement his perception as the ultimate square. When Bill Clinton hit the national scene in advance of the 1992 presidential election, SNL helped form a distinct generational gap between the two main contestants. Clinton was the morally ambiguous, brief-wearing, saxophone-playing Baby Boomer to Bush’s geeky, old fashioned guard of the establishment. Saturday Night Live’s take on the candidates may have had some impact on the election, as the key 18-24-year-old demographic favored Clinton by a margin of 46-33.

The Clinton presidency provided SNL with a great deal of low-hanging-fruit material, but little in the way of legitimate political satire. For most of the 1990s, Clinton’s character and personal exploits provided more material than the realities of the political climate ever could.

The 2000 election was a new opportunity for SNL to enter into the arena of political discussion, with Darrell Hammond perfectly playing Al Gore as a laconic cold fish while Will Ferrell summed up the dictionary-shredding, proud and loud Texan George W. Bush, who’s constant gaffes made for an easy and possibly

accurate summation of his presidency. The 2004 election was difficult for SNL, as Bush was already a worn punching bag and John Kerry was severely lacking in charm and personality.

Bush won the election with a comfortable margin, setting the stage for SNL’s most relevant political period.

Up until the 2008 election, vice presidential candidates were largely considered an afterthought, especially in popular culture. This all changed when the commonly monikered “maverick” John McCain tabbed an unknown and unpredictable running mate from Alaska.

Before the VPs were announced, McCain and Barack Obama were in a virtual dead heat.

McCain swung for the fences and picked a littleknown, sprightly, linguistically freewheeling mayor from Alaska, Sarah Palin. Had McCain known that one of the most talented and experienced alumnus of SNL happened to bear a striking resemblance to his VP, he might have reconsidered.

The initial returns on McCain’s selection served the Republican ticket well in the polls. A mere week after his announcement, a USA Today poll found McCain to be a ten-point favorite. Unfortunately for the Republican ticket, SNL was getting ready to start up in another week.

Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush, Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin, and Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump have shown Saturday Night Live’s ability to satirize the political landscape in a humorous, uncannily accurate manner.

The new season of SNL focused heavily on the gun-toting soccer mom while pushing the other main players out of frame. It seemed that both the show and ticket were betting on Sarah Palin, and it had an immediate impact: when the real Sarah Palin met Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin on-screen in October of that year, SNL experienced its highest ratings in almost a decade and a half.

The appearances were beneficial to the show, but not the ticket. As the show’s ratings skyrocketed, Palin’s public perception plummeted with abandon. In early September, 59 percent of likely voters had a positive opinion of Palin. By late October, 51 percent had a negative impression of the widely visible VP. The Obama ticket would go on to win comfortably in 2008.

The Obama presidency itself offered little in the way of material. The president himself was reliably gaffe-free, stable, and frankly, boring when compared to his recent predecessors.

While Fred Armisen and Jay Pharoah did their best to summon a memorable or lasting impression, nothing ever stuck. While the president himself made several forays into

comedy, to mixed reviews, he left little for actual comedians to work with.

Donald Trump’s entrance into the race for the Republican nomination was initially met with a combination of scoffs, enthusiasm, and intense media coverage. As a candidate, Trump hosted SNL on November 7th, 2015. The mood and tenor of the show seemed to mirror that of most politicos: he doesn’t have a chance, but let’s have fun while we can. As his campaign gained steam, the show’s focus on Trump changed sharply from an entertaining sideshow to an amusing yet confounding main event.

The 2016 Presidential Election spectacle was a much-needed shot in the arm for SNL’s ratings and status as a newsworthy source of political satire. While they had invited Donald Trump to host only a year earlier, the show was relentless against the Republican nominee, while Hillary Clinton was essentially given an unofficial endorsement. Ultimately, SNL’s young viewers preferred Clinton, but with less force than previous elections.

The Saturday following Trump’s victory, the versatile and talented Kate McKinnon belted

out a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” dressed as Hillary Clinton. The opening felt like a demarcation line: being funny was secondary, and making a point was now the show’s primary goal.

Following Trump’s election, SNL has occasionally entered the general conversation through Alec Baldwin’s petulant impression, McKinnon’s conjuring of Foghorn Leghorn via Jeff Sessions, and Melissa McCarthy’s bombastic Sean Spicer. Even when the impressions are impressive, the overall sense is that the show is preaching to the choir, lecturing to an audience that helped write the lesson plan.

It’s virtually impossible to know for certain that SNL has had a direct impact on the results of presidential elections. We do know for certain that several impersonations and sketches left indelible marks on political figures for millions of Americans. Through satire and exaggeration, the show has made light of the figures that aspire to control the fate of the world. It stands to reason that impressions broadcasted to the living room have resulted in actions in the voting booth. ■

FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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DEPARTMENTS / Social Impact Spotlight

YouthQuest

By Robert Yehling

It was a field trip into the workplace of disruptive technologies you might expect for an affluent high school or college student. They headed to Terrapin Works, the University of Maryland’s 3D printing center, to study the various uses and equipment of their newly formed 3D printing skills to print plastics, metal, ceramics, and even living tissue and biomaterials for treatments like bone and blood vessel replacements. After their morning at the Terrapin Center, they drove to Baltimore to visit The Foundery, an industrial marketplace. They watched computer-controlled machines in action, and peered into the opportunities their new CAD software knowledge offered in additive manufacturing, whether working with a desktop 3D printer, industrial cutting machine, or another computer-controlled device.

These were the 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy and DC’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy, part of the YouthQuest Foundation — and this was no field trip. It was a critical part of the reorientation of lives formerly spent in gang situations, on the streets, dropping out of high school, and other at-risk situations.

Not only that, but the students took the experience to their homes and neighbors, part of their transition from at-risk youth to dynamic mentors.

“As far as I’m concerned, this was the most successful immersion experience we’ve done,” YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks said afterward. “We were totally focused this

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time on how to use their skills to be mentors to young people in their families and neighborhoods, and how to work in the community to demonstrate what 3D design and printing is.”

Stories like this continue to stream from the YouthQuest Foundation, co-founded by esteemed corporate trainer, consultant, and executive coach Lynda Mann. The YouthQuest Foundation provides academic and vocational opportunities for at-risk youth by teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

They focus primarily on computer-controlled manufacturing and industrial work, such as the 3D ThinkLink program. Along with that comes the Youth ChalleNGe program, run by the National Guard, which gives high school dropouts another chance to earn a degree and proceed into a brighter future.

3D ThinkLink is the learning heart of the YouthQuest Foundation program. Troubled teens not only learn vital life skills, but also how to mentor. They study materials, learn processes, and print a variety of objects. It’s the academic and creative side of Youth ChalleNGE, a nearly six-month camp in which they live under the supervision of their National Guard hosts. One 3D ThinkLink scholarship recipient, 17-year-old LaMarcus Corley, wrote of his experience: “It has helped me control my anger. When I come to class, my whole mood changes. I become happy because I know that I’m in a good place.”

Another student, Stephen Brown, has shifted from experiencing difficult times to working

toward a fashion design degree. 3D printing has moved into the fashion world in the past few years, perfect for his career arc. “It really helped me think outside the box and I can use that to my advantage in the future,” Brown said. “As I pursue my career, the 3D printer will really help me print out prototypes of designs.”

In June, YouthQuest also presented scholarships to Freestate ChalleNGe Academy cadets Bradley Berry, Trevor Haney, and Dante Isom, and to Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy cadet Jacob Foote.

The mastermind of the YouthQuest Foundation, Mann has more than 3,500 hours of speaking, facilitation, and training platform time in key leadership and management topics. The career military officer is a certified trainer, consultant, and coach of workplace mediation, designated by the Mediation Training Institute as a Master Trainer and Subject Matter Expert in conflict resolution.

She’s also an expert in resolving diversity issues in domestic and international settings, stemming from her work at NATO. Mann was also responsible for all leadership training for the National Guard; hence the tie-in to YouthQuest Foundation.

Under Mann’s leadership, YouthQuest also works closely with corporate sponsors. At their 13th annual golf tournament on August 6, more than 80 competitors teed off at Trump National Golf Club to raise funds for the SD ThinkLink Initiative. ■

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DEPARTMENTS / Dent Files

NASA and Harvard Agree: Think Different

By Steve Broback and Jason Preston Apple’s “Think Different” campaign was unveiled by Steve Jobs in 1997. While it worked to boost Macintosh sales, the idea behind it has long served as an enduring template for successful innovation. To NASA, Harvard, and a myriad of other successful organizations, thinking different often means leveraging the efforts and ideas of outsiders or “non-traditional participants.”

In a recent NASA project, a glaciology student at Cambridge University solved a challenge in just ten days that seasoned physicists had been working on for decades. Martin O’Leary applied established techniques used for detecting edges in glaciers to the unrelated problem of accurately mapping dark matter. Artist and designer Ted Southern, whose costuming clients included Cirque du Soleil and Victoria’s Secret (he was a specialist in wing design), lent his expertise to NASA and the result was an awardwinning glove design for space suits. Southern and O’Leary serve as two of many examples of non-traditional participants producing outcomes of extreme value for the space agency.

This and other NASA stories of “Open Innovation” have been researched — and to some extent driven — by the efforts of Harvard Professor Dr. Karim Lakhani and Jason Crusan of NASA. Working with both the White House and NASA on innovation issues is Jenn Gustetic, who has also been a driving force behind the open innovation projects. Their overriding conclusion: winning solutions stem from increasing the distance between a solver’s own field of expertise and the problem field.

Notably, research also indicates that women scientists are more likely than men to create the best ideas.

So how can organizations best employ outsiders to help them solve their technical challenges? Contests and competitions are the core approach NASA employs, and a quick

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Jenn Gustetic of NASA at the annual Dent conference. Her talk focused on fostering innovation via contests and competitions.

Google search will reveal many detailed analyses and articles to help guide those interested.

For companies searching for answers based in data and/or code, the online services Topcoder, Kaggle, and InnoCentive provide competitive scenarios for crowdsourcing problem solving.

Organizations like Harvard Medical School, IBM, eBay, and NASA are featured on the Topcoder site with case studies for review.

Another way innovative organizations purposefully bring in people from outside fields is by establishing a board of advisors or “fellows” from broad and varied backgrounds who engage with members on a variety of projects. The MIT Media Lab, whose mandate is to “invent the future,” has always pursued outsider perspectives. As former director Frank Moss stated, the lab is “constantly reinventing itself with the most unconventional pairings of disciplines and people.” Alongside traditional tech futurists, Media Lab fellows include

Marco Tempest (a magician/illusionist) and Allegra Libonati (a freelance theater and opera director).

The bottom line? Step outside of the office and your traditional network when working on vexing problems and periodically immerse yourself in a mix of new perspectives. If at all possible, make outsider interaction a formal part of your innovation or creative processes. ■

Ted Southern — costumer for Victoria’s Secret — with his award-winning spacesuit glove design.

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innovator profile

The Absurdist AI of Botnik Studios

By Anthony Elio

“ Botnik is like a doctor. It’s alright, but once it’s dead, it’s knocking your brain off of the plane.”

This was my attempt at using Botnik’s predictive keyboard Voicebox to write an intro to this piece through the “Jerry Seinfeld standup” setting. Best known for their viral projects such as the machinewritten Harry Potter chapter “Harry Potter and the Portrait of What Looked Like a Pile of Ash” and an off-the-wall AI-generated Scrubs monologue read by actor Zach Braff, Botnik has become known for feeding text into their machine-learning technology for ludicrously humorous results. Since its inception, Botnik Studios has produced hilariously farcical video game names (Mario’s Face Is Missing 2), dating tips (Watch a yoga class with a big bucket of salsa to share), and motivational posters (Dance like a winner hates you!). Cocreator Jamie Brew and Chief Scientist Elle O’Brien gave us some key insight on their fascinatingly zany projects, discussed Botnik Studios’ upcoming album, and even used the technology to generate an interview answer.

Botnik’s Beginnings Jamie Brew: I first started doing predictive text experiments in 2015 while I was a writer and editor at Clickhole in Chicago.

That led me to a whole world of other people who were doing creative tech, especially on Twitter. Botnik as an official legal company started in 2016 when Bob [Mankoff] and I signed some papers, and Botnik as a full-time job started last year

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when I moved out here to Seattle for an incubator program with Amazon and Techstars. Right at the start of that program, I met Elle, who had been doing a bunch of cool neural net generation and somehow happened to live in Seattle. In the year since, the community around Botnik has been a growing snowball of creative people interested in creative machines.

Elle O’Brien: Jamie and Bob [Mankoff] got in touch over their mutual interest in bringing computers to the comedy game.

They’re both accomplished in their respective domains (Bob at The New Yorker and Jamie at The Onion and Clickhole). I was a mildly disgruntled PhD student experimenting with neural networks (a statistical learning method that can model text), mostly teaching them to do tricks like generate motivational quotes and romance novel titles. I blogged about it and Jamie thought it was relevant to Botnik and found my contact info through a mutual Facebook friend. It turned out we were living about a mile away from one another. That’s how I got started with Jamie and Bob. Mike [Frederickson], our creative director, was a friend of Jamie’s from Brown, where they both studied cognitive science. It can’t possibly be a coincidence that all four of us studied neuroscience or psychology at some point (I have a master’s in neuroscience and Bob knows more about the psychology of humor than anyone else I know). I balance my Chief Scientist duties (working on the language model) with my PhD program, studying the neuroscience of language.

Starting a New Project JB: Usually, it starts with an idea for a source text or combination of source

texts that a writer thinks will produce interesting results. There’s not much method to that part – it’s an intuitive decision. After that, you use the predictive keyboard — either on your own or alongside other writers — to churn out a bunch of lines for whatever you’re writing, whether it’s a new song or a new book chapter. From there on, the process feels very much like a writers room, moving lines around, figuring out where there are gaps to fill with a new predictive line, getting a sense of the flow of the piece, and shaping it into something that feels good. So, overall, the typical Botnik project is a sandwich: an intuitive, human-generated premise, a chaotic machine brainstorm, then human curation and assembly.

EO: The creative project ideas are overflowing at Botnik Studios. Anywhere I see text, I imagine what it would look like through a Botnik lens. I think that happens to all of us. My favorite ideas come when I’m rolling my eyes, thinking, “Oh, this again.” This trope in a song, this particular way of writing about beer, this reliably inoffensive but unhelpful voice you encounter so much in customer service.

The more familiar a voice is, the more fun it is to put it through Voicebox.

For our tech, I have a practical view: what kind of tools would get everyday people creating and laughing together? My dream is to make Voicebox so easy, accessible, and well-integrated with other channels of communication that my family will use it. We’re spread out all over the country, but I want to compose a letter to my dad written as Martha Stewart, and then maybe he’ll answer me as Thomas Jefferson, and my brother will give us Shakira’s input. Maybe we’ll write a new breakfast food recipe together using our predictive recipe keyboards and someone will try it and tell us how it turned out.

I want to make tech that keeps people creative and connected to the people that matter. That’s always in my mind.

Potential Collaborations JB: It would be great to collaborate with a horse breeder to create names for horses.

EO: We wrote a Botnik mashup of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a couple other beloved franchises, called “Infizzinity Wars.” I’d love to work with any of the actors from the Avengers films on bringing this to life. Josh Brolin, if you are interested in playing Mr. Peanut, please contact us.

Upcoming Crowdfunded Album JB: It’s going to be the only album you will want or need to listen to again.

EO: That is pretty much it. Should your favorite artist decide they’re hanging up their guitar, no worries: we can generate endless more songs they only wish they’d written.

Favorite Botnik Project JB: I really liked our neural net Coachella poster and its hundreds of unmissable bands.

EO: I’m not even a football fan, but my favorite just might be when we used Voicebox to write new Bill Belichick postgame commentary.

Botnik-Generated Final Answer JB: I’ll do you one worse. Here’s an answer written with Botnik’s ancestor, the predictive text bar on my Android smartphone: Thanks for all your help. Thanks for letting me go to the gym. Thanks for letting me use your phone to call the police on my way to the gym. Thanks.

EO: In the cosmic calendar, we are indebted to the stars and planets for this great doughnut.

– Carl Sagan. ■

FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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CONNECTED CAR

Outshining the Competition

By Everin Draper

CEO of Ceramic Pro Peter Diebitsch explains how his company revolutionized the automobile detailing industry Ceramic coating. If you’re in tune to the latest in automobile detailing, you’ll be familiar with this term. As the latest trend in car wax and paint protection, ceramic coating has taken the automobile industry by storm. However, the origin of this trend in the U.S. came from an unlikely source. Enter Peter Diebitsch, CEO of Ceramic Pro LLC, the company responsible for popularizing ceramic coating in the U.S. As a serial entrepreneur in Sweden, Diebitsch helped build an array of successful companies.

“What I have done since 2006, what my expertise has always been, is set up new businesses,” he explained. Independia Group, of which Diebitsch is the founder, currently owns seven companies. However, it was around 2012 that he began looking for a new venture to get his hands on. That’s when a friend introduced him to Ceramic Pro. “At that point,” he said, “the

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company was completely new on the European market and it introduced me to nanotechnology.” Ceramic Pro, a Taiwanese company, had been looking for someone to lead their North and South American distribution efforts, and the technology was impressive enough to get Diebitsch’s attention.

However, taking a business to the U.S. wasn’t a move without risk. “I was part of a European CEO association,” he started. “When I explained to them that I was going to move to America, they all started laughing … They said, ‘Why would you move your business to the cemetery for European companies?’” But, in the face of their objections, Diebitsch moved forward with his plan. With his years of business expertise, he brought Ceramic Pro to the U.S. market and revolutionized automobile detailing.

Thus far, Diebitsch has thoroughly enjoyed

working in the U.S.: “I think the U.S. market is, without a doubt, more interesting than the European. Due to the fact that the market is so much bigger … It’s just that the environment here is a lot better for startups.”

But what exactly is this technology that Diebitsch brought to the U.S.? “We use extremely small particles that fill all of the pores in the paint and create a super sleek surface,” he explained. Essentially, if you magnify the hood of a car, you would eventually see that the surface looks like a mountain range, with peaks and valleys. Ceramic Pro’s coating, then, uses nano-particles to fill in those valleys, cover the peaks, and create a new top surface. The larger the distance between the valleys and peaks, the rougher the surface is. So Ceramic Pro works to reduce that distance as much as possible. It is the miniscule “anchor pattern,” (the distance

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between the peaks and valleys) that gives the coating its patented shine. “Once that anchor pattern is on, you get that slick surface,” Diebitsch continued. “It also explains why the car gets such an intense shine and reflection …

You can compare that to looking into a still lake.

You see your face in the lake, but if you drop a stone in the lake and create peaks and valleys, you won’t see your face as clear anymore.”

The coating provides so much more than just shine. Its nanotechnology helps protect the paint from all sorts of damage and dirt. “If I take out a permanent marker and I go over car paint, you have those peaks and valleys that are pretty big,” he began explaining. “It could be tree sap, bird poop, or whatever; it gets a good grip in the valleys. But, if there are no peaks and valleys to grab onto, it’s going to slide off easier … The car becomes a lot easier to wash because it’s not

bonding to anything. That explains why I can go with a permanent marker on a Ceramic Pro car and then a day after just wipe it off with a towel.”

However, to grow a successful business, one needs more than just a great product. With his many years of business expertise, Diebitsch was able to take a revolutionary product and apply a successful business plan to bring it to the U.S. market. Specifically, Ceramic Pro develops unique relationships with their installers and distributors in order to optimize success: “We bring clients to their shops. We have a lead generating system. We have about 2,000 shops across the country … We don’t just train our installers in how to apply the product, we train them in how to sell the product, as well.”

Ceramic Pro has also developed partnerships to help legitimize and spread the word about their product: “We have a direct link to CarFax, so if you had your car ceramic-coated, it immediately gets added on CarFax, so it adds value.”

A revolutionary product plus a clear and successful business plan is what it took for Ceramic Pro to evolve an industry. “Since we’ve come to America, we’ve changed the detailing industry,” Diebitsch concluded.

“With our marketing program and everything, we have taken businesses to a completely different level … We’re taking a whole industry to the next level.” ■

FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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The Smart House-Smart Car Connection

By Michael Coates

Photo Hyundai

Integrating Your Whole Life Comes with Some Challenges

Photo Audi/Jim Fets Photography

With some Hyundais, you can tell Alexa to start up the car at a desired temperature, while some Audis have incorporated further IoT devices to make connecting devices much easier.

Who would have thought a decade ago that so many of our devices would be capable of communicating with not only us, but each other? The automotive world has been rapidly incorporating smart technology during the past decade while the home front has not stood still.

But rarely did those two worlds talk to each other. That’s all changing now, but with it comes more complications, especially in the critical aspect of security.

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Do People Really Want All This Cross-Talk?

The answer to that is a resounding, yes! Parks Associates asked consumers what they thought of linking up to their smart home, and almost 50 percent thought they could make a case for connecting their car to their home. As they drilled down in their research, Parks Associates found that more than 40 percent of homeowners with a professionally-monitored

security service wanted to link in car alarm and crash monitoring with that home service.

Along with security features like crash and car alarm monitoring, the respondents to the survey also thought integrating broader home systems with those in the car made sense, for instance, creating an “automatic away mode” when the car leaves the garage. Others favored the idea of being able to control the car from their smart home systems, migrating home entertainment

CONNECTED CAR The Smart House-Smart Car Connection turn them off over a Bluetooth connection. Nest patched that flaw — and sends updated security software to all its devices.

Many consumers are drawn to the idea of being able to control their car from their smart home systems.

to the car, finding the optimum charging time for electric cars, and even creating a bidirectional energy flow so electric vehicles (EVs) could provide backup power to the house.

Not surprisingly, EV owners liked the battery charging optimization better than other integrated apps with 69 percent tagging it as “very appealing” or “appealing.”

Ford Forges the Path Ford opened its expanded Silicon Valley Research Center three years ago and one of the first projects its engineers dove into addressed one of the “appealing” connections that showed up in the Parks research. The opportunity came about, according to the Ford engineers, from proximity. Alphabet’s Nest headquarters happened to be next door to the Ford lab in Palo

Alto, and the engineers began a dialogue about connecting the smart home device to the car.

Ford engineers integrated the Nest application programming interface into the Ford Sync system, targeting home energy and emergency system management. They set it up so the vehicle communicates with the Nest Thermostat to automatically reduce home energy use when the car leaves. Conversely, as the vehicle approaches the house, it sends an alert to set the home thermostat to the preferred temperature.

They also integrated the Nest Protect system so that in the event of a break-in at home, the Ford’s Sync system would be notified. The result of this work is now available as Nest’s Automatic Connected Car Adapter. It creates just-in-time heating and cooling, sending an ETA to Nest when en route. The Automatic Pro version will send notifications to loved ones and contact emergency responders even if you can’t.

Of course, that’s not all. With some Hyundais, you can tell Alexa to start up the car and heat it up or cool it down to a desired temperature. Or tell it to start charging and lock or unlock the car, among other commands.

Photo Audi/Jim Fets Photography

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The Other Side of Connectivity This increased connectivity and convenience comes at a price. Every networked device that can send and receive data creates a potential point of entry for hackers. As an example, last year, security experts exposed an embarrassing vulnerability in Nest’s security cameras — hackers could

The irony of the smart home and connected car is that the system that lets them work so seamlessly also exposes them to malfeasance.

Even though companies like Nest may have upto-date, sophisticated security software, the system can be exposed if it is password protected (which it should be) and that password is weak. A Symantec white paper, “Insecurity in the Internet of Things,” points to weak passwords on devices and the networks they’re connected to as the most serious security issue. They also suggest that smart home device manufacturers should use encryption on their devices, provide security analytics, and require password changes.

There also may be an opening for companies like Axius, which offers another layer of security oversight by updating passwords, overseeing software and firmware upgrades, and managing security breaches.

Enter AI Artificial intelligence (AI) inevitably creeps into the discussion of smart homes and connected cars. If your device’s software is imbued with machine learning capability, it may know that you like your home temperature a few degrees warmer or colder than your car and adjust to that. The question is how far AI can or should enter into this connected world.

We’ve heard the argument that autonomous cars will be much safer than those piloted by humans, but there’s still a reluctance on the part of many to give up the wheel. The sentiment is reinforced with every report (and they all get reported) of a self-driving car crashing or doing something it shouldn’t.

Threading the needle between AI and userdirected technology will be the challenge of the coming decade. As smart home devices connected to your car increase, you may be called on to override a zealous bot that thinks it knows when would be the best time to charge your EV. You might need to correct Nest if it starts heating your home even though you’re only driving past to go to another destination.

These devices are here to help and serve you, but as their intelligence and abilities increase, they may need to be reminded about the proper order of things. ■

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The U.S.-China Trade War Hits Consumers in Both Countries

By Michael Coates

Long-term Impact Uncertain, But Car Production Could Shift

Photo Tesla

In the ping-pong of tariff threats and retaliations of the past few months, automobiles have appeared to be the ball, knocked back and forth in the crossfire, and customers on both continents are likely to suffer the consequences.

Cars and trucks are big ticket items central to the economy of many countries, particularly the United States and China, the two biggest auto markets in the world.

The first salvo came from the Trump Administration, launched as a campaign promise and push-back to the massive trade imbalance with China and its relatively closed market. It started with $34 billion in new tariffs.

China retaliated, adding a 25 percent tariff on imported cars, bringing the total tariff up to 40 percent. The impact was swift, for example, with Tesla raising the price of a Fremont, CA-built Model S to Chinese consumers by $22,600, boosting the retail price to more than $128,000 for a car that costs almost half that in the U.S. There was more potential impact since the U.S. last year exported 267,000 vehicles to China, most from BMW, Daimler, and Ford (Tesla’s two models were way down the list). In the auto sector, the U.S. has a $6.2 billion trade surplus with China. Several brands are likely to

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Photo GM

see price hikes like Tesla’s. The American imports are only a small part of the 28.8 million car market (2017), but represent some highly sought-after (mostly SUV) models, such as the BMW X5, Mercedes GLE, and Lincoln MKC. On the other side of the tariff coin, relatively few Chinese-made models are imported into the U.S., but those numbers are expected to increase with the growth of Chinese companies like Byton, Nio, and BYD. Currently in the U.S., you can buy a Chinese-built Buick Envision, Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid, or Volvo S60. Of course, Volvo is owned by Geely, a Chinese company. Soon, Ford will be importing Ford Focus models from China.

Round two of tariff back-and-forth added $16 billion to goods being traded between the two countries, though cars weren’t a big part of that round. While nothing additional has been announced as of now, the White House has said it’s willing to up the ante further.

As a result of these trade tensions and concern about similar tariff tiffs with Europe and other Asian countries, reports came in recently that importers on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the U.S. were stockpiling cars in expectation

of further escalation. That may protect some future purchasers from price increases, but ultimately the trade issues will need to be resolved or other moves may be prompted.

According to some analysts, the ongoing tariff battle may lead to producing not more cars in this country, but in China. Because the Chinese market is so large, it makes sense to find the lowest cost production location. Factoring in tariffs can tip the scales toward producing the cars where they are sold, something that’s gone on for some time in the U.S. More than 50 percent of the vehicles sold in the U.S. are produced here. Another 24 percent come from Canada or Mexico, covered by the NAFTA agreement that eliminates tariffs between the three countries.

According to Automobility, a Shanghai-based consultancy, we could expect to see some of the American production moving to China to dodge the new tariffs. Another study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that if the 25 percent tariffs on cars were implemented by both sides, U.S. automotive production could drop by 4 percent and cost 624,000 jobs. This looks like a war nobody seems likely to win. ■

Spreading Clean Mobility Around the World With a talented team, many that have been together since 1989, all sharing the same goals in reducing and removing fossil fuels, Ecocruise has found a superstar in Costa Rica. They have banned fossil fuels and will become carbon neutral by 2021. The Costa Rica Government has made the importation of electric vehicles tax free with no annual registration fees for five years.

Ecocruise has partnered with Venus Motors, headquartered in Costa Rica. Jay Bower, the owner, has the same vision as Ecocruise. Over the last two years, Bower has made connections in preparation of the EV Bill, which passed on May 25, 2018. Bower and his team have taken the Ecocruise Products to municipalities, hotels, resorts, corporations, and the general public.

Venus Motors is part of a conglomerate of companies that all share the same vision. Sitadel Motors has offices in Haiti

and the Cayman Islands and maintains strong government connections in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Sitadel has the same philosophy of electrifying all the Carribbean Islands. They have set up low interest consumer financing for the poor.

Venus Motors will soon have all of Central America going electric.

According to Bower, “The perfect fit for our countries are the Ecocruise products. I want to thank Ecocruise for helping us take the vision of helping a tiny nation show the world we can live without gas.”

Two weeks after Costa Rica adopted its EV Bill, Columbia introduced its own which will become law in early 2019.

Many countries around the world will follow Costa Rica. Ecocruise has its own star in the U.S. with Golf Car Options.

Jodie Eyles, the owner, has brought over 40 requests from dealers around the U.S. to become an Ecocruise Dealer in their area. ■

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The NFL’s New Defensive Strategy

By Alex Moersen

As professional sports become more connected, unique cybersecurity strategies have been employed to ensure safety for players, personnel, and fans alike.

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In 2016, former scouting director of the St. Louis Cardinals Christopher Correa was sentenced to four years in prison for hacking into the Houston Astros’ player-personnel database and email system in order to gain insights into their operations. Just a few months prior, the Milwaukee Bucks played victim to a security breach that saw players’ financial documents released, including Social Security numbers and compensation information. To wrap up the year, a Russian cyber espionage group hacked the World Anti-Doping Agency database and leaked the drug records of Venus and Serena Williams online. While there have been myriad advancements in the gear that ensures players’ physical safety, information security in the sports realm is still developing.

When Russ Trainor, Senior Vice President of IT at Sports Authority Field, started his position in 2008, he had 350 devices on the network.

Today, that number is closer to 8,000, consisting of scoreboards, iPads, personnel computers, and much more. On top of that, sports teams and facilities have been charged with the responsibility of protecting player and personnel data while ticketing services often hold the information of many fans. With nearly 20 years of experience working in NFL information technology and cybersecurity, Russ Trainor knows his way around the technology behind the Gridiron and shared some of his insights about the merging worlds of sports and cybersecurity.

In just the last decade, professional sporting events have become technological hubs with numerous devices connecting to the same networks. While hosting Super Bowl LII, the U.S. Bank Stadium garnered 17 terabytes of WiFi. For comparison, a recent Taylor Swift concert at Sports Authority Field in Denver, CO only allowed 8.1 terabytes. This is a far cry from where sports facilities were just 10 years ago.

Where an NFL team is concerned, there are two main focuses: player information, especially as it pertains to medical records, and the playbooks. As Trainor describes it, “For me, it’s medical stuff. All my player records, player contracts … I need to lock them down.” While securing internal records is a relatively straightforward process, things get complicated when you consider how much movement there

INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

The Team

is in the NFL as players transfer from team to team. In the case of the Denver Broncos, they have their own Electronic Medical Record system, but it’s important to keep those records secure when a player transfers to a different team. Unfortunately, this can be sometimes difficult to navigate. Peter Alexander, CMO of Check Point, one of the world’s leading cybersecurity firms, explained that “medical environments are traditionally very vulnerable environments.” This is typically caused by the numerous devices connected to the networks as well as the various people who need access to the medical records. Regardless, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (commonly known as HIPAA), it’s vital that teams protect the information of not only their own players, but the players of visiting teams as well. “People don’t think about that,” explains Trainor. “You have an X-ray machine on staff and you have access for both home and visiting teams, but you can’t share those images.

So if an Oakland player messes his knee up, the Broncos can’t look at his knee. But their training staff can go in there, do the X-rays, and take that back with them.”

Photo iStockphoto.com

The other main asset that Trainor focuses on protecting is the playbook. With modern technology, most players are provided with iPads that carry videos and playbooks and other team-specific information. Storing all of this on portable tablets comes with many advantages. “We used to use paper playbooks and once in a while those playbooks would be left on a plane or in a hotel room,” Trainor explained. “But now, if they lose the iPad, number one, we can wipe it right then if they contact us.” Alternatively, their playbook app, PlayerLink, comes equipped with a time bomb, which would delete the videos and playbooks if the iPad doesn’t check in during a period of a few days.

The Fans As various apps and social media platforms have been integrated into the fan experience, connectivity in stadiums has grown significantly, making it all the more important to be operating a secure network. At every major game, fans are posting to their Snapchats, Facebooks, Twitters, and Instagrams. Even outside of social media, digital apps have become a key part of the fan

experience. “Soccer is a good example,” according to Peter Alexander. “The game is going most of the time. But if someone says, ‘Hey, was that really a penalty?,’ now you can look at the replay from almost any device. And so that generates huge bandwidth requirements.” Not only do the stadiums have to make sure their networks are secure, but they also, at a basic level, need to ensure they have a network capable of handling the bandwidth needs.

At the same time, franchises are often times responsible for ticket holders and collaborating with ticketing services. In light of the Ticketfly hack that occurred earlier this year, which affected around 26 million users, services need to be even more responsible with the information of event attendees. To combat this and protect fan data, the Broncos employ several layers of encryption and security. In the past, they held their Ticketmaster servers onsite, meaning someone would have to physically break into the facility in order to gain access. However, in order to add extra layers of security, the Bronco’s personnel recently moved the servers offsite to

Ticketmaster. In the meantime, Trainor is hesitant to transfer data to the cloud. “I’m nervous about it,” he expressed. “Right now, physically, if the data is on my storage system and my computers are in my building, I have physical control of that. Somebody has to actually come into the firewall, breach that, or they have to come into the building and breach my perimeter’s physical security.”

Detection Ultimately, though, the most vital part of cybersecurity is detection, because as long as a breach goes unnoticed, nothing can be done to protect against it. Plus, according to Trainor, “After a breach happens, it usually takes three, to four, to five months before they know somebody is in their network.” For this reason, Trainor employed Dell SecureWorks, a system that manages for suspicious computer activity 24/7. It all acts as a reminder that, in the information age, even the most obscure or unlikely of industries can be targets of cyber attacks and need to have constant vigilance to protect both their own employees and their customers. ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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Securing Your Smart Home

By Anthony Elio Keeping your home secure is always a necessity, but the basic locks your home came with won’t always do the trick. Additionally, the word “security” itself doesn’t mean what it used to. With large-scale hacks hitting gigantic companies and individuals alike, cybersecurity while you’re surfing the web is as essential as ever, even in your own residence. Considering the large array of different smart home devices intended for various levels of security, it can be a bit daunting to prepare yourself for the worst. With that in mind, we have put together an essential guide that will keep your connected home safe, securing everything from your doors to your devices.

Tighten Up Your Front Door When someone thinks about securing their home, the front door is likely the first thing that comes to mind. This is for good reason, as it has been documented that an alarming number of burglars target the front door as a point of entrance. Luckily, there are secure options available to ensure that your front door remains impenetrable.

Smart locks are a convenient, capable way to ensure that you don’t lose sleep over your home security. The August Smart Lock, for example, allows you to lock and unlock your door straight from your smartphone. While this is definitely convenient, there’s an added benefit: no more leaving keys under the rug for anyone housesitting, eliminating yet another threat to your home’s security. Additionally, the device is very easy to install, allowing you to simply attach it to your deadbolt, download the app, and feel your stress melt away.

Defend With Your Doorbell While door locks are basically synonymous with home security, the doorbell is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to surveillance. However, while it was once solely a method to let someone know you’re outside, the doorbell has evolved into a full-fledged security component. And one device that showcases this innovation is the Uniden U-Bell.

The U-Bell combines a number of different functions to make it an all-inone security solution for your front door. The smart doorbell’s greatest feature is its security camera, which not only records in 1080p, but also has motion activation capabilities. Because the doorbell comes in a number of different colors, you can have it match the design of your home, making it less visible to unwanted visitors. Combine that with a mobile app that can send you alerts when you’re away from the home, and you’ve got an ideal additional line of defense for your smart home.

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Securing Your Smart Home Lock Down Your Wi-Fi Aside from your physical security, keeping your personal information safe should be your next priority. Cyber attacks have sadly become an accepted reality these days, and while home networks are generally thought to be safer than public Wi-Fi, that doesn’t mean they’re invulnerable.

Because of the risks to your personal information, it’s absolutely vital that you get a Wi-Fi router that adds an extra layer of defense to your online activity. One great option is Gryphon, an AI-enhanced router that greatly increases your network security around the home. Because cyber threats can happen at any time of the day, Gryphon works continuously to combat outside threats and even updates itself to keep up with any danger looming online.

However, Gryphon does more than just keep unwanted intruders away from your personal information. It also keeps your family safe on the web. Despite the large amount of quality, family-friendly content on the internet, it can still be a very dangerous place for young people to explore. And, considering CNN reported last year that children eight and younger will generally spend over two hours a day online, it’s more essential than ever that parents keep an eye on their home’s online activity. Thankfully, Gryphon allows for the option to take more control of your Wi-Fi, allowing you to filter what content a user can see by age and even set “bedtimes” for internet usage.

Hive View image

Keep an Extra Eye on Your Abode It’s not uncommon to be out and about, whether it be at work or on vacation, only to stress about the safety of your home. Considering the looming threat of burglary, it can definitely be stressful to leave the house empty. This is why security cameras are essential for keeping your connected home safe, whether you place it inside or outside. Installing the right security camera can be helpful on a number of levels, as a study by the Electronic Security Association found that sixty percent of potential burglars will generally stay away from homes with security cameras.

This makes a connected camera like the Hive View an essential for whenever you’re away from your home. The Hive View allows you to livestream directly to your phone in 1080p HD, as well as take a look at footage from the past 24 hours. This not only alleviates the stress of leaving your home alone, but also allows you a day’s worth of footage to check on if you’ve been occupied. ■

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

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PRESENTED BY

Tackling Tech with

Kelvin Beachum

By Anthony Elio

“Everybody can’t go pro in football, but everybody can go pro in STEM.” This was said

by New York Jets offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum, who, in addition to protecting the blind side of pro quarterbacks, is one of the biggest STEM advocates in the NFL. In addition to running The Kelvin Beachum Community Football Camp, Beachum raises awareness for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by speaking in classrooms and making appearances at events such as the U.S. News STEM Solutions conference. Beachum discusses how he first got into STEM education, his interest in educational events, and how technology has affected pro football in this exclusive interview.

Innovation & Tech Today: What initially inspired you to advocate for STEM education?

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Photo Chevron

New York Jets offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum reveals his thoughts on STEM education and tech in the NFL

Kelvin Beachum: For me it’s family history, to be honest with you. It goes back all the way to my grandfather. My grandfather has been blind for over seventy years. He’s creeping up on ninety. My dad had to drop out of school in eighth grade to work on cars for the family.

And if you look at both of their career paths and what they’ve done today, everything that they’ve done is science, technology, engineering, and math, and they’ve done it on a daily basis. If I were to tell either of them that they do STEM every single day, they would look at me like I’m crazy. So if people in rural America do this on a daily basis and have no idea, what about the people and some of the kids that are growing up in this day and age?

What does their exposure look like? What does their awareness look like?

bringing it back to what I thought growing up when I worked on cars. But I had no idea I was doing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics every single day. Growing up, I didn’t understand it. Going to college, I got an economics degree. This is the place where I can really be impactful. I’ve seen how the lack of education, the lack of awareness, has stunted growth for many individuals. It’s been a wonderful time and a way to bring not only access, but awareness and exposure. A pipeline to a job and pipeline to a career and lifelong passion. Trying to get the message out to young people and giving them just the opportunity to be able to see that they can do something on a daily basis and that can be their career, that can be a passion.

I started thinking about ways in which I could impact the world and use this platform. It was

I&T Today: Do you get involved with STEM-related events?

Photo Eugene Lee/World Vision Photo Chevron

Photo Eugene Lee/World Vision

When he’s not keeping defensive lineman at bay for the New York Jets, Kelvin Beachum has made it his mission to inspire the next generation to embrace careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with both his personal STEM camp and his appearances at events such as the U.S. News STEM Solutions.

KB: I have my own currently that I do every single year. I have my STEM camp that I do in my hometown. It’ll just be going on year four.

I’ve adopted the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy down in Dallas who I also work with. I sponsor a speaker series, fund college visits, provide programming, and sponsor STEM-related field trips for those students to help provide access and opportunity.

I don’t need to recreate the world. I don’t need to go and create my whole entire national program. There are a number of programs and a number of corporations that are always doing great work. For me, it’s coming along and bringing more awareness, bringing some sizzle, because a lot of times you don’t have professional athletes that are there to actually show those kids, “Yes this is cool. This is what you need to be doing.” For me, it’s coming alongside those corporations and those entities

that already have those great programs and going and finding ways to add value there.

I&T Today: Do you have a favorite type of sports tech you enjoy using during the offseason?

KB: There’s tech we use from a company called WHOOP. It’s a wearable device, I’ve been using it almost two years now. I use it both in the season and during the offseason. It measures everything. It measures biometric data, it measures strains, it measures recovery. You get to see exactly how your body handles the strain you put on it during the day and the recovery during the night. They actually just added another feature this week, which is a weekly assessment. It shows the entire week and how you progressed. They’ve done some super innovative things.

You see people from all walks of life, all

different types of sports that are able to use the platforms and be able to assess their bodies and be able to make better decisions about how they recover their body, how they train their bodies, how to make their body more efficient.

I&T Today: Do you believe that technology has had an overall positive effect on the sport?

KB: I think it has. I think there has been a high quantity of info sharing that’s increased in sports so players understand what is going on with their bodies. How to make their bodies perform at a more efficient state. Even if you look at what’s going on from the digital side. How, digitally, the game has changed now, consumers have been able to consume the game on different devices. But it’s changed a lot and I think it is going to continue to change. I just hope it never comes to a point where they have robots playing football. I don’t want it to get that far. ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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PRESENTED BY

Paddling North:

Voices from Alaska’s Inside Passage

By Patricia Miller

How two kayakers are working with women and indigenous communities to reveal Alaska’s oil problem

Alaska’s Inside Passage is synonymous with astounding mountain vistas, blue-green glaciers, crystal clear waters, and pristine wilderness.

It wasn’t just the views that compelled two pioneering young women to begin their intrepid adventure along 1300 nautical miles of coastline. The duo hope to raise awareness for environmental degradation occurring along the coast and bring a voice to thousands of underrepresented communities affected by high-impact industries.

Leonie Mahlke, a biological scientist and passionate conservationist, has spent the last seven years working in marine education and outreach in Southeast Alaska. Rebecca Grim spent that time exploring the waterways around Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, honing her yoga skills, and elevating her kayaking prowess to become a Level 1 guide.

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The first part of their journey behind them, Grim and Mahlke are resting in Ketchikan and restocking their supplies. They will spend the next 60 days working their way up the coast, documenting what they see, and preparing to share their experience in a documentary film. In this exclusive interview, Grim and Mahlke share their concerns, reveal their favorite gear, and candidly implore more women to do “rad things like this” in their everyday lives.

Innovation & Tech Today: What inspired the two of you to start this journey?

Rebecca Grim: We started getting together in 2015 and just exploring more along the coast.

By exploring, we found out about various issues that were going on around the coast, so we started educating ourselves about what was going on, attending demonstrations, and just taking more action. We were really interested in

going on an adventure, but we were also very curious about all these environmental issues, so we thought we should join up and take more time to do this trip. We wanted to explore new places and connect with people.

I&T Today: Which environmental issues are most important to you?

RG: One of the first demonstrations and large gatherings of kayakers we attended was for a big pipeline that’s coming through. Kinder Morgan is proposing a pipeline and now there are large tankers coming into an area where there are killer whales; it will be devastating when there is an oil spill. Spending so much time on the water and becoming more interested in the coast, we just felt strongly that it’s not a good idea for these tankers to be in these waters.

It can be difficult because we don’t want to say that “no oil” is the situation because we use

A shipping container looms over a kayaker in the remote waters of Alaska’s Inside Passage (Top Left). The duo pose for some candid selfies and capture footage of the region’s delicate ecosystems while making their 1300 nm journey. Pictured bottom right, Grimm and Mahlke take a few moments to attach their solar panels before leaving shore.

products that have oil in them. Still, the oil industry definitely is a big concern for us. It’s all connected. The tankers, the fish farms, it all has an effect on the ecosystem and environment and it’s all linked together. So you change one piece in the ecosystem and everything is affected.

I&T Today: Why have you chosen to focus on meeting with women and indigenous people along your route?

Leonie Mahlke: We started to see how a lot of the powerful people involved are women so it felt like a natural direction to take. I’m very supportive of women and like to empower women to do rad things like this, so it just felt like a natural direction.

The First Nations people who live and work along the coast play a very important role. Some of them are working on fish farms, or are teachers, or are part of the Guardian Watch organization that keeps people safe along the

coast. It’s like the Coast Guard, but they’re a little bit more hands on and in tune with the waters. Their life is the coast. And they see the direct effect of these industries and have been here for thousands and thousands of years. So, why not just go to the source and speak with people who have been here from the beginning?

I&T Today: How have you incorporated tech into your journey?

RG: We have a Panasonic camera, two GoPros, a tripod, and a little microphone that we can attach to the GoPro. We need a quick set up. We also have a shotgun microphone for the Panasonic to use during interviews and also little lavalier microphones. We store everything in dry bags except for the Panasonic camera which is in a pelican case on the deck of my boat. We have two battery banks each, which we recharge with two solar panels that sit on the back of our boats.

FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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PRESENTED BY

PaddlingNorth: Voices from Alaska’s Inside Passage

Mahlke and Grim establish camp after a long day at sea. Hammock tents are lightweight, easy to pack, and allow each traveller to have their own space.

Efficiency, portability, and durability are essential features of every piece of gear, as each item must be kept in a dry bag and stored in the kayak’s cargo area.

I&T Today: What has been your most essential electronic gear?

LM: One thing that is not a filming piece, that we use every day, is our Garmin inReach. It allows us to record our mileage, look at our speed, and detect messages. You can even send an email and it has an SOS button. It’s been really helpful just to keep tabs on our mileage as well. We’re pretty loose with our schedule but we also need to do a certain amount of mileage each day.

“ I think we both would love to encourage anyone else, in particular women, to get outside and just explore. It’s important.”

It also has a live tracker so anyone can know where we are. We set waypoints for each camp, so in the future we can look back and see exactly the GPS coordinates of where we camped. Or, if we saw something of interest, we can go back and pinpoint those locations as well.

RG: The other cool thing is you can pair it with your phone and download an app so you can actually use your phone to send messages, which is very fun. You can also send Facebook posts out from the remote places and people

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will see where you are and what you’re doing.

LM: Our parents appreciate it [laughs].

I&T Today: Why have you chosen to hammock camp and what are the advantages as opposed to tent camping?

LM: Oh my gosh, I can talk your ear off. We are huge fans of the hammock. A lot of the Pacific Northwest coast is rocky with uneven ground, so hammocks give us the ability to camp pretty much anywhere where we can cord those up.

We’ve camped on the sides of cliffs and over jagged rock and obviously between trees. It’s a pretty wet environment out here, so it keeps us off the ground. When it’s pouring rain, we’re elevated. We don’t have to worry about water pooling into the tent. It’s just been an amazing system for us.

It also creates two different bases for us. We’re great friends, but it’s also nice to have our own individual time away and then one person can be reading or have the light on, like our own little cocoon. So yeah, huge fans of the hammock.

I&T Today: What advice would you offer people who want to take a more active role in protecting their watersheds?

RG: I would say, don’t be shy about asking questions and approaching people and enjoy it.

Exploring is a great way of getting out there and learning about the environment you’re interested in. Also, just be open minded and go for it — have the courage to take the risk.

We often hear from people who say they would love to be doing similar trips and have always longed for it, but they’ve never really done it. And what we usually say is, it’s never too late for it. It’s not as big of a deal as everybody thinks and everybody can really do it. And it’s very safe too. The inside passage is very protected and you’re not really taking huge risks.

LM: You don’t have to be an athlete or have really expensive gear. I think you just need to have a keenness to get outside. It doesn’t have to be this long, multi-month trip. You can go out for a few days and still feel that feeling of just beautiful wilderness and the connection you have with the environment.

We also have these great safety systems in place and know our comfort zone. We can listen to the radio and hear if there is a gale force wind coming in. We’re not huge risk takers. We’ll be like, “Alright, let’s just go ashore and make a pot of coffee,” then just chill and wait for the storm to go by.

RG: I think we both would love to encourage anyone else, in particular women, to get outside and just explore. It’s important.

LM: Kayaking is such a nice way of exploring as well. The level you are on is so cool because you’re not just on the ocean, not just on land, but you are going along the shore while on the water, so it is really cool to connect with both.

It’s a really cool perspective, and you are going slow too, so you’re not rushing, which is really nice because it gives you time to just be in the moment on the water. ■

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PRESENTED BY

The Technology of a Triathlete

By Robert Yehling

IRONMAN Triathlon Hall of Famer Julie Moss relies on a variety of technological innovations that help her race like a 23-year-old at age 60 IRONMAN Triathlon Hall of Famer Julie Moss thrives and depends greatly on the sports technology of our times. She benefits from forty years of training knowledge — and the most memorable moment in triathlon history, viewed by millions on ABC’s legendary anthology Wide World of Sports.

She is one of very few 60-year-old world-class elite athletes on the planet. Certainly, she is one of the fittest sexagenarians alive. As Moss prepares for October’s IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, she again has the triathlon world abuzz. Can she beat her previous time of 11 hours, 10 minutes, and nine seconds for 140.6 miles of swimming, cycling, and running? Moss previously accomplished these awe-inspiring numbers in 1982 when she crawled across the finish line, making the sport – and herself – a global sensation overnight.

You read that right. At 60, Moss can match her time the day she became the most recognizable athlete in triathlon history. If this sounds far fetched, Moss matched it at the IRONMAN New Zealand in March — after beating it by 30 minutes in the April 2017 IRONMAN North American Championship.

“All of that would be really nice,” the vivacious Moss says with a smile, “but this year, I just want to run a really good race. I’ve had such a lovehate with that course, and I just want to be solid.

This is my love letter to Kona, the race I’m running for everyone who’s supported me or come out to watch the last 36 years.”

It’s an auspicious time for Moss. Her longawaited memoir, Crawl of Fame, releases worldwide on October 2, just 11 days before she starts her 140.6-mile IRONMAN day. Movie talks are also underway, helmed by long-time 60 Minutes correspondent Armen Keteyian, whose 1982 story on Moss netted him the Sporting News Sports Feature of the Year.

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

The technology behind Moss’ training and competing has changed drastically since 1982. Her equipment then likely cost a few hundred dollars. Today, her arsenal includes a state-of-the-art Performance bike, which alone costs thousands of dollars.

How does a 60-year-old woman swim, bike, and run as fast as she did at 23? How is that possible? Besides her devout training, Moss cites changes in workout regimens and technology. In 1982, she used her own bike, a borrowed t-shirt and running shorts, a trucker’s cap, and basic running shoes. Her “kit” and equipment cost a few hundred dollars, no more.

Today, her gear includes a state-of-the-art Performance bike worth thousands of dollars (computerized models can run upwards of $20,000), top-of-the-line Hoka One One shoes and apparel, and similarly advanced products from her other sponsors.

“I give a lot of credit to the technology,” she says. “It is so much further along. We can measure everything about our workouts, fitness, exertion, heart rates — everything. We can calibrate our workouts so precisely, and the

equipment — and shoes — are so light and tough and tailored to what we need, giving us advantages we never had when I was a young professional.”

In Kona, Moss will focus on her own race – but it won’t be easy. Also on the line will be her son, Mats Allen, making his professional debut.

Mats’ father, Mark Allen, won a record-tying six IRONMAN World Championships from 198995. Mats is the progeny of two iconic superstars.

“I’m looking forward to coming across the line and seeing my son cheering for me,” Moss said.

“For myself, I want to finish knowing that I did everything I could, and I gave the race everything I have. If I hit the time, that’s a bonus.” ■ Crawl of Fame, co-written by Innovation & Tech Today’s own Robert Yehling, will be available on October 2, 2018.

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Hidrate Spark 2.0 – Staying hydrated isn’t always easy. Luckily, the Hidrate Spark 2.0 offers a smarter way to combat your thirst, with a connected app to track your water intake and even a glowing function that notifies you when you need to rehydrate. $45

Amazfit Stratos – As stylish as it is functional, the Amazfit Stratos is the ideal GPS smartwatch.

Featuring advanced durability and GPS tracking for all of your outdoor adventures, the Stratos belongs on any explorer’s wrist. $200

Elevate by Pedego – With full suspension and Shimano Deore hydraulic brakes with 203mm rotors, you’ll be able to take the Elevate electric mountain bike on the roughest of rides. Plus, with an installed electric motor system, the Elevate is perfect for zipping down the mountain or just cruising around town. $5,495

Lumix TS7 Waterproof Camera – Whether you’re on a snorkeling expedition or an intense hike through the mountains, you’ll need a camera that won’t hold you back.

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How Tech is Arming the Battle Against Diabetes

By Scott Jung

Photo iStockphoto.com

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 30 million people in the United States live with diabetes. It’s a disease that affects both men and women of all ethnic backgrounds. People with diabetes have a higher risk of serious health complications, such as blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and stroke. Consequently, the costs of medical expenses and lost wages for people with diabetes are enormous, totaling $327 billion every year.

And, as the seventh leading cause of death, diabetes is a disease that quite literally steals both the lives and livelihoods of its victims.

There are two predominant forms of diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when your body is unable to produce insulin, a hormone that plays a vital role in pushing glucose (sugar) from your blood to other parts of the body. Type 1 diabetes tends to occur more commonly at a young age and is not preventable. With type 2 diabetes, your body develops insulin resistance, which means it has a decreased ability to use insulin properly to regulate blood sugar levels.

Type 2 diabetes can occur later in life due to

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genetics, or often as a result of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Thankfully, new technologies are making both types of diabetes easier to manage and less expensive to treat for both patients and medical professionals. “Diabetes is arguably the chronic condition most ripe for technological disruption,” says Dr. David Ahn, Endocrinologist and Program Director at the Mary and Dick Allen Diabetes Center in Newport Beach, California. “We are in the beginning part of a new renaissance in diabetes management.”

Ahn says that part of what makes diabetes tech so intriguing is that it is increasingly playing a role in all three stages of the disease: prevention for those who are at-risk, management for diabetics, and the quest for a cure.

PREVENTION Type 2 diabetes is the more common form of the disease, occurring in more than 90 percent of diabetics. Most often, it develops in adults over age 45, but it’s sadly becoming more

common in children and teens. Because it’s the kind of diabetes that is often linked to obesity and lack of exercise, type 2 diabetes can be prevented with proper lifestyle changes.

People are also decreasing their risk of type 2 diabetes with a little help from technology. Big data and predictive analytics are helping healthcare providers identify patients who are at-risk for developing type 2 diabetes based on their health history. Web-based and mobile apps can then help these at-risk patients make lifestyle changes to slow or eliminate the progression of the disease.

When it comes to diabetes prevention, Ahn says, “motivating and enabling people to embrace healthy living now can prevent costly complications down the line.” San Franciscobased Omada and New York City-based Noom are two companies that have developed “digital therapeutics,” programs that assist with the prevention of diabetes through nutrition, weight loss, and life change coaching. Both have been effective: Omada has been clinically proven to decrease the 5-year risk of type 2 diabetes by 30

percent, and 78 percent of Noom users have sustained weight loss longer than one year. It’s the hope that these digital therapeutics will stop the development of diabetes of some of the 84 million Americans with prediabetes and the countless more who are at risk.

MANAGEMENT For those who have type 1 diabetes, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is the hightech gadget for keeping their blood sugar levels in check. A CGM is a device that consists of an adhesive patch containing a tiny sensor that monitors the amount of glucose in the fluid just underneath the skin. As a result, diabetics only have to prick their finger to calibrate the sensor instead of many times a day.

As technology has advanced over the years, CGMs as a whole have become more affordable and are widely available even to type 2 diabetics.

The most advanced CGMs are not only smaller and more comfortable to use, but they also have built-in wireless functionality to send glucose readings to a mobile device for a physician or caregiver to monitor. Arguably the biggest benefit for diabetics, however, is that some of the newest CGMs no longer require calibration finger sticks, virtually eliminating the need to prick your finger.

Companion Medical’s “InPen.” It’s a traditionallooking, reusable insulin pen with Bluetooth technology and a smartphone app that helps calculate and record the next insulin dose. The app not only calculates insulin dose recommendations based on previous insulin doses, current blood glucose levels, and carbohydrate intake values entered in manually, but it can also import glucose readings and automatically calculate the recommended dose from any wireless glucose monitor that can connect to Apple Health.

Once diabetics have determined that their blood glucose is high, technology can also help with necessary insulin delivery. One recentlyapproved delivery device is San Diego-based

Beyond CGMs and insulin delivery devices, diabetes tech is rapidly advancing toward a fully closed-loop “bionic pancreas”. Just like the real organ, a bionic pancreas is able to continuously FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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Health Tech Presented by

How Tech Is Arming The Battle Against Diabetes

(Left) The InPen is a traditional-looking, reusable insulin pen with Bluetooth technology and a smartphone app that helps calculate and record the next insulin dose. (Right) The t:slim X2 Insulin Pump uses the Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitoring System which doesn’t require finger pricks.

monitor a person’s blood glucose levels, and if insulin is needed, automatically calculate and deliver the proper dose. One of the early pioneers of the bionic pancreas is health advocate Dana Lewis, who originally conceived the “Do-It-Yourself Pancreas System” after growing frustrated with her CGM manufacturer’s disinterest in simply making her device’s alarms louder. Though her system consists basically of hacked-together CGM and insulin pump components and custom software, other companies are developing more refined systems.

Massachusetts-based Beta Bionics is developing the “iLet” bionic pancreas system that can allow diabetics to go up to three days without worrying about what they eat or the insulin dosages they need to take. And insulin pump manufacturers Tandem Diabetes and Medtronic both have devices that can interact with CGMs to provide partially-automated insulin delivery.

THE QUEST FOR A CURE As with all chronic diseases, the holy grail of

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diabetes tech is a permanent cure. Ahn hopes for a day when treatment of diabetes actually reverses the disease process. Researchers have tried many different approaches over the years to find a cure-all treatment.

Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk is currently developing a therapy that would stop the body’s immune system from attacking beta cells; it’s thought that type 1 diabetes is caused by the autoimmune destruction of these insulin-producing beta cells. And most recently, a small, but controversial study was conducted to test if a vaccine originally intended to treat tuberculosis could be effective against type 1 diabetes.

contains stem cells that will mature and produce the insulin that diabetics lack. While the technology is still early in development, mice studies have yielded promising results, and the device is currently undergoing trials on human subjects.

But what makes a cure so difficult to find is that the disease itself is still not well understood.

“For both types of diabetes,” Ahn says, “there is ongoing research to better understand what causes diabetes at the molecular level to better identify targets for therapy.”

But despite the formidable challenges that have yet to be overcome in the quest for a cure for diabetes, Ahn is optimistic about the future and is already encouraged by the new ways that diabetics are able to manage the disease. “Better, cheaper, and smaller continuous glucose monitoring options enable people to keep track of their blood sugar without finger sticks.

Telehealth and remote data management is scaling access to medical care, and fully automated insulin delivery is right around the corner,” he says. “The way diabetes is managed will be radically different in 2020 than it was in

The type of therapy that may show the most promise currently is stem cells. “Stem cell treatments offer the potential for a true ‘cure’ to type 1 diabetes by recreating pancreatic tissue,” Ahn explains. ViaCyte is one company doing compelling work in this area of regenerative medicine. One of their products, “PEC-Encap,” is a device implanted underneath the skin. It

OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTURE Diabetes tech has come a long way since the days of pricking fingers with lancets, inserting test strips into glucometers, and injecting a precise amount of insulin into your abdomen several times a day. Yet, the prevalence of and costs associated with diabetes continue to increase every year; according to the CDC, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than tripled as over the last 20 years as the American population has aged and become more overweight.

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Olivia vs.

Predator

By Anthony Elio

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Actress Olivia Munn discusses her interest in the science of healing and her brand new action film

Throughout the 2000s, she performed a variety of skits

“Wonder Woman’s Guide to Office Safety.” Keeping in

based around gaming and geek culture. In the early

line with her established hosting abilities, Munn acted

2010s, she played a quick-witted economist for the

as a correspondent for The Daily Show in the early

fictional network Atlantic Cable News. In 2016, she

2010s. She then followed that up with her portrayal of

portrayed the telekinetic mutant Psylocke, joining the

economist Sloan Sabbith in the award-winning

villainous Apocalypse to battle the X-Men. And now,

television show The Newsroom. Since then, Munn’s

Olivia Munn is ready to take on bloodthirsty aliens in the

roles have expanded to the big screen, appearing in the

upcoming film The Predator.

aforementioned X-Men: Apocalypse as well as the

Needless to say, Olivia Munn’s career has evolved

upcoming installment in the Predator franchise. In this

greatly over time. Many current fans likely remember

exclusive interview, the electrifying actress discusses

her from her position as host on the popular tech/

how her interests have shifted towards science over the

gaming program Attack of the Show!, where she

years, her role in the upcoming film The Predator, and

exercised her comedic chops by starring in skits such as

her early experiences with action-packed movies.

FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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Olivia vs. Predator

The fourth film in the franchise, The Predator features Munn, along with costars Boyd Holbrook and Keegan Michael-Key (Bottom Right), battling DNA-enhanced versions of the bloodthirsty titular creature on Earth.

Innovation & Tech Today: A lot of people were introduced to you during your days on Attack of the Show! Do you still follow the gaming scene pretty closely?

Olivia Munn: You know, right now I don’t even follow games closely. I don’t follow anything closely. My gear has changed in the last few years with work and basically the things I end up having time for. A few years ago, I got really interested in healing and also the science of youth. And it’s not about being young, it’s about feeling youthful, and that was something that was really interesting to me.

I really delve into that, and acupuncture and magnet therapy and understanding sound therapy – it all goes back into science. In my family, I’m the one who went off this way into the arts, but it’s funny that the “brain” in me wants to figure out the science of how things work. There are so many TV programs, but I haven’t seen any of them. I mean, there’s just so much stuff out there. I don’t have time for gaming, I don’t have time for movies or TV, but

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the thing I have made time for is reading books about magnet therapy, sound therapy, healing, and understanding our bones and the makeup of our bodies. Probably not the answer you were expecting, but that’s literally where most of my time is right now.

I&T Today: Are there any other major science topics that you really get into?

OM: Something that people in L.A. say a lot is, “Mercury’s in retrograde.” And then people are like, “Ugh,” and roll their eyes. We get a lot of groans. “Oh my gosh, Mercury’s in retrograde right now. We’ll be late for everything.” Nobody really knows what it means. But in every hippie dippy thing that I may believe in, I always have the science that backs it up. And what’s interesting is, I’ll always be able to find whatever I’m looking for because that’s how I am. It has to be proven, and I usually go back to the science, because that’s where it makes sense to me.

One that’s really interesting I’ve found is sound therapy. I was filming X Men: Apocalypse

and I was training six to seven hours a day and did all my own stunts. And I was really exhausted and I had pulled my hamstring. I pulled both by doing the crazy kicks. And the next day, if you just touched my hamstrings, I would scream. And so the doctor’s like, “She’s going to be out for months.” And I was like, “No, no, no, I’m supposed to be filming in three weeks. I’ve been training months for this.”

And so I did a lot of research and I looked into different methods, with crystal therapy, with infrared therapy, this magnet therapy, and learned how to do Gua sha, which is a healing technique of scraping which brings stagnating blood to the surface and people don’t realize how important that is. Because when you have an injury, blood rushes to it, then it gets stuck, and then new blood can’t come in. And that’s why we have a lot of these aches and pains. So I was just doing it to myself and had my whole setup. And five days later I was back to 100 percent and I did all my fight scenes. That was really fascinating to me.

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Olivia vs. Predator After years of cosplaying as a number of superheroes on Attack of the Show!, Olivia Munn finally got the chance to officially portray the telekinetic mutant Psylocke in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse.

While I was healing, I had this masseuse come over and she was talking to me about sound therapy and she had just a few tools. But then she goes, “There’s a whole kit.” And so I’m like, “Well what does it do?” She’ll kind of bang it and make this vibration and she’ll put it on your forehead. And I’m kind of like, “Alright. I get it, it’s a nice sound.” But she had told me that her husband once had a heart attack and rushed to the hospital. He’s got this issue with his heart and he’ll start to palpitate really fast. And once it got really bad, they had to call the ambulance.

She put one of the sound tools on his chest and everything started coming down. When the ambulance got there, they’re like, “He’s actually okay, it’s all good.” He didn’t have to go and she was able to use that on him.

I&T Today: You’ll be playing Casey Bracket in the new Predator film coming out. What drew you to that role?

OM: I’m portraying an evolutionary biologist.

Well, when I take on any role, no matter what the role is, there’s a few requirements, but there’s one that’s non-negotiable, which is: “Does she exist if he doesn’t exist?” Is my character just there to serve the male counterpart’s storyline, or is she there and do you get to see who she is?

When I sat down and spoke with [director Shane Black] about the character and what we want to do with her, he said, “She’s badass and there’s two storylines. You’ve got these military guys and then there’s your storyline. And then we merge at one point.” You get this great group of ensemble actors. I was really interested in that, and the people that were getting on board.

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Boyd Holbrook and I, there’s two lead roles in this movie. He’s a soldier. We don’t need another soldier there. Instead, my character studies how animals change and evolve, and then here she is with an alien and then everything goes crazy. We have to hunt it and track it and capture it again.

But I said, “I don’t want to turn into Sarah Connor.” I go, “I want to make it real because it’s important.” She’s a scientist. She’s not a scientist who also does kickboxing on the side. She’s athletic and healthy enough. But it’s something inside her that comes up and I want it to be a little messy. And it was really great because it’s also really important to me that we don’t ever address why my character knows how to shoot a gun. I mean, I grew up in a military family. I know, people wouldn’t maybe think that, but I know how to use a gun. I went through gun safety as a child. We knew all about that. And also, we live in America. A lot of people know how to use guns. And it’s not that abnormal for a woman to pick up.

But we’d have long conversations like that, about something as simple as, “Let’s not address it.” We’d have long conversations about things that we would never see on camera, and that would never be addressed, but it was important to me. And those conversations, and that Shane was so on board with that and understood it, and loving the idea that we’d have Predators that are coming to our world and we’re not in a jungle somewhere. What would happen if they’re here, at our schools? What the f*** do you do?

And so the government’s trying to get us, but also we have to save the world. They didn’t ask us to, but we have to go save the world right now

because this s*** is real and we’re the only ones who know what’s going on. The military guys are military guys, but they’ve got some issues.

They’re not the likely people that you would choose to be in this position. And my character would not be the person that would choose to be running after aliens and fighting and capturing them and whatever she’s needing to do. But yet, her own sheer will, her need to survive, her need to save and help, that’s what’s also important.

The fight between two Predators is so brutal and I loved it. When you’re filming movies you don’t really know how it’s going to turn out. You just do your job the best you can, and you don’t know what choices they’re going to pick. You don’t know how they’re going to edit it. You just don’t know how they’re going to put the film together. But I looked at it and I saw it and I was like, “That’s f***ing awesome.” I was like, “I’m really excited about that.” I’m personally excited to see this movie.

I&T Today: Were you a big fan of the original films as well?

OM: I hadn’t seen the original until I had actually signed on for the movie. Well, we watched RoboCop when I was really young.

And that was my first nightmare that I ever remember having, watching RoboCop. My mom didn’t know what it was. We’re like, “It’s a movie about robots, mom!” And she’s like, “Okay.” And then after that she put a lockdown.

I think Predator came right during that little window where she was like, “No more! You guys are watching fairy tales and cartoons and that’s it.” ■

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Red Dead Redemption 2 Brings the Wild West to Life

By John Gaudiosi

Red Dead Redemption 2 is the most recent release from Rockstar Games. While the company is best known for their wildly popular Grand Theft Auto series, they have had immense success with their Red Dead series, starting with 2004’s Red Dead Revolver.

It’s been eight long years since Rockstar Games released the epic open world Western game Red Dead Redemption, which itself was a spiritual successor to 2004’s more linear Red Dead Revolver. Redemption was a landmark game, which helped revive the Western genre in Hollywood thanks to creatives like Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy who credited the game for influencing their take on HBO’s Westworld.

With Red Dead 2, Rockstar’s Edinburgh studio is offering gamers the ability to live within a fully realized Wild West. Not only is the game – the first designed specifically for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 – gorgeous with high dynamic range and 4K visuals, but it’s also lifelike.

Incredibly realistic artificial intelligence in the form of thousands of townsfolk, smugglers, bandits, soldiers, outlaws, and Native Americans ensure every adventure will be personal, and replay should be as deep as Rockstar’s five-year-old (and still popular) Grand Theft Auto V. This game is actually a prequel to the original, which was set in 1911 and followed the story of John Marston as he was forced to help the Feds hunt down members of his old crew, Dutch’s

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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

Gang. A younger Marston is featured in this 1899 storyline, but the player will take control of outlaw Arthur Morgan. He’s one of the leaders of Dutch’s first gang, which is on the run from Feds and bounty hunters after a train robbery gone bad.

While it’s fun to watch Westworld and dream of that type of theme park becoming a reality in the future, Red Dead Redemption 2 delivers the next best thing. This is a living, breathing virtual world where even the most minor character will react to your actions. And when it comes to more central characters, including returning figures like Dutch’s gang members Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella and new characters like Sadie Adler, Micah Bell, and Sean McGuire, there’s a lot more depth here. It’s really like stepping into the Old West.

This being a Rockstar game, there are both moral and real-world repercussions for every major decision that’s made. It’s also interesting because while the protagonist is a “bad guy,” he is actually more “gray” than black and white. Plus, it’s ultimately up to the player to make every choice the game introduces, and that can impact the direction and ultimate character of Morgan.

When it comes to decisions, everything a cowboy or outlaw would need to do in real life needs to be done in this game. If you’re hungry, you need to hunt bison or deer or assorted fowl, and then prepare them properly so they don’t go bad in the sun. Get blood, dirt, or worse on your clothes and you’ll need to wash them. Your fire needs wood from the forest and rivers and streams are your source for drinking water and cleaning. Rockstar has ensured the gameplay has a nice mixture of responsibilities (like ensuring that the morale in Dutch’s camp remains high) and action (like robbing banks and gunslinging) that are nicely balanced to keep things fun. You can even play cards at camp, which builds camaraderie and is a pleasant diversion from the murdering and stealing.

Plus, because this is essentially a road trip with the gang on the run across the American Frontier, the scenery is always changing and the challenges are always evolving. The game has as wide a landscape as the real open West. The entire game flows seamlessly from one action sequence to the next with cut scenes happening in-game, allowing a more natural cinematic experience. However, with this interactive adventure, you’re in control of the narrative. ■

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Elijah Wood’s VR Vision

By Anthony Elio

Elijah Wood discusses his latest project: an unsettling VR horror experience in collaboration with Ubisoft.

To call Elijah Wood’s body of work interesting would be a massive understatement. While he may be best known for his starring role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Wood has recently compiled a fascinating portfolio of projects, including his surreal role in the series Wilfred, his voice role as Wirt in the critically acclaimed animated series Over The Garden Wall, and his work on horror films as the founder of the production company SpectreVision. The company recently collaborated with Ubisoft to create its very first video game Transference, a VR horror experience with Wood acting as the creative director. During an exclusive interview at E3, Wood discussed his recent interest in virtual reality and his unique role in creating Transference.

Innovation & Tech Today: What was the initial inspiration for Transference?

Elijah Wood: Well, we were interested in working in VR. When I say “we,” I’m referring to my company SpectreVision. We produce horror genre films and we were just interested in the medium of VR for exploring unsettling experiences because of its immersion. It sort of lends itself to the horror genre really well in terms of eliciting emotional response. And so, you know, through meeting the folks at Ubisoft and their being interested in a partnership on something in the VR space, we collaborated on a multitude of ideas and then zeroed-in on what ultimately turned into Transference.

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I&T Today: So many VR horror games are based around jumpscares and cheap gimmicks, while Transference is definitely more about making you feel unsettled. Was it intentional to make the project stand out from all the other VR horror games being released?

EW: I think we were always trying to do more than incorporate things we’ve seen from other games. It was to avoid common tropes. So sort of to your point, a lot of horror games are based on jumpscares and have a typical horror structure, or they’re based on a pre-existing IP. We were trying to avoid tropes and elements that we’ve seen that felt familiar. To try and strip those things away to create something that felt fresh and new.

I&T Today: SpectreVision has mostly focused on creating films before this project.

What made virtual reality seem like the next natural step?

EW: I don’t know that it felt like the next natural step so much as just an interesting medium for narrative and storytelling. It’s very much the Wild West in regards to exploring what VR is capable of doing. And certainly trying to crack the narrative within the context of VR. So we were excited about all those things and there’s something about, again, that notion of being immersed in something that allows you to toy with emotional responses and feelings and atmosphere in a way that a movie isn’t capable of doing in the same way.

I&T Today: When did the collaboration with Ubisoft begin?

EW: So we were introduced to Ubisoft at E3 a number of years ago through a mutual friend that knew that we were interested in VR. We made the connection and we had a few discussions about what we thought would be interesting to explore in the VR space.

Initially, it was just a few ideas of experiences, not even necessarily a game. And we went out to Montreal to get a tour of Ubisoft and meet the teams. We also pitched a bunch of ideas and shared ideas together and, out of that, we realized, “Well, this could be a really interesting partnership,” where both teams are bringing something to the table and a true collaboration was at the core of that.

I&T Today: You’ve worked on a few games before, providing voices for a number of characters. How big of a jump is it to go from that to your current role as creative director?

While he has previously provided voice work on Lord of the Rings and Spyro games, Elijah Wood took on the role of creative director for the unsettling VR experience Transference.

EW: Oh massive. As a voice actor in a game, you’re facilitating somebody else’s writing. You know, no less fun. I got to work with Tim Schafer on Broken Age. I grew up playing Tim’s games so I love that and I love being able to work on characters in the context of games. But this is entirely different.

Getting to be a part of a creative team, you know, all of us getting to lend our creative input and ideas equally, it’s why I love making films. The most rewarding aspect of filmmaking is the creative process: the unification of a group of people around a core idea and everyone trying to make that thing come to life in the best possible way. And I enjoy that process.

I&T Today: Playing through Transference, I noticed it almost felt like acting out a film. Was that intentional for the experience?

EW: No. We talk about it almost as a film that you are an active participant in, but that is sort of irrelevant. In a way, all we wanted was to tell a narrative that felt emotional, from an empathetic place, and also from a sort of uncomfortable fear-based place that you understand the narrative throughout the context of exploring within the game.

If that feels cinematic, awesome. And in a lot of ways, we’re bringing a lot of cinema elements especially with our sound design and music. But I don’t know if that was the intention from the onset, to create a movie to play, it just happens to feel that way because of the parties involved. ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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Bringing the Computer Screen to the Silver Screen

By Alex Moersen

Director Aneesh Changanty discusses his latest film Searching, which takes place solely on computer screens.

We live our lives on screens. It’s how most of us get our entertainment, communicate with friends, learn the news, and so much more.

Since film often attempts an accurate portrayal of real life, it makes sense that screens would be incorporated into storytelling. It’s a unique direction for filmmaking, one that is slowly growing in popularity. Such is the case with Searching, a thriller that takes place completely on screens. After receiving critical acclaim at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, the movie had its national debut at the end of August and took this storytelling format to the next level.

Innovation & Tech Today had the opportunity to speak with Director Aneesh Chaganty about the unique challenges of the film and how tech is portrayed in media.

Innovation & Tech Today: Where did the idea for Searching first originate?

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Aneesh Chaganty: Honestly, it came from saying “no” to the opportunity a lot. The production company is called Bazelevs. They had made a movie called Unfriended before ours, that took place all on computer screens and they basically wanted to follow that up with another film that took place on screens. Sev Ohanian, who’s the co-writer and producer of the movie, took a meeting with them and told them, “Oh you should talk to Aneesh.” I was working at Google at the time writing and directing their commercials in New York City.

So, we came up with a short film that they really liked, and a few weeks later, they told us in a meeting in LA that that they wanted to make a feature. They would finance it, they would pay us to write it, they would have Sev produce it, they would have me direct my first movie – and I still said no.

We kept passing on the opportunity because it never felt like we could tell our thrilling emotional story. But, we also knew the opportunity was really rare, and no one gets told, “Here’s the money to make a movie.” So we talked about it for a long time and we couldn’t find anyway to do the story until Sev and I were texting each other and both of us were like, “Hey, I have an idea for an opening scene.”

That became the opening montage. All of the sudden we had unlocked the actual potential of the format, in a way that, despite movies having been made on computer screens before, felt like ours in a lot of ways. It felt like ours would be emotional and thrilling and engaging, and most of all, it would make you forget that you were watching something on a computer screen, which is something that we felt like was a requirement. The story had to be the most

(Top) While shooting Searching, Aneesh Changanty worked closely with actors John Cho (Left) and Debra Messing (Right) as they adjusted to filming in this new format. As Changanty said, “Every single person on this film had to relearn their jobs in order to make this movie.”

attractive element. Once we came up with that, we pitched a full version of it back to the company, and they bought into it. I quit my job at Google and went back to LA, and we started making the movie for two years.

I&T Today: Do you think your experience in the tech world, working for Google, gave you tools to help you in this project?

AC: Absolutely. You know at Google, my bosses were the people behind the most incredible Google commercials. In Google commercials, their job is to take technology and frame it in an emotional way. Their job depends on these cool devices. What I learned at Google is that you don’t need to show someone’s face to convey the fact that someone is crying. You can do it with a blinking cursor. You can do it with the press of a button; at the closing of a window. You can make people feel without doing anything traditional. To me, that was very attractive and really exciting. I loved the opportunity to do something in an unconventional way that would still make you feel like you were watching something that you were very familiar with. To marry tech with an emotionality was absolutely day one of what I learned at Google and it took me through the entire journey of it.

You’ll see that in the film, there’s a lot of tiny learnings that we made. We were basically learning on the fly.

I&T Today: In typical movie scene design, every detail is super important. How did you

go about designing the internet pages that ultimately were the “scenes”?

AC: There are two elements of set design.

There’s live action set design, which is absolutely present, and then there’s the internet site design, which we basically developed and created over the course of our two year edit. It was a very painstaking process. Once we figured out what our shot was and what our main plot points were, it was a matter of populating the rest of it. It basically took us understanding every single item that needed to be shown and us going in and being like, “Okay, this entire Gmail site needs every line to be shown.” It was mostly done out of realizing, “Oh s***, we have to do this.” But by the end of it we were loving it, creating like a whole world around this movie.

I&T Today: Do you think Searching and movies like it say anything about our relationship with technology?

AC: For so long technology has been portrayed extremely negatively in film and in Hollywood. Every single movie about Uber is going to be a “killer Uber” or every Black Mirror episode is about the bleak future of technology or the Facebook PSA is telling us we’re addicted to our phones and every Wired article is about how we obsess over social media.

There’s all these negative portrayals of technology and in my experience, both as a Google employee and a human being, technology is far more expansive than one

negative look at it. To me, it’s like looking at a hammer and saying, “hammer is bad” as opposed to, “hammer is bad, hammer is good, hammer is angry, hammer is happy.” It just depends on how you use the hammer that determines what its value is. For us, what we wanted to do with this movie is to not say “bad” or “good” but zoom out and give it a holistic perspective.

I&T Today: Do you have any other ideas of how you might want to incorporate technology into your films?

AC: Yeah, so the next movie takes place all on an Apple Watch … No I’m totally kidding.

No, our next film is a very traditional, normal camera thriller. You know, I think the lesson that I want to bring moving forward is we do live our lives on screens. Technology is a major element in all of our lives. I think there is a way to demonstrate and show the screens and technology in a way that is cinematic and realistic and also consistent with your style, tone, and genre of whatever story you’re telling.

I don’t think that films have nailed it yet as far as how we capture technology. I think there is a way and I think that maybe what Searching does is highlight that this is a language that we all use and it won’t be alien to just talk to something on a screen and still treat it like its being shot with traditional cameras. Who knows, I’ll try it on my next film for a little bit, for like two seconds of it, and we’ll see if it works. ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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GRAND JUNCTION

A Truly Grand Innovation Junction

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As the Denver business boom expands westward, Grand Junction finds the ideal blend of technology, agriculture, and recreation.

Businesses are taking note.

Compiled by Robert Yehling

The first reflex for travelers upon arriving in Grand Junction is relief. They’ve either driven over the Rocky Mountains from Denver, just crossed 200 miles of pristine wilderness in Utah, or driven up from the rural communities to the south. After rides like that, they’re genuinely happy to be in Junction.

They’d be even happier if they knew what was happening businesswise in Mesa County. Grand Junction also happens to be the gateway to a thriving marriage of innovation, technology, agriculture and recreation — exactly what is driving a strong business development boom in an area with a current unemployment rate of a microscopic 2.9 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“It’s been quick growth the last five years,” said Cilia Kohn, Director of Marketing & Communications for the Grand Junction Economic Partnership (GJEP), the official economic development partnership of the region. “We realized that in order to be proactive, we need to diversify from our traditional business base and go after new businesses. We’ve succeeded, with several either moving from other parts of the country or establishing a major presence here.

We also realized we could benefit from the growth on the Front Range (greater Denver area) pushing this way. The businesses that relocated still want the Colorado lifestyle, but don’t want the congestion or cost.”

That growth is mixed with outdoor recreation, the sport of choice in a region that features ski resorts, the Colorado River, and the majestic Grand Mesa, the world’s largest mesa, with more than 300 lakes and hundreds of miles of trails. It also hosts the annual Grand Mesa Ultra — a 100-mile running race. It’s a very passionate outdoor community.

To address that, Grand Junction spent the first half of this decade developing Las Colonias Park, a 140-acre space along the Colorado that provides kayaking, white-water rafting, and other river recreation, along with hiking trails, picnic areas, and the other features of well-designed parks.

Within Las Colonias is a truly “peek into tomorrow” development, “RIVERFRONT at las colonias PARK.” The 15-acre mixed-use development will integrate nature and recreation with businesses, with companies moving in as anchor tenants. Since ground broke in April, several businesses have committed to anchoring in RIVERFRONT, including Bonsai Design, a fixture in Grand Junction’s business community.

On top of that, every building in RIVERFRONT will incorporate sustainable design practices from LEEDS and Green Globes, two sustainability best-practice certifiers. Colorado has been a natural wonderland forever, and the industry sectors within Grand Junction are working together toward a solid, sustainable future in an area where resources such as water and available farmland are sometimes scarce.

Grand Junction has positioned itself extremely well, using its three biggest natural assets — the Colorado River, spacious land, and 265plus days of sunshine per year — and strong focus on key technology growth areas to become a force. Grand Junction is a member of the Smart City Alliance, and Mesa County, in which it is located, is the first county in Colorado to receive a Jump Start Tax Credit.

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A Truly Grand Innovation Junction Photo Tyler Logan

tech zone

“Outdoor recreation is growing into one of our biggest sectors,” she said. “Aviation is also big and growing, with companies like West Star working with us. We’re seeing more business from Colorado wine country — which we’re in — and everything that comes with more digital technology-focused businesses: IT jobs, social media jobs, more construction contracts to build it out.”

ProStar Geocorp CEO Page Tucker in his Grand Junction HQ

“The Smart City Alliance designation means different things to different people,” said Page Tucker, CEO of ProStar, a geospatial intelligence software company, specializing in mapping. “For ProStar and Grand Junction, it’s about improving maintenance and management of the city’s infrastructure — roads, bridges, highways, and everything underground. Underground, subsurface, is where you’ll find the fiber optics, cables, and the technology for the networks to work hand in hand.”

“We’re really excited about the Jump Start Tax Credit, which is like Start Up New York,” the GJEP’s Cilia Kohn said. “Advanced technology and manufacturing companies that come here get to operate virtually tax-free for up to eight years. It stimulates the economy in rural areas.”

The first recipient of the grant? ProStar, whose CEO, Page Tucker, was the 2016 Colorado Entrepreneur of the Year. He’s also set up a small incubator through his company, which has spun out several businesses and entrepreneurs already.

His larger goal? To create a tech center in the Grand Valley.

That’s the type of forward thinking that is transforming Grand Junction in a way that works well for residents, local businesses, and incoming companies alike.

Traditionally, Grand Junction’s economic engines have been tourism-hospitality, mininglogging-construction, energy-natural gas, education-health services, and agriculture.

Those are still the primary drivers, though with those companies adopting more and more digital technology and equipment, Grand Junction’s tech world is increasingly integrated. However, as Kohn notes, many other business sectors now call the area home.

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A perfect case to illustrate this marriage of old industries, new technology, and cutting-edge, lifechanging solutions is Violet Defense, which is moving its Violet Gro operations to Grand Junction. Violet Gro will be hooking up the company’s landmark indoor lighting system to the hemp industry (see related story on page 84).

“The epicenter of indoor growing is Colorado, and we’re very fortunate to form partnerships in Grand Junction and open up there,” noted Terrance Berland, CEO of Violet Defense and Violet Gro. “When we got to know what was going on with the hemp side of the cannabis world, we engaged with local farmers and found a great fit for our products and their needs.”

The beat goes on. Among the other diverse companies that have set up shop in Grand Junction and the nearby Western Slope are Kaart Group, known best for mapping in third-world countries, which is creating apps for multiple business and recreation uses; and Wren Industries, a Lockheed-Martin supplier that provides parts for the Orion Spacecraft. Then there are the recreation stalwarts such as DT Swiss USA, Mountain Racing Products, LeitnerPoma, and Loki Outdoor Clothing, all headquartered in Grand Junction.

“Typically, many kids who go to college here have gotten their degrees and moved on, to Denver or beyond, because there was nothing for them in their fields,” Tucker said. “We’re now starting to change that.”

Added Violet Gro’s Kurt Kucera, “the Western Slope is one of the best places, if not the best place, for hemp growing and CBD production.

We have strong relationships with both general agriculture and hemp growers, and Grand Junction has been there for everything we’ve needed thus far. When you’re looking for a place to anchor, this is exactly what draws businesses to your region.” ■

Mesa CountyGrand Junction:

The Breakdown Chief Industries: General agriculture Hemp production Mining-Logging Construction Recreation Education Life Sciences Energy-Natural Gas Tourism-Hospitality Digital Technology

Demographics: Total Employees in Region: 75,400 Unemployment rate, June 2018: 2.9% Unemployment rate, June 2017: 4.7% Median Housing Price, 2018: $265,000 Median Housing Price, 2000: $104,000 Median Income: $46,500 (figures are as of June 2018.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Grand Junction, Colorado

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RIVERFRONT at las colonias PARK offers entrepreneurial companies an immersive experience geared toward wellness, community and unparalleled recreation.

Our 15-acre business park nestled in a 140-acre city park sits in the heart of downtown Grand Junction, yet offers unique access to rivers, lakes, mountains and deserts. Choose from shovel-ready sites or state-of-the-art, energy efficient buildings that offer multiple options: office, commercial, warehouse or build-to-suit.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT GRAND JUNCTION ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP

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tech zone

GRAND JUNCTION

Taking Growing Indoors, Naturally One can forgive Kurt Kucera if enthusiasm bursts from his voice whenever he talks of working in the Grand Junction area. Besides bringing perhaps the most innovative indoor grow lighting technology, Violet Gro, to the Fruitas Valley, Kucera is also on the front lines of transforming indoor growing itself.

“With Violet Gro, people have the opportunity to move indoors, which creates additional sustainability and all sorts of benefits,” Kucera, the director of Violet Gro’s Colorado operation, said. “This is where we see the future going, especially in the United States, where we’re losing available, farmable land, and in third-world countries, with their minimal or devastated power grids, such as the Caribbean nations hard hit by hurricanes.”

Violet Gro is part of Violet Defense, an indoor lighting technology that deploys germ-killing lights and a combination of violet and UV light, known as the Surface Air Germ Elimination (S.A.G.E.) system. The light source combines with a highly transmissive lens to produce greater photonic energy — which reaches the cellular level. Using the same germ-killing light rays as the sun, the S.A.G.E. system kills up to 99 percent of germs — compared to the 50 percent of germs that typically remained after standard sanitation of countertops and product surfaces.

Imagine planting hundreds of acres of crops and coming out with virtually no pests or

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Photo iStockphoto.com

diseased plants – without using herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides. That’s the degree of impact with Violet Defense and Violet Gro technology.

cannabis exploding in both popularity and need for growing space, Kucera feels the timing is perfect for Violet Gro — and not just for the hemp farmers.

“The biggest issue we deal with is chemicals — cleaning chemicals, agricultural chemicals,” said Terrance Berland, Violet Defense President and CEO. “Chemicals are not conducive to human interaction. A couple of studies in Europe have shown that people with cleaning jobs are exposed to the equivalent of smoking multiple packs of cigarettes a day.

“We have strong relationships in Colorado with general agriculture clients, as well as hemp growers,” he said. “We have the capability and capacity with our synergistic­partners to do deep research and development and create new opportunities to deploy the product. Currently, our customer base is roughly 70/30 towards hemp, but we’re getting more and more into general agriculture.”

“We provide a more sustainable, cleaner, and greener way of killing germs. Our view is that the S.A.G.E. technology does what the sun has done for a billion years – using UV rays to destroy germs at the cellular level.”

Five years after Violet Defense Founder Mark Nathan first began toying with the technology, the company rolled out its first products in May 2017. Now, just over a year later, it’s also rolling out Violet Gro to assist indoor growers of all stripes. Kucera pointed out the many benefits of going inside with the growth-inducing, germkilling technology. They include reducing or eliminating pesticide use; greater yields; reducing water use; eliminating runoff and evaporation; and healthier farming all the way around.

Now, they have a presence on Colorado’s Western Slope, one of the nation’s primary cannabis growing areas. With hemp and

There is also a highly positive, unintended consequence of indoor farming’s rise on the back of products like Violet Gro: the reuse of abandoned large retail buildings and distribution centers. “We have clients looking at obtaining buildings, and we expect to see this increasing everywhere as we move our agriculture indoors to increase yield and be more sustainable in this changed climate,” Kucera said.

Violet Defense and Violet Gro plan to extend far beyond their Orlando headquarters and Grand Junction operations base. “We’re talking to people in Washington, Oregon, California, Oklahoma, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, New York, Iowa, and overseas,” Berrand said. “We have no intention of confining our conversations to any particular geography.” ■

GRAND JUNCTION tech zone

Building Tomorrow’s Economy, Locally The past five years have been far different than any such period that Colorado’s Grand Valley and Western Slope residents have ever experienced. Technology has embedded itself everywhere in Mesa County — and so have those wanting to retain the best of the Piceance Basin’s traditional mining, energy, construction, and farming economy with the new wave of solutions — and businesses — moving into the area.

“It’s been a quick growth the past five years,” says Cilia Kohn of the Grand Junction Economic Partnership (GJEP), which has steered much of this growth. “It’s a mix of municipalities being proactive and realizing we needed to diversify, and to go after new businesses. We’ve also benefited from the expansion on the Front Range.”

Right now is a heady time to be in Junction.

The area, encompassing Fruita, Grand Junction, and Palisade, was named both one of America’s Coolest Desert Towns and the 5th Best Small

City in Colorado. Elevation Outdoors has named Fruita America’s Top Large Adventure Town, and Forbes designated Grand Junction one of the “Best Small Places for Businesses and Careers.”

The Grand Junction Economic Partnership (www.gjep.org) is primarily concerned with locating and creating programs, packages, and other incentives to fuel the area’s economic growth and sustainability. One such project, announced by Executive Director Robin Brown in July, concerns Opportunity Zones, the new federal tax incentive program. Investors who invest in distressed areas ripe with opportunity, or Opportunity Zones, (14 of which are in Grand Junction), receive incentives.

Another project is “RIVERFRONT at las colonias PARK,” a 15-acre development adjacent to the 140-acre mixed-use park. With RIVERFRONT added to the mix, Las Colonias Park is one of the first of a new municipal trend to work with natural settings to offer recreation, beauty, and sustainable use of resources — and

also places for businesses to anchor. Look for this to become quite popular nationally in the next 10 years.

GJEP’s profile jumped dramatically in 2016, when the JumpStart Tax Credit program launched in Mesa County, enabling ProStar Geocorp, GSI Energy, and Qmast LLC to locate in the area and accelerate their business growth.

Three of the newest business sectors driving the area are IT, new technology, and the move to indoor agriculture. They’ve added incredible diversity to the traditional economic drivers, enabling GJEP officials to draw in more diverse businesses. Yet, in a way, Grand Junction was destined to be a technology leader. The inventor of 3D printing, Chuck Hall, was born there. And the first drone ever used in a law enforcement operation was flown by Mesa County’s Sheriff ’s Department. ■

Cilia Kohn (Top Left) and Robin Brown (Top Right) have both helped lead Grand Junction into the spotlight of innovation. (Left) Sarah and Thaddeus Shrader, owners and operators of the Grand Junction-based company Bonsai Designs, with their family in Grand Junction. (Bottom Right) A look at Mountain Racing Product’s award-winning suspension built in Grand Junction.

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GRAND JUNCTION

Sandboxing Toward Colorado’s Tech Future

When Page Tucker and ProStar GeoCorp got busy on Colorado’s western slope, the initial idea was to map the Grand Junction infrastructure for more efficient operations in order to make the city smarter. Then Tucker had an idea: why not utilize his business as a beacon to grow the area’s human technology capability?

“In a lot of these rural areas, when students graduate, a lot of times they aren’t getting those high-paying tech jobs here,” he said. “We want to keep them in the area, though. So I created a paid internship with Colorado School of Mines, and now three of those interns work for ProStar GeoCorp full-time. We’ve also

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incubated several businesses, part of what I’m hoping becomes a technology center in the Grand Valley that is based on finding niches in the market for things like GIS mapping and cybersecurity.”

Tucker operates with plenty of clout. He was the 2016 Colorado Technology Association’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and ProStar GeoCorp is one of Colorado’s top 50 companies to watch. He’s been working with the Grand Junction Economic Partnership and local government to bring the city into the Smart City Consortium, and was instrumental in helping the Grand Junction Economic Partnership bring rural Jumpstart grants to

Mesa County in 2016. To a new business, this is like receiving the Golden Ticket. ProStar GeoCorp is a JumpStart beneficiary.

“We’re working with mapping into the future, using video game technology and developing 3D technology for visualization,” Tucker said.

“We’re pretty much moving mapping onto a 3D gaming tech platform. We’re also leveraging virtual reality in our mapping. If you’re doing a construction project, if you want to see how the build-out will look at various stages, from all directions, we can use the VR technology. I feel all of this is something our young people would love to do — and I want to help incubate that.” ■

LIGHTING THE

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connected life

Facts and Fictions: The Convoluted World of Mind-Reading Tech

By Patricia Miller

Photo iStockphoto.com

Telekinesis, extrasensory perception, mind reading, and Big Brother are all notions straight out of science fiction, right? Maybe not. At this very moment, there exists an inanimate piece of hardware that could read your thoughts with 92 percent accuracy. Perhaps instead of greeting this new technology with fear and skepticism, we should embrace it as a gateway to wordless understanding. Prepare to delve into the science behind mind-reading tech and decide for yourself if these advancements are Orwellian attempts at social control or a revolutionary advancement in the way humanity communicates.

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What if you could think of a question and your search engine would look it up before you ever opened your mouth? Better yet, what if you could discover the answer to a query without looking at your computer at all? Researchers at MIT developed a device that works in tandem with machine learning programs to predict what you would like to say before the words ever leave your lips. Sensors attached to the jaw and face detect internal vocalizations and interpret them with 92 percent accuracy.

The machine also conveys messages to the user via bone conduction, eliminating the need

for headphones. What conceivable purpose could this serve? The tech acts as a soundless voice assistant with the potential to take silent notes or conduct searches and provide results without the user directly interacting with a handheld device. If for nothing more than causal debates at the bar, this tech could revolutionize your social standing ‌ regardless of its conspicuously bulky headgear.

Further, mind-reading tech could help people with speaking impairments communicate with caregivers, improving their quality of life dramatically. One system developed by Darwin

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15TH ANNUAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN INTE RNATIONAL AUDIO FEST 0 5 - 07 OCTOBER 201 8 / D E NVER, COLORADO www. a udi ofe st . n et

Rocky Mountain International HiFi Press Awards 2018

connected life

Facts and Fictions: The Convoluted World of Mind-Reading Tech

HTC Vive’s VR Headset simulates an immersive environment for the wearer by incorporating electrodes into a helmet to detect the user’s neural activity.

(Bottom left) A scene from Neurable’s VR game Awakening, in which users control objects with their thoughts. Images courtesy of Neurable.

Ecosystem is currently on its way to commercialization. It uses an electroencephalography (EEG) device, an interpreter with a close connection to the wearer, and a mobile app in tandem with wireless headgear to analyze the meaning behind brainwave patterns. The system eventually catalogues enough data to predict the person’s thinking and can even speak on behalf of the user.

What about those of us who want our mind read, but just for fun? That’s where Neurable’s VR game Awakening could fill a niche. It uses an electrode headband to connect with an HTC Vive VR headset to create an immersive experience for the user. The device measures neural activity, allowing the wearer to interact with objects in the game. The variety of action is still limited to mostly picking things up and tossing them around — but you control it all with your mind.

As with most technological innovations, mind-reading tech has the potential for abuse.

Imagine if every day at work your boss required you to wear a hat with little sensors inside to monitor your emotional state. Aggravated by that memo? The boss knows it. Less productive after lunch? The boss knows and might even send you home if your energy levels swing too far in either direction.

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This isn’t a glimpse into a dystopian future; this is happening right now in industries throughout China. The country’s lax privacy laws don’t offer much protection for employees, often enabling employers to monitor their workforce without having to reveal their actions to staff. According to an official at State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power (SGZEP) in Hangzhou, monitoring emotional spikes in unsuspecting laborers has led to an increase in productivity and a huge boost in profits. SGZEP reported gains of more than 300 million dollars after the system went into place in 2014.

More than a dozen Chinese companies, as well as China’s military, admit to using the tech to monitor workers. Details provided by South China Morning Post indicate that the governmentfunded Neuro Cap program is being tested on tens of thousands of Chinese citizens, often without their knowledge or consent.

The technology is still limited in its applications. Though the EEG electrodes can detect abnormalities in emotional state, they also pick up outside electrical activity, like blinking or clenching one’s jaw. These false positives make it difficult to accurately calibrate the EEG readouts, particularly if the sensors are applied to a dry surface. In medical settings, EEG sensors are applied to the scalp with gel, creating a more reliable and consistent

connection. Sensors in a dry setting, such as a helmet or cap, are more susceptible to noise and outside electrical activity. In a real-world scenario, like a factory with thousands of workers, the readings just wouldn’t be credible.

Further, interpreting complex emotional states with an EEG is still unrealistic. During an interview with The Verge, psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara Barry Giesbrecht eagerly pointed out that we still have a limited understanding of which patterns of brain activity match which emotional stages. EEGs may be able to detect if the wearer is asleep or awake, but still lack the sophistication to reliably determine emotional states like depression or anxiety.

The true function of the EEG at this stage is to connect mental states to neuronal patterns.

Making sense of that data is a time-consuming project for human workers, but artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are helping to tackle that mountain of algorithms to create usable data. Perhaps that’s why China applied for five times as many AI patents as the U.S. in 2017, according to a report

by CB Insights.

So, where can you pick up your very own ESP cap? That might still be a few years down the road. In the meantime, Chinese laborers might gladly lend you theirs. ■

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connected life

Reinventing the Digital Display

“ Our mission is to improve the way people interact with the world.”

— Bill Liu, Royole CEO

By Ebby Stone Some of Royole’s accomplishments include creating the world’s thinnest full-color AMOLED flexible display, the world’s first foldable 3D mobile theater, the world’s first curved car dashboard based on flexible electronics, and the world’s first high-definition Flexible+ Wearables featuring flexible display and sensor technologies. The forward-thinking company is now designing and manufacturing from their own mass production campus, allowing them to provide fully flexible solutions on a global scale. How did one company revolutionize the world of tech? According to CEO Bill Liu, they did it by thinking about innovation every day and making it the “DNA of the company.” We spoke with Liu to ask about the future of tech, how to enter the space, and discover how Royole is changing the way people interact with the world around them.

Innovation & Tech Today: What do you think the future holds for display technology?

Bill Liu: When we’re looking at the world, we need to interact with so many things. Today, we interact with the smartphone by the touch screen. We interact with the internet by computer monitor. And we interact with

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TV content by the TV screen. In the future, I think everything could be decorated with screens and sensors and information could be flowing everywhere.

When you go anywhere, you could interact with objects around you. Not only smartphones or computers. It could be a desk, our clothes, our pants, our T-shirts, it could be a sofa or a recliner. Everything could be integrated with flexible displays and flexible sensors. And then it can actually provide another way for us to interact with the objects around us and with the world.

I&T Today: What are some of the most creative ways your technology is being incorporated into existing applications?

BL: We’re currently working with different industrial partners. For example, in the consumer electronics area, you can change the design on a smartphone, tablet, or TV. For smart transportation, you can integrate flexible sensors and flexible displays into the leather inside the car or you can decorate the glass.

Those integrations will make the interior of the car more intelligent and also more stylish than before.

We are also working with robotics companies, so you can design robotics with flexible displays and flexible sensors to make the robotics more human-like, with more rounded and curved designs. We are also working with smart home appliance companies so they can design new appliances with flexible displays.

We’re also working with education partners to use our flexible electronic notebook, RoWrite.

It’s just like using a traditional pad to write on traditional paper, but the flexible sensor under the paper can simultaneously record what you write on the paper and sync the content to your smartphone. You won’t worry about losing the paper and you keep everything on your smartphone, but still keep the same writing experience as with traditional paper.

I&T Today: What advice would you offer to entrepreneurs who are hoping to enter the tech space?

BL: Find something that you are really passionate about and something that you are more specialized in. Find something that is truly valuable to the community and to society. I think that’s the key. If you find something in this area, then devote everything from yourself into it, and you’ll definitely make something happen. ■

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connected life

Enhance Your Entertainment Center

By Patricia Miller It’s a connected world and you’re a connected person, living your life in sync with all the latest and greatest technology available. But what’s that — you’re still watching cable and using a remote control to navigate your entertainment center? It’s time to step into the future and find yourself in the calming sea of IoT.

Let’s assume you’re using some form of smart speaker or voice assistant, like Google Assistant or Amazon Echo. If you’re set up with either of these devices, you’re already halfway to an integrated IoT entertainment center. By incorporating assistive tech with additional smart devices, you can control your entire

Transform Your TV If you’re still on the prowl for the latest and greatest in smart TVs, consider the LG OLED65B8PUA with AI ThinQ. This LG is one of the best reviewed televisions on the market and comes fully-equipped with 4K Cinema HDR, an a7 Intelligent Processor, infinite contrast, and a 65-inch display. The B8PUA is compatible with all your favorite smart devices, including Google Assistant, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa. Its intelligent voice recognition software makes it easy to search for your favorite show and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities ensure you can connect all your devices with ease. The LG’s Dolby Atmos audio system provides topquality tonality even without a sound bar. Speaking of which…

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entertainment room using voice commands, apps, or your cell phone. With so many smart devices on the market, it can be a challenge picking the best tech for your space. Luckily, we’ve compiled some of our favorite IoT accessories to put your living room on the cutting-edge.

Sync Your Sound Sound bars are an excellent complement to today’s televisions, the razor-thin design of which doesn’t leave much room for quality speakers.

A sound bar will give you high-quality sound without requiring bulky space-sucking speakers sprinkled throughout your living room or widening your TV set. The Sonos Beam Sound Bar is a great option for small- to medium-sized rooms and can easily be expanded to include more speakers for a larger space. The Beam projects sound throughout the room while tamping down loud noises and making dialogue easier to hear.

By connecting the sound bar with your smart assistant you can use voice commands to turn on your television, adjust the volume, or play music from any Bluetooth-enabled device.

Strategize Your Streaming An amazing TV and a top-of-the-line sound bar are just the beginning of your IoT journey. For maximum entertainment, consider ditching your cable provider and picking up a Chromecast or a Fire TV Stick, both of which are excellent tools for amping up your viewing experience. For example, the relatively inexpensive Chromecast allows users to plug in the device, download an app to their phone or computer, and instantly share their favorite videos, streaming media, and photos on their TV screen. This is always a fun accessory when having people over, as everyone can easily download the app and contribute to the entertainment with little effort on the part of the host.

Level Up Your Lounging But where will you sit while entertaining your guests? How could one seating arrangement possibly conform to every entertainment scenario?

Customization is the main selling point for Carlo Ratti Associati’s IoT sofa, the Lift-Bit Furniture System. It may be a bit more advanced than the average homeowner requires, but it’s a leap forward in the world of IoT-enabled seating. The hexagonal seats function separately as stools or they can be combined into larger sofas. Each seat has an independent motor that moves the cushion vertically, offering versatility for those short and tall. The motion is controlled by a smartphone app and through built-in sensors that recognise gestures, like raising or lowering one’s hands. If furniture reading your body language makes you uncomfortable, you may be further dismayed to learn of its other capabilities. The system will also become restless and shape-shift around the room to encourage users to interact with it, which could be somewhat horrifying at first, but likely would become more familiar with time. Though this product is currently only available for pre-order, it has serious implications for the future of furniture.

FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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connected life

Enhance Your Entertainment Center

Maximize Your Ambiance It’s movie night, your chairs have arranged themselves according to your whims, your sound bar is blasting the beats, and it’s time to put that 4K Ultra TV into action with a relaxing movie night. Dim the lights and settle in. Oh wait! You haven’t installed your smart bulbs yet. With the Philips Hue Ambiance Starter Kit, or a comparable smart lighting system, you can simply ask your voice assistant to turn on the movie lights and the system will dim your smart bulbs according to your preferred lighting presets. The Philips Kit comes with two bulbs, a wireless dimmer, and a bridge to link the bulbs to the dimmer. Once the equipment is properly connected, the lighting kit will communicate with your voice assistant to provide the perfect ambiance for your upgraded living room.

Enlighten Your Smart Hub Your new, smarter living room may need some management, preferably a unified interface (or hub) where you can interact with all of your devices at once. The Wink Hub 2 may not be the newest addition to the smart hub family, but it is one of the most user-friendly options on the market. The smart home interface app is one of the hub’s best selling points, offering complete control to the user and a clear visual representation of every device in your network. It’s compatible with a wide array of devices from various manufacturers, including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Philips Hue, as well as Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, and IFTTT, among others. Voice assistants actually fill many of the roles of smart hubs, but for a fully integrated smart house, an easy-to-use Wink Hub may help fill in the gaps.

The Wink Hub 2 also allows the user to create automated sequences called “robots,” which perform a series of actions based on one command. For example, one could trigger the “movie night” robot sequence which would dim the lights, start the popcorn maker, close the blinds, and turn on the TV— all without the user lifting a finger.

Lock Down Your Home Theater Now that your home is as smart as you are, you may want to consider adding some safety protocols. The sleek and intuitive Fortigis Cybersecurity AI VPN Router will keep your connection protected. The router creates a secure VPN for total web-browsing privacy, but the most impressive feature is its built-in AI software. The software communicates with other Fortigis routers to assess threats and simultaneously updates the software in your home with new defenses. The tech may prove particularly important when home security features like locks or alarms are incorporated into your smart home setup.

Your smart home is now several steps closer to automating even the most mundane details of your life.

With rapidly progressing technological innovations and their increasing affordability, why would anyone bother flicking a switch to control their lights or turning a knob to adjust their stereo volume? Integrating IoT-equipped technologies into your living space is less intimidating than it seems, and with some awesome accessories your entertainment room may just be the start of your smart home conversion.

Whether you’re tuning in for an evening of Netflix or settling into your smart sofa with some popcorn, all the comforts of home are just a voice command away.

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connected life

THE MONEY WASTER’S GUIDE TO IOT DEVICES

By Anthony Elio

We live in a time of unprecedented technological advancements. Between the supercomputers we carry around in our pockets and the online superhighway that allows us to answer virtually any question imaginable, it truly feels like a golden age of technology. The world of connected tech and the growth of the “Internet of Things” (IoT) has given us incredible ways to utilize the internet with everything from smart speakers to smart thermostats and beyond. But aren’t you tired of getting all of that return on investment for a futuristic product that can revolutionize your daily routine? Wouldn’t you rather load your smart home with devices that will make you a laughingstock among your peers? Let’s look at the next great IoT devices you should be spending your disposable income on.

EAT LIKE A SLOB FOR $130

SALT YOUR FOOD THE SMART TECH WAY Are you tired of lifting those everyday saltshakers, wholeheartedly risking the minor possibility of over/under seasoning your mashed potatoes due to human error? Well, fear no more, smart tech consumer, as Smalt is here to add a few extra steps to the process of adding sodium to your diet. Smalt is, according to its website, a “smart salt dispenser,” which can be controlled via your smartphone, Alexa, or by pressing a button directly on the device. This innovative piece of smart tech can also emit mood lighting and play music, which is much more efficient than my old method of taping a saltshaker to my boom box.

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Everyone has come home after a long day, cooked up some deliciously cheap ramen noodles, and slurped them down loudly to drown out the thoughts that they need to rethink their dietary habits. But what about when you’re trying to enjoy some Cup O’ Noodles in public? Well, thanks to the wonders of the technological age and people with too much money to spend on crowdfunding websites, we may soon be blessed with the Otohiko fork, which connects to your smartphone to emit a noise to cancel out your slobbish slurping for the simple price of $130. Considering dining etiquette classes can cost upwards of $140, you’re much better off sticking with the Otohiko fork as a budget option.

USE THE IOT TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR EGGS In 1930, the jet engine was invented. In 1958, the pacemaker revolutionized health tech. And, in 2013, we finally got a smart device that tells us how many eggs are in the fridge. The Egg Minder, which bills itself as a “smart egg tray,” allows you to remotely check how many eggs you currently have at home. Which is great for anyone that has ever been out and about only to be struck with the existential dread of not knowing if they’ll have enough ingredients for that Neapolitan Omelette. Most importantly, the device helps to remind you which eggs are the oldest in your refrigerator, because as we all know those FDA-approved expiration dates cannot be trusted.

The most valuable five inch circle of real estate on the entire planet is located right above your head, and you probably have never even given it a second thought… …Just ask anyone fortunate enough to narrowly escape a burning home with their family, thanks to being awakened just-in-time by that otherwise overlooked piece of plastic on their ceiling.

WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING THOSE WE LOVE FROM FIRE, MINUTES REALLY DO MATTER! Did you know that we have only about 2½

minutes to safely escape a typical burning home after a Smoke Alarm first sounds? That is only 150 seconds…

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a smarter, higher-quality alternative available here in the U.S. that didn’t false alarm every time that you cook a hamburger, capable of providing you & your loved ones precious minutes of extra time to escape a life-threatening fire or carbon monoxide event?

STAY TUNED… Soon there will be!

Ei Electronics, Europe’s leading manufacturer of premium quality life-safety products teams up with OneEvent Technologies to provide improved safety with “OnePrevent™” advanced analytics early warning capabilites.

Learn more: http://www.ei-electronics.com/saferfamily

BUSINESS INNOVATIONS

How to be a Business Leader

By Anthony Elio

PepsiCo CIO Jody Davids discusses her thoughts on the evolving business environment and what makes a good leader The business climate is in a continual state of change. Trends come and go, massive shifts are expected, and you have to be versatile. And nobody knows this better than Jody Davids. The CIO of PepsiCo since April 2016, Davids has plenty of experience working with large corporations, previously holding the same position at Agrium, Cardinal Health, and Nike.

Davids has formerly acted as an executive assistant at General Electric and programmer at Apple, giving her a notably diverse and extensive resume. In this exclusive feature, Davids discusses how she first joined PepsiCo,

the major way the business landscape has changed over the years, and the industry leaders that inspired her throughout her career.

I&T Today: What’s been one of the biggest changes to the business world throughout your career?

Innovation & Tech Today: You’ve been at PepsiCo for two and a half years now. Tell me a bit about how you got started with the company.

JD: I started my career at Apple in 1982. So, you know, there was no internet. I feel like a relic. I feel like a history book. There was no concept of network devices. I mean, the world has changed significantly since then. I would say though, in a nutshell, technology has become front and center. Technology is what runs companies.

Jody Davids: I have an interesting career with some of the most exciting companies in the world. I was just doing a stint at this company in Colorado called Agrium. Agrium is a company that does mining. They take the outputs of the mine and turn it into fertilizer and then apply it to crops. So it’s about agriculture and crop input. I started there as a consultant. I had already retired from my CIO career, or so I thought. I retired from Best Buy as their CIO. So I retired from Best Buy, went to Agrium as a consultant and interim CIO. They asked me if I would stay and I did. But I was on a term agreement for a couple of years with plans to retire at the end of that. I got a call from a recruiter about this opportunity at PepsiCo. PepsiCo is a pretty incredible organization. It’s really global. In fact, a lot of the experiences that I’ve had over my career play into those PepsiCo experiences.

We do business in over 250 countries. 250,000 employees all over the world. Just a really exciting opportunity and one that I couldn’t turn down. So I came to PepsiCo, did the interview, fell in love with the opportunity, and here I am.

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Back in those days, technology was what kept the books; you automated small processes, you kept your inventory. It all started from an accounting base. Today that’s still true, but it doesn’t start from there, that’s just one of the things that technology does for you. Technology essentially is the backbone of the company now.

It’s the lifeblood of a company. None of us would think of going anyplace without our personal devices. We expect our personal device to connect to our business. Our devices need to go every place in the world that we go in a day.

It’s almost too big of a question to answer. It’s just been a complete shift in the way that people use technology. In fact, maybe that’s what you say, technology has transformed into something that used to be really big and really focused in a giant data center running a business. Today, we all carry it around with us in our pocket and expect to be connected to everyone and everything in our lives through a small device.

It’s been a fundamental shift.

I&T Today: Who have been some of the major inspirations throughout your career?

JD: I never worked that closely with Steve Jobs, but his influence in Apple was pretty amazing. He turned that company into

something almost unimaginable when I first started there in 1982. He transformed not just the company, but he transformed the way that we all think and use our technology. He created a completely different way for us to interact with the media that we use all the time with music and movies. We stream video; we download apps. This is stuff that we never did before. He really transformed the way we think about technology.

After Apple, I went to Nike. Phil Knight was the CEO there, the founder and CEO. Phil had a similar influence transforming the sporting equipment and apparel industry.

In fact, he’s the one who invented this concept called “sports marketing,” where you essentially provide product to an athlete who wears your logo and huge fans pick up your product because they want to be like this star athlete.

So for me, the lesson there wasn’t so much that I want to be Phil Knight or I want to be Steve Jobs. The lesson for me, as an aspiring leader, was that I could be myself. In fact, I needed to be myself. I would be the most effective when acting the way that my natural

self acts. For me, just watching these two leaders, each really important on a stage in each of their industries, it was a great lesson for me early in my leadership career, that it was up to me to figure out who I was, and that’s who I needed to be every day.

I&T Today: What makes PepsiCo different from some of the other large companies you’ve worked with?

JD: When I was in these companies, they didn’t have anywhere near the global reach that PepsiCo has today. We’re in the food and beverage industry, so the products need to get to the shelves quickly or they expire. So at Apple and at Nike, while there was the element of seasonality, the shoes didn’t go bad or get destroyed on their way to the shelves. So there’s the element of speed at PepsiCo that’s really important.

I think the people here at PepsiCo, the people at Nike, the people at Apple, are all leaders in their own industry, so that’s more of a similarity than a difference. But all are leaders. All of them stand up to do what they know needs to be done for their industry in this particular time.

I’ve worked in a lot of really great companies.

There’s a real similarity that you find in large successful organizations. You find committed leaders, you find smart people at all levels in the organization. You find people working to make their way up the corporate ladder in these organizations. You find people aspiring to be leaders. You find people wanting to get the job done, wanting to make the mission happen. I would say there are probably more similarities than differences in these world class global organizations.

I&T Today: What advice would you have for someone who aspires to have a similar professional journey to yours?

JD: Know yourself. Know what’s important to you and why it’s important to you because to do this kind of work over a lifetime, you’re going to need to make some choices in your personal life. You want to really understand why you’re making those choices and how you hope that those choices will help you advance yourself. So I’d say the key here is to know yourself. Have a strong sense of your own purpose. Understand why this is your goal and pursue it with boldness. ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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BUSINESS INNOVATIONS

ONEFlight to Change Them All

By Everin Draper

The private aviation industry is ripe for innovation – and ONEFlight is up to the task.

Innovation can happen even in the most unlikely of spaces. Largely due to its niche market, the private aviation industry has been kept out of the spotlight. However, it is a sector of business that has been ripe for modernization. “There has been a long overdue problem with the charter private jet industry known as the ‘Empty Leg’ problem,” explained Ferren Rajput, CEO and President of ONEFlight International. The Empty Leg happens when a chartered private jet transports a passenger to one location and then returns to its base empty. In 2008, Rajput set out to fix what he defined as a 40-year-old problem. He knew that by reducing these empty flights, not only could he reduce the rates of charter flights, but also increase their efficiency and sustainability.

“Most private jet charter companies focus on promoting their aircrafts within their local region because of their limited number of aircrafts,” Rajput went on to explain. “This limitation leads to many problems: not being able to provide a recovery aircraft due to a mechanical issue because of a lack of aircraft availability or having to charge a client for an empty leg back to homebase to serve another client.” After two years analyzing the problem, Rajput came up with the solution: a country-club-style membership product for the end user. In late 2010, he launched ONEFlight International with the “Jet Club.”

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Photo ONEFlight/ Dennis Manske

By developing a membership platform, Rajput was able to connect clients with aircrafts from all over, greatly reducing their need to rely on their own fleet: “ONEFlight is unique in the sense that we have developed a network of 500 of the best companies in the industry, giving our clients access to over 4,000 aircrafts under one platform.”

In addition to this new business model, Rajput also developed BAJit.net, an online tool for searching, selecting, and booking private jets in just a few minutes.

What Rajput has done is completely change the landscape of his industry. Not only does his platform improve the customer experience, it also saves money. “The annual size of the U.S. market is approximately $15 billion with about $5 billion wasted on empty legs,” Rajput claimed. “The BAJit network will allow one charter company to cooperate with another in earning a revenue whereas otherwise it would have resulted in a costly empty leg flight … We estimate that over the next few years, BAJit will result in eliminating most empty legs, reducing the cost of flying in private jets by 20 to 30 percent and increasing the market by 30 to 50 percent.”

Now, Rajput predicts that the strategies he has employed will become the new normal in the charter private jet industry. By focusing on customer experience, convenience, and overall efficiency, Rajput was able to take his industry to its next stage of evolution. “It should be very well received by the marketplace and will force charter companies to comply to the higher expectations of the public, allowing for bidding wars to drive pricing lower,” Rajput concluded. “It will soon become the new norm for booking private jets.” ■

Photo ONEFlight/ Dennis Manske

FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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blockchaintoday

Rock the Blockchain

By Andrew L. Rossow, Esq.

How blockchain technology is being applied to improve both the fan and artist experience within the ever-changing music industry Artists perform your favorite tunes every minute, of every hour, of every day on many different platforms. But have easy-access music streaming platforms fragmented the industry? Twenty years ago, when Napster first appeared, the music business was one of the first to be disrupted by this digital world. It went from making money selling vinyl and CDs to losing money from digital downloads and streaming.

Napster, Kazaa, Limewire, and torrents changed everything. But why?

You can make the argument that there were bad players, looking to take artists for their money and save a buck or two…or, you could look back and recognize one simple truth—fans knew the industry was fragmented. We knew there was something off about the music space…so much so, that we would literally do anything to avoid going to a store and paying $20-$30. But, at the end of the day, were artists affected? Of course. Was the RIAA hurting? Absolutely. But, let’s switch gears for a moment. What if this behavior wasn’t an attack on artists, but was simply the spark that ignited what has now become the battle for musical creation, distribution, and recognition? Could the start of the era of illegal downloading and acquisition have something to do with the industry’s early cry for help? To find out, it’s important to predict how blockchain technology could bring the music industry back to its peak. #1 – Bringing Artists Back into the Spotlight The first step in improving the music industry for artists is enforcing intellectual property rights that are granted under the U.S. Constitution. Under the Constitution, Congress has the power to: “ …Promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

• U.S. Constitution, “Intellectual Property Clause,” Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 Smart Contracts – Applying the law to the blockchain, we look to the concept of “smart contracts.” These agreements, once executed, help to govern the terms that bind a band, label, and/or manager together when it comes to producing a song or an album.

Metadata 2.0 – Logging all the rights a song owner has or may have to a specific song is vital in ensuring artists are recognized, protected, and compensated for their hard work. Metadata, which accompanies tracks, contains the information as to the track and its rights holders. But this data is often missing, incomplete, or can be stripped away at the expense of the artist not getting paid. The blockchain allows for this information to be permanently recorded on it without the need to worry about potential human interference or alteration.

Timely Royalty Distribution – Did you know that it can take anywhere from 1-2 years for an artist to see the profit from their track or album? The long, drawn out process from when an artist first records to when they see the bang for their buck is what is killing the industry. Implementing blockchain technology, artists are able to receive their share almost immediately, instead of waiting months or even years.

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Photo iStockphoto.com

#2 – Connecting Artists and Fans The Invisible Wall – There is no question that there is a disconnect between the artists and fans. Unless you’re attending one of their private shows or concerts, that is. But, shouldn’t both the artist and listener be more connected, without intermediaries making it almost impossible?

Revenue Sharing and Incentives – Creating a referral program where the fan can monetize playlists or feature certain artists in their libraries would incentivize users to grow their libraries and connect with new artists. At the same time, artists are able to include parameters in their smart contracts which would share a percentage of the revenue generated with those fans who share their songs or playlists.

Additionally, artists could issue their own tokens which fans can purchase and/or earn to become eligible for special events, merchandise, or meet and greets. For example, artists like Imogen Heap, Björk, and DJ’s Gareth Emery and Bjorn, have taken charge in integrating blockchain into their music and genre, as you’ll see below. #3 –Making the Stage Boom Imogen Heap: Ujo Music / MyCelia – One of the first artists to toy with the idea of implementing blockchain was Grammy-winning British singer and songwriter Imogen Heap. Back in 2015, Heap launched the song “Tiny Human” on the Ethereum Blockchain, using her own blockchain startup, Ujo Music. As of today, she is continuing to advocate for the technology, creating her own startup, MyCelia.

According to Heap, when she first utilized Ujo Music, her vision was “to take the power from the top down, and give power, or at least a direction to the artist to help shape their own future.” It seems now it’s become more about connecting the artist directly with the fan.

DJ Gareth Emery / DJ Bjorn Niclas: Choon – International house music DJs Gareth Emery and Bjorn took the EDM world by storm with their announcement of Choon, the blockchain-based ecosystem, giving power back to those who matter—artist and listener. While not in direct competition with Apple or Spotify, the Choon catalog is very different, as it enforces ownership rights, requiring artists to own their own music entirely and only upload music that isn’t under a label. As Gareth Emery said himself, “This is one system where content creators are getting compensated for their work, not the intermediaries. Let’s not try and build on the infrastructure we currently have, because it’s not a stable platform to build off of.” ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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Cryptocurrency’s Customer Service Solution One of the biggest misconceptions about cryptocurrency exchanges is that they are actual investment trades. Rather, they are exchange funds. However, that hasn’t stopped numerous hopeful but naïve people from moving into cryptocurrency without either understanding the process or the actual ways in which crypto is used.

“Right now, exchanges aren’t easy to use, but a lot don’t give information on crypto use. It all comes down to, when you buy Bitcoin, knowing what it is and how to use it — and the vast majority people don’t,” said McDaniel.

“Bitcoin is a tool for transferring funds from one business or customer to another.”

“Our end goal is ease-of-use, the best customer service of any exchange.

Right now, exchanges aren’t easy to use, a lot don’t give information on crypto use,” McDaniel said. “On a typical crypto exchange, for example, you’re not going to be decentralized on a blockchain. Now, everyone wants to be decentralized, it seems. A decentralized exchange takes very little money and time to build – someone could put one up tomorrow – but you have to know how to use crypto well, and the volume is horrible. It sounds like decentralized exchanges are hot, but in reality, the average exchange maybe has 15 to 20 million daily volume; Cryptopia in New Zealand has 25 million. Centralized exchanges do 10 billion daily.

To that end, McDaniel and his team spend much of their time educating customers and the public alike on the ins and outs of crypto exchanges, both in how to exchange funds and the larger purposes of using Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies in the first place.

Apollo DAE’s focus on customer service has become leading-edge in the crypto exchange world, in which that has been lacking. Along with providing the educational component, the company is well positioned to move into the future. ■

The Intersection of Gaming and Blockchain Mining

Gaimin COO Clive Aroskin, the savvy miners can accumulate so much hash power that they gain advantage in whatever market they’re mining.

With Gaimin’s solution, the goal is for hash power to grow passively, but also to be more decentralized and evenly distributed.

According to Apollo DAE CEO Benjamin McDaniel, that leads to a major problem:

What would happen if the world’s 1.2 billion gamers were able to datamine, and from that, have a greater ability to pay for the assets, weapons, tokens, and other in-game purchases they need to prevail? Best of all?

Gamers don’t have to know a thing about blockchain mining, according to Martin Speight, CEO of Gaimin, which first announced their blockbuster disruptive software in May.

“When gamers use this solution, and make referrals to expand their network and ours, we give them 10 percent additional hash power so they can buy more assets,” Speight said. The solution has the potential to transform the cryptocurrency mining industry. Certainly, it’s bringing gamers a lot deeper into the benefits of blockchain mining, with market rollout set for October 1. ■

Gaimin uses an AI-based platform to tap into the power of gaming computers to mine on the blockchain. In so doing, users receive additional coins while their computer does all the work. The one-stop-solution for accumulating passive income in crypto automatically turns on after a period of inactivity, and automatically shuts off when the user interacts with his or her computer. All earnings are exclusively converted to Bitcoin and Ethereum, using historical data and annual trends as motivators.

The key to the solution is hash power, the unit of measure that shows how much power Bitcoin is consuming over increments of time. According to

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Photo iStockphoto.com

“Since gamers are not miners, and miners are not gamers, we’ve created a solution that allows passive mining to happen on their PC computer as they sleep or take a break,” Speight explained.

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blockchaintoday

Bringing Blockchain to Music Festivals with DJ 3LAU

3LAU’s original tracks like “How You Love Me,” “Is It Love,” “Fire,” “On My Mind,” “Hot Water,” and “Star Crossed” have racked up millions of streams, building his reputation as a must-see live performer, appearing at major music festivals such as Electric Zoo, EDC Vegas, and Lollapalooza. OMF and 3LAU’s vision of mitigating ticket inflation, counterfeiting, scalping, and lack of consumer control aims to place more power in the hands of fans to help spark the necessary evolution of the live music space.

Headlining OMF in San Francisco this fall, Zedd and 3LAU will help round out some of the hottest names in hip-hop, EDM, and more. We were able to speak with Justin Blau about why artists integrating this technology into the space is so vital to its survival.

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Innovation & Tech Today: What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing the EDM space?

DJ 3LAU: When it comes to the live music side and EDM, there are two types of festivals—first, you have massive brands like Coachella and Ultra Music Fest that sell out in advance, succeed every year, and are very expensive for fans. But then there are the other events that don’t market themselves as well, and ultimately fail within one to two years.

Photo Justin Blau

In what is soon to become the first-ever blockchain-powered festival, Our Music Festival (OMF) and acclaimed electronic dance music (EDM) DJ Justin Blau (3LAU) recently partnered up with the largest independent festival promoter in the US, Prime Social Group, and blockchain entertainment studio, SingularDTV, to change the way fans experience live music forever. According to G. Thomas Esmay, the Director of Business Development at SingularDTV, it is the beginning of an explosion of creativity in how artists will connect with their fans. “It’s all about realigning the industry and helping artists to keep making their great art, incentivizing people to continue listening to that art, and telling their friends about it,” said Esmay.

Photo OMF

By Andrew L. Rossow, Esq.

I&T Today: What is your appeal to the demographic?

I&T Today: How do you think this will disrupt the music space?

3LAU: There is quite a bit of overlap with the music I make and the cryptouniverse. Our real demographic is the young millennial who wants to get into the crypto space, who might not know how, and this gives them a way to get into the community. On the other side, we have the veterans in the space who like music but want to see this new technology applied in the real world.

Ultimately, we want to educate the community about this technology, which takes time to develop.

3LAU: In our case, we aim to solve problems that the unfortunate festivals face, enabling them to expand at a faster market rate.

Because, ultimately, the fan is getting hurt right now, whether through ticket price inflation, counterfeiting, or scalping. Fans ultimately accept those realities, because they are the only ones that exist. But, if we create a new reality where the fan is engaged, that is a success. ■ Photo OMF

INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | FALL 2018

blockchaintoday

The Case Against Blockchain

By Louie Fox While the technology debuted a decade ago, blockchain seems to have only hit mainstream status in the past year. Suddenly, not only has blockchain become a household name, but everyone seems to want to know how they can jump on the hype train. However, 3Pillar Global CTO Jonathan Rivers expressed his concerns for this recent technological trend in a detailed blog on his company’s website, commenting on issues with its security and business model. In this interview, Rivers elaborates on why he believes you should be wary of the blockchain trend.

Innovation & Tech Today: What do you believe is the biggest issue with blockchain?

Jonothan Rivers: I think it comes along with the notion of, is it public or is it private? And if you have a private marketplace, you have no need for the level of encryption and replication the way that blockchain does it. I mean, ultimately it’s losing in terms of duplication, encryption, and then you have the proof of work overhead.

I&T Today: What is something related to blockchain that you’ve looked at and said, “This is getting ridiculous?”

JR: When I found out that there is a congressional caucus to investigate the use of blockchain. I mean, there’s actually a congressional caucus on it.

This is the same group who asked if you need a license to drive on the information superhighway and also described it as a big series of tubes that’s going to get clogged with commercial transaction. And you know that it has jumped the shark, or that it is just way over the hype meter, when they’re wasting their time on it.

I&T Today: Do you think it’s possible for blockchain to ever be viable, or do you believe it’s just going to be a trend that’s soon forgotten?

JR: I think blockchain itself will go away, but distributed ledger technology itself is going to stick around. I don’t think that’s just completely a fad. There are a number of interesting use cases for distributed ledgers, both public and private, for a place where you want chain of custody or some sort of authenticated log of statement of action. And so, much like memory buses have not gone away, or message queues have not gone away, I don’t see distributed ledgers going away. I think ultimately what we’ll see is people will quit trying to use a distributed ledger, say, to build a house. Instead, they’ll go hire a carpenter and get some wood…

Do I think it will ever be associated with valid currency? No. No way.

There’s no possible future I can imagine that either a bank or government will give up control of currency to a set of software designed by an unknown person or persons.

And I think the lack of role around commerce, why would any government give that up to this outside world pressure? And then banks even more so would think about the notion that blockchain is a freely distributed, auditable, transaction log. No bank is going to want to have all of their movements of currency or their investments able to be audited in such a record, right?

Because that would take any competitive advantage they may have in the financial services marketplace.

So I just don’t see this notion of a transparent public currency ever really coming to fruition. ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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MARS, MEET THE VALLEY OF BOOM The National Geographic Channel’s press day at Sustainable Brands ‘18 featured a dozen current and new shows, including a recall to the internet’s early years and a visit to our next frontier

By Robert Yehling

Photos Courtesy of National Geographic

One thing about TV network press days: everyone is happy and optimistic. New programs and seasons launch, storylines feel fresh, and audiences salivate when crisply produced trailers hook them into future nights of viewing. Especially when National Geographic Channel throws the party.

In late July, hundreds of invitees escaped a 105-degree L.A. day in the Beverly Hills Hilton, pretty much the place to be seen since JFK and the Rat Pack made it their favorite SoCal hotel almost sixty years ago. NatGeo brought the goods, highlighted by live lookins on Yellowstone Park, appearances by Gordon Ramsay and Jeff Goldblum, and first-class panels.

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Random and interesting conversations were afoot: West Wing alum and now Valley of the Boom star Bradley Whitford talking story structure with the Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington; Ron Howard mixing it up with astronauts Leland Melvin and Dr. Mae Jemison; and actor-comedian Steve Zahn wondering how he woke up one day and realized he was fifty – which brought out aging comments from twenty-something Valley of the Boom co-star Dakota Shapiro.

All joking aside, two shows that feature different eras of technology caught our eye: MARS, now in its second six-episode season, and Valley of the Boom, about to enter its sixshow run.

MARS What will happen when we get to Mars? What will we find? What science will we be doing?

How will we survive and form a community?

All of these questions form the underpinning of MARS, which reached an impressive 34 million viewers in its first season. A much larger audience is expected for an anticipated Season 2, in which commander Hana Seung (played by Ji Hae) and her team deal with the task of extracting liquid water, growing their community, and establishing a bigger presence.

“This whole thing has been an experiment, a fun experiment,” Executive Producer and Hollywood superstar Ron Howard (Apollo 13) said. “At the outset, we didn’t know the ratio of

(Top) MARS brings science fiction a little closer to reality by working with real-life astronauts to predict the future of Mars exploration. (Bottom) Valley of the Boom follows the “Wild West” that was the early days of the internet, with ideas, technologies, and money being thrown around as everyone tried to hop aboard the train.

what would be scripted and what wouldn’t. Our first task was to sort out what this adventure would entail. By the time we created the initial adventure and went through a season, we found some elements we wanted to explore: what happens if we commercialize? How will we get to the water? What about human relationships… having a baby in space? And what projects will the astronauts be doing for science, as well as forming a habitat, a community? I think if you look at all of these things as a whole, and then with our hybrid format, we have a show that gives us a sense of what a Mars colonist will have to deal with.”

Using a combination of drama and education, the six-episode format weaves documentary in and out. For this season, they will match

interviews with footage of Earth activities that we need to address to live on Mars — such as the invasive and ultimately harmful way we extract resources. Since Howard and team built this series on what we actually know about Mars, it was a mighty risk to add a fictional body of water to Season 2.

The risk turned to reward on the morning of press day, when it was announced that a 12-mile lake had been located beneath the Martian South Pole. “Finding water on Mars is central to the second season, and how it will be extracted,” said Antonia Juhasz, a resources expert and author of Black Tide, which covers the BP oil spill. “Will we learn the lessons we’re learning on Earth, from our mistakes with fossil fuel extraction, and how it’s harmed the Earth? Will

we learn from that when we get to Mars? And how do we go about extracting the water resource on Mars?”

“That was purposeful from the beginning,” added Stephan Petranek, on whose book How We’ll Live on Mars the series is based. “The writers asked if they should mine magnesium, gold, platinum, and I said, ‘Water.’ Then we ran into the wall because there was no evidence of liquid water on Mars. But every astrogeologist I’ve talked to at NASA is absolutely 100 percent convinced there’s ground water on or below the surface of Mars … Tons of water. Now, we’re looking pretty smart.”

Astronaut Leland Melvin said that working on the series “was like being in space again.” After FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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(Left) Actor Steve Zahn portrays David Kim Stanley, the convicted felon who founded Pixelon. (Right) Bradley Whitford portrays James L. Barksdale, CEO of Netscape, the company that would eventually be crushed by Microsoft.

spending two tours and a total of 23 days on the International Space Station in 2008-9, Melvin now serves as Associate Administrator of Education for NASA and President of Spaceship Earth Grants. He also hosted the Lifetime show Child Genius and advised the Obama White House on STEM education.

“When I was in space, I experienced this shift called the ‘orbital perspective,’ which has happened to a lot of astronauts. I realized that to bring kids fully into the space experience, we needed to match the science and exploration with some form of entertainment — and in MARS, we have it.

“If we’re going to continue to explore as a species, everyone has to be a part of this journey.

Kids might look at the night sky, but then they look down at their devices and tablets – and kind of get stuck there. I want to be sure they continue to look up, and get geared into their environment, their universe.”

Part of the allure of MARS is installing a female Asian commander, according to Melvin. “This helps to assure that kids can watch this show, no matter their gender or color, and say, ‘I can command a ship or go to Mars someday.’”

“I worked with and studied the career of Mae Jemison closely,” said series star Ji Hae, referring to the legendary NASA astronaut, also an advisor on the show. “I admired not only her science and her experiences, but also her compassion, her empathy. So on the show, I try to command with skill and empathy.”

Mars debuts on NatGeo on November 12.

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VALLEY OF THE BOOM Let’s visit a great story in recent Earth history: the world’s first graphical interface browser.

Silicon Valley and tech became every bit the 1990s version of the Wild, Wild West, as ideas, technologies, and money flew around while people sought the best way to jump on the train and invest in a new phenomenon called the internet.

Roll out Valley of the Boom, a six-part series starring Bradley Whitford, Steve Zahn, and Lamorne Morris loaded with drama, discovery, humor, and some nasty corporate takeover attitude. It concerns the first browser war between the popular Netscape and the mighty Microsoft. That ended when Microsoft crushed its much smaller competitor — and pled guilty to anti-trust violations. However, the damage was done: Netscape, a brilliant browser that once held 87 percent of eyeballs, was gone. Valley also recalls the creation of theglobe.com, the first social network, which predated Facebook by a decade.

“This is an amazing founder story,” says executive producer Arianna Huffington. “Marc (Andreessen) invents Netscape in college, then teams up with Jim Clark, an already successful businessman. They move to Silicon Valley and bring their friends, kind of Ocean’s Eleven style, and they live on chocolate milk and work around the clock.” After the room erupted in laughter, Huffington added, “Then they bring in a genius, Jim Barksdale, who becomes their CEO.” “Barksdale had this understanding of networks because he came from FedEx,” Bradley Whitford, who portrays Barksdale, explained. “He

understood that if you invest in a warehouse in Anchorage, and you’re not making money, it still makes sense because you will become known as the ubiquitous shipper. And yet, he felt this responsibility that if you have an IPO, we have people working for us, we have to come through — but we have no money. What they used to call profit.”

To recreate the wild, kinetic dawning of our online world, Matthew Carnahan, executive producer and director, proposed something: “When NatGeo asked about doing something, the best way I could respond was to say, ‘Yes, but I want to ruin your network.’ I want to find a way that’s as disruptive as these people were in their endeavors.”

Whitford and Huffington also discussed the cautionary tales in Valley of the Boom, tales that resonate here and now. “One debate is, ‘are we going to make it subscription? Or do we not care about revenue and choose to focus on user growth?’ That’s a very big debate today,” Huffington said. “They were talking about it then, too. That was the beginning of having an IPO in a pre-revenue company.”

“We are at a moment that we have to adjust our relationship to technology,” Whitford said. “We cannot be victims of technology. Anyone who’s a parent…” the father of two paused and rolled his eyes. “A parent is thinking, ‘God, I got my kid an iPhone, why didn’t I just get him a crack pipe? It would’ve been cheaper. And eventually, they’d put it down!” ■ Valley of the Boom premieres November 1 on NatGeo.

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Magic

The

By Anthony Elio

of Asking Questions

Illusionist and STEM enthusiast Jason Latimer discusses how important it is to seek answers in the information age Science and magic are generally seen as opposite sides of the coin. In popular culture, the scientific prowess of a hero like Iron Man is seen as a stark contrast to the mystic powers of Doctor Strange. However, illusionist Jason Latimer has effectively combined the two, creating captivating stage shows that meld the entertainment of magic with the educational aspects of STEM. Founder of the Impossible Science Program, Latimer spreads his interest in science and magic through festivals, interactive experiments, and his work on shows such as Wizard Wars and SciJinks. In this exclusive interview, Latimer details how the Impossible Science Program originated and discusses the power of asking questions.

“ My biggest concern right now is getting kids to see beyond the answers in the age of information.”

Innovation & Tech Today: When did you realize that the worlds of magic and education can intersect?

I wasn’t really interested in telling what would happen. I’ve never been interested in doing magic tricks that other people do. So I wanted to build new 21st century magic. When I went to build bending light and bending lasers, that sounded like physics, so I studied physics.

When I wanted to study shaping water, that sounded like chemistry, so I started studying chemistry. Soon, I started building different

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Photo Mike Colella

Jason Latimer: When I was kid, I was just fascinated by magic. However, I was finding myself staring at a magic book wondering what is possible. Then I soon found myself staring at a science book wondering the same question.

Like, how do you know what can and can’t happen? Basically go to the next page and you keep reading and you keep learning. But as I grew up, I started studying science in order to build better magic tricks.

answers. It’s only as good as we are. The reason I point that out is if the internet were around when we collectively thought the earth was flat, you would never be able to search the true shape of earth on any search engine because everyone would’ve uploaded the wrong information.

, Photo Dustin Gould

I decided to leave my stage shows in the casino world and start working with science centers and museums around the country. I started a program in San Diego to inspire kids to want to ask questions by using magic to get the conversation started. Let’s say invisibility, we learned the hard science about how light works and how the biology of the eye works. It literally comes down to the idea that we must inspire wonder. To find that new cure, to find that new technology, we have to get the kids excited about asking new questions. That’s the essence of it. It started with a TEDx Wall Street talk that changed my life.

I&T Today: What do you want those involved with the program to walk away with?

, Photo Alfred Lomeli

JL: I want to empower people. I want to inspire and empower people with the ability to ask a question. And to think critically and logically. That’s what science is, a progression of logical questions. And that’s it. I want people to realize that wonder changes the world and they could be wondering about a question no one else has thought of before. So basically we’re empowering people with the ability to do something they were born with. Which is kind of funny, but at the same time, people tend to forget that our education system today, for the most part, stomps out creativity and thinking outside the box. Because it’s too busy shoveling answers.

illusions with different fields of science. Then it eventually grew into the Impossible Science Program. But I think the real “ah ha!” moment was when I was looking in science to try to figure out that maybe there’s something in the science world that hasn’t been applied in the magic world before.

I&T Today: How did the Impossible Science Program begin?

JL: It originated with my TEDx Wall Street talk called, “Seeing Beyond the Illusion of Knowledge.” It was pointing out this need to remind people that we need wonder and we need it more now than we’ve ever needed it.

Because people are searching questions and moving on as if they have a crystal ball of knowledge in their hands with the internet.

People have forgotten we gave the internet its

The easiest way to explain why we’re doing what we’re doing with the museums is, if we know that the right question changes everything, and we know that that’s how we’re going to find our next advancement is getting new questions, then you have to ask yourself, “Why isn’t there an academic platform designed to inspire wonder? Why haven’t we done that? Why haven’t we taught kids how to ask better questions?”

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That’s really where this all started – we need wonder in the age of information and we know wonder changes the world. So the real question is, why are we not teaching it? We get so wrapped up in what we know that we forget that there’s never been a rule book. It’s just what we’ve learned so far. It’s embarrassing for a teacher to come to that term to realize we really don’t know everything. But the reality is the day before Einstein discovered E=mc2, it had to be available. It had to be available the day before he knew about it. That means there’s probably a lot of other stuff out there that we don’t know about.

I&T Today: You’ve been talking about the power of asking questions. What exactly do you mean by that?

JL: The concept of flight was impossible until someone asked the question about lift. A cure to a disease is impossible until somebody asks the right question that no one thought of before. So it’s this ability to believe in an answer that doesn’t exist yet. We may not know everything. To come to terms with that and to realize that no one actually knows what’s ultimately possible.

Even if you track that all the way back, you’re eventually going to realize that there had to be somebody that didn’t have a rule book. There had to be somebody that realized we don’t know the answer. We get so wrapped up in trying to learn all these facts and answers that we forget where those came from. Now it’s happening on a much larger scale and a much faster speed. Where people are uploading things, a computer that doesn’t know how to wonder or doubt is regurgitating those answers back to the next user. The scariest part about it is even if you’re an individual that can spot the website you clicked on is wrong, it’s too late.

You’ve already clicked on it. So you already made it that much more popular.

I&T Today: Through your different projects, what message do you most want to send to the next generation of innovators?

JL: I’m speaking in Berlin for Education First to talk about the influence of technology on society. We’re globally going to start talking about the internet; how it can actually

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“ I’m trying to remind people that it’s wonder that changes the world.

And you were born with that ability.”

undermine your ability to be creative, because you assume it knows more than you do.

Rightfully so, you can say that it has more information than you do. But it can’t ask a question. It’s more important that we know the computer can’t ask a question, that it’s only as good as we are. It’s important for a kid to realize that they were born as a questiongenerating machine.

It’s very important for me to try to promote wonder on a massive scale and the importance

of that thought process to everyone. Science is a way of thinking. So you don’t really have to be in a lab coat to think logically. But at the same time, you do have to know that you are capable of asking a question that no one’s ever thought of before. My biggest concern right now is getting kids to see beyond the answers in the age of information. But in that process, I’m trying to remind people that it’s wonder that changes the world. And you were born with that ability. ■

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Mapping the Modern Job Market

By Everin Draper

“With the unemployment rate so low, companies everywhere are in competition for not only hiring top talent, but retaining it.”

This is according to Bill Stoller, the CEO of Express Employment Professionals, a leading staffing firm in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa.

retain top talent. Offering flexible work arrangements to provide the freedom to accommodate personal/family needs should be a high priority.”

To Stoller’s point, a low unemployment rate doesn’t necessarily make the job market easy to navigate. That’s why it’s important for both employers and job seekers alike to know where to look. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projected the fastest growing occupations from 2016 to 2026. Nearly all of the top 10 were STEM-related, including mathematician, statistician, software developers, and nurse practitioners, with the top two jobs pertaining to the growing industries of wind and solar energy.

Keeping all of this in mind, Express is always adapting to keep up with the changing job market. “We pride ourselves on putting hundreds of thousands of people to work at Express, but we also provide employer resources to our client companies on issues such as competitive wages and retention,” Stoller explained.

With a rapidly changing job market, it is vital to stay up to date on these trends. “In our Job Insights survey for the third quarter of 2018, 32 percent of respondents say they plan to hire general labor workers,” Stoller explained.

According to that same survey, other industries hiring include: • Skilled Labor – 28% • Administrative/Office Clerical – 21% • Accounting and Finance – 9% • Engineering – 8% • Marketing – 7% • IT – 5% • Healthcare – 4% “Another key trend that should be considered by employers is the request for flexible work schedules,” Stoller continued. “With the tightest labor market in recent history, employers are getting creative in the ways they attract and

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For example, earlier this year the company researched what might keep applicants from accepting jobs. In the published white paper, “Battle of the Barriers,” they found that the reasons include transportation, child care, and job training.

Stoller concluded, “The more barriers employers can help eliminate, the more options they have for recruiting.”

Bill Stoller, CEO, Express Employment Services

their area, link to their social networks, apply to jobs, schedule interviews, access resources, and manage their employment details, all within the same platform,” Stoller explained.

While the ExpressJobs app helps potential employees apply to jobs and schedule interviews, it also helps companies manage their candidates by giving them easy access to information such as work and payment history, employment forms, and other necessary information.

In order to continue making the job market more navigable, Express has also developed the ExpressJobs app, which offers real-time, location-based services for job seekers and Express associates. “With more than 12,000 jobs currently posted to ExpressJobs, the app leverages machine-learning models and intelligent search to help users easily find jobs in

For Stoller, no matter how the job market changes or how technology updates, their goal stays the same, and all adjustments are made in pursuit of that goal. “Our goal is to put a million people to work annually and our commitment to placing quality job seekers with reputable client companies hasn’t changed in our 35 years of operation.” ■

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Five Summer (Sustainability) Stories Produced in partnership with

Sustainable Brands 2018 in Vancouver focused on “Redefining the Good Life.” We share some of the ways in which the conference lived up to that mantra.

By Catherine Johnson and Robert Yehling Produced in partnership with

How would you redefine the good life? More money? More toys? More opportunities to vacation or explore nature? Greater health?

When thousands of attendees arrived in Vancouver in June for Sustainable Brands 2018, they received another message: moving forward into a good life that is environmentally safe and fully sustainable.

Produced in partnership with

What followed were four days of plenaries, workshops, breakout sessions, meetings, parties, indoor and outdoor events, and conversations by many leading sustainability voices, supported by 168 sponsors and partners. They focused on the biggest problem of our lives: keeping the environment clean enough and our resources sustainable enough to continue prospering in the 21st century.

Many stories and commitments came out of SB 2018. Hot topics included plastics recycling and cleanup, circular economy, climate change, smart cities, blockchain, sustainable agriculture, materials and food sourcing, logistics, shifting customer preferences, new energy sources, and green building.

Underpinning all of it was the need to take major action. An ocean filled with plastic, one that prompted National Geographic to launch a multi-million dollar campaign complete with a special issue, sends that message.

“When we take action, and we do so with vision, our businesses become cornerstones of a more sustainable society and world,” said Mark Lee, director of SustainAbility.com and coauthor of All In One. “This conference enables us to network with the people who are creating tomorrow’s business model, a circular economy model. And sustainability is the biggest business challenge. Our ideas and innovations will influence global business and individual lives.”

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Added Jeff Burnside, a director for the Society of Environmental Journalists (to which Innovation & Tech Today belongs), “If companies aren’t taking action to be more sustainable, then at this point, they’re not only missing an environmental curve, but an economic curve as well.” We roamed the vast halls of Vancouver Convention Centre and found a few choice examples that show how the march to sustainability continues, regardless of current U.S. retro positions on the environment.

A few examples:

• SB Assessment Tool: Seven experts, led by Sustainable Brands CEO and Founder KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, introduced the Sustainable Brands Transformation Roadmap, a first-of-itskind self-assessment tool that provides a process plan for sustainability.

“For the first time, we have a roadmap that demonstrates what happens holistically in each chapter of a company’s sustainability journey,” said Kevin Hagen, Vice President of Environment, Social & Governance Strategy at Iron Mountain. “It allows you to plot where your company is today and plan a faster path to the next phase.”

The tool enables companies to create a customized sustainability plan by using a 5x5 matrix – five characteristics of a sustainable brand measured across Conversation, Getting Started, Promising Progress, Emerging Leader, and Sustainable Brand. “It gives us line-of-sight, a North Star,” says Virginie Helias, VP of Global Sustainability at Procter & Gamble. “It’s a frame of internal and external reference, because the bar keeps getting higher as your company becomes more sustainable. It’s not about ‘we’re a sustainable brand,’ but more like, ‘we’re getting more sustainable every day.’”

Hagen and Helies were joined by KoAnn Skrzyniarz, World Resources Institute Global Director of Business Kevin Moss, Valutus founder Daniel Aronson, Laura Palmeiro of Danone and the UN Global Compact, and Campbell Soup Chief Sustainability Officer Dave Stangis.

More information can be found by going to www. sustainablebrands.com or www.sbroadmap.com.

• Kohler: One might not think of a bathroom and kitchen fixtures company as a sustainability leader, but Kohler has changed its industry over the past 20 years. Kohler has consistently taken sustainable steps, from sourcing safer and less polluting materials to revolutionizing low waterusage technology in toilets.

“We’ve taken steps in our plants all over the world, within the capacity of what we can do in various countries and locations,” Executive Vice President Laura Kohler said. “We are constantly looking for what is more efficient, how to use less water, and manufacturing processes that make full use of materials — while also giving our employees the best possible work experience that we can.”

One of the loudest suggestions, from workers and customers alike, is for more efficient and less environmentally impactful materials. Rob Zimmerman, the Director of Sustainability, points this out as something often overlooked in our zeal for clean materials.

“We’re constantly looking for the right material, a more environmentally-friendly and resource-friendly material. Constantly,” Zimmerman said. “Sometimes, we can’t find what we want because it hasn’t been produced yet. When people ask why a company doesn’t replace a material or a process, that’s often the

The beautiful scenery surrounding Vancouver’s Sustainable Brands conference, along with its broad cross-section of speakers, drew thousands of attendees from all over the globe.

reason. That’s a frustration we have at Kohler, and I’m sure many other companies do as well … I think we’re going to see even more effort to find, or produce, materials that are more sustainable and clean alternatives, but that’s going to take time.”

• Water, Water Everywhere: A number of water- and plastics-related solution providers appeared at the SB 2018 Activation Zone. With water cleanliness and usage becoming more concerning than ever, and the plastics usage and pollution issues at red-alert stage, innovators and entrepreneurs showed themselves big time.

The biggest push was toward reusable water bottles and cleaner water sources. With the plastics overuse debacle on everyone’s mind, numerous companies are pushing out reusable bottles that, over the product’s lifetime, eliminate plastic bottles to the tune of several thousand units per person.

One exhibitor, Fill It Forward (www. fillitforward.com), presented a tag and app combination to place on reusable water bottles.

The system, which launched in August at Bed, Bath & Beyond, works with your reusable bottle and mobile device. The app tracks beverage

consumption, hydration targets, and water usage.

Its “Streak” feature counts consecutive days of drinking from the tagged reusable bottle — and awards badges for being a “reuse rockstar.” It also measures waste diverted, emissions saved, and how much ocean pollution is prevented.

Fill It Forward is an example of the circular economy, resource crisis, and ingenuity coming together — a perfect example of one of those companies that are “SB leaders of the future that may not exist yet,” as Iron Mountain’s Kevin Hagen put it. Except this company does exist, and it’s poised to make a strong impact. ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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Save Money, Save the Planet Produced in partnership with

Building Your Sustainable Smart Home

By Alex Moersen

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In 2017, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) found that 39 percent of all U.S. energy consumption came from the residential sector. However, with today’s technology and the growing world of IoT, with just a few technological updates, homes are able to run much more efficiently. Not only does this smart home tech help homeowners reduce their environmental footprint, but reduce their bills as well. On top of that, as sustainability becomes increasingly mainstream and accessible, “greening” your home could even improve resale value and make it an attractive option for younger buyers. Still, with so many smart home devices, it can be difficult to understand where to start. If you’re looking to save money and the planet, here are some tips to make your house more sustainable.

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Smart Cooling & Heating Naturally, when many people think of a sustainable home, their mind first goes to energy usage. How much energy does my house use and how can I reduce it? According to a 2015 survey conducted by the EIA, around 32 percent of residential energy usage is due to heating (15 percent) and cooling (17 percent). At nearly a third, heating and cooling are the largest contributors to energy consumption in U.S. households, which makes it a good place to start.

The Nest Thermostat has long been a leader in reducing heating and cooling costs in the home. Currently, according to their website, they have helped save over 23,500,000,000 kWh of energy. The key is that the Nest learns your habits, automatically turning on and off according to your schedule and needs. One study conducted by The Energy Trust of Oregon installed Nests in 185 homes. At the end of the study, they found that homes with the device averaged 12 percent savings on electricity used for heating. With simple installment and a userfriendly interface, a smart thermostat is a great place to start when looking to make your home more efficient, even for the most tech-challenged.

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Smart Solar A study by Research Now found that there is a strong consumer preference for bundling a residential solar energy system with smart home technology. Rooftop solar panels are becoming increasingly popular (and cheaper) as trends and technology develop. For example, Tesla’s new solar roof panels cost only $42 per square foot compared to standard terracotta tiles that cost around $50 per square foot. If you’re ready to make the solar investment, then it isn’t a huge leap to add in some smart home tech that allows you to manage and monitor your solar usage.

At CES 2017, Vivint Solar debuted their home assistant Sky. Equipped with an energy manage-ment system, a control panel, a thermostat, and other home sensors, Sky collects energy and solar data and then, using algorithms and artificial intelligence, makes suggestions and automatically fine-tunes parts of the home. According to Alex Dunn, president of Vivint Smart Home, smart home and solar tech are a perfect match: “Before long, every home will be intelligent, and we believe solar energy is a key component of the smart home experience.”

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Companies like Tesla (Top) and Vivint Solar (Above) are revolutionizing the solar industry by incorporating convenience, low prices, and smart technologies. The smart leak detector by Roost (Below) can sense water leaks for toilets, sinks, and hot water heaters and send alerts directly to your smartphone, while FLUID (Bottom) can help you understand exactly when, where, and how much water you’re consuming on a daily basis.

Smart Water According to the U.S. Geological Survey, in 2016 the average person consumed 80-100 gallons of water a day. The survey showed that older appliances tend to use more water. Older showers can use up to five gallons of water per minute, while water-saving shower heads use only about 2 gallons per minute. A newer dishwasher, for example, might use around 6 gallons per wash cycle while an older model might use closer to 16 gallons. Thus, when it comes to water, a good place to start would be ensuring your plumbing and all of your appliances are up to date.

The next step would be to invest in some smart home tech that can monitor your water usage.

One potential cause of a high water bill is leaks.

Just a dripping faucet can waste up to 20 gallons of water a day. Luckily, there are smart sensors that can let you know when there is a leak. One example is the smart leak and freeze detector by Roost.

The device can sense water leaks for toilets, sinks, and hot water heaters and send alerts directly to your smartphone.

But, maybe you want to learn more about your water usage so you can adjust accordingly. Typical water bills may not break down your consumption in a way that is easy to interpret. However, with a smart water

meter like FLUID, you can understand exactly when, where, and how much water you’re consuming in your home on a daily basis. FLUID simply snaps around the main water pipe in your home, allowing you to access real-time reports on your smartphone via the FLUID app. Using ultrasonic technology, the device is able to measure the rate of water flow without cutting into the pipe. Since each appliance has a signature run rate, FLUID can even learn where water is coming from, allowing the user to understand which appliances use the most water. ■ FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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Overcoming the Plastic Problem Produced in partnership with

By Patricia Miller

Plastic is a miracle and a curse. Its durability and low manufacturing cost make it an ideal material for creating medical supplies, electronic devices, and single-use goods.

When properly recycled, plastic is a marvel of modern innovation. But is it really as recyclable as it seems?

Recycling requires plastic to be melted down, a process which weakens the polymer bonds and decreases its integrity. Recycled materials then have to be infused with virgin plastic to create new products, limiting how many times it can be recycled. The material’s limited reusability equates to a lot of plastic finding its way to landfills. According to a recent study published in Science Advances, if there were a way to recycle plastic repeatedly without weakening its structural integrity, humans could eliminate over 260 million tons of waste each year. Thankfully, a recent technological innovation could change the way we look at plastic waste forever.

Professor Eugene Chen from the Department of Chemistry at Colorado State University is working with a team of researchers to develop the world’s first infinitely recyclable plastic. The new material has many of the same properties valued in traditional plastic like durability, heat resistance, and strength. The team originally debuted the new polymer (a class of materials composed of many repeated chains of Photos iStockphoto.com

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molecular units called monomers) in 2015 and has since been working to refine the material for industrially realistic conditions.

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For industrial application, the polymer needs to be created in a room temperature setting, without the use of solvents, and should show only trace amounts of the catalyst used to polymerize the material. Chen and his team have now achieved those goals and invented a material that can be easily created and broken down in industrial settings. When the material is ready to be recycled, the polymer is broken down using solvents, recycled back into a monomer, re-polymerized, and ultimately reused in new materials.

According to Science Daily, Chen and his colleagues may have just redefined what it means to recycle. “Green plastics, rather than surviving in landfills and oceans for millions of years, can be simply placed in a reactor and, in chemical parlance, de-polymerized to recover their value … Back at its chemical starting point, the material could be used over and over again.”

At this stage, the new technology has only been demonstrated in academic lab settings.

Developers are working to create a more costeffective version of the polymer and hope to refine the process to such an extent that it can be applied to large-scale industrial manufacturing in a manner similar to existing plastics. ■

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Lighting that Protects Us — and Our Environment

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We live in a time where there is growing concern over antibiotic resistance – so called “super bugs” have become increasingly difficult to kill or treat – and one of the most common solutions are chemicals that can harm us and the environment. This clear and present situation creates a wide-open field for next-gen organic lighting technology, notably Violet Defense’s proprietary Surface & Air Germ Elimination (S.A.G.E.) technology.

“Chemicals have become an ever-increasing health concern — cleaning chemicals, agricultural chemicals, and countless more” said Terrance Berland, Violet Defense President and CEO. Violet Defense’s progressive S.A.G.E. system utilizes germ-killing lights in combination with violet and UV light to eradicate pathogens. The patented technology in the S.A.G.E line of products produces a combination of UV-A, UV-B, UV-C, and Violet-Blue light – the same photonic energy as the sun. The S.A.G.E.

technology kills up to 99.9 percent percent of germs, including “superbugs” like MRSA. “Our view is that the S.A.G.E. technology does what the sun has done for billions of years – using UV rays to destroy germs at the cellular level,” Berland said.

Then there are the sustainability benefits.

With the S.A.G.E. technology capable of killing up to 99.9 percent of both bacteria and viruses – compared to chemical-based cleaning products that studies have shown to leave 50 percent of surfaces still contaminated – environments will become far less toxic. Not only does this reduce the need for harmful chemicals but can also reduce waste associated with products like disinfecting wipes.

The S.A.G.E. products are available in mobile versions and installed products that can run completely autonomously – either disinfecting anytime a room is unoccupied or completing a deep disinfection overnight. Think about the possibilities for this technology to help prevent

the spread of illnesses, resulting in reduced employee absenteeism, fewer students or staff getting sick in a school when the flu makes the rounds every winter, and fewer infections in healthcare spaces.

“Chemicals are not conducive to human interaction,” Berland said. “We provide a more sustainable, cleaner, and greener way of killing germs. One study from a Scandinavian company equated the impact to the lungs of working a cleaning job, such as a janitorial position, with smoking several packs of cigarettes a day. We want to eliminate that.”

Violet Defense’s protective lighting technology is already deployed in schools, in health clinics, in the hotel/hospitality space, large scale food production facilities, and more. With the ability to also incorporate the power of ultraviolet light into the agricultural space, Violet Defense is driving the usage of a lighting system that vastly improves indoor sanitation and creates healthier working and agricultural environments. ■

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Moto Z3 Play – With up to 40 hours of battery life and water-repellent coating, the Moto Z3 Play won’t let rain and lack of outlets hold you back. Take your mobile experience to the next level with Moto Mods, which allow you to turn your phone into everything from a professional-grade camera to a projector.

$500 Nanopresso – Having the perfect espresso doesn’t mean a giant machine, tons of steam, and a rude barista. With Nanopresso, you can have portable, energizing espresso with nothing more than hot water and coffee grounds. $65

Nebula Capsule – With the Nebula Capsule projector, you don’t need an expensive home theater setup to watch the latest blockbuster. With 360-degree sound, up to 100-inch picture, and smartphone connectivity, you’ve got an entertaining experience that’s no bigger than a soda can. $350

Brainwavz HM5 – Designed for maximum Gourmia Food & Meat Slicer – Whether you need to slice a freshly cooked roast, sandwich meat, or some fruits and vegetables for a side, you’ll want to make sure you get the perfect cut. With the Gourmia Food & Meat Slicer, you have direct control over the thickness of your cut and easy maintenance and cleaning. $130

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comfort and studio-quality sound, the HM5 over-the-ear headphones will help you rock out to your favorite tunes without the distractions of the outside world. With exchangeable earpads and earcups, the HM5 truly gives you a personalized listening experience. $130

Eagle MK II by Volante Designs – Don’t just play as your favorite hero, dress like your favorite hero. With high-quality jackets such as the Eagle MK II inspired by popular culture, Volante Designs helps you find a new way to connect with your favorite characters and feel superhuman. $425

Microsoft Surface Book 2 – Looking for a computer that can tackle any project? Look no further than the Microsoft Surface Book 2. With quad-core 8th Gen Intel Core processors, up to 16GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 and 1060 GPUs, and a detachable tablet, the Surface Book 2 can take on all of your gaming and creation needs.

Starting at $1,200

Edifier S880DB – Perfect for gaming, watching movies, or listening to music around the house, the Edifier S880DB speakers will fill your abode with high-quality sound. With a wireless remote and built-in amplifier, you’ll have total control over your tunes.

$300

FIBARO Button Multicontroller – Using the Button Multicontroller is literally as simple as pushing a button. Able to control lights, locks, music, and even temperature with a simple push, the Button Multicontroller makes managing your connected home simpler than ever. $60

Stagg EKG+ – A smarter way to brew your coffee, the Stagg EKG+ offers app connectivity, variable temp control, and even a Brew Stopwatch for perfect timing. Additionally, the EKG+ can keep track of your favorite recipes, making sure you get that perfect cup every time. $200 FALL 2018 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY

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Toshiba Portégé X20W-E – Featuring an 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8350U processor, 8GB of memory, and 128GB SSD, this convertible notebook gives you plenty of power to take on the go. With five modes – laptop, tablet, tabletop, presentation, and audience – the Portégé has all the versatility and convenience you need. $1,744

Aervana – With Aervana, all it takes is the push of a button for perfectly aerated wine delivered straight to your glass.

Instant aeration gives you the freedom to enjoy wine in any environment, in any quantity, both quickly and easily. Plus, it’s the only aerator designed to keep sediment in your bottle and out of your glass. $89

Cordless Vacuum by Oreck – With cordless convenience, this lightweight vacuum delivers up to 35 minutes of run time, converts into a hand vacuum in seconds, and offers a variety of tools for versatile cleaning.

Plus, with Oreck’s POD technology, the vacuum captures dirt and dust, making for easy emptying and disposal. $512

Noreve iPhone X Case – Noreve’s French design is elegant, simple, and fully customizable in your choice of colors and patterns. The soft interior cushions your phone while the protective premium-leather exterior provides grip, durability, and class. Perfect for the businessperson on the move, this handcrafted case is sure to impress. $63

Lomography Lomo’Instant Square Glass Combo – A modern take on the classic instant camera, the Lomo’Instant Square Glass by Lomography is the perfect addition to any photographer’s arsenal. With a 10-second timer, multiple and long exposure modes, and an auto mode for easy shooting, the Lomo’Instant is ideal for both the veteran and the amateur. $239

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Niwa One Standard – A clean design that is easy to assemble for the gardening enthusiast. This smart garden system contains sensors (temperature, humidity, and water levels), a custom LED, and controllers, creating the perfect hydroponic experience where you can harvest fresh vegetables in your dining room. $549

iFetch Too – Perfect for indoor and outdoor use, the iFetch Too will ensure your furry friend is always entertained, whether you’re home or not. With the ability to automatically shoot tennis balls 10, 20, or 45 feet, the iFetch Too will make the perfect gift for your canine companion. $199

Hemp Oil by Elixinol – Elixinol’s new rapidly dissolving Hemp Liposomes are the latest enhancements to cannabinoid delivery. Now you can receive cannabinoids into the body faster, deeper, and easier than ever before. The safe technology allows you to absorb more cannabinoids with the aide of naturally occurring phospholipids which support cellular health and delivery of CBD directly into the cell. With 100 percent natural fruit and herb extracts, it’s a delicious supplement you will enjoy taking daily without any bitter taste. 300mg $59; 1000mg $129

Sennheiser HD1 – Long known for its wonderful audio products, Sennheiser continues to push wireless, digitized sound forward with the popular HD1 family of headphones. Not only do they feature Sennheiser’s state-of-the-art technology borne from decades of research and practice, but they also cover the spectrum of listening options. HD1 In-Ear Wireless ($199), HD1 Free Bluetooth headphones ($199), and HD1 Wireless ($399)

ryfi – At its core, ryfi allows parents to manage their kids’ time online. However, ryfi’s platform is unique since it allows parents to replace their kids’ bad habits (excessive screen time) with good ones (reading a book). Kids earn ryfi Tokens by completing chores, then spend their Tokens to unlock bonus time online (all within limits set by their parents). With ryfi, kids are excited to finish their chores, because they feel a sense of ownership and control by earning and spending their Tokens. $89

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Art&

Kureha Yokoo’s Path To Pixar

By Anthony Elio

Movie photos courtesy of Pixar

Pixar animator Kureha Yokoo shares her stories from over twenty years of working with the animation giant In 1995, Pixar and Disney released Toy Story, the first computer-generated feature length film ever created. The movie not only garnered universal critical acclaim, but became the highest-grossing film of the year, making a huge statement for the future of 3D animation. The film also inspired a young Kureha Yokoo to not only pursue this brand new animation style, but also join the company that brought it to the mainstream. Since her debut at Pixar, Yokoo has worked on everything from A Bug’s Life and Finding Nemo to Ratatouille and The Incredibles series. Yokoo details her interesting journey into animation, her favorite and least favorite scenes to work on, and the Pixar character she most relates to in this exclusive interview.

Innovation & Tech Today: I saw you were initially inspired to get into animation after you watched the first Toy Story. Can you tell me a little bit about that experience?

Kureha Yokoo: So Toy Story came out in the winter of ‘95, and I had just graduated the midyear, and I was sitting there going, “What am I going to do now?” And I just happened to go see it with a friend, and I knew nothing about animation. But, as soon as I saw it, just the energy coming off the screen, I wanted to work with whoever that team was and whatever they were doing. So, it was kind of crazy to think that I could actually work for them considering I didn’t know how to animate but, you know, I’m glad I took the chance.

I&T Today: Could you take us through your time from walking out of that theater to your first day at Pixar?

KY: Well, after I saw the movie, I found out that at the Academy of Art, some of the Pixar animators were teaching a class. So, I figured I could try and get into that class, and the only way I could get a job there is to at least meet somebody who works there and try and convince them to hire me.

So, I went to the Academy of Art, took a few classes in Linux (at the time it was Unix), and then learned some basic animation and managed to get into their first Pixar Level

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Kureha Yokoo draws plenty of real-life inspiration into her animation, such as the personality of her own dog for Up and her experience riding motorcycles for The Incredibles 2.

Yokoo has come a long way since her first animated project, a twentysecond animation of a dog chasing a ball and opening a refrigerator.

Throughout her time at Pixar, she has worked on animated hits such as Brave, A Bug’s Life (Bottom Right), and The Incredibles 2 (Bottom Left).

One class, which is like bouncing balls and super basic stuff. At the end of it, you had to turn in a little short film as your final project.

And one of the instructors actually turned mine in. I never really applied to Pixar. One of the guys turned in my reel for me and said, “Hey, I think they’re going to call you.” I said, “What? I can’t work for them. I don’t know how to animate yet.” And he was like, “Oh, don’t worry about it.” And so they called me in for an interview, and they hired me to do background crowd ants for A Bug’s Life.

I&T Today: Do you have a favorite scene that you’ve animated?

KY: Oh, there are so many. Well, in the first Incredibles, I had a scene where Bob is trying to tell Helen the truth about the fact that he’d lost his job, and then ultimately he decides not to tell her. In Ratatouille, there was a scene where

Linguini is trying to tell Colette that he’s not really a chef and there’s a little rat sitting on top of his head telling him what to do. And ultimately he fails in telling her the truth there and ends up giving her a big kiss. Is that weird that both of those scenes are about people that are trying to tell the truth about something and ultimately end up not telling the truth? [Laughs] I love horses and dogs and I have a penchant for animals, and so, I got to work on the preproduction for Angus the horse in Brave, and that was really, really cool. And there’s one scene in Up with Doug the talking dog where he first meets Russell. And that dog, that’s basically my dog. That was my dog Flashman, and I used to bring him to work all the time and use him as reference. Just another excuse to bring your dog to work, but a lot of his acting was from that dog.

I mean, every film I’ve worked on I’ve had some sort of connection to it. In this new Incredibles film, Adam Barillaro, who’s my supervisor, he always dragged me into all the conversations about motorcycles and airplanes because he knew I ride motorcycles and I’m a pilot. And so he got me involved in some of the pre-production for the runaway train sequence and the design for the Elasticycle.

I&T Today: Now, on the other hand, was there a scene or even a character that you found particularly difficult to animate?

KY: For this recent Incredibles, the preproduction on Violet. So we had to rebuild all of our characters for this new sequel, because our old characters were so old, we couldn’t even bring up the models in our current software. So we had to rebuild them with new technology that allows for much better textures. There’s like

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Art& Yokoo’s early work for Pixar included such blockbuster films as Wall-E, Ratatouille (Center), and Up (Bottom right).

subsurface scatter. All the skin on these characters now makes them look very real. But we had to find the balance between the technology that allows you to make things look so real but also you still recognize them as the old characters from 14 years ago. And so, trying to find who Violet was as a character just in the look and also finding the acting for her again, I found that more challenging than I thought it would be. Considering, you think everything’s set because it’s the sequel. You know these characters and you’re just going to animate them the same way, but the characters are evolving and also our technology is evolving.

But ultimately, it’s a wonderful challenge and I think I had a sequence where … do you remember when Violet is talking to Tony Rydinger in front of the lockers? That scene I animated over and over, trying to find how she would act in a way where she’s so awkward and trying to be cool, but she’s also completely dying inside. And there’s some part of me that really relates to that. Like, coming up with the right gestures and the acting, what would be on her face and what’s coming out of her mouth, versus what she’s feeling inside.

I&T Today: What makes working with Pixar unique?

KY: For me, there’s no question, it’s the people. I don’t think I could have found another place where I feel an affinity with such smart, intelligent, really hilarious people. I have some

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of the most meaningful conversations with my coworkers here and there’s something about animators … There’s an empathy to them and a real emotional sensitivity with people who work in animation. I think that’s what makes them such great animators, is because they’re observant and thoughtful and have a lot of insight into human emotion. I don’t know … Is that cheesy?

But it feels real to me and they’re so creative too. I don’t know where I would’ve worked otherwise. I was never a lawyer or a doctor, focused-type person. My mother was so worried that I couldn’t find a job, because I was kind of an oddball kid.

I&T Today: Is there any Pixar character that you find you relate with the most?

KY: I think Violet’s one of them. There’s something dark and hidden about her. She wants to be invisible sometimes but there’s a strong person in there. She’s still trying to figure herself out. In many ways, I’m still trying to figure myself out. So, yeah, I always liked her.

And in many ways, I think that’s part of why it made her so hard to animate, because you’re struggling with the same thing. But I got very specific comments about some of the acting for her. They’re like, “Those are the weirdest hand gestures. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that.” I’m like, “Oh really? ‘Cause I do that all the time.” ■

Events

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OCTOBER

2-4 Digital Book World

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24-28 Crowdsourcing Week Global

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Conference 2018, Washington, DC

29-30 Industrial IoT World

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Winter 2018 Year End Issue We’ll be wrapping up 2018 in style, taking a look back at the year’s major trends in tech, science, gaming, business, and sustainability. What were the most-played video games of the year? What about the most innovative wearable? Which electric vehicle had the best year? Check out the winter issue of Innovation & Tech Today to recap the year and get a sneak peek at what’s ahead.

Top 50 Most Innovative Products Every year, a multitude of incredibly innovative products hit the market. In our winter issue, we’ll be compiling our list of the Top 50 Most Innovative Products of 2018! Including everything from outdoor gear and health tech to wearables and computers, we’ll make sure that you have the inside scoop on the hottest tech of the year – and just in time for the holidays!

Previewing CES 2019 Speaking of tech, no event includes more technology leaders than the Consumer Electronics Show. As media partners with one of the largest tech events in the world, we’ll be sure to give you a thorough preview of CES 2019 coming in January. With our winter issue, you’ll know exactly what to expect going into the Super Bowl of tech shows.

Tech Zone: Ohio For our winter Tech Zone, we’ll be taking a trip to the Buckeye State to see what major innovations are happening in the region. From transportation and aerospace technology to medicine and agriculture, Ohio has a rich history of technological contributions and they show no sign of slowing down.

2018 Innovator of the Year Each year, Innovation & Tech Today identifies one thought leader, advocate, or innovator to highlight as our Innovator of the Year. Considering the consistently growing fields of STEM education, technological advancements, and sustainability, it won’t be easy to settle on one personality.

Who will follow up 2017’s Innovator of the Year Jane Goodall? You’ll have to read the winter issue to find out.

Photo iStockphoto.com

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The Lighter Side

Mic Drop

By David Rodriguez

Standup comedy is easy. That’s why so many people do it, or try to do it, or think they can do it.

Doing standup well is of course very difficult and takes years of practice, trial and error, countless failures, and more determination than I ever imagined it would. But just doing standup is very easy because it doesn’t require a lot of setup. For standup comedy, all you need is:

Anytime a comedian is in the same room as a microphone at any type of event (wedding reception, karaoke, funeral, etc.), we will throw casual glances at the mic from across the room, and picture ourselves using it. I mean, how hard could DJing a wedding really be? You call THAT a joke?! Come on. We hold deep-seated resentment and jealousy toward flight attendants getting laughs over the airplane PA system. One time a flight attendant told a joke that fell flat and I leaned over to the stranger next to me and said proudly, “I thought it was illegal to bring a bomb on an airplane, am I right?” They rolled their eyes and said, “Please don’t say bomb while you’re sitting next to me.”

But what they meant was, I was right. Stop trying to use hacky comedy to distract us from the fact that you’re charging $3 for Diet Coke when they should be FREE! Oops, I’m off track now.

1. Comedian

2. Crowd

Anyway, my point is: for how much comedians worship microphones, none of us know anything about how they work. At all. I spent a week asking comedians at open mics “How does a microphone work?” Here are the top 5 answers:

3. Microphone Photos iStockphoto.com

“I don’t know.”

That’s it! Sometimes you don’t even have number 2! (Looking at you, Rock Springs, Wyoming.) So really, the mic is what defines us. It is the backbone and the symbol of standup. I know many comedians with tattoos of microphones. Every comedy poster features one in some capacity. We love them.

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“It makes the sound louder.”

“Lol Google it.”

“Hey can you buy me a beer, I am broke until Friday.”

“Magnets, I think? Is that right? Is it magnets?”

I did some thorough research (read most of the Wikipedia article on microphones) and found out that microphones, to put it as simply as possible, convert audio waves into electrical signals which are then played and amplified through speakers. Simple! Article over!

The variety of microphone types out there today is overwhelming, so I don’t want to try and break it down any more than that. I’ll leave you with a pared-down timeline of how microphones and comedians came together.

Microphone (Early Life): 1665 – English physicist Robert Hooke invents the long wire with cups on either end.

1876 – German inventor Johann Philipp Reis designs an early sound transmitter that would be used in Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone.

1877 – Thomas Edison is awarded the patent to the Carbon Microphone even though English inventor David Edward Hughes had demonstrated the same working device in front of many witnesses some years earlier.

1890 – Microphones are used in live performance for the first time. A comedian tells a dick joke during a Vaudeville show and as a result we are never respected by our peers in entertainment ever again. ■ David Rodriguez is a Denver-based comedian who has performed at events such as the Bird City Comedy Festival, Altercation Comedy Festival, and High Plains Comedy Festival.