The Future of Air Travel (sans Ear Damage): NASA develops quiet supersonic plane, X-59 QueSST

supersonic

NASA is renowned for its progressive technologies and inventions. The newest mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is to design quiet supersonic aircraft that doesn’t create ear-splitting sonic booms when breaking the sound barrier. This very idea gave birth to the X-59 QueSST project, a project that hopes federal sonic air travel laws can be rewritten. If NASA’s X-59 QueSST is successful, this will change the aviation industry and open a new era in faster-than-sound air travel over land—something that has been banned for quite some time now.

To test the sound products of sonic flight, NASA will use Supersonic F/A-18 Hornet jets that move at speeds of around Mach 1 (the speed of sound), or about 630 mph. Gravity and re-ignited afterburners help the F/A-18 to move at these impressive speeds. When in flight, air molecules start to resist the jet, which then sends dozens of tiny shockwaves in front of and behind the aircraft, thus creating two distinct shockwaves. This is where the sonic boom comes from, often reported as two successive noises. However, if the pilot goes into a dive and bottoms out at 32,000 feet (see video below), the booms then turn into quiet thumps, according to NASA. F/A-18s will be sent flying over Galveston, Texas to mimic the sonic profile of the X-59. 500 residents will be included in the experiment to document the noise levels, according to CNN. The sound tests will allow researchers to have a perceived decibel level in mind for the X-plane that they think will be acceptable to a community under its flight path.

Based on the F/A-18 simulations, NASA wants to develop the X-59, a faster-than-sound X-plane that will be equipped with quiet supersonic technologies. The X-59 will be built so that supersonic shockwaves don’t coalesce together, thus avoiding ear-splitting sonic booms. “With the X-59 you’re sill going to have multiple shockwaves because of the wings on the aircraft that create lift and the volume of the plane. But the airplane’s shape is carefully tailored such that those shockwaves don’t combine,” said Ed Haering, a NASA aerospace engineer at Armstrong.

The construction of the X-59 is being overseen by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. “I’m confident that the contributions the X-59 QueSST will make to our nation and the world will ensure its place among the greatest NASA X-planes ever flown,” said Jaiwon Shin, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics.

Are you improving air travel or aeronautics? 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. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, 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.

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.

 

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.

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.

Callbox Storage: The Dallas-based startup that does the heavy lifting

Moving box

Is your home overflowing with furniture, clothes, books, pets, Christmas decorations and a plethora of other items? Thinking of an extreme minimalist purge but can’t bear to part with some much-loved items?

Enter: Callbox Storage.

This Dallas-based company offers a game-changing system that takes the hassle and anxiety out of self-storage.  Many are reluctant to use self-storage services because they’re afraid they’d lose track of all their worldly possessions or it would be too difficult to drag everything from Point A to Point B. As Marty Sabota of the Star-Telegram noted, “There’s loading, hauling and keeping track of everything from trash to treasures. And the headache of trying to retrieve something can be frustrating.”Founders Dan Slaven and Kyle Bainter understood this and were keen on using a tech-based approach to improve storage systems.

From pick-up, itemization, organization, storage, and even delivering requested items, CallBox Storage is disrupting the self-storage market. Customers can easily track every item in their storage unit using CallBox Storage’s online and secure photo inventory. If a customer wanted to retrieve his or her Christmas decorations, for example, the customer can request items through Callbox and the company delivers it to and from the customer’s storage unit, similar to Amazon. Items are given a barcode and are scanned multiple times throughout the transportation process, ensuring that nothing disappears unexpectedly.

“To date, we haven’t lost a single item,” Bainter proudly said.

Founded in September 2016, Callbox Storage focused initially on North Texas in Dallas and eventually expanded into Austin and Houston. This month, it will run its services in Phoenix, Arizona, the first venture outside of its Texas home base.

Bainter explained, “Real estate prices are going up, home values are going up, which means the space people can afford is going down, so this type of option becomes very valuable to them because we can be that extra closet, we can be that extra garage so people can live in smaller quarters and have more space.”

Are you developing new technologies to improve self-storage? 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 Texas’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services. 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 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.