quark.ai-introduces-its-autonomous-customer-support-chatbot

Quark.ai Introduces Its Autonomous Customer Support Chatbot

 

Quark.ai, the market leader in Autonomous Customer Support, today announced the introduction of its Autonomous Customer Support Chatbot, “Cory,” developed specifically to enable instant self-service resolutions for complex technical issues confronting industrial and technology enterprises.

Quark.ai’s interpretive and conversational chatbot delivers unsurpassed accuracy, reliability and speed-to-resolution for some of industry’s most mission-critical customer issues. The chatbot is an extension of Quark.ai’s Autonomous Customer Support platform, which combines Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision to automate research-intensive functions that are often manual, expensive and frustratingly inefficient. Quark.ai promptly interprets complex Customer Support cases, scours an enterprise’s internal documents and delivers instant resolutions to customers. The result for Customer Support Organizations is significant improvement in Customer Satisfaction and support expense.

Existing Chatbots require pre-built rules and responses that address a narrowly defined set of inquiries, and thus are unable to handle the wide variety of issues that frequently confront technical support. Unlike these existing designs, Quark.ai’s Autonomous Chatbot is capable of having a conversation with the customer to resolve any issue or inquiry, without prior construction of the response. Quark.ai accomplishes this by using its proprietary NLP technology to clearly understand and cross-examine an inquiry, regardless of its complexity.

Quark.ai’s patented combination of Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing produces a chatbot with the ability to ask-and-answer in more natural words, phrases and terminology maintains a more comfortable, insight-inducing conversation with a customer. This unrivaled solution considers, analyzes and contextualizes the different words that comprise the inquiry and applies that understanding to a resolution of the issue. It is capable of using all available documents within the organization to automatically and intelligently prepare responses and resolutions This unsurpassed capability is especially critical to customers of industrial and technology companies, whose complex products often have numerous versions and continual updates.

“Quark.ai’s conversational chatbot fulfills the vision of self-service in customer support,” said Quark.ai Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Prosenjit Sen. “Nearly all inquiring customers who begin with self-service quickly abandon it in frustration and demand to interact with a customer support representative. This leads to a poor customer experience – and a sub-optimal resolution to the customer’s issue. Quark.ai’s conversational chatbot is a long-awaited solution to this pain point, injecting the accuracy, speed and comprehensiveness of Autonomous Customer Support to the front lines of customer interaction.”

search-data-reveals-absolutely-no-one-understands-the-metaverse

Search data reveals absolutely no one understands the metaverse

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An estimated 2.62 million searches for the term ‘metaverse’ were made in October. This is primarily down to Facebook announcing that they’re changing their company name from Facebook to Meta after 17 years of operating under the alias. As a result, the name change has put a focus on a whole new future; the metaverse. And no one knows what it is.

Looking at search trends data, digital marketing agency, MRS Digital, revealed how confused everyone is by the metaverse, and why Google isn’t helping anyone figure it out. With a range of featured snippets (the Google search excerpts at the top of a page) that differ from one to the next, the ambition of the metaverse is already proving to be its biggest demise.

The main reason for the confusion is simple – there isn’t a complete metaverse yet and because of this, no one knows what to expect or how functional it’s going to be. There is potential for a whole new economy, way of working, and a significant shift in consumer interests. Whether it’s building a to scale replica of your hometown in Minecraft or going to virtual concerts in Fortnite, the metaverse is only starting to rear its head.

With an infographic, the most common questions on Google have been highlighted to show that amongst all the metaverse noise, only a handful of the 2.62 million people really know about how the future looks.

 

When looking at searches surrounding the metaverse, numerous threads of questioning arise, sparking interest in games such as Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft which are all considered to be emerging examples of metaverses, however the reason for this differs per game.

Alongside the curiosity of video games, cryptocurrencies, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and VR (virtual reality) all saw increases in search interest. Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, saw a 50% increase in search interest when Facebook announced the change to their company name. While some internet users are still trying to figure out exactly what the metaverse is, some users are seeing it as an opportunity to lay foundations for making real money from virtual currencies.

The commonly asked question ‘what are metaverse coins?’ has a simple answer; they’re nothing, because the metaverse doesn’t exist. What does exist though are early iterations of what a metaverse has the potential to become one day, supported by the in-game currencies that allow users to buy new items such as outfits, avatars, and even weapons.

So now everyone knows that no one knows what a metaverse is and that Meta are planning on joining the metaverse race, an exciting and unpredictable future for technology is on the horizon. Just don’t be afraid to ask what it is.

nba-launches-augmented-reality-mobile-game-in-the-uk-in-celebration-of-league’s-75th-anniversary-season

NBA LAUNCHES AUGMENTED REALITY MOBILE GAME IN THE UK IN CELEBRATION OF LEAGUE’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

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“NBA Chasedown” Provides Fans with a New NBA-Themed Augmented Reality Gaming Experience and the Opportunity to Win Prizes  

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced the launch of “NBA Chasedown,” an augmented reality mobile game for fans in the UK in celebration of the league’s 75th Anniversary Season.  The new game, which is available for free by downloading the NBA Chasedown app on iOS or by visiting nbachasedown com, offers prizes including NBAStore.eu discounts, a virtual meet-and-greet with Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and a grand prize of an all-expenses-paid trip to attend two NBA games during the 2021-22 season.  Fans ages 16 and over can register to play now through Thursday, Nov. 18.

NBA Chasedown prompts users to “catch” a finite number of virtual, NBA-themed objects hidden in their local area using location tracking and mapping technology.  The hidden objects take the form of NBA basketballs and a range of special 75th Anniversary Season diamonds representing all 30 NBA teams and The Larry O’Brien Trophy that is awarded annually to the NBA champion.  

Fans who collect hidden objects representing three NBA teams from the Eastern Conference, three NBA teams from the Western Conference and The Larry O’Brien Trophy will have completed the “NBA Chasedown Challenge” and will be entered into the grand prize draw for a chance to win a trip for two to attend two regular-season NBA games in the U.S.

“NBA Chasedown combines cutting-edge technology with a fun and accessible mobile gaming experience,” said NBA EME Senior Director, Events – Operations & Marketing, Elisa Pettit.  “In celebration of our 75th Anniversary Season, fans across the UK will have the opportunity to interact with the NBA like never before as we bring the NBA to towns, villages, homes and local neighborhoods in a new and immersive way.”

NBA Chasedown will also offer a number of runner-up prizes, including a virtual meet-and-greet with Gilgeous-Alexander, a Hyperice Hypervolt 2 massage device, a Tissot Supersport Chrono watch, NBA 2K22 game downloads and a season-long NBA League Pass subscription.  Fans can also play for instant-win prizes that include NBA Store.eu discount codes and NBA League Pass day passes.

Hyperice, Tissot and 2K will help promote NBA Chasedown and engage fans in the initiative as official marketing partners. 

NBA Chasedown is also available for fans in France and Germany.

radcom-to-present-at-the-needham-virtual-security,-networking,-and-communications-conference

RADCOM to Present at the Needham Virtual Security, Networking, and Communications Conference

 

RADCOM (Nasdaq: RDCM) announced today that Eyal Harari, Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Needham Virtual Security, Networking, and Communications Conference on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, at 8:00 AM Eastern Standard Time.

Eyal will be available for one-on-one meetings during the conference. To schedule a meeting, please contact your Needham salesperson or Miri Segal at [email protected].

A live webcast of the presentation will be available to the public at: https://wsw.com/webcast/needham112/rdcm/2229924.

The webcast will be archived for 90 days following the live presentation. The presentation slides will be available on the day of the presentation from RADCOM’s website www.radcom.com/investor-relations.

omnisphere:-technological-solutions-beyond-web-3.0-and-blockchain

Omnisphere: Technological Solutions Beyond Web 3.0 and Blockchain

 

In a world that is quickly moving towards Artificial intelligence and decentralization, it is no doubt that web 3.0 and blockchain technology will most likely be the next big thing. The ability of web 3.0 to integrate semantics into our interactions with machines is outstanding. It can perfectly tailor our web experiences to personal taste already makes it a mind-boggling innovation.

There is no doubt that these technological solutions will shape the way we live in years to come. However, beyond these solutions are innovations that will not only shape the way we live but will influence how we see life itself. Welcome to the Omnisphere!

Omnisphere is a unique blockchain innovation that will enable users to be seamlessly onboarded onto web 3.0 applications. At the same time, giving the users full sovereignty over their data and all the security needed. All of this is achieved through the combination of decentralized capacity, blockchain, and private full-stack applications.

Omnisphere offers a platform that combines the best features of web 3.0 and the blockchain to provide a truly sovereign, efficient, and decentralized internet. In addition, users can exist digitally only once and exert complete control over their data. This rich data resource ensures that their web experiences are tailored to their taste and open up unending web opportunities.

What are the unique technological innovations Omnisphere employs to achieve this?

The Omniverse makes use of overlapping layers of networks, with each one fulfilling a specific purpose. This structure of networks enables the Omniverse to function perfectly while delivering value on many fronts simultaneously.

1. THE OMNIGRID: this is the first layer of the Omnisphere, and it is a distributed peer-to-peer network of computers that deliver computing, storage, and network capacity.

It is responsible for storing user data in decentralized storage and ensuring that users and authorized apps can remotely access stored data.

It is the base IT capacity layer that provides computational power to the UNISPHERES and the OMNICHAIN and is a leaner alternative to centralized data infrastructures that dominate the internet today.

2. THE OMNICHAIN: This is the second layer of the Omnisphere. It is a blockchain innovation that runs on the omnigrid decentralized capacity. It hosts all the smart contracts in the Omnisphere and also validates the transactions related to these smart contracts. This ensures data security as it is being exchanged through the Omnigrid.

The Omnichain uses a consensus engine that is built on top of the Polkadot blockchain. It sources information by interacting with oracles which are external sources of information, and then it captures and holds such information.

One of the beauties of the Omnichain innovation is that it can be seamlessly integrated with any blockchain network; this will make the onboarding of users very easy and accelerate the next generation of internet products.

3. THE OMNIVERSE: The Omniverse is the third layer of the Omnisphere. It is a network on top of which anyone can build web 3.0 applications; these applications enjoy total user privacy, high security, and immunity to censorship or data espionage.

The Omniverse contains unlimited Unispheres, which have countless UNIWEBS, OMNIAPPS, UNIAPPS, and UNICHAINS.

Unispheres are decentralized private environments running on top of the OmniGrid, they are integrated with specific communities, and each application is deployed in its Unisphere. A Unisphere contains a blockchain, an identity management system, and enough computing and storage capacity to host any Uniapp.

Unichains contain unicontracts which are smart contract protocols used for deploying Unispheres using UniApps inside Omnispheres.

Omniapps are applications running inside the Unispheres; they could be social media apps, networking, or video conferencing apps.

Uniapps are decentralized and custom-developed applications. They are coded in the Vlang and are fully integrated with UNICHAINS and UNISPHERES.

The internet is one of the most innovative technologies, and the web has always moved from less innovative products to more innovative ones. There is no doubt that the internet is primed to move towards a more decentralized web specifically designed to give the best user experience. It is interesting to watch how these innovations happen, and this innovation by Omnisphere is incredible. Surely, the future is here!

ukgc-publishes-interim-evaluation-on-the-successful-implementation-of-the-ban-on-gambling-with-credit-cards

UKGC publishes interim evaluation on the successful implementation of the ban on gambling with credit cards

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An interim evaluation of the Gambling Commission’s credit card ban indicates the action is popular among consumers and has not resulted in harmful unintended consequences.

The credit card ban was introduced in April 2020 to add another layer of protection for consumers and add friction to the process of gambling with borrowed money. Evidence revealed some gamblers with high levels of debt were using credit cards to gamble.

When monitoring gambling and financial behaviours, the report found:

  • support for the ban among consumers has been largely positive, qualitative data from consumers supports the conclusion that the ban helps people to gamble within their means and retain control
  • the proportion of consumers reporting gambling with other forms of borrowed money has remained stable
  • there has been no increase in reports of illegal money lending related to gambling
  • while consumers are aware of ways to legally bypass the ban, far more people who previously gambled with a credit card now gamble with available (not borrowed) funds than other types of borrowed money
  • bank data showed no observed spike for credit card gamblers in money transfers in the three months after the ban
  • there was no spike in ATM withdrawals from credit cards around the time of the ban.

The report shows a major high street bank has observed the volume and value of gambling transactions with credit cards to the gambling merchant code reduced to a very low level. Continually low-level expenditure to businesses with gambling merchant codes was expected and can be explained by activities outside the scope of the ban such as lotteries and competitions spending.

Additionally, major e-wallet and electronic money providers have blocked gambling transactions if funding originated from credit cards.

Key sources used to inform the report were the Commission’s Online Tracker survey, which collects data quarterly from a nationally representative sample of approximately 2,000 adults aged 18+ in Great Britain, and Consumer Voice research completed by 2CV, which involved an eight-day online programme with 30 respondents.

Next steps: future evaluation activity

Ongoing monitoring of behaviours is important to ensure there is not an increase in harmful forms of funding gambling activity.

NatCen Social Research have been commissioned to conduct a full evaluation of the ban on gambling with credit cards by Greo as part of their programme of work to strengthen evaluation of safer gambling initiatives. This is scheduled for completion in early 2023 and the Commission will use these findings, along with our continued monitoring, to inform future policy development.

Andrew Rhodes, Interim Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission said: “Protecting consumers is at the heart of everything we do, we introduced this policy as part of our multifaceted work to reduce gambling harm.

“The successful implementation of the ban across the industry and the impact on consumer behaviour and financial spend we have monitored so far is an encouraging sign that the ban has reduced consumer reliance on gambling with borrowed money. We look forward to NatCen’s report on the long-term impacts of the ban and how this can inform our future policies.”

wounded-warrior-project-expands-mental-health-treatment-to-include-substance-use-disorder

Wounded Warrior Project Expands Mental Health Treatment to Include Substance Use Disorder

 

Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) announced it is expanding mental treatment and research for veterans through its Warrior Care Network®, the innovative health care network created in 2015. Now wounded veterans can receive treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) simultaneously with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the network’s academic medical center partners: Emory Healthcare Veterans Program; Road Home Program at Rush University Medical Center; UCLA Health’s Operation Mend; and Home Base, a Boston Red Sox and Massachusetts General Hospital Program.

According to Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 1 in 4 veterans with PTSD also have SUD. A 2020 RAND study commissioned by WWP showed the significant barrier to mental health treatment caused by substance use. This new effort will now treat both challenges together.

Learn how Wounded Warrior Project Mental Health Programs save lives.

“Many veterans face different obstacles to treatment,” said Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mike Linnington, WWP CEO. “We are investing in breaking down these barriers and ensuring today’s generation of wounded warriors gets the care they earned.”

WWP’s latest investment in Warrior Care Network will help treat PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI) by tackling other challenges simultaneously. These include:

  • Chronic pain treatment through surgical procedures so warriors can focus on PTSD treatment.
  • Expanded TBI treatment, including a program designed for special operations forces.
  • New research into novel mental and brain health care, such as the use of artificial intelligence to identify veterans’ responses to specific treatments.

WWP launched its innovative Warrior Care Network five years ago with four academic medical center partners to improve the lives of thousands of veterans and families. The 2- to 3-week intensive outpatient program combines comprehensive clinical treatment coupled with mindfulness to improve PTSD and TBI symptoms. More than 3,050 veterans have completed the intensive outpatient program with a greater than 90% completion rate. Warrior Care Network has treated an additional 2,650 warriors through outpatient efforts as well.

“Warrior Care Network gave me my life back,” said Army veteran Tonya Oxendine.

WWP and its partners launched Warrior Care Network with WWP’s initial investment of $100 million. Three years later, WWP invested an additional $160 million. Today’s announcement of $25 million more brings the total investment in clinically treating PTSD and TBI to nearly $290 million.

Warrior Care Network partners work together to provide world-class care for wounded veterans and families. By sharing data and best practices, Warrior Care Network provides veterans access to the right treatment for their needs, regardless of where they live. Warriors and families never pay a penny for treatment.

santa-casa-da-misericordia-de-lisboa-embraces-digital-art-and-nfts-with-the-launch-of-artentik

Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa Embraces Digital Art and NFTs With the Launch of Artentik

 

Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (‘SCML’), Portugal’s 500-year-old social enterprise organisation and keeper of the Museum and Church of São Roque in Lisbon that houses one of the most important religious collections in Catholic Europe, announced today its entry into the digital world of NFTs or non-fungible tokens with the launch of Artentik, its brand and marketplace for NFTs.

In much the same way as William Caxton’s printing press opened the door to a broader appreciation of books in the 15th century, so NFTs have created a way for museums and art galleries to share their beautiful and priceless artworks and artefacts with a global audience.

Artentik will be SCML’s curated platform to share digital twins of its treasures and encourage living artists to also sell their works as NFTs. This will enable SCML to monetize and promote its unique cultural heritage to the world while continuing its extensive 500-year support to social causes.

The first NFT drop will take place in December and is drawn from SCML’s sacred art collection, one of the finest in the world.

In the first drop, Artentik will present a set of 13 assets in three art categories – Painting, Relics and Artefacts – about St. Francis Xavier, Christmas and the Nativity. They are unique pieces of an immeasurable richness and symbolism.

Future drops will be drawn from SCML’s expansive collection of art, relics, reliquaries, sculptures, music and new artists.

“In Lisbon, SCML enjoys a warm relationship with residents and visitors to the museum and church and we see a way of extending that relationship globally, and to new generations, through NFTs,” says Edmundo Martinho, President of SCML.

“We have 500 years’ worth of priceless treasures from baroque art to graffiti art that we are keen to share with lovers of art, antiquities and religious history. By creating our own digital window, Artentik, people can view our unique cultural assets, own a digital replica of them through NFTs, and know that the proceeds will be used for social enterprise activities. This is a cultural democratisation of museums, and we are delighted to embrace it,” he added.

Artentik, www.artentik.com, is built on Polygon Layer 2 Ethereum blockchain offering faster transaction speeds, Proof of Stake leading to minimum environmental impact, and reliability. Payment for NFTs will only be accepted in cryptocurrency. Artentik is a joint venture with Boloro Global Limited, a New York City based technology company.

tom-horn-gaming-invites-players-to-dig-for-gold-in-mine-mine-quest

Tom Horn Gaming invites players to dig for gold in Mine Mine Quest

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Tom Horn Gaming, the igaming software solutions supplier of unique content, invites players to  dig for gold in its latest action-packed, gold rush-themed game Mine Mine Quest.

The game introduces a Clusters Pay feature into the provider’s feature portfolio, with five or more matching symbols in a cluster awarding a win. In addition, the 9×8, medium volatility game is packed full of other exciting features which make for engaging gameplay as well as nice wins.

Shatter mode makes sure new winning combinations are landing on the reels, thus increasing the win potential, and the Shake up feature, appearing when there is no winning situation in the base game, always guarantees a win.

Gold rush reaches its full frenzy with the collection features and free spins. Throughout the gameplay, players collect low and high symbols which fall into a respective chest on either side of the reels. Thirteen high symbols collected in the collection award the Giant symbol feature, thirteen low symbols trigger the Wild String.

Free spins are awarded when at least five dynamite symbols appear on the reels during the Shatter mode. Players can play from 5 to 20 free spins, triggered randomly at the beginning of the bonus round.

“Mine Mine Quest features an immersive soundscape and amazing visuals combined with well balanced features which come together in smooth and exciting gameplay. This game is really fun to play and it is sure to find a premium spot in our operators’ casino lobbies,” said Ondrej LapidesCEO at Tom Horn Gaming.

The game offers the gaming enthusiasts a range of new mechanics and features that are sure to get hearts racing. Beautiful graphics accompanied by a Klondike-style soundtrack create a well-rounded and immersive gaming experience.

Mine Mine Quest goes on general release on 2nd November.

klarna-acquires-pricerunner-to-strengthen-banking-offer-for-its-90m-global-consumers

Klarna acquires PriceRunner to strengthen banking offer for its 90m global consumers

 

Klarna, a leading global retail bank today announces it has signed an agreement to acquire PriceRunner. PriceRunner will bring new features in the form of product reviews, rich product discovery and price comparisons to the Klarna app to enhance the shopping, payments and banking experience for consumers globally.

Klarna’s seamless shopping experience from inspiration and product selection, to flexible payments and delivery, tracking and returns will be elevated by PriceRunner’s daily price updates, reviews, professional tests and intelligent filtering options. This will enable a more engaging experience for Klarna’s consumers. Klarna will add PriceRunner’s functionality to its offering while Klarna’s retail partners will benefit from enhanced behavior insight, increased website traffic from high intent consumers and optimized marketing opportunities to further drive their growth.

David Fock, Klarna’s Chief Product Officer commented: “At Klarna we constantly strive to make the banking and payments experience the best it can be, empowering consumers from product discovery to paying in a way that suits them. The acquisition will serve to strengthen our bank, card and payment services and support a competitive global landscape. It also further cements that Klarna will not be a marketplace but a viable and competitive alternative for retail partners vs Amazon, Google and Facebook. The PriceRunner team is a talented, passionate group, which will be a perfect fit and we are excited about what we can achieve together.”

Mikael Lindahl, PriceRunner’s Chief Executive Officer commented: “We have spent the last five years rebuilding PriceRunner from scratch to create a best-in-class comparison shopping service while helping retail partners improve their business. We see Klarna as the ideal partner to accelerate growth and achieve our long-term vision to become the most loved comparison shopping service in the world.”