Israel Active

Israeli startup Handy Bag designs and manufactures bags are easy for wheelchair users to access their belongings unaided. Founder Yair Zur was inspired by his wheelchair-bound parents – one a war veteran and one with polio. Yair raised his goal of $20,000 on Kickstarter

Israel’s Leumi Card will integrate the first-of-its-kind mobile app that uses behavioral biometrics. Based on cutting-edge technology of Israeli startup SecuredTouch, the solution uses finger size, touch pressure, touch surface and more to validate the card owner and eliminate the need to use complex passwords.

Newsletter readers may remember that Hebrew University of Jerusalem Professor Oded Shoseyov invented a device for turning dog waste into ash. Israel’s Paulee CleanTec is building the device and its innovative technology into eco-friendly commercial products.

Israeli startup “Books on Map” provides readers with virtual tours through a city’s streets by way of novels that reference that city.  Combining library, treasure hunt and social network, it services Paris, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Books on Map won the recent City of Paris tourism app competition.

I reported previously on AgriTask – an app from Israel’s Scantask that improves farming efficiency. AgriTask is now protecting about 1,000 farmers in Israel, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Kenya and Thailand from crop damage and saving them up to 40% in pesticide use.

Israel’s International Cooperation Ministry has established and dedicated a new NIS 4 million Dead Sea Research Institute.  Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian Authority scientists will work together at the Institute, to study the Dead Sea and find ways to rehabilitate it and the region around it.

As predicted previously the Sino-Israeli Robotics Institute was inaugurated during the second Sino-Israeli Robotics Summit in Guangzhou, China. The 4,800sqm robotics incubator includes exhibition and demo area, innovation lab, training center and corporate offices.

The US-Israel Advanced Research Partnership Act of 2016 has been signed into US law.  The act will expand existing joint research and create a grant for new development.

Israeli startup GearEye uses a radio frequency ID (RFID) scanner, tags, and an app to locate your important belongings.  GearEye sought to raise $60,000 on Kickstarter.  It ended up with over $500,000.  

I’ve reported previously about the Air Mule flying car from Israel’s Urban Aeronautics (also known as Tactical Robotics). Here is the latest on the Unmanned Air Vehicle – now renamed the Cormorant. Its target for launching on the aviation market is now 2020.