Tag: Emerging technologies

Home is where the intelligence is: Smart home trends for 2018

January 16, 2018

Who doesn’t love a comfortable, easier, secure and convenient lifestyle? The alarm goes off and your perfect cup of hazelnut coffee is ready in no time. Rich and nutty, just the way you like it. And the best part: you can make the coffee without having to leave your bed. Smart homes give you the ultimate power to control and manage your home-sweet-home (office too) through advanced software and networks that are becoming increasingly easier to monitor, grasp and use. Even a few years ago, this would sound straight out of a fairy tale or a sci-fi movie. But today with smart homes, you can make a pot of coffee from anywhere using your smart device. That’s the power of technology and that’s how home automation is changing our lives. From voice-activated smart speaker Amazon Echo, who will be at your beck and call, to smart lighting which would automatically turn on the moment you ring the doorbell, now even the shades of your window can be adjusted via mobile apps without getting up from bed in the morning. Smart home and Internet of Things (IoT) are completely redefining our way of life. Home automation is a booming market with the US having the highest smart home penetration rate, followed by Japan and Germany. According to the global smart home market, the market size would reach a value of more than 40 billion US dollars by 2020. This is extremely encouraging news for both tech giants and venture capitalists who are pouring money for further innovations in the smart home sector. The real estate scenario has also undergone a sea change because of this. Realtors and builders are increasingly adapting to these new innovations and helping to increase awareness about smart homes in the buyers’ market, informing them about how these “intelligent homes” communicate with the residents. It is not surprising that the largest consumer segment is constituted by millennial, a bunch of tech-savvy citizens who have a completely different approach when it comes to investing in properties. Their preferences are now being taken into account to make the homes more modern. According to a report by Coldwell Banker LLC, more prospective home-buyers are looking for their homes to be automated, or at least for those that have the potential to be automated. In India, the concept of smart cities has been gaining ground more than ever. It shouldn’t be long before India starts adapting smart homes in a larger way. Startups in India are already jumping onto the bandwagon on home automation and technology students are also trying to make breakthrough innovations in this domain. According to a report published by RedSeer Consulting in 2015, home automation market in India is expeditiously growing and is expected to reach Rs 8800 crores by 2017! Santanu Mukherjee, head of digital marketing, Indus Net Technologies, admits that India too is welcoming home automation with open arms with several players already ruling the market. However, he also agrees that it will take some time before home automation finally finds its stronghold in India. According to Mukherjee, the primary reason is the lack of awareness in this sector. “Till now, the majority of the buyers in India consider a property with smart IoT devices as too luxurious an investment. The high product cost of home automation is also inhibiting consumers from exploring this space. As of now, smart homes are a super luxury component in a developing nation like India,” he says.     Here are 5 ways to turn your home into a smart home:  1. Let’s get connected The entirety of your home must first and foremost be connected by WiFi  “so powerful and fast” that all the smart home IoT devices in the house are connected. Here are five WiFi systems you might use when implementing smart home technology: Samsung Connect Home Smart Wi-Fi System Google Wi-Fi system Eero Luma Home WiFi System Linksys Velop 2. Safety matters No one wants to compromise when it comes to the security of your most-prized possession, your house. IoT has made it easier to set up smart security systems. Today you can control the security and comfort of your home remotely, via a smart device which monitors feed from the security cameras (indoor and outdoor), window sensors, door locks, motion detector, smoke detectors, water sensors to garage door openers, thus connecting your home to the above-mentioned Wi-Fi network. You can keep a watch on all the activities 24X7 using your smartphone and apps. Alerts in the form of emails and text messages are sent to you on the go. “Security is a big issue, especially for working couples who depend on external help to manage their kids. However, reliability on external help is questionable. To address this issue, a smart home can be a great help. You can monitor what’s happening at home from afar”, says Mukherjee. Here’s a list of five smart home devices, which will keep your home safe: August Smart Lock Nest Cam Outdoor iSmartAlarm Netatmo Presence Samsung Digital Door Lock SHS-P718 3. Look who’s talking “Alexa, switch on the light. Alexa, adjust the thermostat.”- Smart homes today enable you to prepare a hearty meal, book a cab or play your favourite song by just talking to voice-activated smart-home systems such as Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home. Thanks to advancements in AI (artificial intelligence) and Machine Learning (ML), speech recognition technology has revolutionized home automation. Through Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa (you can talk to her through Dot, Fire TV, Echo, Fire Tablet and the Tap) you can remotely control many functions of your house. Google Home is also integrated with a number of smart home systems such as thermostats and water leak sensors. Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana already works at your command, but now the tech giant is planning to launch Cortana soon in the home automation market. According to reports, it won’t be long before Apple’s Siri smart speaker participates in home automation market. 4. Let there be light How many

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Virtual Reality (VR) for the Mortals (Read: Non-Geeks!)

March 29, 2017

I wish we had teleportation. But, will settle for Virtual Reality (VR) for now. The term Virtual Reality was born in 1987. However, the concept dates back to 1929 when the first flight simulator was put to use! For the purists, the immersive thought behind VR existed even in 1838 through artistes who mastered stereoscopic paintings. (More for the history buffs) The immersive experience of VR can solve several real life problems. However, VR was sitting on the sidelines for several years, before we started seeing mainline adoption in last few years. The primary reason for it was lack of consumer knowledge, unavailability of content and intuitive consumer technology to make it available to everyone, anytime, anywhere. In 2016, we saw some of these problems getting sorted, when the entire tech world started focusing on VR as the next-big-thing, started finding practical use cases, started creating quality content for this immersive medium, and last but not the least started to get access to the VR devices en-masse. Do you know VR headsets was one of the top-3 gifted items during the Christmas of 2016? And this got the ball rolling. Thus, 2016 was branded as the year of VR. All the major tech giants are it Samsung (Gear VR), Sony (PSVR), Facebook (the Oculus platform), HTC Vive or Google (Card Board, Day Dream, Tilt Brush) are placing their bets on this emerging, hot technology. What is Virtual Reality? VR is a computer-generated environment that lets the user experience a different kind of reality. In other words, VR technology transports the user into an imaginary/simulated virtual world through immersive experience. You are required to put on a VR headset around your head and over the eyes. The imaginary world is the simulation running on a computer/phone, which gives an immersive feel due to the headset, which blocks everything but the VR content. To take it a step further, VR technologies can also recreate sensory experiences such as virtual taste, smell, sound, sight, and touch. At MWC 2017 VR was one of the hottest identified trends. Every tech giant from Qualcomm, Nokia to Samsung, has their headsets. And they tried to cash-in on the growing demand. If we go by Fortune’s list of the largest technology companies in the world, interestingly eight among the top ten companies are engrossed in VR technology. Some advantages of VR: Time and cost effective Engaging due to immersive nature Controlled ambiance (cuts down travel and provide in-person like environment) Provides solutions to complex problems Though initially, VR gained more traction among consumers in the gaming sector, but with each passing day, this emerging technology is breaking new grounds and its application is finding acceptance in various industries such as healthcare, education, military, tourism, real estate and automobile. The major tech giants understand the disruptive potential of this technology and are coming up with high-end products to attract customers. Here are the top 8 industries where VR is creating maximum ripples: Healthcare Education Hospitality and travel Entertainment Banking Real Estate Retail Automotive Healthcare The medical industry is expeditiously adopting VR in innovative ways to educate professionals and also provide modern treatment facilities to the patients. The VR allows the surgeons to practice life-saving methods in a controlled environment. The technology is gaining momentum when it comes to treating patients suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr Shafi Ahmed removed a cancerous tissue from the bowel of a patient on April 14, 2016, at the Royal London Hospital. The entire operation was broadcast live through VR. Snow World is a VR experience, which helps in wound care by transporting the patient with chronic burnt injury to an immersive, snowy environment. The Virtual Reality Medical Center, USA, uses VR to treat panic and phobias which comprise fear of heights, public speaking, claustrophobia, social phobia and etc. Education Education is no longer limited to books. Interactive education has become a crucial part of learning and institutes are using VR technology to engage students in ways that were never imagined before. This not only helps in imparting knowledge but also makes study fun for the students. Several top companies are working on VR technology in the education sector. Google Expeditions Pioneer Program, the VR teaching platform built for classrooms, allows the teachers to take the students in an immersive and virtual journey. The Stanford Graduate School of Business offers an innovative certificate program through VR. The prospective students at Yale can take virtual tours of the campus and get a better understanding of the campus life. Hospitality & Travel VR was one of the topics Sabre Labs, the GDS’s travel and technology innovation lab, discussed in its 2017 Emerging Technology in Travel report. The travel and hospitality industry is one of the few sectors, which adopted VR early on. In Marriott hotels, guests can enjoy Vroom service. All that a guest is required to do is order a VR head-mounted display in his/her room and enjoy exotic virtual travel videos. This helps in attracting and retaining hotel guests. Intercontinental Hotel Group IHG has taken the comfort of the guests to the next level. The guests can enjoy VR entertainment, games and other immersive experience at their rooms with the help of Vive Zone (powered by HTC). Destination BC (British Columbia) rolled out “The Wild Within” VR experience, using Oculus Rift technology. This made them the first marketing organization in North America to use VR to promote a destination. Entertainment The worlds of gaming and entertainment have been revolutionized, thanks to VR. From interactive exhibitions, virtual museums, movies to virtual theme parks, VR is redefining the entertainment industry. Premier Hollywood studios such as Warner Brothers, Lionsgate, and Disney are investing in VR to present immersive experience to its audiences. Hollywood blockbusters such as Jurassic World, Insurgent, Star Wars and The Avengers: Age of Ultron to name a few has offered audiences unique VR experiences. The Indian audience were left surprised and shocked when the recent VR teaser of Baahubali: The Conclusion

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Understanding the Advent of Affective Computing

October 10, 2016

As we all know, artificial intelligence is changing the world as we know it. With AI comes affective computing, a closely related concept. Affective computing refers to computing that is related to emotions. Emotions are very important in making decisions, and they influence a wide array of cognitive functions such as thinking, perception, memory, learning, etc. Affective computing helps in communicating or processing emotional states with others, or with a computer. With a growing focus on emotion recognition software, there are research developments in a wide range of academic fields, including neurology, psychology, software development, ethics, sociology, etc. Many tools can already recognize human emotions, and these are being used to help people with disabilities such as autism. However, emotion recognition does not stop there. It is expected to convulse computing and take it by storm. Affective computing currently focuses on facial expression databases, emotion classification, facial action coding system and changes in the skin as well. For example, it is well known that human beings’ skin becomes hot when certain emotions are experienced. This will be picked up by sensors on wearable technology, only to be processed by an app or a computer. There are a number of applications for affective computing. [php snippet=1] Where is affective computing applied? Affective computing is expected to change the way e-learning takes place. Whenever a learner is bored or frustrated, the program makes changes to the style of presentation or the content. It just needs not be about boredom. As a wide array of emotions can be recognized, e-learning programs can be made customized for students. Psychological services can make use of affective computing, especially when counseling is offered online. Another important area of application is robotics. While affective computing recognizes emotions, it goes way beyond that. Artificial intelligence can one day be taught to experience emotions, leading to sentience among robots. Already, companion devices such as digital pets make use of these emotions. A few other applications include marketing and sales, where executives can drop campaigns or sales pitches when they understand that the person on the other side of the computer or phone is not receptive to the message. The converse holds true too. It is one day possible for computers to feel emotions too, and that day may not be very far away. What the future holds? Affective computing holds a lot of promise for the future. With emotion recognition research developing at a rapid rate, computers will be able to recognize, process and even ‘have’ emotions themselves one day. It remains to be seen where affective computing will be applied. Most likely, it will change the way we conduct e-learning programs, psychological therapy, marketing and sales, robotics and a few other areas of technology. Certainly, there shall be more research and news coming from this area. For those of us in technology and marketing, emotion recognition and affective computing hold a lot of promise. This is one area to watch and observe, for things are going to change rather quickly.

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How Responsive Websites Can Save Energy

March 16, 2016

Most people today access the internet through their mobile devices, because of which there is a growing need for responsive websites. A responsive website automatically changes its layout based on the screen size of the device from which a user is visiting a website. This means a responsive website can easily switch from a desktop, smartphone and tablet screen without a designer having to develop separate mobile and desktop websites. It is also a well-known fact that responsive websites load faster, leading to less consumption of energy. In fact, responsive websites ensure that people who use mobile phones do not need to wait for a longer time for pages to load. When pages take a long time load, there is the obvious battery drain, which forces users to charge their devices frequently, leading to an unnecessary expenditure of energy. This can be prevented if one adopts responsive websites. How does a responsive website prevent battery drain? Using responsive design helps in increasing loading time, reduction of error pages and also presenting information with more clarity. People tend to spend more time on a website that is designed for a website but is being used on a mobile device. This does not mean that they are browsing effectively or that they are responding to your call to action. Instead, it only means that they are finding it hard to understand the layout of a desktop website on a mobile screen, leading to frustration and even boredom. This not only leads to unnecessary use of precious energy but you may also lose prospective clients because they were tired of searching your website for the information they wanted on a small screen. A responsive website, on the other hand, makes it easier for people to view information easily and thus, they will be more amenable to respond to call to actions. This also indirectly means that they will use less energy and charge their cellphones less frequently. This theory may sound a little offhanded to you but a number of industry observers have noted that responsive websites lead to faster loading of pages and less energy consumed. It is also a well-known fact that responsive website and apps consume less battery while they are working in the background. On the other hand, a legacy website requires excellent 3G or 4G connection in order to load faster. If the user is located in a place where the connection is not very strong, his or her device may try very hard to find signals, which also lead to the expenditure of battery power. The future is certainly responsive More and more companies have begun to understand the positive ramifications of using responsive websites. Not only does a majority of traffic come from mobile devices, but they are also more efficient as web pages. They are power efficient, speed efficient and also energy efficient. Efficiency is hardwired into responsive websites and this is probably why most clients prefer to have responsive websites, even when they understand little about the actual technology behind them. With a growing concern about green technologies and energy efficiency, companies will understand that responsive websites also provides them a way to ensure that they are environment-friendly. This is an indirect effect of the fast loading pages and something that has already been verified by many researchers. Certainly, responsive websites are not just for different screen sizes but also about reducing energy consumption and going green.

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Understanding the Green Cloud

March 9, 2016

Most of us have already begun to opt for cloud computing in one way or another. Whether we choose to automate our HR processes with the help of an HRMS or we choose to install ERP solutions in order to automate business process, most companies today engage in cloud computing. Yet, companies are not aware of the benefits of green cloud computing. In other words, they still need to understand the importance of using the green cloud. Green cloud computing refers to an infrastructure that is less harmful to the environment and that requires less cooling systems to store data and run processes. Obviously, companies that offer green cloud services tend to be more expensive than the ones that offer just cloud computing, without mentioning anything about environmental regulations. It is important to understand that IT infrastructure is responsible for a very heavy carbon footprint and most of us are guilty of causing burden to an already overburdened ecosystem. Thus, the onus is on us to choose services that are verifiably green in nature. That includes opting for cloud services that are green and environment-friendly. Facing the green cloud reality We all know that global warming is a real issue that has not been tackled effectively. In the industry circles, there is a tendency to avoid these issues but what most business owners do not realize is that when they go green, they also improve their brand image. In fact, by choosing to work with vendors who are environment-friendly, businesses can proudly claim to be doing their bit in making the world a better place to live in. Cloud computing infrastructure involves thousands of data centers that utilize enormous quantities of power. While all the data is stored in the cloud and everything is enabled by the internet, physical structures are still very important to running these processes. It is just that cloud clients do not see these physical equipment and imagine themselves to be free from causing power consumption. Unfortunately, most cloud servers still consume a lot of electricity and we are all complicit in leaving behind carbon footprints. Thankfully, there are a number of developments underway already.  Cloud vendors are investing in energy efficient data centers  Vendors have begun to recycle their equipment and discard them safely  Clients have begun to understand that just because they do not use physical infrastructure  does not mean they are no longer responsible for carbon footprints  Both vendors and clients look for projects that come with a green tag so that they can            improve their brand  Most companies are willing to pay a little extra if green technology is involved in cloud      computing What you should do in order to go green Green cloud thus encompasses a variety of strategies that are utilized in order to be environmental friendly. When you choose cloud computing services, it makes sense to sign contracts with companies that are decidedly green. Speak to the representatives and ask them what they are doing in order to reduce power consumption, how safely they discard their electronic waste and if they are actively propagating a green cloud culture. All this will help you to be a part of the green cloud revolution, which helps you to promote yourself as an environmentally conscious company. In today’s world, it is ever more important to be ethical and environmentally conscious. You can start with doing your bit by choosing to work with green cloud computing companies.

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