Hola,
 

Every once in a while, we come across a patent at CB Insights that seems to capture the zeitgeist perfectly.
 

Our patent search engine caught a patent application by Sony for a “feeling deduction unit,” aka a fuzzy robot that cheers you on while you play video games (and gets appropriately angry when your Fortnite avatar gets iced in the first few minutes). 

Seems like the perfect quarantine buddy, no? (Read more about it in Patent of the Week below). 

Shop it like it’s hot 

Cost efficiency, boosting online sales, and improving conversion rates are major retail themes amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and will continue to be for the rest of 2020. 

Clients can take a look at our 41-page shopper engagement trends report here.

Tracking the future

We’ve put together a list of the world’s most successful VCs. The heatmap below tracks where the group of Smart Money VCs has made bets through early-stage deals over the past 5 years, indicating where they see the future of tech going. 

Gotta. go. fast.

Clinical trial players are scrambling to adapt to the effects of Covid-19.

Expert Intelligence clients can take a look at technologies that could enable faster, more effective clinical trials here.

Feeling lonely? A recently published Sony patent application details designs for a “feeling deduction unit” — in essence, a fuzzy-looking companion robot that can intuit a gamer’s feelings and respond appropriately.

Digital video game spending hit a record $10B in March. It’s no surprise that video game play has surged during social distancing, especially gaming that allows players to connect virtually.

Sony’s amorphous friend could help provide connection and support to users by cheering them on or even letting them know when they’ve stayed up too late gaming. Just don’t get on the robot’s bad side — if you treat it poorly, it can learn to ignore or even antagonize you. 

Read our full brief on the patent here. Clients can also delve into our recent analyses of the gaming and robotics industries.

Have a great rest of the week.

P.S. We're hiring a senior front-end engineer. See the job here.