TechCrunchDisrupt2016
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Former Samsung engineers build a smart umbrella
Wouldn't it be great if your umbrella told you if it was going to rain before you left the house each morning? That's the idea behind the Opus One, a(nother) smart brolly that's been designed by a team of former Samsung engineers. The device (for it is not an umbrella now, but a device) connects to your smartphone over Bluetooth and pulls weather reports every morning. When it's time to go out, you simply shake the handle and a light will flash red or green, depending on what's coming.
Computer vision may help the blind see the world
The world is getting better at combining machine learning and computer vision, but it's not just cars and drones that benefit from that. For instance, the same technology could be used to dramatically improve the lives of people with visual impairments, enabling them to be more independent. One of the startups looking to do just that is Eyra, which is showing off a wearable called Horus that could help the blind "see."
There's an app for in-flight 'flirting'
AirDates is a new app, currently in testing, that is positioning itself as Tinder for air travel, although it'll work on all forms of public transport. Users are encouraged to post their travel itinerary ahead of time so that they can potentially hook up with other passengers on the same journey. If they're looking for some pre-mile high fun, they can use geolocation while at the airport, or chat with each other in the air. This is achieved using Multipeer WiFi between smartphones, eliminating the need to rely upon the Plane's WiFi network or other connection.
Geohot will sell a semi-autonomous driving kit this year
Legendary iPhone and PlayStation hacker George Hotz (aka "Geohot") isn't wasting time translating his DIY self-driving tech into something you can buy. His Comma.ai startup plans to release a semi-autonomous driving kit, Comma One, before the end of 2016. The $999 upgrade combines its camera with your car's existing front radar (read: it won't work with every vehicle) to relieve you of some control during your drive. It's "about on par" with Tesla's Autopilot, Hotz claims, and reportedly good enough to take you from Mountain View (conveniently, Google's HQ) to San Francisco without touching the steering wheel or any pedals.
Spherica creates nausea-free immersive video
Typically, 360-degree VR video comes in two varieties: static, wherein the camera remains motionless while the onscreen action unfolds around it, and vomit-inducing, where the camera moves but instigates severe motion sickness in the viewer. The San Francisco-based motion picture startup, Spherica, aims to create a third option: immersive VR video that can track, tilt and pan without making the audience lose their lunch.
Viv, from Siri's creators, is the virtual assistant of your dreams
Siri made the world aware of the potential of virtual assistants, but several years after its release, it's still a bit basic. Siri can only do certain very specific tasks, and she doesn't play well with third-party services. So for its next product, Viv, the people behind Siri aimed to build a much more capable virtual assistant. And at this point, it looks like it's succeeded, judging from a brief demonstration today at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City.
