A few days ago I called a taxi in Hamburg.
As I got in, I noticed a small box at the rear of the car.
The driver explained to me that he was using it to scan the surrounding area for free parking spaces and thus help to reduce traffic looking for a parking space.
Because in the end it benefits him by making the streets emptier, he even does it for free.
The scanner belongs to the start-up Park Now, which in turn is owned by BMW and Daimler.
In Berlin and Amsterdam, Park Now is already showing the chance of getting a parking space at a certain location at a certain time in an app.
Three more German cities are to be added on Tuesday.
Depending on the city, "a few dozen to a few hundred scanners" read in the current parking situation - simply as you drive past.
They are attached to taxis, because they are often also on back roads.
The sensors are based on lidar technology;
laser pulses are emitted and a sensor detects the backscattered light.
Icon: enlarge Photo: Henning Angerer / imago images / Hoch Zwei Stock
In addition, the scanner taxis were equipped with additional technology in order to be able to ascertain the exact location of the parking spaces and the associated parking rules and prohibitions.
Allegedly, the system can also distinguish driveways from parking spaces.
Every third car in the big city only drives around because its driver is looking for a gap.
The Germans spend 560 million hours a year just tracking down parking spaces.
There are various start-ups that want to tackle this problem, but there is one basic problem for them: Just because a parking space has just become free does not mean that it is still unoccupied when the driver receives the signal via the app got and steers his car to the supposed gap.
Well-intentioned help could quickly lead to new frustration.
Park Now only displays color-coded probabilities that the forecast model has calculated from many factors and historical and current data.
The vehicles from the production of the app owners BMW and Mercedes surprisingly do not contribute any data, the method is currently "independent of third-party data sources," says Park Now.
My taxi driver definitely loved it.
With the little box he could help the environment the more he drives around.
Because the faster other drivers can find a parking space, the shorter they run their engine.
Strange digital world: contactless board games
an anecdote by Hendrik Breuer
In autumn 2019 there was another record attendance to celebrate at SPIEL.
More than 209,000 people came to the world's most important board game fair in Essen.
This year, of course, everything is different for the analog games industry as well.
However, the game publishers are definitely among the crisis profiteers.
Compared to the previous year, 30 percent more adult games were sold in the past few months (we presented eight brand new ones at the weekend), and children's, card and logic games are also well over ten percent up.
Board games are a good way to pass the time even during a pandemic.
SPIEL is usually one of the drivers of the industry and the starting shot for the all-important Christmas business.
This year all of this has to be done virtually.
This is why SPIEL.digital is taking place for the first time from Thursday to Sunday with more than 400 exhibitors from 41 nations.
The organizers are quite big.
So you can visit every exhibitor at virtual booths and get live advice.
There will be 17 themed worlds (e.g. for children's or expert games) and a supporting program with live streams, radio broadcasts and game presentations.
In addition, visitors can test many of the new games together with the "explaining bears" that are so popular in Essen. The games have been digitized so that there will now be virtual gaming tables. Participation in the fair is free for visitors and a large part of the program is complete easily accessible via the SPIEL.digital website. However, if you want to play at the gaming tables, you should have registered with Tabletopia and Discord. Here you can find all the details for optimal preparation. This is also 2020: You play board games completely contactless!
External links: three tips from other media
"A new app for finding a partner should increase the chances of a healthy child - even before the first date" (German, six minutes to read)
A dating app uses sequenced genetic material to rule out a "match" before the first date.
Namely when certain gene constellations could collide that are more likely to lead to diseases.
The NZZ analyzes this in detail.
"Economy flying - at home on the computer" (German, two minutes' reading)
Flight simulators for the home computer have many fans.
But a game that simulates travel in the economy class?
Apparently some people also enjoy it.
In any case, it is realistic: turbulence, a poor internet connection or baby screams occur, and there is even something to eat - virtually.
"Quantum computers require completely new programming concepts" (German, radio report, 9:13 a.m. listening time)
If you are a programmer today, you will have a hard time working with quantum computers.
Because this class of computers works fundamentally differently;
even simple additions are difficult for them.
The Deutschlandfunk report describes the state of research with the new computer technology - and also what has not yet been resolved.
Get through the week healthy and at a distance,
Your Martin U. Müller
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