Riding the artificial intelligence wave

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the talk of the start-up town for a while now. E-commerce major Flipkart plans to create an AI unit called AIForIndia. Online transportation network company Ola recently rolled out an AI-based real-time tracking mechanism for passenger safety. But Unicorns and established players aren't the only ones bullish on this technology. There is a clutch of newbie ventures that have focused their business models primarily around AI.

From leveraging artificial intelligence for those in search of a life partner to deploying it for curating gourmet and healthy food menus, start-ups are utilising the much-in-demand technology in the most unique ways.

AI offers tremendous growth potential for start-ups, with private sector investment scaling up over the years. As per industry estimates, more than $150 million has been invested across 400 AI-focused start-ups in India over the last few years. Meanwhile, private sector investments in AI in the US have been $18 billion. In Europe, they have totalled $2.6 billion and approximately $1.8 billion in Israel in the recent past. 

Despite AI-focused investments in India appearing minuscule in front of the western countries, there is scope for growth for start-ups, say experts.

Sanmati Pande, founder and CEO, Growfitter, says, “AI helps in scaling up a business quickly irrespective of geographical boundaries. AI tools help to organise the raw data, which is compiled in specific formats and with deep learning techniques, provides detailed insights and statistics to stakeholders. AI-based start-ups are witnessing a keen interest from investors. AI can produce precise results with minimal resources and the scalability of the business can be achieved through an asset-light model with the help of AI techniques, which play a vital role for investors.”

Fitness and health-focused start-up Growfitter has built an AI-based preventive healthcare platform which is used by fitness centres, insurance companies and corporates. Their AI-powered app helps in tracking a customer's workout time and assess the fitness level, which helps in delving into the customer's health behaviour and generating a health score based on a proprietary algorithm. “Earlier, gyms witnessed renewal rates of around 25% and an average customer attendance of 100 days in a year. We have boosted the renewal rate to three times the current trend, while attendance has gone up to 175 days,'' says Pande.

A start-up like Betterhalf.ai is built around leveraging AI to help professionals find their life partners through compatibility scores based on multiple relationship dimensions and their interactions on the product. This marks a shift from traditional matchmaking which has been designed around physical, educational and caste-related traits of an individual. “We capture through AI an individual's personality in different relationship personality dimensions like emotional, social, intellectual, physical and values. We further curate through AI up to 10 relevant matches for them, cutting down 80% of the time they would have otherwise spent through traditional matchmaking,'' says Pawan Gupta, co-founder and CEO, Betterhalf.ai.

Meanwhile InnerChef, which curates ready-to-eat meals, healthy eats, gourmet experiences, indulgent desserts and detox cleanses, uses AI in building customised menus, for sales forecasting, capturing food trends and for consumer food recommendations.

Rajesh Sawhney, founder and CEO, InnerChef, says the venture has grown by 100% in the last one year. “We have plans to accelerate growth further and achieve three times revenue growth. We are currently in the National Capital Region, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. We are looking to expand our shared kitchen platform in new geographies this year.”

Growfitter, says Pande, witnessed attained $4.5 million in gross revenues in FY18, a 300% jump. “In the current fiscal, through the launch of our AI-based Incentivised Wellness Programme, our annualised revenue run rate for FY19 shall be $10 million. We have already launched operations in Indonesia and shall enter other South-East Asian countries soon.”

Betterhalf.ai, which has over 11,000 users across India, North America, Europe, South Africa and the UAE, is aiming to attain a user base of one million in the next two years. “10% users invite other users to the product. We expect this to shoot up to over 30% as the product and the AI matching algorithm becomes even more effective,'' says Gupta.

Source: https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-riding-the-artificial-intelligence-wave-2710165 (Accessed on January 21, 2019)

Tiny, smart robots can swim through blood vessels to deliver drugs

The researchers from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and ETH Zurich in Switzerland drew inspiration from bacteria to design the highly flexible biocompatible micro-robots.

HIGHLIGHTS

·         Scientists have developed tiny, smart robots that can swim through blood vessels

·         These devices can pass through narrow blood vessels

·         The robots can be either controlled using an electromagnetic field or left to navigate

Scientists have developed tiny, smart robots that can swim through blood vessels, paving the way for ingestible machines that could deliver drugs directly to diseased tissue in the future.

The researchers from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and ETH Zurich in Switzerland drew inspiration from bacteria to design the highly flexible biocompatible micro-robots.

Since these devices are able to swim through fluids and modify their shape when needed, they can pass through narrow blood vessels and intricate systems without compromising on speed or manoeuvrability.

They are made of hydrogel nanocomposites that contain magnetic nanoparticles, allowing them to be controlled via an electromagnetic field, researchers said.

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, describes a method for programming the robot's shape so that it can easily travel through fluids that are dense, viscous or moving at rapid speeds.

Fabricating miniaturised robots presents a host of challenges, which the scientists addressed using an origami-based folding method.

Their novel locomotion strategy employs embodied intelligence, which is an alternative to the classical computation paradigm that is performed by embedded electronic systems.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/tiny-smart-robots-can-swim-through-blood-vessels-to-deliver-drugs-1435196-2019-01-20 (Accessed on January 21, 2019) 

Ensure all students have Aadhaar cards: Edu dept to Maha schools

SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE TASK OF HANDING OUT AADHAAR CARD REGISTRATION FORMS TO PARENTS STARTING NEXT WEEK

MUMBAI: Schools across Maharashtra have been asked to ensure that no student is left without an Aadhaar card.

The education department recently received 816 machines from the government, which will be installed at schools across 408 talukas in the coming days.

The circular issued by the education department reads: “While the card is not required for school admissions, it is still an essential document for midday meal, scholarships, etc. It is thus important for students to get the card to avail these facilities.”

An official from the state education department said school staff will be trained for the task in the coming days.

Students who have an Aadhaar card but are yet to update their biometric details on the portal also need to complete the process soon.

Schools have been given the task of handing out forms to parents from the next week. After students register , schools have been asked to update their details on the government’s SARAL portal.

Prashant Redij, spokesperson of the Mumbai Principals Association, said the government should not shift the responsibility of ensuring that everyone has an Aadhaar card on schools.

“While 90%of students in most schools have the card, the others have not got them owing to some technical issues. It should be the responsibility of the government and the parents to ensure that children have their Aadhaar cards,” he added.

A suburban school principal said the initiative would add to the data entry work the school teachers have to do every day.

“When will we get the time to teach?” the principal added.

Source: Hindustan Times dated January 21, 2019

College kids design solutions to end city’s commuting woes

Solutions were presented at Mumbai By Design, a festival organised by a city-based academy

From building sensors to gauging traffic congestion in an area to magnetically levitated pods providing public transport, college students came up with innovative design-based solutions for transport-related problems in the city.

The solutions were presented at Mumbai By Design, a festival organised by Pearl Academy — an education institute from Andheri — last week to celebrate the diversity and distinct cultural influences in the city.

One of the competitions titled ‘Design Intervention’ invited design-led innovations to solve daily issues such as traffic management and rail efficiency. Students from 15 institutes present innovative measures and futuristic ideas to address these problems.

Rajat Kushwaha, a student of the Industrial Design Centre at Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) suggested installing electromagnetic induced charging for electric cars on roads.

“We are using fossil fuels, even though the future belongs to electric vehicles. However, there are no charging stations available electric vehicles. It is possible to charge such vehicles wirelessly through a magnetic field on the city roads. The vehicles won’t even need to stop to recharge,” he said.

Experts welcomed the initiative and said the ideas were very much doable.

“We need new ideas, which may not necessarily come from experts. Even offbeat ideas can solve some of the pressing transport problems in the city. The ideas presented by the students are doable. In fact, they can be implemented in as less than 10 years,” said Ashutosh Atre, a transport expert

Chandrakant Naik, a student from VIVA School of Architecture, Virar, suggested creating multi-storied railway stations to make commute comfortable and efficient. “The city’s population will swell in the coming years. This design will accommodate more people,” he said.

Similarly, Naba Usmani, a student at Pearl Academy, suggested basic modifications to the existing infrastructure and monitoring systems such as digital speed limit boards and thermal and pressure recognition belts for managing pedestrians and traffic.

“The sensors will calculate traffic congestion and send information to a control unit. This information will be used to alter speed limit on certain sections of the road to ensure a smoother flow of traffic,” she said.

Nidhip Mehta, dean of the School of Design, Pearl Academy, said, “A good design has the potential to bring a sense of order to the lives of Mumbaikars while still keeping true to the city’s passion and energy. Mumbai By Design can offer a glimpse of a city that can be systematic, efficient, and full of life and energy.”

Source: Hindustan Times dated January 21, 2019

URL: https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/college-kids-design-solutions-to-end-city-s-commuting-woes/story-tVgskkO1A8B1LRdvP1PIyO.html (Accessed on January 21, 2019)