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Diligent Robotics to Help Hospitals by Providing Assistant Robots

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Studies show that almost 28% of a professional nurse’s working time goes into tasks that require low-skill and less technical knowledge. These tasks include taking medical tools from places and handing them over to the doctor-in-charge. Being a nurse is an essential job that requires a lot of other complex operations, which require care and compassion. When they are put under stress working on low-skill tasks, this affects the overall productivity and efficiency. The present COVID-19 attack has seriously put the medical profession under severe pressure. With doctors and nurses having to work around the clock to save lives, the least we can do is use science to make their lives easier. In this article, we will be taking a look at what the start-up Diligent Robotics is doing to help these nurses out.

Robots to the Rescue

Diligent Robotics is trying to give back to the medical community by providing them with a helper robot to carry out low-task jobs. This robot will function as a sort of assistant to these nurses, helping them with errands around the clock. The company’s helper bot, called Moxi has a flexible gripper-equipped arm, which allows it to pick and drop things. This incredibly mobile robot can navigate its way through a hallway, clinical room or ward and assist nurses diligently. It can be put to use to transport resources from one department to the other, and hand over necessary documents to doctors. Since the world is facing a massive shortage of human resources with regards to the healthcare industry, this robot will help save lives. Using this robot will lead to medical professionals having more time to tend to the sick, instead of engaging in low-intensity tasks. This will help raise the overall efficiency and productivity of the hospital and its staff. Furthermore, since robots cannot get themselves infected with COVID-19, they cannot be carriers, making the entire process a lot safer.

Funding on Board

The company Diligent Robotics announced its plan to scale operations and deliver more robots to hospitals, thanks partly to a $10 million received via Series A funding. Diligent Robotics CEO Andrea Thomaz has said that the robot Moxi was designed by taking input from hospital customers and users so that it can provide more solutions than just material management. The company plans on making the robot a frontline staff in this fight against the disease. This round of funding led by DNX Ventures ensured that the company gained $15.75 million in total funding. This has pushed development works into fifth gear as far as Moxi is concerned. Two such robots are working in Dallas, within two top hospital networks inside the United States.

Road to the Formation of the Rescue Team

The new cash which has come in from companies and investors such as DNX, Ubiquity Ventures, Grit Ventures, and E14 Fund has helped in expanding Moxi’s capabilities. Andrea Thomaz came up with this idea when she was working on her Ph.D. from MIT Lab in the field of social robotics. Co-founder and the company’s CTO, Vivian Chu has a Master’s from UPenn. She then joined forces with Thomaz at Georgia Tech and realized just how much time nurses waste on menial tasks. This study led them to win a National Science Foundation grant amounting to $750,000. This money proved that stepping stone that led to the prototype of Moxi being built. Since then, the company has grown from strength to strength, expanding into an 18-member team. They worked with over a hundred nurses from all over the US, to study their needs and requirements. Thomaz believes that such movements will help in the integration of robots into everyday lives like never before. Hence, such service robots will benefit the entire field move from shop floors and industries to our homes and essential services. Rather than trying to replace humans, the company is trying to focus on building robots with unique human elements in them.

Moxi the Bot

Moxi is almost as big as a human but looks more like an 80’s inspired movie robot so that it does not make people feel weird. It has a pair of eyes that move as per signal transmission, with a command system that responds to voice commands from nurses. It has a control system inside it, which allows it to adjust its height, while its robotic arms will enable it to pick up and place items whenever necessary. Hospitals buy Moxi by paying a standard fee and then continue to pay a small monthly fee for the services it provides. While hospitals find it difficult to adjust to new technologies, the start-up believes that tough times will inspire more companies and hospitals to adopt new technologies to fight the pandemic.

Youtube Helping prevent from Coronavirus

YouTube Doing All It Can to Promote Good Content in the Times of COVID-19

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As the COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc around the world, all spheres of our life are reeling in the aftermath. Around the world, cases seem to be on the increase and most governments are putting curfews in place to prevent the further spread of the virus. During this time of need, several people have been accused of spreading false information regarding the disease. When everything is digital, it becomes effortless to popularize and legitimize fake news. Since doing so can have serious repercussions, officials are asking people to be careful regarding what they share with family and friends. Therefore, having a legitimate source for news and updates regarding the COVID-19 has become integral, and Google seems to be stepping up to the occasion. Here’s a look at how YouTube and Google are handling the situation.

Saving Grace from Google

Google recently released specifications regarding how they are helping users fight the COVID-19. They have set up an education website that will help users gain insight into how the virus works and how we can protect ourselves against it. This website is working in tandem with the Trump administration to help curb the spread of the virus. This partnership with the government will help users gain information regarding how the virus spreads, WHO guidelines and even CDC control measures. The initial version of the website was to become active on the 16th of March.

Furthermore, reports state that Verily, which is owned by Google’s parent, Alphabet, is working on setting up COVID-19 testing centers. These will launch in the San Francisco Bay Area and will help speed up the testing process, limiting its spread. The company is also said to be developing an online tool to help patients self-quarantine themselves if they show symptoms. However, both these tools are only in their testing phase and may require a lot more time to become operational. Furthermore, the tech giant will also dispense vital information using Search, Maps, and YouTube. Let us take a look at what YouTube plans to do.

Google’s homepage now promotes the Do the Five campaign, which aims to raise awareness regarding measures people should take to limit the spread of the disease. These guidelines, which have been devised by the WHO, has been popularized by Google. Within just 24 hours from release, these guidelines have been viewed by millions in the US alone. Google’s My Business will also allow businesses to mark themselves as Temporarily Shut due to the COVID-19.

From Google to YouTube

YouTube has been spread misinformation in the past, and Google aims to stop that from happening this time. Therefore, Google has taken down thousands of videos that promote misleading and factually incorrect news regarding the COVID-19. Several of these videos claimed to have treatments and prevention methods against the coronavirus but had no medical proof to back up their claims. Similarly, Google Maps has also taken down malicious content and reviews regarding healthcare locations.

Furthermore, the tech giant has warned content creators against posting false information. Also, they have told creators that due to staffing changes owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, more and more reviews will rely on automated systems. Therefore, most of the removals and revisions will be done by automated algorithms and not through human intervention.

This may lead to an increase in video removals, with even some video which does not violate policies being taken down. In such cases, creators can appeal against the taking down of their video, and the teams associated with QC&QA will review the decision. However, YouTube has also made it clear that such reviews will take longer than usual due to a workforce shortage. Furthermore, the company will be more careful about what content goes up in order to prevent the spread of false information. Everything, including live streams, will be carefully analyzed with content awaiting review not being available via search or in recommendations.

YouTube will also come out with a new row of verified content on its homepage to help people looking for updates on the viral outbreak. These videos will feature news from authoritative outlets and health providers, rather than random users. This COVID-19 shelf will be available in 16 countries initially, and this includes the US, UK, India, Germany, Italy, and Brazil from this week onwards. In due time, it will be made available to more countries. Google has also pulled paid ads that try to capitalize on the virus from YouTube, giving more space to NGOs and government authorities.

Anthony Levandowski

Anthony Levandowski Admits to Having Stolen from Google

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Former Google employee and a pioneer of the self-driving car concept, Anthony Levandowski, yesterday pled guilty to stealing trade secrets from Google. He had left the tech giant in 2016, with dreams to start his self-driving truck manufacturing company, which Uber went on to acquire for $680 million. This led to Google’s division for self-driving automobiles, Waymo to sue Uber for using its technology. The lawsuit was finally settled in February, with Uber having to pay Waymo $245 million. Here’s a look at how the saga unfolded and what impact it can have on the industry, and both companies involved.

Indictment and Trial

The prosecutors chose to indict Levandowski last year, in August for 33 counts involving theft, theft of trade secrets and attempted theft from Google. All these allegations are said to have happened when he decided to leave the tech giant way back in 2015. While he had denied these allegations for a long time, Levandowski finally pleaded guilty to the charge that accuses him of trade secret theft. The Federal deal, as per reports, will lead to the other charges against being dropped, thanks to his confession. As per the US District Court of California, this plea carries a sentence that could lead up to 10 years in prison with a fine of $250,000.

Trial till Now

Levandowski said in his plea that he had downloaded the files in question intending to use them personal benefit, knowing fully well that he had no right to do so. However, no date has been set for sentencing him yet. At the beginning of March, the court had ordered him to pay Google $179 million for unlawfully terminating his contract with them. A couple of hours after this sentence was finalized on Wednesday, he filed for bankruptcy protection, under Chapter 11. Once the arbitration panel ruled that he owed Google $179 million, he filed for bankruptcy while in September, a lawyer had said he owned assets worth $72 million.

The case Waymo filed against Uber focused on lidar, which is a laser scanning technology that helps vehicles maintain their autonomy. However, Levandowski pleaded guilty to stealing a weekly update regarding the project. This document is said to have contained information regarding quarterly goals, metrics, technical challenges and recommendations on how to overcome challenges. Him pleading guilty has prevented him from now seeking a trial to appeal for conviction. He has also admitted that he downloaded around 14,000 files from the Google server to his laptop.

In 2018, Levandowski had announced that he had founded a new company called Pronto to focus on computer vision rather than lidar. However, when he was indicted on several criminal charges by the prosecutors, he had no choice but to leave this company.

Fall from Grace

Levandowski was once a heavily lauded engineer who had headed Google’s self-driving automobile division, earning it a lot of praise and recognition. Levandowski had been a significant player in the field of AVs since his early 20s, by entering the 2004 Darpa Grand Challenge. He then helped Google set up their AV team in 2009, growing within that team and even heading it at one point. However, by 2015, he had been removed from his position of ultimate power, due to power struggles with teammate Chris Urmson, which led to him quitting.

Shortly before leaving the giant, he stole highly confidential documents which contained crucial information regarding the project. Most prosecutors agree that the plea will warrant a sentence which will put him behind bars for around 24 to 30 months. The charges were levelled against him because right after he left Google, he founded his own company Otto which focused on self-driving trucks. It was this company that Uber acquired for $680 million. Waymo sued Uber in 2017, alleging that Uber bought Otto to gain access to their confidential records which Levandowski had stolen. In the 2018 settlement, Uber agreed to pay Waymo $245 million. However, while handling the case, the judge advised the prosecutors to file a criminal lawsuit against Levandowski for theft, leading to his indictment in August last year. The trial for these was to happen in January 2021, with Levandowski planning to plead innocent. Yesterday evening, he stated that while he was planning of fighting against the case, he decided it wasn’t worth it. He also said that he hopes to put all this behind him and move on.

NASA and SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX to Take to the Skies in Mid-May

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Ever since we began colonizing the Earth, we have been fantasized by the skies. Throughout our history as a race, we have been attempting to make sense of our skies and understand why the world is the way it is. This culminated with the Space Race that saw the USSR and US fight for supremacy when it came to interstellar travel and exploration. With science and technology progressing even further, the race to identify the secrets of our universe has only gotten more competitive. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is one of the largest private players in the field of space exploration, and they have recently released some exciting news. Here’s a look at what NASA and SpaceX had to say and what impact it will have on the space industry.

Taking to the Skies

NASA and SpaceX have released a statement which states that they are planning to launch their first manned flight somewhere between mid and late May. This comes as a surprise as most experts had felt that the COVID-19 would push dates further back. However, both NASA and SpaceX have issued a media invite on Wednesday regarding their Demo-2 launch. This will be the world’s first commercial manned crew launch into space. The invite has also specified a time frame that says that the mission will be completed by no later than mid-May, much to the excitement of fans from all over the world.

While reports which came out in January had stated that the launch would occur sometime in May or late April, people had expected the Coronavirus to have changed this date. With production facilities having been hit due to the virus, most experts were expecting a shift in dates. While SpaceX started early, readying their Crew Dragon spacecraft for the mission, NASA had to make a few changes in the mission parameters. These changes include a longer stay for the crew at the International Space Station. The crew consists of experienced astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

Universal Collaboration

SpaceX will be the world’s first private company to launch a manned space mission, and NASA is helping the company ready their team and machinery. The conveyance of astronauts from and to the International Space Station occurs successfully thanks to a partnership with the Roscosmos agency. This Russian initiative makes use of the Soyuz spacecraft to fly astronauts for ISS. While people were expecting a change in dates, this confirmation from NASA has proven that the mission is still very much on. Furthermore, NASA has moved facilities into Stage 3, meaning that their employees will be on telework unless specifically required at their facilities physically for any mission-related work. Meanwhile, their Ames facility has been taken up to Stage 4, due to California county implementing a shelter-in-place order. This essentially means that the facility is temporarily closed with all personnel working from their homes via telework.

In the new invite which came out yesterday, NASA has stated that they will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and will keep communicating updates as and when required. Reports also state that the organization is doing everything it can protect Hurley and Behnken by following standard isolation procedures so that they don’t get sick before the flight.

Brighter Future

This will be the first crewed launch from US soil to the International Space Station ever since 2011. SpaceX will reportedly be using the Falcon 9 rocket to transport astronauts Behnken and Hurley as it tries its level best to cut unnecessary costs. In March, the Crew Dragon had circumnavigated the ISS, almost 400 kilometers above the Earth. However, the capsule contained only a mannequin inside and returned to the Atlantic after spending six days in space. Ever since, 2011 Americans have not launched any manned missions, with Russians handling most of the manned flights. This will be changed by this joint venture between SpaceX and NASA. SpaceX has made over 15 trips to the ISS for refueling the station ever since 2012. However, SpaceX is not the only private company that is helping NASA with space exploration, because even Boeing is developing their Starliner capsule, after having won a contract. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch from Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with Dragon spacecraft onboard. If the Demo-2 launch proves to be successful, SpaceX will become officially certified to launch people into space.

twitter

Twitter Updates Its Safety Policy Amid The Coronavirus Outbreak

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In this era of the internet and the fastest growing social platforms, it is very easy to reach people and communities. But at the same time, it has also become easy to spread false news and rumors. Currently, novel coronavirus is spreading in a very fast manner and so are the rumors and false news. This fake news may turn lethal for those who believe them.  To control the spread of any misinformation and the ongoing pandemic COVID-19 outbreak, twitter has taken extra precautions to wipe out tweets from twitter which are false and may cause chaos among people. It is mostly using auto flagging and machine learning for the same.

On March 18, Twitter updated its safety policy which allows them to restrict the tweets which may put people at higher risk of spreading COVID-19. The new safety policy bans tweets related to fake and nonsense corona treatments, various prevention techniques that are not given by any health authorities. Also, Twitter is banning the misinformation by the people who have fake accounts and pretending to health experts on this microblogging site. Twitter has twitted from its official account that its new safety policy requires people to delete tweets related to all the above-mentioned points.

Misleading tweets will stay hidden

If a user tries to violate this policy, he/she will be notified via email to remove that tweet or put an appeal. In this entire notice period for the user, the misinforming tweet will stay in hidden mode to keep people away from any kind of a half-truth. Twitter has specifically outlined that if any tweet says that social distancing is ineffective, that will be removed immediately. This platform is going to require users to remove misinforming tweets claiming to follow dangerous things like intaking bleach, cow-urine or visiting any temple to stay away from corona, (even if it is as a meme) as it may prove harmful if people take this into another context.

If twitter observes any activity on twitter that asks people to do against what health authorities like WHO has suggested, such tweets will be banned. If someone tweets saying that “Go out and have fun at the local bar”, it will be debarred immediately. A few politicians and public figures already faced a lot of criticism by netizens for giving wrong messages to their fan base and followers.

Panic tweets also restricted

Another kind of tweet that is not allowed is, which cause panic amongst people. For example, a few people pretending to doctors tweeted that “A wet cough is definitely Cancelled out chances of having corona but if you have a dry cough, you are corona positive”. Another example is “One sneeze means coronavirus”, etc. Such tweets may lead to panic attacks.

Twitter is also banning tweets that attack a particular race, nationality, and community. For example, “Eating at Chinese restaurant causes coronavirus outbreak” or “Black people cannot be affected by coronavirus” or “Coronavirus outbreak cannot affect Hindus” etc. Such tweets will not fly on this platform.

Twitter to delete misleading tweets automatically

Though Twitter has prepared a set of stringent rules for its platform, it will be difficult to enforce where people have less awareness about this pandemic. To overcome this, Twitter has put a content severity triage system to automatically delete content with the highest damage and risk. Using this, the tweets will be flagged by themselves. Previously, Twitter announced that it will rely mostly on the automation and machine learning part for sensitive content removal, but later it admitted that it can cause mistakes in a few cases such as relevant hashtags and images.

People need to support to fight against coronavirus outbreak

Usually, we never see such an aggressive approach by social media platforms, but right now the world is in the need of care. It’s a global health emergency where the economy, people and their physical, as well as mental health, is at risk. Any misinformation may lead to the spread of this virus which can cause another emergency of lack of resources. It is all over the news that, keeping the spread of coronavirus in mind, it is observed that the number of doctors, nurses, and specialists are being transferred to affected areas to facilitate the care. So, one lethal misinformation can cause a lot of trouble. So, stay rightly informed and follow authentic sources for all the precaution adversaries.

Jio is combining its digital capabilities with Microsoft Teams, the unified communication and collaboration hub for teamwork in Office 365, to enable individuals, students, educational and healthcare institutions to continue their professional lives while still practicing social distancing,” the statement said.

The company said it will use the Jio platform for healthcare and learning from home. Jio will provide basic JioFiber broadband connectivity, wherever it is geographically feasible, without any service charges, for this period. For all existing JioFiber subscribers, Jio will provide double data across all plans.

slack

Slack Awaits Its Biggest Makeover For Improving User Interface

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Slack Technologies released its messaging application in 2013. The user interface had some flaws that the company is trying to fix. Every application comes up with the latest and modified version after a fixed period. But, Slack has declared that this redesigning of the application is going to be the biggest in its history.

Prior problems faced by the users

Apart from the basic structural design, every user wants to customize and make sure they are comfortable using any application. An application might have the power to do multiple tasks at a time. But, the problem arises when your users don’t know how to do it at all.

Slack is a very powerful platform that provides a tool for instant messaging. It is available in eight different languages. Currently, it has 12 million active daily users. But, every time the customers provide feedback, the common question “how to use the features” has come up. Jaime DeLanghe, Director of Product Management, Slack said that they were too busy delivering customer value. But, it is high time to take a pause and provide some space to the user interface.

We have often run by the common proverb, “Too many cooks spoil the broth”. Here is the thing; Slack is having the innumerable number of features. But, what is the use of it when the customers cannot use it properly? Everything needs to be in the proper place, customizable, a lot simpler, and well fitted on the screen.

The trendy sidebar

The news of the redesigning has created a “face-palm” situation for the users. Many of them are in tension if it gets more complex. But, Ethan Eismann, Vice President of Design, Slack stated that the redesigning will adapt some old school ideas as well. They are working on making it as simpler as possible.

Slack users have previously faced the problem regarding customizing which led to the introduction of a sidebar. Out of all changes that are going to take place, the sidebar is the real hype. One person must be busy working on a project and discussing it at the same time. So, the new sidebar will allow the user to segregate all you need to be in one section. And, the users can then simply drag and drop it in the sidebar. So, it just stopped getting messy and confusing in the first place.

Moreover, this sidebar also has a new compose button which will allow the users to start a conversation into any Slack Channel. The users can either DM or any other way as it will work more like a universal texting button. Another section called People and Mentions & Reactions has been added to the sidebar. This allows the user to find relatable channels and pings, and also suitable people the user wants to DM. So, the redesigning will make Slack more time-efficient along with making it comfortable to use.

But, this whole thing of organizing the channels and conversations under one roof is available for the paid-users only.

What are the other modifications?

It is to be noted that a lot of changes are going to take place in the application, especially the frontend development. Apart from the sidebar, Slack is introducing a top navigation bar. This has been introduced so that the users can search and switch between pages. This feature also helps the users to view their browsing history. The activities that the user might carry out in the navigation bar will support mouse and keyboard shortcuts.

The shortcut button is modified which can be used now access conversation tools. Previously, this was to be done by text commands. The application will also have a new compose button and other small changes.

Redesigning is important than adding new features

When a modified version of an application is released it comes with new features. But, this time Slack has decided to arrange its existing features in a better and clearer way. Instead of adding some new features and making it messier, it is important to think about the user interface. So, Slack has decided to make changes in the mobile application and undoubtedly in UI.

Slack is also thinking about the new users coming from a habit of using a different application or only drafting emails. The company has already started implementing the changes to make Slack spacious and well-arranged.