In the past few years the wearables sector has been a hive of activity, but it feels like this year things have accelerated, particularly in the realm of health and wellness. A report by Forrester Research projected that 29 percent of Americans will use wearable devices, compared with 18 percent in 2015. It predicts that wearables sales will rise from 4.2 billion in 2015 to 9.8 billion in 2021. There has been more interest in wearables companies doing clinical validation. The AARP has been using its Project Catalyst initiative to validate the usability of connected devices and activity trackers for seniors.

Argentinian goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea used to urinate on the pitch, certain French rugby players like to headbutt each other and Serena Williams apparently never changes her socks during a tournament--but as athletic rituals go, listening to music composed by a robot has got to be up there. In an effort to get one up on their rivals, the U.S. Olympic wrestling team has been listening to songs written by artificial intelligence to prepare for matches. The music, created by Brain.fm, Speaking to Newsweek, team coach Matt Lindland says he came across Brain.fm after actively seeking a sleep-based solution for his athletes. Lindland approached science journalist Steven Kotler, who recommended the AI-composed music as a safe and healthy performance-enhancing technique.

We've talked before about the prospects of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it will likely disrupt things like we've never seen before with some estimates predicting that up to 80% of all service jobs will be impacted. Healthcare is one area where AI is receiving a good chunk of funding. We looked before at one example of an artificial intelligence company called Enlitic that uses machine learning technology to read X-rays better than your average radiologist who makes 286,000 a year on average. There are actually quite a few artificial intelligence companies in healthcare and CB Insights recently identified 65 of them at various stages of funding. Founded just last year, Chinese company iCarbonX has taken in nearly 200 million in funding from investors that include the 200 billion Chinese internet giant Tencent.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your laser-focused Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. Near Earth Autonomy, a Pittsburgh-based robotics and aerospace company (and CMU spin-off), has discovered the secret to flying a drone autonomously around obstacles without GPS: use a massive hexcopter that can haul around a Velodyne lidar. R1 is a new "personal humanoid" platform from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT).

Disease risk estimates can be used as prognostic information and support for treating CVDs. The commonly used Framingham risk score (FRS) for CVD prediction is outdated for the modern population, so FRS may not be accurate enough. In this paper, a novel CVD prediction system based on machine learning is proposed. Methods: This study has been conducted with the data of 689 patients showing symptoms of CVD. Furthermore, the dataset of 5,209 CVD patients of the famous Framingham study has been used for validation purposes.

You might think that every choice a writer makes is highly deliberate, part of a grand master plan that only she is entirely aware of. We certainly felt that way while reading Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie's award-winning sci-fi novel about a spaceship AI that gets trapped in a single body and seeks revenge on her enemies. There are so many details embedded in the world-building--from a fixation on gloves and tea to the use of "she" for all genders--that Leckie surely had reams of unpublished backstory (or at least a yarn chart) to explain and keep track of it all. But as we found out in our WIRED Book Club conversation with the author, Leckie takes a far less structured approach when it comes to creating new universes. Was this series always a trilogy in your mind? Though I'm not sure why, to be honest.

The idea of managing human capacity is fundamental to how firms move forward with their organization strategy. What a sustainable philosophy requires is the open recognition of a changing workforce, and the understanding that even the ability to manage human capacity needs to be supplemented with an open mind and forward thinking. Artificial Intelligence (AI), computerization, and automation, devalue certain human skills, and in time will completely overhaul the job market. At this point it will be our uniquely human potential that is valued in workplace. Working with human strengths and deficiencies in order to get the best out of your company is going to be a defining aspect of keeping up with the pace of innovation and change in the next few decades.

The development of digital health technology causes many concerns regarding bioethics. Here are 10 examples why people should not be afraid of, but rather embrace the advancements of such technologies. The fear from the unknown is as old as mankind itself, thus the fear from technological development has the same age as advancement itself. When the telephone was introduced to Sweden in the late 1800s, people were afraid that the contents of the lines would spill out in some way if there was a break and many elderly persons refused to touch a telephone for fear of electrical shock. The fear is even scarier when it comes to one's health. Shortly after Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen introduced his discovery about the X-Ray, people got scared that it might read their thoughts, and they were afraid that such omnipotent gaze will see through their body and soul. Merchants even offered X-Ray proof underwear.

Cutting Into Amazon's Robot Lead: Some upstarts are trying, but the company's Kiva grab guarantees it dominance for now. How Bad Are Low Wages? But they're not killing people in the way a study suggested. The Future of Soda May Not Be Sweet: Even innovators are toiling in a shrinking market. Questioning an Unquestionable Mind: Is Bill Gates reading the right books?

Numerous companies in the healthcare space are experimenting with artificial intelligence, but what does the future hold in this sphere? You'll probably know IBM's supercomputer, Watson, from its 2011 appearance on Jeopardy. Up against two of the US quiz show's longest-running and highest-earning contestants, Watson clinched a 1m prize after answering a series of quick-fire general knowledge questions. It wasn't a close call either – at the final score, Watson's total was 31,547 ahead of its rivals' combined. But in the five years since, IBM's supercomputer has been working towards another goal, one far more lucrative than the Jeopardy!