This week’s list of top data news highlights covers November 8, 2025 to November 14, 2025 and includes articles on investigating otherworldly life and talking to avatars of deceased friends and families.
Speak, a language technology company based in South Korea, has developed a voice-based AI tutor that helps nonnative speakers practice speaking in a new language. The app uses OpenAI-powered models to role play situations like ordering food or asking for directions, track pronunciation, and automatically update lesson plans based on each user’s performance. The platform helps people build conversational fluency and confidence across multiple languages.
2. Building Smart Contact Lenses
Xpanceo, a Dubai-based wearable-tech company, has built smart contact-lens prototypes that combine augmented vision with health monitoring. The lens has thin sensors that measure things like glucose levels or eye pressure from the surface of the eye and send that data to a small wireless device on the body for processing. It also contains a tiny display built inside the lens that shows simple digital overlays directly in the user’s normal field of view.
3. Hauling Freight Autonomously
Einride, a freight-technology company based in Sweden, has developed an autonomous electric trucking fleet that helps companies reduce carbon output and improve freight efficiency. The trucks are managed by Einride’s own software, which plans routes, schedules shipments, and tracks vehicle operations in real time. Some trucks operate without drivers using Einride’s autonomous system, while others are driven by humans. By replacing diesel trucks with electric vehicles and using software to cut empty miles and streamline logistics, Einride lowers emissions and increases delivery efficiency.
Robyn, a U.S.-based mental-health technology startup, has developed an AI chatbot designed to help users reflect on their personal lives by analyzing their conversations and identifying patterns in their thoughts and behaviors. The app uses an onboarding questionnaire and a memory system informed by human-learning research to remember user details, analyze conversation patterns, and generate insights on traits such as attachment style.
WisdomAI, a U.S. data-analytics startup, has developed an AI tool that allows employees to query their organization’s internal data and get answers directly from their company’s files. The tool uses AI to turn a user’s natural-language question into a database query, while the system learns the layout of that company’s data so it can pull answers from spreadsheets, documents, and even messy or incomplete files without ever mixing it with another customer’s information. By pulling answers straight from verified data, the platform provides up-to-date insights as changes occur.
6. Investigating Life on Other Planets
Researchers at Durham University are helping design a new high-resolution camera for a new NASA telescope to help find and study Earth-like planets. The problem is that the stars next to rocky planets can be so bright that they wash out the faint light coming from the planets, making it almost impossible for researchers to see or study them properly. The team is building an imaging system that blocks the star’s glare so the telescope can zoom in on those planets and more precisely capture details about them.
7. Talking with Deceased Relatives
2Wai, a startup based in Los Angeles, has launched an app that creates interactive avatars of loved ones based on the photos, videos, and voice recordings users already have. The digital avatars can talk, respond to questions, and carry on simple conversations in the style of the person they’re modeled after. By turning personal archives into lifelike AI characters, the platform shows how new avatar tools are reshaping how people preserve and interact with family memories.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego, have developed a flexible electronic sticker that measures vitamin C levels from sweat. The patch uses a gel to pull sweat from the fingertips, powers itself with a built-in cell, and sends sensor readings wirelessly through a low-energy Bluetooth circuit. The technology could make nutrition tracking more accessible, effortless, and affordable.
9. Reducing Spaceflight Motion Sickness
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a VR system to help astronauts avoid motion sickness during their return to Earth. The headset shows a simulated window view of how the space capsule is moving so the brain can better align visual and balance signals. In tests mimicking capsule movements, participants using the headset experienced far less nausea than those without any motion cues.
10. Optimizing Waste Collection
VYS, a waste-management technology company based in South Korea, has deployed an AI platform, Mango, to support commercial waste collection and transportation operations. Waste-management companies can use the system to plan and adjust daily collection routes, track their trucks through GPS, and review driving logs and reports. The platform also flags when a vehicle strays from its route, estimates how much waste will be collected, and suggests the most efficient dispatch plan using AI.
