Miami-Dade Police Department is Using statistical analysis to find similarities in crime patterns.These patterns help the department break cold cases.
Australian firefighters test data-transmitting pills to monitor biometrics during work
A new swallowable pill has been trialled with 50 firefighters in Australia, aimed at monitoring body temperatures and other vital readings when working under extreme conditions. Using Equivital’s VitalSense Core Temperature capsules, they transmit readings to the companion EQ02 LifeMonitor, housed on the chest. This then sends data on skin temperature, heart rate and respiration rate to an external computer. If a firefighter’s core body temperature is increasing too quickly, they can then be moved from the frontline to a recovery area, hopefully reducing accidents and deaths caused by heat exhaustion.
The Internet of Things revolution: wake-up call for corporates and politicians
Why are today’s senior - and not so senior - decision takers, whether business leaders or politicians, so seemingly unaware of the fast approaching third revolution in Internet access - the Internet of Things?
It is probably because the Internet of Things is the culmination of countless mini-developments creeping up all around us. Among these are the ever smarter mobile phones and the amazing things they can do, the increasingly clever applications of RFID codes, QL codes, facial and gait recognition, tele-medicine, steps towards smart utility metering, Oyster card introduction, car number plate recognition - the list goes on and on.
Right now these are relative silos of activity making an impact by bringing new capabilities and efficiencies to daily life and business. With interoperable standards all these silos will be able to interconnect and intercommunicate. And that’s what the Internet of Things is about.
The Internet of Things goes beyond the millions and millions of machine to machine activity currently conducted via the Internet, with for example mobile phone apps. It is about the billions and billions of tiny chips that’ll flood the world over the next ten years. It’s about those tiny chips being programmable, trackable, findable, and uniquely identified, and with the sensing capabilities currently on mobile phones and more.
The Internet of Things is about the capability of every object - whether a toothbrush or a building - embedded with such chips to have a unique identifier, and, using its sensing, processing and communications capabilities to intercommunicate with its environment, other objects and living things - and, eventually ending up able to make autonomous decisions.
There’ll be major business and social ramifications, opportunities and threats as a result.
Extreme weather poses a growing risk to the stability of insurance companies and has broad ramifications for the economy and society. Our new report shows what insurers, regulators and investors can do to address climate change risks. To learn more and to download the report, follow the link below! @ Ceres
Deep Thunder: Preparing for extreme weather events with modeling technology (by IBMSocialMedia)
IBM’s high resolution weather forecasting and modeling technology - called Deep Thunder - provides a predictive capability to map approaching weather events, and model the anticipated impact. The system applies mathematical algorithms to understand the interaction of the atmosphere with the surface of the earth. Detailed risk assessments are developed using data from soil saturation levels, rates and flow of water run off, the region’s topography, as well as historical rainfall and flood records. Using historical data, sophisticated analytics software and ever more powerful supercomputers, cities can get extremely accurate and detailed weather forecasts for very specific locations — such as a two-block radius — up to 48 hours in advance.
With the predictive information, emergency response teams are able to be deployed close to where problems are likely to occur. This technology can provide longer advance notice of adverse weather conditions, allowing more time for disaster prevention. Rather than monitor a storm, we can stage resources at the right place and time prior to an event to minimize the impact and save lives.
Philip's Van Duinen says LED lighting will be connected to the Internet of things | LEDs Magazine
The keynote speaker at the Street & Area Lighting Conference in Miami discussed the vital importance of SSL relative to the global energy crisis, and predicted that smart lighting will ultimately be connected in ubiquitous networks.
Niels Van Duinen, global marketing director at Philips Lighting led off the Street & Area Lighting Conference on September 10 with a forward look at LED lighting and how smart-city projects will ultimately connect lighting on Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Van Duinen sees connected solid-state lighting (SSL) as a necessity given the growing energy concerns around the globe.
Van Duinen began with some astounding numbers saying that by 2050 close to 7 billion people, about the number on the planet today, will live in cities. He said that in developing countries, cities will expand to accommodate an additional one million residents every five days. And energy consumption will of course escalate. Van Duinen projected a 40% increase in energy consumption by 2030.
Saving energy in outdoor lighting is clearly important. Van Duinen said that LED-based lighting can offer 50-70% energy savings, but added “it’s not enough to meet global sustainability targets.” Adaptive controls can bring the savings to 80%, according to Van Duinen.
25 million lights
There are 25 million street lights in the US, and those lights account for 40% of cities’ electricity usage, according to Van Duinen. Those lights are equivalent to 2.6 million cars in terms of carbon emissions.
Van Duinen said that after a decade focusing on LED lighting for energy savings that it’s time to go to the next phase. Moreover, he noted that lighting won’t have to break new ground to adapt IP network technology. As an example, he cited radio frequency identification (RFID) tags used to track things such as retail items or pallets of merchandise. He said there will be 4 billion RFID tags added in 2012. He went on to mention that Internet connectivity is being added to things, such as appliances, at twice the rate of computers.
For municipalities that want to adapt smart-city technology, the answer is a unified network, according to Van Duinen. Cities are already connecting traffic signals and other assets. A unified network that includes street lights could both maximize energy saving and add other benefits.
Van Nuinen cited an example of how a connected city could improve emergency response. He said cameras could detect and capture the occurrence of an auto accident and immediately alert responders. The network would control traffic signals ensuring that the responders have a clear path to the accident. And the network could command street lights to full output for best visibility.
This App Turns Smartphones Into Safe Driving Tools
We know that cellphones and driving don’t mix. Despite the accidents and known risks, 89% of teens say they reply to a text message or email within five minutes, driving or not. So can the technology responsible for distracting many drivers, also serve to prevent roadway collisions and close-calls?
A new app called DriveScribe turns your phone into a “driving coach.” Aimed in particular at helping those new drivers learn the rules-of-the-road, the app monitors speed, and blocks all texts, updates and calls while the car is in motion. It uses GPS, social media, real-time voice feedback and a jamming function to block texts and calls. The app will tell drivers to slow down if they’re going too fast.
“IBM is running in partnership with police departments across the nation, crunching massive amounts of public information to try to predict where and when crimes will occur. The project, known as CRUSH — Criminal Reduction Utilizing Statistical History — has proven very effective in pilot programs in several American cities, including Memphis, Tennessee, where it been credited with reducing serious crimes by 30 percent and violent crimes by 15 percent”
No More Car Crashes by 2020?
The leading cause of car accidents is pretty obvious – its human error. Whether its drunk driving, distracted driving, or aggressive driving, it all comes back to the person behind the wheel. Less than 20% of accidents are caused by road or mechanical failure, so the only way to truly make driving safer for everyone is to give the person behind the wheel more tools to drive safely – or even remove the human element altogether.
Here are five things that can put us on a path to ZERO human error car crashes by 2020:
Full Story: Innovaro
“The smell of freshly cut grass may stir memories of baseball parks, cookouts or lazy summer afternoons in the suburbs, but what we perceive as a sweet aroma is actually the plant equivalent of a distress call, one that the grass releases to signal that the lawn is under attack.”
New Technology Means You’ll Never Run Another Yellow Light | Autopia | Wired.com
There’s a name for that panic-inducing split second when a traffic light turns yellow and you have to choose whether to hit the gas or the brake. It’s called the “dilemma zone,” and a new radar system promises to make it a thing of the past.
TrafiRadar is a new technology from Belgium-based Traficon. It combines video and radar vehicle detection that can control a traffic light, holding a yellow until a car has crossed an intersection.
Augmented reality growing popular with U.S. military - QR Code Press
The practical applications of augmented reality are gaining more attention, however, especially amongst military and security organizations. A new report from Mind Commerce, a research organization, shows that augmented reality is, indeed, becoming a popular topic within the U.S. military.
Remapping gang turf: Math model shows crimes cluster on borders between rivals | Phys.org
A mathematical model that has been used for more than 80 years to determine the hunting range of animals in the wild holds promise for mapping the territories of street gangs, a UCLA-led team of social scientists reports in a new study.
