Press

Virtual personal assistants like Siri are becoming widespread. They understand user intents expressed in natural language and respond by connecting users with services that hopefully fulfill those intents. But for many consumer needs such as banking, retail, and healthcare, just getting to the service isn’t enough. Consumers have difficulty getting things done in the service, especially when…

In 2012, with funding from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, SRI Education researchers set out to examine changes unfolding in K-12 classrooms around the nation. We focused on the effectiveness of blended learning models in a sample of K-12 schools in California and Louisiana. We looked at the combination of traditional teacher-led instruction with online…

This week SRI International launched Kasisto, a new venture that integrates conversational capabilities into enterprise mobile products. This means companies can now create branded and configurable virtual personal assistants (VPAs) with deep domain knowledge to provide a fully automated, human-like interaction within their mobile applications. Kasisto will initially focus on the financial services market. The company unveiled…

SRI researchers found that when curriculum materials explicitly support the features and practices called for within the new science standards—such as including opportunities for students to engage in science practice—teachers can implement the new standards, and students learn more. The goal of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is to focus students on doing science. The…

Since early 2013, SRI Biosciences, with support from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, has been gearing up to establish a Phase 1 clinical trial facility in Plymouth, Michigan, located squarely in the state’s “Life Sciences Corridor.” The facility will meet an important translational need for government and industry clients and partners, particularly small biotech companies that need early-stage human…

Computer vision—emulation of the human visual system—is enabling groundbreaking advances that allow computers to act and react like humans. Applications for computer vision range from monitoring activities at crowded events, to warning drivers of imminent danger, to self-steered robots that can navigate objects easily. For decades, SRI’s computer vision researchers have pioneered development of technologies…

Understanding Clinical Drug Resistance at the Cellular Level Ninety-five percent of experimental cancer treatments fail during clinical development, with seventy percent of them proving to be ineffective in late phase II clinical trials. The scientific community agrees that a major reason for this failure is the lack of preclinical models that can accurately mimic cancer…

Since 2009, SRI Education has been funded by the James Irvine Foundation to evaluate the California Linked Learning District Initiative, an innovative approach to transforming the high school education experience through a combination of rigorous academics and work-based learning opportunities. Intended to make high school both engaging and relevant, the initiative’s goal is to effectively provide…

Children come to school with curiosity and questions about their world. As educators, we need to keep children curious and excited throughout their schooling—encouraging them to explore their environment, ask questions, make predictions about what they think will happen and why, and test those predictions. Toward this end, states have collaborated to develop a completely…

Community colleges may provide a smoother transition to the academic and social challenges that can arise in a university setting. These institutions may be particularly appealing for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) to pursue postsecondary education while still remaining at home, where they have the continuity of family support and a consistent environment. To…