Nico Fara

Introducing Ocular AI (YC W24) 2.0 (rebranded and refreshed) and our first-ever Launch Week: https://lnkd.in/gAzPpBJa We stand at the chiasm of a technological renaissance, driven by the symbiotic partnership between humans and machines. This dynamic relationship has ushered in an era where Artificial Intelligence augments human intelligence, creating technologies that are more sophisticated, accurate, and practical—all while preserving human oversight and expertise. AI enhances human capabilities, empowering us to solve complex problems while maintaining agency and control. At the heart of this advancement is real-world data, enriched by human intelligence. Together, they form the foundation for cutting-edge AI that is both impactful and ethical. When Louis Murerwa and I started Ocular AI (YC W24) as an Open-Source Enterprise Search project during Y Combinator, our goal was to make information retrieval more intelligent. Early on, we realized that data quality was the decisive factor in achieving meaningful AI results. Over the past few months, we’ve engaged with hundreds of founders, executives, and engineers from startups, enterprises, research labs, and companies in robotics and self-driving cars. The message is clear: data is the lifeblood of AI. That’s why Ocular AI (YC W24) is building the Data Foundry for the Multi-Modal AI Era. By combining AI scalability with human insight, we’re creating golden datasets that go beyond training models, paving the way for AI breakthroughs. We’re excited to announce Ocular AI (YC W24)’s first-ever Launch Week, from December 2-6! Our team (Vivek Lahole, Louis Murerwa) will unveil two flagship products, Ocular Foundry and Ocular Bolt, which lay the foundation of our vision. Foundry and Bolt will strengthen the AI-human intelligence bond, enabling teams to create, refine, and deploy data with precision, efficiency, and speed. Companies spend huge amounts on training data, but Foundry and Bolt are AI-native tools that will lower costs, reduce manual effort, and accelerate high-quality data collection. We’re replacing outdated, clunky, and expensive data software! 💡 What to Expect: - Daily announcements and product demos - Insights into tackling AI’s biggest challenges - Opportunities to connect with our team 🎯 Be part of the journey: - Explore the Launch Week page: https://lnkd.in/gAzPpBJa If you’re working on AI for: 1. Computer Vision 2. Robotics 3. Self-Driving Cars 4. Foundational Models - Join our Slack community for live updates: https://lnkd.in/gVSeGTC2 - Sign up for our Beta Waitlist: https://lnkd.in/gsgkwsBB We’re already powering data for robotics companies and would love to hear and learn from you!

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Snap’s latest Spectacles 5 are pushing the boundaries of augmented reality, bringing advanced visuals, AI integration, and spatial computing to the forefront. With gesture controls, voice interaction, and a robust developer toolkit, these AR glasses offer an immersive experience that goes beyond previous iterations.🌟 However, there are a few areas for improvement – the cost is steep, and the limited battery life and lack of eye-tracking features are notable drawbacks. Still, these glasses mark a significant step forward for Snap and the AR industry as a whole. If you're as excited about the future of AR as I am, you need to check this out. #AugmentedReality #AR #SnapSpectacles #Innovation #TechReview

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​This is not the first product of its type, but the first though a major brand (Arcteryx​). Cost is a huge barrier. Attaching it to a pant reduces its potential for rental from gear shops. But this is different from the hip-based devices that are more bulky. This shifts towards all-day wear. Wearable tech like this offers a new landscape in innovation that could help the outdoor industry.  https://lnkd.in/gd5DxZ4h​

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Let's be honest: we are fascinated with Silicon Valley! Whether it's a famous sitcom or the Californian hub of high-tech companies, it's true for both. And why not? After all, they have nailed both science and technology with their urge for innovation. And this hunger is worth appreciating. But over the years, haven't we lost ourselves to the American dream? People with the highest potential leave their land for a place far away and do exceptional work. It wasn't until Shark Tank India showed us the startup culture in India, we always patronized the West for bringing out innovation. But this should make us think, why is it that technology only comes from certain places on this planet? Why is it that certain people from certain origins can create world-class companies and products? Is this the American dream, the land of opportunities? Or are we not capable enough? The next big artist from India, could be sitting behind a MacBook writing an invoice for paperclips, because it pays his bills, or because it is comfortable, or maybe because society has led him to believe that mediocrity is normal life. That's how we are made to forget our desires and settle for worthless things driven by society. When I was in Pune and started my hustle, my friend's first reaction was, "Pagal hai kya? Pune mein reh kar world-class products kaise banenge?" Of course, I didn’t agree. I gathered a team of nomads and dreamers like me who believed in dreaming big and achieving it. These people at Phynart did not come from fancy institutions, barely knew English, but had the power to achieve anything. We challenged the societal norms, the belief that to build a world-class product, you need better education, support, and experience. Phynart believes that great work does not need to come only from high-tech lavish offices or institutions in California, Paris, or London. It can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. It’s startups like us that have to innovate and fuel this revolution of economic growth. It could be anything—starting from a chair to a table, to a film, or a gadget. It's high time we get our asses on it. We can either sit and complain about why we have no value in the global domain, or we can take action and correct it. Start asking yourself, what are you settling for? Mediocrity? Compromise? Unhappiness? Just so we can get some sense of achievement as per the norms society has set for us? Screw that! We beg to differ. We strive to settle for nothing less than passion, happiness, excellence, and love for what we do. Waiting for the next big thing in your life? Think about this! Be you, be better. Just make it happen now! Ajit Wadekar Prasann Chaphe Kundan Kumar Avijit Singh Sachin Katte Pramod Yadav Anurag Paul Ankit soni Dhananjay Panage Vaibhav Dudhe Hitesh kamble Sagar Chilka Monika Ware Vishal Sharma ABHIJEET KHANDAGALE

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🌟The future of AI wearables is poised to transform the way we interact with technology, seamlessly integrating it into our daily lives to enhance convenience, efficiency, and personalization. As we stand on the brink of new advancements, the development of devices like the IYO earbuds represents a significant leap forward in wearable technology. These devices are not just tools for listening to audio; they are comprehensive, AI-powered systems designed to adapt to user needs in real-time. AI wearables, such as the IYO earbuds, leverage cutting-edge artificial intelligence to offer a range of services beyond traditional expectations. From real-time language translation and health monitoring to personalized audio environments and voice-activated controls, these devices are transforming mere convenience into truly immersive experiences. The integration of AI allows these wearables to learn from user interactions, enhancing their functionality and user experience over time through machine learning algorithms. Moreover, the hardware development in AI wearables is rapidly evolving to accommodate these sophisticated capabilities. Learn more: The IYO One earbuds are the latest in wearable AI by Axios via Microsoft Story by Ina Fried https://lnkd.in/ezuTRNBm #AI #AIwearables #techbokogy #artificialintelligence #audio #innovation #techtrends Antonio Vieira Santos Franco Ronconi Bob Carver, CISM, CISSP, MS ✭ Chuck Brooks Helen Yu Sally Eaves Jean-Baptiste Lefevre Glen D Gilmore

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Find out why ActiveCampaign emphasizes the pivotal importance of delivering tangible value to customers through AI capabilities, challenging the notion of superficial AI features that fail to address real-world problems. In my recent Forbes article, I had the opportunity to dig into the world of AI innovation with Jason VandeBoom, the founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign. This groundbreaking Chicago-based company is disrupting the marketing automation landscape with its cutting-edge AI strategies. From delivering highly personalized customer experiences to revolutionizing content generation with AI, ActiveCampaign is leading the charge in leveraging AI for business growth. #AI #MarketingAutomation Omaxn HPA Meg (Dedyne) Murphy Abin Kuriakose Luke Tanen Franco Patano Mike Edmonds Fred Hoch Betsy Ziegler Michael J. Franklin Jing Liu, PhD Jed Taylor Rashid Bashir Brad Henderson Lee Davidson, CFA Michael Claussen Tony Toulouse Michelle Gansle Madison Gooch Ganesh Jayaram Megan Merrill Terry Howerton Mani Gopalakrishnan https://lnkd.in/gRqq4jqy

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Smart execution is the key to success in hardware startups Boom Supersonic's Blake Scholl discusses: - The importance of leveraging existing technologies - Refinement over reinvention - Prioritizing practical and user-centered design

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📣 The Roblox Innovation Awards (RIAs) are back! What was the most innovative Roblox project this year? Roblox is hosting this year's awards in the "Innovations Awards 2024 - Voting Hub" experience. This year, they're introducing a new set of quickfire categories, celebrating the best of different experience genres. ​​🎯 In the voting hub: • Visitors can vote for their favorite experiences, developers, and creators. • Every day for 24 hours, a new quickfire category will be available for voting. After 24 hours, that category closes. This daily timed voting keeps everyone engaged and excited. • Predictions and Rewards: Visitors can predict who the winner will be. Accurate predictions turn into points, which can be redeemed for RIAs themed UGC items. Each day, voting and predictions will close for the respective category, and winners will be revealed immediately in the voting hub. 🎯 Here are the select categories you can vote for: Best New Experience Best Branded Experience People’s Choice Best UGC Creator Best Video Star Best Shooter Experience Best Education Experience Best Obby Experience Best Strategy Experience Best Action RPG Experience Best Racing Experience Best Roleplay/Life Sim Experience Best Horror Experience Best Tycoon Experience Best Fashion Experience Best Fighting Experience Best Social/Hangout Experience The winners for these categories will be revealed at RDC on September 7, 2024. These votes help us understand what Roblox users love and want more of. Moreover, the daily timed voting and the chance to earn UGC items keep everyone coming back. The RIAs experience is already a hit with 19.2M visits, 2.9K active users, and a 90% rating. Where will you cast your vote? Let me know in the comments! 🏆👇 #Roblox

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#AWE 2024 Thoughts Here are my five takeaways: 1. Qualcomm's Dominance: They are so deeply ingrained in the XR space, it’s impressive to see how they continue to push XR hardware. 2. Shift from Custom to Platform: There’s a noticeable shift in the industry from custom solutions to more standardized platforms. 3. Improved Talks: The talks this year were better. There was less focus on the metaverse hype and more on actual deployments and practical use cases, which was refreshing. 4. Demographic Changes: There seems to be a trend away from consumer/influencer XR (they are now AI experts). The gap between sponsors and exhibitors and the audience is still pretty deep however. AWE needs to do a better job of getting the right audience in front of the companies buying booths. 5. Venue and Food: The venue in Long Beach is definitely better than Santa Clara but Santa Clara is a better city. What happened to Long Beach... does nobody live there? See you next year 👋

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Ok is it fair to say things are getting out of hand or am I missing something? OpenAI is at a $150b valuation with a $3b revenue. This means WHEN OpenAI finally becomes a trillion dollar company, making 50x-100x the current revenue (Apple revenue is about 300b and Microsoft about $150b), the newest investors at the $150B valuation will make about 6.5x their money. Which sounds good at face value but, for perspective, it took Apple 24 years to go from 3b in revenue to 300b in revenue. It took Microsoft 30 years. 6.5x returns over 20-30 years, or 9.5% annualized returns, GIVEN OpenAI hits: 100x current revenue. Monopoly like dominance over the likes of mistral, anthropiv, Grok, Llama, Ilya’s new startup, … and many more in market share. Without a technical moat While losing public trust regarding its ethics WITHOUT its core, founding technical people!!! Doesn’t sound like a good bet but then again what do I know. Help me wrap my head around this!

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has joined a growing list of former tech leaders taking roles in San Francisco's government following this month's election. San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie named Altman, the head of the artificial-intelligence company behind ChatGPT, as one of seven co-chairs of his transition team, the campaign announced on Monday. The tech industry concentrated in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, has increasingly moved into the city itself, creating tensions in a place once synonymous with hippies and counterculture. At the same time, San Francisco's sluggish post-pandemic economic recovery and visible struggles with drugs and homelessness have fueled a shift towards centrist Democratic politics, driven by both disgruntled citizens and affluent tech executive donors. With Anna Tong for Reuters Read more --- https://lnkd.in/gKH8gWez

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Why Zero-Party Data Creates a Better Future - A Tech With Heart Interview with Shaina Shiwarski https://lnkd.in/eSqMNzDy Small business owners and marketers are seeking to personalize their strategies while respecting user privacy: Zero-Party Data. Gain insights and strategies around collecting user data in this episode of the Tech With Heart Show with co-founder of Legends, Shaina Shiwarski. Highlights: 1.    Understand what is currently happening with privacy and data regulations in the US, especially as it relates to the big tech companies 2.    Learn how these changes in data sharing regulations are going to impact small business' ability to target audiences 3.    Gain insights about Zero Party Data collection strategies that will empower small businesses to cater to their customer's needs and desires better. Tags: #ZeroPartyData #DataPrivacy #MarketingTrends #DataDrivenMarketing #CustomerExperience #PrivacyFirst #TargetingDemographics #ShainaShiwarski #Legends #MichelleCalloway #Tech_w_Heart #Revealio #RavenInternational

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The future of tech is here, and it's wearing glasses 🕶️ Here is an intriguing article about how Snap's CEO, Evan Spiegel, believes his company is leading the charge in AR smart glasses, with Meta and Apple set to follow. As someone who’s been following the AR space closely, I find it exciting to see companies like Snap pushing the boundaries of what smart glasses can do. Spiegel’s vision of using hands and voice to interact with augmented reality is a game-changer. Snap’s Spectacles, now in their 5th generation, are already making waves among developers. The goal is clear: to bring computing back into the real world, away from screens and closer to our daily lives. While Meta’s Ray-Ban Stories and Apple’s Vision Pro are also making significant strides, Snap’s approach to natural interaction and developer-friendly pricing could be the key to mainstream adoption. It’s an exciting time for AR, and I’m eager to see how these innovations shape our future. #AR #SmartGlasses #TechInnovation #FutureOfTech

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Apple is struggling with how to bring a high end XR (VR/MR) experience to the masses faster. XR's iPhone moment is far, far away. The Apple Vision Pro is trying to be a Mac, not an iPhone. Now going to $500 either means (1) a simpler VR device like PSVR2, or (2) losing massive amounts of money on price subsidization like Meta Oculus with the Quest 3. And no one else wants to lose money on hardware, except Meta. ----- The Information: "Apple Suspends Work on Next Vision Pro, Focused on Releasing Cheaper Model in Late 2025" The Information: https://lnkd.in/gkD-gXbS ----- "Apple Reportedly "Suspends" Work On Vision Pro Successor To Focus On Cheaper Headset" (David Heaney) (June 18, 2024) Apple has "suspended" work on a high-end Vision Pro successor to focus on releasing a cheaper Vision headset by the end of 2025, according to The Information. The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu report that Apple told "at least one supplier" this, according to "an employee at a manufacturer that makes key components for the Vision Pro". Starting at $3500, Apple Vision Pro is well out of reach of the vast majority of consumers and widely regarded as absurdly expensive, as well as too heavy. Ma and Liu say Apple originally planned to have two models in the Vision headset line, regular and Pro, similar to iPhones, and is still working to release the first regular model, which will have "fewer features" than Vision Pro, by the end of 2025. This regular Vision headset will still use high resolution micro-OLED displays, they report, and weigh "at least" one-third less than Vision Pro. Apple's aim is to make the headset "as affordable as a high-end iPhone", they claim. The iPhone 15 Pro starts at $1000 and the highest-end iPhone 15 Pro Max sells for $1600. As Ma previously reported, Apple is mostly hoping to achieve this via bringing down the cost of micro-OLED by bringing in new suppliers from China, BOE and SeeYA Technology. SeeYA has "so far struggled to meet Apple’s standards and the effort might fail". Many Reports Now Point To Cheaper Vision Headset Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first reported that Apple was working on a cheaper headset a full year before Vision Pro was even revealed, with Kuo at the time also saying Apple aimed to launch it in 2025. Last year Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, reported on the existence of this cheaper headset, saying it will feature an iPhone A-series chipset instead of an M-series chipset and is "likely" to lack the EyeSight front display. The A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro models is 60% as powerful as the M2's GPU, so an A18 Pro or A19 Pro might close the gap. Last year, Gurman said Apple "discussed prices ranging from $1500 to $2500". In April Gurman reiterated that Apple plans to launch a cheaper headset before a high-end Vision Pro successor, but said the company is "still flummoxed by how exactly to bring down the cost". UploadVR: https://lnkd.in/giQrAZxf #apple #avp #xr #vr #mr #extendedreality #spatialcomputing

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AI Integration vs. Standalone Products | Product vs. Feature As a CTO, I'm constantly evaluating emerging technologies for client projects. The recent hype around dedicated AI hardware has me intrigued, but Marques Brownlee's video on "AI the Product vs AI the Feature" raises a compelling point. Video Link: https://lnkd.in/gbJw5UQN Is AI destined to be the "Clubhouse" of tech – a flash in the pan overshadowed by established players integrating similar features? Here's why I believe Brownlee might be right: • Frictionless User Experience: Consumers have a limited amount of mental space for new devices. Integrating AI into existing products they already use creates a seamless experience. • Power of the Platform: Established platforms have vast user bases and data – fertile ground for training powerful AI models. Dedicated hardware struggles to compete. We're already seeing this with Apple's WWDC announcements. Enhanced Siri, on-device image generation – these are powerful AI features woven into the fabric of the iOS experience. Of course, there will always be exceptions. But for most businesses, focusing on integrating AI to enhance existing products is likely the smarter move. What are your thoughts? Is dedicated AI hardware a fad, or is there room for it in the future? #AI #Technology #DigitalTransformation #ArtificialIntelligence #Apple #ClubHouse #MKBHD

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