Companies are building software that uses AI to monitor people's behavior and interpret their emotions and body language in real life, virtually and even in the metaverse. But to develop that AI, they need fake data, and startups are stepping in to supply it. Synthetic data companies are providing millions of images, videos and sometimes audio data samples that have been generated for the sole purpose of training or improving AI models that could become part of our everyday lives in controversial forms of AI such as facial recognition, emotion AI and other algorithmic systems used to keep track of people's behavior. While in the past companies building computer vision-based AI often relied on publicly available datasets, now AI developers are looking to customized synthetic data to "address more and more domain-specific problems that have zero data you can actually access," said Ofir Zuk, co-founder and CEO of synthetic data company Datagen. Synthetic data companies including Datagen, Mindtech and Synthesis AI represent a corner of an increasingly compartmentalized AI industry.

An advanced research arm of the U.S. government's intelligence community is looking to develop AI capable of tracking people across a vast surveillance network. As reported by Nextgov, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has put out a call for more information on developing an algorithm that can be trained to identify targets by visually analyzing swaths of security camera footage. The goal, says the request, is to be able to identify and track subjects across areas as large as six miles in an effort to reconstruct crime scenes, protect military operations, and monitor critical infrastructure facilities. To develop the technology, IARPA will collect nearly 1,000 hours of video surveillance from at least 20 camera networks and then, using that sample, test various algorithms effectiveness. The agency's interest in AI-based surveillance technology mirrors a broader movement from governments and intelligence communities around the globe, many of whom have ramped up efforts to develop and scale systems.

China is taking its Big Brother approach to government one step further with plans to use CCTV cameras and artificial intelligence to follow people across the country. The plan from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) would use the nation's network of surveillance to find wanted civilians. Known as EnsembleNet, the programme was trained using 2,000 clips from CCTV footage and is 90 per cent accurate, the firm claims. Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is hoping to use the nation's network of surveillance to find wanted civilians. Body shapes and discernible features are spotted, remembered and scanned for in other footage in the database.

Have you seen this person? The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is building artificial intelligence that can answer such a question. Despite privacy concerns over CCTV, the task of finding specific individuals in captured footage, or pinpointing people caught on camera in different places, is a tough one. There's no telling how differently someone may appear, or behave, from one camera to another.

A tiny white cube that uses Artificial Intelligence to monitor the lives of elderly people who live alone could save thousands of lives, according to its creator. The miiCube, a kind of'Amazon Echo for the elderly', learns people's routines and tracks their movements so it can alert the relevant authorities if something is wrong. The device will also sense if there's a break in routine, such as not getting up at the normal time or not following usual daily routines. Creator Kelvin Summoogum - who set up miiCARE, the firm behind the gadget, in March - got the idea when his grandmother broke her hip at home. He said she spent twelve hours in agony on the floor before anyone knew until a neighbour found her and brought her to the hospital.

Facebook's had a rough year. So it's not exactly ideal timing for Facebook to launch the Portal and Portal, a line of smart home hubs with displays and cameras for making video calls to other Facebook users. Facebook's issues with cybersecurity and transparency are likely to kill both devices in their cradles, especially when considering the superior rival products already on the market. Both the Portal and larger Portal are interesting smart home gadgets, and boast a surprising level of refinement on the hardware end. The smaller Portal is similar to smart home devices from Amazon and Google.

A tiny white cube that uses Artificial Intelligence to monitor the lives of elderly people who live alone could save thousands of lives, according to its creator. The miiCube, a kind of'Amazon Echo for the elderly', learns people's routines and tracks their movements so it can alert the relevant authorities if something is wrong. The device will also sense if there's a break in routine, such as not getting up at the normal time or not following usual daily routines. Creator Kelvin Summoogum - who set up miiCARE, the firm behind the gadget, in March - got the idea when his grandmother broke her hip at home. He said she spent twelve hours in agony on the floor before anyone knew until a neighbour found her and brought her to the hospital.

Drones are becoming increasingly popular to their versatility and amazing imaging technology; From delivery to photography, a lot can be done with these flying devices. They are dexterous in the air and can be piloted with a remote controller, and can reach great heights and distances. All these features made drones a great device for photographers and video-makers. Many drones come with an attached camera, such as an action camera, that allows the drone to shoot pictures and videos from incredible perspectives. However, there are some drawbacks: flying a drone can be quite hard.

MIT has created a system likened to X-ray vision, but the AI can track a person through walls -- or identify one specific person out of a group of 100 people -- by using wireless signals. MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) calls it RF-Pose. How could they ignore the blaring red alert of potential privacy and spying issues and continue to develop artificial intelligence (AI) that can monitor a person's movements through a solid wall using wireless radio waves? The team says that RF-Pose could be used to monitor diseases like Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis (MS), and muscular dystrophy, providing a better understanding of disease progression and allowing doctors to adjust medications accordingly. It could also help elderly people live more independently, while providing the added security of monitoring for falls, injuries and changes in activity patterns.

A creepy life-like robot called Erica is set to become a TV news anchor in Japan. According to her creator Hiroshi Ishiguro, the droid is warm and caring, and may soon have an'independent consciousness'. She has been described as so realistic she could'have a soul'. A robot called Erica (pictured) can not only make jokes but also has a'soul', according to her creator. Very few details have been revealed about Erica's new job, however Dr Ishiguro said she will use AI to read news put together by humans.