1. TOYOTA WILL BRING ROBOTS TO THE OLYMPICS: Toyota, one of the sponsors of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Toyko, will deploy robots at the games that will perform tasks such as serving drinks, taking attendees to their seats, and retrieving sports equipment on a field. Some robots also offer virtual reality for events that people can’t attend. Advertising Age: “Consider the newly developed T-TR1. A remote location communication robot, it resembles an oversized upright vacuum cleaner with a tall vertical display screen where the dust bag would be. The idea is to beam a life-size, real-time video of a person unable to attend the games onto the screen and have the robot roam the Olympic venues so the person can participate virtually. The human can interact with the surroundings through a 360-degree camera crowning the robot.” 2. MUSIC INDUSTRY VETERANS HOPE TO UNSEAT TRUMP WITH 46 CONCERTS IN 46 CITIES: Kyle Frenette and Christopher Moon, two music industry veterans and activists, are launching a new initiative called 46 for 46, a series of 46 concerts in 46 U.S. cities leading up to the 2020 election. The goal of the series is to unseat President Donald Trump, targeting voters in swing states that went to Trump in 2016. Billboard: “Frenette is adamant that 46 for 46 is partisan, and reiterates that his main goal with the campaign is to get people out to vote for the Democratic candidate, whoever that ends up being. As part of this push to boost turnout, the campaign will have fans ‘Pledge 46’ in 2020, whether that means chatting with 46 people in their social circle about the Democratic nominee, donating money to the party or the candidate’s campaign ($4, $6 or $46 are the suggested amounts), or volunteering 46 hours of their time to canvassing, phone banking, and other get out the vote efforts. The pledge additionally includes a commitment to keep working for progressive Democratic candidates up and down the ballot in future elections.” 3. NEW EVENT ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO FIND LOCH NESS MONSTER: Echoing a recent Facebook joke where an event was created and promised to storm Area 51, a new event on the platform is encouraging people to find the Loch Ness monster. Around 21,000 people have RSVP'd to the event, called "Storm Loch Ness, Nessie can't hide from us all,” which is scheduled for September 21. Gemma McDonald, a spokesperson for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, said there is no need to storm Loch Ness, as it’s open to the public all year round. CNN: “Though she encouraged everyone interested to come to the Loch, McDonald cautions visitors to respect the water—and whatever dangers potentially lie within. ‘Our team knows the Loch incredibly well, but they would never be complacent about it and would say themselves that Loch Ness' real monster is cold water shock,’ McDonald said." | 