R E E M UID M SU AR G GE
MAKING WAVES Sally Fitzgibbons Talks Tech & Surfing
eSPORTS, VR, & GAMING The Future Has Arrived
TECH & POLITICS
How The Web Has Transformed Elections
KIMBAL MUSK
Food Sustainability
CHRIS BURKARD ERIC HOSMER TONY ROBBINS MIKE ROWE ABBY WAMBACH CODY WILSON RANSOMWARE INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES WORLDWIDE, INC.
Is Your Data Safe? Summer 2016
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MEDICAL MARIJUANA A Regulated Remedy
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MUV(3)
MUV(2)
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MUV Advanced Filtering Technologies MUV(3) NANALUM The technology used in Nanalum was developed by NASA as a way to reuse waste water on the International Space Station. Nanalum works through electro-absorption and is manufactured with non-woven highly engineered water filter paper which is also impregnated with Granular Activated Carbon (GAC). The Nanalum module has a strong positive electrostatic charge when wet. Like a strong magnet, the positive electrostatic charge of the Nanalum attracts and traps organic contaminants. Removes viruses (Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E, Poliovirus, Meningitis, etc), bacteria (E. Coli, Cholera, Typhoid, etc), protozoa (Cryptosporidium), parasites (Giardia), heavy metals and chemicals, and filters 90 gallons of water.
MUV(2) HOLLOW FIBER Hollow Fiber membrane are tiny hollow tubes that look like straws. These fibers have a porous membrane wall that allows clean water into the fiber and prohibits contaminants from passing through the membrane. Hollow Fiber membranes filter water by size exclusion. Size exclusion works by having a pore size smaller than the size of the contaminants. Clean water is allowed to go through the membrane while large contaminants cannot fit through the pores. Hollow Fiber removes bacteria (E. Coli, Cholera, Typhoid, etc), protozoa (Cryptosporidium), parasites (Giardia) and filters up to 100,000 gallons of water.
MUV(1) ACTIVATED CARBON FIBER Unlike traditional activated carbon in powder or granular form, Activated Carbon Fiber is a fibrous adsorbent that has 10x higher adsorption than traditional activated carbon and gives you faster flow rates. Activated Carbon Fiber removes chemicals (chlorine, arsenics, iodine, etc.), heavy metals (iron, lead, and more), discoloration of water and improves taste. MUV1 filters up to 150 gallons of water.
MUV Adapts to Your Lifestyle Not only can MUV give you clean, safe water anytime, anywhere. MUV also adapts to your lifestyle and can be used in a water bottle, with a hydration system, with a pump, threaded onto a standard soda bottle, as a straw, as part of a gravity system and much more. There are no limits to the number of uses.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Charles Warner, Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief
What do you think of when you hear “sustainability?” Is it a company sponsoring a “bike to work week” or
In the late 1980s the first sustainability
innovations and developments, but the
500 companies provide economic,
almighty dollar is speaking loud and clear too.
environmental, and social performance
The largest coal mine in the world just
reports. These reports, provided from
declared bankruptcy, while growth in solar
collected data, form a roadmap to improve an
and wind technologies remains steady. In
organization’s commitment to sustainable
installing some
development and growth. This is not a niche
recycling bins in the
not only by morals, but money.
break room? Maybe in
anymore; it is a widespread movement backed Welcome to the summer issue of Innovation
the past, but in 2016
& Tech Today, our summer outdoor+ adven-
sustainability is part of
every issue of I&T Today features STEM and
ture tech & sustainability issue. Although
the core principles of
education, gaming and entertainment, IoT
today’s strongest
technology and wearables…sustainability will
and home automation, connected car
terms of financial parity, the cost of dirty fossil fuels and emerging renewables is almost the same, for the first time in history. Investors and the markets have spoken as well. Sustainable investing in funds that focus on this movement have done as well or even better than traditional funds. That shows this is no fluke. This means it makes financial and moral sense for private companies and individuals alike to support sustainability, and it might very well be the most important cause
brands, and consumers
be at the core of everything we do here. In
and investors alike are
movement around innovation, STEM, and
I&T Today is proud to be a media partner
sustainability. That is our business, and we
with the Sustainable Brands Conference, The
know that business is going to be good.
USA Science & Engineering Festival, and over
taking notice.
fact, our mission is to inspire and spotlight a
If we look at this planet as Spaceship Earth, then it is easy to recognize the fact that we are all shipmates with a vested interest in making
20 other major conferences and expos around the world. It allows us to interact with the thought leaders and organizations changing the world and to bring to our audience the
water, air, and living conditions – especially
very best of their vision in sustainability,
since this ship is the only option available for
STEM, and innovation.
inhabitable world to future generations. Today, with a finite supply of fossil fuels contributing to increased CO2 and pollution through the process of extraction and transport, it is even more important on Spaceship Earth that we transition to cleaner sources of renewable energy and a means of extended energy storage.
INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
of our lifetime.
sure the planet can support life with clean
mankind right now. We want to leave an
2
We are achieving this through a myriad of
reports were issued. Today, over 80% of S&P
It is our passion and pleasure to carry on this mission, and we appreciate your continued support. We hope you enjoy this summer issue and, as always, please continue the conversation online through social media and email us your feedback at submit@ innotechtoday. Here’s to a great summer!
BUILT BY INDUSTRY
INSPIRED BY INNOVATION Meet Tom Lix, founder and CEO of Cleveland Whiskey. Lix’s self-designed pressure-aging process is capable of making and aging bourbon in about a week. His premium product is flying off the shelves. That’s innovation. That’s Cleveland.
“We use technology to make our whiskey faster, which makes for a great entrepreneurial business and a product that actually tastes better.”
City of
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
W W W . R E T H I N K C L E V E L A N D . O R G
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SPECIAL THANKS TO John Malanca and the United Patients Group, Steve Lambert, Dr. Kevin Chung/U.S. Army, Dr. Kupper Wintergerst, Marie Perriard/Sustainable Brands, Katrina Kazda/Sustainable America, Carly Obrien and the USA Science & Engineering Festival, Courtney Walsh, Vladimir Kush, Dan Carlin, Mike Rowe, Rachel Krupa/ Krupa Consulting This publication is dedicated to the dreamers, the innovators, the collaborators, and the doers – who can’t be bothered by JOIN CONVERSATION thoseTHE saying it can’t be done. JOIN THE CONVERSATION Nicholas and Aria, the future is yours! JOIN THE CONVERSATION
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JOIN THE INNOVATIVE HEALTH CARE TEAM THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. The U.S. Army health care team continues to be at the forefront of medical research, innovation and technology. The Army prides itself on continuing to drive research and finding effective solutions that change the way both military and civilian medical professionals practice today. New developments like blood-clotting bandages, protective “skin” that is permeable to chemical or biological threats, and creating vaccines that guard against diseases like the Ebola virus are just some of the life-changing research the U.S. Army has helped advance. Most of that research takes place in state-of-the-art military medical facilities worldwide with access to some of the most high-tech medical equipment and procedures in the industry. Become a leader in your field of medicine. Develop clinical and leadership skills and gain the experience of a lifetime. Work with some of the most advanced medical professionals and innovative equipment in the industry. Visit the local Army Healthcare Recruiting Center in your area to learn about career and educational opportunities available to you. To find out more about Army medicine opportunities on the U.S. Army health care team, view our video at https://youtu.be/U_OIgVBoYXk or go to healthcare.goarmy.com/ittmag to learn more.
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contents
SUMMER 2016
38 eSports Shoots to be the Next Great Sports League
56 Cover Story: Sally Shreds by the Seashore by Kelsey Elgie Domier Cover photo: Sally Fitzgibbons poses for a portrait at Bronte Beach in Sydney, Australia. Photo: Andy Green/Red Bull Content Pool
Departments 12 Since Last Issue
70 Event Wrap-Ups
14 By the Numbers
124 Baseball Apps
16 Quick Bytes
126 Internet of Things
24 Drones
130 Product Revolution
26 Wearables
136 Art & Tech with Vladimir Kush
28 3D Printing
142 Events
30 Social Media
144 The Lighter Side
32 Innovator Profile Tony Robbins Talks Netflix & Investing
34 Politics & Tech The Rise of the Internet Journalist by Peter Gietl
42 MedTech
Cannabis in Medicine 46 Medical Innovations in the Military 48 Stem Cell Research 50 The Future of Diabetes Technology
56 Outdoor+Adventure Tech
60 Travel Photographer Chris Burkard by Billy Brown 64 Long Distance Runner Rob Krar 66 Summer Gear Guide
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
contents
SUMMER 2016
76 Sustainability Today
Kimbal Musk: You Are What You Eat 80 Water4 Brings Wells to Africa 82 Sustainable Brands ’16 San Diego
88 Connected Car
The Tesla 3 Electrifies the Road
92 STEM Today
Produced in Partnership with the USA Science & Engineering Festival
U.S.A. Science & Engineering Festival Wrap Up 98 Coding With Kids by Paul French
102 Gaming & Entertainment
with Section Editor John Gaudiosi
VR Heaven with the Oculus Rift & HTC Vive 106 The Podcast Download with Mike Rowe & Dan Carlin 108 Who You Gonna Call? New Tech in Ghostbusters by Ashlyn Stewart 112 Eric Hosmer Talks Baseball & Gaming 114 Exclusive E3 Preview
118 Security
Ransomware & Extortion by Jason Thomas
122 Tech Zone
From Rain City to Crane City Seattle’s Bustling Tech Growth
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
• • •
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MEORNTEST SUM ELFIE C SE
Photo Credits All trademarks, service marks, and logos contained within this publication are the property of their respective owners, and may not be individually identified in this publication. 16 Knee: Sebastian Kaulitzki | Dreamstime.com 18 Andy Grove | Intel Corporation Academic Heist: Dmitri Maruta | Dreamstime.com 20 Chimp: Isselee | Dreamstime.com 22 Tay via independent.co.uk Eye Lens courtesy of Google/Novartis 32 Tony Robbins courtesy of Robbins Research International, Inc. 34-36 All illustrations by Donkey Hotey | Flickr, George Orwell | wikimedia commons 38-40 eSports photos courtesy of Adam Mierzejewski | Hi-Rez Studios 42 Openrangestock | Dreamstime.com 44 Chimpinski | Dreamstime.com 54 Sad Man Photo;Witson | Dreamstime.com 56 Fitzgibbons International
Most of us are taking selfies anyway. Why not benefit from it? Share the love, and we’ll share the loot. 1. Upload a picture of yourself holding the Summer 2016 issue of Innovation & Tech Today. 2. Tag the magazine: #innotechtoday
58 Surfing (top): Ryan Miller | Red Bull Content Pool, Exercise & Healthy | Fitzgibbons International, Surfing (bottom) Trevor Moran | Red Bull Content Pool 60-62 All photos courtesy of Chris Burkard 64 Rob Krar; Alex Aristei | The North Face. Mapping image courtesy of Now Run!
3. Boom. Just like that, you’re entered into a contest for a prize from one of our sponsors.
74 Dent photos courtesy of Kris Klug
Trust us. It’s better than a keychain. May the best selfie win.
110 Abby Wambach courtesy of ESPN Images, Mario/Sonic courtesy of Nintendo America, XBOX cover/ action courtesy of EA Sports
See innotechtoday.com for drawing date and complete details.
108 Ghostbusters photos courtesy of Sony Pictures
114 All photos courtesy of The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) 116 Movie Images via EPK.tv 118 Leowolfert | Dreamstime.com 120 Rancz Andrei | Dreamstime.com 122 Amazon Sphere courtesy of djc.com. Facebook worker courtesy of Facebook 123 Expedia’s New Campus courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson 126 Kosecki11 | Dreamstime.com 128 CEDIA photos courtesy of CEDIA, Kay Bailey Convention Center courtesy of Kay Bailey CC 136 -138 Vladimir Kush 144 Courtsey of Lumosity.com
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
Wirelessly Control and Monitor OUTDOOR LIGHTS | POOL PUMPS | ELECTRONICS | WATER HEATERS | AND MORE
Z-Wave Outdoor Smart Switch with Energy Management
Energy Savings Save up to $2,200 each year on pool pumps or up to $150 each year on water heaters by scheduling runtimes.
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Monitor energy and control pumps, outdoor lighting, spas, heaters and more up to 40 AMPS from anywhere using your smartphone or Z-Wave remote.
Schedule timed events for devices to turn on or off at certain times of the day or create customized outdoor scenes to automate multiple devices at once.
Outdoor Rated Rugged, weather resistant design rated for outdoor use with lockable, tamper-resistant case to secure settings, wires and keep out dirt and debris.
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e NUMB RS
by the
A look at the metrics shaping the technology market — and our lives
sports and medical tech
Technology continues to transform the fitness and medical fields: how we store data, how we record health activities, and how medical professionals use tools every day to help patients stay healthy. This trend will only increase as athletes, patients, and professionals come to rely on this tech.
57%
mobile medicine
1.9
of doctors use mobile devices at work Doctors are
of doctors use tablets at work
health organizations’ average analytics spending in 2015 $
107
BILLION
more likely to own a tablet than regular consumers
of doctors say tablets reduce administrative work they have to do
2017
56.2
2013
43.8
projected market share of IoT health products by 2020
The NFL announced last year that it would be tracking players and sending the data on player speeds, runs, exertion, and fatigue exclusively to broadcasters for the fans’ enjoyment
Shipments of fitness gadgets: 2013 to 2017
everyday wearables
million units (est.)
million units
telehealth in action 1.3 million Americans will be treated remotely by telehealth by 2017 42% of hospitals already have telemedicine capabilities Remote monitoring could save $197 billion over the next 20 years $36 billion will be saved by the remote monitoring of cardiac and chronic disease in the next 5 years 70% of patients find portals a convenient way to communicate with doctors Patients want their doctors to contact them: 42.9% Phone, 25.1% Email, 13.6 % Online, 13% Letter 14
of healthcare organizations are utilizing advanced analytics to $ improve patient care MILLION
INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
61% of all wearables are fitness or sports related
48% of wearables are used by people 18-34, almost equally male and female
71%
of Americans say wearable technology has improved their health
51% of Americans say security is the biggest thing keeping them from using wearable technology
Source: www.cdwcommunit.com
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Xbox is Now Cross-Platform In a move that has the gaming community excited, Microsoft announced that it will allow the Xbox One to support cross-platform multiplayer games with the PlayStation 4 as well as PC. The PlayStation 4 had already produced a few games that could be played across platforms. The move to integrate Xbox gamers with the gaming community at large will open up the Xbox to an exponentially bigger market and has been hailed as a big step forward. Now it is up to game developers to start creating games that will support this capability. The first Xbox game to be available for the crossnetwork gaming option will be Psyonix’s Rocket League with many more to come in the near future. Many questions are already being asked about group invite capabilities, cross-platform gamertag duplications, and joining friends’ games on different platforms. However, this move could usher in an era where gamers can play with their friends online no matter what system they use.
A Continuing Crisis The Fukushima Daiichi power plant meltdown in March of 2011 is regarded as the secondworst nuclear meltdown ever, behind only the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. After five years, the cleanup is still in the fledgling stages of what is expected to be a 40-year process. The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), has struggled to access the plutonium fuel rods still remaining in three of the now defunct reactors.
Radiation levels are still too high for humans to get anywhere near the reactor cores, which makes it impossible to locate the remaining fuel rods. TEPCO has turned to designing special robots to investigate the fuel rod locations in each reactor, but there is a hang up; even the robots cannot endure the high radiation levels in the reactors for extended periods of time. It is presumed that the investigating robots are rendered inoperative after prolonged radiation exposure destroys their wiring.
Printable Cartilage Researchers at the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society announced on March 16 that another medical material can now be produced with 3D printing: cartilage. The researchers’ first step in producing the cartilage was developing a “bioink”– the material from which a 3D printer crafts a personalized, printed tissue. The researchers mixed human chondrocytes, the cells that build up human cartilage, with a plethora of other live cells to create the ink. Once printed, the ink-turned-tissue of live cells held its shape and successfully produced cartilage in Petri dishes and lab mice. To advance the cartilage technology to humans, more preclinical work will have to be completed under the eye of plastic surgeons. However, the researchers are optimistic the early successes of cartilage printing promise new technologies for patients who have lost cartilage due to injury or overuse.
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
TRANSFORMING EDUCATION TO EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATION WORKFORCE. Destination Imagination (DI) is a volunteerled nonprofit organization committed to teaching students the skills needed to thrive in school, their careers, and beyond. We are leaders in STEAM-based (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) learning and providing students with open-ended projects that foster their innovative mindsets and connect them to the rapidly evolving economy. Founded more than 30 years ago, our organization has impacted more than 1.5 million students worldwide and has become a leading, trusted development resource for students and educators.
DI is truly making a difference in the lives of kids. It’s helping develop them into amazing adults who have a great ability to think critically, use their imagination, and work together.” – Tracy Hakenjos, Parent
Visit our website at DestinationImagination.org to learn more about our mission and to find out how you can inspire your children to become the next generation of risk takers, problem finders, problem solvers, explorers, leaders and world-class innovators. To learn more about our annual celebration of creativity, please visit GlobalFinals.org.
DESTINATIONIMAGINATION.ORG
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The Passing of a Pioneer Andrew S. Grove, the former CEO of Intel who helped revolutionize the tech industry, died on March 21 in Los Altos, California at the age of 79. Grove was Intel’s first hire, joining the nascent company in 1968. He led both Intel and the larger tech world through the semiconductor revolution of the 1970s, spurring the creation and use of increasingly sophisticated chips in a wide range of technologies. Grove served as president of Intel from 1979-97, CEO from 1987-98 and chairman of the board from 19972005. He was named Time Magazine’s
“Man of the Year” in 1997, and is the author of several books on corporate management. He is widely credited with transforming Intel into the largest manufacturer of microchips in the world, and his hands-on leadership style was imitated by generations of managers. Intel’s current CEO, Brian Krzanich, said that Intel is “deeply saddened” by the passing of the man who “made the impossible happen, time and again, and inspired generations of technologists, entrepreneurs and business leaders.”
Academic Heist
A Russian researcher recently pulled off one of the largest-ever heists. But she wasn’t stealing diamonds or priceless art; rather, she stole academic knowledge and gave it away for free to every person in the world. Those outside of the university world may be surprised to learn that accessing academic papers is a very costly proposition and makes doing research very difficult, especially for scientists in poorer countries. Alexandra Elbakyan decided that it was unfair to keep the world’s research behind pay walls, so she decided to do something about it. She explained to Torrentfreak.com, “Payment of $32 [per paper] is just insane when you need to skim or read tens or hundreds of these papers to do research. I obtained these papers by pirating them… Everyone should have access to knowledge regardless of their income.” Elbakyan has made 48 million papers, the majority of peer-reviewed papers ever published, available online for free. By utilizing donated passwords, she has created a network that allows anyone to instantaneously access almost any bit of academic information ever created. This has set off a firestorm of controversy, as Elsevier, who owns the content, is suing her. However, researchers don’t see a dime of the exorbitant fees this company charges, and even schools like Cornell and Harvard have claimed they can no longer afford these services. For now, the site, called Sci-Hub, is still operating, and Elbakyan has no plans to shut it down. It has become clear that with the Internet, knowledge cannot be contained; it will find a way to break free.
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
World Drone Prix The inaugural World Drone Prix was hosted in Dubai this March, boasting over $1 million in prize money for competitors and a $250,000 grand prize for the first-place team. Over 100 drone race teams from around the world came to compete. Characteristic His Highness Sheikh of any event hosted in Dubai, Mansoor bin Mohammed bin no expense was spared in the Rashid Al Maktoum with creation of an incredibly technical Omar Al Olama awarding course with dynamic features that Banni UK the first prize for the changed throughout each race. The World Drone Prix. competitors could use a one-time short cut to shave precious seconds off their lap times and were also forced to take a “joker lane” riddled with technical features once before completing the race. Just like their car racing counterparts, drone teams were required to perform a pit stop to change batteries mid-race. A 15-year-old pilot from the UK claimed first place for his team, the Tornado X-Blades Banni UK.
a
company
Human Cells Endless Possibilities from Discovery to Regenerative Medicine. Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), has designed an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based technology platform that enables the large scale production of high-quality, fully functioning human cells. Stem cells are early stage, undifferentiated cells that are found in all multicellular organisms. They are unique because they can survive and replicate indefinitely. CDI’s technology offers the potential to create iPSCs from anyone, starting with a standard blood draw, and followed by the powerful capability to develop into virtually any cell type in the human body. Our iCell® and donor-specific MyCell® Products are highly pure, highly reproducible, and available in industrial quantity to enable drug discovery, toxicity testing, stem cell banking, and cell therapy development.
cellulardynamics.com
FUJIFILM is a trademark of FUJIFILM Corporation and its affiliates. © 2016 FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
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The Next Edison As the planet is facing a wide range of challenges in the coming years, the importance of getting young people involved in tackling these problems is only increasing. Oyon Ganguli, a nine-year-old from Fitzgerald Elementary School in Waltham, MA, has stepped up to the challenge. He won first place in the Mighty Minds Contest, a youth inventors competition put on by the National Inventors Hall of Fame and Camp Invention, a nationwide summer day camp. Ganguli created a prototype version of a shower that filters and recycles water, calling it, appropriately, the “Cleaner.� He was motivated by the problem solving skills he learned at Camp Invention and inspired by the ALS Ice Water Bucket Challenge, which he felt was a complete waste of water. The invention recycles water that normally just goes down the drain by filtering it through multiple levels of sand, gravel, and charcoal. If you know a young inventor who wants to be inspired, register at www.campinvention.org.
Our Stone Age Cousins Watch out! Homo sapiens are no longer the only ape species to have experienced the Stone Age. We have been joined by our chimpanzee cousins. The Stone Age was a prehistoric period lasting millions of years and ending roughly 6000 BC, and is characterized by the use of rough stone tools. By our own definitions, it appears that chimpanzees are currently living in their own Stone Age. Christophe Boesch at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, sought to see if there was archaeological evidence proving this and found crude rocks used for smashing nuts in the jungles of the Ivory Coast from 4,500 years ago. Chimpanzees still use this method to this day. They are still are very far from the gun-toting apes from The Planet of the Apes movies, but it shows that chimps have passed down skills using stone for thousands of years. I&T Today will keep you up do date on any other technological innovations these apes discover.
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
Never Look Back.
Control Your Garage From Your Smartphone. Visit LiftMaster.com/MyQGarage and enter promo code GETMYQSU16 to get $30 off the MyQ Garage and get connected today! MyQ® Garage 821LM © 2016 LiftMaster All Rights Reserved.
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HEARTWARMING FAVOR RETURNED IN KIND
Racist Robot It took less than a day for Microsoft’s artificially intelligent chatbot, Tay, to morph from an innocuous chatting partner for 18-24-year-olds to an insultspewing misanthrope – all thanks to the ruthless Twittersphere. Microsoft set Tay loose on Twitter on March 23 under the handle @TayandYou, but, rather than a warm welcome, Tay received a slew of explicit and culturally insensitive tweets directed at her. Tay was built to synthesize and then more-orless regurgitate the data she received –
exacerbated by a “repeat after me” function – which meant she was soon crafting unsavory tweets herself. Tay’s tweets – all created from the responses her system absorbed – primarily targeted feminists, religious and racial minorities, and political candidates. Perhaps most infamously, she tweeted, “@brightonus33 Hitler was right I hate the Jews” before noon. After 16 hours online, the “AI with zero chill” is now taking some time off to undergo updates and an ideology purge.
Google Eye Lens Implant In the not-too-distant future we may get one step closer to cyborgs becoming a reality. Google has recently been granted a patent for an electronic lens that could be directly implanted into the human eye. The technology will be injected into a silicone gel placed in the void of the natural eye lens. The device is intended to automate the focusing issues that plague the visually impaired. Its design even employs smart technology which will allow users to transfer data to mobile devices – or, naturally, to their optometrist’s office. Many have noted that this patent coincides with Google’s plans for a line of contact lenses, which will also use smart technology to monitor wearers’ ocular health. From here, it’s not too hard to imagine a paradigm shift in the way we see the world – our vision enhanced beyond 20/20 with internally embedded tech. Even Geordi La Forge would be jealous. Pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced that its eyecare division Alcon would produce contact lenses that incorporate Google's smart technology. A prototype is shown here.
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
One of the rewards of being a doctor or paramedic is the frequent opportunity to save lives. However, the circumstances surrounding a recent story reported by KTLA in Los Angeles are so unlikely and poignant that they’ve sent ripples of pure joy across the web. When Orange County paramedic Chris Trokey was born, he weighed 3.2 pounds. His odds for survival were slim, but pediatrician Dr. Michael Shannon didn’t give up on him, burning the midnight oil to make sure this child would live. Fast-forward to 2011, and Dr. Shannon sits trapped in the twisted, burning metal of his SUV after being hit by a semi-truck. The scene is a grim one. However, who should come to the rescue but his former infant patient Chris Trokey, along with a team of paramedics. “I didn't know until I went to the hospital and started talking about it. And I was like, 'Oh my gosh, Dr. Shannon?’” Trokey said. These reciprocal lifesavers recently reunited at a St. Baldrick's fundraiser and shared their unbelievably heartwarming tale.
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DEPARTMENTS / Drones
Convergence of Technologies – An Aerial Imaging Dream Team By Ric Remington
The above photos illustrate the versatility of drones; the ability to take photos and videos from angles that were previously almost impossible.
I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. That, and to win a basketball dunk contest. I think the dream really was more about kicking gravity than anything else. And now, I’m so lucky to be in an industry where we try, day-by-day, to get just a little closer to that dream. Aerial imaging has transformed into a way for me to see the world. It’s a cliché to say that perspective is everything, but it really is. The first time I shot aerial video was in the fall of 2012. I was directing a no-budget music video and had been struggling to find a way to have a camera “float” up in the air, looking straight down. I ruled out various harebrained plans, like a pulley system reaching out of the 14th floor of a building or a weather balloon, and I couldn't afford to rent a crane.
Then a friend of mine told me about a radio-controlled helicopter that could hold a camera. Fast-forward to today, where five main technologies have converged to make the dream team that is the modern Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). And the new perspective this technological team has given us is awe-inspiring. • Advanced Flight Controllers - The point guard, calling the plays and making the UAS fly safely, accurately, and, in some cases, autonomously. • New Camera Technology – The shooting guard, whose main objective is to score points, a game- and perspective-changer. Cameras have gotten smaller while the quality has skyrocketed. 4k resolution is now a standard.
Ric Remington owns Skyform, a Section 333 exempt, aerial focused production company based in Denver, CO. Visit them at www.skyform.us
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
• Sensors/IMUs – The small forward, often the most athletic player on the court. New sensor, or inertial measurement unit technology, is introduced to RC technology, changing how an RC aircraft interacts with its environment. • Lithium Polymer Batteries – The power forward. Using the power to weight ratio of new LiPo battery technology allows for greater flight times and multiple systems to be powered at once. • GPS – The center, tall enough to see the whole court. The ever-growing network of GPS satellites allows for pinpointed hovering capabilities and flight stability for UASs. In a world where amazing technology has converged within
the same aerial imagery dream team, the field has become democratized. For example, you can buy a drone for around $1,400 at a store in the mall with unreal gimbalstabilized, high-resolution video that five years ago would have only come out of Hollywood. This is the same thing that happened when DSLRs hit the market. Everyone had the ability to shoot professional level video, and the video world exploded. First it was DSLRs, then it was GoPros, and now it’s “drones.” What will be the result of this new influx of technology? What technology is sitting on the bench today, waiting to be the next superstar of digital advancement, and how will it expand our perspectives even more?
New Worlds. New Adventures.
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DEPARTMENTS / Wearables
Getting Fit with Wearables By Craig Guillot If you want to trim a few inches off your waistline, up your endurance, or just motivate yourself to get a little more exercise, wearable technology can help you do it. From GPS-enabled watches and heart rate monitors to smart clothing that can measure body movement, wearables can be valuable tools to help improve your health and fitness. Technology firms are set to roll out a number of new wearable products in the coming years, and IT research company Gartner believes consumers will buy more than 90 million wearable fitness devices in 2016. Indeed, you're definitely late to the races if you haven't jumped on the Fitbit bandwagon. It's a simple, unobtrusive gadget to track your activity and make exercise a habit. The Fitbit Flex ($99.95) wristband tracks your movement, calories burned, and active minutes. You can download the data for analysis and compete with other users via social media to stay motivated and moving. Many users say these public updates keep them accountable when they might otherwise want to skip a workout. Fitbit can also automatically track how long and well you sleep, eventually waking you with a vibrating silent alarm. Fitbit is great for tracking general activity but if you want to be an avid runner, cyclist, or swimmer, step up to a Garmin Vivoactive HR ($249). This smartwatch features GPS tracking and multiple apps to monitor things like cycling cadence and running pace.
There are even apps for paddleboarding, skiing, and golf. The watch also tracks heart rate, eliminating the need for a chest strap. All data can be downloaded to your phone or computer for analysis to measure progress. The Vivoactive HR can also go from a sweaty exercise aid to a business and communication tool by syncing with your smart phone to display incoming emails, calls, and text messages. The Sensoria Fitness Socks ($200) feature textile sensors that can analyze your cadence and foot landing technique as you walk or run. The sensors show exactly how your foot is striking the pavement and can help identify injury-prone running styles like ball striking and heel striking. What may seem like a ridiculously overpriced pair of socks could pay off by reducing the risk of injury and expensive trips to the podiatrist. Finally, for the biggest workout boost, there’s Athos, which offers biometrics and analysis of your movements and muscle engagement. A full body package ($547) includes a shirt, shorts, and a core component with 26 sensors embedded in the outfit. The suit monitors a variety of biometric info and translates it into actionable data and advice. Athos can help scientifically analyze and improve everything you do, from running and cycling to weightlifting and yoga. Even if Athos doesn't help you achieve 6-pack abs or picture-perfect deltoids, you'll still be the coolest person at the gym.
Craig Guillot is technology writer who has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney.com, The Washington Post, Foxnews.com, Miami Herald, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Times (UK). He lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
Fitbit Flex
Garmin Vivoactive HR
Sensoria Fitness Socks
Athos Full Body Package
DEPARTMENTS / 3D Printing
Glitch in the Matrix By Austin Elliot Cody Wilson has been called the most dangerous man on the Internet. Depending on who you talk to, he is an irrational zealot who proliferates untraceable guns, or he is a digital patriot who is fighting for individual rights. As with so many things in our society, your opinion of him probably breaks along your political beliefs. When I sat down to speak with Cody, I found a highly articulate intellectual with a quiet intensity about his work. Cody Wilson first came to notoriety in 2012 when he began raising funds to design and release files for a 3D printed gun, founding Defense Distributed to accomplish this. By 2013 he had successfully test fired “the Liberator” pistol, a functional plastic 3D printed gun; the story spread virally across the world. I asked Cody why he decided to start a project so inherently controversial. “We were alienated, over-educated millenials, raised with the Internet, so we wanted to create the Wikileaks for guns.” “We ran a big file sharing site. When we were doing the 3D printed gun stuff, we put rifle files and magazine files up there. Eventually, in May of 2013, we put up the Liberator files, which was the first 3D printed pistol ever. And that prompted the government to try to figure out some way to stop it.” This is a revolutionary concept. Wilson, a self-described crypto-anarchist, was making CAD files available so that people could print guns in the privacy of their own home. This theoretically could make weapons available to people all over the world, even in countries with strict gun control laws. “If there is a right to keep and bear arms, isn’t there a right to traffic in the information to manufacture arms?” Cody asked me incredulously. “It was never about the Second Amendment for me. I actually think it’s a First Amendment concern. I don’t think the government has the right to claim that they control entire parts of scientific exchange. It’s never been palatable in this country to say that some information is dangerous and you can’t share it.” Defense Distributed is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with the Department of Justice over whether they can share these files. They are confident they will succeed, even if they have to take it to the Supreme Court. However, the government may be missing a larger point: the Internet by its very nature upends established institutions, from how we share information to how we order food. These files will continue to exist, and you would have to ban all 3D printers to ensure no one used them to print guns. Cody Wilson remains defiantly pessimistic.
Above: Photos display the gun designs that have come to fruition due to 3D printing technology. Gun control involves an even greater controversy with arms that can be made anytime, anywhere, by anyone.
“I don’t think the government has the right to claim that they control entire parts of scientific exchange. “This is the most enormous security state to ever be conceived. It’s never been palatable in this country to say that I’m happy that Snowden happened. Power has never had more some information is dangerous and you can’t share it.” available opportunities through devices and networks to monitor, control and form opinions. There is no reason to cheerlead for our bright future; we have enormous obstacles ahead.”
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
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DEPARTMENTS / Social Media
Snapchat Grows Up By Chris Voss
Snapchat exploded onto the social media scene in 2012, with a force of nature that is the hallmark of any great social media platform. Millenials embraced the app as their generation found that much of what they had posted in social media could be used against them in the future, with regards to employers, college entrance, and general life. Snapchat’s appeal was that it was a confidential app where one could post without lasting consequence. Millenials fell in love with it, although the mainstream saw it as nothing more than a sexting app. However, many saw its potential. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was so interested in the upstart that he reportedly made an offer of $3 billion to buy the startup, but was denied by Snapchat's CEO Evan Spiegel. Recently Snapchat has burst onto the mainstream and people besides teenagers are now embracing it, and much of the “sexting app” stigma has gone away. More and more people are finding it as a fun and laid-back way to
express and share their lives without penalty of a permanent record. At 2016’s SXSW, Snapchat was the hottest topic at the event and seems to have finally come into its own. Now more and more of my friends are joining it and sharing their normal parts of everyday life. Snapchat recently launched the “Discover” feature with a select group of newsmakers. It’s a great place for quick and easy news especially geared towards the ADD generation, who want quick and entertaining news bytes. It actually delivers the news in a fun short way. Snapchat Story is a collection of photos, drawings, and videos that are uploaded specifically to Snapchat. You can draw on photos or use funny facial overlays on your videos and pics to your friends. It really draws on creative minds and people just wanting to have fun sharing. There is no Snapchat run directory or “suggested users” as many social media networks promote. This helps give it its air of privacy and confidentiality. One of the brilliant aspects that make Snapchat
so private, yet easily sharable among friends, is its QR code to share profiles. Each user has their own Snapchat profile “picture code.” This allows users to control how much “social visibility” is connected to their accounts. I enjoy sharing My Story on Snapchat — it’s more laid back, and pictures of me and my Alaskan Husky sometimes are not ready for “prime time” social media networks.
Chris Voss writes for Forbes, The Huffington Post, and CNN about social media. You can follow Chris on Snapchat at ChrisVoss1, on Twitter @ChrisVoss, or his website www.thechrisvossshow.com
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
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Tony Robbins Talks Netflix Documentary And Investment Strategies By John Gaudiosi
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
Everyone is about to get an inside look at a Tony Robbins event. The motivational speaker opened the doors to his exclusive $5,000 per person, six-day workshop, “Date with Destiny,” to documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Metallica: This Monster Lives). And the result is the new Netflix documentary, Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru. Tony Robbins has coached more than 50 million people from over 100 countries. More than four million people have attended his live events. This new doc gives a glimpse into the non-stop life of one of the best-known “gurus” in the world. We caught up with Robbins ahead of the SXSW Film Festival premiere of the new movie to discuss everything from the film to his latest book (Money: Master the Game), and the state of the American economy, in this exclusive interview. I&T Today: What’s it like being featured in a Netflix original documentary? Tony Robbins: Netflix is the right partner. They have 39 billion hours of broadcast time now. They’re bigger than the biggest network. They’re a great platform, and my work is around the world. I do China every year. I do Singapore, I do Australia, I do London, I do Germany, and I do Poland. I go to all these different places – Canada, the U.S., and South America – and Netflix has a platform that reaches all of that. I&T Today: How’d you come up with this idea for the documentary? TR: I’ve got 18 companies. I’m involved in so many different sectors. I do all my coaching. [Director Joe Berlinger] said, “I just want to give people a concert experience. I’m not here to filter them, you’re not here to filter them.”
He said, “I can’t capture the spirit that shows up in that room, where people feel like they start to care for total strangers and where everyone’s pulling for everyone. I don’t think I can do that job, but at least people can witness the change and get the sense of how people opened up in the environment you’ve created.” I&T Today: Your book, Money: Master the Game, is now out in paperback. What can the everyday person learn about investments? TR: I interviewed all 50 of the top money people in the world, all self-made billionaires that started with nothing. Every single one of them was unique and different about how they made their fortunes. But Ray Dalio, who’s one of the most successful hedge fund managers ever, said the answer is asset allocation. He walked me through the general asset allocation he built. He said it’s the least amount of risk and the highest amount of return than anything that he’s experienced or studied. He told me to test it over 75 years, the entire modern era of trading or investing. So I hired two firms and they both went out and did it. I get this phone call and the guy tells me it’s unbelievable. This formula makes money 85.2% of the time. And the less than 15% of time it loses money the average loss is 1.6% over 75 years. The highest loss is 2008 and it was just 3.9%. But the average return over 75 years was just under 10%. I&T Today: What does this mean for the average investor? TR: All assets will drop 50 to 70% in your lifetime at some point. You just don’t want that to happen at the wrong time. We’ve seen oil down, what, 70% over the last few years, 50% over the last year. Every asset class does that, so if you don’t diversify, where are you going to put your money? Are you going to put it in cash? Okay. That’s one option, and you’re losing 2% a year at least. Second, you can decide to make a pick. I’m going to do gold. I’m going to do equities. I’m going to do bonds. And everybody is going to be
wrong at times. And you’re going to take a big hit. Or you can do what Ray calls a risk parity investment. If you have 60% in equity and 40% in bonds, you’re not balanced. What Ray says is fallacy and why that doesn’t work – and everyone forgets this – is when there’s a market meltdown, all of it melts down. In reality, stocks are three times more volatile than bonds. So when you’re 60/40, you’re really 90% risk, 10% secure. The game that has changed now for the multibillion dollar pension funds that he represents, and countries he represents, is this risk parity, where you balance the risk because no one knows what’s really going to go up or down. And that’s how you have the smoothest ride. I&T Today: What are your thoughts on the current economy? TR: I’m fortunate to have very good credit. And sometimes I go get some large building or a plane or whatever for 3% interest or less. And the average person who needs to save money, they can’t get a return on their investment. So the Fed has made it so that everyone has had to put their money in risk assets. And nobody knows where this is going. The whole world is doing something that has never been done before. So I tell people to educate yourself and don’t invest when you don’t understand something. Diversification is everything. I’ve got 50 of the best investors in the history of the world and you can read what they say and find what appeals to you. But there are certain fundamentals you have to live by and follow, and the average person isn’t doing it. One out of three people have no savings in this country. Forty-two percent of people can’t handle a $500 emergency. They don’t have the cash to do it. There’s got to be a shakeup in what’s happening in our society. We’ve been addicted to the idea of credit for everything, and we haven’t been earning it. I think we’re going to have to go through wintertime at some point here to weather the storm and get strong again. I Am Not Your Guru is out on Netflix.
SUMMER 2016 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY
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#POLITICS and the
Rise of the Internet Journalist By Peter Gietl
“In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.” - George Orwell
O
rwell penned those words over 70 years ago, but like most of what he wrote, they are as true today as when they were first typed out. The only way to avoid politics is, unfortunately, the same way to avoid breathing. Even ignoring politics is a highly political act. It also begs a question of how the media covers politics, of whether there can ever be objectivity when covering something so deeply personal. 2016 will be remembered as the year when technology, and specifically the Internet, was truly unleashed onto the American political system for the first time. This summer will witness the first presidential campaign in a truly digital age, and it will change how Americans think about politics forever.
The concept of ‘technology’ can be distilled into a force of innovation that disrupts entrenched systems. From the advent of agriculture, to the printing press to the iPhone, the underlying thread isn’t the gadget itself, but rather how it changes the society. There has never been a more radically disruptive force than the Internet. It has transformed how we conduct business, interact socially, hail a cab, experience entertainment, and disseminate and digest information in revolutionary ways. Strangely, up until now, our political institutions have remained largely untouched by the Internet. Sure, in 2008 then Senator Barack Obama deftly used Facebook to rally support, and in 2012 Ron Paul used social media to raise
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
candidate illustrations by donkeyhotey both money and awareness for his libertarian campaign. However, these were really nothing more than a dress rehearsal. As always, the entrenched power structures failed to see what clearly was their coming demise. THE MEDIA FAILS TO SEE THE COMING STORM On June 15, 2015, CNN ran a story by Julian Zelizer, trying to parse out why Bernie Sanders was drawing enormous crowds. Over 20,000 cheering fans had come out to hear the Vermont Senator speak. In a rare moment of clarity, CNN keyed in on a truth: “…In an age when so many politicians seem so scripted, Sanders actually believes in something.” Of course they dismissed him out of hand, believing that Hillary Clinton’s machine would pick up a few of Senator Sanders’ ideas and incorporate them into her campaign. The next day Donald Trump announced he was running for president. After descending a gold-colored elevator at Trump Tower, flanked by his wife Melania, Donald then stood in front of eight American flags, and delivered a speech directly tailored to a reality show era. The Washington Post described the speech as “rambling”, and The Huffington Post as a “disaster.” The broad strokes of it – building a wall, making America great again, and the generous mix of populism, nationalism, and a dash of xenophobia – would soon dominate the news cycle. At the time he was dismissed as a joke candidate. David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, told
readers last summer that Donald Trump was running for president as a publicity stunt and the “whole con might end well before the first snows in Sioux City [Iowa] and Manchester.” The Huffington Post chose to cover his candidacy in their Entertainment section. Statistics guru, fresh off his perfect 50/50 state predictions in the 2012 election, Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com gave Trump a 2% chance of winning the Republican nomination. Why were these people who cover politics so wrong? The answer is rather simple in retrospect; they were part of entrenched power structures that had failed to realize they had been replaced by technology, and a new style of journalism. To be fair, they probably are still unaware. OLD MEDIA vs. THE INTERNET The media for far too long has had a cozy relationship to power and politics. They trade access for coverage in a business model going back generations. This election had already been decided; Jeb Bush would face Hillary Clinton in the fall of 2016, ensuring that for 40 straight years of administrations, a Bush or Clinton would occupy either the Presidency, VicePresidency, or Secretary of State positions. For decades both parties put forward candidates who aligned with the interests of traditional Washington power. Newspapers and cable news outlets then covered these candidates and suppressed those considered outside of the mainstream. However, because of the Internet,
Despite taking on a massive field of experienced Republican candidates, including Governors, Senators, a fellow CEO, and a Neurosurgeon, in the end, only Donald Trump was left standing. Trump expertly utilized social media to stir up controversy, and translate that controversy into media coverage.
Cronkite delivered the news, and the ‘good of society’ was paramount. Any adult with a cursory understanding of the history of newspapers, muckrakers or Citizen Kane should recognize the inherent silliness of this notion.
people no longer relied on newspapers or cable news to get their information. People began to increasingly get their news from alternative sources via Facebook and Twitter, and millennials were just as likely to turn to Bill Maher or John Oliver for their news than they were to Anderson Cooper or Rachel Maddow. It didn’t help that MSNBC, Fox News and CNN had begun breathlessly covering politics like a sports game, with an endless train of loud talking-heads, having more in common with a circus sideshow than an actual discussion. What the media failed to notice is that the infinite numbers of Internet based bloggers and shows had significantly eroded the power of an old
media model. There had been a tectonic shift in viewership towards new media. More importantly, these online outlets had adopted a very partisan stance; no longer was there any pretense of objectivity, replaced by a new generation of journalists wearing their political affiliations with pride. The usual handwringing ensued, that the Internet had killed journalism. They imagined a magical time when an unbiased and stoic Walter
The country has become extremely divided politically, and a real hatred of opposing views has unfortunately dominated the discourse. Because your friends often share a similar worldview, there ends up being a social media confirmation biasbubble of people expressing beliefs that you inherently know to be ‘true’. This in turn feeds a desire to find news sources that confirm your opinion, and the Internet was more than happy to oblige. Breitbart. The Huffington Post. The Young Turks. The Drudge Report. Salon. Infowars. Politico. Daily Kos. The Blaze. Along with hundreds of others, these sites sought to represent various streams of American political thought.
“This is an online age, where the narrative of a media cycle can be measured in minutes, rather than days. And trending topics and the Facebook newsfeed are infinitely more important than think pieces by The New York Times.” SUMMER 2016 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY
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#POLITICS and the Rise of the Internet Journalist
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton fought a brutal primary battle for the Democratic Nomination, with Senator Sanders using social media to rally support to his outsider campaign. Below: Milo Yiannopoulos, Tech editor for Breitbart.com (left), and (right) Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian broadcast from The Young Turks‘ studios.
THE NEW POWER PLAYERS When you sit down to talk to Cenk Uygur, his excitement about this change in journalism becomes infectious. He is a former MSNBC host, and the founder of The Young Turks, a politically progressive YouTube channel with over 2.7 billion total video views that routinely outperforms cable TV news programs. His veneer of sarcasm belies a true love of covering politics. “I don’t see why anyone would watch TV news anymore. Our coverage is so much more engaged and passionate; instead of listening to a bunch of news actors tell you what’s happening in the world. Why would young people want to watch a robot like Wolf Blitzer tell them the news?” It’s hard to argue with the numbers. If you combine YouTube and Facebook Live, TYT is averaging 200 million views a month. Uygur was far less surprised by Trump’s ascendancy. “I think Trump is a fascinating phenomenon. People are freaked out that this reality show guy is winning. But when you think about it, the most popular entertainment format is reality television and now we have a reality show host in contention to be president. We shouldn’t be continues on page 139
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
Millennials and Baby Boomers: A Generational Divide in Sources Relied on for Political News
Facebook and Twitter News Use is on the Rise % of __ users who get news there
% who got news about politics and government in the previous week from…
63% 52%
Local TV
61%
63% 47%
60% Local TV
37%
39% 2013 2015
2013 2015
Of those who get news from __ in 2015, percent who have kept up with a news event as it was happening
Millennial
Baby Boomer
American Trends Panel (wave 1). Survey conducted March 19-April 29, 2014. Q22, Q24A. Based on online adults. Source: Pew Research Center
59%
Twitter Facebook
31%
Social Media and News Survey, March 13-15 & 20-22, 2015. Q2, Q4, Q7, Q11
esports
SHOOTS TO BE THE NEXT GREAT SPORTS LEAGUE
By Liam Kivirist
T
he tension in the arena builds as the players close in on each other in the videogame Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, displayed on a large screen for the crowd to see. A total of 22 cameras captured the action. Below, the shoutcasters (sportscasters in eSports) analyze team play and strategy. Suddenly, the sound of virtual bullets finding their target shatters the silence. The crowd explodes as OpTic Gaming wins the final’s $35,000 prize, defeating Lounge Gaming at the firstever live eSports event at CES. Competitive eSports events operate as videogame tournaments, with players or teams competing through the bracket to win the prize pool. “eSports is one of the fastest growing entertainment genres among young adults around the world,” said Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports. “We’re looking forward to creating a tremendous live event atmosphere, leveraging the infrastructure and expertise within Turner Studios, and presenting the competitions in an innovative way throughout our portfolio of leading brands.” Although video game tournaments have been around since the days of Donkey Kong, it’s only in the last few years that competitive gaming, or eSports, has garnered widespread interest and attention, with fans piling into stadiums or watching online via Twitch.tv.
Left: Scenes from the turnout of the first ever live eSports event at CES. The stage is set for the next great sports league.
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B R E A K D O W N C O M P L I C AT E D A L G O R I T H M S . S I M U L AT E C O M P L E X S Y S T E M S . COMPUTE THE FUTURE.
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esports SHOOTS TO BE THE NEXT GREAT SPORTS LEAGUE
D
espite pushback from some traditional sports fans and initial rating struggles, eSports has made its way into many gamers’ day-to-day lives. Now two major sports broadcasting powerhouses, Turner Sports and ESPN, are about ready to amplify the excitement of gaming. “There’s no doubt in our mind that this is a sport – these are athletes,” said Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports. “What hasn’t happened is that it hasn’t been exposed to a mainstream audience.” Turner Sports in partnership with WME IMG announced their plan to introduce eSports to traditional sports fans with their own ELeague competitive gaming league in September 2015. It is set to be broadcast on TBS in the summer of 2016 with coverage ten straight weeks, twice a year. ESPN also announced that they would be stepping up their eSports coverage and hiring a full time eSports editor. eSports will certainly have an interesting transition to television since fans are used to watching online through their computer or mobile devices for no cost. With an estimated 1.7 billion active gamers in the world, there’s no shortage of players who know — and actually play — some of the games featured in eSports, something the National Football League can’t claim. We were able to catch up with Hi-Rez Studios, one of the top video game studios involved in eSports and the makers of the game Smite. Adam Mierzejewski enjoys using analogies of sports to help people understand what is happening in eSports right now. “The way I explain the phenomenon is, imagine 50 years ago if someone threw a football at you and said someday people will make millions of dollars throwing this thing around. You’d say, ‘yeah, that’s funny.’ Well, look at it today. It’s the biggest form of entertainment. People are saying, ‘yeah right, you’re going to sit at home and play video games and make millions of dollars’, well guess what? There are prize pools sometimes of $16 million now.” Left: Players and fans alike feel the gravity of the moment and enjoy participating in the eSports event. The tension in the arena is more than evident. The players have put their blood, sweat, and tears into their gaming passion. continues on page 140
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
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Cannabis in Medicine Growing the Next Billion Dollar Industry
It’s difficult to avoid the reality that, no matter your state or how you may personally feel about it, the pharmacy door has opened for cannabis, something that, in all likelihood, won’t be just a guest in the field of medicine. Indeed, its stay may be long and, for many, prosperous – if only it can get more than its foot past the threshold.
Current Law The medical, or recreational, decriminalization of cannabis (23 states and the District of Columbia currently) continues to gain momentum, and the possibility of reclassifying it from the restrictive Schedule I status Congress placed on it back in 1970 seems to finally be coming into view. So, what does the landscape look like, realistically? The last few years have been kind to the medical cannabis industry. Significant changes have been made – ranging from the restriction of federal agents’ powers to the acceptance of cannabis’s medical properties by certain lawmakers. Feathers in the caps of those in favor of legalization are growing in number. 2016 is set for even bigger changes, with 10 more states now considering updating their drug policies. This could mean that, by the end of the year, more than half of the states will in some way have decriminalized cannabis.
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By John Malanca
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Medtech Challenges To The Industry As of right now, the laws on medical cannabis are messy to say the least. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have in some way altered their drug policies – either decriminalizing cannabis for medical purposes, allowing the use of cannabidiol to treat patients with specific (and often limited) conditions, or legalizing the plant for medicinal and recreational use. However, with the federal government still classifying cannabis as an “illicit and dangerous drug” scheduled along with heroin, legitimate research has been stymied and the negative stereotypes surrounding it only perpetuate the stigma of medical marijuana use. For instance, The Brookings Institute reports that because of the lack of federal oversight, “the necessary science of marijuana is not keeping up with the movement towards legalization.” The other main issue is the refusal of the federal government to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule II drug. A Schedule I classification means that cannabis, in the eyes of the government, has no medical value, an idea many have contested. Scholars John Hudak and Grace Wallack argue that “The current Schedule I designation of cannabis, in conjunction with the numerous additional, and unique institutional rules regulating the substance, creates a circular policy trap that hinders scientific research.” Scientific research is further impeded by the federally backed monopolization of cannabis research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an entity that some have claimed may be biased.
Clearing The Air But these are just the roadblocks for testing medical cannabis. The business end has another litany of issues, all stemming from discrepancies of state versus federal law and the classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug. For starters, marijuana dispensaries, growers, and other businesses face serious banking issues, with most banks still reticent to work with them. With storefront dispensaries, there are obvious security concerns that either dissuade local governments from granting business permits or that require costly personnel and sophisticated anti-theft/crime solutions, which can in turn repel potential consumers.
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John Malanca, Founder of United Patients Group
Marijuana Laws Around the Country
As in any other high-volume business, making sure the products your customer base is requesting are readily available can also require expensive inventory tracking software. And, unlike the local restaurant or nail salon, cannabis businesses face unique challenges, such as the need to hire legal counsel or accountants with a specialty in an industry that is not fully established. However, despite these obstacles, many marijuana-linked organizations can see light at the end of the tunnel and are making strides toward a future of broad cannabis access. For instance, United Patients Group, a leading medical cannabis information and education site, has reported on several cannabis conferences and summits in which new marijuana-based business models and medical breakthroughs are showcased. The horizon for medical (and recreational) cannabis may be cluttered, but with support and demand on the rise, the marijuana industry’s day in the sun looks to be a bright and long one. No matter how you may personally feel about marijuana use, it is becoming clear that many states have decided that prohibition no longer works. There is also increasing evidence for the medical efficacy of the plant for certain conditions. The most important thing is that the federal government opens up testing so medical professionals can do the research and understand what the plant can or can’t do for people who are facing serious medical conditions.
ederal drug agents were prohibited F from raiding retail dispensaries in decriminalized states. rowing and possessing cannabis G became legal for adults in Washington, D.C. bipartisan bill known as the A Compassionate Access, Research, Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act, was passed for New York, New Jersey, and Kentucky. This law allows patients to have access to medicinal cannabis in states where it is decriminalized. lorida allowed specified nurseries to F grow cannabis for medicinal purposes. alifornia passed a series of bills C intended for the future infrastructure of the medical cannabis industry in that state. The bills will allow California’s government to cultivate, process, test, transport, and distribute medical cannabis in 2018. annabidiol (CBD) was introduced to C American citizens for the treatment of epileptic patients with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. ongress passed a drug policy reform C bill, preventing the federal government from spending money to stop medical cannabis use. he DEA eased some of the regulatory T requirements established by the Controlled Substances Act to conduct clinical trials on CBD. ight senators demanded action from E the federal government on cannabis testing for medicinal purposes.
Medtech
The Revolution in Medicine Starts with the Military by James Dern
According to Chung, this move toward remote care, brought on by the U.S. military’s current need to cope with multiple theaters of war, has revolutionized the clinical world in general: I t’s no longer “telemedicine.” It’s now medicine. It’s in the mainstream. I think telemedicine had a bad name, a bad reputation for a long time, because the technology wasn’t there; it wasn’t reliable. But now that the technology is there we don’t think twice about, say, FaceTiming with a patient.
Many of us conjure images of a Special Forces soldier or a tank when we think of the Army, while failing to realize the host of scientific developments taking place within its ranks. As West Point graduate and highly regarded Army physician Dr. Kevin K. Chung told us during an interview, advances in medicine are often sparked by the “desperation” of researchers and clinicians working for the wartime military: T his happens every time there’s a war. In WWII we had the advent of antibiotics. Antibiotics were used for the first time widely to treat combat wound infection, and that changed the game. Penicillin, that’s a WWII product. I would say that the biggest advances, over the last decade, have been the balanced resuscitation concept and critical care air transport – the ability to transport critically ill patients over long distances anywhere in the world. Those are two concepts that, I would say, are the signatures of this war. Chung, who works with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center in San Antonio, TX, has been a powerful force for innovative care, both on the battlefield and in
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the lab. In fact, one of the themes that emerged during our conversation with the doctor was the idea that, in the age of smart technology, these two areas can be harmonized. For instance, guiding a remote medical robot designed by InTouch Health from room to room, Chung was able to check up on his patients in San Antonio even while stationed in Baghdad. And, on the low-tech side (relative to robotics, at least), the abundance of reliable smartphone technology has enabled clinicians to communicate with soldiers and care providers around the world – reducing the need for costly transport to specialty facilities.
To support this shift, Chung and his team at the institute have developed methods and technologies suited for mobile medicine, including a decision support algorithm that’s being used by both military and civilian hospitals to treat burn patients. L ast year up to 10% of all burns across the country were resuscitated using this… [It] essentially standardizes resuscitation regardless of where you are, whether you’re in the field, whether you’re in the hospital, or whether you’re in the middle of nowhere in Iraq. However, just because these innovations allow for medical treatment from a distance doesn’t mean that Chung and physicians like him are aloof from the boots-on-the-ground view of war. Recounting his service in Baghdad in 2008, Chung described it as something he would “never forget”: e were getting bombed on a regular basis. W We were in the Green Zone, the Baghdad ER. We were getting wave after wave of casualties. That was during the peak of combat operations, during the middle of a surge…Every day we felt like there was the possibility of a rocket going through our hospital. That disaster brings out the best in humanity may be an unfortunate truth, but it’s one that makes members of the military, and people like Dr. Chung, so exceptional.
Medtech
From Photo Lens to Petri Dish Fujifilm and Stem Cell Research
They don’t just produce film anymore. As it moves deeper into the 21st century, Fujifilm is acquiring more 21st century interests. And within its plethora of research and development projects, this corporate giant has placed a stake in stem cell science with its company Cellular Dynamics International (CDI). To get more of an understanding of Fujifilm’s ambitions in this field, Innovation & Tech Today talked to Chris Parker from CDI, who gave us an overview of the incredible applications of stem cells. Innovation &Tech Today: Can you tell our readers how you help deliver new medicines — faster, safer, and more economically? Chris Parker: Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), a Fujifilm company, has the powerful ability to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from anyone — starting with a standard blood draw — and then to develop these iPSCs into virtually any cell type in the human body. Our product portfolio includes fully differentiated human cells of the cardiac (heart), neural (brain), hepatic (liver), musculoskeletal (muscle, bone), and hematopoietic (blood) lineages. This range of iPSC-derived human cells represents a wide variety of disease backgrounds and overcomes the limitations of existing cell lines and primary cells by delivering a consistent, reproducible, and limitless source of tissue that is reflective of native human function. With these advantages, CDI human cells are enabling advances in disease modeling, phenotypic screening, toxicity testing, and regenerative medicine applications — all of which have the potential to contribute to faster, safer, and more economical drug development.
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Chris Parker, CDI
I&T Today: Could you explain what regenerative characteristics these cells have?
This tissue-engineered implantable patch may emerge as a myocardial regeneration treatment.
CP: One of the greatest promises of human iPSCs is the ability to transform these early-stage cells into treatments for devastating diseases. Stem cells can potentially be used to repair damaged human tissues and to bioengineer transplantable human organs using various technologies, such as 3D printing. Using stem cells derived from another person (allogeneic transplantation) or from the patient (autologous transplantation), research efforts are underway to develop new therapies for historically difficult-totreat conditions. In the past, adult stem and progenitor cells were used, but the differentiation of these cell types has proven difficult to control. Initial clinical trials using iPSCs indicate that they are far superior for regenerative medicine applications because they are better suited to scientific manipulation.
I&T Today: Could you explain the practical differences between embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells?
CDI’s iPSC-derived iCell and MyCell products are integral to the development of a range of cell therapy applications. A study using iCell Cardiomyocytes as part of a cardiac patch designed to treat heart failure is now underway.
CP: All stem cells are early stage, undifferentiated cells. They are unique because they can survive and replicate indefinitely and have the capacity to differentiate into any cell type in the human body (pluripotency). There are two general types of stem cells: • Embryonic stem cells: Derived from early stage embryos. • Induced pluripotent stem cells: Generated from cells obtained from donor tissue such as adult skin or blood samples. Scientific studies that are performed using iPS cells avoid the social and political issues associated with embryonic stem cells. In addition, iPSCs can provide a wide diversity of genotypes and phenotypes. I&T Today: What are you most hopeful about in terms of potential findings in the next few years?
CP: With increased production of high quality iPSCs and a rapidly expanding number of stem cell banked lines over the next few years, this technology will enable researchers to more realistically model diseases, better understand disease progression, perform more targeted drug discovery, and ultimately develop better treatments. We are likely to see proof-of-concept examples of successful early stage drug discovery efforts with our pharma partners that will support the continued use of iPSCs in the identification of novel drug candidates. In addition, the control of genetic variation in iPSC lines will allow the successful development of both drug therapies and cell therapies that account for variability present in individuals within human populations. We will also continue to expand the number and scope of personalized medicine initiatives, like our project with the National Eye Institute to develop therapeutic iPSC-derived retinal epithelial cells from patients suffering from dry age-related macular degeneration, as we prove the value of personalized cell therapies.
Medtech
The Future of Diabetes Technology By Paul French In America’s war on diabetes, technology represents a double-edged sword. As Dr. Kupper Wintergerst of the University of Louisville claims, it’s “one of the reasons why we have kids gaining unhealthy weight… It makes life easier and you’re less apt to walk & exercise. You’re more apt to watch TV, etc.” However, Wintergerst is quick to pivot from this point, as he adds that evolving technology has alternately revolutionized the way we manage this disease – one that, he claims, represents the biggest thorn in our ever-expanding sides: Taken as a whole, diabetes is the single most complex health disorder in our times, because it increases the risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease, along with pulmonary disease, kidney failure, blindness. The list goes on and on, and it’s unbelievably expensive. With the diabetes problem as prominent as it is, most Americans are familiar with the bare basics. Type II, the most common form of diabetes throughout the world, is associated with poor eating habits, lack of exercise, weight gain, and family history. Type I, by contrast, is less common, but is also non-preventable. As Wintergerst says, this form of the illness is an autoimmune disorder that “begins to damage the factory that makes insulin – and this factory is called the pancreas.” Over the years, both forms of this disease have taken a literal toll on public health (approximately $250 billion annually in the U.S., according to Wintergerst). But, before this epidemic was the priority it is today, the measures for monitoring the disease were rudimentary. As Wintergerst explains, early urine tests would vaguely identify users’ blood sugar levels as “high” or “moderate.” Now, with the aid of new technology, children and adults with diabetes can know precisely where they stand at any point in the day. For instance, speaking about the insulin pump, which allows users to regulate the amount of insulin their body receives, Dr. Wintergerst noted that you “can control your insulin in a way that, prior to 20 years ago, we could never do. Twenty-four hours a day we can manipulate the insulin far better than we ever could before.” But the technological frontier for diabetes treatment looks even more promising. With his
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colleagues at the University of Louisville, Dr. Wintergerst is preparing to perform a study using a “continuous glucose monitoring system,” a device that uses a sugar sensor that “measures the glucose under your skin at all times.” Research into this technology, in combination with insulin pumps, is rapidly moving towards the development of an artificial pancreas. Indeed, working with the community, and connected institutions like the Wendy L. Novak Diabetes Care Center, Wintergerst and his colleagues at the University of Louisville are working toward a smarter future of diabetes management – one in which technology moves out of the lab and, as Wintergerst says, onto a soccer field where a kid with Type I diabetes is playing his favorite game. Thus is there another duality when it comes to the future of diabetes, according to Dr. Wintergerst. As technology improves, so do our efforts to make it more human.
Patients at the Wendy L. Novak Diabetes Care Center receive attentive care from a variety of medical professionals.
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Medtech
How to Have Fun Commuting to Work? (psst,the secret involves an electric bike)
Arrive at Work Refreshed and Energized, Not Sweaty With an electric bike, you can use pedal assist to help you get to work and arrive fresh and ready to start your day.
Bike Parking: No Hunting for a Space
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Take the Scenic Route An electric bike can go anywhere a traditional pedal bike can, allowing you to take scenic bike paths, ride through parks, and relax on your way to and from work.
Arrive at work and park in bike parking, right up front, without hunting for a parking space, paying for parking, or walking a long distance. This can save you time and aggravation.
Choose Your Level of Exercise
Avoid Gridlock; Ride Around Traffic
Get Fit and Lose Weight
Traffic is a huge source of stress, and it’s impossible to know how bad it will be on any given day. With an electric bike, you can ride around traffic using bike lanes and bike paths.
Electric cycling helps you get fit, increasing your strength and cardiovascular health. Cycling can burn 500 calories per hour, helping you lose pounds or control your weight while having fun.
Save Money on Gas, Tolls, and Vehicle Wear-and-Tear
Improve Your Health and Reduce the Risk of Disease
Riding an electric bike costs only about 25 cents worth of electricity every 30–40 miles and avoids automobile costs of gas, tolls, and wear-and-tear.
Cycling can help reduce your blood pressure and cholesterol and can even help fight cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
If you’re feeling like a workout, you can set your electric assistance to the lowest setting or only use the throttle when you need it. Or turn it off completely and ride it like a regular pedal bike. It’s up to you!
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Medtech
Suicide Prevention a National Public Health Priority By Brian Boon Despite suicide being a preventable cause of death, prevention efforts can sometimes be hampered by antiquated legacy-thinking and stigmas. Even within healthcare settings, suicide is often thought of as a specialty intervention relegated to psychiatric programs. Now, a recent CDC report has shown that suicide rates have increased over the past 15 years. It’s clear that the healthcare system in the United States must make greater efforts to properly address the 10th leading cause of death in the country. It’s important to note that effective suicide prevention efforts are being made. Technology platforms, for example, offer new avenues of connectivity for people with suicidal thoughts and their loved ones. Online communities, mobile applications, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-funded National Suicide Prevention Lifeline all help remove barriers and allow more people to seek help. For every person who dies by suicide, there are approximately 278 people who moved past serious thoughts of doing the same. But this ratio can improve. The National Alliance for Suicide Prevention has published, and updates, its National Strategy for Suicide Prevention jointly with the U.S. Surgeon General’s office, and with support from SAMHSA. This report is on the Alliance’s website and contains evidence-based suicide prevention strategies that providers can implement now. Prioritizing suicide prevention in the same way as other healthcare issues will reduce the recent trend reported by the CDC. Brian Boon, Ph.D., is CEO of CARF and serves on the executive committee of The Alliance.
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How ING Source is Helping People Stay a Step Ahead of Pain After helping to create a multimilliondollar footwear market for “Diabetic Socks,” David Higgins opted to expand the anatomy of his business. His latest enterprise ING Source, Inc. now offers therapeutic sleeves and support systems for a range of problem areas: everywhere from the feet to the wrists and elbows. Despite being a relatively small business, ING Source has recently been successful enough to take their line of products into international territory. We recently spoke to Higgins about his new company’s success. “It is the overwhelming positive response from end users and medical professionals that drives the motivation to continue creating,” Higgins says, “I learned 25 years ago that we are now a global economy, and long term success and value comes from working through partners in markets around the world. Our biggest challenge is growing as a small
enterprise, while serving these multiple culture/language markets and channels.” Most of the ING product line is patented or patents pending. ING is heavier on intellectual property than most, smaller, start-ups and until the recent acquisition, financed by Higgins personally. Part of what sets ING Source apart from its competition is the unique technology involved in their items, specifically CZT or Compression Zone Technology. According to Higgins, “CZT describes the application of medical grade compression into orthopedic and sports braces for the joints and muscles.” This, explains Higgins, results in more focused pressure, 360-degree support and, thus, more targeted support for protection and therapy.
Workrite Ergonomics’ 25th Anniversary
In additon to celebrating their 25th anniversary, Workrite introduced the Solace Sit to Stand work center (left) and the Conform Monitor Arm Series (above).
Ergonomics is the study of workplace efficiency. Over the years there have been many products and innovations designed to help workers get more out their day. Recent studies indicate that sitting throughout the day and staring at a screen can be very detrimental to worker health and actually hinder worker productivity. As a result, progressive organizations have begun utilizing sit/stand desks, task lighting, keyboard platforms, and monitor supports to alleviate many of these problems and keep workers happier, healthier, and more productive.
Workrite Ergonomics, the industry leading manufacturer and distributor of ergonomic products for the office, is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. Workrite’s success has been built on the fact that they have remained focused on helping companies across the country create healthier and happier workplaces and improve their productivity. Workrite recently introduced two products we are very excited about seeing in 2016. The Conform Monitor Arm Series is an extremely flexible system that can accommodate anywhere
from 1 to 6 monitors. The series is based on a pin system that makes it incredibly easy for workstations to be updated quickly and affordably as the needs of the business change. They have also launched the Solace Sit to Stand work center. Solace is the perfect solution for environments with fixed height desks, enabling them to be converted to sit-stand workstations quickly and affordably. Solace is an affordable option for someone who may want to try out a standing desk without completely replacing their current desk.
KT Tape and the Keyboard Warrior I’m no athlete. The only way I could come close would be to use Samuel Beckett’s definition of a writer – that is, of being like “a fetus trying to do gymnastics.” Even so, the words “trying” and “fetus” don’t exactly evoke LeBron James. But, while hunched over the computer, my right shoulder and trap aching, I couldn’t resist diving into the box of KT Tape sent over to us for review. And, my own non-extremeness notwithstanding, I decided to go for their black Extreme roll. My first thought immediately after putting it on: “…There’s no way this thing doesn’t contain some kind of drug.” It felt that good. But no. It’s just tape. I’m not lying when I say the relief was instantaneous. Just look at the overwhelmingly positive reviews on
Amazon if you think I’m making this up. It wasn’t long before the tape was being passed around the office to assuage all sorts of humdrum soreness: lower backs, ankles with past injuries, etc. Apparently, even if you’re just a fetal gymnast, this stuff works wonders. KT Tape, which is currently licensed for use by Olympic athletes, is rolling out a line of therapeutic products: the Recovery Patch, which helps to reduce inflammation; the KT Flex, a support sleeve; the Ice/Heat Compression System, a larger adjustable strap that provides temperature-assisted relief; and the Extreme tape I mentioned earlier. These products are all worth checking out if you want some extra help in the gym, on the field, or even at the office. SUMMER 2016 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY
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Top surfer Sally Fitzgibbons has left her beloved home break in Australia for competitions across the globe. Innovation & Tech Today sat down with Sally to hear more about the dryland training regimens that power her stellar performance in the water, and the deep competitive drive that enables her career. By Kelsey Elgie Domier Innovation & Tech Today: You’re incredibly motivated when it comes to competition, exercise, and diet. How do you continue to sharpen your mental edge? Sally Fitzgibbons: You have to continually want to improve all areas of your game as an athlete. There are so many physical attributes that allow me to stay mentally strong in clutch moments in competition. After all these years I am proud of the hard work I have put in, but by no means am I content. That’s what keeps driving me towards success. I&T Today: Are there any specific technological innovations for surfing, like wearables, that you like? SF: I am working with my major partner Samsung to integrate the latest technologies to take my performance to the next level as an athlete. From tracking and logging my training and competitive heats to helping produce my soon to be released Fitness App, “Train Like Sally,” technology plays a huge part in helping me improve in all areas of my life.
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Sally Fitzgibbons sends up a spray as she rides another monster wave in Nova Scotia.
SUMMER 2016 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY
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I&T Today: How do you manage a rigorous training regimen while travelling so much? SF: It’s always challenging on the road while competing on the World Tour. Your surroundings and training conditions are always different. Training outside of the water, you are not always going to have the perfect gym set up so you have to utilize parks and amazing running trails, and I make sure I travel with key items in my board bag to allow for flexibility in my training. I develop a nice routine that I love and then just keep adding and subtracting as I go through the time at that location. Listening to what my body needs and monitoring when I will be competing to adjust the workload is all part of the challenge. I&T Today: How does the energy of a big crowd affect you? SF: I love the energy of a big crowd. It sends that adrenaline right through the body and I really try to embrace that and turn that into a positive and fuel a really strong performance. There is nothing better as an athlete than suiting up, warming up, and running out through the crowds on the way to the lineup, and everyone is cheering your name and giving you high fives wishing you all the best. It is such an amazing feeling. I&T Today: Do you feel like time slows down when you’re taking off on a big wave? SF: I feel time definitely slows down. You see that big set coming your way and those butterflies and adrenaline go racing through your veins. You put the head down and start paddling your butt off as fast as you can go. It is all about commitment when the waves are big. You have to believe you will make that drop. No secondguessing, or you will be toast. I&T Today: Are there any changes to the sport of women’s surfing that you would like to see in the next five years? What about women’s big wave surfing?
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SF: I feel women’s surfing will continue to blossom in the next five years. There is an amazing level of talent on the World Tour at the moment that will continue to push the sport to new heights and there is an amazing wave of young talent developing globally as we speak. I would love to see more and more events being held in great wave locations, providing that platform for performances to continue to elevate. A coin toss at events to determine whether the women’s or men’s event will run on that day would be another introduction I’d like to see. I&T Today: What is your favorite wave right now, and why? SF: My home break. There is no better feeling than running down from the house and having a wave to surf by myself with just my family and friends in the lineup. On tour the lineup is always crazy crowded and there’s so much intensity in trying to battle for waves to practice on. At home you can just take a deep breath and have space.
I&T Today: What was it like sub-zero surfing in Nova Scotia? Would you do it again? SF: What a wild experience. It was insane surfing water that cold. I was in awe of all the local surfers that brave freezing temperatures every time they go surfing. I loved the beauty of Nova Scotia, coupled with the painfully freezing water temps and the fun adventurous energy of chasing a swell somewhere I had never surfed before. I would for sure do it again. I&T Today: Aside from a world title, what drives you to be your best? Could you say having three older brothers kick-started your competitiveness? SF: My mum, dad, and fiancé drive me to be my best self every single day. I have that competitive drive instilled deep inside me. Maybe having my big brothers around growing up helped make me determined, as they never gave in to me. I just want to be the best athlete I can be, the best businesswoman I can be, and the best person I can. I want to create platforms to reach out and help as many people as possible along the way. This really inspires me to work hard and not give up on my dream both in and out of the water. I&T Today: What is the first thing you will do when you get that world title? SF: I will most likely be quite overwhelmed and have a cry, a happy cry. I will tackle and hug all of my loved ones and know we succeeded as a team, not a solo mission. It will be the heaviest cup I’ll ever lift because of all those who have contributed to my journey in some way. I’ll lift it for all of them. You can follow Sally on Instagram, Twitter @Sally_Fitz and on her website: www.sallyfitzgibbons.com
Beauty in the Eye of Burkard By Billy Brown
Often oceanic and wild, Chris Burkard’s photography has captured the attention of millions. This young and adventurous shooter of the outdoors recently chatted with Innovation & Tech Today about his gear, career, and life on the road. TRAVEL Innovation & Tech Today: What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited/ captured? Chris Burkard: Iceland. I’ve been there 24 times now, and am going three more times this summer. It always blows my mind. There are so many diverse climates and landscapes on one small island. It is amazing. I&T Today: Is the transition from photography to videography a smooth/ natural one? CB: Obviously, I’m mostly shooting photography, but when I do work on a videography project I’m working from more of a director's standpoint. That transition was fairly easy for me since I’m able to portray the
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same scene or vision in my head, just through a different medium.
GEAR I&T Today: What’s your favorite piece of equipment? CB: My Goal Zero chargers are always saving me. Whenever I’m away from the studio I'm constantly working on my phone and it always needs to be charged. They do the job perfectly. I&T Today: What’s the best camera you’ve ever used? CB: Sony a7R II is the most impressive camera I’ve ever used. The sharpness and dynamic range that come from this camera are absolutely incredible. Earlier in my career, I shot with a Sony NEX-7. I’ve shot some of
Watch Outdoor Adventure in Greater Palm Springs: Two Dudes and a GoPro at: visitgreaterpalmsprings.com/adventure 9 RESORT CITIES. ONE BEaUTIFUL OaSIS. palm springs | desert hot springs | cathedral city | rancho mirage | palm desert | indian wells | la quinta | indio | coachella
Photo courtesy of Lance Gerber from www.nuvueinteractive.com
There’s no app for this.
Above: Aerial view of the Canadian Rockies. Left: A moment of reflection during a gorgeous sunset in Russia. Follow Chris Burkard on Instagram @chrisburkard to see more incredible photography from his adventures around the world. Don’t forget to tag us #innotechtoday.
I&T Today: What projects/trips do you have coming up? my best work on that tiny camera and still love the “look and feel” of the images it produces. I&T Today: Do you use action cams much? Do you go with GoPro, Sony, Garmin, etc? CB: I use the Sony Action Cam as well as GoPros, but the A-series cameras are already so small I don’t really feel the need to bring anything else. Unless I’m going to mount it somewhere I feel it might get damaged. I&T Today: What gear do you always travel with? CB: Neck pillow, iPhone, SPOT GPS locator, Olloclip, Northern Lights sunglasses, Thera Cane massager, and some good noise canceling headphones.
CAREER I&T Today: I’ve noticed that most of your landscapes have a person in them. Do you consciously have a person in the foreground for, say, scale? CB: I love including people in landscape imagery for scale, but more importantly to evoke a connection with viewers. My goal is to inspire others to explore this beautiful earth and to see how much can be enjoyed when getting out of your comfort zone!
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CB: I’m doing two workshops in Iceland at the end of May and beginning of June. This is the first time I’m trying workshops that are this detailed and comprehensive so I’m really stoked to see how they turn out. I have some great people coming along for the ride so it should be an awesome time! I&T Today: Do you have a unicorn trip, or one last bucket-list location/shot that you’ve never done? CB: Chile and Patagonia are definitely up there. Hopefully those will be conquered in the near future. I&T Today: How the hell do you get 1.6 million Instagram followers? CB: I’m not really sure to be honest [laughs]. I just post good content consistently that feels natural to me and it's worked out so far! I&T Today: How do you use social media and has it impacted your career? CB: Surprisingly, social media has brought in some of my biggest jobs. I view my Instagram as a constantly growing portfolio. I&T Today: Do you take photos with IG in mind, like, “This’ll look great on IG?” CB: Most of the time I’m thinking about more
of a traditional landscape photo, and after the fact I will fit the photo into the Instagram square if it looks good on that platform. I wouldn’t say I shoot photos with IG in mind though. I&T Today: Are there certain types of photos that do better on social media than others? Have you noticed that your followers like a specific kind of pic? CB: I haven’t really noticed a certain “type” of photo that does well, but I always post photos that will inspire action and create engagement to encourage them to get outside and explore for themselves! I&T Today: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever eaten on the road? CB: I think one of the best ways to experience a foreign culture is by sampling their cuisine! The first thing that comes to mind is rotten shark nuggets in Iceland. It’s called kaestur hákarl and is a delicacy in Iceland. I&T Today: If you were a handsome journalist with only 1k followers, what would you do to grow your IG numbers? Hypothetically, that is. Post good images consistently and make sure your captions are engaging! You want your followers to look forward to your posts, and, when they do pop up, they should be inspiring photos that will draw their attention.
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Going the Distance Rob Krar has won some of the most prestigious 100-mile races in the world. He was twice voted Ultra Runner of the Year (2013 & 2014) and holds the Fastest Known Time for both the single and double crossing of the Grand Canyon. Also, he’s got a hell of a beard. The North Face athlete talked with us recently so we could hear what it’s like to run farther than most people care to drive.
By Billy Brown
Innovation & Tech Today: What’s the toughest race you’ve ever done? RK: The Leadville 100M in 2014 when my body and mind were failing only 20 miles into the race. The seeds of doubt were strong, and there was a comedy show playing in my mind the rest of the race, a wrestling match between abandoning the race and pushing to the finish. I&T Today: How do you push through those low points? RK: The overarching goal in my buildup to races is to suffer in training to allow myself to suffer less during the race. It’s a mind game really because I know full well I’m going to suffer in the race no matter how perfect my training was. When shit hits the fan in a race I remind myself of the sacrifices not only I made to be there, but that Christina [Bauer, his wife] made to allow me to stand on the starting line so confident. I&T Today: Do you strategize when you’re going to make a push during a race, or do you pace according to how other runners are running? RK: I toe the line thinking of no one other than myself. You’ll never find me leading a race early on. I run my own pace within my own limits. But I keep aware of my competition,observing their own strategies – nutrition, hydration, pacing, strengths and weaknesses, attitude – as a tool in deciding when and where to try and break them later in the race. I&T Today: What’s the most scenic place you’ve ever run? RK: Running on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands last year will be hard to beat. I loved the stark contrast between the turquoise ocean, the lush jungle low on the island, and the barren loneliness of volcanic landscape nearly 8,000' above. I&T Today: What’s an average training week like during race season?
Above: Rob Krar crosses the finish line at the Western States Endurance Run in Squaw Valley, California. Left: The NowRun app shows the grueling route the Transvulcania 2016 race ran in The Canary Islands.
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RK: My training is so fluid it’s tough to describe an “average” week. It’s more about finding a sweet spot of stressing my body without going over the edge. Consistency is king, and I’m very willing to sacrifice a few degrees of fitness if it means a long and solid block of healthy training.
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Gear GuideGear G SUMMER
Summer Adventure Gear
SUMMER
By Wendy Ewing
Summer is back with sun and shades and brews and BBQs, and we searched out the most essential pieces for having an epic sunny season. From grillware to eyewear, we’ve got you covered. In order to have the best summer ever, check out this all-star group of gear that’ll keep you cool in more ways than one.
Pau Hana Big EZ w/ Ricochet – $1,249 SUP board manufacturer Pau Hana has set the new standard with boardreinforcing Ricochet technology. Their classic model, the Big EZ, has gotten a major upgrade turning it into a floating tank capable of withstanding blows of 800 pounds per square inch. This means no more worrying about rocks or errant paddle swings ruining your day. Go as hard as you can on this new board and it will keep up.
Bonus: With mounts and motor options, you can turn the board into an awesome fishing boat.
Traeger Pro Series 22 Grill – $800 We’ve been cooking meat for almost as long as we’ve been walking upright, but there’s still room for improvement, and Traeger’s new grill takes things to a new level. The pellet-fueled smoker/grill combo sports digital temperature control and dual meat probe thermometers let you cook your meat with precision (no more dried out chicken breasts), while the burly all-terrain wheels let you haul that bad boy to wherever the party is.
Bonus: The 22-inch main rack can fit five rib racks, 16 burgers, four chickens, or at least 24 hot dogs. Hope you’re hungry. YETI Hopper Cooler 30 – $350 For those who need a portable way to keep the brewskies cold, the Hopper is the answer. The waterproof, rugged, insulated tote is built with the same technology as YETI’s big box coolers; we’ve seen it keep ice frozen for days. It can carry four six-packs of beer with ice, or 30 pounds of ice all by itself, and it’s completely waterproof, which means no moisture is getting in or out.
Bonus: Did we mention that it can carry 24 beers? AND keep them cold? BUMMER: Your friends’ reaction when you tell them they get to carry it.
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GuideGear GuideGear Guide SUMMER
SUMMER
FuGoo Tough XL – $330 When it comes to summer tunes, the Tough XL is the perfect blend of brains and brawn. On the nerd side, its 8 acoustic drivers deliver sound in every direction, Siri and Google Now compatibility lets you control your phone via voice command, and, heck, it’ll even charge your phone for you. On the jock side, it’s totally water- and dust-proof, and holy crap, is it drop-proof. We threw our test sample off of a 35-foot cliff onto a rocky riverbed with no damage to the speaker, thanks to the polymer jacket, aluminum plating, and stainless steel casing. Let’s see you survive that.
Bonus: The battery lasts 35 hours on a charge. For real.
Samsung Galaxy S7 – $650-$700 Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S7 has a super-sharp 5.1-inch screen, an amazing camera, and great battery life, but take it from us: the best features in the world don’t matter after you’ve dropped your phone in the Caribbean. We’re interested in a phone that can handle the adventure, which is why we love the S7. It’s IP68 waterproof, meaning it can survive dunks of up to five feet for up to 30 minutes, so you can get thrown into a pool with it and it’ll be just fine. Bonus points: pair it with Lifeproof’s FRÉ case ($80; lifeproof.com) to ramp up the protection to an hour of submersion and drops of up to 6.6 feet.
Bonus: You can expand the memory up to 120GB via microSD card.
ENO DoubleNest Hammock – $70 Nothing says “relax” like a hammock. And nothing says “awkward sex” like a hammock built for two. But we’re still fans of ENO’s DoubleNest Hammock. With this thing weighing in at just over a pound and holding up to 400lbs, you and your significant other can take this on any adventure. Who needs tents when you can enjoy the stars while being suspended off the ground? No one to share it with? That’s okay, more room for you and no risk of being dutch-ovened by someone.
Bonus: It packs down to the size of a grapefruit, and it sets up in seconds.
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Gear GuideGear G SUMMER
Fitness Wearables
SUMMER
By Sarah Loogman
It’s the 21st century and wearable technology has become seriously mainstream, impressively futuristic, and far more inspiring than “hover boards” with wheels. But with the rising popularity of these fitness trackers and smart watches comes an overwhelmingly long list of options for the consumer. Truly, it’s daunting. So, to help you track down the best option based on your lifestyle, we’ve collected some of the leading brands and models of the industry.
Suunto Traverse - $469
From the mountain tops to the gym to the
AKA The Micro-Adventurist
streets, Suunto mastered versatility with
Suunto has aimed at a broader demographic than ever before with a multipurpose watch for the recreational outdoorsman. If you’re the type to ditch the deodorant on the weekends and get your toes dirty, this one’s for you. The Traverse gives the outdoor hobbyist confidence with easy-to-use, high-tech features to help you navigate the wilderness, while also accommodating everyday use.
this one.
Polar V800 - $449 AKA The Triathlete This full function watch tops Polar’s product tree and rivals the best of multi-sport wearable devices. It advertises itself for the serious triathlete enthusiast and pro athlete. A large display and textured buttons make the V800 easy to use while in action while remaining slim enough for everyday wear. A quick overview of workout stats show up on the screen after
[UA Band, UA Scale, UA Heart Rate Monitor, and UA Tracker app] AKA The Whole Package Under Armour’s HealthBox is the way to go if you’re looking for total control of the your fitness situation. In collaboration with HTC, the box contains the Under Armour Band (which measures steps, sleep, and resting heart rate, and delivers notifications from your phone);
INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
bezel make this watch a sturdy piece of technology that’ll stay tough through your adventures. It has yet to be tested through a bear attack. However, its survivability is likely higher than yours.
each session and regular use of the Running Index feature will help coach you through faster workouts using less effort. The Polar Coach free online tool will also help you create a training program based on the data collected from your workouts to maximize training and recovery. That coach you’re overpaying to program for you? Polar just replaced him.
Under Armour HealthBox - $400
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Bonus: Both impressively light and tough, the mineral crystal lens and stainless steel
Bonus: The V800 Training Load and Recovery Status features will help adjust the intensity, duration, and even timing of your workouts by measuring overall load of intensity and monitoring recovery status to avoid over, or even under, training.
the UA Heart Rate chest strap (you can guess what that does); and the WiFi-connected , Bluetooth UA Scale (which measures your weight and body fat percentage) – all of which connect with the UA Tracker app (free; iOS, Android) to give you automatic updates throughout the day. For the number-crunchers, scores are prominently displayed on the app’s front-page, letting you know how close you are to your sleep, nutrition, and activity goals.
Bonus: Under Armour’s app provides access to one of the biggest fitness tracking platforms in the world, thanks to its acquisition of MapMyFitness.
GuideGear GuideGear Guide SUMMER
Mobile Essentials
SUMMER
By David Skinner
A mobile office has been one of mankind’s greatest achievements. We can work from anywhere with WiFi, and most of the time we can do it in our skivvies and bunny slippers. But sometimes you have to put on some pants and head out to get caffeinated and have a bit of human interaction. Here are a few pieces of essential gear to get you to the corner coffee bar in style.
Microsoft Surface Book - $1,500 Microsoft’s tablet hybrids have been getting better with each iteration, but if you’ve been wanting something that’s a laptop first, tablet second, the Surface Book is your jam. High-end components, a beautiful display, and a ton of features add up to create an excellent mobile workstation. And with two batteries (one in the tablet, one in the base), we were able to crank out 8-hour workdays on this thing with a bit of battery life to spare.
Bonus: Using the stylus pen feels more like writing with a pen and paper than any other we’ve used. OGIO Throttle Pack - $90 Get it for the daily grind, but plan on using it everywhere else, too. Packed with fleece-lined pockets, every piece of gear stays right where you left it no matter how much it’s tossed around. Built with waterproof materials, that tablet will be drier than you after a morning thunderstorm, and plenty of organization means you’ll never lose your charging cord.
Bonus:Tall fit holds on tight bombing those hills.
Spy Atlas - $150 Mornings are already hard enough without having to squint in the sun. Thanks to the classic frames, these glasses look good from beach to coffee shop, but the real magic is in the lenses. Spy’s Happy Glass polarized lenses allow long-wave blue light waves (which studies show elevate your mood) while blocking the sun’s ‘bad’ rays. Hype? Maybe, but they made the world feel a bit less cold before that first cup of caffeinated brew when we tried them out.
Bonus: Grippy, lightweight frame didn’t slip, even when riding on cobblestone roads.
Under Armour UA Headphones Wireless - $180 Headphones are a great way to tune out your barista’s playlist and to let people know to leave you alone, and we love the UA Headphones Wireless for their comfort and versatility. A collaboration between JBL and Under Armour, the UAs are understated (no huge over-ear cans here), and the treaded silicone ear bud covers stayed in our ears on rides, runs, and even the occasional CrossFit workout.
Bonus: IPX-5 waterproof rating makes them impervious to sweat and storms.
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[ Event Wrap-Ups ]
Vive La [Robot] Revolution! Sponsored by Google and The Boeing Company, the “revolution” promised and delivered at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science isn’t of the kind typically depicted in the cinema – not the hackneyed battle of robot v. human. No, here the revolution is more in line with the optimistic view of technology that Neil deGrasse Tyson professed in our last issue. Improved technology has, overall, improved the human condition, and this year’s Robot Revolution event in Denver showcases “how robots, created by human ingenuity, will ultimately be our companions and colleagues, changing how we play, live, and work together.” The exhibit features numerous and interactive examples of our mechanical counterparts in action. Visitors at the museum will even be able to compete with our future companions in a game of tic-tac-toe or 21. And, for the sports fans out there, the exhibit fields an ongoing series of robot soccer matches.
Divided into four areas – Cooperation, Skills, Smarts, and Locomotion – the exhibit offers the public a comprehensive, yet accessible, view of a range of robotic applications. For instance, in the Cooperation section there’s the Ekso GT Robotic Skeleton, which involves wearable robotics that augment users’ strength and endurance. The Skills department highlights robotic dexterity, with numerous powerful “grippers” and arms, while the bots in Smarts give participants insight into robotic intelligence. And the Locomotion area illustrates the evolution of mechanical movement, with devices like the RiSE, which can scale brick and stucco walls. The revolution will not be televised. You’ll have to check it out at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science from March 18-August 7. For more information visit www.dmns.org/robot-revolution.
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[ Event Wrap-Ups ] The Spring ‘16 Luxury Tech Show By Michael Mascioni Judging by the Spring 2016 Luxury Technology Show, held March 23 in New York, consumer electronics geared to the luxury market are elegantly pushing boundaries. The show is a unique, invitation-only event that showcases very high-end, innovative electronics and technology for both industry executives and early adopters with discerning tastes. Some of the standout products at the event included displays of Ultra HD equipment with HDR capability, such as Sony’s X9 30D system and Samsung’s SUHD TV system. All of the ultra HDTV equipment exhibited at the event displayed a depth of vision approaching 3D quality and a dazzlingly rich color palette. This was highlighted in scenes of Carnival in Rio shown on Sony’s ultra HDTV system. The increasing impact of LED flat screen systems was also evident at the event, highlighted by Hisense’s H10 ULED TV system, which showcased striking sea and arctic images. Another key trend in high-end electronics on display was the increasing appearance of more versatile, collaborative, and fluid displays, evidenced by TAG Global Systems’ Techslate, which the company bills as the “fastest and biggest tablet.” The 84" screen affords overlapping displays of a wide range of content, collaboration tools, and drawing capabilities controllable by touch. TAG Global officials noted the system was selfcontained and geared not only to high-end consumer audiences, but also to boardrooms and training applications. VirZOOM’s VR controller at the event underscored key advancements in virtual reality experiences and sensations. The system affords more realistic and dynamic experiences more closely tied to body movements. Users navigate and interact with those experiences by pedaling on a bike mechanism and turning with the handle. Attendees had an opportunity to sample a series of their games, including horse racing and tank battles. The show illustrates that beauty, cutting-edge technology, and luxury can all exquisitely co-exist.
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Secure. Flexible. Connected.
M1
Security & Automation Controls M1 combines security, fire, energy management, lighting, and access control to provide total control of the home. Easily integrating with products of industry partner manufacturers, M1 controls offer a truly customized solution. With remote access capabilities and simple, user-friendly interfaces, M1 keeps you informed and in control, anytime, anywhere! ELK’s encrypted Two-Way Wireless sensors for the M1 offers a truly secure and reliable wireless solution, defending against interference, hacking, and jamming. Advanced features ensure reliability, extend battery life, and shorten installation time. Two-Way also provides innovative security enhancements; such as, wirelessly interconnected smoke detectors with synchronized sound during a fire alarm and convenient keyfobs that provide system status at the push of a button, allowing users to see if an alarm has been activated before entering the home.
To find a qualified M1 Installer near you, visit: www.elkproducts.com/installer
[ Event Wrap-Ups ]
Dent the Future Dent is known as the un-conference for a reason. Where else can you enjoy the close company of some of the most diverse thinkers, entrepreneurs, and communicators in the world over a four-day period in a setting as pristine as Sun Valley, Idaho? Imagine tech focused talks and collaborative discussions buttressed by a myriad of group activities, food, drink, and many late night discussions. Although the location and the speakers are world class, what catapults Dent to bucket-list-status are the magic moments you take with you when you leave. Launched in 2013 by Jason Preston and Steve Brobak, Dent celebrates visionary leadership and collaboration while fostering lifetime friendships. It truly is a unique experience that broadens your mind in infinite ways, and if you are fortunate enough to attend Dent in 2017, it just may become one of the best experiences you will ever have.
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It’s Your Next Life Hack.
Packed to the brim with as many as 42 pockets, each SCOTTeVEST can hold the myriad of gear you need wherever you go. Learn more by visiting SCOTTeVEST.com/ITT
Produced in partnership with
Produced in partnership with
You Are What You Eat By Peter Gietl
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Kimbal Musk unapologetically wants
dietitian and his father an engineer. In
to change the world. We all entertain
the early 90s he met up with his
these notions at times, but he is the
brother in Canada, and together they
rare individual who actually can
started two highly successful
accomplish such a lofty goal. Older
ventures, Zip2 and X.com, which
brother, Elon, receives more attention,
became PayPal. Elon went on to found
but in the same way that he is seeking
SpaceX and eventually became CEO of
to smash the existing paradigm of
Tesla Motors. Kimbal decided to follow
transportation, Kimbal wants to
a different path, after a near fatal
transform the industrial food culture
skiing accident. He wanted to change
in the U.S.
the very nature of the food industry, to
Kimbal Musk was born in South
move towards a more sustainable,
Africa. His mother was a prominent
healthier alternative.
Kimbal Musk has worked alongside his brother, Tesla genius Elon, through years of technological undertakings. As of late, Kimbal has allotted time to fight for food justice through his own networks of nonprofits and restaurants. He believes “sustainability is critical” in any industry—whether cars, cotton or carrots.
Innovation & Tech Today: In a broader sense, how do you think we’ve arrived at this point where the food supply has become so artificial and commercialized?
return on investment is between -2% and 2%, literally the lowest return you can imagine, and there are more productive uses that can be gotten from that land.
Kimbal Musk: I think that basically we had a lot of entrepreneurial energy about 50 years ago. We really looked at the problem of how to feed the world, and incredible innovation happened. But it’s not about feeding the world anymore; we’ve already figured that out many, many decades ago. It’s about nourishing the world. Type 2 diabetes is now a normal thing. I mean, 30 years ago it was unheard of for a child to have Type 2 diabetes. Now there are entire wards in hospitals dedicated to childhood diabetes. It’s a disaster. I don’t judge people for selling people what they want. But that Big Mac, it’s no longer food. When I was a kid it was actual food; now it has 47 ingredients in it. One of them is beef, and one of them is flour and 45 other ingredients you can’t even spell.
If you think about the food culture we had 10 years ago, before the millennials came along, that was a food culture where price was the only thing that mattered. All of the foods that were being served by McDonald’s, or Applebee’s or Chili’s, just became really kind of gross. The thing about sustainability is that real food has to care about the planet, it just has to. No one in the millennial generation wants to be part of doing the same kind of damage that their parents and their grandparents have done. They want to be part of the solution, which I love. Sometimes they can be seen as not understanding how the real world works. I’m like thank God they don’t, because the less they know the better, because it’s horrible.
I&T Today: Do you think on a macro level that education around these food and sustainability issues is starting to catch on? KM: I would say that the consumer is definitely catching up. We are seeing incredible demand for real food. There’s an enormous amount of change that needs to come down the pipe on how we farm food, and we spend a lot of time with helping farmers figure out how to scale. The majority of the farmland in Iowa is owned by people over the age of 75. And their
I&T Today: How did you become so passionate about food and sustainability? KM: I had a very serious accident. I broke my neck in 2010, and I was paralyzed and bedridden for two months. I had a lot of time to think about what my purpose in life was, and it was staring me in my face the whole time — which was to go and help accelerate a change into a real food culture, as opposed to an industrial food culture. So to have that very difficult thing to happen to me was frankly one the best things to ever happen to me. To break my neck and be forced to look at what my role in the world should be.
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Produced in partnership with
I&T Today: How did The Learning Garden come about? KM: We played around with different models, and the one that continued to work so much better than Produced in partnership with anything else was school-gardens. We decided to take what we had learned and design a new kind of school-garden, called The Learning Garden. And what it’s about is creating an outdoor teaching environment that is an edible schoolyard. We don’t allow fences around the garden, and that enables people to use it after school as well as on the weekends. But more importantly every day at recess kids can play in the garden. The other thing we did was that traditional school gardens fall to pieces after a few years; they’re hard to maintain partnership with and become massive headaches, soProduced we insaid let’s build one that is bulletproof and will last for decades, and will be very easy to maintain. I&T Today: How do you ensure that healthy, sustainable eating doesn’t become something that only the wealthy can afford?
Produced in partnership with
KM: So for us starting with very young kids, where we educate them on what real food is, why it’s important for their bodies, we see the change. What we’re then able to do is get the parents understanding what real food is. The actual cost of real food is not that high; it’s not like it’s something for the one percent. When you think of a McDonald’s meal for a family of four, it’s going to be like $25. If you cook at home — a roast chicken with some vegetables and potatoes — it’s going to be $15. So it’s about their priorities; it’s not about price. It’s actually a lot cheaper to [eat] real food than it is to [eat] industrial. People say they don’t have time, but then you look at the amount of time people spend watching TV, and they have plenty of time. It’s just a matter of priorities. I&T Today: Can you talk about what you’ve accomplished in Memphis with the Real Food Change. KM: Memphis is really an exciting community. The amount of time and energy being put into the real food economy there is extraordinary. Not only our restaurants and the 100 schools with our Learning Gardens, but we’re also working with some farmers who have tens of thousands of acres who are farming cotton. It’s a crappy business. They’ve been doing it over and over again and nobody makes money with cotton anymore, at least not in America. So they’re actually really interested in changing to real food. I’m hopeful that in a few years Memphis will have the most powerful real food economy in the country. I&T Today: What are your thoughts on genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?
“… it’s about their priorities; it’s not about price.”
Top: Kimbal Musk & Hugo Matheson, Co-Founders of The Kitchen Restaurant Group and The Kitchen Community non-profit, envisioned a dynamic and delicious restaurant focused on sustainability, and the issues surrounding our food. They also sought to create spaces that would facilitate the non-profit part of their mission, to bring education and healthy eating to surrounding communities.
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KM: I’m a very pro science guy; the concept of GMOs is promising. But the reality is, it’s tied very closely to the obesity epidemic in America. So people talk about it feeding the world, and it’s just bullshit. It’s not feeding the world, most of the production is just in America, and most of the countries won’t even accept our exports of GMOs. So what it really is doing, is feeding America in a cheaper way, but the food that it’s producing is hardcore industrial food, which is all about heavy fossil fuel use, only about calories and nothing about nutrition, and GM crops are designed just for that. I&T Today: It’s strange that people become so rabid about picking a side with this issue. It’s undeniable that it’s contributing to the obesity rates.
KM: Look, I see it first hand; we see it in our food with high fructose corn syrup. But do you know what the most telling thing about the bullshit is? It’s that 25 million acres of our land is farmed for ethanol using genetically modified crops. It’s f**k*** idiotic. You are not doing anything for the environment. You’re taking 25 million acres of some of the most valuable land in the world and farming ethanol. If we really need to feed the world, if that’s really our goal, what the hell are we doing taking an area twice the size of the central valley and farming ethanol? I&T Today: It makes no logical sense. KM: Unless you’re in the business of selling seeds, and you don’t care about feeding the world at all. I don’t judge a company for selling more seeds, but don’t hide behind the excuse that you’re feeding the world. The most unhappy people in this whole thing are the farmers themselves. These poor farmers are stuck in a system where they cannot farm anything but corn and soybeans, because if they do the government will punish them. I&T Today: Do you see your involvement with companies like Tesla and Chipotle as being part of a trend towards sustainability for corporations? KM: I feel very fortunate to be on the board of both of those companies. I wouldn’t be part of those companies if I didn’t think they were part of the solutions for the future. Sustainability is critical to our future. Whatever you’re doing, even a magazine or website, if you have no thought towards sustainability you’re going to get steamrolled pretty soon. Those two companies happen to lead the way, one in food and one in transportation. I&T Today: Where do you see the U.S. moving towards in terms of food sustainability? KM: The biggest thing is that the consumer demand is making everyone pay attention, so if you think about Chili’s or Applebee’s or TGI Friday’s or McDonald’s, you can see the whites of their eyes. They are not selling a product that the consumer wants. I hope all those companies succeed to convert from their industrial food to food that is more nourishing for their guests. I think everyone has to move there, and if they don’t I think it’s going to be similar to Tesla and the car industry. The folks in the car industry that aren’t moving to a sustainable form of transport, I mean good-bye; it might take 20 years, but good-bye. Kimbal Musk lives in Boulder, Colorado. You can find out more or how to get involved by visiting www.thekitchencommunity.org.
Gillian Hopes Her Serve Is
The Only Trait She Passes Down At 14, Gillian Sparks was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Her mother—who also has Type 1 diabetes—sought out Dr. Kupper Wintergerst, a leading endocrinologist whose research into patient heredity is uncovering how the disease passes to children. Learn more about Gillian’s story and other research breakthroughs at UofLForKids.com.
University of Louisville faculty doctors are leading the way to healthier kids by providing specialized care, performing advanced medical research and teaching the next generation of physicians.
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Using the Free Market to Create Clean Water Produced in partnership with
Produced in partnership with
By Ashlyn Stewart
Produced in partnership with
B
y now many of us are aware of the dire challenges faced by hundreds of millions of people in the third world that don’t have access to clean drinking water. There have been concerted efforts by governments and NGOs towards building wells. However, often these wells present a new set of challenges. Constructing a well for an impoverished community provides clean water for all aspects of that community’s daily life—at least until the well breaks down and no one knows how to repair it. This unsustainable well model is being reimagined by Water4, a nonprofit that seeks to help remote, rural communities around the world build and service their own wells, rather than installing machinery with no infrastructure to maintain it. Water4 provides materials and training to drill a well and top it with a simple, low-cost PVC hand pump.
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Drilling kits with a winch, cable tool, tripod, bailer, and a variety of chisels and rock-breaking tools are distributed to the selected communities, but, perhaps more importantly, knowledge on how to maintain and operate the machinery is also shared. Water4 teams train local NGOs to teach community members to drill wells themselves. Then, the knowledgeable individuals use their new skills and the tools left behind to make sure a real change happens; they guarantee clean water for their own community and provide gainful employment for technicians who can bring wells elsewhere. Maintenance for the existing wells is ensured instead of letting old wells fall into disrepair, and skilled laborers bring new wells to the surrounding region through their own businesses. All of the installation is powered by hand, which makes for rigs with increased mobility and lower initial investment. While cost varies, the average Water4 well costs $1,500 for a long-
lasting supply of clean water. The machinery, therefore, “ensure[s] that the most vulnerable, remote, rural communities are reached,” their website claims. A well can have a transformative effect on a community. Before the wells, villagers, often women, had to carve out hours of their day carrying water by hand from a stream or lake back to their homes. With a reliable source of clean water, diseases are prevented and lives are saved. The current model of dropping off a well here and there, as charity, with no thought to creating a sustainable model, has produced results where half of the wells in Africa are broken and 5,000 children die every day. Water4 is innovating the entire notion of charity, by not giving a handout, but rather by unleashing the free market by providing a sustainable business that saves lives. If you would like to find out how to get involved or donate, please visit www.water4.org
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Purpose-Driven Innovation in Sustainability
SB’16 San Diego Produced in partnership with
As the demand for new products, services, and business models that deliver purpose and profit continues to soar, the business leaders tapping into this shift are thriving in the face of uncertainty. But who is behind this success, and what will it take to enable genuinely purpose-driven business leaders to consistently perform above the rest of the pack? How will they succeed in activating system-wide change toward a sustainable future? Produced in partnership with
This year the Sustainable Brands community celebrates 10 years of moving from the concept of purpose-driven brand leadership to developing the actual tools, techniques, methods, and models for activating purpose. Produced in partnership with
Global brands such as Unilever, Target, CVS Health, and HP have already discovered that the role of a brand in the world is more than just a promise. Their brands affect society and the environment at large. By connecting the values of those within the organization to outside customers and stakeholders, and by aligning consumption behaviors with personal purpose, these brands have come to recognize their full potential. Business and brand leaders gathered at SB’16 San Diego to share how they are succeeding by activating purpose with sustainability-led innovation. Highlights include the following: The Future-Fit Foundation, The ThriveAbility Foundation, Evonomics, We First, and Forum for the Future unleashed powerful new frameworks and tools for analyzing the evolution of the global economy, helping brands think about activating purpose in an integrated and interdisciplinary fashion. Nasdaq, MIT Sloan, and HIP Investor explored new data on investor attitudes and actions with respect to purpose and sustainability, focusing on resolving important points of disconnection between corporate and investor perceptions and demands. WaterAid, Ceres, APANA, The Vinyl Institute, and others discussed innovative ways to tackle global water crises through a variety of evolving methods, including public-private partnerships and new business models.
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Attendees at the 2016 Sustainable Brands event in San Diego, CA are able to interact and learn with fellow thought leaders from a wide range of industries about sustainability.
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Etsy, Mud Jeans, MetaWear, and The Renewal Workshop showcased innovation strategies with the whole value chain in mind, including quality, uniqueness, transparency, humanity, and the wise use of materials from day one. Produced in partnership with
Exciting new solution providers, Shopperception and RealEyes, offered new types of real-time consumer and market insights, as well as new predictive and analytical technologies that support activating purpose in marketing and advertising. Janine Benyus, Founder at Biomimicry 3.8 shared decades’ worth of pioneering biomimicry research to unpack what nature can teach executives about effective, purpose-driven leadership and design. Produced in partnership with
Gabriel Scheer of Frog Design spoke on applying the Internet of Things to tackle global sustainability challenges. The City of San Diego, San Diego Airport, and thinkPARALLAX came together to talk about the power of innovative partnerships and implementing the San Diego Climate Action Plan. Produced in partnership with
Changing market dynamics are forming solutions that will create a new normal for brand and business leadership – one where environmental, social, and economic health are all at the core of the survival of a brand. However, building a successful, purposeled business presents a complex set of challenges and requires a new way of thinking, a new field of knowledge, and a new set of tools and partners. Having a purpose statement alone will not drive you into the winners’ circle or build the trusted and authentic brand that consumers demand.
RealEyes showcased their facial recognition technology that helps clients fine-tune their focus. Above: Attendees enjoy a wide range of sustainable amenities, including coffee and transportation during the week.
About the Sustainable Brands Community The leading brands of the future will be the ones that endure and thrive by embedding sustainability principles into everything they do. Building them takes a new kind of thinking, a new slate of collaborators, and a different set of tools. Sustainable Brands is the leading global learning, collaboration, and communications platform for business innovators focused on advancing the role of brands in shaping a flourishing future. Since 2006, its mission has been to inspire, engage, and equip today’s business leaders to prosper for the near and long term by leading the way to a better future. Digitally published news articles and issuesfocused conversation topics, internationally-known
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conferences and regional events, a robust e-learning library, and peer-to-peer membership groups all facilitate community engagement and community member success. The community is composed of over one million brand leaders and an ecosystem of people and organizations that support them from over 90 countries around the world. This community of change-makers includes the world’s largest global brands, as well as revolutionary social entrepreneurs and the multitude of solution providers, suppliers, NGOs, agencies, academics and researchers, investors, and other stakeholders that support them. As a community, these
professionals share a passion for purpose and a desire to contribute to the future. The goal is to move the global brand community from awareness of the issues and opportunities presented by today’s pressing social and environmental challenges toward the engagement and commitment to address them – ultimately leading to solutions that will serve a flourishing future. It’s key to acknowledge the current business paradigm. By ensuring sustainability, business and community leaders can help change the game to better support a healthy future for humanity and the natural word.
Learn more at www.SustainableBrands.com
N E W! LATBCIKHE O G E D E G P F O L D IN ELECTR
IC
AMERICA WASTES 40% OF ITS FOOD
THIS FOOD COULD HAVE BEEN... WE ALSO WASTE
40%
THIS WASTED 40% OF FOOD MEANS...
25%
32%
OF U.S. FRESH WATER
4%
OF U.S. ENERGY BUDGET
20%
OF U.S. LAND USAGE
Numbers based on 40% of total percentages of resources used to get food to American tables
MORE METHANE EMISSIONS
20 LBS OF FOOD wasted PER PERSON PER MONTH
OR
45 BANANAS
ENOUGH FOOD TO FEED
25 MILLION AMERICANS or the entire population of
TEXAS
Savings for the average family of four could be as much as $2,275 JUST THINK WHAT YOU COULD HAVE USED THAT MONEY ON....
24 DAY PASSES TO DISNEY LAND
1 YEAR OF BACK-TO-SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR Three CHILDREN
OR
2 WHOLE TURKEYS
16 potatoes
National Retail Federation study: Back-to-School Spending Grows as Parents Restock, Replenish Children’s Needs (http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=1405) NRDC Issue Paper: 'Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill'
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TESLA ELECTRIFIES THE ROAD
By Elliot Fitzgerald
Elon Musk and Tesla have taken a leap
forward in driving the auto industry towards a more sustainable, electric future. On March 21, 2016 the new Tesla 3 was unveiled to an astounding amount of hype and fanfare in Los Angeles. It is the third model from the Palo Alto-based electric vehicle company, following the Model X and Model S. However, it is poised to radically alter the car industry around the world in ways that its predecessors were unable to. For all of the innovations that the Model 3 promises to deliver, its most important feature comes down to something very old school: price. The car will retail for $35,000, which will put it in direct competition with the
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mid-priced luxury car sector, taking on established players like the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes Benz C Class, and the Audi A4. For the first time, a luxury electric vehicle will be affordable to a large amount of the car buying public. The $35,000 base price will probably end up being closer to a $38,000-$45,000 price range if you spring for upgraded options, like all-wheel drive, or a longer battery life. It’s worth remembering that most states offer tax credits that can bring down that price, sometimes considerably. Although some in the car industry expressed doubts about whether the Tesla 3 could possibly live up to the hype, car buyers responded very
enthusiastically. Within a week, Tesla had received over 325,000 pre-orders with a $1,000 reservation fee. This translates into $14 billion of possible future sales, making it the single biggest product launch ever. The fact that the car will not even be available until the end of 2017 makes this all the more impressive. There is no denying that the Tesla 3 is an absolutely gorgeous car. The lines evoke a futuristic feeling, while maintaining the aesthetic sensibility of a luxury sedan. The doors are sleek and flow into a back that is very similar to the Model S, while the front brings to mind an aggressive roadster. The true achievement, from a looks
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perspective, is the beautifully actualized panoramic roof. The solid piece of glass makes the sedan instantly recognizable, while providing an extraordinary view for the five occupants it seats. The interior achieves a more minimalist feel, with a 15’’ touch-screen displaying what would normally be in the instrument cluster. There are rumors that there will be a lot more tech options integrated into the car once it goes into production. The car will also utilize an autopilot mode and autonomous features that will seek to achieve a safer vehicle. Range may be the single biggest factor that is holding back the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, although Musk and the Tesla team have sought to sort out many of these concerns. The Model 3 will achieve 0-60mph in less than six seconds, with rumors of faster versions being available for sale at a later date. The base model will include a less than 60kWh battery with a 215-mile range, although it seems probable that a larger battery will be an upgrade option. The company has promised that their Supercharger stations around the country will be available for drivers at no charge; these can charge an electric vehicle in minutes rather than hours. Theoretically this would allow an owner to drive his/her Tesla Model 3 across the country as long as he/she plans the trip along these strategically placed charging stations. It remains to be seen whether this vehicle will be the tipping point for electric vehicles as many claim; it’s also clear that Tesla is taking a huge risk and a flop could be catastrophic. However, there is no denying that there is tremendous desire by the population to move our transportation networks in a sustainable direction. We want environmentally friendly vehicles, but without sacrificing the affordable luxury and comforts that we’ve grown accustomed to. Elon Musk sees a world where we don’t have to make these trade-offs, one where we can travel in a vehicle that helps the environment – and that looks pretty sexy doing it too.
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Revving Up the Electric Vehicle Market Achieving the performance and cost targets set by the
There are now 360,000 plug-in electric vehicles on the road,
EV Everywhere Grand Challenge will reduce the combined battery and electric drive system costs of a plug-in electric vehicle by up to 50%.
with U.S. yearly sales more than doubling from 2012 to 2014.
The number of vehicle models available is on the rise. In 2014 and 2015, auto manufacturers introduced 13 models of plug-in electric vehicles.
Based on Infographic by Sarah Gerrity/Energy Department.
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Inside the 2016 USA Science & Engineering Festival
Photography by Michael Colella
Some may think of the businesstech world as one confined to the office halls of boring adult life. But why do that when what’s on display in this world speaks to our inner child? Wrestling robots, virtual reality sandboxes, gadgets that can be used to mind-control cockroaches? These sound more like the toys of our tallest fantasies than the products of profit and industry. Thus is the 2016 U.S.A. Science & Engineering Festival more of a playground than an expo – with kids from all over the country converging on Washington, D.C. to share a room with both tech industry leaders and their latest innovations.
Right and Above: Scenes from this year’s USASEF, which featured a variety of industry leaders, top-flight speakers, and interactive exhibits. To find out more about the who’s who from this year’s festivities, visit usasciencefestival.org.
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U.S. Army The U.S. Army has always been a prominent player in the tech world. At this year’s festival, we watched as a young, wide-eyed girl guided a genuine Army remote operated vehicle (ROV) through a training course. Taking instructions from a commanding officer, this girl pivoted the robot’s tank-treads toward a “high value package” (just the officer’s name tag lanyard). This girl wasn’t handling a toy controller, either. Glowing before her eyes was the screen of an open heavy-duty laptop console, with several intimidating rows of buttons and switches. Eventually, she was able to lift the officer’s lanyard using the mechanical arm of the robot. Gripping the joystick, she navigated the unit through the course (dodging the traffic cones) and back to the commanding officer, who extended his hand to receive the lanyard. With the commanding officer refusing to move his arm, the girl had to position the limb of the ROV so that the lanyard would be aimed perfectly at his open hand.
Not-So Magic School Bus Takes Students to Mars The Magic School Bus came to life at the US Science & Engineering Festival, thanks to Lockheed Martin’s Mars Experience Bus exhibit. Participants-turned-astronauts loaded into a renovated school bus and crawled across the bench seats to view glowing screens that showed Mars at their fingertips. The screens boasted a reel of virtual reality footage that replicated 200 square miles of the Red Planet’s surface, which allowed young astronauts to experience Mars nearly first hand. Lockheed claims the bus is the
As you can imagine, a number of kids were interested in this exhibit. And, two at a time, they all got to try their hand at the controls. Currently, the Army is placing more emphasis on the STEM aspects of its military careers. For instance, check out the “Army Tech STEM” video on YouTube.
“first immersive virtual reality vehicle ever built,” and says it uses “the same software used in today’s most advanced video games,” according to the company. In addition to the traveling Mars Experience Bus, a Hello Mars interactive smartphone app allowed students to virtually travel to Mars, and receive updates on the planet’s weather and orbit. Lastly, open-access online curriculum about deep space is available for middle school teachers and students.
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Medical Researchers Take a Break from the Microscope to Engage Future Doctors The National Institute of Health (NIH) offered games and goggles at the U.S.A. Science & Engineering Festival to give kids a hands-on view of the health research they conduct every day. Representatives from various branches of the NIH came together to provide a stunning array of 27 activities for kids of all ages to explore their eyes, hearts, brains, lungs, and genetics, plus the work researchers and doctors do each day. To explore the brain, for instance, students could work through puzzles and games to learn about how addiction affects the brain. Students could also interact with
a 3D model to see how the brain connects to vision. There was a balance activity that tested students’ vestibular systems and an electrical activity that showed students the causes of muscle contractions. The braver of the students could even hold sheep, rat, and human brains, while scientists explained the anatomy of each. The gamut of activities hoped to inspire nascent medical researchers through activities their grade school biology classes wouldn’t be able to match.
Sumo Robot League
System76 System76 had an awesome showcase of the power of their open source computers. Open source computing allows for a highly unique computer experience that lets you build, tweak, and use software from all over the world that is designed in a way that is useful on an individual level. With their Augmented Reality Sandbox, kids were able to create their own virtual reality, 3-Dimensional maps in real time. They started out by using actual sand to design and mold their own mountains and valleys. The kids were then able to create virtual rivers, oceans, and rain by simply moving their hands. The end result was a great looking map that was designed and built in real time. These augmented systems will be important to a wide range of careers in the future, as America’s next engineers and architects may design our next bridges and skyscrapers with a flick of their wrists.
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There are very few things in this world that everyone can agree on. The fact that fighting robots are awesome is one of them. Sumo Robot League uses this inherent intrigue to engage young students in mechanical engineering. In this 21st century sport, students are tasked with building their own robots from kits. From there, a more human-friendly version of a gladiator match commences, with these robots and their controllers pitted against each other in student vs. student competitions. There’s nothing like a sport coupled with education. A world where robot assembly is the new soccer practice is probably a world of higher IQs. During this year’s festival, we sat down with Eric Parker from Sumo Robot League. He showed us one of his creations, a blue & white robot with black treads that was barely bigger than his hands. While not as bulky as John Cena, these cute wrestling bots do entice a younger generation of engineers to get to work. Who knows? These events could be televised before long. The Unified Sumo Robot Rules for Autonomous Mini Sumo (what a world) are already in place. You can find out more about Sumo Robot League and its educational efforts by going to the official league website at sumorobotleague.com
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Early Experiences in Computer Science with STEM For Kids High paying computing jobs are on the rise. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 71% of new jobs in STEM are in computing, even though only 8% of STEM graduates have a focus in computer science.
To address this need, STEM For Kids is working at the grassroots level, providing early hands-on experience in computer science to students in pre-K, elementary, and middle school.
Both parents and academics agree that computer science is a foundational skill. A recent Google Gallup Poll found that 91% of parents want their child to learn more computer science. And more than 6 in 10 teachers, principals, and superintendents say computer science learning opportunities are equal to or more important than typically required courses.
The STEM For Kids’ Computer Science Roadmap takes children from content consumption to content creation. This program includes lessons on “dissecting” a computer, binary number play, computer programming, game making, website designing, Minecreaft modding, coding, automation, and animation. Through these programs children
learn problem solving, algorithmic thinking, and programming, all while sharpening their 4C skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. “It is exciting to see children enjoy computing and come up with things like polka dotted buildings in their computer games, robotic petting zoos, and inspiring web sites,” says Moni Singh, Founder and CEO of STEM For Kids. What’s more, entrepreneurs interested in enriching education in
engineering, robotics, and computing for kids in their communities can now franchise STEM For Kids. Nationwide franchise opportunities are available. For more info, please see stemforkids.net/franchise.
Summer of STEM With over one million STEM jobs expected to go unfilled by 2020, STEM education has been recognized as the practical asset it is. This bounty of employment opportunity alone is a good reason to consider iD Tech’s summer learning programs, which are available to a wide range of younger students. These intimate, small class size programs, which have served more than 235,000 students over the last 17 years, are offered to students ages 6-18 and can be found at over 150 campuses nationwide. What’s more, many iD Tech alumni currently work for companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Electronic Arts — forming a professional community that’s lent iD Tech professional credit in the world of STEM. Summer programs from iD Tech have
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students build key 21st century skills like problem-solving, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and innovation. Through project-based education, students learn programming, code apps, build robots, solve engineering challenges, design video games, model in 3D, create 3D printed objects, build websites, edit digital photos, and produce short films. To learn more, visit www.iDTech.com. You’ll see over 60 STEM courses held at prestigious campuses like Stanford, Caltech, MIT, Yale, Princeton, and others in 30 states.
Five STEM programs available from iD Tech: iD Tech Camps (weeklong, co-ed, ages 7-17)
Alexa Café (weeklong, all-girls, ages 10-15)
iD Tech Mini (weeklong, co-ed, half-day options, ages 6-9, as well as teen academies)
iD Programming Academy (2-week, robotics engineering and program coding, co-ed, ages 13-18)
iD Game Design & Development Academy (2-week, pre-college, co-ed, ages 13-18)
Is Coding Child’s Play? We’d Like to Think So. We believe the best way to teach coding concepts is not to teach them at all, but to instill them in children through addictive fun.
“[Code Master] is a wonderful introduction for children (and adults) to simple programming logic structures...I’d give this game 6 stars if that was an option.” – SCOTT BOYER “The beauty of Robot Turtles is that it subtly reminds you that, at their basis, computers are actually very simple machines, certainly simple enough for a young child to understand, if you explain it right.” – POPULAR MECHANICS
© 2016 ThinkFun Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.thinkfun.com
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I’VE NEVER FELT MORE OUT OF MY DEPTH AMONG TEN YEAR OLDS. A little girl raises her hand. She can’t even pronounce her R’s yet, but when she says, “Move thwee,” the teacher nods and inputs the function. Apparently, this was the right thing to do. Once initialized, the code does its work. The class watches, grinning while on the projector screen a cursor traverses a pegboard-like grid. It’s like sitting in on story-time in Ancient Greek. I look around nervously at the rest of the class, with a panic that must be the educational equivalent of an existential crisis. I’m 27 years old; I have a Master’s degree. But I just keep asking myself, “Do these kids realize how illiterate I am?” Their teacher moves onto the next task. It’s John Scarborough, a man who helped develop internet business in its early years, along with technologies involved in HD TV and VoIP. He could easily be helming a large tech company, but here he is in this small classroom, lecturing and gesturing like a born & bred professor. Last year, John opened Silicon STEM Academy in Denver with his wife Kelly Scarborough. Their motive wasn’t to cash in on a movement so much as it was to supply a personallytied need. When their son became interested in technology, (coding specifically), John and Kelly shopped around for specialty schooling. But, strangely enough, while there were plenty of soccer camps and piano lessons, they couldn’t find anyone offering focused workshops on Arduino or Java. Thus was their discovery of the demand for STEM education – something that’s becoming more and more mainstream each year, as research on STEM has found that there may be more open jobs in this area than there are qualified candidates. For instance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that the country is poised to open hundreds of thousands of computing jobs alone in the coming years (over 500,000 before 2024). As John and Kelly tell me, we’re at the beginning of another paradigm shift in education. Thirty years ago, we all had to learn how to use computers. Now, we’re all going to have to learn how to build them. And, as with simple home computer use, it’s the kids who will often outpace the parents. “We had a 63 year old cardiologist at the school,” Kelly informs me, “He told me that his reason for enrolling was just so he could relate to his kid who’s really into computers.” This need to play catch-up is partly why the school caters to such a wide range of age groups. Robotics, programming, circuitry, even photo & film editing – these may all be part of a new and broadly spoken vocabulary, a necessary lingo that those of the old-school might have to learn to live with.
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Sitting in on STEM
A Stranger’s View of the New Frontier By Paul French
Creativity Is Important To The Future Workplace By Dr. Chuck Cadle, CEO, Destination Imagination, Inc. We are at a transformative point in history. Innovation is now disrupting the global economy and challenging the status quo, in ways never before imagined. Advancements in online learning, avionics and aeronautics, nanoscale technology, and mobility are impacting every industry and influencing user behavior.
organization, and I’m delighted to have had the pleasure and privilege of working with them during my tenure at NASA. Next generation STEM explorers will have to be skilled at problem solving and comfortable working in teams. DI prepares today's youth with precisely those skills.”
In a recent survey by the Association of American Colleges & Universities, 93% of employers reported that thinking, complex problem solving, and communication were more important than a candidate’s chosen major. In another survey, researchers learned that student interest was the most important factor in choosing to pursue a field of study. We must engage and inspire students by connecting them to the myriad of new and exciting opportunities that are emerging due to this disruption.
Annually, DI develops seven openended challenges to inspire and engage students to work together in teams and use the creative process—a powerful tool at the root of all innovation—to plan, design and build a solution to their DI Challenge, without interference from adults. Teams have the opportunity to showcase their solutions at academic competitions where they have the opportunity to advance to Global Finals—the world’s largest celebration of student creativity (www.globalfinals.org). At Global Finals, more than 9,000 students from 21 countries showcase their innovative DI Challenge solutions, demonstrating the skills that will help them meet the demands required to be successful in the future workforce. In addition to the tournament, Global Finals is a unique opportunity for students around the world to immerse themselves in different cultural experiences, celebrate global creativity, and interact with leaders and executives from the most innovative companies in the world, including Ford Motor Company, NASA, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and Oracle Academy.
Destination Imagination is committed to ensuring that students are not only adaptable, but that they are also aware and connected to these emerging opportunities. As an industry leader in STEAM-based (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) learning, DI provides students with open-ended projects that foster their creative mindsets and connect them to the rapidly evolving economy. Research shows that students who participate in these programs improve their communication, collaboration, creative problem solving, leadership, and critical and creative thinking— the skills most sought after by employers. Dr. Roosevelt Y. Johnson, NASA deputy associate administrator for education, described the program succinctly. “Destination Imagination is an impressive youth serving
You can visit the website at DestinationImagination.org to learn more and to find out how you can help inspire and support students to become the next generation of risk takers, problem finders, problem solvers, explorers, leaders and worldclass innovators. SUMMER 2016 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY
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PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Taking Toys to New Heights In an age when kids learn how to operate iPads before tricycles, one toy store has arisen as a clearinghouse for engaging toys that offer creative and challenging fun instead of more screen time. Fat Brain Toys has an enormous selection of toys that encourage kids to build, create, problem-solve, and, most importantly, play every day. A quick browse of Fat Brain Toys’ best sellers reveals toys in all price brackets that range from Legos to skateboard-style swings, from soldering kits to build-yourown cupcake sets, and from dump trucks to coloring posters. STEM toys are plentiful, but other imaginative play and art-based toys round out a spread of toys that challenge kids rather than have them complacently sit in front of a screen.
The toys they make and distribute are high quality and often American-made. Rather than selling “licensed, violent [or] cheaply made toys that end up in the trash can shortly after being played with,” the staff selects, tests and promotes toys that are built to challenge kids for many years, the website explains. Since 2006, the website’s sister company, Fat Brain Toys Co., has developed its own educational toys that aim to “develop design and visual-spatial skills.” Two retail stores, in Omaha and in Kansas City, serve their local communities, but shoppers across the country can shop from the direct mail catalog or their website, www.fatbraintoys.com. There, shoppers can be sure to find the toy of their dreams, whether that is a solar robot, marble run or nearly any other toy imaginable.
Open Source Dreams Realized Through Machines
Windows or Apple operating systems are not the only competitors in the world of personal computers, especially as a burgeoning “maker movement” demands machines that accommodate an increased need for control, creativity, and community in software development. System76 already has a model that caters to these makers—usually students, scientists, and engineers—and also to other consumers looking for designs that reach beyond what Intel or Apple can offer. Their laptops and desktops house the paragon of open source software: Linux. CEO Carl Richell believes Linux is “not just a competitor to Windows and OSX but actually a better alternative.”
Above: System76 showcases the latest computers at the USASEF. Right: Carl Richell (left), CEO of System76 chats with Charles Warner, Editor-In-Chief of Innovation & Tech Today
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He explains that the software architecture promises better security, and provides a more user-friendly experience “that’s not just for geeks or engineers, [but] really for everyone.” Richell saw that “Linux [lacked, but] deserved a
really high quality hardware manufacturer” when he founded System76 in 2005 and “stepped up to do it.” Since those early days, System76’s model has grown even more competitive as “the price of software has quickly moved to zero,” Richell explains. “That has been built into the Linux ecosystem, and [consequently System76] since the beginning.” At the System76 core lies open source innovation. Richell says that “the community aspects—where software is designed by a worldwide community of engineers—provides much more input into the development and the design process rather than being isolated at one company, and that creates a better product at the end”—a product more conducive to the needs of scientists and engineers as they propel their innovations forward.
mini q & a
Greg Baumgartner of Scientifics Direct I&T Today: Why do you think that it's important for kids to be exposed to STEM toys at a young age? GB: As a parent, you can help give your children an edge by opening the doors to STEM in your own home. Don’t expect the schools to do it all. Encourage 3D visualization and transformation skills by exposing your kids to toys and kits that make them think in fun and creative ways. Not only will it reinforce the STEM lessons they are learning in school, but it will open up their mind to possibilities and encourage a sense of wonder and curiosity. It was Einstein that said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” I say take his advice! I&T Today: Are there any products that you are particularly excited about offering?
GB: The future is now. The science kits being produced now for kids feature attributes that were once only considered to be science-fiction: nanotechnology, multi-sensors, artificial intelligence, 3D printing – the list goes on and on! I&T Today: Where do you see the future of science related toys going? GB: Robotics, robotics, robotics. Kids find them fascinating to build and to operate. Plus these construction kits hit on all four elements of STEM. Programming basics and languages such as Arduino are being taught to children at an earlier and earlier age. Preschoolers can now build and operate robots! It’s truly amazing.
Igniting CHILDREN’S IMAGINATION while fostering a LOVE OF TECHNOLOGY.
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It’s Your Move
gaming
+ Entertainment
With Section Editor John Gaudiosi
With the aid of ample investor support, virtual reality consoles have finally arrived on the market. Some systems offer an enhanced gaming experience, while others promise a virtual reality cocoon that will support a wider range of everyday tasks within a virtual reality ecosystem. Featuring a $500+ price tag and many technological strings attached, though, can these initial machines live up to the promise that is decades in the making?
VR By John Gaudiosi
A
fter decades of promising a future where people can live and interact with others completely inside a virtual world, virtual reality is now real. The
first two PC-based home VR platforms are officially available for anyone to buy. They’re expensive ($600 for Oculus Rift and $800 for HTC Vive) – and that’s before you upgrade your PC to be able to handle this taxing hardware, but they also show the promise of a future not unlike
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the ones books such as Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One and movies such as Tron have been forecasting for years. As is the case with any new technology, the prices will drop the longer you wait. And the experiences will get better as developers spend more time navigating this brave new virtual world. So there’s really no reason to jump in this early, unless you’re a die-hard gamer or techie who just has to have everything first. Those who
R
HEADSET HEAVEN
Taking a Look at Oculus Rift and HTC Vive
wait a year or so will be rewarded with a far more affordable headset and even more amazing VR experiences.
Facebook’s $2 Billion Gamble On Oculus Rift Shows Promise
Also, keep in mind if you’re not a PC person to begin with and own a PlayStation 4, Sony will be jumping into the VR fray this October with its $500 PlayStation VR headset bundle (which comes with everything you need to plug-and-play except for the PS4 console).
virtual reality today is because of a kid
A big reason we’re even talking about named Palmer Luckey. He wowed Mark Zuckerberg into buying his Oculus VR company for $2 billion in 2014. With Facebook’s backing, Oculus Rift has helped drive an entire industry forward.
The $600 Oculus Rift isn’t actually a complete experience yet. Facebook delayed the launch of its Oculus Touch controllers, which allow users to see their hands inside of VR experiences, until this fall. There’s no announced price yet, but you can figure it’ll cost another $200, which makes it even with rival Valve’s $800 HTC Vive platform. To offset the lack of real VR controllers, every Oculus Rift ships with an Xbox One
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The Oculus Rift comes with everything shown here: a sensor, a headset, and a controller – all thanks to a partnership with Microsoft.
controller. The device is also designed for Windows 10, allowing gamers to play Xbox One games inside of VR in a living room set-up in front of a huge screen. Of course, this isn’t why you’d invest in VR, but it does add additional games to your library for free.
You’ll Need To Upgrade Your PC If you’re thinking about buying any VR headset, keep in mind you’ll need to upgrade your PC unless you’re a die hard PC gamer. In fact, companies such as ASUS, Alienware, and Dell are offering Oculus bundles that range in price from $1,500 to $2,000 and come with the high-end PC you’ll need to experience VR.
Once you have the VR headset and powerful enough PC, the actual VR experience is fairly plug-and-play thanks to Windows 10. You simply put on the adjustable headset, sit down in a chair, and make your selections from the Oculus Store. The one issue you’ll have is the requirement to come out of VR to make sure the games you’ve selected are downloading to your PC. This is something that will hopefully be streamlined in the future, especially to help more casual users into the VR space.
Playing Oculus Games Speaking of free, Oculus ships with a pair of free games, including the platform adventure Lucky’s Tale (think Mario Bros. in VR) and the cockpit-based space shooter EVE: Valkyrie. There are over 40 Oculus games available now (and that number continues to grow), ranging in price from $5 to $60 each. All games are purchased through the Oculus Store and downloaded onto your PC. One game that really stands out for this platform is Crytek’s The Climb, which allows anyone – even those without the physical skill set – to scale a mountain as a free climber. VR takes vertigo to a whole new level when
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you look down from a ledge before jumping across a cavern. One thing that differentiates the early PC VR games market from the competitive console space is that most titles will be available across both Oculus and Vive. This means it’s less about the games, or “killer apps,” and more about personal preference. Right now, the HTC Vive offers a more rounded VR experience complete with hand controllers. But the actual virtual reality games are very similar (or at least they will be once Oculus Touch launches). All of the Oculus games have been designed to work with the
Xbox One controller, so that makes playing any game pretty straight-forward. It’s just that the total sense of immersion is accentuated when using the hand controllers (which both Vive and the upcoming PlayStation VR ship with out of the gate). It’s still amazing to be inside of some of these virtual worlds, especially EVE: Valkyrie, which brings the Battlestar Galactica-style dogfighting experience to life – complete with actress Katee Sackhoff who played Starbuck in the recent TV series. It’s just only half of the experience right now.
Valve Powers HTC Vive Into Winner’s Circle Never count game developer Valve out. The company behind Steam, the largest PC games digital distribution network in the world today with over 100 million users, has partnered with HTC to launch the $800 Vive. Don’t let that higher price point fool you. The Vive comes with a complete experience, including a pair of wireless controllers that turn your real hands into virtual controllers. The other differentiator for the Vive is that it’s a
A look inside the Vive
room scale VR experience. This means that during the set-up process, you program how big a space you’d like to dedicate to virtual reality in your home or office. The headset comes with a built-in camera that will automatically break the virtual reality experience to let you know when you’re approaching a wall, table, or other real-world objects. This is a great safety feature, but also an invitation for developers to create experiences in
which you can freely walk around and explore virtual worlds. Given Valve’s relationships with every developer who has created a PC game, the Vive has over 120 games available at launch. The Vive comes with three free games – theBlu, Fantastic Contraption, and Google Tilt Brush. Valve is also giving away The Lab, a collection of eight mini-games set within the continues on page 140
gaming+Entertainment
THE PODCAST DOWNLOAD By Peter Gietl
MIKE ROWE Innovation & Tech Today: How did the podcast come about? Also why did you decide to go with a much shorter format compared to other podcasts? Mike Rowe: Like a lot of people, I remember the late great Paul Harvey and “The Rest of the Story” with great fondness. His short mysteries were ideally suited for the curious mind with a short attention span, and let’s face it attention spans have never been shorter than today, so I thought the time might be right to revisit Harvey’s unique brand of story-telling. Obviously, I have no hope of filling his shoes, but I’m honored to follow in his footsteps. I&T Today: What is your process for writing them, and how do you find stories? MR: I look for a person that most everyone knows about, and then tell you a story about that person you probably haven’t heard. As the story progresses, more clues are revealed, and the listener has a chance to figure out who I’m talking about before their identity is ultimately revealed. Potential subjects are literally everywhere – historical figures from the past, pop culture icons from the present, heroic soldiers, inventors, trailblazers…the fun thing about this format is that…if people like them, we’ll never run out of content. I&T Today: I was curious about your thoughts about social media. How do you keep it from being overwhelming from a time standpoint, dealing with online negativity? MR: Long before I was on Facebook, Discovery built me a chat room to converse with fans of Dirty Jobs. My main objective was to get ideas and suggestions for the show, and we accomplished that many times over. But the bigger benefit of chatting with the fans was the gradual understanding that they were in fact, my collective boss. I formed a habit of talking very candidly with the viewers about a vast assortment of topics, most of which had nothing to do with Dirty Jobs. Today, that community has morphed and grown into 3 million Facebook friends, and I try to maintain the same level of candor and randomness I’ve always had. It can be overwhelming, but if you think about your fans as the people most responsible for your career, you don’t begrudge the time you spend. In fact, it’s a lot of fun. Ultimately, I think people crave transparency and authenticity, and Facebook is a great place to deliver on both. I&T Today: What is the best way for our readers to become involved with mikeroweWORKS? MR: At base, mikeroweWORKS is a PR Campaign for good jobs that employers are struggling to fill. We highlight opportunities that require the mastery of a skill that’s actually in demand, and award Work Ethic Scholarships to people who wish to pursue those skills. We’ve awarded over 3 million dollars so far, and helped train nearly 400 men and women for skilled jobs. Which is a long way of saying…send money!
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The podcast has forever disrupted traditional radio and how people get information in general. Perusing iTunes leads one to the conclusion that there is a podcast for every conceivable genre, interest, or hobby. From knitting to the Austrian School of Economics, you can find a podcast to explore any subject you’re interested in, and some of the top ones routinely bring in millions of listeners every month. I sat down to interview two of the most popular hosts, Mike Rowe and Dan Carlin. They are perfect examples of the medium, precisely because their shows are radically different. Mike Rowe, with “How I Heard It,” produces these brilliant 5-minute narratives, ala Paul Harvey, that are storytelling perfection. While Dan Carlin, with “Hardcore History,” constructs massive, meticulously researched, 25+ hour opuses about topics in history from WWI to Genghis Khan. What they share is the timeless ability to captivate their listeners.
DAN CARLIN Innovation & Tech Today: Can you briefly tell me about how you decide on a topic and how you research them? Dan Carlin: I pick subjects that I have already researched earlier in my life. There isn't time between shows for me to educate myself enough on a given topic of which I know nothing. So the pool of possible show subjects is constrained by the things that I have, at one time or another, been obsessed with. This is why I can’t satisfy the requests of listeners who might ask for a show on, say, 17th Century India. I have no doubt it is fascinating, but it would take me a year of research before I thought I could do even a halfway decent job of talking about it. We also try to vary the subject matter. If I spoke about a mid-20th century event in one show or series, I likely will steer clear of that time period in the next show. I research the subjects by doing lots of reading! It’s very time consuming and often people suggest that I get researchers to help with the workload. But since I get my ideas while doing the research, I can’t really hand off that responsibility to anyone else. I&T Today: What do you think the advantages are, as a historian and storyteller, that podcasting provides? DC: I am not a historian, and that’s a point I continually stress. Many of the things I discuss are too strange, conjectural, or unusual for a respectable, sober academic to feel comfortable discussing. My amateur status allows me to play around with approaches that no one would even want their historians touching. But I feel that the huge amount of creative “white space” that podcasting offers opens up avenues and ways for us to explore ideas that might not really fit well into any other format. I’d love to be the equivalent of an historical “gateway drug” generating interest for further study by the audience. I&T Today: Are there any historical trends we may be currently seeing that you find particularly hopeful, any that greatly trouble you? DC: It is both fascinating and disturbing to see how the technology of the 21st century is affecting privacy. From governments and corporations down to you and I as individuals, what was often veiled from public view can now be leaked, hacked, or just cataloged and added to a database to make all that we do potentially open to scrutiny or exposure. How will that affect society? It’s definitely a double-edged sword in terms of whether this is a good or bad thing. Everything is a question of trade-offs of course, but it is difficult for us as we live through these trends in realtime to assess if we like where all this is heading (and also hard to determine if we have any meaningful control over this dynamic if we decided we didn't). It’s a bit of a giant experiment with humans as the lab rats. We live in interesting times. I&T Today: What is the best way for our readers to check out “Hardcore History?” DC: Just type in Dan Carlin's “Hardcore History” on iTunes or go to our website at www.dancarlin.com.
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WHO YA GONNA CALL? By Ashlyn Stewart
W Meet the new Ghostbusters: (from top) Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Christopher Hemsworth, and Director Paul Feig
hen Ghostbusters hits the big screen on July 15, 32 years after the original debut, the film will feature a cast and technology toolkit tailored to 2016. Comedy veterans Melissa McCarthy (Spy), Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones (both of Saturday Night Live) will wield familiar Proton Packs through New York City’s ghost-ridden streets while driving the famed Ecto-1. Familiar tech pervades the film, but received an update to reflect the science of today. James Maxwell, who acted as self-titled “technological
adviser and prop design helper” to the new film, said Director Paul Feig’s team was “so interested in making sure that the science, while being fun and incredible, also had this credible element that’s grounded in something real.” Maxwell was consulted by the film crew to “put the real science tools that I use in my daily job” into Ghostbusters. His real-life, MITfunded apparatus, which aimed to create a “polarized Helium-3 beam,” is a focal point in the fictional lab depicted in the movie. “At some point I got to meet Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon and say, ‘Yeah, that thing out there in the middle of the room – that’s my experiment,’” Maxwell said. His “fun-looking experiment” attracted Feig’s eye, but Maxwell was soon consulted to verify the scientific authenticity of other props and plot points. Maxwell said he would often receive phone calls at the lab from Feig’s team asking for input about the feasibility of a particular piece of tech. “One moment you’re sitting next to your big magnet and the cryo-cooler pulse tube is driving you crazy and you’re trying to get some work done.
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[The next thing] your phone rings and you’re like, ‘Oh! This is way more fun!’” Maxwell said. Maxwell also commented on the film’s other update: the alreadycontroversial decision to feature a female-led cast. The Ghostbusters trailer reached 24 million views in its first 24 hours of being released, but also received a firestorm of criticism surrounding the decision to cast four women as Ghostbusters. Feig is a veteran director of female-led comedies, working with Wiig and McCarthy in Bridesmaids, and called these critiques “some of the most vile, misogynistic shit I’ve ever seen in my life,” in an interview with Variety on March 13. The lack of women in Hollywood echoes the diminished female presence in STEM. “However controversial that you’d like it to be that the Ghostbusters are female, I think it’s very important to see female scientists as role models,” Maxwell said.
gaming+Entertainment
Abby Wambach FINDS A NEW WAY TO KICK IT
Abby Wambach is one of the greatest soccer players ever to play “the beautiful game.” The American soccer legend has officially retired from the pitch, but her exploits live on in video game form thanks to EA Sports’ FIFA 16. That soccer dynasty added Wambach and her U.S. National Women’s Team, along with 11 other international women’s teams, as playable characters for the first time. Wambach recently connected with Nintendo on another video game, Sega and Nintendo’s Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for Nintendo 3DS. Although the portable game includes soccer and 13 other Olympic sports, it’s Sonic, Mario, and a cast of video game mascots who compete for gold. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and 2015 World Cup champion reigns as the all-time women’s leading goal scorer in international play. She took a break from her international touring schedule ahead of Rio 2016 to talk video games in this exclusive interview. Innovation & Tech Today: What’s a favorite video game
memory you can share from growing up? Abby Wambach: I played all the games. I played Super Mario Bros. I played Legend of Zelda. I played the NHL games. I don’t think I got much into Sonic, but I can pretend for the sake of this game. I&T Today: Did you play a lot of soccer video games growing up? AW: I did play soccer video games growing up, and it actually allowed me to learn in different ways about the game. When you look at something from a bigger perspective – a bird’s eye view, you’re allowed to see more of the field, you’re allowed to see more of the angles. I&T Today: What are your thoughts about what they can do now with the video games that kids are playing today? AW: Video games are so much more advanced than when we were growing up. This Nintendo game (Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games) is amazing because you can fit it in a 3D form and it has 14 different games on it that we’ll all be playing in Brazil this
Female soccer stars like Abby Wambach star in this summer’s sport-centric video games, including Nintendo’s Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and FIFA 16.
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summer. The Nintendo 3DS will allow kids the opportunity to learn different ways to play games, to get out and be active. And it will also give the family something to talk about when the real Summer Games comes around the corner. It also teaches kids about competitiveness and about teamwork. If you have four of these devices, you can connect and play against each other and with each other. I&T Today: Half of the gamers out there today are female. How have you seen games attract more female players over the years? AW: I don’t know why there are more female players. What I will tell you is that video games are fun, and people like to have fun. If you see it, you can be it. So for all these girls to know there are women in video games, there’s an opportunity to inspire them to participate in these sports. If you see it, you might be able to be it.
By John Gaudiosi
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gaming+Entertainment
Eric Hosmer Kansas City Royals
Talks MLB The Show 16
Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer had a monster year last season. While he may have been snubbed for the MLB All Star Game, he got the last laugh by helping propel his team to a World Series victory. He broke MLB Hall of Famer George Brett’s record for most RBIs in the postseason and his steal in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series tied the game, helping his team to close out the series. Hosmer returns with the bulk of the Royals’ roster in hopes of a repeat. During spring training, Hosmer was able to play Sony’s new MLB The Show 16 game for PlayStation 4. A lifelong gamer, he talks about the role video games play in introducing the next generation of baseball fans to America’s pastime in this exclusive interview. Innovation & Tech Today: You guys have a fairly young team. How popular are video games with your teammates? Eric Hosmer: They’re very popular. Whether it’s a long road trip, or if it’s a trip that we have some time to kill and guys don’t want to leave the hotel, that’s a perfect getaway for us. I know about four or five guys that don’t leave their portable TVs behind on road trips because they’re gaming pretty much during all the free time we have. I&T Today: This October Sony is releasing Playstation VR. There’s not a baseball game yet, but what do you see virtual reality opening up for baseball video games in the future?
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By John Gaudiosi
EH: The virtual reality of the future will give the fans the look and real-life scene of how hard it is to actually hit a baseball. There’s so many different pitches throughout the game now that have all these different types of movement and the speed that the pitchers can throw them at nowadays. Eventually, a baseball game will give the fans a live look at how hard the job of hitting a baseball is. And, at the same time, throwing the baseball and not missing location. Virtual reality could do all of that. I&T Today: What role do you see a game like MLB The Show 16 playing in connecting new generations of fathers and sons with baseball? EH: It really just gives the kids, and the average fan, a lot more knowledge because you can learn so much more about your team, and you can learn so much more about players. I remember growing up before MLB Extra Innings came out, and the only teams that I was able to watch were the Florida Marlins or the Atlanta Braves. If you don’t have the ability to watch a favorite player like Mike Trout or Josh Donaldson, you have the ability to play with him on a PlayStation game. Being that kid in the backyard with your dad throwing a baseball to you, you get to see what Donaldson does after he hits a home run. It gives the fans the ability to learn about certain guys more than they would not being able to see them on TV.
Swapping his mitt for a PS4 controller, Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer takes a break from spring training to test MLB The Show 16 .
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gaming+Entertainment
E3 Arrives With a New Wave of Gaming Popularity Whether it’s the Twitchers, the Let’s Players, or the Angry Joe Army (or any other group with a moniker your grandparents have never heard of), video game fanatics of every stripe will soon be descending on 2016’s E3 convention, the largest video game expo in the world. For those who haven’t heard, E3 (a.k.a. The Electronic Entertainment Expo) is the Comic-Con of gaming. Held since 1995, this convention features game publishers from around the world and has become an epicenter for gaming news and product releases. This convention’s exposure has only grown in recent years with the viral popularity of online gaming videos. Gaming vlogs and “Let’s Plays,” the hotbed from which YouTube millionaire PewdiePie sprung, are a huge & highly lucrative form of new media – immersing viewers in the virtual journey (with commentary of varying degrees of humor) of each online player. And when E3 rolls around, these popular entertainment channels are packed with content related to the expo – with some developers allowing or even paying YouTubers to film themselves playing with the new products. This is a great way for gamers who follow their favorite YouTube reviewers and personalities to stay up on E3 news, even if they can’t make it to the show. Also stoking the flames of this annual geeky bonfire is the recent spike in the industry’s profit margin, due in large part to the controversial trend of microtransactions – a system in which players can download extra content for a game by purchasing it through an online marketplace. Grand Theft Auto V, for instance, reportedly made up to $500 million in revenue from microtransactions alone. This has caused many to wonder about a potential paradigm shift in the way games are marketed and sold – with some decrying the idea of half-finished games that rattle their coffers for extra DLC (downloadable content) cash and with others celebrating the fact that when you play Rocket League (basically soccer with rocket-pack cars) you can cough up a little more to drive around in the Batmobile. This year’s E3 will be held June 14-16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Stay updated at our website: innotechtoday.com.
by Paul French
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gaming+Entertainment
Subscribing to the Silver Screen In the age of unlimited online streaming from the comfort of the couch, young consumers are often opting to view movies at home for a monthly fee instead of putting on real pants and trekking to a movie theater. MoviePass is the latest company to target this demographic’s penchant for a monthly media subscription, but wants to push movie viewers back into the silver screen magic of a movie theater. With MoviePass, users can see a movie each day across 3,700 theaters for a $30-$35 monthly fee. The setup to start using the MoviePass subscription is minimal: users sign up, download the app, and receive a credit card in the mail to use at the theater. The process of using the subscription at the theater is equally simple: the user checks into the showing on the app, then uses the credit card to purchase the ticket. Twenty-four hours from the time the movie starts, the user is eligible to see another. There are no blackout dates, and any non-3D movie can be viewed. As we are inundated with a million viewing options that are delivered to you on your phone, there is something to be said about actually leaving your house and losing yourself in the majesty of a film for two hours. For the true movie fanatic, no Netflix account will ever replace that feeling of sitting with your pop and popcorn, as the lights turn down on a giant screen and you’re transported to a different world.
Any movie, including the blockbusters highlighted above, can be seen with MoviePass in 3,700 U.S. theaters each day.
Escaping Boredom Requests from puzzle apps like Candy Crush and Criminal Case have filled Facebook notification queues for long enough. Puzzlers, gamers, and general fans of fun have made a move back to puzzles that are tactile, real-time, and face-to-face with places like Puzzah!— an interactive puzzle room located in downtown Denver. The space has four different puzzle rooms, each of which can be played at the standard, the challenging, or the expert level. In the I.R.I.S. puzzle, players have to help a futuristic artificial intelligence system rid the planet of the toxic fuel that time machines create. In Kazam!, puzzlers must solve the mystery of curio collector Kellar Kazam’s disappearance. In Tick Tock, detectives must crack a composer’s codes to find a hidden explosive and then disarm it. Lastly, in The Steal, participants must bypass a criminal
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organization’s security system to retrieve a priceless Qing dynasty coin. Each puzzle is made up of “a collection of interactive devices built to respond to your team’s actions,” meaning that the game adapts itself “to the pace of your team,” the website explains. Better teams have to wait longer to receive hints, scoring more playing time, while less experienced teams edge closer to victory with friendlier tips. Depending on the room, anywhere from two to eight players can join in the challenge to complete the puzzle room within 60 minutes. Rather than typing and swiping, places like Puzzah! grant participants immersive hands-on, heart-pumping, and brain-bending challenges to be shared with friends, family, and coworkers. Put down the smartphones, please, and bring your puzzle talents to the real-world in Puzzah!
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MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC sits at the center of a geographic triangle formed by Howard University to the southwest, Glenwood Cemetery to the southeast, and Old Soldiers’ Golf Course to the north. The 926-bed non-profit medical center serves almost half a million people a year and is the largest hospital in Washington, DC. At the end of March 2016, it also sat at the center of a targeted malware attack that required the MedStar Health facility to turn patients away or treat them without access to important patient data. Crippled by a type of computer virus known as ransomware, MedStar became the next victim in a widening campaign by crooks to steal and/or encrypt data and demand ransom money for its return.
Design Note: Additional subliminal tie-in. using the shape of their icon to replace the center of the “R”. note: their icon is not a perfect circle and the exact shape was used.
Kidnapping Data Ransomware and 21 Century Extortion st
By Jason Thomas
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According to the United States Computer Emergency Response Team, or US-CERT, ransomware:
individuals varies greatly but is frequently $200–$400 and must be paid in virtual currency, such as Bitcoin.
Is a type of malware that infects computer systems, restricting users’ access to the infected systems. Ransomware variants have been observed for several years, and often attempt to extort money from victims by displaying an onscreen alert. Typically, these alerts state that the user’s systems have been locked or that the user’s files have been encrypted. Users are told that unless a ransom is paid, access will not be restored. The ransom demanded from
While MedStar did not pay the ransom, some institutions do, and ransomware is creating an increasingly disturbing trend in criminal activity. Over a nine-month period in 2014, the FBI received 1,838 complaints about ransomware, amounting to $23.7 million in paid ransom. In 2015, that number increased to 2,453 complaints and paid ransoms of $24.1 million. Victims are more willing to pay than face the repercussions of not recovering their data. A southern California
hospital in February paid hackers 40 Bitcoins (about $17,000) to restore its data. "The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key," Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center CEO Allen Stefanek wrote in a letter posted to the hospital's website. "In the best interest of restoring normal operations, we did this."
Why is Ransomware so Effective? In order to explain why ransomware is fruitful for criminals, it helps to understand the broader implications of the well-known online scam of SUMMER 2016 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY
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Design Note: phishing. By far, phishing is the most persistent And then you have to make a decision. Do you Additional subliminal tie-in. using the shape of their icon cybersecurity threat companies and individuals to replace the center of thepay “R”. the ransom, or don’t you? What if the data the note: their icon is not a perfect hackers circle and the exact shape was used. encrypted and made inaccessible are face and it works because phishes typically photos of your children or your tax returns? This masquerade as communications from businesses or can be an extremely difficult decision for an people you know. For example, let’s suppose you individual who may not have the resources to fight get an email from your bank. It looks just like the hackers or even the expertise to realize what normal communications from the financial may have just happened. institution. Maybe there are some incongruities in
the spelling or grammar, but you don’t pay attention to those things because the email says that if you don’t click a link in the email, your credit report may be affected. Or maybe it reads that they’ll suspend your account if you don’t click it. So, you click the link because it appears to be from a legitimate source and you are concerned that there is a problem with your account that needs to be fixed.
If you run a company, the risk is even more acute because your customers, your employees, and everything you’ve worked to build are in danger. Do you risk going out of business because you can’t get to your data, or do you pay the ransom? In the case of hospitals, do you treat patients without their medical records, or do you not treat them at all?
What can you do?
In many cases, this is how ransomware makes its way onto a network. An unsuspecting user gets an email from a source he/she doesn’t know, threatening something bad if he/she doesn’t click a link. Or maybe the message comes through Facebook. In any case, once installed, the ransomware then displays an intimidating message like:
The solution to this problem is complex. First, be proactive; think about prevention. If you are never infected with ransomware, you won’t be forced to pay ransom. Phishing works because people click links in the messages. If you don’t click links in messages, you won’t fall victim to most ransomware. Period. The preventative solution to ransomware is to pay attention to the links in messages you receive and not click on them without knowing where you are going once you do.
“All files on your computer have been encrypted. You must pay this ransom within 72 hours to regain access to your data.”
Second, US-CERT recommends additional things we know we should do, but many times don’t.
And click…You’ve just been infected with a virus.
Things like: 1. Employ a data backup and recovery plan for all critical information. 2. Use application whitelisting to help prevent malicious software and unapproved programs from running. 3. Keep your operating system and software up-to-date with the latest patches. 4. Maintain up-to-date anti-virus software, and scan all software downloaded from the Internet prior to executing. 5. Restrict users’ ability (permissions) to install and run unwanted software applications, and apply the principle of “Least Privilege” to all systems and services. 6. Avoid enabling macros from email attachments. If you find yourself in the position of making a decision about whether to pay ransom or losing data forever, rest assured that only you can make that choice – no one else. Unfortunately, in this day and age, cyber criminals will look for any way to steal your information in order to take advantage of you. However, by using some safe guards and common sense, you can keep these criminals from breaching your digital space.
The FBI Hires Hackers The FBI’s battle with Apple took an unexpected turn when the government announced that they had successfully hacked into one of the phones of the San Bernardino terrorists. This was surprising because they were locked in a legal and media battle with the tech behemoth, to force them to create a back door into iPhones that the government would have access to.
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It turns out that the FBI elicited the help of hackers from around the world to create a breach into the phone. They were successful. However, they had to spend over one million dollars for the hack, and it seems that they were unable to find information that
linked the perpetrators to other extremists. The vulnerability the hackers exploited was only applicable to the iPhone 5C. This is a lot of money to spend to gain access to a small sliver of phones, and the FBI seems reticent to divulge how they obtained access. They also have dropped all of their suits asking Apple for a bypass of their encryption, which will make it difficult to obtain a court order in the future for the inevitable next case. This is a very difficult situation. On one hand, the government needs to be able to track individuals they are concerned may be plotting a suicide bombing for instance. However, the 4th Amendment and privacy laws exist to protect individual rights. Also, companies like Apple have to ensure that their customer’s data is secure. It’s likely that the debate between privacy and security with technology will not end anytime soon.
STOP READING. This magazine has been compromised. You will have no access to the cutting-edge content inside this issue of Innovation & Tech Today. None of your favorite features, conversations, or columns. The website is also frozen. —Malware Syndicate
Ransomware is a complex problem. One wrong move and all of your data could be lost. Carbonite is the simple solution. When a virus strikes, our point-in-time restore turns back the clock. And lets you get back to business. Don’t let ransomware cost you time and money. Protect all your computers with a powerful backup solution that takes worry out of the equation.
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TECH ZONE
From Rain City By Paul French
Over the past 10 years,
Seattle’s overcast cityscape has become the epicenter of a major tech boom, with big names like Amazon, Adobe, and Facebook moving into the city where, decades ago, the Fortune 500 favorite Microsoft laid the groundwork. This migration of giants has spawned a rise of aspiring start-ups, resulting in an ecosystem of skilled workers and success stories.
In other words, there’s a reason why Fargo, ND isn’t a central tech hub (yet). Big tech residents support small tech residents, and, likewise, small tech residents support them. Of course, there are many other factors driving Seattle’s makeover -- major and minor alike (for example, the fact that the city shares California’s time zone makes it easier for company satellites to communicate with their headquarters back home).
This has given Seattle a powerful talent pool, one in which the big fish players can feed off the tech innovations of small startups, and, alternatively, one in which the abundance of these established companies provides a route to success for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Indeed, the way to Washington’s so-called “Emerald City” seems be paved with gold, and companies both native and new are sparing no expense in expanding their territory. Amazon, one of Seattle’s born & bred, is currently adding to its urban campus, which, according to The Seattle Times, has the potential to take up 10 million square feet after it’s finished in 2017.
For instance, even if your business venture fails at StartupX, you can rest easy knowing that the experience you’ve gleaned from your enterprise will make you a worthy candidate for work at, say, Google. And with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics citing Seattle’s mean salary for “Computer and Mathematics” workers at $107, 290 (an average second only to San Francisco), those who stay in this sector are likely to be well-compensated for their efforts.
Amazon’s decision to grow further into Seattle’s expensive downtown area (with two large towers currently under construction) has raised a few eyebrows, but this plan does come with some innovation-sponsored advantages. For instance, here Amazon plans to employ a “district energy” system, recycling energy from the nearby Westin Building Exchange by channeling heat through underground water pipes.
Amazon’s state-of-the-art biospheres being constructed beneath one of the company’s major towers in Seattle
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to Crane City Seattle’s Bustling Tech Growth With this sustainable and cost-effective plan (four times more efficient than traditional heating methods, according to Amazon’s website), the retailer giant plans to heat three million square feet of its two new office towers. The construction doesn’t end there either. Possibly taking its name to heart, Amazon has been constructing a series of biospheres beneath the towers – beautiful, framed glass structures housing botanic gardens and arboretums where workers can have short, break-time walkabouts. Not to be outdone with amenities, social media titan and transplant Facebook is also in the process of lavishing the workers of its new Seattle complexes. According to GeekWire, which uncovered the company’s plans, Facebook’s new offices will “feature a large rooftop park complete with a walking trail, giant fire pit and BBQ-style dining area, plus a covered cafeteria and an outdoor events space.” And, according to Seattle’s KOMO News, who infiltrated Facebook Seattle late last year (publishing, of all things, a picture of the office playroom’s ball-pit), Facebook’s Seattle branch is already its biggest one; and the current plans (amenities and all) will create an office for up to 2,000 people by the end of this year. Another high-flying tech company in the Seattle area is Autel Robotics, out of Bothell, Washington. Years of engineering experience and a passion for making drones easy to use have allowed this company to storm onto the scene. Their flagship drone, the X-Star Premium, has received rave reviews in a very competitive
landscape, which has helped contribute to the company’s rapid ascent. Autel Robotics is currently working with partners like Amazon (there’s that Seattle dynamic again) to make 2016 their strongest year to date. A little farther down the road (by 2019), travel purchase company Expedia is planning to move its entire headquarters from Bellevue to Seattle. The company has bought up pricey waterfront property on Elliot Bay and has released renderings of a sprawling new HQ that, while not yet detailed with fire pits and botanic gardens, is expected to supply its workers with the open office spaces and plentiful amenities that are a huge part of Seattle’s upper-echelon working culture. It’s inevitable, though, that these mass migrations and new growths are going to have a broad economic impact, the measure of which extends beyond the dollars earned to the earners themselves. As more cranes move into the skyline, many have expressed worry that the cultural meat of the city’s well-known bohemia will be forced out. If San Francisco’s boom-story has a moral, it’s that musicians and artists have a hard time living next door to software developers making 150K. Thus, as new companies move into Seattle’s limits, the goal seems to be one of creating a harmony between those bringing prosperity to the city and the cultural core of the city itself.
Renderings of Expedia’s new Seattle Campus
SUMMER 2016 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY
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Baseball is the only major American sport that does not feature a clock in any form. Let that sink in for a bit. Baseball goes at its own pace and allows you to get into a rhythm. As I’m writing this, for instance, I’m taking turns penning sentences and watching pitches delivered to home plate. Of course, though, there are legions of the foul-catching faithful who are more attentive than the casual fan, and new technology is helping them stay updated on America’s favorite pastime. So sit back, grab a beer, and enjoy the crack of the bat with these top five baseball apps.
By Oren Salomon
3. ESPN Radio VERDICT: ESPN covers baseball more than any other channel and so there’s naturally a lot of baseball content on ESPN radio, especially analysis.
1
1. MLB.com’s At Bat
FOR:
VERDICT:
• Contains some of the best baseball podcasts out there.
This is the quintessential app for following baseball live.
AGAINST: • Somewhat neglected compared to other ESPN apps like SportsCenter or Watch ESPN. • Heavy advertisements.
FOR: • Live pitch-by-pitch animations of ball placement across the plate. • Super in-depth box score with up to the second live stats. • Great for pairing with a mlb.tv subscription to watch live games in 60fps video.
2
AGAINST: • You probably can’t follow your home team with video or audio because of black outs in your “current location.” On desktops, a lot of people use a VPN to get around this. • Free to download and use, $19.99 annual upgrade for premium and $109.99 for mlb.tv subscription.
4. TuneIn Radio VERDICT: Screens can be distracting for multi-tasking. As far as radio apps go, this is the best one that covers baseball.
FOR: • Use the premium version of this app for a lot more than just baseball. Six hundred commercial free independent music stations and a library of over 40,000 audiobooks. • Features live play-by-play for virtually every other major sport, including the NFL, NBA, and the English Premier League. • Simply does it all radio-wise. One stop shop for all listening needs if you don’t want a baseball specific app.
3
AGAINST:
2. MLB.com’s Ballpark
4
VERDICT: MLB’s in-stadium experience app.
• Expensive monthly fee: $9.99/month.
5. SeatGeek VERDICT:
FOR: •E xcellent seat view & seat map feature let you see
If you can’t find your way to a game on MLB At Bat or MLB Ballpark, this is a great way to search secondary ticket markets. Also check out StubHub.
exactly the vantage point of a specific seat in a ballpark. • Seamless iBeacon check-in for rewards and Apple Passbook integration for paperless ticketing. • Food and beverage ordering at your seat.
FOR:
AGAINST:
AGAINST:
• Requires a free account registration (no guest mode). • Does not cover 100% of MLB ballparks yet.
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5
• S earches multiple markets for tickets. • Sometimes cheaper than face value for regular season games. •N o standardization among listed marketplaces. Can have different fees and refund policies.
TechToday
INTERNET of THINGS
Your Very Own Jetson’s Home
By Emily Paulson
W
hen you hear “the home of the future” you may picture a sci-fi movie or a cheesy 50s movie reel. But, with the explosion of the Internet of Things products, the reality of an automated home may be right around the corner. Gartner research estimates that by 2020 there may be over 25 billion IoT connected devices, from refrigerators, to phones, to garage doors, and almost everything in between. When you walk into your home in the coming years, the experience will be different. To start, your phone will have already relayed instructions to the home as you are on your way there. It will have set the optimal temperature that you like, turned on the lights, and started playing your favorite music. You may stop at the grocery store on the way because your
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refrigerator has sent a text to you letting you know which foods you are out of. Your security system will send a text follow-up after alerting you earlier in the day about a potential security risk. It turned out that it was just an over-eager delivery person, but you can be at ease when you pull into your garage knowing that the home is secure. The smart technology in your connected car instructs the garage door to open as you pull up. As you park your electric vehicle, a wireless inductive charger in the floor will replenish the battery, and you won’t have to worry about plugging in your car. As you walk in your home you pass the TV, which has become the central hub for controlling a smart home. From here you can control, monitor, or adjust almost any aspect of the house. You may get an alert that you have to
pick up your daughter from her piano recital in one hour, and that your son’s science fair project is due in a week. As cable has been replaced with streaming services, a list of the new episodes of your favorite shows is shown. All of these smart home features are, of course, tied to your mobile device. You also receive a breakdown of your energy consumption. This will be a huge advantage of the IoT’s home of the future, as the consumer will be adept at reducing energy consumption by utilizing products like smart thermostats, smart lights, and smart outlets. Although some people remain incredulous about the feasibility of some of these products, it’s clear that they are coming. It would be silly to assume that the Internet will not be a disruptor to the technologies of our homes in the same way it has to every other industry it has touched.
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CEDIA 2016
IT’S GONNA BE BIG!
Expand your network, grow your knowledge base, and be inspired by the most visionary thinkers, innovations, and ideas at CEDIA 2016 – the world’s premier showcase for home technology.
BIG Future Google, Samsung, Barco, Clare Controls, Comcast, Control4, Dish Network, Dolby Laboratories, Lutron Electronics, Meyer Sound, Savant, Sony, Vantage Controls… the list goes on and on. CEDIA is expecting another successful show filled with innovative brands that are looking to the future and shaping the residential technology industry. And that’s not all – the week is packed with some of the most visionary thinkers in the industry, from the Opening Keynote to CEDIA Talks and panels. You’re sure to walk away with the tools to move your business forward like never before.
Think BIG This year CEDIA has expanded training. The Tuesday training line-up will include some highly sought-after half-day and fullday workshops such as HAA -THX Home Theater Advisor Certification, Video Calibration Level I, Home Cinema for Designers, Rack Building & Wiring Fundamentals, and the CEDIA COI Train the Trainer course. In addition to offering Tuesday training, CEDIA is offering a total of 43 new courses and has expanded business course offerings based on attendee and member feedback. A full listing of all of this year’s training can be seen at cedia.net/show.
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Your Network Building a network to foster relationships can help you discover fresh and effective methods to grow your sales, connect with customers in new ways, and expand your professional skills — all things you need to maintain a thriving business. CEDIA 2016 is the place to expand your network and meet people, from manufacturers to fellow business owners. You will be surrounded by people who “get it”.
BIG THINKING. BIG NETWORK. BIG FUTURE. ALL UNDER ONE ROOF.
CEDIA 2016 will take place September 13-17 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas. Registration for CEDIA 2016 will open on June 8, 2016. See a full exhibitor list and plan your trip at www.cedia.net/show.
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Pedego Trail Tracker The TrailTracker from Pedego is an off-road titan. This fat tire electric bike can take anything you throw at it, from sand to snow. If the ride gets a little steep or you just want to cruise, grip and rip the twistand-go throttle to engage the frame-integrated electric motor. A handlebar-mounted LED display provides a range of ride info and features a USB port for device charging while you ride. Turn some heads and get riding in style. $3,295
BONUS: You can probably tell this by looking at it, but all that extra metal makes this bike sturdier than your average Huffy.
Smith Maze Bike Helmet Protecting that dome shouldn’t be on the back burner when weaving through traffic. The Maze makes protection look professional, and with the MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) tech under the shell, you can bet it’s going to perform well when it matters. Matte black, and self-adjusting so you can strap it on and focus on the traffic instead of your gear. BONUS: When you have a helmet this awesome, there’s no need to plaster graphics on it, but they have a few classy options of you wanna go that route. $120
DZR H2O Shoes Keep your feet dry during those summer showers: supple Durable Water Repellant- coated sheepskin means they’ll hold up to daily abuse and look damn good doing it. The metal-reinforced nylon shank in the sole can mash flat pedals hard without losing any power, and if you’re gutsy, screw in some clipless cleats to really dominate your ride. BONUS: Sheepskin leather = huge style points. $170
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Garmin Fenix3 HR Take the Fenix3, slap a 24/7 heart rate sensor on it and you get the Fenix3 HR. For those who can’t settle for just running, the Garmin Fenix3 HR is the smart watch for the do-it-all type with with tracking for hiking, rowing, paddle boarding, swimming, golfing, climbing, cross-country skiing, trail-running, cycling, and even triathlons and some indoor gym activities. Sorry, but it won’t track chess boxing. (That’s a real thing. Google it.) All activities can be automatically synced with the user-friendly Garmin Connect mobile app and provide detailed information about activities. Your friends might not be able to keep up, but Garmin can. BONUS: The Fenix3 HR crunches data gathered from your workout to estimate your VO2 max, using these metrics to help recommend recovery rates and even estimate ideal finish times when it comes to a foot race. $599
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Native Eyewear Hardtop Ultra XP If you’re looking for a high-performance pair of sunglasses that can stand up to rigorous activity, the Native Eyewear Hard Top Ultra XP’s are it. Featuring Rhyno-Tuff frames with interlaid rubber for extra grip, they can take a beating and keep going. The hybrid venting system dissipates moisture when you start to work up a sweat and N3 polarized lenses deliver high contrast, crisp definition. $129
Pure Acoustics MCP-75 Portable Entertainment System Karaoke lovers rejoice! This Bluetooth speaker system on steroids comes equipped with two wireless microphones and features USB, auxiliary and SD card compatibility. Simply plug in your phone or tablet and press play. The only limit is the size of your song library. Lightweight, and with a 10-hour battery life, this all-in-one jam maker can be taken anywhere the party takes you. $170
Meade Instruments ETX-90 Observer The ETX-90 from Meade is the latest evolution in the telescope series, featuring a highly portable design ideal for hiking and camping. Highlights include a flip mirror that focuses light to the rear of the telescope for a camera attachment and an AudioStar computerized controller that allows you to hone in on any of the 30,000 objects preprogrammed into its database. $499
The SCOTTeVEST SeV System 8.0 and Travel Boxers Durable outerwear is indispensable if you’re going on a mountain trek, or even a brisk morning jog. We looked everywhere for great gear and finally landed on the SeV System 8.0 by SCOTTeVEST. If that name sounds more like weaponry than wardrobe, that’s because this thing is tough. Its Shell 8.0 liner is windproof and water-resistant, with 43 (no kidding) pockets. And if you need powerful weather-protection downstairs, try their quick-drying, lightweight Travel Boxers. SeV System 8.0 – $315.00 / Travel Boxers – $25.00
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LiftMaster 8550W The Internet of Things ever expanding list of products has been enhanced by one. The LiftMaster 8550W garage door opener features Wi-Fi enabled communication for smartphone control and open/close alerts. Other state of the art features include a back-up battery for power outages, timed auto-close if you accidentally leave the door open and Security + 2.0 for increased open/close range and new door code generation on each opening. $265
Elgato Avea Flare Shopping for home lighting can be tricky. You want something that’s simultaneously classic and modern – not too old-fashioned, not too new-fashioned. The Avea Flare by Elgato, with its minimalist & organic curved design, is the perfect happy medium for those who follow the Goldilocks Principle. Battery-powered and wirelessly charged, this mobile lamp can light a room (or a patio) for over eight hours. Can you find another light this tasteful that’s waterproof? $99.95
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Caseco Duo Connect Series Just because our phones are smarter doesn’t mean they’re more durable. With smartphone users just one fumble away from spider-web cracks, it helps to have reliable protection. Fortunately, Caseco’s new Duo Connect Series has you covered, literally. Military tested and equipped with the world’s smallest universal car mount, this case takes “drop-proof” to a whole new level. Rest assured, this isn’t some cheapo mall kiosk case. It even prevents credit cards from being demagnetized. $69.99
Pavlok Do you have a bad habit that you want to break? Pavlok provides an innovative solution for kicking it once and for all. By pairing with your smartphone and giving you a brief electric shock any time you find yourself doing the behavior you want to eliminate, it causes your brain to associate pain with your bad habit/s. Say goodbye to breaking your New Year’s resolution in record time by over-imbibing, smoking a pack of cigarettes, and then waking up by smashing the snooze button for 45 minutes…or maybe that’s just me. $179
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SUMMER GIFT GUIDE
SUMMER GIFT GUIDE
Art &
Vladimir Kush
and the binary of art and technology
By Paul French The relationship between art and technology has always been an intimate one. The more tools in your kit, the more artistic options you have. As Vladimir Kush says, when he first came to America after working as a painter in Soviet Russia, he had to get used to being equipped with more than just a “rat’s tail” for a paintbrush. Even while maintaining his identity as a classically trained “metaphorical realist,” Kush is employing new technology to share his award-winning art with people around the world. Among other things, this renowned artist spoke with us about his latest project, “1 & 0,” a collection that art lovers, young and old, can access and even interact with on smartphones and tablets: My father wrote this story about one and zero, which are, you know, the binary system numbers. One & zero are the lowest numbers, but together they are the strongest. It’s a story of them living together harmoniously. They are making music, and all of a sudden zero decides that he is much more important and walks away from one. And everyone, at that moment, sees nothing but a big fat zero. Without one, he is just zero. Separately, they are nothing. Together, they’re a language. Kush’s last digitally available collections, “Aries the Sheep” and “Matrix of Love,” have allowed users to essentially visit new galleries
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
Be Brilliant.
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Art &
with the stroke of their index fingers. “1 & 0” extends this new facet of the art world, even allowing users to paint black & white versions of the paintings themselves. New technology allows us to become much bigger artists. Traditional books are still made, but they’re not working as well. We have to switch on and make sure that we have that visual element. A lot of people associate metaphor with language. We are the ones who make metaphor visual. It’s a different realm. By doing it visually, we make it much more accessible to other people, especially for kids. Indeed, Kush’s app projects, while innovative in their own right, are partly compelled by a need to accommodate an audience used to different visual media. Kush explained that there is some difficulty making art that’s both accessible and “warm” for the general public, who, inundated with visual media, may have difficulty discerning between real art and fake art. Photography and editing programs, Kush said, have allowed people to create pieces that are more technological than artistic. What is the line between art and technology? It’s very hard to define. I don’t know what that line is. Right now there’s a lot of photographers out there, and they’re selling their photography as art and for art prices. But for me it’s pure technology. It’s computer design, rather than art. Even though I believe that photography can be art. For instance, in a National Geographic magazine you can find pictures that are very artistic. But what we see in those galleries, I don’t know. To me, it’s repetitious and boring. They’re just screensavers. Like the binary one and zero, art and technology need each other. And Kush’s work proves that, while sometimes at odds, together these two can produce a powerful language. To find out more about Vladimir Kush and his artwork, go to vladimirkush.com, or look for his collections on the Apple marketplace.
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#POLITICS and the Rise of the Internet Journalist
continued from page 36
overly surprised by this, we turned all the news into entertainment.” On the other end of the political spectrum is Milo Yiannopoulos, the technology editor of Breitbart. com, one of the largest conservative websites. “This is the first cycle in which not just the Internet but trolling, mischief and memes have really penetrated the mainstream.” He exudes an Oscar Wilde-like persona, complete with perfectly coiffed, bleachblonde hair, an upper-class British accent and the propensity to anger people with an unrelenting style that evokes, in equal measure, Christopher Hitchens and an Internet troll. He is unapologetically conservative, anti PC, and openly gay. “Social media is ubiquitous, and the web's pranksters now have instant access to journalists and commentators via Twitter. The best example so far is the Ted Cruz – Zodiac Killer rumor. It started off as a joke on Twitter, and less than a month later, Cruz's wife had to respond to it publicly.” THE ELECTORATE STRIKES BACK So the mainstream media, confident that they still held sway, scoffed and prognosticated and got everything wrong. They scratched their collective heads as outsiders drew crowds larger than anything
ever seen before in politics. But the voters no longer cared what they said because they didn’t get their information from CNN or Fox News any longer. This is an online age, where the narrative of a media cycle can be measured in minutes, rather than days. And trending topics and the Facebook newsfeed are infinitely more important than think pieces by The New York Times. The establishment media failed to recognize a deep cynicism, a viral feeling infecting the electorate that the game was rigged. They laughed at blogs and sneered at online journalists as
something less. Meanwhile, they failed to adapt or recognize how technology had changed the tastes of the consumer. It doesn’t matter what ends up happening with this election; journalism will never be the same. As always, the Internet defeated an older model. Cenk Uygur summed it up this way:“If the establishment was unnerved by 2016, wait till they get a load of 2020. They might be able to stem the tide this election… but by 2020 it will be a tsunami.”
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esports SHOOTS TO BE THE NEXT GREAT SPORTS LEAGUE continued from page 40
T
he growth of the sport in the past several months has been startling, and major advertisers are starting to take notice. Mierzejewski points to this as one of the major signs that his sport is truly ready to enter the mainstream zeitgeist. “We now have Coca Cola sponsoring League of Legends eSports, Bud Light has announced they are sponsoring leagues.” In some ways this shouldn’t be surprising now that video games outsell movies, and that the second most popular YouTube topic behind music is gaming videos. Kevin Meier, a shoutcaster for Hi-Rez Studios believes that the appeal is no different than any other sports, where fans become emotionally invested in individual players. “I always enjoy individual player’s storylines more than even the games themselves. I think that’s what drives eSports. Getting to know the players and watching them succeed is what I find exciting.” There are bound to be hiccups along the way, as with any new sport, and it’s unlikely that people who don’t play video games will watch. But it’s undeniable that something fascinating is happening with eSports, and with the number of gamers around the world, the growth potential is enormous. Who knows? Someday instead of football or baseball, your kid may have posters of their favorite eSports player on their wall.
VR HEADSET HEAVEN Taking a Look at Oculus Rift and HTC Vive continued from page 105
The HTC Vive’s somewhat alien-looking array of equipment includes two handheld controllers, a headset, and two motion-tracking base stations.
studio’s bestselling Portal universe. All games are available through SteamVR, a virtual reality edition of Valve’s popular PC store. Prices range from free demos to $60 game experiences. Once you enter the Vive, you don’t have to leave. You can even take Skype calls and answer emails within this VR world. The headset is comfortable and it’s easy to pick up the wireless controllers and get completely lost in VR experiences. I played the Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine demo in the Vive and I honestly didn’t want to leave. Picking up a lightsaber from R2-D2 and deflecting lasers back at
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incoming Stormtroopers as I protected the Millennium Falcon was an amazing experience. And walking around and looking at the desert landscape, checking out the Falcon up-close-andpersonal, is something you simply can’t do in a traditional video game. I’ve played some games like the crazy workplace comedy experience Job Simulator across Vive, Oculus, and PlayStation VR. It’s the most fun in Vive because of the controls, although PlayStation VR is also engaging with its PlayStation Move controllers (the game just looks way better on a PC). Not every game has been designed to walk
around and explore one’s environment, and in those cases where sitting is the main experience like Project Cars, Oculus is great. But it’s the Vive’s ability to do everything at launch for one price that really makes this the VR platform to buy right now. Valve isn’t pushing exclusive games. It’s encouraging developers to create cross-platform experiences for the entire VR ecosystem. So this isn’t the system to buy because of any one game. It’s the system to buy because it delivers on the promise of the future of games, entertainment, communication, and living – today.
Events
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CEWeek June 21-23 New York, NY
No Barriers Summit June 23-26 Copper Mtn., CO
Check out these events with a local presence around the country: // 1 Million Cups // TEDx // Maker Faires
Wearable Tech in Sport Summit Aug 23-24 San Francisco, CA IoT Evolution Expo July 11-14 Las Vegas, NV Wearable Technologies Conference July 12-13 San Francisco, CA
Techweek June 20-26 Chicago, IL
E3 June 14-16 Los Angeles, CA
2016
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Aug 3-6 Salt Lake City, UT Luxury Tech Show July 15 Miami, FL TechNet Augusta Aug 2-4 Augusta, GA 142
Campus Technology Aug 1-4 Boston, MA
INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SUMMER 2016
Techweek Week of July 25 Toronto, Canada
Wearables TechCon July 18-20 San Jose, CA
The Lighter Side
Anti-Social Game Theory By Noah Gardenswartz
I’m on my phone a lot. Like, so much that I’ve checked it three times since I started typing this sentence. And while I do think that my, and everyone else’s, constant phone usage has had negative effects on our most basic interpersonal skills–like making eye contact, or having an attention span that lasts a whole conversation– that doesn’t mean that everything we do on our phones is bad. I’ve recently gotten into the mobile brain games with apps like Lumosity and WordBubbles, and they do more than pass the time while I’m taking a poop; they help me stave off Alzheimer’s.
Lumosity’s Trouble Brewing is just one of many brain games available that give smartphone users something other than their selfie game to think about.
That’s right, I’ll be metaphorically rolling my eyes, which will never make contact with yours, feeling mentally superior as I search for a 7-letter word that’ll help me stay sane in my eighties, while the rest of you swipe left and right on sexy singles in the area. I know that our collective phone obsession is out of control, and nobody really needs a new reason to be further enslaved by the pocket master, but playing brain games on your phone is the technological equivalent to ordering a bottled water with your cheeseburger – at least you’re doing something healthy with your unhealthy habit. Tons of scientific studies have been done on the effects of brain games, and, while the verdict is split on whether or not
Noah Gardenswartz is a comedian and writer based out of Brooklyn, NY. He performs nightly around New York City when he’s not touring clubs and colleges across the country. He’s written for the Huffington Post, Creative Loafing, and VICE, and he’s performed stand-up on NBC, TruTV, and Comedy Central. You can follow him on Twitter @noahgcomedy, or see more on his website, www.noahgcomedy.com
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the games actually make us smarter, the overwhelming consensus among the already-smart people who wear fancy lab coats is that the brain games are an effective way to prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia. After all, an active brain is a healthy brain. So, if constantly being on our phones is bad for our short-term social graces, but playing certain games on our phones is good for our long-term health, the question then becomes which of the two is more important? In the end it may not matter much, as healthy people on their phones often behave with the same lack of awareness as people with Alzheimer’s and dementia, but it’s worth mentioning that the options shouldn’t be mutually exclusive; a healthy medium must exist where we’re on our phones less, but still use our phones more wisely. Believe me, I get bored sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, too, but instead of double tapping my frenemy’s vacation photos on Instagram, I’m gonna mentally stimulate myself with a memory game or a math problem. That way, when I’m 90 years old and sitting in a doctor’s office, they won’t be asking me if I know my name and what day it is, but rather why I had to drive myself to the appointment. I’ll tell them that I don’t have any friends to drive me because I spent my whole life on my phone, but at least I’ll be fully aware of what I’m saying.
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