Israel Active

The New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) is partnering Israel’s Intuition Robotics (see previously) to supply ElliQ voice-operated robots to 800 older people who live alone. ElliQ performs daily check-ins and can send texts, conduct video calls and display photos.

Team Steampunk1577 from Ra’anana’s Aviv High School came second overall of 9,000 teams in the First Championships international robotics competition in Houston, Texas. Nine Israeli teams reached the semi-final stage and Steampunk1577 won through to the “Einstein” final.

Israel’s Bar-Ilan University has inaugurated a Center for Energy and Sustainability and launched a Multidisciplinary School for Sustainability and the Environment. It plans to invest hundreds of millions of shekels in research and environmental projects in Israel and around the world.

To coincide with World Bee Day on May 20, here is the latest news on the Beehome from Israel’s Beewise that is reversing the decline of one of the most important species on the planet. Each Beehome houses 2 million bees and some one hundred of these high-tech hives are already functioning in Israel.

Professor Haim Sompolinsky of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the first Israeli to win the prestigious Gruber Neuroscience Prize. He shares the $500,000 prize with 3 other scientists. Prof Sompolinsky’s research helps scientists understand the behavior of complex neural circuits in the brain.

A detailed description of the innovative technology of Israel’s Addon Optics (see previously) that can produce multifocal spectacles in just six minutes at a fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing processes.

Enigmatos is another Israeli startup that stops cyber-attacks on a vehicle’s computer systems. Enigmatos creates a “deep car identity profile” of a vehicle and recognizes any changes to that “DNA”. It is working with Israeli mobile operator Pelephone and is already protecting vehicle fleets.

Israel’s REE Automotive (see previously) is to build a 130,000 sq ft UK manufacturing center for its revolutionary wheel chassis for electric vehicles. It features a commercial assembly line operated by autonomous robots and will supply REE’s European customers.

The WizeEye low-power user sensing AI technology from Israel’s Emza (see previously) has now been installed in Dell Latitude, Inspiron, and Precision laptops. Features include dimming the screen when no one is looking at it; and blurring display of sensitive data if a user is unauthorized.

Ben Gurion University is hosting a Zoom webinar entitled “BGU’s Brain Science Launches into Space” on June 8th. BGU’s Dr. Oren Shriki will discuss his neuro-wellness monitoring experiment that Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe tested on his mission to the International Space Station.