The Most Important Era of Innovation

A recent article in The New York Times asks, “What Was the Greatest Era for Innovation?” It’s a difficult question to answer—if there even is an answer—as everything from plumbing to airplanes, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and smartphones have shaped the evolution of American life. Instead, The Times surfaces some of the most notable inventions and ground-breaking ideas of the past couple centuries to allow the …

Use Your Skin as a Smartwatch Interface With SkinTrack

With their project “SkinTrack,” researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a way to expand the interface of smartwatches outside of just the screen and onto human skin. SkinTrack requires users to tie a slim, ring-like device to their finger, allowing a smart watch to track its movement. From there, games like Angry Birds or even just dialing a phone number can be done completely …

Siri’s Co-Founder Unveils a Next Generation Virtual Assistant

At this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt NY, Dag Kittlaus—a co-creator of Siri—unveiled what he hopes to be the next generation of virtual assistants. He calls the product Viv, and it differentiates itself from Siri through its deeper understanding of intent and an ability to program itself to best answer queries. Viv’s strengths also lie in its third-party integration capabilities, which remain at the heart of Viv’s …