Tech Talk: An exciting night of science

The annual Researchers Night in Israel tested Israelis’ brain capabilities and determined how much we pay attention to the details around us.

By ARIEL SHAPIRA
Network cables connected to routers (illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Network cables connected to routers (illustrative)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Researchers Night
In the modern world of information, it seems like our capacity to pay attention to anything is deteriorating at a startling speed.
With so many stimuli constantly distracting us, we are paying less and less attention to details. The annual Researchers Night in Israel, which this year focused on neuroscience, tested Israelis’ brain capabilities and determined how much we pay attention to the details around us. Over 4,000 participants took part in the two-week program sponsored by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, which culminated in an evening during which the results of the experiment were revealed.
During the days leading up to Researchers Night, Israeli science research institutions opened their doors to the public free of charge, as they offered a variety of activities for the whole family, including face-to-face meetings with Israeli scientists, children’s activities, tours of laboratories, lectures, experiential workshops, performances, and scientific demonstrations.
Dr. Ricardo Tarrasch, of the Tel Aviv University School of Education and the School of Neuroscience, together with master of senses Lior Suchard, created a video that presented three short experiments that involved senses, illusions of colors and illusions of the mind. After viewing the video, participants were asked a number of short questions to check how well they’d been paying attention.
Not many of the viewers had noticed any of the changes which had occurred in the background during the video, such as the color of the tablecloth, the clothes people were wearing, the people who were situated in the background and the background color.
“In just one day, between 20,000 and 50,000 thoughts pass through our brains, and many of them repeat themselves,” explains Tarrasch, whose research examines the connection between mindfulness meditation exercises and our ability to concentrate. “The human brain finds it very difficult to process the huge amount of information we’re exposed to and to pay attention to details. As a result, our brain usually focuses on the details that are most relevant to the task at hand. This is the basis for effective behavior in our daily lives and therefore it is very important. If we can succeed in training our brain to be more aware of thoughts, feelings, emotions and others’ behavior, we could significantly improve our ability to concentrate, which in turn would help us improve the skills we use every day while learning at school, working in the office, driving on the road and engaging with people around us.”
Adtech
The field of adtech in Israel is rapidly growing and many Israeli adtech startups are consistently coming up with good ideas. Here are five local adtech companies that are likely to shine bright in the near future:
Drippler – The app that was previously described as “techy concierge” offers personalized recommendations on apps, features, and accessories to help users make the most of smartphones, tablets and apps. Drippler connects advertisers – app developers and device/accessory manufacturers – with target audiences, allowing them to acquire high-value customers, driving high lifetime value users on a cost per install basis. This business model works great for Drippler, as the startup doubled its user base and tripled its revenue on the sixth month prior to the last funding round, where Drippler secured $4.5 million.
start A FIRE – When shared by the right person, content can go viral, spreading like wildfire throughout the Web. However, often times the original source of the content is forgotten and does not benefit. start A FIRE is a platform that provides anyone who shares content with the ability to showcase their name and brand whenever that content is shared again. Brands that are constantly looking for ways to broaden their network and further engage with the tech and VC communities, already using start A FIRE and have seen an increase in engagement and traffic to their promoted content.
In addition to receiving permanent credit for the content marketers share on the web through an attribution badge, start A FIRE also promotes their content of choice on top of the badge. start A FIRE adds an overlaid badge at the bottom corner of the screen that says “Shared By” with the company’s name, logo, and promoted content from the blog.
Cydersoft – The Mobile Video SSP which provides video monetization solutions for the mobile advertising industry through a proprietary Ad Platform, released recently Alfa Share, a powerful cross-platform digital content publishing and monetization service that anyone can use. Cydersoft is for any social network user who would like to earn money through video sharing. Social media enthusiasts can now benefit from their popularity through the videos they’re already sharing. And anyone who uses video as a core business tool, like video artists and entertainment-based websites, can also enjoy a new source of revenue. That number is growing, as digital content creators look for new ways to profit from their works.
Mabaya – We all know about approaches and strategies to place merchandise on different shelves and heights in order to grab customers’ attention. Mabaya enables online retailers and marketplaces to do the same on the digital space by presenting new ways to promote their products to relevant shoppers in premium placements across the online store.
TrenDemon – This company is a BI and Automated Optimization Saas platform for content marketing that works for marketers, advertisers, publishers and networks. TrenDemon helps by mapping and managing the customer’s digital journey. After placing TrenDemon’s code on the website, the app starts tracking users’ browsing patterns, providing insights into top performing acquisition channels and increasing users’ engagement and conversion via optimized and automated offers in real time, through various call-to-action and content recommendation units.
The company has recently raised $800,000 on a Seed Round, and is part of the IBM accelerators’ program.
If you run a young startup, have developed an interesting app or have a question, please feel free to contact info@social-wisdom.com.
Translated by Hannah Hochner.