#MARKETS: "Success Depends on Phrasing"

Much ado has been made by marketing experts on how to describe a product or service qualitatively, but researchers now claim that using the correct quantitative descriptions, six-of-one or half-dozen-of-the-other, can make the difference between success and failure.



Marketing professionals have spent long arduous research sessions trying to discover the best way to present products and services to consumers, for instance claiming higher unit sales for a $4.99 price tags over $5. Other studies have claimed that "7s" often beat "9s" as in 77¢ over 99¢ where the 22¢ deficit is made up by more than 30 percent high unit sales. But the difference between six-of-one and half-dozen-of-the-other had yet to be explored by business marketing experts, until now.

According to market researchers at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina there really is a difference between six-of-one and half-dozen-of-the-other, but only sophisticated analytics that incorporate hitherto unplumbed distinctions can inform companies as to which is the best way to quote the price of a product or service.

The most important unplumbed distinction, according to University of South Carolina business professor Ashwani Monga, involves time. The difference, for instance, between two weeks and 14 days--the first of which emphasizes larger units, whereas the second maximizes the numerical value by using smaller units--can spell the difference between success and failure of a marketing campaign.

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer as to which aspect to emphasize--bigger units or bigger numerical values--since the answer, according to a study performed by Monga and Rajesh Bagchi, a marketing professor at Virginia Tech, depends on whether a consumer is thinking in abstract or concrete terms.

For instance, a two-for-one offer for a beach rental property could offer "two weeks for the price of one" or "14 days for the price of seven." What Monga and Bagchi found was that consumers making last minute plans were thinking concretely thus valued the bigger numerical values--14 days for the price of seven. On the other hand, consumers planning ahead in the spring for a trip in the summer valued more highly the bigger units, preferring the "two weeks for the price of one."

The difference between consumers thinking concretely or abstractly, and thus preferring bigger numbers or bigger units respectively, translates to all aspects of pricing strategies. In particular, the study verified the same consumer preferences for delays in product deliveries, maturity of financial products, the weights of nutrients, the length of tables, and the height of buildings. In every case, the mindsets of consumers mattered, with the concrete thinkers preferring bigger numbers and abstract thinkers going for larger unit sizes.

#ALGORITHMS: "Smart Cities Win Awards"

IBM added 33 more cities to the roster of recipients of its Smart Cities Challenge Grants.


Dashboard used by Edmonton, Alberta, a recipient of IBM's Smarter City Challenge Grant last year, to analyze traffic data more rigorously for improved road safety.

The 2012 Smarter Cities Challenge Grant recipients have been announced by IBM in its three-year 100-city program started in 2011. The $50 million Smarter Cities Challenge is IBM's single largest philanthropic initiative ever. Recipients receive in-person, in-depth engagements by a team of IBM experts who study each city's idiosyncratic needs, then make recommendations as to how to improve city services and efficiency by working smarter.

In an intense competition among the cities of the world to win an IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Grant, each city proposed areas of focus for their particular needs. Projects of economic and workforce development were proposed to attract jobs and industries to particular cities. Many cities had concerns over growth of transportation that integrated automobile, bus, railway, bicycle, and pedestrian modes. Pollution from transportation was also a concern for many cities, where sustainable growth was dependent on lowering the vehicle miles traveled per day per capita. Health concerns were the focus of other cities, where air quality improvements were needed to reduce the incidence of respiratory ailments. Education was the primary focus of some cities where analytic tools were desired to determine how best to spend limited funds to improve school systems. Finally, urban planning was a concern for many cities, both to smartly allocate resources in newly developed areas, as well as determining how best to revitalize and redevelop aging neighborhoods.

Dashboard used by Edmonton, Alberta, a recipient of IBM's Smarter City Challenge Grant last year, to analyze traffic data more rigorously for improved road safety.

IBM grant recipients were chosen for a variety of reasons, but one common theme was an expressed willingness to use social media and other modern means of exchanging ideas between citizens and city-officials, agencies, businesses, and non-profits. Each city will begin its year-long assistance program by participating in IBM's free City Forward program where any city can sign-up to explore trends and solutions to the outstanding urban issues of cities worldwide.

Of the 24 Smarter Cities Challenge grant recipients in 2011, and the seven pilot cities of 2010, many have already made sweeping public policy changes including the launching of new initiatives as a result of recommendations made by IBM's teams of experts. For instance, Edmonton, Canada has begun using more rigorous analytics to improve road safety from real-time traffic data. Glasgow, Scotland, has begun subsidizing the heating bills of qualifying seniors using proceeds from clean-energy projects. And Chicago, Illinois is opening five technology schools, in cooperation with local corporations, to bridge high school and community college with marketable business skills.

The cities awarded Smarter Cities Challenge grants in 2012 include: Accra, Ghana; Ahmedabad, India; Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, UK; Boston, Massachusetts; Cheongju, Korea; Chonburi, Thailand; Curitiba, Brazil; Da Nang, Vietnam; Dortmund, Germany; Durham, North Carolina; Eindhoven, Netherlands; Geraldton, Australia; Houston, Texas; Ishinomaki, Japan; Jacksonville, Florida; Jurong Lake District, Singapore; Louisville, Kentucky; Malaga, Spain; Medellin, Colombia; New Taipei City, Taiwan; Nanjing, China; Nairobi, Kenya; Omaha, Nebraska; Ottawa, Canada; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Pune, India; Rabat, Morocco; Rosario, Argentina; Siracusa, Italy; Surrey, British Columbia, Canada; Tshwane, South Africa and Toluca, Mexico

#MEDICAL: "Nintendo Wii Diagnoses Eye Malady"

The inexpensive Nintendo Wii game console can be repurposed to detect eye maladies by making use of its infrared camera and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) motion sensors.


Dual Nintendo Wii remote controllers can be head mounted to track motion with their integral MEMS accelerometers, infrared sensors, and a snap-on gyroscope (right) for detection of rotation.

Consumer-grade infrared cameras in the Nintendo Wii game controller have enabled motion analytics capable of identifying an important eye disorder. A proof-of-concept demonstration showed that affordable medical-grade systems can be built from consumer-grade infrared sensors and opens the door to ultra-precise instruments that harness the Wii's inexpensive micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) accelerometers and gyroscopes.

Today medical diagnostics is often dependent on the precise measurement of body posture, to determine if abnormalities fall into a known pattern. If the diagnosis is accurate enough, known conditions and therapies can be quickly invoked to help patients who otherwise might have to wait until symptoms become so acute that no cure is possible.

Unfortunately, precision diagnostic instrumentation is often expensive and cumbersome, opening an opportunity for MEMS sensors to downsize traditional posture measuring instruments using inexpensive components.

Medical researchers at Seoul National University (Korea) recently demonstrated that the consumer-grade infrared camera in the Nintendo Wii controller could be harnessed to create a medical instrument that could diagnose ocular torticollis--an abnormal twist of turn of the neck that patients with ocular defects adopt in order to adopt to maintain binocular vision.

"Accurate measurement of the angle of the abnormal head position is crucial for evaluating disease progression and determining treatment," said medical professor Jeong-Min Hwang at Seoul National University's College of Medicine.

Two Wii remotes were used to jury-rig a three-dimensional (3D) motion sensor the researchers called an infrared optical head tracker (IOHT). A four light-emitting-diode array was used as an invisible infrared beacon that the Wii infrared camera could use to evaluate the distance and orientation of the patient's head.

"We believe IOHT has the potential to be widely used as a head posture measuring device in clinical practice," said Hwang.
Software analytics performed feature detection and pattern recognition on the Bluetooth data streams from the infrared camera to measure and record the angle of the head in real-time. The results were found to comparable those obtained from an expensive laboratory-grade Cervical Range of Motion (CROM) instrument. Sensor readings from the MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes could be used to further enhance accuracy and real-time tracking capabilities.

For the future, the team hopes to develop a working prototype of an instrument that could rival the clinical utility of a CROM. More extensive analytics could also enable even more precise readings obtained from the MEMS accelerometer and gyroscopes in the Wii remote.

#ROBOTICS: "Robo-Glove Could Reduce Assembly Worker Fatigue"

The human hand is a marvel of biology, but works even better when its strength is multiplied by a new robotic glove developed by the NASA in cooperation with GM.


The new Human Grasp Assist device, or Robo-Glove (bottom) multiplies the strength of a human’s grasp and is derived from technology developed for Robonaut (top). (Credit: NASA)

Last year Robonaut became the first humanoid robot in space and now, less than a year later, the developers are finding uses for its advanced technologies here on Earth, the first of which is the Human Grasp Assist device--affectionately called the Robo-Glove--which multiplies the strength of its human wearer.

NASA developed the Robonaut to lend a helping hand to astronauts by taking over tedious and dangerous tasks on the International Space Station (ISS). General Motors (GM) was brought into the project, along with Oceaneering Space Systems, to help find ways to capitalize on Robonaut with ground-based technologies based on its achievements. Since Robonaut, currently in its second generation, was designed to use human tools, the task of finding ground-based uses was simplified. Robo-Glove is the first ground-based application of a Robonaut technology which GM hopes will aid human automobile assembly workers to perform their jobs more easily, as well as reduce the risk of repetitive-stress injuries.

Robonaut's hands were designed with a supersensitive skin manufactured by Oceaneering Space Systems using a quantum tunneling composite (QTC) invented at Peratech Ltd. QTC changes its resistance in response to pressure. By using it to fabricate the fingers of Robo-Glove, an accurate control signal can be sent to the synthetic tendons in the glove, to multiply the pressure applied by the fingers. As a result, the fatigue that typically afflicts a human worker after only a few minutes of tight gripping is mitigated. In practice, as little as five pound pressure by a human is multiplied to as much as 20 pounds pressure when wearing Robo-Glove.

The team has been perfecting the Robo-Glove design since it was first prototyped last year. The current second generation prototype weighs about two pounds including the control electronics, tendon actuators, and a small display for programming and diagnostics. An off-the-shelf lithium-ion battery pack, repurposed from a power tool, is currently attached to a belt-clip to power Robo-Glove. However, the third generation prototype, due out later this year, will repackage the components into a smaller, lighter, self-contained system.

NASA and GM have 46 patents pending for Robonaut, including 21 for its hand and four for the Robo-Glove alone.
The Robo-Glove is just the first many spinoffs to be derived from Robonaut for ground-based applications. The team is likewise developing a complete robotic arm to be used on NASA's upcoming multi-mission Space Exploration Vehicle. Much of this technology could be used on the ground for automobile assembly.

#WIRELESS: "3M and Polaris Spearhead eLibrary-of-Future"

Integrating eBooks with physical books listed in the traditional card catalog allows libraries to catapult into the 21st century rather than be left in the digital dust.


3M's Cloud Library eLending system allows readers to continue to patronize their local libraries while checking out digital books with their normal library card.

Libraries have been struggling to remain relevant in the eBook digital era where cheap online downloads have challenged local brick-and-mortar book repositories. Some libraries have already begun lending eBooks by integrating online offerings in Amazon or Adobe formats. But these attempts required users to have credit-cards and to maintain multiple user-names and passwords.
3M has introduced a different approach. The 3M Cloud Library claims to be the first system that allows patrons to use their normal library card to check out both physical and eBooks from a common card catalog.

3M Library Systems integrates digital media, circulation management, and security. It will be available this year to the nearly 2,000 libraries across the United States and Canada which are managed by Polaris Library Systems. The 3M Cloud Library service will roll out from 10 beta sites already in use, with 30 additional library systems to be added next month and the rest over 2012. The growing 3M Cloud Library currently has more than 40 publishers participating with over 100,000 titles already available.

The 3M Cloud Library eLending system announced its integration with the Polaris Integrated Library System (ILS) at the Public Library Association Conference (PLA 2012, March 13, Philadelphia, Penn.) claiming that it is the first patron-friendly system to combine physical and digital books into a single electronic card catalog.

Participating libraries will allow users to browse the common card catalog from their digital device at home, or at the library using 3M's kiosk-style touch-screen-enabled DiscoveryTerminal. Likewise, patrons can download eBooks into their own eBook or PC, or can check-out a free 3M E-Reader that instantly synchs with their personal library without the need for a credit-card. Books can be browsed using the library's own public-access catalog (PAC) or a special 3M Cloud Library app for their reader (the app is available for Android, iOS, or PC devices). Full access to normal PAC services is maintained, such as the ability to place holds on physical books as well as instantly check-out digital titles.

The 3M Cloud Library serves as the digital content distributor, supports library eBook license ownership after the transaction, and requires no multi-year service contract to get the service up and running on a local library. Libraries can also opt-out of the 3M Cloud Library and move to a new platform provider taking all their eBook licenses with them to the new provider's system.

#ROBOTICS: "Shipboard Humanoid Robot to Aid Navy"

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are developing a seaworthy humanoid robot that can fight fires on ships, navigate autonomously, and help humans by interpreting their gestures, language, and reasoning.


SAFFiR is a humanoid model designed for shipboard firefighting. (Source: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory)

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps plan to conceive, train, and deploy autonomous humanoid robots as shipboard firefighters. And, if the program is successful, they envision other assistance roles for the robots within the Navy and Marine Corps.

Called the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot, SAFFiR was conceived by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to be a humanoid robot that operated with autonomous navigation capabilities in the confines of spaces that were originally designed for humans. The first prototypes will be tested in 2013, when the Navy aims to demonstrate autonomous mobility throughout a ship, interaction with human supervisors, and the ability to take over dangerous firefighting tasks from humans.

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Navy's central laboratory, will be working on the SAFFiR humanoid robot project with its Technology Center for Safety & Survivability (TCSS). This group specializes in combustion, fires, damage control, and atmosphere hazards. TCSS also has the world's only fire test ship where advanced damage control concepts can be realistically evaluated.

Also working on SAFFiR is the Navy's Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence. NCARAI researches AI, human factors, and human-centered computing applications of artificial intelligence. NCARAI will develop the algorithms that allow the SAFFiR firefighting robot to work naturally with human firefighters by using high-level reasoning. SAFFiR will also involve the Navy's Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research where sensor-, power-, energy- and, human-system interaction, networking, and communications can be simulated in littoral, desert, or tropical environments. NLASR will also assist with instrumented reconfigurable high-bay spaces that facilitates the integration of components into research prototypes.

SAFFiR will employ multiple sensors including a video camera, gas sensor, and stereo infrared cameras that can see through smoke. It will be designed to deploy standard fire suppressors including propelled extinguishing agent technology (PEAT). With a 30 minute firefighting battery life, navigation algorithms will allow SAFFiR to walk in any direction, balance during rolling seas, and traverse ad hoc obstacles.

SAFFiR's will also be able to deduce the focus of attention of its human supervisors, enabling it to makes decisions as a team member. The robot will also respond to gestures, such as pointing and other hand signals. It will also be able to understand natural language commands from supervisors.

Virginia Tech will work with the Navy, contributing the technology developed from its existing Cognitive Humanoid Autonomous Robot with Learning Intelligence. CHARLI was designed for domestic chores and elder care, but will serve as a starting point for SAFFiR. The University of Pennsylvania is also working with NRL on the project.

#ROBOTICS: "Robots Construct Reconfigurable Buildings"

Smart materials will allow robotic construction workers to assemble, repair, and even tear-down buildings to reuse their components in new structures.


Construction robot assembling a T-joint (translucent at left).

Unlike the one-way construction methods used today that make it hard to repair and impossible to reuse most building materials, smarter structures could one day be assembled by robots from reusable components.

Cornell's Creative Machines Lab is "exploring a smarter way to allow the assembly, disassembly and reconfiguration of structures," said lab director Hod Lipson, a professor of both mechanical and aerospace engineering, as well as computing and information science at Cornell University. "Right now, [humans] are very bad at recycling construction materials."

Lipson's Creative Machine's Lab envisions transforming the construction industry with robots that deliver smart construction materials to a site, then assemble them into structures which can be efficiently reconfigured when necessary.

When repairs need to be made, the robots remove damaged structure components and return them to the manufacturer for refurbishing, then reassemble the refurbished components in place. When changes need to be made, or a structure's size or configuration needs to be changed, the robots bring in new smart materials and dovetail them to the existing structure. Finally, instead of tearing down an outdated structure, the robots could disconnect each component piece-by-piece and return them to the warehouse.

If Lipson's dream is realized, then modern construction sites will become seething masses of autonomous construction robots which work together by virtue of electronic tags on the smart materials that only allow them to be put together in the desired configuration. Likewise, sensors detecting damage inside already built structures will automatically inform repair-robots as to the location and type of repair needed, with the robots handling the job autonomously without human supervision.

To prove the concept, Lipson's Creative Machine's Lab has produced prototype construction robots, and scale-models of their smart building materials, then demonstrated how they can autonomously assemble and disassemble structures. Key to the success of the demonstration was a smart truss component that allows the geared robot to engage grooves that rotate and secure interlocking joints, thus permitting the robots to autonomously assemble complete structures.

All the details of the smart materials and construction robot's assembly and disassembly methods will be revealed in the IEEE's Robotics and Automation magazine. Besides Lipson, co-authors include former visiting scientist Franz Nigl, former visiting doctoral candidate Shuguang Li, and Cornell student Jeremy Blum. Also contributing to the project was professor Daniela Rus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), professor Mark Yim at the University of Pennsylvania, and professor Eric Klavins at the University of Washington.

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program.

#MARKETS: "Top 10 Innovations of 2012"

The top 10 innovations for 2012 were drawn from a pool of hundreds across the entire spectrum of emerging technologies.



Technology innovations are coming fast and furious across all sectors, making it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff even for the experienced investor. Professional help from research organizations often adds even more data points, but the list below tries to cut through the veils by picking the top 10 innovators for 2012.

Based on research profiles of 262 companies across 12 different emerging technology sectors performed by Lux Research at the end of 2011, the following 10 companies stood out as the most innovative:

eIQ Energy has created its vBoost technology to reduce the installation, maintenance, and operating costs of solar panels by allowing arrays to be easily wired in parallel like other appliances, rather than requiring the complex serial-interconnection schemes used today.

Topell Energy converts wood waste products into bio-coal pellets in a process called torrefaction, and is positioned to profit from European Union incentive programs.

Kurion Inc. proved that its water decontamination process really works by assisting the Japanese Fukushima Dai-ichi plant to clean up their spill, generating short-term windfall profits and positive long-term prospects.

Diamon-Fusion International makes ultra-hard, finger-print proof, and water-repellent protective coatings for glass and other silica-based surfaces, from shower stalls to solar panels.

Spirae Inc. assists renewable energy generators in the management of their fluctuating outputs when connecting to the grid, often making the difference between profitability and failure.

Pervasive Displays offers ultra-inexpensive electrophoretic ePaper displays that are inexpensive and easy to read in direct sunlight. Perfected for the One Laptop per Child program, Pervasive Displays claims to now be ready for prime time in a variety of applications, such as warehouse signage and electronic shelf labels.

Citic Guoan MGL is a state-owned lithium-ion battery innovator in China that is already serving the hybrid-electric bus market there with its sights on partnering with foreign companies to serve electric vehicles worldwide.

Hycrete Inc. has created a water-proof concrete that lowers the cost of current membrane-based waterproofing, promising to improve the durability and longevity of smart sustainable building materials.

Ablynx produces what it calls nanobodies, which are therapeutic proteins that can deliver drugs to target sites, attracting a stellar list of partners including Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Serono, Norvartis, and Pfizer.

Proterro Inc. has created a photosynthetic organism that produces sugars for biofuel production at the "holy grail" price point of five cents per pound.