Digital twin startup Resonai Inc. announced today that it has closed on a $20 million extension to its Series A round of funding, bringing the total amount raised to $30 million. New investors, including Meitav-Dash, Blue Square Israel and Irani Ventures, all participated in the round, as did existing backers SBI, Vive Nevo and Redds Capital. Resonai is the creator of the Vera platform, which uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality technology to convert physical spaces into intelligent digital environments that enable more immersive, real-world experiences. Using the Vera platform, a theater space, retail setting, a spacious apartment or any other kind of building can be scanned and sent to Vera's AR cloud to create a highly accurate 3D digital twin. This virtual space then becomes available via the cloud and is connected to Vera operated apps and mobile devices.

Fobi AI Inc., a leader in providing real-time data analytics through artificial intelligence to drive operational efficiencies and profitability, announced the launch of their new digital and content marketing agency along with the launch of their platform as a service model. The platform as a service model will provide customers with a SaaS model with managed services for Fobi's various Pass Pro and Wallet pass solutions as well as coupon marketing. Fobi VP of Marketing Ian Cameron stated: "This launch is well-timed given the current labour shortages and technology proliferation which can make it difficult to adopt and manage new technologies. Businesses are eager and ready to take advantage of the latest technologies, but they often lack the resources and the manpower. That was the premise for the creation of Fobi's Digital Managed Services team which is dedicated to providing clients with the latest tools, strategies, and execution needed to be successful online and offline. Thanks to the demand for these managed services the company has already acquired clients across every managed service category which all have high profitability rates built into the services model. We've helped clients optimize their utilization of our technologies, from wallet pass marketing and coupon marketing to custom development, ensuring our clients are getting the maximum engagement and ROI out of all of our platforms. Fobi's managed services have already enabled clients to digitally transform their business and gain access to measurable insights with significantly less hassle and staffing resources."

Crowdfunding, which is the act of raising funds from a large number of people's contributions, is among the most popular research topics in economic theory. Due to the fact that crowdfunding platforms (CFPs) have facilitated the process of raising funds by offering several features, we should take their existence and survival in the marketplace into account. In this study, we investigated the significant role of platform features in a customer behavioral choice model. In particular, we proposed a multinomial logit model to describe the customers' (backers') behavior in a crowdfunding setting. We proceed by discussing the revenue-sharing model in these platforms. For this purpose, we conclude that an assortment optimization problem could be of major importance in order to maximize the platforms' revenue. We were able to derive a reasonable amount of data in some cases and implement two well-known machine learning methods such as multivariate regression and classification problems to predict the best assortments the platform could offer to every arriving customer. We compared the results of these two methods and investigated how well they perform in all cases.

The new MOBOTIX camera platform, jointly developed with Konica Minolta, is based on the distributed intelligence in our camera system and is crucial for artificial intelligence and at the same time the key for the communication of our products with other sensors and devices in the network to enable "Beyond Human Vision" solutions. The state-of-the-art analysis methods located on the camera itself helps users increase process efficiency and develop new business and revenue models. Future software updates will enable completely new functions based on deep learning methods, such as the recognition of human behavior, moods or voices. In order to make this possible, a so-called "plug-in concept" is being further developed that goes far beyond what is available on competing products. This allows customers to easily create new features similar to developing apps for mobile devices while taking full advantage of the system's performance, including full CPU and GPU power and programmable logic.

"The next big step will be for the very concept of the'device' to fade away… The computer itself will be an intelligent assistant helping you through your day." - Google CEO, Sundar Pichai Soon, most of our interaction with the digital world will be done in the easiest most natural way – by voice. Virtual assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant are in a race to provide the most valuable service to us. To do this - and to secure our dependence on them - virtual assistants will become highly capable, near omniscient, and masters of the rapidly-growing internet of things (IoT). The more we open up to these'voice first' machines the more they will help us. The most useful assistants will combine a deep understanding of the circumstances, attitudes and needs that govern our individual lives with the machines' access to the world's information, products and services.

The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is booming. It's expected to create 2.3 million jobs by 2020, and around three-fourths of tech leaders plan on hiring more AI talent, according to a July report. An October 2017 survey of 260 organizations found 80% of companies are investing in AI, with one third believing they need to invest more over the next three years. But is the standard C-suite able to handle the enlarged focus on the emerging technology? Do businesses need a chief AI officer to fully and properly handle AI in the enterprise?

The platform is providing a holistic online solution for teachers, students, and parents. Over two decades ago, Educomp set out to change the entire education system in the country. Since then, it claims to have empowered over 30 million learners and educators across over 65,000 schools. While Educomp was continuing to overhaul the education ecosystem through its smart class programmes, the top leadership in the company realised that they needed to take education beyond the conventional classrooms. Now, instead of taking students to classrooms, they had to flip the normal course and take classrooms to students, beyond boundaries.

Even in a month of high profile releases, Super Mario Run is starting to stand out as one of the most buzzed about titles of the end of the year. Nintendo has begun a full-court press promoting the game, and I don't think I've ever seen Apple lean so hard into a specific game partnership like this. Analysts are already beginning to estimate how exactly Super Mario Run will perform for Nintendo, and predictions are rosy. Analyst firm Sensor Tower, who has done a lot of great work on Pokémon GO's numbers, predicts that Mario will make about half of what GO made in its first month. As you can see in the chart above, they're predicting a $71M initial month, a little less than half of what GO did in July when it was a worldwide phenomenon.

Cathy Bessant, the chief operations and technology officer of Bank of America, says banks shouldn't see themselves as fintech companies. They use technology, for sure, but they are not pure fintech in her view for one major reason: Their customers have much higher expectations of reliability. Fintech can be experimental, and it can fail without making much of a difference. Bank of America has no such luxury. "The potential cost of failure at scale is something to be avoided," Bessant said Tuesday during a session at the Exponential Finance conference hosted by Singularity University and CNBC. Banks can still be innovative, she said, pointing out that "not all wine that is great is made in Napa."