Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is an artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. On a computer, virtual reality is primarily experienced through two of the five senses: sight and sound.

Virtual Reality is the next generation of video gaming. 

Ever since developers first put animated pixel to screen, the industry has been on a quest to create a truly immersive world. As tech has progressed, it's got closer, turning blocky scenes into near photo-like depictions. Virtual reality could allow us to take the final step, from peering into the action to being in it. For the first time we will finally be inside of the game and Gamers have been dreaming about this for decades.

Developers, having had the opportunity to try out various demos that have been shown at conferences over the past few years, have also been filled with wonder about the prospects for VR. 

Could VR be used in other area's, for example military practice? 

Geo Tagging

Geo Tagging 

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical information to various media in the form of metadata. The data usually consists of coordinates like latitude and longitude, but may even include bearing, altitude, distance and place names. Geotagging is most commonly used for photographs and can help people get a lot of specific information about where the picture was taken or the exact location of a friend who logged on to a service. 

Criminals using Geo Tagging 

A problem arised by geo tagging is that while you are letting friends and families know where you are with your posts, you are also at risk from burglars and stalkers. 

It seems implausible, but posting photos and other media tagged with exact geolocation on the Internet allows random people with the right tracking software and wrong motives to find an individual’s location and correlate it with other information. 

Cyber criminals can quickly and easily find out when a person’s home is empty because the homeowner might post geo tagged and time-stamped info both about their home address and their vacation residence. 

Does Geo Tagging really threaten your own saftey?

Internet Of Things

Internet Of Things

The Internet of Things is the network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity, which enables these objects to collect and exchange data.

The internet of things is the future. 

The Internet of Things is a computing concept that describes a future where everyday physical objects will be connected to the Internet and be able to identify themselves to other devices. The term is closely identified with RFID as the method of communication, although it also may include other sensor technologies, wireless technologies or QR codes.

The IoT is significant because an object that can represent itself digitally becomes something greater than the object by itself. No longer does the object relate just to you, but is now connected to surrounding objects and database data. When many objects act in unison, they are known as having ambient intelligence. 

Could the Internet of things really change the way the world works?

Cloud Computing

Advantages Of Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing 

Cloud computing is defined as a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications. The word "cloud" is used in reference to the internet therefore cloud computing is an internet based type of computing in which services such as servers, storage and applications are made available to businesses/organizations devices via the internet. 

Advantages

Trade capital expense for variable expense

Instead of having to invest heavily in data centers and servers before you know how you’re going to use them, you can only pay when you consume computing resources, and only pay for how much you consume.

Benefit from massive economies of scale

By using cloud computing, you can achieve a lower variable cost than you can get on your own. Because usage from hundreds of thousands of customers are aggregated in the cloud, providers such as Amazon Web Services can achieve higher economies of scale which translates into lower pay as you go prices.

Stop guessing capacity

Eliminate guessing on your infrastructure capacity needs. When you make a capacity decision prior to deploying an application, you often either end up sitting on expensive idle resources or dealing with limited capacity. With Cloud Computing, these problems go away. You can access as much or as little as you need, and scale up and down as required with only a few minutes notice.

Increase speed and agility

In a cloud computing environment, new IT resources are only ever a click away, which means you reduce the time it takes to make those resources available to your developers from weeks to just minutes. This results in a dramatic increase in agility for the organization, since the cost and time it takes to experiment and develop is significantly lower.

Stop spending money on running and maintaining data centers

Cloud computing lets you focus on your own customers, rather than on the heavy lifting of racking, stacking and powering servers.

Go global in minutes

Easily deploy your application in multiple regions around the world with just a few clicks. This means you can provide a lower latency and better experience for your customers simply and at minimal cost. 

Interesting uses of Cloud Computing Technology (Iphone) - https://www.apple.com/support/icloud/find-my-device/

Cloud Computing sounds too good to be true. Could there possibly be any disadvantages?

Advanced Robotics - The Industry

When looking at the advanced robotics industry and the top organizations in that field, the biggest thing that crosses my mind is, why aren't more of these organizations working together? You have companies that have excelled in autonomous movement, bipedal movement, also incorporated anatomy of several animals and their relative forms of movement, solar powered bots, environmental mapping capabilities etc.

If more of these companies came together in the ways that they innovate, not just locally but internationally, they could increase the rate at which this industry moves forward with technology. If these companies tied in other qualities from each other they would make more "well-rounded" bots in terms of capabilities.

Right now the industry appears to be built around competition, which is a great way to perfect capabilities in their respective fields of study, but not for "all-around" features offered. Now might be a good time to switch the industry focus to a more cooperative style so that the foundation for common understanding in the field of study is more prevalent. Once accomplished, switching back to a competitive environment could slingshot the industry forward.

Electric Planes Aim to Soar High for Cleaner Aviation

http://www.industryweek.com/global-economy/electric-planes-aim-soar-high-cleaner-aviation

Planes alone are responsible for 13% of the worlds CO2 output.  This percentage could decrease eventually no 0 with the new Taurus planes by the company Pipistrel Pioneering.  These electric planes leave no emissions at all and would be a great replacement for the air industry in the future.  The 110,000 euro ($120,914) price tag is made worth while with the plane’s extremely low maintenance cost: at 70 cents an hour, the Taurus is 10 times cheaper to run than traditional twin-seater planes.  These big-winged 'gliders' only have 3 buttons to operate: Up, down, and full power.  The planes can reach up to an altitude of 6,562 feet, after which the engine is retracted and the Taurus glides across the sky as a sailplane.  The hardest and most crucial part of this new technology is the battery.  The battery has to be light enough to fly, but strong enough to power a plane and not catch fire.  The challenge of making something lighter, yet stronger at the same time is the pinnacle question of engineering.  

The Taurus also has a long way before making its way into the heavy aircraft commercial industry.  These planes are not as resistant to weather as the ones used now.  The plane is too light and is pushed around too easy.  They also only have two-seaters that fly, and are working on a four-seater.  Both of these problems could be fixed by a bigger and heavier plane, but that would take a ginormous battery.  These planes are not expected to reach commercial markets for about 50 years because of these problems.  Do you think the future of the air industry starts with the Taurus or not?

GM Builds Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck for Army

GM Builds Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck for Army

http://www.industryweek.com/emerging-technologies/gm-build-hydrogen-fuel-cell-truck-army

Consumers have been searching for a substitute for gas-powered vehicles for the last 2 decades.  GM just made a huge jump towards that cause with the new Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck.  GM signed a multi-year contract at the end of September with the Army's Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), to develop and test the truck.  The new Fuel-Cell-Vehicle's operate by hydrogen being converted to electricity on board.  General Motor's goal is for these new hydrogen-powered electric engines to be commercialized by the year 2020.

This truck has multiple advantages over gas-powered engines.  This Fuel Cell truck (FCV) produces high amounts of torque at low gear levels, which is essential in military special ops situations.  FCV's are also extremely quiet, and special operations would benefit highly from his feature.  The most important advantage the FCV has is that it is extremely environmentally friendly.  So friendly that this new engine's only emission is water.  So with a little evolution this engine has the potential to power hospitals and provide them with a water source also.

The contract with the Military should be a good field test for the new engine design.  The extremes of day-to-day use in the military should be a good measuring stick to compare these FCV engines to guzzling gas engines.  The success of this military contract could foreshadow it's success when it is finally commercialized.

Do you think the FCV engine will thrive in military use or not?