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Interesting Reads. Industry news that you may have missed.

Life in Plastic, It’s Fantastic. Barbie’s finally found her true calling: influencer. – The Cut

This year Barbie turns 60-years-old. Since Barbie’s first debut at the New York Toy Fair in 1959. The first one, reflected and distorted women for the past three generations. For many years, Barbie’s maker Mattel has tried to adapt the doll with the changing pace of women in our society. In 2019, Barbie has found her perfect calling – an influencer.

Source: The Cut

The Next Wave of ‘Unicorn’ Start-Ups – The New York Times

The next generation of tech start-ups is looking very different from Uber and Airbnb. The early generation of technology start-ups that quickly reached $1 billion were once rare unicorns and are now household names. The up-and-coming start-ups with names like Benchling and Blend focus on software for specific industries like farms, banks, and life sciences companies.

Source: The New York Times

It’s the Real World—With Google Maps Layered on Top – The Wall Street Journal

In this day and age, our phones know where we are at all times. Augmented reality navigation apps use a smartphone camera to get a detailed sense of where we are, which direction we’re pointed in, and what we’re looking at. In addition, the app can layer directions on top of the real world, turning navigation into an augmented-reality experience.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Tokyo’s Olympic medals are made from 47 tons of recycled electronics – Fast Company

Tokyo’s 2020 Winter Olympic Games is making a change to the coveted gold, silver, and bronze medals. An unbelievable initiative is taking place across Japan: The Medal Project. Approximately 90 percent of Japan has taken part in the collection of e-waste and other small electronics to produce more than 2,500 medals needed for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Source: Fast Company