Flying Cars and Baby Translators
I want to put a spotlight on Israeli technology this week. Israel always seems to be developing new, exciting devices or making impressive discoveries, and those advancements deserve recognition.
This week Urban Aeronautics made “an agreement with Hatzolah Air to develop, produce and market its CityHawk aircraft for emergency medical service (EMS) applications,” israel21c.org reported. The Israeli company previously revealed it is developing one of the first flying cars, and it appears now that this first project is designed for EMS applications. We won’t be seeing the finished product anytime soon—applying for and receiving FAA certification alone might take five years—but it’s a bold and thrilling plan, one I hope will be a huge asset in the medical field in the future.
Expectant parents are sure to be delighted by another new Israeli innovation—Tel Aviv-based startup LittleOne.Care has created a wearable device that can distinguish why a baby is crying. It captures sound and movement, and artificial intelligence interprets them into distinct needs. For instance, the device’s colored lights turn deep blue if the baby is crying because it’s tired. They change to green if the baby cries because it’s hungry, yellow if the baby’s diaper needs to be changed, and red if the baby feels pain or danger, according to israel21c.org. It’s also a great tool in preventing SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). If the device senses no movement from the baby, it sounds an alarm to alert the parents.
There’s something about seeing great ideas brought to life that gives inspiration and hope, and we could always use more of those. It seems like we’ve been waiting on flying cars as an inevitability ever since The Jetsons, but we haven’t come particularly close, so the CityHawk aircraft could be one of the first real forays into that arena. As for the LittleOne.Care device, I’m sure every mom and dad has struggled to figure out why their baby is crying and would give almost anything to have the baby tell them exactly what’s wrong. This device essentially puts words in the baby’s mouth to share the problems with the parents. These breakthroughs in emergency medical services and in childcare are greatly encouraging. I can hardly wait to see them hit the market!
