design

What should change in 2020? My favorite guests return.

January 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

In this special episode, our favorite experts on AI, product designers and more return to the podcast to answer two key questions: What’s the biggest news in your field in 2019, since we recorded the podcast? What’s something that’s been missing from the conversation that you’d like to see gain more interest in 2020?

You don’t want to miss this one. You’ll hear from:

  • Reena Jana (@rjmac), Google’s Head of Product and Business Inclusion. Hear more in her full episode:
  • Josh Lovejoy (@jdlovejoy), Principal design manager, ethics and society at Microsoft. Hear more in his full episode: What does human-centered AI even mean?
  • Sherry Hamby, Director of the Life Paths Research Center (LPRC). Hear more in her full episode: Stereotyping Appalachia: What Tech Gets Wrong
  • Wendy De La Rosa (@wdlrosa), co-founder of Common Cents Lab. Hear more in her full episode: Why FinTech is failing the poor?

Kaveh Azartash – Voice Recognition for Kids

November 6, 2019 — Leave a comment
“We had a really interesting journey coming in from a kids’ language learning background. Understanding the real sound spectrum of different languages, we built a sophisticated sound map.” – Kaveh Azartash, Founder of KidSense.ai

Kaveh Azartash holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University of California, Irvine with a focus on Vision Science. Kaveh’s career has been focused on innovating software applications in the neuroscience and now artificial intelligence domain. He co-founded KidSense.ai in 2015 after realizing children are unable to effectively communicate with the technology around them through voice.

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In this episode you will learn:

  • The story of how KidSense.ai was started
  • Kaveh’s professional and academic background
  • The key components of voice recognition software for kids
  • How AIs can recognize changes in kids’ speech patterns over time
  • How KidSense.ai’s model can be applied to other challenges in voice recognition, like speech impediments or non-native English speakers
  • How KidSense.ai maintains privacy and data security
  • The data collection process required to develop complex AI models that mature overtime
  • Both the acoustic and language components that are behind a voice recognition software
  • Why these new AI technologies are considered valuable
  • The future business goals of KidSense.ai

Links and mentions:

Connect with Kaveh:

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“There is mounting evidence that when you accelerate inclusion you accelerate growth and market opportunity.” — Reena Jana, Google’s Head of Product and Business Inclusion

How does Google make successful products when their users are infinitely diverse? Head of Product and Business Inclusion at Google, Reena Jana, shares in this episode the ways that this tech giant takes an inclusive approach to serve its users and be sensitive to different cultural norms. Reena shares how some of Google’s best products were modified and improved through inclusive design and research practices. She describes the innovative AI technology that Google is using to help with product inclusion and make the products better for everyone who uses them. She also shares with Sheana some of the challenges they’ve faced along the way.

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In this episode you will learn:

  • What is product inclusion?
  • Best practices to overcome product inclusion challenges
  • The benefits and challenges of handling inclusion on a global scale
  • How Reena forged her role as the head of product and business inclusion
  • Product Inclusion success stories and how the team develops these products
  • How machine learning in helping Product Inclusion
  • How the product development process prioritizes diversity at each level
  • Why inclusivity is valuable
  • Free tools Google offers to help product inclusion outside of their organization

Links and people mentioned

No one taught us how to work. Jake Kahana wants to change that with Caveday.?

January 9, 2019 — 1 Comment

Technology can better serve humanity.

In this episode of Innovation For All Podcast, we talk to Jake Kahana, founder of Bettvr With Age and Caveday. Jake shares these two projects that look very different on the surface. In fact, they are united by a common goal: to demonstrate the social impact of technology. Discover how Virtual Reality (VR) can be therapeutic for seniors, why the typical 9-5 work day is a complete fallacy, and how to manage remote teams effectively. You’ll enjoy this episode if you are interested in VR or modernizing the workplace.

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IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL HEAR:?

  • The difference between a social impact agency and cost marketing agency
  • The challenges in producing and distributing VR films
  • 2 significant limitations for senior citizens: mobility and finances
  • The Impact of Bettvr With Age
  • Physical and mental therapy using VR
  • What is Caveday?
  • How to improve your relationship to work
  • The dangers of overwork
  • How to communicate with a remote team
  • How important is establishing rules around communication, scheduling and productivity inside a team
  • 3 Things you need when you work – accountability, motivation, and support
  • Resources your team can use to increase productivity

Undoubtedly, technology isn’t just for the young. It is for all ages – even seniors. This is what Jake is proving to exhibit in his Bettvr with Age project where he produces VR films for senior citizens. Seniors can still experience places and activities that their old age won’t permit them to do and visit through VR.

We also discuss the science of productivity. Through Caveday, Jake and his team are able to organize pieces of training for individuals and companies on how to do deep work since no one taught us how to work. There are ways you can improve your relationship to work to be productive and also avoid overworking. Jake identifies specific resources you can use to support your team’s productivity and happiness.

LINKS

Others Mentioned

CONNECT WITH JAKE

  • Follow Jake on , and .
  • Connect with him through Caveday.

The 80/20 rule hurts everything from education to self-driving cars featuring Dr. Jutta Treviranus

September 26, 2018 — Leave a comment

In this episode of Innovation for All, host Sheana Ahlqvist talks to Dr. Jutta Treviranus, Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University in Toronto. Dr. Treviranus explains how traditional approaches to business, design practices, and research can results in suboptimal or unfair systems. They discuss what inclusive design is, why it is so important, and how we can design systems that accommodate everyone.

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Dr. Treviranus also reimagines the future of education. They cover her efforts to incorporate inclusivity into the current change-resistant educational system, her “Unlearning and Questioning” course, and her most recent project: developing a lab school for inclusive life-long learning.

YOU’LL LEARN:

• How to use AR to combine real data with simulated data to create and experience new, imagined futures
• What is the Pareto Principle (80/20 Principle)?
• What are the real world consequences of ignoring the “20%”?
• What is the Cobra Effect?

Find Jutta on Twitter as