| | | | | | | Presented By Google Cloud | | | | Axios What's Next | | By Jennifer A. Kingson, Joann Muller and Erica Pandey ·Oct 15, 2021 | | Picture a booth the size of a snack machine that holds a 3-D "holoport" of your full-length image, and you'll get the idea of the PORTL, as Jennifer A. Kingson explains. - Today's What's Next photo comes from our own Erica Pandey, who is freshly back from Europe with great pictures and observations.
Today's Smart Brevity count: 1,269 words ... 5 minutes. | | | | | | 1 big thing: "Holoportation" lets you beam yourself anywhere |  | | | Motivational speaker Chris Gardner, author of "The Pursuit of Happyness," uses a PORTL holographic booth to address hospitality executives in Palos Verdes, California. Photo courtesy of PORTL | | | | A company called PORTL sells a 7-foot-tall booth into which you can beam a 3-D image of yourself anywhere in the world, Jennifer writes. Why it matters: In the age of COVID-19, it's valuable to have a way to project someone realistically from Point A to Point B. The technology, while still a bit expensive and cumbersome, can make anything from classroom learning to celebrity appearances and business meetings more vivid and compelling. What's happening: Two-year-old PORTL, based in L.A., has sold more than 100 of its snack-machine-sized booths. The total price of the ePORTL Epic (including hardware and software) is about $100,000. - Customers include financial institutions, colleges, airports and malls.
- PORTL is also "doing tons of rentals for trade shows and conventions, experiential events," David Nussbaum, the company's CEO, tells Axios.
- Next year, the company will introduce the PORTL Mini — about 2 feet tall. It will cost about $3,000 but that is expected to go down over time.
"Eventually the big plan is that they're everywhere, and when you want to beam there, you beam there, like hologram telephone booths," Nussbaum says. David Nussbaum, CEO of PORTL demonstrating the system in Los Angeles. The real David is on the right; the hologram of him is in the booth. Photo courtesy of PORTL Details: People can "beam into 100 portals at the exact same time," Nussbaum says. - The person doing the teleportation must have authorization from the PORTL owner to beam in. "It's very easy" for the owner, he says: "You just plug it into the wall and you turn it on."
- The lead investor in the company's last investment round was Tim Draper, the superstar venture capitalist.
How it's being used: During the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, "we allowed fans to beam into a PORTL, and it looked like they were beaming into a hologram baseball card," Nussbaum says. - P. Diddy beamed in from Florida to his son's birthday party in L.A.
- IWC, the Swiss watchmaker, holoported its CEO to an event in Shanghai.
The University of Central Florida — which got a PORTL this summer for its medical education program —is building a library of recordings with real-life patients who holoported into student classrooms. - "It really has the ability to elevate the way we teach and train the next generation of health providers," Bari Hoffman, the school's associate dean of clinical affairs, tells Axios.
- With the PORTL in the classroom, "student engagement has been much higher," Hoffman says, and class discussions are "elevated."
Read the full story. |     | | | | | | 2. Desperate to fill jobs |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | More than 5% of all U.S. job postings on the site Indeed are trying to lure applicants with hiring perks like cash bonuses, per new data. The big picture: That sounds like a small percentage, but it represents hundreds of thousands of jobs across several industries and states, Erica writes. Why it matters: Businesses of all sizes have started posting scores of open roles as the country reopens post-pandemic. But they're still struggling to fill them as workers stay home to avoid the risk of infection or to take care of children. Some also still have a financial cushion from recently expired unemployment benefits. - And the desperation is getting worse. The share of postings offering incentives and bonuses to take a job — or even just take an interview — has more than doubled since this time last year, when it was 2.3%.
What to watch: Many businesses — such as fast-food restaurants — have cut hours or menu offerings to deal with staff shortages. Look for that to continue as they keep struggling to fill jobs. - And worker shortages could get even worse due to vaccine mandates if some people quit when they're told they need to get the jab to keep the job.
Share this story. | | | | | | | | 3. What we're driving |  | | | The interior of the 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Photo: Stellantis | | | | The $110,000 Jeep Grand Wagoneer is the largest, fanciest Jeep ever, with a spectacular interior bathed in dark walnut and supple leather that's outfitted with every tech gizmo you could want, transportation correspondent Joann Muller writes. The big picture: The Stellantis-owned brand known for its iconic Jeep Wrangler already reached down to the low end of the SUV market with the Cherokee, Compass and Renegade. - Now it's pushing the other end of the spectrum, taking on premium models like the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator.
Details: The stately, upright Grand Wagoneer is massive and hard to maneuver — though the 360-degree, bird's-eye camera helps — yet it's surprisingly refined and comfortable on the highway. - It's powered by a 6.4-liter V-8 engine which gets an EPA-rated 13/18 mpg city/highway.
- It comes in five trim levels, ranging from about $90,000 to $110,000. (A slightly less grand model — the similarly sized Jeep Wagoneer — starts around $69,000.)
There are screens everywhere — including a 10-inch front passenger screen with a special privacy filter to prevent driver distraction. - The Grand Wagoneer and Wagoneer are the first to come with Amazon Fire TV for Auto, which lets passengers stream content from Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, among others.
- When you sync the system to an existing Amazon account, you can even pause programming in your home and resume watching in the car.
- A fun feature lets kids track the trip's progress, and the time to destination, just as airline passengers can.
- There's also a rear-seat monitoring system that lets drivers see passengers seated behind them on a video feed.
The bottom line: You have to wonder if it's worth spending $110,000 on a Jeep, but if you've got the money, the Grand Wagoneer won't leave you wanting more. Read the full story. | | | | | | | | A message from Google Cloud | | Explore what's now and what's next at Google Cloud Next | | |  | | | | From live Q&As with experts to hands-on demos and real-world applications of the latest Google Cloud tech, explore the possibilities at Next '21. Get informed, be inspired and expand your expertise. Register now to build a customized experience. | | | | | | 4. Katie Couric book bombshells: The scorecard so far |  | | | Katie Couric, holding book, attends a book party for Laurie Gelman (left) in July in Water Mill, New York. Soon, others may be holding Couric's own memoir with similar facial expressions. Photo: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images | | | | Barely a day goes by without another juicy/eyebrow-raising story about what Katie Couric has to say in her forthcoming autobiography, "Going There," which comes out on Oct. 26, Jennifer writes. The intrigue: Forget perky (as the former "Today" co-anchor was perennially and somewhat cloyingly known). Let's take a look at who Couric does (and doesn't) throw under the bus: - Ruth Bader Ginsburg: In 2016, RBG told Couric that athletes who knelt during the national anthem showed "contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life … which they probably could not have lived in the places they came from."
- Per the Daily Mail, Couric withheld those comments because she "wanted to protect Ginsburg" and said the 83-year-old Supreme Court justice was "elderly and probably didn't fully understand the question."
- Matt Lauer: Couric says she knew her former colleague was "a player," "a flirt" and "unhappy in his marriage" but didn't have firsthand knowledge of the sexual harassment issues that tanked his career, per People magazine.
- Prince Harry: Couric writes that at a polo match around 2012, "a strong aroma of alcohol and cigarettes seemed to ooze from [his] every pore," per the New York Post.
- Martha Stewart: Couric says it took "some healthy humbling (prison will do that . . .) to develop a sense of humor," according to The Daily Mail.
What's next: Couric will go on an 11-city book tour. Read the full story. | | | | | | | | 5. Photo of the day |  | | | The Roman Colosseum, post-facelift. Photo: Erica Pandey/Axios | | | | What's Next: European monuments, restored! Erica Pandey writes: "Here's a bit of pandemic-era silver lining: Many historical sites temporarily closed or saw sharp declines in foot traffic during COVID, leaving time for overdue restorations and renovations. "Take the Roman Colosseum: The pandemic allowed Italy to carry out some much-needed restorations in the underground area — the labyrinth of rooms and corridors under the original arena floor, where gladiators and animals would wait to fight. "On top of that, Italy just approved a $22 million project to rebuild a [retractable] floor at the Colosseum to restore it to its original glory. When that's complete, visitors will be able to stand where the gladiators once did, and Rome will once again host cultural events at the Colosseum." | | | | | | | | A message from Google Cloud | | Looking for your next cloud insights? Join Google Cloud Next | | |  | | | | Join Next '21 to experience live Q&As with leading experts and hands-on demos with the latest Google Cloud tech. This no-cost digital event lets you explore new possibilities, get informed, be inspired, and expand your expertise. Register now. | | | | Thanks for reading! If this email was forwarded to you, feel free sign up for Axios What's Next here. |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201 | | | You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios.
Change your preferences or unsubscribe here. | | | Was this email forwarded to you?
Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox. | | | | Follow Axios on social media:    | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment