Infrared and 3D Sensing: How Machines Are Learning Human Senses

Takeaway: Machine vision, whether for robots, drones, or connected cars, brings a human quality that has opened a whole new vista for application development.

Rudimentary infrared products and applications, recognizable by their characteristic red lights that respond to gestures, are a familiar sight to many.

Touchless household garbage cans that open on their own in response to hand gestures and autonomous robotic household vacuum cleaners that dodge walls and other barriers, or even recharge on their own, are examples of other familiar sights in many homes these days.

In the context of coronavirus and other debilitating viruses, touchless hand washing for infection control is noticeable in intensive care units in hospitals.

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U.S. Fintech DailyPay Joins Forces With the Bipartisan Policy Center’s “Funding Our Future” Alliance

DailyPay, a U.S.-based SaaS fintech, announced on Wednesday it has joined forces with the Bipartisan Policy Center’s “Funding our Future” alliance of organizations dedicated to making a secure retirement possible for all Americans.

According to DailyPay, Funding Our Future campaign is a bipartisan and cross-sector coalition of more than 40 organizations working towards retirement security for all Americans. The campaign was launched in 2018 by the Bipartisan Policy Center, and today has representation from the education and nonprofit, trade association, and corporate sectors, showcasing the broad base of support this issue has and requires across the country.

Among those who are “Funding Our Future” partners are ADP, MetLife, Prudential, Charles Schwab, BlackRock, Invesco, the Aspen Institute, Prosperity Now, and Yahoo! Finance. Speaking about joining the campaign, Matthew Kopko, Vice President of Public Policy at DailyPay, stated:

“We at DailyPay are thrilled to join forces with Funding Our Future as we share so many of the same ideals and goals in providing the American Worker the opportunity to take control of their finances and plan for the future.”

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SubjectWell Launches Patient Registry of 10k+ Patients for COVID-19 Clinical Trials

What You Should Know: 

– SubjectWell launches a patient registry list of 10,000 individuals in the US interested in participating in COVID-19 clinical trials and research. 

– The new COVID-19 patient registry will accelerate the patient recruitment process for COVID-19 research, giving researchers access to interested individuals who could randomize for various types of trials, whether they are healthy volunteers with no previous exposure to COVID-19, currently sick with the virus, or who have recovered. 

As the pharmaceutical industry mobilizes at unprecedented speed to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, SubjectWell, the world’s largest marketplace for clinical trials, announced today it has developed a growing patient registry of individuals in the US interested in participating in clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine as these trials become more widely available. In just three weeks, 10,000 people from SubjectWell’s expansive patient network have already opted into the list, with approximately 70,000 individuals expected to register by the end of May.

Why It Matters

With SubjectWell’s COVID-19 patient registry, researchers will have access to interested individuals who could randomize for various types of trials, whether they are healthy volunteers with no previous exposure to COVID-19, currently sick with the virus, or who have recovered. Patient data includes general demographic information, existing medical conditions, past virus diagnoses, past exposure to the virus and results of positive antigen tests. By sidestepping the lengthy process of identifying participants for a clinical trial, the list will dramatically accelerate last patient in (LPI), which could ultimately bring a safe, approved vaccine to the general public faster.

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Syndio raises $7.5M to squash pay gaps; CEO says COVID-19 crisis puts women and minorities at risk

Seattle startup Syndio just raised a $7.5 million investment round to bolster its HR technology that helps companies maintain equal pay and eliminate disparities.

Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio said the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of pay equity because “when survival is priority No. 1, fairness takes a back seat.” She pointed to the impact on the lowest paid workers, as well as women whose “careers and pay are suffering even more” as the primary caretakers at home.

“Many companies are not considering pay equity impacts as they reduce their workforce, nor are they looking at the makeup of those who remain, which means we could widen the gap,” Colacurcio said. “When we emerge, have we set women and minorities back 50 years?”

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‘Just Beyond’: Disney+ Orders Series Based On BOOM! Studios Comic From Seth Grahame-Smith & 20th TV

Disney+ has given an eight-episode series order to Just Beyond, a horror/comedy anthology from writer Seth Grahame-Smith and 20th Century Fox Television, part of Disney TV Studios. It is based on the bestselling BOOM! Studios graphic novel series from iconic children’s writer R.L. Stine (Goosebumps).

A writers room is being assembled and the series is expected to come to Disney+ in the fall of 2021.

Just Beyond was created by Grahame-Smith, author of the bestselling novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and screenwriter of Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, The Lego Batman Movie and The Saint for director Dexter Fletcher and star Chris Pine.

“I grew up watching Twilight Zone reruns and the original Amazing Stories with my parents,” said Grahame-Smith. “I’ve always wanted to make a genre anthology series that families could enjoy together, and do it in a way that delivered for kids and adults alike. R.L. Stine has been a part of millions of childhoods, and Disney+ has already proven itself as a place that knows how to make high-quality shows for the whole family. I couldn’t be more excited to be working with both of them.”

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