Israel Active

Israel’s GetPixie has developed the Location of Things (LoT) platform and produced Pixie points that you stick to your valued objects (keys, wallet, sunglasses etc.) Use your smartphone to find them anytime. Pixie can even alert you if you leave the house without them.   

Video to accompany my article about how Israel’s NRGene mapped out the genome of wild Emmer wheat, with its promise of new hardy and resistant strains. Emmer wheat – the ancestor of modern wheat - was discovered in 1906 by Aaron Aaronsohn in pre-state Israel.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, former President Shimon Peres and Israeli high-tech companies have launched “Give 5” – a program to double to 18,000 the numbers studying for advanced (5-point) math matriculation exams. It includes more teachers, resources and hi-tech lecturers.

Afula is the first Israeli city to have sensors fitted to 150 of its public trash cans. Garbage collectors will be now alerted to the receptacles that need emptying more urgently.

Israeli startup Valiber has developed a spoon-like tool that measures the exact levels of sweetness found in drinks and foods. “The swizzle” is a spoon with a sensor that communicates with your smartphone using Bluetooth. Valiber has also invented the “Val” scale to quantify sweetness.

Israel’s Flytrex claims to be the world’s first delivery drone that operates over the cloud. Its Messenger app lets operators use their Sky drone to perform short-range deliveries of small parcels to friends and family. It is also planning drone deliveries of medicines to rural African villages.

Kobi Shikar, a student at Shenkar School of Engineering and Design, has conceptually designed a one-wheeled robotic delivery drone that uses GPS to navigate and facial recognition software to identify recipients. Each wheel features a self-balancing gyroscopic system.

Intel Israel is working with Google to develop a 3-D environment. Intel’s RealSense technology, largely developed in Jerusalem and Haifa, is to be a key input to Project Tango - a Google experiment using smartphones and tablets to record an in-depth, 3-D environment.

Another article explaining why Israel dominates the cyber security industry. Reasons include defense against threats, investment in science, and military service.

Israel’s Augury has developed the Auguscope – a low-cost innovative device that “listens” to machinery to diagnose problems. Preventative maintenance can then save the huge costs of downtime and replacement equipment. Augury has just raised $7 million of initial funding.