Innovation in perspective

A British company called Speechmatics is working to build more accurate technology to turn spoken words into text across a wide range of different languages. We explore how the system might help journalists in the future.

The growth of Facebook Live and the continued popularity of video on social media platforms opens the door for new ways to tell stories visually. We get some ideas from Adam Banicki, senior producer at Vice Media.

The startup Populace uses data from social media and other sources to display crowd densities at various locations across urban areas. As a result, the system could make it possible for journalists to find out automatically whenever an unusually large crowd gathers in a public place. We find out how it works from founder and CEO Chris Hawk.

The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet developed an algorithm guided partially by editors and partially by reader preferences that delivers a personalized home page for each website visitor. Editor-in-Chief Fredric Karén credits the technology with a significant boost in online traffic and digital subscriptions.

LivingLens offers an artificial intelligence-driven technology that can enable clients to search for specific emotions or sentiments within video files. Co-founder and CEO Carl Wong tells us how it works.

SoundByte is a social app that allows users to record and share audio with followers around the world, 14 seconds at a time. We find out how it works from co-founder and CEO Dan Kearns.

Vice News has set itself apart from traditional broadcast news outlets with a more cinematic approach to its visual report. We find out how they do it from Maral Usefi, director/producer at Vice News Tonight.

Although GIF files are often used in a lighthearted way, Public Radio International's global affairs program "The World" uses looping GIF animations as conversation starters to help tell serious news stories. Steven Davy, multimedia editor at "The World," tells us how they do it.

As journalists increasingly see the need to keep communications private, many are turning to apps that enable encrypted messaging. But how do you know if the app you chose actually does the job? We share some advice about key features from staff members at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Roundabout is a tool for creating customized, continually updated feeds of social media content from multiple accounts and platforms. The resulting collection of posts can be embedded within a webpage, enabling online viewers to see the grouped social media content all in one place. We find out how it works from CEO Rogier Visser.