A group of researchers have published results from a shocking experiment that shows how voice controlled smart devices can be operated remotely using targeted laser beams to simulate human speech. The researchers announced Monday that they were able to control a Google Home and command it to remotely open the garage door from a separate building 230 feet away. Also susceptible were Amazon's Echo, Facebook Portal, a range of Android smartphones and tablets, and both iPhones and iPads. The experiments were conducted by a group of scientists from the University of Michigan and The University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo. 'It's possible to make microphones respond to light as if it were sound,' Takeshi Sugarawa, of University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo, told Wired.

The company collaborated with the University of Electro-Communications in Japan for the research, which they claim can rapidly generate a solution system for sealing off escape routes with police dispersal. It takes approximately five minutes. "Fujitsu Laboratories and the University of Electro-Communications have developed an algorithm to rapidly solve city-scale road network security problems. Compared with previous technology, this makes it possible to find the theoretically optimal security plan 20 times faster, on average, for a 100-node problem, and 500 times faster, on average, for a 200-node problem," Fujitsu says. The company plans to scale up by commercializing the technology through their Fujitsu Limited AI arm, Human Centric Al Zinrai (Zinrai), next year.

Apprehending criminals on the run proves to be a tricky task, especially in a big city. With several exit strategies readily available, criminals can escape on foot or via public transport (such as via bus or subway), or by driving a car. On top of this, there are shops, alleyways, and intersections galore. Of course, there are also a ton of other people. All of this creates a high risk of failure for police.

In winter, snowfall can rapidly disrupt daily life and impact on Japan's economy. Snowplowing is a considerable annual expense, and methods for co-ordinating plowing activity are needed to ensure an efficient, cost-effective service. Clever computer models are needed to manage such complex activities, which involve many agents and interactions. Now, Satoshi Takahashi at the University of Electro-Communications, and Tokuro Matsuo at the Advanced Institute for Industrial Technology in Tokyo have devised a computational method that combines task allocation and scheduling of individual snow-plows to maximize efficiency. The researchers aimed to identify the best routes for multiple snow-plows to take without replicating route paths, meaning their computer model had to allocate and schedule tasks simultaneously.