Rocket Man enthralls
DUBAI 2 May 2018: The first-ever city-themed song composed by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) – Ode to Dubai – was unveiled yesterday at the opening of Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference (GISEC) 2018.
Also on demonstration was ‘Real-Life Iron Man’ Richard Browning in his flight suit.
Future Technology Week took to the air, the airwaves and online with an appearance from a real-life Tony Stark and the unveiling of the first-ever city-themed song composed by an Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dubai Police also marked Day One with the launch of a new platform for reporting cybercrime.
Iron Man
Richard Browning, an ex-Royal Marine with the British Armed Forces, showed why he has earned the title of the ‘Real-life Iron Man’ with a demonstration of his body-controlled jet engine power suit. ‘Daedulus Mark I’ is a specially-designed exoskeleton flight suit that incorporates five miniature jet engines – two mounted on each arm and one in a backpack.
Richard Browning, Founder and Chief Test Pilot, Gravity Industries, commented: “Within the past year we’ve delivered over 50 talks and flights in more than 16 countries. It’s been a real pleasure to be able to add Dubai to our line-up – showcasing the next stages of aeronautical innovation at the Future Tech conference.”
Browning, who already holds a Guinness World Record for the ‘fastest speed in a body-controlled jet suit after clocking 51.53km/h, demonstrated the capabilities of his suit with a ‘fly pass’ at DWTC, showing he has the power – each engine provides 22kg of thrust – to achieve vertical take-off and control the direction and speed of flight using his arms. Browning explained how his specially designed helmet includes a display informing him of fuel levels, safety performance indicators and incorporates WIFI for ground monitoring.
Over the next three days, more than 7,500 infosec professionals will gather to network, knowledge share and trade, while 60-plus experts will address over 100 talks on everything from the future of AI to national cybersecurity agendas, and smart city implementation.
Special Hunt
A Special Hunt Team of ‘ethical hackers’ from Europe operating against cybercriminals will also descend to talk about their ethical offensive work against criminal gangs.
Middle East and Africa (MEA) cybersecurity market forecast to reach US$ 34.6 billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.6 per cent, according to leading-industry market research and consultancy firm Mordor Intelligence.
Ode to Dubai
In addition, IoTX 2018 demonstrated how it is fully in tune with the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the unveiling of ‘Ode to Dubai’ the first song to fully composed by AI and dedicated to a city.
A collaboration between show organisers and Aiva Technologies, a leading European Artificial Intelligence (AI) music composition startup, ‘Ode to Dubai’ has been created using Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist (Aiva), which composes original classical scores for film, advertising and gaming soundtracks.
The ground-breaking song was composed based on the algorithms of 30,000 symphonic music scores from history’s greatest composers including Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.
Following the unveiling of ‘Ode to Dubai’, Aiva’s CEO, Pierre Barreau, a computer scientist, award-nominated film director and registered composer, delivered a keynote address asking whether Aiva is “the greatest composer of all time.”
“Personalised music will be the next single biggest change in how we consume and create music. Imagine if we could bring Beethoven back to life, so that he could write your life soundtrack based on your personality and your story. It’s in the spirit of that vision that we tasked Aiva to compose the world’s first personalised anthem for a city,” said Barreau.
Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chairman of Police and Public Security in Dubai, opened the regional information security conference and exhibition – which runs concurrently with Internet of Things Expo (IoTX) under the umbrella of Future Technology Week from 1 – 3 May at Dubai World Trade Centre, said Wam.