Is Asimo the cleverest robot yet?

 See the video...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15637262

The future of technology is constantly evolving and unpredictable.  Check this out!  Honda, the Japanese car manufacturer, revealed a new version of its robot, Asimo.  The human-shaped robot can now run faster by itself than other robots, open a bottle, pour a drink and even hop on one foot…not certain why the hopping but it’s a feat for the creators.  Is Asimo really the smartest robot so far?  Maybe! 

 

These robots and similar projects are not only about emerging technology but they play a role in helping to develop artificial intelligence (AI).  We move our body parts effortlessly and autonomously and now a team of scientists, engineers and programmers can develop a robot that has perceptions of a world that’s continuously changing.  These robotic movements will hopefully mimic the natural flow of human movements.  Could you imagine robots having the ability to sense things and use sonar to measure distance and depth? 

These mechanisms are innovative and awe-inspiring but as technology emerges, these are even bigger steps towards AI and we can use these cutting edge novelties where humans dare not go…  For instance, “Some of the robot's technology was used to develop a robotic arm with the intention of helping with the nuclear crisis in northeastern Japan.” 

Is this our future? Will we have domestic robots/friends in our homes with some level of common sense? What’s your take... 

Robot army helps run warehouses…

Emerging technology…immerging jobs!  Or is it displacement of jobs?  The future of warehouses may include fewer human employees and have faster shipments if robots like the Kiva Systems continue to invade the workspace.  As innovations evolve and new technologies emerge, warehouse systems done by Kiva will become more efficient:  processes will be expedited faster and customer service will be enhanced.  It is amazing how Kiva Systems mobile robotic drive units run a warehouse store with such precision, augment the employees yet do not crash into each other.  The robots’ consistency and predictable outputs keep the few employees working steadily and on track.  These robots not only store data and transfer racks of products all over the warehouse but they use the results from data mining and transform the information into business intelligence.  One example of this business intelligence occurs when the robots store the high-sale items closer to the front of the warehouse for easier access.

The wave of the future…Kiva Systems seems unreal but it is happening!  Kiva Systems are being used by Gap, Toys “R” Us, Zappos and others…see video link below.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2011/11/08/kiva-warehouse-robots.cnn

Versatile touch sensor...new use for an old technology

Imagine, if you will, a world where everything from the clothes on your back to the glass in your hand was a touch-enabled device.  We're not quite there yet…but thanks to researchers at the University of Munich and the Hasso Plattner Institute, we're getting closer to a touchy-feely world as we do with smart phones and computers.

What if you walked into a Starbucks or Second Cup café, sat in one of the soft seats and ordered what you want by merely pressing the tablecloth!  Or even if the café is crowded and the staff is automatically alerted when a customer takes a seat or when a seat goes vacant.  I believe that would be neat especially when there’s no visible buttons or wires. 

 Researchers have new uses for an old technology!  They have developed a new type of touch technology that could lead to touch sensors in clothes, coffee tables or everyday items such as headphone wires or pieces of paper.  This versatile and innovative technology can be used in a myriad of ways from alerts to alarms. 

 The new touch technology relies on time domain reflectometry or TDR, which has been used for decades to find damaged communication cables on land or underwater. TDR is rather simple in theory.  Based on the known speed of a pulse from a TDR device and the time it takes to come back, software can determine the position and type of the problem. Essentially, a notification is triggered with any change in electrical conductance.  To make a surface touch-sensitive requires only two wires (or metal traces of conductive ink), which can be configured in various patterns to get the necessary coverage.   

With this new development, fabrics and stretchable materials can be made sensitive to the touch.  By the simple touch of a finger, a surface is activated, a circuit is closed…an alert is sent out, someone is helped or served, someone has removed something they shouldn’t have or someone is caught!

 http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39036/?mod=chfeatured

An operating system for smart cities…

An operating system (OS) could certainly be the wave of the future for some of the bigger or perhaps, more developed cites in the US and around the world according to the article, “An operating system for smart cities”.  Not only would an OS keep buildings, traffic and other services running smoothly, but a system like this would also monitor and reduce energy usage and save billions of dollars.  Could you imagine federal or state buildings being monitored from one central nerve system in a city for security, fire, heat and air conditioning and even shutting down the power at the end of the day?  I can!  With emerging technologies evolving each day around the globe, a smart city OS would be a reality in the next 10 to 15 years.  I can see cities virtually running themselves and controlling many of their major systems with one OS like a PC.   

The investment in smart city technology will be very costly initially but cities will reap huge dividends when an OS is up and running.  Take for instance the Japanese train system in highly populated Tokyo.  With various emerging technologies and sensors in place, they are able to sense train traffic and situations.  The clocklike punctuality of Japan’s trains and the remarkable efficiency of the system are due to a central nerve system.  However, because of sensors linked to networks and a smart system, the single most outstanding feature of Japan’s rail transport is its capacity to adjust the entire system in accordance with the operating environment. 

There is enough evidence that smart city OS’s will emerge in the near future.  Many people are already able to control their lights and heating via the Internet.  In addition, GPS devices can sense traffic congestion and reroute drivers.  Alarm companies and fire stations are able to monitor buildings, near and far.  Power companies are able to provide electricity to you or me and shut down zones via a power distribution grid.  Besides, New York City Department of Transportation Traffic Management Center receives feeds from closed circuit television cameras trained on major arteries, which monitor and track traffic conditions in real-time at key locations throughout the city.  Consider the emerging technology today- many of these systems or processes have been fused and transformed.  They can only be more efficient with billions of sensors linked to networks all over the city.  The information and communications infrastructure will be a major player in a smart city OS.  They will require optimal monitoring and management.

Merging these technologies onto a smart city OS seems very futuristic but this is what technology is moving towards.  Money, manpower and time will be the obstacles in reshaping cities’ infrastructures and developing new layouts.  A smart city OS will have the capacity to advance, monitor and control city systems.  In my opinion, smart cities already exist but with disparate systems.  When they meld onto an OS, cities will be able to:  reduce information systems footprints, enhance redundancy, refine emergency systems, and intelligently monitor and automate traffic lights, air conditioning and a host of other systems that influence the quality of urban life.  Simultaneously, a smart city OS will reduce the costs of operating a city.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/an-operating-system-for-smart-cities/2874?tag=mantle_skin;content

http://www.japanechoweb.jp/economy/jew0210

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/atis.shtml

Human Stem Cell Cloning: Innovative, lifesaving or immoral and unethical...

What if you had to have an organ replaced and you could do so instantly without waiting on a donor?  What if you had a disease that doctors diagnosed?  Instead of prescribing medicine or even conducting chemotherapy, the doctors would simply replace the affected body part.  That would be awesome!  Hospitals would then be able to focus more on preventive medicine rather than on treatment.  If a cloned stem cell process existed for human beings, it would be similar to taking your car to a garage.  In fact, that would be promising if biotechnology lives up to expectations and labs could manipulate the building block cells to re-grow or produce organs of the human body.  However, it does put scientists and researchers in the precarious position of playing God, a position that most would like to avoid. 

 The article, “Cloned Human Stem Cells, with a Twist” suggests that cloning has the capacity to create stem cells that are genetically matched to the cell donor.  In other words, they cannot only replace cells but grow the cloned cells to replace organs for a particular donor or even a sibling of that donor.  For instance, diseases such as cancer kill or destroy red and white blood cells, and platelet cells.  Similarly, the treatment kills these cells too.  However, by using stem cells the need to provide treatment that is dangerous to humans will not be necessary.  Albeit, many research laboratories harvest and store stem cells at what they determine is the correct temperature to regenerate cells and support patient recovery.  Although storage at the “correct” temperature by different labs is successful but not consistent, the storage process is still considered experimental.  Researchers have also been successful with cloning in other mammals, but not humans.  Ethical and moral arguments as well as legal challenges are significant reasons why stem cell research and usage are so closely screened and monitored by the FDA. 



Human embryonic stem cells
used to kill cancer cells



Live you may…die you must!  It would be great if the human stem cell cloning process were successful.  These cells can be made available for use in therapies because they will not trigger a reaction from the immune system.  Cloned cells would also be useful in research.  They would allow scientists to study cells from people with specific diseases.  Moreover, you or I would be able to get our cells stored in case of disease or serious injury.  Would this give the rich and famous lots of power to prolong life amidst deformities?  Probably!  Because a procedure like this would not be cheap.  How would the average person fare?  Will this create more of a divide between the rich and poor?

Who knows?!  Would stem cell cloning have prolonged Steve Jobs’ life? What about the average Joe with cancer of the kidneys?  This process may be highly improbable but very possible in the near future.  If this innovative technology comes to fruition, there may not be a need for triple bypass surgery when the building blocks can replenish cells and regenerate a new heart.  Wouldn’t that be neat?  Then again, many believe this process is immoral and unethical.  The future is so unpredictable…  

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/38776/?p1=MstRcnt

 

"Consumerization” of technology in the workplace

“Consumerization”, a new term coined in the technology arena, is allowing employees to use their PCs at work.  Basically, they are able to use computers that are comfortable to them.  Consumerization may not be revolutionary but I still think it is breaking new ground in the technology world.  Many companies are facing questions from employees about why they can’t use their personal smart phones or PCs for the job.  Although security continues to be a major challenge, some companies are considering consumerization.

The Colt Group, a British telecommunications company, is embracing consumerization as a model.   They use cloud-based or elastic computing models and virtual desktop technology to enable their enterprise network to overcome these issues and allow employees to use their own PCs. They also deliver all their corporate systems in a virtual desktop.  To date, two-thirds of their employees are virtual desktop users.  Colt employees can use a thin client or their own PCs connect to the company systems (via the cloud) at work.  Colt also compensates them to cover device wear and tear and insurance.  With the onslaught of telework or telecommute, this model may be a remedy for some firms who face similar problems.

Like the Colt Group, consumerization can certainly reduce infrastructure footprint along with a substantial maintenance savings.  This concept may be ideal for small to medium businesses…I don’t see it happening in large or enterprise-like companies.  The Colt Group is also pursuing a slightly more complicated plan for people who don't have a PC yet or whose PC is old.  They are looking at a considering a process where they can subsidize individuals who purchase computing devices.

Maybe the concept of consumerization will be infectious in the future and perhaps change the way people consume their technology at work…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14921480

Borders demise: technology or poor decision-making...

As we discussed in class, Borders, the bookstore giant closed its doors two months ago in July.  This was certainly a failure of their leadership’s foresight and planning in a technology-shifting book market.  With the demise of this massive bookstore chain, bookstore culture will obviously still exist because people (and many with their kids) like to peruse the aisles and read, examine or buy books.  Of course they can do this at a library but the bookstore has a different appeal and perhaps, a special cultural environment.  Nonetheless, people enjoying the atmosphere didn't sell books.

The technology shift over the past 10 to 15 years has changed the sale of books to both hard and soft copies.  To add, many people are adapting quickly to e-reading.  Although Borders did have some e-commerce with Waldenbooks, they didn’t even offer any kind of e-reading, the latest and popular reading trend.  Borders’ bad decisions obviously came from poor management and inadequate strategy in a market where technology is constantly evolving.  Of course, this means good news for independent bookshops (Sarah Needleman, The Wall Street Journal); however, the other big booksellers must continue to tailor their business models to adapt to the digital market.  I feel the economy also played a significant role in Borders’ downfall.  On the other hand, continuous exploration of markets by leadership is essential.  Many books are cheaper online along with the flexibility and ease of purchasing soft copies.  With that being said, discount chains and online booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others provide a very stiff challenge to stores that are only brick and mortar.

Could there be any other way other than e-commerce that Borders could have saved their business/stores? I wonder!  Is it possible that another major bookstore chain can go under in the near future?!

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/07/dont-feel-too-bad-about-borders/40297/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/19/last-borders-closing_n_969578.html

Is the timing of Windows 8 launch on track?

In reference to the article, “Can Windows 8 save the PC from extinction?” (CNNMoney) Microsoft may be slow to change but they are on the right track.  The software giant will not save the PC from extinction but will provide the capability to transition from PC to tablet.  Although “PC sales growth has tumbled”, many people still own PCs.  While emerging technologies such as iPad, Android and Windows Phone software are the future of computing, I believe the PC will not disappear for a very long time.

Windows 8 may be Microsoft’s way of enhancing the tablet users experience, creating better touch pads and touch pad interfaces because they haven’t come with any tablets that are Windows friendly.  Without losing the framework of current technology, Windows 8 will be adaptable to tablets. Timing for their launch is on track with the current market while phone software and the iPad seem to dominate the market.  Microsoft still dominates laptop and desktop PCs and will need to improve their product for any kind of competition especially in the world of mobile software.  Apple’s iPad has gone into its second generation but Windows still has the bulk of the market share for PCs. Windows 8 can’t save the PC from extinction but there’s more software written for Windows than any of its rivals and that is an advantage of Windows for now.