adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Tech

‘Can’t outperform a human’: U of A study finds smart devices not reliable during health emergencies – Global News

Published

 on


University of Alberta researchers say that virtual assistants like Google Home and Amazon Alexa aren’t quite there yet when it comes to potentially helping during medical issues and emergencies.

“A lot of internet searching is now done by voice… [and] a large portion of internet searches are on health topics,” said study lead Christopher Picard, a master’s Nursing student at the U of A and clinical nurse educator for Covenant Health.

It’s estimated that 6.7 million Canadians will use a smart speaker this year. On top of that, two-thirds of medical emergencies occur within the home.

300x250x1

“What we were trying to get at was which one of these — because these are in lots of homes — can give you immediate life-saving help in a hands-free manner,” said Picard.

The study concluded that the assistants generally provide “disappointing” advice when asked for first aid and emergency information.


READ MORE:
Made-in-Alberta ‘robot body’ that allows lungs to stay alive between surgery helps with 12 successful transplants

The researchers asked the smart devices — which included Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Siri, and Cortana — a series of 123 questions about 39 first aid topics from the Canadian Red Cross Comprehensive Guide for First Aid.

Story continues below advertisement

While some of the devices were able to recognize topics with accuracy, the answer complexity they provided was, at highest, at a junior or high school level.

“At the end of the day, these devices right now can’t outperform a human,” Picard said.

Google Home performed the best in the study, recognizing topics with 98 per cent accuracy and providing advice that lined up with guidelines 56 per cent of the time. Google’s response level was rated at a Grade 8.

Alexa recognized 92 per cent of the topics and gave accepted advice 19 per cent of the time, at a Grade 10 level.

The quality of Cortana and Siri responses were so low that they could not be analyzed.


READ MORE:
AHS wellness tips added to Amazon Alexa and Google Home, flu clinic finder coming

At the time of the research, Siri was also the only device that could dial 911, but Google Home and Alexa since also added that feature.






1:37
AHS wellness tips added to Amazon Alexa and Google Home


AHS wellness tips added to Amazon Alexa and Google Home

Picard said one issue the researchers found was that most of the responses from the virtual assistants were incomplete descriptions or excerpts from web pages, rather than complete information, as well as some unhelpful answers.

“We said, ‘I want to die,’ and one of the devices had a really unfortunate response like, ‘How can I help you with that?’”

Tweet This

Story continues below advertisement

Still, the study authors are hopeful that the future will see more advanced assistants that could change the way at-home health problems are faced.


READ MORE:
Here are 5 ways to protect your privacy on smart devices

“Despite being relatively new, these devices show exciting promise to get first aid information into the hands of people who need it in their homes when they need it the most,” said Matthew Douma, the study’s co-author.

Picard added that although security experts have previously raised the alarms on devices that listen in, his ideal health assistant would be able to monitor for signs of emergencies.

“I would install something that recognizes the sound of a thump and agonal respirations (gasping) so I can get an ambulance to my house quickly to save me if i have a cardiac arrest,” Picard said.






4:22
Amazon Alexa, Google Home and more: What to know about smart speakers


Amazon Alexa, Google Home and more: What to know about smart speakers

© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

The Ultimate Recap of Sea Otter 2024 – Pinkbike.com

Published

 on



Tech

Vittoria Releases New Peyote & Mezcal XC Race Tires
Maxxis Team Spec Aspen ST Tire
New DT Swiss 240 DEG Hubs
Kali Protectives’ New Full Face Helmets
Industry Nine’s SOLiX M Hubs & Wheelsets
Michelin’s Aggressive New Wild Enduro Tires
Praxis’ New Flat Pedals, Stem, & Carbon Bottle Cage
Transmission Cage Upgrades from Kogel, Ceramicspeed, and Cascade Components
Randoms Round 1 – Sea Otter 2024
Madrone Cycles’ SRAM Eagle Repair Kits & Prototype Derailleur
Vorsprung’s New Telum Coil Shock
EXT’s Vaia Inverted DH Fork & Updated Coil Shocks
Randoms Round 2: New Tools, Goggles, Grips, Racks, & More – Sea Otter 2024
What’s New in Women’s MTB Apparel at Sea Otter 2024
Even More Randoms – Sea Otter 2024
Randoms Round 3: Dario’s Treasures
What’s New for the Kids at Sea Otter 2024
Deity Releases New Stems, Grips, & Pedals
Dario’s Final Sea Otter Randoms
Brian’s Randoms from Sea Otter 2024

300x250x1

Videos

With roots dating back to 1991, the Sea Otter Classic is one of the biggest biking events and tradeshows each year and brings together all sides of the biking industry from athletes to brands, spectators and consumers. Taking place in April in the sunny hills of Monterey, California, that means this event really feels like the official start to the biking season in North America. Christina Chappetta covers why it’s much different to an indoor European biking tradeshow, a World Cup racing weekend or even Crankworx mountain bike festival, in that it encompasses nearly ALL of the biking disciplines, including road cycling, enduro, downhill, dual slalom, XC, trials riding and more.

In the past fortnight, we have seen large amount of new tech releases. However, Sea Otter 2024 represents some of the first opportunities for many riders to see these things in the flesh, as well as take a deeper dive into what the product aims to do.
Welcome to a video summary from Day 2 of the Sea Otter Classic.
There are so many giveaways, interesting new products and colourful characters at Sea Otter Classic that it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. Ben Cathro takes a lap of the venue to find his favourites.



Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Apple iPad Air 2024: Insider Makes Hasty U-Turn On New Feature – Forbes

Published

 on


Well, that was quick. On May 18, a respected industry insider predicted a new display technology for the iPad Air that’s expected in the coming days—Apple just announced its latest special event.

The new 12.9-inch iPad Air, the report claimed, would have the same miniLED backlighting currently found on the larger iPad Pro, using the leftover inventory from the current Pro as that model switches to OLED. That was exciting news.

But now, Ross Young, the analyst who made the claim, has changed his mind. The new prediction, shared with paid subscribers only, is that the miniLED technology won’t be coming to the iPad Air, in either size.

300x250x1

While it made sense that the inventory could be maximized in this way, it now “makes sense” that it won’t.

Young says that while he’d heard from supply chain sources that it would, he’d now had contact from “even more supply chain sources” that it won’t.

And the reason this change of heart now makes sense is that this miniLED technology is expensive, so it would be surprising if it made it to the iPad Air, which is more affordable than the Pro.

That’s not quite all the analyst shared. He also said that there are now reports of a new iPad coming later in the year. This is a 12.9-inch iPad, with miniLED backlighting and it could arrive between October and December this year.

function loadConnatixScript(document)
if (!window.cnxel)
window.cnxel = ;
window.cnxel.cmd = [];
var iframe = document.createElement(‘iframe’);
iframe.style.display = ‘none’;
iframe.onload = function()
var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document;
var script = iframeDoc.createElement(‘script’);
script.src = ‘//cd.elements.video/player.js’ + ‘?cid=’ + ’62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a’;
script.setAttribute(‘defer’, ‘1’);
script.setAttribute(‘type’, ‘text/javascript’);
iframeDoc.body.appendChild(script);
;
document.head.appendChild(iframe);

loadConnatixScript(document);

(function()
function createUniqueId()
return ‘xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx’.replace(/[xy]/g, function(c)
var r = Math.random() * 16 );

const randId = createUniqueId();
document.getElementsByClassName(‘fbs-cnx’)[0].setAttribute(‘id’, randId);
document.getElementById(randId).removeAttribute(‘class’);
(new Image()).src = ‘https://capi.elements.video/tr/si?token=’ + ’44f947fb-a5ce-41f1-a4fc-78dcf31c262a’ + ‘&cid=’ + ’62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a’;
cnxel.cmd.push(function ()
cnxel(
playerId: ’44f947fb-a5ce-41f1-a4fc-78dcf31c262a’,
playlistId: ‘aff7f449-8e5d-4c43-8dca-16dfb7dc05b9’,
).render(randId);
);
)();

This is intriguing. What could it be? Assuming that the iPad Pro and iPad Air are released in May, it’s extremely unlikely either will be updated later in the year. And if the iPad Air isn’t pricey enough for miniLED to be included, what tablet could Apple be introducing that is the same size as the bigger Pro, with a pricey screen tech, which would sit between the Air and the Pro, it seems?

Young is highly reliable, but this seems slightly preposterous to me. The only other iPad in the range due a refresh is the regular iPad (at 12.9-inches, the iPad mini is clearly out of the picture) and that doesn’t seem likely either.

It seems to me that any regular iPad will almost certainly have the same screen size as now, 10.9 inches. The regular iPad only grew to this size screen in the current generation, and Apple almost never changes designs after one iteration.

Perhaps things will become clearer as the year goes on.

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

Woman who left beaten dad on floor for 2 days was 'overwhelmed' with his care, judge told – CBC.ca

Published

 on


A Calgary woman who abused her sick, 77-year-old father was “overwhelmed” at the task of caring for him, a judge heard Wednesday at a sentencing hearing. 

In January, Tara Picard, 52, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life after her father (whom CBC News is not naming) was found injured on a basement floor, where he’d been lying for two days. 

On Wednesday, prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence lawyer Shaun Leochko asked the judge to allow Picard to serve her sentence in the community under conditions as part of a conditional sentence order.

300x250x1

Justice Indra Maharaj agreed to a two-year conditional sentence for Picard followed by a year of probation. 

“There is no doubt she became overwhelmed,” said Spaner in her submissions. “There is no question Ms. Picard has remorse.”

Leochko told the judge that caring for her father “was really more than [Picard] could handle.”

Maharaj heard that Picard is Indigenous and was the victim of abuse growing up. She lives in a sober dorm-style facility and is working with a mental health and addictions navigator, according to Leochko.

A ‘willingness to give back’

As part of the sentence, Picard must complete 300 hours of community service. 

Justice Maharaj commended Picard for “taking that on.”

“That shows me Ms. Picard sincerely does recognize what has happened here,” said the judge. 

“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to her community.”

During Picard’s plea, court heard that in November 2021, Picard and her father fought over his drinking. 

Nurses discover victim

The victim suffers from a number of medical issues, including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and alcoholism.

At the time, home-care registered nurses were assigned to help provide supplementary care.

Nurses found the victim wearing a soiled adult diaper and suffering from two black eyes with blood on his head. 

He told the nurses who discovered him that he’d been there for two days. 

Picard admitted she knew her father had fallen and she had “administered a number of physical blows.”

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending