Trending technologies in simple words

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:

https://www.urbanpro.com/a/cloud-computing-future-scope#sthash.egFZRbx5.dpuf

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/cloud-computing-introduction.html

http://www.networkcomputing.com/cloud-infrastructure/iot-out-cloud-fog/345618829

http://www.vrs.org.uk/

http://www.questbiometrics.com/applications-of-biometrics.html

http://www.cheatsheet.com/business/5-surprising-commercial-applications-for-artificial-intelligence.html/?a=viewall

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/9-real-life-scenarios-that-show-how-the-internet-of-things-could-transform-our-lives-2014-8