At Mobile Marketing were proud to help tech companies showcase their cutting-edge solutions, whether its on our website, in our magazine or at our Mobile Marketing Summits. Giving a platform to companies that are breaking new ground in their market brings audiences one step closer to the ideas and developments that will shape tomorrow.

In that spirit, our Innovation Lab feature takes a step beyond the world of apps, ads and handsets with slightly bigger screens, in order to share some of the tech worlds innovative ideas. They might be interesting, disruptive or just outright strange, but these are the stories that have caught our eye over the past week.

Facebook Wants to Learn Your Cool New Slang

Facebook is looking into new software that is designed to scan through the social network looking for emerging slang and neologism, according to a new patent the company has filed. Once the cutting-edge terms are identified, they would be stored in a social glossary that would track how they spread.

The patent, which was granted in February, details how the solution would analyse posts and messages for words that are not associated with a current known meaning, then use context clues to determine what they mean, constantly updating and refining terms as they spread to wider use.

According to the patent, the software will aim to identify “slang, terms of art, portmanteaus, syllabic abbreviations, abbreviations, acronyms, names, nicknames, re-purposed words or phrases, or any other type of coined word or phrase.”

The internet has proved fertile ground for the creation and distribution of new slang terms over the years, from “ragequitting” to “Rickrolling” and the “humblebrag”. Quite why Facebook is keen to track these developments isnt clear, although its possible its for something as prosaic as improved spell-checking. Then again, its a company that is heavily invested in the way people, especially young people, communicate, so perhaps it thinks knowing the hot new lingo will give it an advantage.

Bionic Fingertip Lets Amputee Feel Textures

While the last few years have seen leaps and bounds made in the space of prosthetic design thanks to innovations in 3D printing and engineering processes, one of the most difficult things to recreate in a prosthetic is the sense of touch that would accompany interactions and serve as valuable feedback.

Researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have made a huge leap forward on that front with an artificial fingertip that connects to nerves in the patients upper arm, and enables them to distinguish between different textures.

“The stimulation felt almost like what I would feel with my hand,” said Dennis Aabo Sørensen, the amputee who worked with the scientists who develop the system. “I still feel my missing hand, it is always clenched in a fist. I felt the texture sensation at the tip of the index finger of my phantom hand.”

The development makes Sørensen the first person in the world to recognise textures using a bionic sensor. Thanks to the sensor and electrodes that were surgically implanted into his arm, he was able to distinguish between rough and smooth surfaces with 95 per cent accuracy.

New Yorks Buses Go Mobile-friendly
New Yorks most iconic public transportation may be the subway, but its buses are about to become a lot more comfortable and a lot more mobile-friendly, thanks to a $1.3bn (£913m) investment in 2,000 new state-of-the-art vehicles.

The new buses, which will begin appearing on New Yorks roads in April, will all have onboard wi-fi for public use, and include between 35 and 55 USB charging points distributed throughout the bus for charging phones and other mobile devices. The vehicles also have electronic information boards, and will make up around 40 per cent of the Metropolitan Transit Authoritys fleet once they are all in service.

“More New Yorkers than ever use our public transportation system to move through our city, and these essential upgrades will improve commutes for millions of our residents,” said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Internet access has become a necessity, not a privilege, and from charging ports to wi-fi, this new MTA fleet will provide critical tech services that New Yorkers depend on each day.”

Turn Butter into an Aerosol, Because Why Not?

Apparently, butter consumption in the US is at a 40-year high, as more people return to the traditional spread from margarine and other alternatives. However, that often means dealing with a rock-hard stick of butter thats been sitting in the fridge and now stubbornly refuses to spread across your crumpets.

The Bi?m Butter Sprayer offers a solution in the form of a device that almost instantly converts a butter stick into a sprayable aerosol for use on bread, popcorn and pans. The device, which is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, only melts what is needed for each spray, and is ready a few seconds after inserting a stick of butter.

The Bi?m also boasts a patent pending no clog nozzle and easy cleaning design, as well as a smart power switch that uses an accelerometer to know when the sprayer is being used, and switch off when its not needed.

Solve the Murder of Batmans Parents with Amazon Echo
Amazon recently extended its Echo range with some new products, but its also pushing the limits of what its Alexa AI assistant can do, with a choose-your-own-adventure game that lets you investigate the death of Batmans parents.

The game, called The Wayne Investigation, was created by Amazon in partnership with Warner Bros. and DC Comics as part of the promotions for the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film. Echo users can download it from the Amazon Skills store, then trigger it by saying “Alexa, launch The Wayne Investigation”.

The noir-tinged audio experience offers you 37 choices as you proceed through the roughly-40 minute experience, and Alexa will even chip in to offer a commentary on your detection skills. There are multiple endings to the experience, but no matter whether or not you solve the case, Alexa will offer you booking details for watching Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at your nearby cinemas.