☕ Level the playing field

5G football helmet aids in breaking comms barriers.

May 08, 2024 SPONSORED BY It's Wednesday. AT&T developed a prototype football helmet to help deaf and hard-of-hearing players receive play calls right before their eyes. Tech Brew's Kelcee Griffis talked to a coach and player from the team utilizing the tech. In today's edition: 5G could literally change the game for this college football team Biden admin announces plan to shell out $285m for digital twins of semiconductors White House pledges $100m to aid EV transition —Kelcee Griffis, Patrick Kulp, Jordyn Grzelewski, Annie Saunders CONNECTIVITY Eligible receivers Amanda Joy Photographics Chuck Goldstein, head coach of the Gallaudet University Bison football team, will never forget the day in October when he watched quarterback Brandon Washington complete a 70-yard touchdown run during a home game in Washington, DC. It wasn't just an impressive athletic feat: It also proved that a prototype of a connected helmet actually works. "Talk about pressure to win a game," Goldstein said onstage Monday at the CTIA 5G Summit. "We couldn't use this technology and equipment and lose. And everything was just the way it was supposed to be." The NCAA Division III athletic program partnered with AT&T over the last two years to test a connected helmet that allows players to receive play calls through an eyepiece instead of relying on spoken commands or maintaining a line of sight with a coach. That's particularly important for the Bison because deaf and hard-of-hearing students make up 95% of Gallaudet's population, Sam Atkinson, Gallaudet's associate athletic director for communications, told Tech Brew. For Washington, who is hard of hearing, receiving the visual cues gave him additional confidence that he was passing along the right directions to his teammates on the field—at least once he got used to using the tech. "The first game, I was a little nervous, because it was raining and we never use it in practice. But after the third play, I scored a 70-yard touchdown. I was obviously good. I shook everything off, and I was ready to go," he told Tech Brew. Keep reading here.—KG SPONSORED BY UPWAY Spoke-tacular deals We'll save you the research. If you're lookin' to spend less on your next e-bike purchase, Upway is tough to beat. Just how good are the prices, you may ask? Up to 60% off retail. As the No. 1 e-bike provider, Upway has a range of top-tier brands like Specialized, Giant, and Aventon. Plus, they all get delivered to your home within a week and are backed by a one-year warranty. Not to mention all the benefits that come with riding an e-bike, like: improved cardiovascular health a reduced carbon footprint less money spent on public transportation and rideshare apps elevated endorphin levels (hello, happy peptides) Feel the difference these benefits make in your day-to-day. Take $100 off your Upway e-bike with code BREW2024. TECH POLICY Twice as nice Natalyaburova/Getty Images Digital twins have proven to be a popular tool for everything from city planning to focus group research. Now, the US government wants to use these virtual replicas of physical objects to supercharge chip manufacturing. The Biden administration announced this week that it's seeking proposals for projects that develop digital twins of semiconductors, in hopes of a more collaborative and efficient design process. These projects will be part of a new institute under the Department of Commerce, with up to $285 million in funding through the CHIPS and Science Act, Biden's multibillion-dollar legislative boost to the domestic semiconductor industry. The call comes as the generative AI craze has led to soaring demand for AI-specific chips, while the design process has grown increasingly complex and difficult. Some companies are exploring how AI itself can be deployed toward improving this stage. The Biden administration said digital twins will help make this technology more viable, among other benefits such as increased remote collaboration and better testing. "Digital twin technology can accelerate the costly and time-consuming work to develop the next generation of robust manufacturing for this extraordinarily complicated product," Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a statement. Keep reading here.—PK FUTURE OF TRAVEL Electric aid Jeff Kowalsky/Getty Images As the EV transition emerges as a contentious issue in the 2024 presidential election, the Biden administration aims to sweeten the deal for small- and medium-sized auto suppliers in the Midwest. Vice President Kamala Harris, as part of a national tour to tout the White House's economic agenda that brought her to Detroit on Monday, announced $100 million in federal funding to help those businesses and their workforces navigate the EV transition. The money is designated for two separate programs: The first is the Department of Energy's Automotive Conversion Grants Program, which will get $50 million to aid its mission of partnering with states to assist small- and medium-sized automotive suppliers transition from making parts for internal combustion engine vehicles to supplying EVs. The other $50 million, per the White House, is slated for DOE's Industrial Assessments Center Implementation Grants program, which gives grants of up to $300,000 to companies to upgrade their facilities. Keep reading here.—JG TOGETHER WITH UPTEMPO Be prepared to plan…and pivot. Steadiness in uncertain times is an in-demand skill these days. That's why Uptempo built a crash course on it. Learn the key steps to strategic planning and scenario planning, plus strategies for improving plans using performance data. Sign up and start learning. BITS AND BYTES Stat: Nearly 40%. That's the percentage of plastic production that goes toward tossable plastic packaging and foodware, Grist reported in a piece about efforts to introduce reusable options to replace single-use plastic. Quote: "The spirit of Clippy is everywhere…The worthless alerts, the aggressively wrong search results, the endless nattering of predictive text—the phantom foot on the brake pedal, stepping on it before the driver even wants to: Clippy has taken control."—Tom Scocca, in an essay in Flaming Hydra about software features that "help." Read: Republicans are pulling out all the stops to reverse EV adoption (The Verge) Nice ride: That's what you'll hear when you hit the road with an e-bike from Upway. Shop leading brands up to 60% off retail price. While you're at it, get $100 off with code BREW2024.* *A message from our sponsor. JOBS Break free from the job-board cycle. CollabWORK connects you with relevant job openings curated specifically for communities you're already part of—like Tech Brew. Find high-quality opportunities and land your next big break by joining CollabWORK today. Senior Product Manager at Sixfold (hybrid) Technical Product Marketing Manager at a leading Data Analytics company (hybrid) Engineer II / Senior / Specialist, Systems at General Dynamics Electric Boat (in person) SHARE THE BREW Share Tech Brew with your coworkers, acquire free Brew swag, and then make new friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We're saying we'll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 Click to Share Or copy & paste your referral link to others: emergingtechbrew.com/r/?kid=b3968dba Written by Kelcee Griffis, Patrick Kulp, Jordyn Grzelewski, and Annie Saunders Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.   Guide → What is AI?   Guide → What is 5G? 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