TREND REPORTS
When Will Consumers Feel Safe Again ?
[Consumer]
2020/06/22 09:07
As the weekend approaches, people remain limited in their choices on what to do in their spare time. While businesses are gradually reopening across the United States, many Americans are still hesitant to return to normalcy as the coronavirus threat still lingers.After months of lockdowns, officials in all 50 states have given businesses the green light to reopen under certain restrictions. Eve...
CPG Brands Test DTC Strategies : Grocer-(e)-Commerce
[Business]
2020/06/22 09:06
Recently, some brands are shifting to direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies, which are turning out to be a boon for brands and consumers alike, especially as both entities navigate new challenges precipitated by the global Covid-19 pandemic. The following brands are now taking brick-and-mortar vendors out of the equation, creating DTC e-commerce destinations to get their products onto the doorste...
The Pandemic Has Pushed Car Buying Online. It’s Expected to Stick.
[Consumer]
2020/06/22 09:05
Auto industry efforts to spur digital vehicle sales are finally gaining traction, leading dealers to trim positions in showrooms.Startups like Carvana that focus on internet-only auto sales are drawing interest from Wall Street. Its vehicles are housed in giant vending machines, like this one Westminster, Calif.When the coronavirus pandemic hit Michigan in early March, managers at LaFontaine Ch...
Arrival Previews Pandemic-Friendly Electric City Buses of the Future
[Design]
2020/06/22 09:04
Arrival believes it will provide a smarter, cleaner bus for future public transportation.Previously, the electric bus was something of a hero in the making, a more sustainable paradigm for public transit that could help move the densely distributed city masses without a puff of smog-inducing tailpipe emissions. Then, COVID-19 happened, and all forms of mass transit are the enemy. Since London-h...
This Colorful Tape Kit Helps You Social Distance on the Beach
[Design]
2020/06/22 09:03
Adding to the creative ideas and solutions that respond to the post-pandemic reality, the jajaxd collective has introduced the ‘beachbelt’ kit, which helps people keep the necessary distance on the beach. Since the beach becomes a very popular destination for areas with hot summer weather, the studio wanted to ease the general uncertainty, allowing people to enjoy the sand and sea, and coexis...
(Paper) AI Model Creates 3D Avatars from a Person’s Picture - AvatarMe
[Tech]
2020/06/21 09:10
What if all it took to create a realistic digital avatar of a person was a single image? In a paper accepted to the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2020, researchers at Imperial College London and FaceSoft.io, a startup leveraging AI and machine learning for facial analysis, describe AvatarMe.A technique that’s able to reconstruct photorealistic 3D busts from “in-...
Mckinsey - The Opportunity to Reinvent Travel
[Business]
2020/06/21 09:09
Do you remember your first flight? The first time you fell in love with a new city? We do.We remember the first time we jumped in a cold lake on a hot summer day with our siblings. The first time we ate street food walking the streets of a new country with college roommates. We even remember the first business trip we took—straight out of college, and too nervous to enjoy the ride.This desire...
Could Far-UV Light Provide Widespread Disinfection of Airborne Viruses ?
[Tech]
2020/06/21 09:08
UV disinfection could be safe for humans, deadly for viruses and bacteria.A short-wavelength ultraviolet light technology, beyond the decades-old mercury lamp, may be the most promising breed of UV yet studied for killing airborne coronavirus and other viruses and bacteria. Two studies—one now under peer review, and one reporting preliminary results from an ongoing experiment—bolster the case...
How Covid-19 Impacted Startup Funding Compared To The 2008 Financial Crisis
[Investing]
2020/06/21 09:07
The global economy suffered in the late 2000s as a mortgage crisis in the United States caused ripple effects through the global financial system.Similarly, the Covid-19 pandemic yielded a collapse in the global economy as supply chains and travel were disrupted and businesses were mandated to close.Below, we take a look how the 2008 recession impacted VC deals and dollars, and how the 2020 eco...
