Toyota’s e-Palette is back in service. As Roadshowreports, the automaker has resumed use of its self-driving shuttle at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo following a collision with a visually impaired athlete. Not surprisingly, both Toyota and the games’ Organizing Committee have made changes in light of the crash — they’ve determined that both the autonomous vehicle and the circumstances around it were to blame.
The company noted there were only two guide people at the intersection where the collision occurred, making it difficult for them to watch all vehicles and pedestrians at the same time. There also wasn’t a “sufficient” way of coordinating between guides and vehicle operators (such as the manual ‘backups’ for the e-Palette). It simply wasn’t possible to ensure safety at this signal-free intersection without everyone working together, Toyota said.
The company has upgrade the e-Palette itself with louder approach warning sounds, more crew members and tweaks to manual acceleration and braking. Organizers, meanwhile, have increased the number of guides, created an alternative to traffic signals, and split those guides into groups devoted to pedestrians and vehicles. Toyota and the Committee vowed to refine the system on a “daily basis” through the rest of the Paralympics, which end on September 5th.
It’s not clear if these changes will be enough. However, this does serve as a reminder that self-driving vehicle tech is still in its infancy — it could be a while before Toyota and other brands can completely trust onboard computing power to safely navigate streets.
I was just settling into a new home, town, and life when I realized my older brother Wes and I had left something terribly precious behind in our family’s move: a Sega Dreamcast. With it, my childhood fantasy of hauling ass around San Francisco in a yellow Cadillac Eldorado slipped beyond reach.
North Carolina State University researchers created a device for harvesting energy that is soft and stretchable. Their device is designed to convert movement into electricity and can work in both wet and dry environments. The device is designed to turn the mechanical motion of the wind, waves, body movement, and vibrations from motors into electricity. One of the most interesting … Continue reading
Philips has been building its Hue lineup smart lightbulbs for a while now. These bulbs are LED, and users can change the color of the light to suit their mood. In addition, Philips has announced that it has teamed up with Spotify for what it calls the first deep integration of music and lighting for the home. Attendees at concerts … Continue reading
What do you get by combining the motorsports-inspired, timeless aesthetic of lifestyle brand Period Correct and the rugged, bare-bones vintage style of the Super73-S1 electric motorbike? The result is a limited-edition version of the Super73-S1. Only 15 units are available for sale, and you get them exclusively from Period Correct. Period Correct has already collaborated with Audi, McLaren, Anti Social … Continue reading
NASA scientists completed an experiment aboard the ISS that involves biomining vanadium using the power of microbes to do some work. Biomining is common thanks to its cost-effectiveness and environmentally friendly capability of obtaining metals from nature. NASA believes that biomining could be leveraged with future space missions to obtain materials needed for long-duration missions from other planetary bodies. A … Continue reading
In the future, Chromebooks may be powered by Google’s own CPUs: According to Nikkei Asia, the company is developing processors for Chrome OS-powered laptops and tablets in-house. It’s not such a far-fetched story, seeing as the tech giant recently announced its own mobile chip called Tensor that’s slated to debut on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Google hired chip engineers from around the world for that endeavor, including talents from its suppliers like Intel and Qualcomm. The company may have decided to use their expertise to work on a processor for Chromebooks, as well.
Nikkei says the tech giant was inspired by the success of its rival when it comes to developing its own chips for the iPhone, iPad and, most recently, Mac computers. The first Macs and iPad Pros powered by Apple’s M1 processor launched in 2020, while the first iMacs with the chip became available earlier this year. Google’s in-progress Chromebook chip is reportedly based on designs from Softbank’s ARM, like most mobile processors out there. By building the processor itself, the company will be able to customize it to meet its needs and to add its own features. It’ll lessen Google’s reliance on third-party suppliers, in other words, allowing it to control production as it sees fit.
Google plans to release the processors it’s developing for Chromebooks in 2023, Nikkei says. The first devices powered by the chips could be available soon after.
Spotify has announced that it’s taking over the audio section of Delta’s in-flight seatback entertainment by offering its most popular playlists along with 42 select podcast series starting on September 1st. While it doesn’t mean that you’ll get random access to all Spotify content, you’ll get a decent selection of popular music and podcasts from the streaming service.
The content is “licensed directly by Delta and free for all passengers,” and includes podcasts like Crime Junkie, Science Vs, StartUp, The Dave Chang Show, The Hottest Take, The Journal and more. Not surprisingly, several of those are Spotify originals. For playlists, you’ll get access to selections like Mood Booster, Are & Be, Hot Country, mint, Today’s Top Hits, Relax & Unwind, RapCaviar and Ultimate Indie. That should provide a pretty broad mix of popular music, though likely nothing too eclectic.
The deal is an extension to Delta’s arrangement with Spotify that started in 2019. At that point, however, Delta only offered a limited selection of Spotify podcasts like The Pitch,Homecoming and Dope Labs. Now, it appears that Delta’s audio mix is all Spotify, albeit in a limited way — an interesting development in the relationship.
Traveling with young children is like trying to turn a cruise ship: It’s cumbersome, takes a significant amount of planning and requires a team effort. Because I apparently lack any amount of common sense, I recently took a 3,000-mile RV trip with my partner and two toddlers. Traveling with little ones can be stressful because they rely so much on their established routines; anything that deviates from that is going to be hard for them and you.
While we tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy by bringing along familiar toys and blankets, we also took the advice of a close friend who is an early childhood development specialist. She recommended keeping our twins engaged and entertained by grouping toys or activities together and rotating them throughout the day. Here are a few things that we tried that we’ll be returning to the next time we travel.
Music
Depending on how you’re traveling, music can be a great way to entertain tiny travelers. The repetition in children’s songs help kids learn patterns and expand their vocabulary. What’s more, musical play encourages movement along with both fine and gross motor skills. That’s great if you’re in a car where you can clap, sing and wiggle, but gets more challenging when you’re stuck on an aircraft with dozens of other people who don’t want to hear “Old MacDonald” seven(-ty-seven) times in a row.
Instruments
Sesame Street
My mom bought us this “CD player” for our trip and weeks later, the twins are still fighting over it. My daughter really likes the music, my son really likes taking the “CD” out repeatedly to figure out how the player works, and they both like the colorful book of lyrics. Fisher Price has a similar option with light-up buttons, which is perfect for occupying little hands.
Another cool gadget we’ve recommended in the past is the Blipbox, an entry-level synthesizer that comes with 300 melodies and a synchronized light show. It contains a digital synth engine that includes an amp envelope, two LFOs, a modulation envelope and a low-pass filter — perfect for teaching kids about creating music while also entertaining their caretakers.
When my twins were infants, the only thing that got them to sleep was playing Maxence Cyrin’s version of “Where is my mind?” on repeat. We still have a classical playlist of songs for when it’s time to sleep, but I also keep a playlist of songs that are entertaining for adult passengers as well (think: “Yellow Submarine” and songs by They Might Be Giants). It’s nice both to switch up the endless parade of nursery rhymes and expose them to different types of music.
YouTube playlists
On the other hand, kids respond to nursery rhymes because they incorporate simple melodies, repetition and actions (some of which can be easy to do while seated). YouTube has dozens of long playlists of classic nursery rhymes, some of which include the lyrics, which is helpful if you’re like me and have long forgotten the words to “Three Blind Mice.”
Podcasts
Older kids might enjoy one of the many educational podcasts out there. As a bonus, if they’re able to keep headphones on for a decent stretch of time, this makes for a good airplane option, too. As an avid podcast fan myself, I’m excited for my twins to be old enough to enjoy them with me, and I’ve already bookmarked several to try out. The But Why? podcast from NPR answers questions that kids send in themselves from “how do you make ice cream?” to “why do we wear clothes?” If your kid is into science, try Brains On or Tumble to explore topics like “how far can a cloud travel?’ and “how to become an astronaut.”
Being stuck in a car or plane seat for long periods of time can make it challenging to find activities that involve younger kids’ need to explore, but there are still a few options. Most notably, a kids camera, like the Action Cam or the Creator Cam from VTech, can help them stay amused. They can document the trip with photos, videos and use stop-motion or time-lapse effects. The Action Cam can be mounted on a bike and comes with a waterproof case, while the Creator Cam comes with a small tripod and includes more than 20 animated backgrounds that the kids can use to spice up their photos and videos.
For kids younger than the recommended age for a camera, I like busy boards. Car time with my twins has become a lot easier since we got a few of the soft, zippered activity books that feature a variety of buckles, zippers and clasps for them to fiddle with.
If your child is into arts and crafts, you’re not out of luck when traveling (although maybe leave the glitter at home). There are a few easy ways to travel with a crafty kid, like bringing along a trusty Etch a Sketch, which never needs batteries, or investing in an airplane busy box, which includes coloring books as well as activities like creating a puppet show or superhero mask.
If you’d like something a little more high-tech and easy to pack, try a color by numbers app for your phone or tablet, which are engrossing even for adults. Or there’s the Osmo kit for Fire tablets which incorporates games, drawing and problem solving via various games and animations.
My kids enjoy reading as much as I do, which means there are always at least a few books included when we travel. They’re not quite old enough for a Kindle Kids Edition yet, but it will be a great option when they graduate from board books. I honestly can’t wait to load up the Harry Potter series and a selection of Roald Dahl onto an e-reader for them.
In the meantime, I compromised by taking short videos of me reading through some of their favorites, like the Grumpy Monkey, and brought a selection of others like their Indestructible books. Not only are the Indestructible books rip-proof and chew-proof but they’re also washable so you don’t have to worry about them getting wet. My favorite part is that they’re very slim, so it was easy to pack several of them at once without adding a lot of bulk.
Of course, there are a few gadgets that will help make your life easier as a traveling parent. I’m thinking specifically of the Baby’s Brew portable bottle warmer I recently invested in, which made our trip significantly easier since my daughter refuses to have a cold bottle. It did take me a few tries to get the hang of the controls, which is embarrassing to admit since there is a single button on it, but it did the job well and solved my cold bottle problem.
I also brought along the Munchkin 59s portable sterilizer which uses UV to clean a pacifier in under a minute; that’s helpful since every pacifier winds up on the floor in under a minute. Lastly, if your kiddo has a prized blanket, pacifier or toy that is essential for soothing or sleeping, consider tagging it with a Tile or Chipolo tracker. If I had thought about it in time, I would have thrown one on my daughter’s fox lovey to save myself from constantly worrying that she’d left it in Nebraska.
Sony has made a great deal of noise about their new 2021 Bravia XR OLEDs, which makes sense. The TVs are the first to feature Sony’s new Cognitive Processor XR, which sounds an awful lot like a proto-supervillain brain. The company says the processor will recreate how humans actually see things in real life.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
