The Drum’s top ten tech disruptions of the week – Google's creepy toy, Oculus porn & L’Oreal 3D printed skin
It’s been a busy week in technology. Here The Drum has rounded up 10 of the top tech innovations that have been touted this week as capable of disrupting the world as we know it.
1. Google has filed a patent for an unsettling doll capable of watching and listening to you. The toy is capable of moving and comes with a microphone and camera. It will be able to interact with internet of things installations to dim lights and change room temperature.
2. German beer company Astra Bierre has come up with a creative way of marketing its wares to women using tech and creative advertising to get their attention. Astra erected a digital advert which identifies commuters by their gender – delivering exclusive messages only to women.
3. KFC acknowledged its propensity to cause mess with its ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ food, trialling disposable paper typing trays in Germany. The campaign, ran by Serviceplan, Germany, was sadly a marketing stunt although participants could keep the keyboards which operate smartphones and tablets via Bluetooth.
4. Oculus’ virtual reality platform Rift will not censor or remove pornographic apps, according to company founder Palmer Luckey. She said: “The rift is an open platform. We don't control what software can run on it, and that's a big deal.”
5. Uber’s self-driving car has been spotted on the roads of Pittsburgh. A modified Ford, laden with rotating rooftop cameras and lasers, was caught mapping the city with a Lidar scanner.
6. The US Department of Defense is investing heavily in the field of robotics to create a new breed of ‘humanoid robots’ for deployment to disaster zones. The machines would undertake humanitarian assistance too dangerous for humans whilst remaining under supervision.
7. NASA has kicked off a $2.25m competition to design and build a 3D printed habitat for deep space exploration, including the agency’s journey to Mars. The designs could be used on Earth, to one day construct affordable housing in remote locations with limited access to conventional building materials.
8. French cosmetics brand L’Oreal will 3D print skin as a more effective means of testing its products on live tissue. L’Oreal partnered with bioprinting startup Organovo, and is looking to sidestep the ethical and legal complications sparked by animal testing.
9. Cashless payments overtook cash payments for the first time ever in the UK last year, according to research from the Payments Council. 52 per cent of payments were composed of electronic transactions.
10. Tunepics chief Justin Cooke, told The Drum that the Apple Watch will add another sensory element to social media. He asserted that user feedback will help to improve the wearable.