There's now a Sofa you can Control From Your Phone

Sofa – Controlled from a Smartphone 

In the quest of connecting everything to the internet, we now have a sofa which can be controlled from a smartphone. The Lift-Bit is said to be the world’s first Internet of Things – IoT sofa which has been developed by international design firm Carlo Ratti Associati. The sofa is said to be made up of various modular segments which can be moved around in creating various seating arrangements. The individual stools which tend to make up the sofa are motorised enabling them to be lowered and raised.

Carlo Ratti had informed Wired thatLift-Bit is presently a prototype and embeds a linear actuator which enables the seats to move up and down. Each of the elements of the module is controlled through a tablet as well as through a touch-less gesture of the hand. The closeness capacity-based sensor tends to detect a hand hovering above at various heights, enabling the change of the height. The stools range from 480mm tall to 780mm at the maximum height. Lift-Bit’s app comprise of a number of predetermined shapes together with a tool enabling the owner in creating new combinations. Ratti has stated that they just want people to be creative with it and start acting like designers of their own space.

Developed In Association with Swiss Design Company Vitra

Ratti who also works at MIT had stated that the future interior designers could make furniture which could adjust to how humans seem to utilise space. He added that the design could create `a living, tailored space’ which could be moulded to what people desire and need. The connected stools is said to be presented at the Milan XXI Triennale International Exhibition from April 12 to September 12. The Internet-connected stools had been developed in association with the Swiss design company Vitra. After the exhibition, the stools would be put on sale and those behind it are presently working with a manufacturer on mass production. Pre-orders on the organisations’ website, come in four various colours of blue, mint, red and yellow and will be priced at €799 prior to shipping or taxes. A king-sized bed of 18 stools comes at a price of €12,000.

Part of Customisable Furniture 

The Lift-Bit is a part of customisable furniture which only limits to your imagination and can transform itself into any shape with the swipe of an iPad screen. According to Gizmodo report, the shape lifting sofa is made up of a series of hexagonal stools mounted on motorised actuators which can be raised or lowered with the use of an app.
 The customisable stools can be ordered by the piece. Ratti has designed the Lift-Bit to get `bored’ when it is left alone and it will begin shape-shifting on its own when it is not in use for an extended period of time. Ratti stated that `architecture has often been described as a type of `third skin’, besides our own biological one and the clothing. But for too long it has functioned rather like a corset, a rigid and uncompromising addition to our body. Lift-Bit tends to draw the potential of Internet of Things technologies in transforming the interior landscape and providing a kind of an endlessly reconfigurable atmosphere. Presently, the Lift-Bit is available to pre-order online and those fascinated in designing their own Lift-Bit configuration could do so on the Lift-Bit simulator.

Your Smartphone to be Your Passport Soon

UK Based Company – Technology to Store Paperless Passport in Smartphone

A British-based commercial banknote printer and passport company De La Rue has been working on a technology that could influence to store `paperless passports’ in smartphones by allowing travellers to use their smartphone at immigration control.De La Rue is the world’s biggest passport producer and prints British Banknotes.

 The technology could store passports within mobile phones permitting travellers to do away with the booklet which has been around for many years.It could turn to paperless passport which could act the same to mobile boarding cards enabling tourist to travel through the airport minus any documents, according to Telegraph. According to spokesman of the company who quoted that paperless passports is said to be one of the several enterprises which is presently being looked at, though at the moment it is a perception which is at the initial stage of development.

The report adds that the potential for forgery, global barriers together with distinct possibility of losing one’s smartphone could mean the security challenges present great hurdles. The Times had reported that Martin Sutherland, chief executive of the company had stated that they had begun work on the project in order to provide secure phone based information which could be operated at immigration control.

New Innovation/Technology Solutions

David Jevans from security company Proofpoint had quoted stating that the `digital passport on the phone would need new hardware on the device to securely store the electronic passport which cannot be copied from the phone. He further added that it would also have to be communicated wirelessly to passport reader since doing it onscreen similar to an airline ticket QR code could be copied or fooled.

De La rue chief executive Martin Sutherland had informed The Times that the paperless passport service is already in the testing mode. A spokesman has stated that technology is at the forefront of De La Rue’s business and is constantly looking at new innovations as well as technology solutions for customers around the globe. Modern passports tend to have chips already in them which compare the carrier’s face to the one that is stored in the passport. The one that is in the smartphone could embed this technology rather than merely representing the documents on a screen.

Passport Non Digital Document Given Technological Treatment

Passports are one of the last hold outs of non-digital documents. For instance, airline tickets are already being delivered directly to phones. Most important for De La Rue, would be to adjust its identity technology in a digital format and obtain the approval of its use by the government.

Airports in Miami as well as Atlanta have already tested mobile-based clearance system wherein travellers could use the phone to enter customs details. As mentioned by Sutherland, paperless passport being in the early stage of development, it was unlikely to arrive in the short term.

 Passport being one of the last hold-outs of non-digital documents in the travel industry, recently it has been given the technological treatment- cloud passport has been given a trial run and travellers could also take a self as their passport photo. Now it is left to be seen if passport books would go paperless and it is just a matter to time to see the outcome of this technology.

FaceBook new Chatbots

Facebook to Create `Chatbots’

Recently Facebook Inc. had informed that it has opened up its Messenger app to developers in order to create `chatbots’ anticipating that by feigning one-on-one conversations between users and companies, it would tend to expand towards customer service and enterprise transactions.

Chatbots are considered to be automated programs which tend to help users in communicating with businesses, carrying out jobs like online purchases. Though chatbots had prevailed in some form for years, they have now become an interesting subject in the tech business since progress in artificial intelligence as well as machine learning have made them much more capable and possibly able to adopt an important role in the manner in which customers tend to communicate with businesses.

 Facebook had launched chatbots with a handful of partners comprising of Shopify which is an ecommerce site and cable TV news network CNN. The chatbots are said to be part of Facebook’s attempt in building its Messenger instant messaging app as go-to-place for customers in contacting businesses. It is a strategy which tends to threaten the out-dated call centres and could cut personnel cost for some of the businesses.

Controls a Huge Trove of Data

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook had commented during the annual developer conference of the company in San Francisco that `you will never have to call 1.800 Flowers again’. Facebook is seen having many distinct benefits even though messaging platforms comprising of Kik, slack and Telegram already tend to have chatbots.

Facebook for one tends to control a huge trove of data on the estimated 1.6 billion people who utilise the main service and the 900 million who tend to use Messenger. This enables developers to create chatbots which can personalize jobs like making an airline booking or a reservation in a restaurant. Lauren Kunze, principal at Pandorabots, which has been constructing and organizing chatbots for companies since 2002, had stated that `from the enterprise or developer point of view, access to those 1.6 billion people seems very exciting. People like a personalized experience and when the chatbot can remember personal details as well as follow up’.For instance, CNN’s bot can learn user’s news preferences, and accordingly recommend articles and summaries.

Progressively Adding Features to Messenger

Last month, after an experimental Microsoft Corp bot, named Tay had released a barrage of racist and sexist tweets on being manipulated by Twitter users, tech companies will have to approach chatbots more carefully. The company had instantly pulled Tay from the Internet. Facebook has been progressively adding features to Messenger since it turned off as a separate app in 2014 and last year it had partnered with Uber and Lyft so that individuals could order a car without the need of going through the ride sharing app. Besides this it had also partnered recently with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in order that customers could receive flight updates as well as booking confirmation through Messenger.

Chatbots could thus automate such interactions eliminating customer service calls. Chris Fohlin, director of client strategy at consulting agency Engine Digital had commented that its `offloading the pain of navigating those phone systems’.Making Messenger the go-to-place for business-to-person interaction, Facebook expects that people would spend more time in using the app and depend on it for day-to-day tasks.

Carbon Fiber Strings Could Save a Building From an Earthquake

First Seismic Reinforcement Structure – Kengo Kuma

The first seismic reinforcement structure in the world, using a carbon fiber material has been designed by Kengo Kuma, a world renowned architect. The Komatsu Seiten Fabric Laboratory, based in Ishikawa, Japan, with a new building material had been proposed by a fiber company. The earlier head office building of Komatsu Seiren had been renovated with the first seismic reinforcement in the world that tends to use the super-light seismic reinforcement material known as CABKOMA Strand Rod, which is a thermoplastic carbon fiber composite a seismic reinforcing material.

Use of textiles as building materials proposed included `greenbiz’ an ultrafine porous spongy ceramic base that is eco-friendly building material. This resulted in the building that was recreated as the `fa-bo’ fabric laboratory. Seismic retrofitting is said to be an important attempt which needs bolting an older building to its foundation in order that it does not shake apart in the event of an earthquake. However, based on the age of the building and the type of material it is made of, an out-dated retrofit has the capability of destroying a structure in a different way-aesthetically.

Strings of Carbon Fiber – Solution

A Japanese company is of the belief that strings of carbon fiber could be the solution to the problem and so it wrapped them around its headquarters to determine how this could work. CABKOMA; The fabric, a carbon fiber core, wrapped in added fibers, is coated with a thermoplastic resin. A 520-foot piece weighs less than a garden hose and can be carried in one hand.

Carbon fiber is said to be one of the best ways of absorbing shockwaves without adding substance and has a very great tensile strength. Moreover, CABKOMA is also as strong as steel though 90% lighter. Unlike the rigid rods that may need drilling for installation, the Strand Rod tends to be flexible, whisper-thin band which is secured utilising screws and an adhesive. It seems to work in a similar manner as the traditional brace-and-bolt, though rather than anchoring the walls of the building to its foundations, it tethers the roof of the structure to the ground so that when it tends to shake, the complete building moves together.

Strand Rods as Architectural Component

Komatsu Seiten had engaged the legendary architect Kengo Kumu together with Ejiri Structural Engineers to work together on a visionary application for its headquarters and used the Strand Rods as an architectural component. The strands tend to swathe off the side of the building like a harp which are attached to the frame of the building below the ground.

This does not mean that Japan would be going wrapping all building like rubber band balls. With the space, the strands tend to add to a structure’s footprint. It is surely not practical for dense cities or taller building but it is certainly being used in protecting older, fragile landmark in a seismically active location which could not survive more invasive construction. Moreover, the thin ribbons of carbon fiber tend to look attractive on their own and one can imagine it as a well-designed architectural safety net.

The Ransomware That Knows Where You Live

Ransomware - Scam Email Quoting People’s Postal Addresses -

As per security researcher, an extensively distributed scam email quoting people’s postal addresses tends to link to a dangerous kind of ransomware. After getting to know of an episode of BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours that discuss about the phishing scam, Andrew Brandt, of US firm Blue Coat had got in touch with BBC. He found that the emails seemed to be linked to ransomware known as Maktub.

The malware tends to encrypt the files of the victims, demanding a ransom to be paid before they can be unlocked. The recipients were told by the phishing emails that they owed hundreds of pounds to UK businesses and that they could print an invoice by clicking a link. However, according to Mr Brandt that leads to malware. One of the said emails had been received by You and Yours reporter, Shari Vahl. Mr Brandt had informed BBC that `it was incredibly fast and by the time the warning message had appeared on the screen, it had already encrypted everything of value on the hard drive, it happened in seconds’. Maktub does not only demand a ransom but it tends to increase the fee which needs to be paid in bitcoin, as time passes.

Addresses Highly Precise

One of the website connected with the malware had explained that during the first three days, the fee is at 1.4 bitcoins or around $580 and rises to 1.9 bitcoins or $799 after the third day. The recipients are told by the phishing emails that they owe money to British business and charities when they do not owe them anything. One of the organisations named was Koestler Trust, a charity that tends to help ex-offenders and prisoners produce artwork.

Chief executive Sally Taylor told You and Yours that they rely on generous members of the public and was very distressed when they discovered that people felt they had received emails from them asking for money when they had not been generated by them at all. A remarkable feature of the scam was that they included not only the victim’s name but the postal address as well. Several of them including the BBC staff had noticed that the addresses were generally highly precise.

Data Derived from Leaked/Stolen Databases

As per cybersecurity expert at the University of London, Dr Steven Murdoch, it is yet not clear how scammers were able to gather people’s addresses and link them to names and emails. The data could have been derived from a number of leaked or stolen databases for instance making it difficult in tracking down the source.

Many of the people had got in touch with You and Yours team to inform that they were concerned that the data could have been taken from their eBay account since their postal addresses had been stored in the same format there as they seemed to appear in the phishing emails.

The firm had mentioned in a statement that eBay tends to work aggressively in protecting customer data and privacy which is their highest priority and they are not aware of any link between this new phishing scam and the data of eBay. In an effort of creating the safest, environment possible for their customers, they tend to constantly update their approach to customer data security.