Use Kinect Camera to Detect Autism

It is hard to detect autism in children because of the expensive and time consuming process which requires some trained medical professionals. But now, researchers Guillermo Sapiro and Nikolaos Papanikolopoulus believe that the gaming sensor on Microsoft Kinect could assist in that task.

As a part of their experiment at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development, they set a series of five Microsoft Kinect in the playroom of a school. The motion detecting cameras can record the movement of the children aged 3 to 5 and sent the collected data to PCs. Then, the PC will calculate if the children are on a risk for autism based on their activity levels and hand movement. Children with differed activity levels were flagged for further study.

Researchers said that the camera can’t replace the opinion of a real doctor, but they could still help determine which children needs examination for signs of autism. The results of the trial will be presented at IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation later this month.

This is not the first time people use Kinect for other than gaming sensor. Previously, I’ve written about the U.S. army who use Kinect on their smart helicopter.

“Don’t Believe in Analyst,” Analyst said

Here in ICactive, you must have seen a lot of real tech products review, service, and tips for your digital life. In some posts, I also put some news where the business pundits spinning their interpretation in the press. It is nearly impossible to avoid news like that. For example, read my previous post about Facebook’s expected IPO share price.

Last week, I see a report about Amazon’s Kindle Fire Shipment sales in Q1, which is a bad news for Amazon. If you are planning to buy an ereader, this news might be interesting. You might think if no one buys the product, why should you buy it anyway? Will it even still be here in a year, or will there any new software for the device? That news came from an analyst firm called IDC. Now its rivals, NPD, offered a different definition in a blog post titled “Shipments Are Not Sales.”

Analyst Steven Baker said that shipment only means how many the gadgets were delivered from factories to warehouse and stores. The drop-off on Kindle Fire maybe because the shelves are still well stocked. NPD said in the past three months, Amazon sold over twice Kindle Fire as it shipped.

Now you know the difference between “shipment” and “sales” right?

Marketers Should Know Digital Selves

Marketers today are not optimally utilizing the large amount of personal data that their customers share on public spot every day. Adobe’s senior manager of social media products, Chad Warren said it. Brands might potentially engage with customers in a more beautiful way by looking at them not only on social networks, but all over the web.

When a brand could interact with the customers through the things they love, some simply useful information might be gathered. Many brands use personalization techniques to attract the customers, in which Warren think as one dimensional approach, limited to single activity, medium, or social network. Warren said at Mashable Connect in Orlando, “There’s not enough focus and emphasis to gather and understand the signals that consumers send to us, either explicit or implicitly.”

Warren suggests you to gather all customers’ signals from many different places like Amazon wish lists or Pinterest boards to get a full information about your customers’ digital interest. The final step is to simply act based on the information gathered

What Developers Said About BlackBerry 10?

Finally, Research In Motion gave the developers a true taste of BlackBerry 10 this week, showing off the features of the company’s latest mobile OS. Until now, the developers like what they see. However, they still want to see something more from RIM. At BlackBerry World Conference, RIM gave the developers a device to make BlackBerry 10 apps. Unfortunately, the device doesn’t actually use BB10 as the OS. This DevAlpha device uses the same software with PlayBook tablet.

The most impressive features of BlackBerry 10 including the time shifting camera and on screen keyboard which predicts your typing aren’t available for the developers to use in the apps.

A lot of developers said that the thing they love the most about BlackBerry 10 is something that Thorsten Heins describes as “flow”. In summary, it deepens the multitasking abilities which will allow all apps running in the background without pausing.

Until now, RIM hasn’t clarified how it’s going to work. Developers are excited about how the app will integrate with each other in BB 10. Let’s wait for more information about the news-breaking BB 10.

Blackberry: The Wait and See Platform

This week is all about BlackBerry 10, the brand new operating system which will debut in the fall. Until the big BB10 debut, RIM faces a battle for app support from major brands, mainly from mobile developer companies. That’s because although RIM is so enthusiastic about BlackBerry 10, the company is still living on BlackBerry 7. The demand for that field is considerably low. Reps from software companies like Appcelerator, Xtreme Labs, and bitHeads said the demand for BlackBerry apps is slim to none.

Well, we found that contradiction with the recent great sounding from RIM about the recent growth in BlackBerry App World. However, the numbers don’t reveal who’s making the app or the quality of the app itself. BlackBerry still has no native apps for Skype, Netflix, Hulu, CNN, Readability, Google+, or the recently Android booming Instagram.

Xtreme Labs said, “when it comes to a struggling platform, the last thing to do is to blow a whole bunch of money into it.”

For me, that’s the main reason why many major brands are using “wait and see” method to approach themselves to BlackBerry app. Now the remaining question is: How much waiting will RIM stand?