Blog

Scam Indicator protects Australians from scam and fraud

Scam Indicator Australians lost over $3B to scams in 2022, and has been increasing by up to 80% year-on-year. I’m excited to share the product our team has been working on, the Scam Indicator, which is set to significantly cut down the amount lost to phone scams. Vicky Brady (CEO Telstra) and Matt Comyn (CEO Commonwealth Bank of Australia) put out a joint media release highlighting the benefits of the collaboration between our product team Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

An interview with my deepfake Digital Twin

An interview with my deepfake digital twin I was involved in running a generative AI workshop, together with a group of colleagues, to train others in our business on how best to leverage these technologies. What better way to introduce the session than an “interview” between myself and my deepfake digital twin. Here is the video of the demonstration: It’s been almost two years since I first sent an AI assistant to attend a meeting Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

Deepfake Virtual Assistant

Deepfake Virtual Assistant Deepfakes are synthetically created videos, that use deep learning to swap the likeness of one person with another. When I was asked to host our team’s monthly showcase, I asked myself a question- is there a better way to do this? (note: turn on audio). I created a “virtual assistant” who was able to host the meeting for me. The agent wasn’t technically a technically a deeepfake, but rather an example of Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

MilCIS 2019

MilCIS 2019 I was invited back to MilCIS to present on the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence from Telstra Labs, covering video analytics and data driven applications. Telstra also presented on new collaboration tools, 5G, and our Connected Supply Chain project. Exciting new developments included a demonstration of retina-level VR headsets, the new HoloLens 2 and an Explosive Ordnance Disposal robot. Telstra Edge Computing and Video Analytics I was asked to present a range of Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

RTX 2080Ti – Next Generation GPU

RTX 2080Ti NVIDIA has released the latest generation of graphics cards, and I have acquired a unit for use as part of the Proof of Concepts I am conducting. I’ll be using this card together with the external GPU housing to provide a portable environment for inferencing (running object detection on top of real time video). It provides significantly more computational power than our current consumer grade cards. Ray tracing Typically past generations of NVIDIA Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

CAPE – Drone Aerial Telepresence

CAPE Cape is an aerial telepresence platform, designed for the ultra-low latency control of UAVs from remote operation centres. What does this mean? Cape allows users to fly a drone, from the other side of the world in real time! Use cases include emergency operations, asset inspection and virtual tourism. I had the opportunity to fly several CAPE missions at Comms Connect 2018, using RGB and thermal cameras in Ensanada, Mexico. Telco Interest Telstra Ventures Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

Comms Connect 2018

Comms Connect 2018 I attended Comms Connect together with the wider Telstra Public Safety team. Telstra’s shared its vision for how the Public Safety Mobile Broadband would best be orchestrated, and capabilities Telstra already posseses to enable this. Telstra also presented the work we have done with our Cell on Wings, Search and Rescue (AI) work, Telstra Push to Talk and CAPE capabilities. Search and Rescue Cell on Wings CAPE Search and Rescue Fantastic customer Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

Cruzr Rundle Mall Store Launch

Rundle Mall Store Opening Cruzr (Telstra’s Humanoid Robot) and I headed out to South Australia to support the re-opening of the state’s flagship store. Cruzr attended an exclusive preview event the night before, and met the key stakeholders in Telstra Retail. The next morning, Cruzr was set up and ready to go. A coffee cart had been organised, and Cruzr would be partnered up with the barista for the day. Cruzr is able to greet Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

Humanoid Robotics

Humanoid Robotics Humanoid robots provide artificial intelligence with a physical point of presence, allowing chatbots to escape the screen, blurring the lines between the digital and physical world. As part of Telstra’s humanoid program of work, I’ve had the opportunity to work on the Cruzr humanoid robotic platform, manufactured by UBTECH, one of the largest robotics companies globally. Prior to this, I also worked on Softbank’s NAO and Pepper robots. Nao Softbank Cruzr Concierge We Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago

Search and Rescue

Search and Rescue Telstra has built a UAV swarm in-house, for surveying and search and rescue applications. The swarm is made up of 9 drones which fly together in concert. With such rich aerial data sets and video available in real time, how might we better augment emergency response operations? Myself and a colleague Ravi Singh were asked to evaluate different technologies options to enable search and rescue operations for the swarm. We kicked off Read more…

By lucastamatescu, ago