Joining Clark on the AI 75 list are prominent figures such as Mark Cuban, being recognized for his Intro to AI Bootcamp, Dave Copps, recognized for his company’s development of Large World Models (LWMs), and Naveena Allampalli, recognized for her advisor work for startup companies within the AI field. These honorees, among dozens of others, represent the diverse spectrum of talent driving AI innovation in the dynamic DFW ecosystem which underscores the region’s commitment to pioneering cutting-edge technology. Leaders, like Clark at BALANCED, drive advancements that redefine industry standards and address societal challenges. With diverse talent and collaboration, DFW’s AI innovation promises significant progress ahead.

To see the full list of honorees in the AI 75, check out the following link:

Dallas Innovates and D CEO Magazine recently hosted the fifth annual Innovation Awards, a program designed to acknowledge and celebrate individuals and companies contributing to the growth of innovation in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The awards, presented jointly by D CEO and Dallas Innovates, encompassed 74 finalists in 17 categories and recognized outstanding achievements in technology and innovation.

BALANCED Media | Technology emerged as the recipient of the Innovation Award in AI and Machine Learning, highlighting the company’s significant contribution to advancing technology in the region.

BALANCED congratulates all this year’s nominees and finalists who are helping build and strengthen the technology landscape in Dallas-Fort Worth. 

The awards ceremony acknowledged the dedication and collaborative work of the talented individuals from BALANCED and all these organizations, shaping the future of AI and machine learning. This event celebrated everyone’s commitment at BALANCED working together to change the landscape of AI machine learning and making sure that AI is developed and administered in partnership with humans to the service of humanity.

For details on the other categories and winners, visit the link below.

The Project

The project, centered at SMU and generously funded by a non-competitive grant of more than $1,000,000, aims to address the glaring deficiencies in human trafficking data. While the need for robust, high-quality data in the domain of human trafficking is well recognized, acquiring it remains a challenge. With Dr. Corey Clark bringing his expertise and dedication to the project, SMU’s Human Trafficking Project seeks to combine a plethora of expertise to enhance the efficacy of data collection and analysis.

BALANCED Media|Technology’s Role in the Initiative

As experts in constructing human-in-the-loop interactive engines, BALANCED specializes in creating interfaces that connect players to real-world scientific data, thus helping train AI models. The collaboration with SMU, further strengthened by Dr. Clark’s insights, is poised to take this expertise to the next level. By engaging players in meaningful tasks related to real-world data, BALANCED’s systems offer an effective and efficient way to refine and train AI models, allowing them to recognize patterns and draw insights that can be transformative in areas such as human trafficking research.

Enter ‘Dark Shadows’

A novel game titled “Dark Shadows” stands as the centerpiece of this initiative. Set in a noir, detective milieu, where players delve into a “whodunit” mystery to uncover the circumstances surrounding a character’s missing brother. However, “Dark Shadows” isn’t just any game with a captivating storyline. The ingenuity of “Dark Shadows” is that it doubles up as a tool for a process known as Human Computation Gaming (HCG), wherein players contribute to training of a Machine Learning System or AI Model. Co-developed by Steph Buongiorno (who won the computer science category at SMU’s Graduate Poster Session for the game), and with key contributions from Dr. Corey Clark and BALANCED’s Interactive Media team, Players navigate through a mystery, sorting through DOJ press releases to tag entities. As they progress in the game, they’re essentially feeding the underlying AI model with invaluable data. This unique model of merging gameplay with crowdsourced AI training data exemplifies the future of interactive gaming with tangible real-world impacts.

The Potential Impact

Once enough data is collected and analyzed through this system, the AI, fed by crowdsourced AI training data, can potentially identify patterns and hotspots related to human trafficking incidents. Dr. Corey Clark’s involvement ensures that the research’s potential is maximized, empowering law enforcement agencies, policymakers, and other stakeholders to act more decisively and effectively.

Collaboration at Its Best

This initiative underscores the power of collaboration. SMU offers research depth, Dr. Corey Clark provides invaluable expertise, Steph Buongiorno lends creativity and vision, the DOJ provides real-world case files, and BALANCED brings in the platform and technological prowess to bind everything together. By fusing academia, technology, and social responsibility, this collaborative effort symbolizes hope and promise in the global fight against human trafficking.

Conclusion

The blend of gaming, technology, and human intelligence offers a fresh perspective on tackling pressing societal issues. With the dedication of institutions like SMU, innovators like Steph Buongiorno, visionaries like Dr. Corey Clark, and tech leaders like BALANCED Media|Technology, there’s renewed hope that the darkness of hum

🔗 Read more about this effort at the SMU website

🔗 This project was also featured in an article by Dallas Innovates

🔗 Read about the grant at National Institute of Justice website

We are honored to have our amazing CTO recognized by Tech Titans for this award, very humbled to be considered amongst other great nominees for startups in North Texas, and deeply thankful for the entire BALANCED team; the recognition as a pioneer and leader in technology stands as a testament to the entire team’s incredible work.

Here is a list of awards the State Bar of Texas conferred at their annual meeting:

Emerging Company CIO/CTO Award

This category recognizes a Chief Information Officer or Corporate Technology or Science Officer for exceptional technical leadership that fostered the development or deployment of new technology resulting in significant value for the company.

Last year, BALANCED leadership was named finalist for 2021 Tech Titans Start Up Company CEO Award and Emerging Company CIO/CTO Award categories and BALANCED was announced as the winner of the Edge Grand Challenge. In the year prior, BALANCED won the 2020 Tech Titans Emerging Company Innovation Award, and was also a finalist nominee for the Corporate CTO Award.

2022 TECH TITANS AWARDS GALA

The Tech Titans^® Awards Gala, to be held on October 27, gives visibility to innovators, adopters, and executors in North Texas technology leading the way in transforming the high-tech industry and giving companies a competitive edge and celebrates those who impact tech for the better. You are invited to join the BALANCED team at this year’s event to help us celebrate this accomplishment. Keep an eye out for tickets on the gala page at https://techtitans.org/awards-gala/.

On January 19, the 2021 annual Tech Titans awards gala took place at the Eisemann Center of Performing Arts in Richardson, TX after a delay from the original October 2021 date due to COVID precautions. BALANCED was nominated in three categories for 2021, and BALANCED was announced as the winner of the 2021 Tech Titans Edge Grand Challenge, which includes a cash award of $20,000, for BALANCED’s edge-enabled solution- the HEWMEN technology platform that combines gaming, distributed computing, and human intelligence to improve machine learning to benefit the areas of work, life, education, and health.

Additionally, CEO Robert M. Atkins was present as one of four finalists for the Start Up CEO Award for his leadership, experience, and vision to innovatively combine the world of video games with AI to improve cancer research and find solutions to real-world problems. BALANCED CTO, Dr. Corey Clark, was a finalist in the Emerging Company CIO/CTO Award in recognition of his exceptional technical leadership fostering the creation of the BALANCED HEWMEN platform.

During the ceremony, Danny Martin, CEO of Esposure, Inc., mentioned Robert Atkins and BALANCED’s work in his acceptance speech for the Emerging Company CEO award for using the fast-growing esports industry to build a diverse pipeline of future talent by encouraging and empowering 20,000 students in STEM sports education and careers.

BALANCED would like to thank Tech Titans for the privilege of celebrating the cutting-edge achievements of innovators, adopters, and executors impacting the technology industry for the greater good among the North Texas technology elites. We would also like to make a special note of the moving acceptance speech given by Corporate CIO Award winner Neelu Sethi of Reddy Ice, Inc. Finally, we would like to thank the entire BALANCED team; the recognition as a pioneer and leader in technology and the Edge Grand Challenge award stands as a testament to the entire team’s incredible work.

Click to view slideshow.

BALANCED has been named the winner of the 2021 Tech Titans Edge Grand Challenge competition based on its HEWMEN technology platform solution.  For this competition, pre-revenue startups were asked to submit solutions demonstrating an innovative Edge-enabled products benefitting the areas of work, life, education, or health that help the world return to work and life. Entries were judged on the basis of product readiness/scalability/maturity, overall innovativeness, impact, outlook, team composition, and professionalism.

CEO Robert M. Atkins and CTO Corey Clark, PhD accepted a ceremonial check representing a cash award of $20K. As Edge Grand Challenge winners, BALANCED also receives an invitation to the Tech Titans Awards Gala on Jan. 19, enterprise-level mentoring that could include access to technology resources and potential customers/partners, and introductions to funding resources.

BALANCED is honored to be recognized as a pioneer and leader in technology and the award stands as a testament to the incredible work of the entire BALANCED team.

Tech Titans is the largest technology trade association in Texas, and leverages the regional technology community to collaborate, share and inspire creative thinking that fuels tomorrow’s innovations.

Watch Corey Clark talk about how crowdsourcing gamers can influence real-world solutions, like cancer research, through the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Read the Dallas Innovates article about BALANCED’s award

McKinney-Based BALANCED Wins Tech Titans Award for Connecting Gamers and COVID Research Through Edge Computing

BALANCED’s innovative solutions have again been recognized by industry peers as members of company leadership have been named as finalists for this year’s Tech Titans^® Awards in two individual categories. This year, our CEO Robert M. Atkins and CTO Dr. Corey Clark are Tech Titans 2021 finalists in the Start Up Company CEO Award and Emerging Company CIO/CTO Award categories.

Start Up Company CEO Award

This new category recognizes the startup CEO for demonstrating leadership and vision that guided measurable accomplishments of the company, as well as promoting and providing positive impact to the technology industry and the community.

Emerging Company CIO/CTO Award

This new category recognizes the Chief Information Officer or Corporate Technology or Science Officer for exceptional technical leadership that fostered the development or deployment of new technology resulting in significant value for the company.

Last year, BALANCED won the 2020 Tech Titans Emerging Company Innovation Award, and was also a finalist nominee for the Corporate CTO Award.

2021 TECH TITANS AWARDS GALA

The Tech Titans® Awards Gala on October 21 showcases the elite in North Texas technology –

Individuals transforming the high-tech industry and giving companies a competitive edge, plus companies leading the way. Please join the BALANCED team at the Tech Titans Awards Gala to help us celebrate this accomplishment. Join Gala, tickets: https://techtitans.org/awards-gala/