Giving Feeling to Robots & Prosthetics: Researchers at UT Dallas develop artificial touch-sense whiskers

touch

Whiskers are arguably the cutest feature on a dog or cat:

cute-cat-3    cutecat2

cutedog1     cutedog2

Need we say more? Those pleasant-looking features are used as touch sensors that send information to an animal’s brain. It’s one way that an animal makes sense of their surroundings. This is why it’s important to not trim Fido’s or Tom’s whiskers. Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas realized this importance and have created artificial whiskers, appropriately called ‘e-whiskers’.

“We’ve created some of the highest density of e-whiskers to date,” said Dr. Walter Voit, an associate professor of materials science engineering and mechanical engineering at UT Dallas. “When you have a lot of sensors like this that can be dragged over a surface, you can then use them to measure many interesting properties. Our e-whiskers were able to detect force, pressure, proximity, temperature, stiffness and topography. As they brush up against—or whisk across—various materials, they mimic the sensing capabilities of human skin.” The development of e-whiskers is a significant step in the advancement of electronic human skin, which could be used in the fields of robotics and even prosthetics.

E-whiskers were developed by using shape-memory polymers that react to heat. A flexible strain sensor, which has the same diameter as a human hair, was attached to the top of a polymer pattern. Researchers then blew hot air through the bottom of the polymer cutouts, thus making the material soft. This allowed the e-whiskers to rise and become 3D. Any disturbance induced changes that interacts with the strain sensor is then tracked, thus giving ‘life’ to the polymer cutouts.

“In robotics, e-whiskers could replicate the functionalities of human skin by determining what’s hard and soft, hot and cold, smooth and rough. They could allow the robot to identify objects and interact with them safely, making robots more ‘human friendly’,” said Jonathan Reeder, lead author who conducted the research.

This concept may seem like something straight out of a sci-fi novel, but it’s not that far off from becoming a reality. “Integrating electronic sensors directly with biology is the most compelling application but presents a set of tough challenges. Namely, how to translate electronic signals generated by the sensor into the ‘language’ of the nervous system, and how to form a stable mechanical and electrical coupling between the flexible electronic and the soft tissue.” Reeder also mentioned that the sensitivity of the e-whiskers, such as changes in topology and temperature, as well as the sensors’ response time, all exceed the capabilities of human skin “by at least an order of magnitude.” “It’s not impossible for a person with a prosthetic to actually have better sensitivity than with the human hand,” Reeder added.

This development offers hope to the 2 million Americans who are living with a prosthetic limb. For more information on this impressive advancement, please click here.

Are you developing a technology so robots and prosthetics can have more human-like qualities? Did you know that you can receive up to 14% back on your research expenses with the R&D Tax Credit? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Texas. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

 

Alternative Fertility Monitoring in 2018: San Francisco-based Modern Fertility develops economical at-home hormone test

mother

Women are putting off having children to build up a career and economic status. Those in their 30s are having more children than women in their 20s. However, as women age, hormonal changes follow thus affecting the chances of conceiving.

Modern Fertility, a San Francisco-based startup, wants to help women ignite important fertility conversations with their doctors. To do so, Modern Fertility created an at-home hormone test. The test can be ordered online where a doctor will review the order and customize it based on the type of birth control a client is on. Once it arrives, one can choose to be tested at home or at a local Quest Diagnostics lab. The at-home test simply requires the client to prick her finger and collect a blood sample–the accumulated blood should then be placed onto the provided test strip. The strip is then sent to a CLIA Certified lab where it is tested for nine hormones. Once reviewed by a physician, a private profile is sent back that explains how hormone levels may affect the number of eggs a woman has left, if her process of ovulation is normal, and other red flags that could affect a fertility window. Other trackable signals include if the onset of menopause could happen at an earlier age, and if egg freezing or IVF is the right way to go.

Carley Leahy and Afton Vechery co-founded Modern Fertility. “We’re really speaking to women much earlier in life who know that a career may be important and they may want to have children down the road, but want to be able to check in proactively,” Leahy said. “Modern Fertility is the first step for women. We’re really working with women before they get to a doctor’s office and giving them this information so that they can have a more informed conversation with their doctor,” Vechery said. “We found that you can go to a fertility clinic and take simple blood tests to check in on where you stand. But no everyone can afford them and the results can be tricky to decipher. We use information to get smart about everything in our lives—relationships, money, school. Why is something as formative as fertility still a black box?,” a statement from Leahy and Vechery said.

The Modern Fertility hormone test costs $199 compared to a $600 clinical doctor consultation. The company still recommends consulting with your doctor about any test results. More information about Modern Fertility can be found by clicking here.

Are you making fertility monitoring more accessible or convenient? Did you know that you can receive up to 14% back on your research expenses with the R&D Tax Credit? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of California. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in California, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Slurpee Inspires Improvements to Surgical Device: Engineering students at UT Austin develop ClearCam, solution for laparoscope obstruction

surgery

Inspiration for an invention can be found anywhere, and students at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin are proof of such statement. The keen graduate students noticed that a Slurpee straw, with it’s shovel-like end, is the perfect size and shape to act as a squeegee for a laparoscope. For the sake of context, a laparoscope is a fiberoptic camera tool used during minimally invasive surgery procedures so surgeons can see the interior of a body. During a procedure, the laparoscope can become foggy and covered with bodily fluids and solids—not exactly ideal when conducting a surgery from the outside.

Under the guidance of associate professor of mechanical engineering Chris Rylander, the students designed a scoop-like shaped device that keeps the view of the internal camera clear. “This is a problem faced by surgeons every day,” said Rylander. “When a laparoscope gets dirty in the body—due to condensation or contact with blood or fatty tissue, visibility is diminished. Surgeons must stop the procedure, pull the laparoscope out of the body, wipe it off and return to the task at hand, extending the time to complete the procedure and simultaneously generating potential safety concerns.” With the increase of antibiotic resistance and MRSA, less time out of the body reduces the risk of short and long-term complications.

Rylander was approached by Dr. John Uecker of UT’s Dell Medical School who was looking for a solution to the obstructed laparoscope problem. The invention is appropriately named the ClearCam. It works by using a geometrically altered polymer that can be controlled externally to remove obstructions from the laparoscope lens without scratching it. The design of the ClearCam is based off previous prototypes that were improved to meet the needs of surgeons across the U.S.

Are you improving surgical methods? How about creating new tools that could revolutionize the operating room? Did you know that you can receive up to 14% back on your research expenses with the R&D Tax Credit? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Texas. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Nanotech and Manipulating Light: Fort Worth’s SolGro develops material to foster plant growth

greenhouse

SolGro, a Fort Worth startup, has developed a greenhouse material using nanotech that converts sunlight from all colors of the spectrum into red and blue light, which just so happens to be the best colors to grow plants under. “What we’re able to do is convert those unused color bands into red and blue,” said Tyler Sickels, the CEO and founder of SolGro. Traditionally, other colors of light are wasted and can even be harmful to plant growth because it aids the growth of bacteria and fungi.

The SolGro technology has proven to be so effective, it has increased some crop yields from 20 to 300 percent. “We can increase food production by at least 50 percent,” said Wei Chen, a member of the four-person team, and a physics professor who specializes in nanotechnology and material sciences at the University of Texas at Arlington.

To have astounding growth numbers like the ones mentioned, the greenhouse material was developed with emphasis on nanotechnology. SolGro couldn’t give many details away, but the nanotechnology doesn’t require batteries or a power source. “It’s just the additive that we put in the plastic that’s doing all the work. It’s a great technology that doesn’t require any energy,” Sickels said.

The company is currently focusing on smaller projects, specifically grow-ops in states where marijuana is legal. This is great news for producers of marijuana products since growing marijuana indoors requires more energy consuming features, such as lights and electricity. The technology allows for more effective outdoor growth and with less infrastructure, thus reducing production costs. An innovation like this could completely revolutionize how food is grown and how much of it can be produced–particularly important since the world population is expected to hit 8 billion by 2025. “It’s more expensive than traditional greenhouse plastics, but your payback is very quick so it’s an easy sell,” Sickels said. Sickels also wants to sell smaller applications in hardware stores. It will be a material that can be used by everyday people who have access to a rooftop garden or to a space that can accommodate a greenhouse.

Are you improving food production techniques with nanotechnology? Did you know that you can receive up to 14% back on your research expenses with the R&D Tax Credit? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Texas. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Finding the Vulnerable with Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence: Atlanta’s Trust Stamp to aid in locating those lost to human trafficking

security

Artificial intelligence may put an end to a long-running industry: human trafficking.

The average age a minor enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14 years old–many of the victims being runaway girls who were sexually abused. According to dosomething.org, trafficking involves various forms of exploitation, such as forcing victims into prostitution, subjecting victims to slavery or involuntary servitude and compelling victims to commit sex acts for the purpose of creating pornography. Thankfully, Attorney Generals in the U.S. and Mexico are planning to implement a new system that will help to locate victims of human trafficking.

Trust Stamp, an Atlanta-based startup, will be providing the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the life-saving technology. According to the company website, “[Trust Stamp] creates proprietary artificial intelligence solutions; researching and leveraging facial biometric science and wide-scale data mining to deliver insightful identity & trust predictions while identifying and defending against fraudulent identity attacks.”

“We authenticate … by applying multiple proof-of-liveness/attack detection techniques to a still image of video (“secure selfie”),” the company website said. Artificial intelligence then compares the secure selfie to a photo ID and/or images that were taken from social media (“pattern matching”)—this is to verify an identity. “The secure selfie is then converted to a 3-D mask and a biometric hash that is stored on a server and/or Blockchain. The hash can be used for subsequent authentications or to attach and access relevant data.” Having been implemented within banking platforms to increase security, how does this technology apply to the sex trade?

To summarize, a similar system will use facial recognition data that is pulled from photos that families of missing individuals have submitted to build a shared database network. In return, a probable match will then alert lawmakers if said individual is caught on a security or other public camera. By separating biometric data into 128 individual measures, it can then be converted to a non-reversible identifying sequence, otherwise known as a ‘hash’. The hash is not considered to be personal identifier information and can be shared or stored across public or private databases.

To keep the AI solutions up to par, the company utilizes GPU processing and neural-networks to process data faster than has ever been previously possible. In return, this recognition technology will help to locate missing children and other people in the sex trade by relying on superiorly quick and accurate recognition techniques.

For more information on Trust Stamp, please visit the company website by clicking here. You may also view the video below.

Are you developing a way to save lives with AI? Did you know that you can receive up to 14% back on your research expenses with the R&D Tax Credit? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Georgia. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Georgia, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Going, going, gone: Georgia Tech funds Synapse, an all-natural energy drink startup

energy

If you’re looking for an energy drink alternative with no caffeine and made with all-natural ingredients, then look no further. Thanks to the CREATE-X program at Georgia Tech, Synapse, an energy drink that relies on nootropics for its energy boosting effects, was able to take off. According to the Synapse website, “[Synapse] is a finely crafted, fast-acting supplement designed to deliver exceptional memory function, increased focus, and improved mental clarity while providing the body with a physical energy boost that doesn’t sacrifice health or performance.”

To give consumers that well-needed boost of afternoon energy, the drink encompases the Krebs cycle, meaning the process by which cells generate energy. To go in-depth, the drink has molecules called acetylcholine in it. These molecules are responsible for maintaining attention and focus, as well as for forming new memories and learning processes. Synapse uses ingredients that work together to increase acetylcholine levels, which is also combined with its proprietary support matrix. In return, the drink primes your brain for attentive, focused work and faster learning.

“The differentiating factor between us and other nootropics companies is that none of our ingredients, including the nootropics and flavors, are synthetic,” said Daniel Porada, one of the creators of Synapse. “All of our ingredients are well-researched and studied for their cognitive and physical effects,” the company website said. The energy drink also promises to contain no high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors/sweeteners or caffeine—quite a feat when compared to what already exists on the energy drink market. Some featured natural ingredients include: huperzia serrata (moss), bacopa monnieri (herb), alpha-GPC (compound found in the brain), agave nectar (natural sweetener), citrulline malate (amino acid), creatine (organic acid), acetyl L-carnitine (nutrient, natural energy producer), alpha lipoic acid (antioxidant), schisandra (berry) and L-theanine (compound). Details about the ingredients used in the supplement can be found by clicking here.

The Synapse company hopes to give university students and Millennials a healthy, energy producing alternative to what already exists on store shelves.

Are you improving a food or beverage product? Did you know that you can receive up to 14% back on your research expenses with the R&D Tax Credit? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Georgia. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Georgia, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Take the Comforts of Home With You: Atlanta-based startup Koridor personalizes your hotel accommodations

hotel

It is important to be comfortable when away from home, especially on a well-deserved vacation. Traditionally, there aren’t many personalized options available when booking a hotel room. That is all about to change, thanks to Koridor, an Atlanta-based startup that wants to empower guests through its MyRoom platform.

By combining consumer behavior principles, innovative merchandising techniques, and valuable analytics, MyRoom helps consumers to have more control over their room choices. “For many years, the hotel industry lagged other elements of the travel experience when it comes to offering a mechanism to select a specific unit of inventory. With the MyRoom platform, the hotel industry finally leads the travel industry by offering guests an immersive, engaging experience that enables a much higher degree of personalization,” said Koridor CEO, Larry Hall.

“So when a guest is browsing a hotel, they can see a virtual tour of that room, they can see three dimensional imagery, they can see 360-degree views of the room or well-done still shots,” Hall continued. The software also provides guests with floor plans, available upgrades and window views. MyRoom is so specific, it allows a user to pick proximity to elevators and ice machines. Depending on the hotel, the software also has the option to include specific amenities, such as fireplaces, oversized closets, or a double-size sink in the room.

MyRoom is a first-of-its-kind software platform that was formed by seasoned entrepreneurs with deep industry expertise in hospitality and technology. To create such personalized experiences, Koridor works with hotel clients and manages the process of capturing digital assets and will swiftly configure the platform to highlight the personal qualities of each hotel. Analytics are then hauled into the mix, which can track consumer behavior, patterns and preferences, thus generating information that is used to tailor a guest’s experience, which in return increases revenue.

Are you developing software to improve the hospitality industry? Did you know that you can receive up to 14% back on your research expenses with the R&D Tax Credit? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Georgia. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Georgia, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

“Alexa, schedule a video call with Dr. Smith”: Austin-based startup Medici advances telehealth

telehealth

Doctor visits are a pain, and not because of that irritating chest infection or scorching fever. Wait times in the U.S. have increased 30 percent over the past four years, and that percentage is likely to rise over time, according to an article by Medscape. There is good news, though. Medici, a telehealth startup based in Austin, Texas, wants to make your doctor visits more efficient and less stressful by way of your mobile device.

Apart from doctors being overloaded, “they are buried with regulatory requirements, administrative hurdles and downward pressure on their own costs to run their practices. This burden is increasingly taking time away from doctors’ ability to focus on what really matters: providing great care for patients,” a statement from the Medici website said. “We are driven by a singular purpose. To change the doctor-patient relationship. The world is changing and healthcare must come along, too.”

The Medici application, referred to as the “WhatsApp of healthcare”, combines five principles: speed, harmony, ambition, resourcefulness and excellence. The app allows patients to contact doctors, be it physicians, dentists, therapists, even veterinarians, via text message or video call; all from a single platform. A diagnosis can be made over the app, which in return can reduce the number of patients in the waiting room. Patients can ask their doctors to join the app, or doctors can invite their patients to use it. For more context, check out the video below.

“Patients also face a growing burden, carrying more of their own healthcare costs and spending an average of 121 minutes on each medical visit they have,” the Medici website continued. “Our goal is to make global, innovative technology that will transform and truly inspire the world of healthcare.”

Are you developing new technologies to improve healthcare? Did you know that you can receive up to 14% back on your research expenses with the R&D Tax Credit? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Texas. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

“It’s not easy being green”: Georgia-based AgVoice to foster sustainability, environmental goals

farmland

The world’s population is at 7.6 billion and growing. With more mouths to feed than ever before, agriculture needs to keep up with the demands. Bruce Rasa, CEO of a program development called AgVoice, wants to help with the demands; after all, he has been in agriculture for some time. “I want to bring the power of technology to the farms and ranches to solve simple problems, enabling ag professionals to produce healthy food for the needs of a growing global population,” said Rasa in a statement from the AgVoice website.

To summarize, AgVoice is a mobile voice-interaction service that uses proprietary analytics and processing of raw voice files to capture insights via Bluetooth. The voice data that is collected can later be used for note-taking and analytics purposes. The recordings are also time-stamped and geolocated, which comes in handy when customers want to know about the origin, treatment and quality of their food.

“Agriculture is Georgia’s largest sector by number of workers. However, it is the least digitized sector, according to a recent study,” said Rasa in an interview with Hypepotamus. “We see an amazing global opportunity to serve not only our core customers, but have our data make a positive impact down the food chain. We want to champion the individual and help them get more productive.”

The program aims to optimize the use of resources in crop and animal production, which translates to positive impacts on the environment and helps users to achieve sustainability goals; AgVoice can also improve workflow management and documentation accuracy.

AgVoice is designed for use across the food and agriculture ecosystem, including livestock and crop production, agronomy, animal health and wellness, and machinery repair. The program is set to launch sometime in 2018. More information about AgVoice can be found by clicking here.

Are you developing a program that will help sustainability and environmental efforts in the agriculture sector? Did you know your R&D experiments could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Georgia. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Georgia, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Virtual Spaces to Physical Places: Startup in Atlanta uses VR to interpret, 3D print design plans

house

Visualization is critical to the existence of the interior design and architecture industries; both would not exist without some sort of visual element. Vippo, an Atlanta-based startup, wants to bring piece of mind to designers, contractors and their clients when creating the perfect space, and will do so, thanks to its new VR planning technology, VIMaec. It’s good news for those who do not have a design, contracting or engineering background.

“So part of the beauty of our technology is we can incorporate all the engineering files and the architectural files into one, and that can be seen in both in VR or as an executable on any computer that you have. This can help an owner actually experience the space that they want to build as opposed to getting a 2D set of paper plans and trying to imagine it,” Vippo CEO and co-founder, Kirkland Brooks said.

The VIMaec technology will allow multiple paths of information to be combined, which is great since there are, normally, many hands and minds working on a single project at a time. “A major differentiator separating [Vippo] from the competition is being able to incorporate the engineering plans, something most architectural visualization firms aren’t doing,” Brooks said. The combination of information from designers and architects allows for quick error detection, which reduces costs and improves the time efficiency when completing a project. “One thing that you could do is actually save quite a bit of money by being able to see if there are glaring issues and being able to take care of that in the software as opposed to having to do massive change orders later,” Brooks continued.

Designs can also be brought to life via 3D printing. “Physical models have been used throughout time to show architectural design. At Vippo, we continue that tradition with our own style of physical modeling capabilities. These models can be produced quickly and cost-effectively, using 3D printed processes,” a quotation from the Vippo website said.

According to Brooks, VR modeling technology is going to be the future of designing.

Are you advancing VR to bridge learning gaps or to make a job more efficient? Did you know your R&D experiments could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is a Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services to the state of Georgia. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Georgia, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes. 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.