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Startup Prototypes Augmented Reality Contact Lenses

Plus, an Alphabet subsidiary’s tool to detect deep-fakes, Microsoft’s high fine to Germany for failing to upgrade systems from Windows 7 and data on the bots working behind the scenes at Wikipedia.

closeup of human eye
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Something in Your Eye?

Augmented reality headsets haven’t quite caught on in the mainstream, but that doesn’t mean companies aren’t still trying to get the concept off the ground.

California startup Mojo Vision is working on a prototype for an AR contact lens that superimposes graphics and text over the wearer’s vision at more than 14,000 pixels per square inch. Mojo envisions the lenses being used to read text messages or get turn-by-turn driving directions, and they could be customized with the user’s regular contact prescription.
Source: New Atlas

1,601

That’s the number of bots working behind the scenes to keep Wikipedia working as well and as accurately as it can. According to a study from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., the bots account for about 10 percent of all activity on the online, crowdsourced encyclopedia, performing tasks like identifying vandalism, creating redirect links and sending user notifications.
Source: Digital Trends

$887K

When Microsoft announced it would no longer be updating or supporting Windows 7 as of Jan. 14, 2020, users had a year to upgrade to operating systems that would have available patches going forward. But Germany missed the deadline, a newspaper there reported, and as of Jan. 22, the federal government was still running Windows 7 on more than 33,000 computers. Microsoft gave Germany an $887,000 bill to extend security updates for the next year.
Source: Engadget

Spot the Difference

As deepfakes become more of an issue in media, Jigsaw, an Alphabet subsidiary, has developed a tool to help journalists more easily identify manipulated images. Called Assembler, the tool has “detectors” that analyze an image and decide if it’s the real deal, looking for things like one image pasted over another; if it’s a fake, Assembler lets the user know and points out where the image may be a fraud. Jigsaw doesn’t plan to make the tool publicly available.
Source: The Verge

 

Lauren Kinkade is the managing editor for Government Technology magazine. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and more than 15 years’ experience in book and magazine publishing.