Tag: Entertainment

Some loudspeakers double as air purifiers. But what about analogue loudspeakers sitting gathering dust? Well, according to a Danish startup, it's time they received a new lease of life. The team's crowdfunded battery-powered box provides access to the digital world with a stereo port for two-wire audio cables. An in-built Bluetooth connection allows the box to be coupled with digital...

Laser light can distinguish between legally and illegally acquired ivory. Whether books have been written by humans or machines, however, is increasingly hard to establish owing to the prevalence of AI. Which is why America’s largest professional writing organisation wants to highlight "human intelligence". Once the human-authored works have been registered through an online portal, a certificate can be...

An app encourages school pupils to read. Authors benefit there too, as it drives sales and loans of books, and ultimately leads to royalty payments. But not if companies train their AI systems using pirate digital copies. Cue an American startup and its new licensing platform for AI firms, which aims at a fairer system for authors. Once authors...

Thanks to an app, people with Parkinson’s can navigate the internet more easily. But for some older people, smartphones, tablets and video calls remain a closed book. Enter a Munich-based startup and its simple solution. It consists of a stand, where a tablet is docked and, a board with a control button and small tray for smart cards. Each...

Thanks to a personal initiative, Inuktitut is being kept alive. Indigenous peoples are enormously knowledgeable and innovative, but one of the hurdles for their founders is securing funding. Now, a Canadian TV show launched by an Indigenous woman is putting Indigenous entrepreneurs on the map. Any new company can apply so long as its business model prioritises sustainability, saves...

Neurodivergent teachers are taking centre stage; as are members of the homeless community. Diversity is an increasingly important theme in the creative sector. For evidence, look no further than this British charitable foundation, launched to promote equality in classical music. The founder, a double-bass player and teacher of African heritage, put together her own orchestra comprising Black and ethnically...

Thanks to innovation, people with disabilities can freshen up in the sea. But when it comes to dating, it’s ‘sink or swim’ out there. Enter two American sisters and their new dating app for people with physical, psychological or nervous issues. Users can enter the details of their disability if they choose, with categories such as ‘blind’, ‘deaf’ and...

Subjected to high-frequency sound waves, stem cells extracted from fat tissue grow into new bone cells. Audible sound waves are useful too, as this latest innovation from a London-based designer shows: her portable speaker doubles as an air purifier. Internal ventilators along with the music’s waves remove harmful particles from the air and drive them into a special filter...