Author: Connected World
Academia, industry, and research institutions are working together to achieve greater innovation, as AI (artificial intelligence) expands beyond just software and into the physical world. As a result, we are seeing the emergence of collaborative research hubs focused on physical AI, where intelligent systems can interact directly with real-world environments. Case in point: Fujitsu Limited and Carnegie Mellon University have announced the launch of the Fujitsu-Carnegie Mellon Physical AI Research Center. This initiative is designed to advance core technologies that improve the scalability and real-world capabilities of AI systems, with a focus on bridging academic research and industry deployment. By…
27% Are security investments keeping pace with emerging threats? Juniper Research suggests adoption of post-quantum cryptography is accelerating, but not fast enough. Just 27% of businesses globally are expected to deploy post-quantum cryptography by 2035, even as the total number of adopters surpasses 100 million. That is a sharp rise from only about 35,000 organizations in 2026, highlighting how early the market still is. The market is projected to grow from $1.2 billion in 2026 to $13.3 billion in 2035. Perhaps one of the more interesting takeaways from the research is that quantum-safe security is moving from theoretical planning to…
This One Is Virtual, Not Physical. Historically, the word “diaspora” has been used in the context of the movement, migration, or scattering of people based on race, ethnicity, and religion. For whatever reason, people that had been geographically displaced. Regardless of the reason, the movement of people has not been pleasant nor without casualties, and these historical displacements have been mostly permanent. The displaced could not and did not return home. I see a new type of diaspora in progress. It is the displacement of humans in a variety of work roles by AI (artificial intelligence). The crucial question is…
While AI (artificial intelligence) is rapidly transforming industries, its progress is increasingly constrained by the hardware it depends on. As traditional chip improvements slow and energy demands rise, researchers are rethinking how computing systems are designed. At Arizona State University, new efforts are underway to develop adaptable hardware that can keep pace with the evolving needs of AI applications. Aman Arora, an assistant professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, is leading research on reconfigurable computing. His work focuses on FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays), which are flexible chips that can be reprogrammed after manufacturing to create faster, more…
Cellular IoT (Internet of Things) antenna shipments surged significantly in 2025 to 757 million units shipped, which is up 23% year-over-year, according to Berg Insight. Could the IoT finally be moving from pilot projects to industrial-scale rollouts? This growth represents surging adoption across sectors like logistics, utilities, automotive, and smart infrastructure, just to name a few. Looking ahead, shipments are expected to reach roughly 1.1 billion by 2030, driven by expansion of LTE-M, NB-IoT, and 5G use cases. These antennas may be small, but they represent hundreds of millions of real-world devices powering smart cities, connected industries, and automated systems.…
A multi-part series exploring the displacement of human labor in warehouses and distribution centers. Part 2: The comparative ROI (return on investment) between humans and robots in warehouses and distribution centers. Like most things in life, there are degrees of complexity that apply in comparing things, people, and processes. The comparison of benefits derived from processes using human workers vs. robots is not straightforward: There’s an “in between” stage that must be considered. The principle factor, given the current “state of the art” in warehouse and distribution center processes, is that robots often augment multiple workers rather than directly replace…
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how researchers approach complex global challenges, especially in healthcare and biological sciences. As innovation accelerates, institutions are increasingly leveraging AI to drive discoveries that can improve human health and societal well-being. As one example, Virginia Tech has announced Debswapna Bhattacharya has received a five-year, $2.1 million award from the National Institutes of Health. This funding will support the development of advanced AI methods to map proteins and RNA structures in three dimensions—an effort that can accelerate disease understanding and treatment discovery. Where this gets especially innovative is the use of AI to analyze complex biological…
Fact of the Week: Research says physical AI in the millions Get ready. Physical AI (artificial intelligence) is coming—and in some cases it is already here. Physical AI refers to systems like robots, autonomous vehicles, and drones that can perceive, decide, and act within their environments. While still in early stages, this category is rapidly gaining momentum as advances in generative AI, sensors, and edge computing accelerate. Counterpoint Research suggests cumulative shipments for physical AI devices will look like this: Global Market: Breakdown by device type: Counterpoint Research is of the opinion the physical AI market is entering a rapid…
A multi-part series exploring the displacement of human labor in warehouses and distribution centers. Part One: The Negative Pressure of Increasing Operating Costs on Profit Margins in Distribution: A Guide to Retail, CPG (consumer packaged goods), and Food Distribution Industries Distribution businesses—companies that move products from suppliers to retailers or end buyers—consistently operate on thin profit margins. Whether in general retail distribution, CPG (consumer packaged goods), or food distribution, the economics are similar: high volume, modest markups, and significant operating costs. This article synthesizes benchmarks across these sectors, breaks down the key drivers behind margin compression, and highlights real-world examples…
Is privacy in the age of AI (artificial intelligence) a lost cause? One new research program aims to create greater privacy, aka privacy by design, where the AI platform never sees a face on an image, but the final edited image still looks natural. The research is being done at Purdue University, where a new patent-pending system leverages before and after photos uploaded to an AI editing platform. It allows users to mask sensitive regions of a photo, such as the face. The technology can then reintegrate the sensitive region back into the image. Here is how this can help:…