AI and satellites help aid workers respond to Myanmar earthquake damage
Just after sunrise on Saturday, a satellite set its long-range camera on the city of Mandalay in Myanmar, not far from the epicenter of Friday's 7.7 magnitude earthquake that devastated the Southeast Asian county's second-largest city.
The mission was to capture images that, combined with artificial intelligence technology, could help relief organizations quickly assess how many buildings had collapsed or were heavily damaged and where helpers most needed to go.
At first, the high-tech computer vision approach wasn't working.
'The biggest challenge in this particular case was the clouds,' said Microsoft's chief data scientist, Juan Lavista Ferres. 'There's no way to see through clouds with this technology.'
The clouds eventually moved and it took a few more hours for another satellite from San Francisco-based Planet Labs to capture the aerial pictures and send them to Microsoft's philanthropic AI for Good Lab. By then it was already about 11 p.m. Friday at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. A group of Microsoft workers was ready and waiting for the data.
The AI for Good lab has done this kind of AI-assisted damage assessment before, tracking the flooding that devastated Libya in 2023 or this year's wildfires in Los Angeles. But rather than rely on a standard AI computer vision model that could run any visual data, they had to build a customized version specific to Mandalay.
'The Earth is too different, the natural disasters are too different and the imagery we get from satellites is just too different to work in every situation,' Lavista Ferres said. For instance, he said, while fires spread in fairly predictable ways, 'an earthquake touches the whole city' and it can be harder to know in the immediate aftermath where help is needed.
Once the AI analysis was complete, it showed 515 buildings in Mandalay with 80% to 100% damage and another 1,524 with between 20% and 80% damage. That showed the widespread gravity of the disaster, but, just as important, it helps pinpoint specific locations of damage.
'This is critical information for teams on the ground,' Lavista Ferres said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Wire
31 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Cinemo to elevate in-car entertainment with personal smart devices in Mahindra's new electric origin SUV range
KARLSRUHE, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cinemo, a global leader in high-performance and automotive-grade multimedia playback, streaming, media management, connectivity, and cloud middleware, is pleased to announce that India's leading SUV manufacturer Mahindra has chosen Cinemo as its infotainment solutions technology provider. Cinemo is set to power bring-your-own-device (BYOD) infotainment capabilities for Mahindra's range of electric origin SUVs (eSUVs), delivering exceptional infotainment experiences with personal devices. Cinemo CARS™ once again proves its ability to enrich, enhance, and accelerate implementation of AAOS-based infotainment systems. This allows Mahindra to add innovative entertainment use cases within a short time to market to its eSUV models. Share With the launch of their two new eSUV models, Mahindra is raising the bar for in-car entertainment. For their modular INGLO platform and intelligence suite (Mahindra Artificial Intelligence Architecture – MAIA), Mahindra selected Cinemo's CARS Connect Suite to enable premium digital media experiences on brought-in devices. The project advanced from kick-off to production in an impressive six months, showcasing Mahindra's efficiency and commitment while upholding high-quality standards and leveraging advanced Android pre-integration capabilities. Cinemo CARS Connect creates a unified and connected in-car ecosystem that seamlessly integrates content sharing, intuitive control for all passengers, and interaction across multiple screens and devices. It allows passengers to manage media playback, share audio and video content, and control vehicle functions directly from their own devices, providing a personalized yet inclusive experience that minimizes driver distraction. Passengers also benefit from multi-zone audio, which delivers distinct audio experiences, allowing everyone to enjoy their preferred content without interference. By having full control over their preferred content, car users will be able to create individual and memorable in-car digital media moments. Cinemo CARS™ once again proves its ability to enrich, enhance, and accelerate implementation of AAOS-based infotainment systems. This allows Mahindra to add innovative entertainment use cases within a short time to market to its eSUV models, covering the rapidly growing car markets in India and Southeast Asia. 'We are delighted to bring our renowned digital media experiences to India's leading SUV manufacturer,' says Abe Silhan, Director Portfolio Management at Cinemo. 'We are continuing our pursuit of groundbreaking innovation in in-car infotainment and are proud of our contribution to Mahindra's advanced lineup of Electric SUVs.' About Cinemo Cinemo is a global provider of highly innovative infotainment products that make every screen an opportunity. Its range of award-winning, fully integrated, low-footprint digital media offerings combine high performance with high quality and are truly system agnostic. Whether embedded, as mobile apps or through the cloud, Cinemo supports all digital media scenarios for any industry and any device. Its product portfolio is designed and built to deliver excellence, accelerate time to market, and lower TCO for its clients while creating digital media experiences that matter. Founded in 2008, and with a strong history of industry firsts, Cinemo is the partner of choice for more than 40 market-leading OEMs and over 20 tier-1s. The company works with the top high-tech and consumer electronic companies as well as global music and video content providers. Cinemo's global team of 300+ innovative thinkers from 40 nationalities continuously delivers groundbreaking innovation.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Trade tensions aren't stopping Chinese companies from pushing into the U.S.
BEIJING — Chinese companies are so intent on global expansion that even the biggest stock offering to date on Shanghai's tech-heavy STAR board counts the U.S. as one of its biggest markets, on par with China. Shenzhen-based camera company Insta360, a rival to GoPro, raised 1.938 billion yuan ($270 million) in a Shanghai listing Wednesday under the name Arashi Vision. Shares soared by 274%, giving the company a market value of 71 billion yuan ($9.88 billion). The United States, Europe and mainland China each accounted for just over 23% of revenue last year, according to Insta360, whose 360-degree cameras officially started Apple Store sales in 2018. The company sells a variety of cameras — priced at several hundred dollars — coupled with video-editing software. Co-founder Max Richter said in an interview Tuesday that he expects U.S. demand to remain strong and dismissed concerns about geopolitical risks. "We are staying ahead just by investing into user-centric research and development, and monitoring market trends that ultimately meet the consumer['s] needs," he told CNBC ahead of the STAR board listing. China launched the Shanghai STAR Market in July 2019 just months after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans for the board. The Nasdaq-style tech board was established to support high-growth tech companies while raising requirements for the investor base to limit speculative activity. In 2019, only 12% of companies on the STAR board said at least half of their revenue came from outside China, according to CNBC analysis of data accessed via Wind Information. In 2024, with hundreds more companies listed, that share had climbed to more than 14%, the data showed. "We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. More and more capable Chinese firms are going global," said King Leung, global head of financial services, fintech and sustainability at InvestHK. Leung pointed to the growing global business of Chinese companies such as battery giant CATL, which listed in Hong Kong last month. "There are a lot of more tier-two and tier-three companies that are equally capable," he said. InvestHK is a Hong Kong government department that promotes investment in the region. It has organized trips to help connect mainland Chinese businesses with overseas opportunities, including one to the Middle East last month. Roborock, a robotic vacuum cleaner company also listed on the STAR board, announced this month it plans to list in Hong Kong. More than half of the company's revenue last year came from overseas markets. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, Roborock showed off a vacuum with a robotic arm for automatically removing obstacles while cleaning floors. The device was subsequently launched in the U.S. for $2,600. Other consumer-focused Chinese companies also remain unfazed by heighted tensions between China and the U.S. In November, Chinese home appliance company Hisense said it aimed to become the top seller of television sets in the U.S. in two years. And last month, China-based Bc Babycare announced its official expansion into the U.S. and touted its global supply chain as a way to offset tariff risks. Chinese companies have been pushing overseas in the last several years, partly because growth at home has slowed. Consumer demand has remained lackluster since the Covid-19 pandemic. But the expansion trend is now evolving into a third stage in which the businesses look to build international brands on their own with offices in different regions hiring local employees, said Charlie Chen, managing director and head of Asia research at China Renaissance Securities. He said that's a change from the earliest years when Chinese companies primarily manufactured products for foreign brands to sell, and a subsequent phase in which Chinese companies had joint ventures with foreign companies. Insta360 primarily manufactures out of Shenzhen, but has offices in Berlin, Tokyo and Los Angeles, Richter said. He said the Los Angeles office focuses on services and marketing — the company held its first big offline product launch in New York's Grand Central Terminal in April. Chen also expects the next phase of Chinese companies going global will sell different kinds of products. He pointed out that those that had gone global primarily sold home appliances and electronics, but are now likely to expand significantly into toys. Already, Beijing-based Pop Mart has become a global toy player, with its Labubu figurine series gaining popularity worldwide. Pop Mart's total sales, primarily domestic, were 4.49 billion yuan in 2021. In 2024, overseas sales alone surpassed that to hit 5.1 billion yuan, up 373% from a year ago, while mainland China sales climbed to 7.97 billion yuan. "It established another Pop Mart versus domestic sales in 2021," said Chris Gao, head of China discretionary consumer at CLSA. The Hong Kong-listed retailer doesn't publicly share much about its global store expansion plans or existing locations, but an independent blogger compiled a list of at least 17 U.S. store locations as of mid-May, most of which opened in the last two years. The toy company has been "very good" at developing or acquiring the rights to characters, Gao said. She expects its global growth to continue as Pop Mart plans to open more stores worldwide, and as consumers turn more to such character-driven products during times of stress and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
NIRA Dynamics Strengthens Automotive Safety Through Strategic Partnership with BANF Intelligent Tire System
Strategic Partnership Enhances Safety and Efficiency in Trucking SAN FRANCISCO, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Swedish automotive software leader NIRA Dynamics AB is taking vehicle safety and predictive maintenance to the next level through a new partnership with South Korea's BANF Smart Tire System. The collaboration, formalized via a memorandum of understanding, will integrate BANF's advanced high-frequency tire sensors into NIRA's well-established software ecosystem, boosting real-time monitoring capabilities specifically for commercial vehicles. This partnership further cements NIRA's role as a pioneer in sensor fusion and connected vehicle solutions. Founded in 2001 and based in Linköping, Sweden, NIRA has become a global powerhouse in automotive software, with its technologies deployed in over 120 million vehicles worldwide. Its indirect Tire Pressure Monitoring System (iTPMS) recently surpassed the milestone of 110 million units sold, underscoring NIRA's software-first approach to vehicle safety and sustainability. Expanding NIRA's Software Ecosystem with BANF's Hardware Innovation As part of the agreement, NIRA will incorporate BANF's triaxial tire sensors into its Road Surface Information (RSI) and Wheel Safety Insights (WSI) platforms. These platforms already provide essential functions such as tire grip estimation, tread wear analysis, and loose wheel detection by processing data from existing vehicle sensors through proprietary algorithms. BANF brings a crucial hardware breakthrough to the table: its Smart Profiler system wirelessly powers sensors inside fast-spinning tires, directly connected to the vehicle battery for seamless operation. This solves a major challenge in tire digitization—providing continuous power and real-time data transmission from rotating tires. Since 2020, NIRA's RSI technology has aggregated anonymized data from connected vehicles to create real-time road condition maps. Integrating BANF's sensors, which sample at 1kHz and 4kHz, enhances the system's resolution, enabling more precise monitoring of commercial vehicle loads and dual-tire setups. Otto Johansson, Head of Innovation at NIRA Dynamics, said, "This collaboration accelerates our vision of creating a comprehensive vehicle intelligence network. While our software solutions already process data from millions of vehicles, adding specialized hardware enables new use cases in predictive maintenance and ADAS applications." From Software-Only to Integrated Safety Solutions NIRA's evolution from software-based tire pressure monitoring to multi-layered safety systems mirrors broader automotive trends. Its flagship Tire Pressure Indicator (TPI) technology eliminated the need for physical sensors by analyzing wheel speed signals, reducing electronic waste by an estimated 40,000 tons since 2005. Recent upgrades like TPI UX have enhanced detection accuracy while maintaining compliance with global TPMS regulations. The company's collaborations with automotive giants such as Volkswagen Group have resulted in innovations like Road Surface Alerts, which inform drivers of hazards on the road based on real-time friction and vehicle data. Addressing Critical Safety Needs in Commercial Vehicles NIRA's focus on medium and large commercial vehicles responds to pressing safety challenges. The Swedish Tire Safety Council reports thousands of annual wheel detachment incidents, many causing accidents. NIRA's Loose Wheel Indicator (LWI), deployed in Audi vehicles since 2017, detects lug nut loosening using existing wheel speed sensors. This technology is now being extended to heavy-duty vehicles through the BANF partnership. For fleet operators, NIRA's integrated system offers operational benefits. Its Winter Road Insights product already helps Scandinavian road authorities optimize salt use and plowing routes by analyzing friction data from connected vehicles. Combined with BANF's wear prediction algorithms, fleets can expect reduced tire replacement costs and improved fuel efficiency. Ron Yoogun Lee, Head of Business Development at BANF, emphasized the company's mission: "Our goal is to enhance cost-effectiveness, save lives, and preserve the environment by digitizing tires, which are the last analog domain in the mobility industry." Looking Forward: Predictive Analytics and Autonomous Mobility NIRA's technology roadmap extends beyond traditional applications. Its Road Surface Conditions product, creates "grip maps" that enable SAE Level 2-3 autonomous vehicles to adjust driving behavior based on real-time friction data collected from various sources—including now BANF's tire-level sensors. Leveraging data from several million vehicles, NIRA is also developing AI models for predictive infrastructure maintenance. Conclusion The partnership between NIRA Dynamics and BANF represents a key milestone in the evolution of software-defined vehicle safety systems. By combining NIRA's decades of expertise in automotive algorithms with BANF's cutting-edge sensor hardware, the collaboration is redefining how commercial fleets and automakers monitor tire health and road safety. As connected vehicle networks grow, NIRA's ability to transform raw sensor data into actionable intelligence positions it as a vital player in the future of smart, safe, and efficient mobility. Contact: BANF PR TeamEmail: info@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE BANF
