Intro

Good morning and welcome to the future 👋

Good news everyone! The summer vacation is over, and we are stepping up the pace again.

To begin with, we will be publishing our update three times a week — on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. 🥳 We’ll keep you posted on new developments.

Today’s update is 296 words, 1.5 minutes

Top News

🤖 More than a mobile Alexa: Amazon’s first home robot, the Astro, is powered by Alexa but has a unique, family-friendly persona and broad functionality. The company predicts that, within the next ten years, there will be a robot in every home. SlashGear →

🙂 Make Sure You’re Smiling: How is your Zoom meeting going? Seattle-based Read AI has developed a real-time dashboard that measures engagement, performance and sentiment. The software can flag if someone is dominating the conversation or is unhappy with what’s being said. TechCrunch →

🎻 Beethoven’s Latest: When he died, Beethoven left behind just a few notes and ideas for his 10th Symphony. Artificial intelligence has now helped a team of musicologists and computer scientists to complete the master’s work. The result of the two-year project will be released on October 9, 2021. The Conversation →

Future Stuff

👓 Working From Orbit: Are you fed up with your home office? ImmersedVR is a portable, distraction-free virtual reality workspace that optimizes focus and productivity and creates a unique remote working experience. This user, for example, spends his entire working week in orbit. ImmersedVR Blog →

🚁 Drone Inside: An indoor drone that records movement and pre-programmed activities? A step too far for many, but Amazon-owned Ring has, nevertheless, made it a reality. Potential customers are invited to ‘apply to buy’ the new device, priced at $250. Wired →

Inspiration

🧑‍💻 Get off social media: How about if we started to live our lives instead of reading about other people’s? Three years ago, this author did just that and discovered the joy of doing things that are personally meaningful instead of just for ‘likes’. Durmonski →