We live in a world where life without technology is next to
impossible. Thus it’s very important to stay up to date with the new and
upcoming technologies. Here we explain a few of the hottest and most sought
after technologies. Hope you enjoy it….
Internet of things (IoT ) :
Internet
of Things (IoT) is the network
of physical objects—devices, vehicles, buildings and other items—embedded with
electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity that enables these
objects to collect and exchange data.-Wikipedia
So
why is IoT such a big deal??
Mainly
because it has the potential to change our lives drastically. How??
Well
imagine its 2025. You are just getting out of your bed (which of course has an
inbuilt sensor which can tell if you’re up or not). Once you are out of the
bed, the bed tells your coffee maker to make coffee , so you have a hot pot of
coffee ready waiting for you.
Not
convinced yet??
Here’s
another example:
You
pick up your phone and start moving towards your front door to leave for work.
Your smart phone which has an in-built motion sensor tells your garage doors to
open and your car to park itself outside your door.
It
seems fantastic doesn’t it?
But it comes with risks of it own. Always being
connected to the things around us would mean the possibility of more
surveillance. It also means the possibility for more fraud, scams and other
vicious hacking & cyber attacks.
Oh, and just think of what the advertisers will
do with it!
Big data:
Big
data is a term for data sets that are so large or complex that traditional data
processing applications are inadequate. – Wikipedia
The three most important characteristics
of big data are:
•
Volume - Volume
describes the amount of data generated by organizations or individuals.
•
Velocity - Velocity describes
the frequency at which data is generated, captured and shared.
•
Variety - Data can be stored in
multiple format. For example excel, csv, access or for the matter of the
fact, it can be stored in a simple text file. Sometimes the data is not even in
the traditional format as we assume, it may be in the form of video, SMS, pdf
or something we might have not thought about it. This
variety of the data represents Big Data.
Why
do we need big data?
The pot of information (both private and
public) generated by humanity has recently come to a boil. We're generating
more content than ever before, capturing and analyzing such huge amounts of
data in the conventional way is not efficient, hence, big data.
From healthcare, to sports, to the
way we elect a president, big data will make big changes to the way we live our
lives. How?
You’ll be surprised to know that big
data is already used by us in many applications.
•
Mobile Maps: Our
GPS is available because of big data. Thousands of reports and other maps are
scanned in and used to make our GPS devices as accurate as possible. We can
collect and analyze this data because of big data.
•
Online Shopping: Ever notice how the
ads on your browser are similar to something you just bought or just looked at
buying? You can thank big data for that one. Big data is also responsible for
any “Recently viewed items” or “Featured recommendations” you might find on
websites.
Again as with IoT the major drawback
is the security risk it poses.
Virtual Reality (VR):
Virtual
reality or virtual realities (VR), also known as immersive multimedia or
computer-simulated reality, is a computer technology that replicates an
environment, real or imagined, and simulates a user's physical presence in that
environment in a way that allows the user to interact with it. Virtual
realities artificially create sensory experience, which can include sight,
touch, hearing, and smell. – Wikipedia
In simpler terms virtual reality is
fooling your brain into perceiving something as real when it’s not really
there.
Ever wished for a court side seat at
a game or wanted to visit some place but have been unable to?
VR will bring these things right to
your doorstep.
It can give you the thrill of
standing at the peak of the Himalayas or drop you right in the middle of the
Amazon forest.
Not only can VR teleport you from
one place to another, it also allows you to experience gaming and movies from a
new perspective where you would feel as if you’re right in the middle of the
action.
These are some of the more
entertaining applications of VR. But probably the most important applications
of VR are in situations where it is too dangerous, expensive or impractical to
do something in reality.
For example, commercial pilots can
use realistic cockpits with VR technology for a holistic
training that incorporate virtual flight and live instruction. Surgeons can
train with virtual tools and patients, instead of working on live patients.
Studies show that such training leads better trained people in a shorter time.
As the saying goes every coin has
two sides. Though VR is very useful it also has a great potential for causing
harm. VR causes a disconnection from the real world. Many people find
themselves so immersed in social media and
video games that they lose touch with reality. This leads to emotional,
psychological and physical harm to the person.
Cloud
Computing:
Cloud Computing is a technology in
which a network of remote servers are used via internet to store, manage and
process data, instead of using the local server or hard disk.
So what does this really mean to us
as the user?
Usually the computer hardware and
software you use are located on your system or in your company’s network. This
is not the case in cloud computing. The hardware and software you’re using is
provided as a service by another company and accessed over the Internet.
Exactly where the hardware and software is located and how it all works doesn't
matter to you, the user—it's just somewhere up in the nebulous
"cloud" that the Internet represents.
Most of us use cloud computing all
day long without realizing it. When you type a query into Google, the computer
on your desk isn't playing much part in finding the answers you need. The words
you type are sent over the internet to one of Google's hundreds of thousands of
computers, which dig out your results and send them back to you.
Preparing documents over the net is
another example of cloud computing. All of us know Google documents this is an
example of cloud computing.
Another good example of a cloud is
the drop box.
Some of the drawbacks of cloud
computing are cost, security, dependency on service provider, access to the
internet (which is not always possible).
Artificial Intelligence (AI):
Artificial
intelligence is the intelligence exhibited by machines or software. It is the
field of computer science in which we study how to create computers and
computer software that are capable of intelligent behavior. - Wikipedia
Artificial intelligence is about
making computers capable of thinking like humans, to enable computers to make
decisions based on the occurrence of previous events.
Did you know that many news articles
that we read today are not really written by people but through the use of
artificial intelligence and in most cases it is impossible to tell the
difference between them.
Self driving car is another example
for AI.
AI has the potential to simplify the
interaction between humans and the computer. You could simply walk up to a
computer and talk to it. You wouldn't need any specialized knowledge about the
operation of the computer.
But, risks are always a part and parcel
of technology. More powerful the technology, more the danger associated with
it. Imagine a situation where robots get corrupted or malfunction which may
lead us to a situation similar to that of terminator.
Biometric Technology:
Biometrics
refers to the study of measurable biological characteristics. In computer security, biometrics refers
to authentication techniques that rely on measurable physical characteristics
that can be automatically checked.- webopedia
There
are several types of biometric identification schemes. To name a few we have
face, fingerprint, hand geometry, retina, iris,
signature and voice recognition identification etc..
Some examples of
biometric technology facial scan to unlock your phone, voice scan for unlocking
your vault or safe, fingerprint scanning for authentication etc..
Many
people believe that biometrics will play a critical role in future computers,
and especially in e-commerce. Biometrics provides a higher level of security as it
completely eliminates the need for passwords which can be stolen (and of
course, it prevents the hassle of remembering them).
The
main problem with the biometric technology is its implementation. It is
difficult to accurately scan the biometrics of a person. The changes in the
environment (i.e. lighting, background disturbance, etc.) affect the way in
which a person’s biometrics are scanned.
Another problem is that the biometric measurements should exactly match
the measurements taken initially (for example the pressure applied during a
finger print scan) which may not be possible always.
Fog Computing:
Fog
computing, also known as fogging, is a model in which data, processing and
applications are concentrated in devices at the network edge rather than
existing almost entirely in the cloud.
That concentration means that data can be
processed locally in smart devices rather than being sent to the cloud for
processing.
Seems
similar to cloud computing doesn’t it?
This
is because fog computing is similar to cloud computing. In cloud computing the
data is stored and processed in the cloud whereas in fogging most of the
processing occurs at the edge of the cloud i.e. the devices which the user uses
directly.
Then
why do we need fog computing when we already have cloud computing?
The
reason is that in the current cloud architecture is
heavily dependent on distributed processing, which in turn is dependent on the
available bandwidth from the edge device to the backend server (i.e. cloud).This
structure works well for our current needs. When we talk about technologies
like IoT we have a large collection of devices in a network, which exchange
huge amount of data through the cloud. In such a situation it is impractical to
force the cloud to do all the processing.
Fogging suggests that the end
devices should handle their own processing and the end devices should be
allowed to communicate between each other without an intermediate. Fog
computing will be able to handle the tsunami of data created by IoT, at the
same time removing the bandwidth bottleneck problem.
Some of the possible applications of
fog computing are connected cars( hands free driving!!), smart traffic lights,
self maintaining trains etc..
Conclusion:
In today’s world, there are new
technologies being invented on almost daily basis. In such cases it is important
to stay in tune with these new changes as it affects us directly. This article
was an attempt to explain the trending technologies in a simple and concise
manner. Hope you like it.
We look forward to your comments.
signing off- Shriya & Pujitha
References:
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/9-real-life-scenarios-that-show-how-the-internet-of-things-could-transform-our-lives-2014-8
