07.07.24 – Five Things That Happened This Week In Tech

A week that included Glastonbury and a general election, here’s 5 things that happened in tech…

1. Golden Age Hollywood AI Voices

Although Judy Garland never recorded an audiobook of *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz*, you can soon hear her rendition thanks to ElevenLabs. This AI company is launching digitally produced celebrity voice-overs of deceased actors, including Garland, James Dean, and Burt Reynolds, on its new Reader app. The app converts text into voice-overs, making content accessible in any voice.

“We deeply respect their legacy and are honored to have their voices on our platform,” said Dustin Blank, head of partnerships at ElevenLabs. The company secured deals with the actors’ estates but did not disclose compensation details. This effort showcases AI’s potential in Hollywood and highlights licensing and estate collaborations. It also raises questions about AI’s role in creative industries like journalism and film.

2. Wearable Tech for Pets:

FitBark, a popular pet fitness tracker, launched an upgraded version of their wearable tech for dogs. The new FitBark 2.0 not only tracks your pet’s activity levels and sleep patterns but also monitors their anxiety and stress levels. It’s a tool for pet owners who want to ensure their furry friends are healthy and happy, think of it like a fitbit for your pug or Strava for your spaniel.

With pet-tech on a serious upwards trend, things like airtags for your dog collars or GPS tracking wearables, expect more developments like this coming thick and fast.

3. Personalised Olympics Coverage

Legendary NBC sportscaster Al Michaels will give personalised daily recaps of the Paris Olympics on Peacock—via an AI-generated voice. Similar to a video game announcer, this AI voice will deliver real-time sports commentary.

To set up “Your Daily Olympic Recap” in the Peacock app, users provide their name and choose up to three sports and two highlight types, such as “Top Competition” or “Viral & Trending Moments.” Each morning, the AI Michaels will deliver a customised Olympics summary.

4. More Digital Nomad Visas

This week, yet another digital nomad visa was announced by Thailand who join the likes of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Croatia in their push to welcome tech savvy millennials to move there whilst earning money elsewhere from the comfort of their laptops.

The Thai visa is set to be one of the biggest offerings so far with up to 5 year stays and one of the lowest earning requirements to try and drive those working remotely to move and set up base in Thailand.

5. Personalised programs for your hormones

San Francisco-based hormonal health company Mira, provide integrative care and hormonal testing for over 100,000 customers. They offer solutions to test, boost, and navigate fertility — starting from comprehensive hormone testing and supplements to fertility coaching and online courses.

The new Hormonal Health Clinic for Fertility is a part of Mira’s broader plans to launch a series of programs to provide to full-scale hormonal health support for customers at every point of their life, with focus on such areas as women’s health as peri/menopause, PCOS, etc. Upon completion of the new fertility program, the customer gets a personal action plan, in-depth hormone analysis, lifestyle change recommendations and emotional support, – all focused on the goal to conceive. Think of it like a personal trainer for your hormonal wellbeing.

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