Metaverse is coming to healthcare, a new battery extends electric vehicle range, and cheap, easy to install solar roof tiles are in the spotlight.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Thursday, January 6, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
A British non-profit organization wants to create the first metaverse for healthcare. DeHealth, the company behind the idea, wants to create a world where doctors and patients can interact in virtual 3D. Patients will be able to interact with doctors privately or in group settings. Moreover, the company hopes to sell virtual goods to patients in exchange for their anonymized medical data. It’s no surprise, then, that DeHealth is also launching a token in parallel with this announcement. The HLT token will become the main method of compensation. In the future, DeHealth envisions its metaverse to be an extension of VR, AR, and MR technologies. Currently, the idea is just it, an idea. There are many, many technical and regulatory hurdles to overcome.
Up next, one startup is looking to increase the range of today’s electric vehicles. Our Next Energy, a startup of just two years, modified a Tesla Model S with a newly-developed battery. This battery holds twice the energy as the original while fitting inside the same space. The result speaks for itself. The modified Tesla covered 752 miles on a single charge, that’s expedition level range by today’s EV standards! Unfortunately, the battery is not available for sale as it’s only a proof of concept, at least for now.
Finally, here’s another piece of exciting tech, and it’s one you can actually purchase. A new solar shingle that’s affordable and easy to install is making waves in the energy sector. Developed by GAF Energy, the Timberline Solar shingles can be installed by any roofer without extensive training. The shingles supposedly can be installed with a nail gun. Since GAF Energy is a sister company to one of the world’s largest roofing companies, it hopes to leverage that relationship to reduce expenses.
Now for something a little different. One group of scientists studying how animals navigate unfamiliar environments is taking their experiments to the extreme. In order to create an extreme case of domain transfer methodology, in which one species is embedded in the environment of another, the scientists put a fish on land. The fish is placed in a Fish Operated Vehicle, and that’s the scientific term, a wheeled platform that’s controlled by the fish’s movement in its tank. According to the study findings, the fish was able to successfully navigate a terrestrial environment, avoiding dead-ends and exploring its new surroundings.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, if you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Tom Li.