Category Archives: Blog With BEB

Machines That Read Your Mind

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In the 1980’s, the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) made the human brain visible in ways never seen before. Doctors were able to see brain structure and the soft brain tissue of a living object. This type of detail was only seen previously during autopsies.

During the 90’s, the fMRI (functional MRI) came into its own. The fMRI detects blood flow revealing brain activity which makes it possible to identify which parts of the brain react to scent, visual recognition or even sound.

The fMRI is in transition once again. Though still in development, the fMRI will soon allow scientists to track the condition of our mind with more precision. As researchers analyze the vast amount of data generated by brain scans coupled with the latest computational techniques including Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, scientists are beginning to resolve how our physical brains form our mind.

The research may have a significant impact on marketing, police work and computer interfacing and may even allow the preservation of memories even after an individual has passed.

Some mental functions activate several parts of the brain at the same time. The fMRI can detect that activation and machine learning deciphers patterns into specific descriptions that include what a subject is thinking or doing. In an article published in the WSJ by Jerry Kapalan, Kaplan said’ “It’s like going from identifying individual letters to reading words and sentences.” That’s big!

Studies show that people’s brains organize and process the same information in similar ways. Collaborators in a 2011 study were able to correctly identify which of eight mental tasks a subject was performing 80% of the time, based solely on looking at their brain scans.

The evolution of brain reading continues with Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). This emerging functional neuroimaging technology offers a relatively non-invasive, safe, and low-cost method of monitoring brain activity. fNIRS is the measurement of near infrared (NIR) light that takes advantage of the optical window in which skin, tissue, and bone are mostly transparent while blood flow is a stronger absorber of light allowing for a more in depth reading of brain functionality.

The ability to decipher this type of technology raises questions about the privacy of our thoughts. It may lead to a world where our mind is subject to a search warrant or become a matter of public record leaving the ever pressing question of who should have access to those thoughts, and how they should be used.

Computer Education

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Global spending on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to reach $35.8 billion this year. That’s up 44% from last year. It’s expected to double to over $79.2 billion by 2022.

Below are some terms that will help you to better understand this exploding and learned  technology.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) –A subfield of computer science, information engineering, and AI focused on interactions between computers and human language.  When text or speech is input and it can be read or extract meaning.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)- Sometimes called machine intelligence, AI is intelligence demonstrated by machines. These machines mimic “cognitive” functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as “learning” and “problem solving”.

Deep Learning -Sometimes referred to as deep structured learning or hierarchical learning, it is part of a broader family of machine learning methods based on artificial neural networks.

This powerful statistical technique is used for classifying patterns using large data sets and ANNs (Artificial Neural Networks). Deep learning neural networks have been applied to fields including natural language processing, social network filtering, drug design, medical image analysis, and game programs. They have produced results comparable to and in some cases superior to human experts.

Machine learning (ML) -The scientific study of algorithms and statistical models that computer systems use to effectively perform a specific task without using explicit instructions, relying on patterns and inference instead. Machine learning algorithms build a mathematical model based on sample data, known as “training data”, in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to perform the task. Machine learning is closely related to computational statistics, which focuses on making predictions using computers. The study of mathematical optimization delivers methods, theory and application domains to the field of machine learning. Data mining is a field of study within machine learning, and focuses on exploratory data analysis through unsupervised learning. In its application across business problems, machine learning is also referred to as predictive analytics.

 

 

AI IS Listening

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is able to measure tone, tempo and other voice characteristics. Some systems compare those sounds to stored speech pattern libraries that define a plethora of human emotions to determine an individual’s emotional, mental or even physical health.

When this sound technology is used in conjunction with computer vision, the science that allows computers to gain a high-level understanding from digital images or videos, the  applications become even more powerful. For example, imagine a vehicle that is able to hear a driver yawning and see the driving dozing off.

Research firm Gartner Inc predicts that within three years, 10% of personal devices will have emotion AI capabilities that include wearables (similar to a Fit Bit) that is able to monitor an individual’s mental health or video games that adapt to the players mood.

BEB Wins Hermes Creative Award

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We are so excited to share the news that BEB has been awarded a 2019 Hermes Creative Award. The Hermes is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media. Hermes recognizes outstanding work in the industry while promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communication professionals.

This year there were over 6,000 entries from throughout the United States, Canada and
dozens of other countries. Entries came from corporporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops, production companies and freelancers.

The Hermes competition is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and
Communication Professionals (www.amcpros.com). The international organization consists of
several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production and free-lance professionals.

As part of its mission, AMCP fosters and supports the efforts of creative professionals who
contribute their unique talents to public service and charitable organizations. Hermes entrants are not charged entry fees to enter work they produced pro bona. In addition, the efforts of generous marketing and communication professionals are acknowledged through grants and special recognition.

Judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent
exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.
Winners were selected from categories grouped under advertising, publications,
marketing/branding, integrated marketing, public relations/communications, electronic media
and pro bona.

This marks our third award for the work done on a project so near and dear to all of the BEB family; The Run for Rama.

2019 BBB Award for Excellence Winner

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We are proud and honored to have been awarded (for the 4th year in a row), the Houston Better Business Bureau’s 2019 Award of Excellence.

The mission of the BBB is to promote trusted marketplace and celebrate best practices. The BBB Awards for Excellence recognizes businesses, organizations, and employees that are positive examples to all in areas that mirror the core values of the BBB and demonstrate the highest standards of business ethics and practices. These organizations are recognized for fostering trust with their customers, employees, suppliers, and community.

YouTube Demographics

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Every year, we marketing geeks anxiously await the data presented by the Pew Research Center on demographics of social media consumption in the US. The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American fact tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It also conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis, and other empirical social science research. The Pew Research Center does not take policy positions, and is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Join us as we review the latest information surrounding who (in the US) is using social media!

The most used platform to date is YouTube. Based on US Census Bureau data (from July 2018), there are over 253 million adults in the United States. 228 million are online. 73% of adults online use YouTube; that’s over 166 million people. That number represents only 13% of the total, 1.3 billion global YouTube users.

Of the US YouTube adult users, approximately 47% are women and 53% are men.

YouTube receives over 500 million views each day, with 300 hours of video being uploaded each minute. That translates to 432,000 hours of video per 24-hours, representing over 49 years of video time.

Learn more about the latest social media statistic by clicking here.

 

List Your Close Friends of FB

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Facebook says that the goal of News Feed is to connect people with the posts they find most relevant. It’s not about the amount of time someone spends on social site, but rather the quality of time spent. That means Facebook must predict what users want to see.

To do this, they study to understand what people are doing on Facebook — what they like, comment on and share. They also use surveys to get more context about the posts people want to see and who they want to see them from. In May, FB announced two ranking updates based on surveys: one gives priority to friends someone might want to hear from most and the other prioritizes links a person might consider most worthwhile.

Historically FB has predicted who people might want to hear from based on signals like how often they interact with a given friend, how many mutual friends they have and whether they mark someone as a close friend.

Now, in addition to tracking these signals, Facebook is asking users to to list the friends they are closest to.  Once patterns emerge from the results they will use them to inform the News Feed algorithm with the goal to better predict which friends people may want to hear from most.

This doesn’t mean News Feed will be limited to posts from only certain people and it doesn’t mean you will necessarily see more friend content.

They also know that individuals that are considered close friends today may not be in a year, or even a few months later. The prediction models will continuously update based on the interactions people have with their friends on the app as well as continue to survey people.

 

Informed Address Where There’s No Address At All!

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The Postal Service has put an emphasis on enhancing the customer experience by evolving the marketing in the digital world. The USPS is now piloting a new technology platform called Informed Address (IA).

The concept will enable mail to be sent and delivered without a physical address. Instead, Informed Address allows recipients to use identifiers that include email, social media handles, or a custom name for mail processing and delivery functions.

Informed Address will replace the delivery point with a unique code where the usual IMB (Intelligent Mail Barcode) is substituted with an “Informed Address IMB”, which contains the physical address information. This allows customers the enhanced privacy and identity protection, as marketers will no longer need to obtain or hold a physical address for their mail communications.

During the testing period, the USPS will assess consumer engagement, gauge mailer interest, and determine technical feasibility. This new technology provides the opportunity for marketers to provide additional services, including vanity address development and enhanced targeting for B2B and B2C marketing.

The Urban FF Center

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What is larger than 14 football fields, has twice as many robots as human workers, and handles 50% more inventory than traditional warehouses? – Amazon’s first New York City distribution center.

Located in Staten Island, this urban fulfillment center can package more than one million items a day during its busiest period even though the site is 20% smaller than a typical Amazon fulfillment center.

In urban settings, space must be used with military precision combined with automation that allows for building up rather than spreading out. Computerized pickers that are approximately the size of a robotic vacuum, pick up inventory that is stored on shelves and then deliver the items to a human associate at a workstation. This limits the number of steps an individual has to take and allows storage of more goods in a robot-only section of the fulfillment center.

Smaller warehouse and fulfillment sites is a good example of how online sales are reshaping logistics in the US.

USPS Driverless Test Run

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The US Postal Service has entered into a contract with self-driving truck startup TuSimple to haul mail between Dallas and Phoenix. Founder, Xiaodi Hou says that this USPS pilot gives them fuel to help validate their system and expedite the technological development and commercialization progress.

TuSimple will complete five round trips between May 28 and June 10 while a safety engineer and licensed driver ride along in the cab. Its Level 4 self-driving system (see below for self-driving categories defined), uses 8 cameras to detect cars, pedestrians, and other obstacles over one-half a mile away, even in inclement weather.

TuSimple’s camera-based system allows it to achieve three centimeter (1.18 inch) precision for truck positioning even in inclement weather and tunnels with real-time decision making. By keeping aware of traffic flow ahead, trucks are able to maintain a given speed more consistently than human drivers which can cut fuel consumption by as much as 15%.

The USPS has been interested in self-driving technology for a long time. In 2017, a report published by the Inspector General detailed plans to add semi-autonomous mail trucks to its fleet as early as 2025. Placed into service on 28,000 rural routes, they would free up about 310,000 postal workers to sort and deliver packages.

TuSimple has R&D labs in San Diego and test facilities in Tuscon. It expects to close out 2019 with a 200-truck fleet in the US and a 300-truck fleet in China, making it the largest self-driving truck solutions company in the world.

Later this year, TuSimple will operate several self-driving trucks for 22 hours each along the I-10, I-20, and I-30 corridors through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It says freight along the I-10 corridor accounts for 60% of the US’s total economic activity. It expects its semi-autonomous trucks to be a frequent sight along that route in the months ahead.

Self-Driving Systems are categorized by five-levels:

Level 1- Driver Assistance-Under specific conditions, the car controls either the steering or the vehicle speed, but not both simultaneously. The driver performs all other aspects of driving and has full responsibility for monitoring the road and taking over if the assistance system fails to act appropriately. Cruise control is Level 1

Level 2- Partial Automation- The car can steer, accelerate, and brake only in certain circumstances. Maneuvers such as responding to traffic signals or changing lanes largely fall to the driver, as well as scanning for hazards.

Level 3- Conditional Automation-The car is able to manage most aspects of driving, including monitoring the environment. The system prompts the driver to intervene when it encounters a scenario it can’t navigate. The driver must be available to take over at any time.

Level 4 -High Automation-The vehicle can operate without human input or oversight but only under select conditions defined by factors such as road type or geographic area. In a shared car restricted to a defined area, there may not be any. But in a privately owned Level 4 car, the driver might manage all driving duties on surface streets then become a passenger as the car enters a highway.

Level 5- Full Automation-The vehicle can operate on any road and in any conditions a human driver could negotiate.