IKEA rolls out an AI-powered interactive design experience for shoppers
Today, IKEA is launching a new AI-driven interactive design experience called IKEA Kreativ for IKEA.com and the IKEA app. With the new feature, U.S. customers can design and visualize their own living spaces with digitalized furniture on their smartphones instead of traveling to the brick-and-morta…
Lidar exposes the remnants of an overgrown ancient civilization in the Amazon
It’s Friday and the world is falling apart, so let’s just take a short mental health break with some interesting news out of the field of archaeology, where tech is enabling some fascinating new discoveries. A new lidar-powered analysis of land in the Amazon basin has provided evidence …
Luminar, the U.S. lidar company, is the latest to poach executives from Apple, Nvidia and Tesla in the continuing talent war in automated driving and autonomous vehicle technology. Christopher “CJ” Moore, director of autonomous systems at Apple and former director of Tesla’s Autopilot software, has…
Luminar’s Austin Russell: ‘We probably shouldn’t have existed’ but lidar will drive next-gen safety anyway
"We probably shouldn't have existed," Luminar founder/CEO Austin Russell said when asked about taking part in the hype cycle he later distanced himself from.
Alibaba-backed Deeproute further slashes L4 driving costs to $3,000
Only four months after Deeproute.ai announced it planned to sell its self-driving solution at an attractive $10,000, the Shenzhen and Fremont-based startup said it has further slashed the cost by approximately 70% to $3,000. The touted price tag surely stands out, given Deeproute is promising two t…
Aeva and NASA want to map the Moon with lidar-powered KNaCK pack
As humanity prepares to return to the Moon (“to stay,” as they remind us constantly), there’s a lot of infrastructure that needs to be built to make sure astronauts are safe and productive on the lunar surface. Without GPS, navigation and mapping is a lot harder — and NASA is work…
Plotlogic scoops up $18M to put hyperspectral imaging to work in the mines
Mining is one of the oldest industries out there, but it has increasingly embraced high-tech methods as demand has increased. Plotlogic uses hyperspectral imaging, a technique generally found in labs and satellites, to add a new layer of data and automation to these crucial but often dated operatio…
Walmart is acquiring Memomi, an AR startup powering virtual try-on for eyewear
Walmart is expanding its array of virtual try-on services for shoppers with today’s news that it’s planning to acquire Memomi, an AR optical tech company and current Walmart partner offering virtual try-on experience for eyewear. Deal terms were not disclosed, but Memomi has enabled dig…