This week’s roundup of top data news highlights from January 24, 2026, to January 30, 2026, includes VR tools that let students interact with Holocaust survivor testimonies and smartphone-based AI systems that detect radiation using a device’s camera.
San Francisco-based engineer Richard Hwang has built an AI-powered app called SnowSignals that helps skiers decide where to ski by analyzing trail-level snow conditions. Drawing on weather data, terrain characteristics, sun exposure, and skier traffic, the app estimates which runs still offer soft snow and which have likely turned icy or uneven. Currently only available in California as part of an early regional rollout, SnowSignals targets recreational skiers who often rely on guesswork or outdated trail reports.
New York-based robotics startup Fauna has built a small, soft-bodied humanoid robot called Sprout, designed to work safely in environments such as hotels, elder-care facilities, and private homes. Standing just over three feet tall and wrapped in foam with expressive eyebrows, Sprout uses built-in cameras, a microphone, and touch sensors to understand its environment, recognize human cues, and move safely as it performs basic assistive tasks. Early partners are using Sprout to explore tasks such as checking the break‑room fridge inventory, grabbing a toy for a child, and delivering small items across an office.
3. Heating Universities with Data Centers
The Technological University of Dublin’s Tallaght campus has expanded its partnership with nearby Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers to heat dormitories and lecture halls. Excess heat from the AWS data centers is collected through their water-based cooling system, which produces a steady stream of warm water. That water is then pumped through insulated district-heating pipes to the Tallaght campus, where heat exchanges transfer the energy into the university’s existing heating system for dorms and classrooms. The system now supplies most of the university’s heating.
4. Renewing Prescriptions without Physician
New York-based health-tech startup Doctrinic has launched early clinical deployments of an AI-powered physician system that handles prescription renewals for routine, well-defined conditions such as chronic medications in Utah. The platform reviews patient data, symptoms, and medical histories to recommend evidence-based care, while human physicians continue to oversee complex or high-risk cases. By automating predictable tasks with built-in safety checks and full auditability, the system aims to reduce clinician burnout and appointment backlogs.
5. Preserving Holocaust Survivors Stories
The British charity Holocaust Educational Trust has built an AI-powered, VR-based storytelling system to support Holocaust education for K–12 students in the United Kingdom. The project preserves firsthand testimonies and enables students to interact with lifelike digital representations of survivors, ask questions, and explore reconstructed locations from their past. The AI model draws on recorded interviews to generate context-appropriate responses within immersive VR environments. Educators see the technology as a way to maintain authenticity while combating historical amnesia for future generations.
6. Simulating Electric Vehicles Testing
Researchers at Graz University of Technology in Austria, working with Canada-based mobility technology company Magna, have built a driving simulator to accelerate autonomous electric vehicle development. The system recreates real-world traffic, weather, and road conditions using a motion-platform cockpit, photorealistic virtual environments, and AI-generated traffic behavior. The simulator enables developers to repeatedly test challenging scenarios, such as sudden pedestrian crossings, in a controlled setting to refine autonomous‑driving algorithms.
7. Browsing the Web Without Lifting a Finger
Google has launched a new Chrome AI agent that can autonomously browse the web and complete multi-step online tasks with minimal user involvement. Built on Google’s Gemini models, the agent navigates websites, fills out forms, gathers information, and performs actions like booking appointments or comparing products. Currently available in preview to paid Chrome AI subscribers, the system includes guardrails that limit sensitive actions, signaling Google’s gradual move toward hands-off web interaction.
8. Automating NATO Countries’ Border Defense
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has started building an unmanned defense zone along parts of its eastern flank to address security risks near Russia’s borders. The initiative focuses on defensive surveillance, deploying autonomous drones, ground robots, and AI-enabled sensor networks to monitor airspace and terrain. These systems share data in real-time to detect intrusions and track movement without placing soldiers in harm’s way. NATO officials argue the project could strengthen deterrence and response speed.
9. Changing How Visually Impaired People See Themselves
Netherlands-based assistive-technology company Envision has created a new AI-powered app feature that helps visually impaired users understand their appearance. Using a smartphone camera and computer-vision models, the app describes facial expressions, clothing, hairstyles, and grooming details through real-time audio feedback. Users can ask follow-up questions, such as whether an outfit matches or hair looks neat, creating a more interactive experience. Early adopters say the tool offers greater independence and confidence in social and professional settings.
10. Detecting Radiation with a Smartphone
Researchers at Hiroshima University in Japan have built a radiation-detection system that uses a smartphone camera and an AI model instead of specialized hardware. When harmful radiation hits the phone’s camera sensor, the tool picks up tiny visual patterns that the AI model can identify, classify, and measure. The technology could still provide quick, practical readings in emergency situations, such as helping first responders check for elevated levels after a nuclear accident.
