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OrCam’s reading device, ElectReon’s ‘smart road’ tech, a sensor for farming and security drones all make the list.

1. OrCam Read, a smart reading support device developed by OrCam Technologies, the maker of artificial intelligence-based wearable devices to help the blind and visually impaired read texts via audio feedback. The company launched OrCam Read in 2,020 a handheld digital reader meant to help people with language processing challenges, including dyslexia. The device (priced at $1,990) captures and reads out full pages of text and digital screens, and follows voice commands.

In response to the so-called “labor shortage,” companies are looking to finally replace replace workers with machines — and robotics companies couldn’t be happier to oblige.

David Zapico, the CEO of robotics company Ametek Inc., told Bloomberg News that his company is “firing on all cylinders” because, as he put it, “people want to remove labor.”

He’s not alone in his musings. Executives at Hormel Foods Corp and Domino’s Pizza also confirmed to Bloomberg that they’re investing in automation in an effort to reduce labor costs and respond to a “tight labor supply,” as one Hormel vice president put it.

Finland-based Wolt was founded in 2014 by Miki Kuusi, who, upon the deal closing, will run DoorDash International and report to Xu. The company has over 4,000 employees across 23 countries and its technology enables users to easily discover and receive food via its platform by selecting a restaurant, placing the order and hitting send.

Wolt has raised over $850 million to date, according to its Crunchbase profile. Its most recent funding round was $530 million in January, led by Iconiq Growth, with participation from Tiger Global, DST, KKR, Prosus, EQT Growth, EQT Ventures and Coatue.

Wolt represents DoorDash’s sixth acquisition according to Crunchbase data and its second in 2,021 which includes an acquisition of Chowbotics earlier this year. The latest transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022.

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Covid vaccines alerted to the world to RNA’s potential. Now the technology is being used as an alternative to pesticides.

Our addiction to chemical pesticides comes with a bunch of downsides. New sprays made from RNA might offer a smarter, cleaner way to wage war on pests.

A new machine-learning system helps robots understand and perform certain social interactions.

Robots can deliver food on a college campus and hit a hole-in-one on the golf course, but even the most sophisticated robot can’t perform basic social interactions that are critical to everyday human life.

MIT.

Glass tables, glass desks, and even glass kitchen counters could one day be completely free of wires.

Last week, TechCrunch ran my TC-1 about Bowery Farming. What began as a piece about a heartily financed New York startup ballooned into an exploration about an emerging field with a rich and fascinating history. I sought to answer some big questions about the efficacy, profitability and sustainability of vertical farming. I would be lying if I told you that I emerged from the other side with satisfactory answers — no doubt all of the above will be clear over time.

I did, however, get the opportunity to talk to several fascinating folks with myriad views on all of the above. One of the folks I kept coming back to was Dickson Despommier — widely regarded as the godfather of vertical farming. It was in his Columbia University courses that many of the fundamental concepts around vertical farming were developed over a number of years.

A new machine-learning system helps robots understand and perform certain social interactions. Robots can deliver food on a college campus and hit a hole-in-one on the golf course, but even the most sophisticated robot can’t perform basic social interactions that are critical to everyday human life. MIT researchers have now incorporated certain social interactions into a framework for robotics, enabling machines to understand what it means to help or hinder one another, and to learn to perform these social behaviors on their own. In a simulated environment, a robot watches its companion, guesses what task it wants to accomplish, and then helps or hinders this other robot based on its own goals. The researchers also showed that their model creates realistic and predictable social interactions. When they showed videos of these simulated robots interacting with one another to humans, the human viewers mostly agreed with the model about what type of social behavior was occurring. Full Story: