Unchecked wildfires can cause devastating loss of life, property, and biodiverse habitats, while spewing greenhouse gases, particulate matter, and other pollutants into the atmosphere. To help keep small wildfires from becoming major disasters, FLICKS has developed an advanced fire prevention system that not only detects wildfires early, but also provides critical information about how to contain them effectively. The solution has autonomous detection units that share information wirelessly and an integrated expert decision system based on neural networks that helps determine the best routes and equipment needed to fight a fire.

The FLICKS innovative solution is designed with reliability and scalability in mind, and has detection units suitable for a variety of environments - from forests to industrial parks. The fire prevention system is part of the FLICKS team’s plan to become a global leading provider of technology solutions that protect the environment and build more sustainable communities.

FLICKS, For a greener planet!

In many parts of the developing world, piped water is available only during unpredictable, intermittent intervals. Local people may spend hours next to taps, waiting and watching for water, and are sometimes forced to purchase water from expensive private suppliers or use water from unsafe sources. NextDrop has developed a solution that saves time and reduces stress for consumers, while enabling utilities to manage water supplies better.

NextDrop partners with local utilities, who provide input on their schedules and require that their employees notify NextDrop’s interactive voice response (IVR) system when they open water supply valves both at the neighborhood level and one step up in the distribution system. NextDrop uses the data to notify consumers up to an hour before water will be available at nearby taps. The IVR system also enables consumers to provide feedback about water availability back to utilities. The system aggregates all inputs for utility engineers, who can more accurately track the status of valves throughout the community in real-time using a web-based dashboard, helping to ensure compliance with set schedules.

Recognizing the toll that excessive drinking has on society, entrepreneurs at Mate are working to help people break their addiction to alcohol. Using genetic engineering protein technology, they have developed a way to mass produce the ALDH enzymes that form the basis of an anti-alcohol drug.

In the past, ALDH-based drugs have proven quick and effective in the treatment of alcoholism, but have been expensive to produce. Mate’s process enables cost-effective production of ALDH, which, in turn, can lower the costs of the drugs that incorporate the enzymes. Mate plans to offer various advanced medical enzyme products produced in an environmentally friendly manner.

With Now.in, anyone can become a radio DJ or talk-show host. Would-be broadcasters simply download Now.in software to create their own radio station—avoiding the time-consuming, expensive process of setting up a traditional radio station. Now.in stations are accessible to listeners through the Internet and mobile devices; think of them as “audio blogs” that enable people to talk, tell a story, sing a song, or spread knowledge to others in real-time—making the concept of citizen journalism a reality. The software includes features that measure audience size and enable two-way communication that closely links broadcasters and listeners.

During Now.in’s first year-and-a-half, people in more than 100 countries created more than 100,000 Now.in radio stations. The company says that the growing popularity of Internet radio—and the advertising opportunities it presents—make now the time to move into the online broadcasting industry.

Highly complex computing tasks—like climate simulations, pharmaceutical testing, or risk assessments—require tremendous amounts of computing power. Completing such tasks on a typical desktop or laptop could take hours, days, or weeks. While working as an experimental physicist, one of the founders of Bife experienced firsthand the delays caused by lack of access to high-performance computing resources. He talked about the problem with colleagues, and they came up with an innovative way to provide personal supercomputing power at a reasonable cost. The Bife team uses the term “bothware” to describe their personal supercomputing product, which combines hardware and software. The solution is based on highly optimized processor architecture designed by Bife that can be reconfigured for each application. The use of the reconfigurable technology enables Bife to offer supercomputing power in a package the size of an external hard drive, making it truly portable and personal.

Social networking. Online classes. Telecommuting. Virtual travel. Computers and the Internet bring a whole new world of possibilities to us, right in our own homes. People with disabilities that prevent them from using a keyboard or mouse, however, may not be able to access those possibilities. The Lifeware S.A.C. team is changing that through software that allows people to control a computer using their brainwaves. The team’s LifewareIntegra software works with a neuroheadset device manufactured by another company. The headset captures neck movements and electrical signals produced by the brain. The software essentially translates the captured information into mouse clicks and strokes of an on-screen keyboard, enabling the user to access a computer and its applications. LifewareIntegra currently works as a background desktop application and is compatible with any application supported by the Windows* operating system. The solution has already undergone substantial testing, and has been positively reviewed by several organizations that serve the needs of people with disabilities.

Software engineers may spend years developing complex, custom applications to control a particular company’s production line or manage its business functions. Over time, revisions to the software are made and new features are added to keep up with evolving products and business conditions. Maintenance of the software becomes increasingly difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, as the original source code is buried under layers of changes. The entrepreneurs of Object Guidance have developed QualityMonitor to help companies detect and address problems with software. QualityMonitor analyzes applications using corporate programming conventions and delivers visualizations of the internal code, making it easier to perform maintenance and upgrades. A large European auto maker has already successfully used QualityMonitor to identify and address quality issues with the massive software code used to control its production line.

Imagine placing an object into your surroundings. Imagine making that object move, rotate, and disappear. That’s what The ARound team aims to do—turn imagination into augmented reality (AR) with a product called NeurON. NeurON will combine software with an electroencephalographic (EEG) headset and AR eyeglasses. NeurON users will be able to control virtual content that will appear on the glasses or a computer monitor using their thoughts, emotions, and facial expressions. ARound founders envision multiple applications for the product, including gaming, where players will be able to use their minds to place virtual content on top of their real worlds. The ARound team has built an AR engine, and is now preparing a prototype that incorporates the EEG headset.

Looking pale? Having a bad hair day? Missing your supermodel vibe? No problem, with Photo Genie, which makes everybody photogenic.

When you’re capturing a special moment with your camera, sometimes you have only one shot. Photo Genie will ensure that your one shot becomes a great photograph. Photo Genie is supplementary software/hardware technology that applies computer vision and image processing algorithms to photos of people, making everyone look their best. Your friends and family will still look like themselves—but better—without costly retouching or the use of complex photo editing software. Photo Genie entrepreneurs say that the technology can be built into high-end digital cameras, computers, and mobile devices, and for low-end devices, made available as a cloud service.