Module 6 current trends and emerging technologies

Editor's Notes

• #4: Cloud computing is a network of resources a company can access, and this method of using a digital drive increases the efficiency of organizations. Instead of local storage on computer hard drives, companies will be freeing their space and conserving funds. According to Forbes, 83 percent of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by 2020, which means 2019 will show an increasing trend closing in on this statistic. Cloud storage and sharing is a popular trend many companies have adopted and even implemented for employee interaction. A company-wide network will help businesses save on information technology infrastructure. Cloud services will also extend internal functions to gain revenue. Organizations that offer cloud services will market these for external products and continue their momentum. Mobile Computing and Applications Mobile phones, tablets, and other devices have taken both the business world and the personal realm by storm. Mobile usage and the number of applications generated have both skyrocketed SCIENCESin recent years. Now, 77 percent of Americans own smartphones — a 35 percent increase since 2011. Pew Research Center also shows using phones for online use has increased and fewer individuals use traditional Internet services like broadband. Experts project mobile traffic to increase even further in 2019, and mobile applications, consumer capabilities, and payment options will be necessary for businesses. The fastest-growing companies have already established their mobile websites, marketing, and apps for maximized security and user-friendliness. Cloud apps are also available for companies to use for on-the-go capabilities. c. Big Data Analytics Big data is a trend that allows businesses to analyze extensive sets of information to achieve variety in increasing volumes and growth of velocity. Big data has a high return on investment that boosts the productivity of marketing campaigns, due to its ability to enable high-functioning processing. Data mining is a way companies can predict growth opportunities and achieve future success. Examination of data to understand markets and strategies is becoming more manageable with advances in data analytic programs. This practice in information technology can be observed for its potential in data management positions for optimal organizations. Database maintenance is a growing sector of technology careers. To convert various leads into paying customers, big data is an essential trend to continue following in 2019. d. Automation Another current trend in the IT industry is automated processes. Automated processes can collect information from vendors, customers, and other documentation. Automated processes that check invoices and other accounts-payable aspects expedite customer interactions. Machine processes can automate repetitive manual tasks, rather than assigning them to employees. This increases organization-wide productivity, allowing employees to use their valuable time wisely, rather than wasting it on tedious work. Automation can even produce more job opportunities for IT professionals trained in supporting, programming, and developing automated processes. Machine learning can enhance these automated processes for a continually developing system. Automated processes for the future will extend to groceries and other automatic payment methods to streamline the consumer experience.
• #6: What is Artificial Intelligence? According to Encyclopedia, Artificial intelligence (AI), is the ability of a digital computer or computercontrolled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. The term is frequently applied to the project of developing systems endowed with the SCIENCES intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experience. Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has already received a lot of buzz in recent years, but it continues to be a trend to watch because its effects on how we live, work, and play are only in the early stages. In addition, other branches of AI have developed, including Machine Learning, which we will go into below. AI refers to computer systems built to mimic human intelligence and perform tasks such as recognition of images, speech or patterns, and decision making. AI can do these tasks faster and more accurately than humans. Five out of six Americans use AI services in one form or another every day, including navigation apps, streaming services, smartphone personal assistants, ride-sharing apps, home personal assistants, and smart home devices. In addition to consumer use, AI is used to schedule trains, assess business risk, predict maintenance, and improve energy efficiency, among many other money-saving tasks. In fact, Artificial intelligence are already being used in different organization to help solve problems such as AI face recognition is beginning to help with missing people reports, and it even helps identify individuals for criminal investigations when cameras have captured their images. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, face recognition is most effective when AI systems and forensic facial recognition experts’ team up. AI will continue to promote safety for citizens in the future as software improvements shape these applications. Medical AI is another trend that reflects surprising success. Given patient information and risk factors, AI systems can anticipate the outcome of treatment and even estimate the length of a hospital visit. Deep learning is one way AI technology gets applied to health records to find the likelihood of a patient’s recovery and even mortality. Experts evaluate data to discover patterns in the patient’s age, condition, records, and more. Home AI systems are also increasingly popular to expedite daily tasks like listening to tunes, asking for restaurant hours, getting directions, and even sending messages. Many problem-solving AI tools also help in the workplace, and the helpfulness of this technology will continue to progress in 2020.
• #7: Virtual reality (VR), the use of computer modeling and simulation that enables a person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3-D) visual or other sensory environment. VR applications immerse the user in a computer-generated environment that simulates reality through the use of interactive devices, which send and receive information and are worn as goggles, headsets, gloves, or body suits. In a typical VR format, a user wearing a helmet with a stereoscopic screen views animated images of a simulated environment. The illusion of “being there” (telepresence) is effected by motion sensors that pick up the user’s movements and adjust the view on the screen accordingly, usually in real time (the instant the user’s movement takes place). Thus, a user can tour a simulated suite of rooms, experiencing changing viewpoints and perspectives that are convincingly related to his own head turnings and steps. Wearing data gloves equipped with force-feedback devices that provide the sensation of touch, the user can even pick up and manipulate objects that he sees in the virtual environment. Virtual Reality’s most immediately-recognizable component is the head-mounted display (HMD). Human beings are visual creatures, and display technology is often the single biggest difference between immersive Virtual Reality systems and traditional user interfaces. For instance, CAVE automatic virtual environments actively display virtual content onto room-sized screens. While they are fun for people in universities and big labs, consumer and industrial wearables are the wild west. With a multiplicity of emerging hardware and software options, the future of wearables is unfolding but yet unknown. Concepts such as the HTC Vive Pro Eye, Oculus Quest and Playstation VR are leading the way, but there are also players like Google, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo and others who may surprise the industry with new levels of immersion and usability. Whomever comes out ahead, the simplicity of buying a helmet-sized device that can work in a living-room, office, or factory floor has made HMDs center stage when it comes to Virtual Reality technologies.
• #8: Augmented reality is a more versatile and practical version of virtual reality, as it does not fully immerse individuals in an experience. Augmented reality features interactive scenarios that enhance the real world with images and sounds that create an altered experience. The most common current applications of this overlay of digital images on the surrounding environment include the recent Pokémon Go fad.
• #9: As it happens, phones and tablets are the way augmented reality gets into most people's lives. One of the most popular ways AR has infiltrated everyday life is through mobile games. In 2016, the AR game "Pokémon Go" became a sensation worldwide, with over 100 million estimated users at its peak, according to CNET. It ended up making more than $2 billion and counting, according to Forbes. The game allowed users to see Pokémon characters bouncing around in their own town. The goal was to capture these pocket monsters using your smartphone camera, and then use them to battle others, locally, in AR gyms. Another app called Layar uses the smartphone's GPS and its camera to collect information about the user's surroundings. It then displays information about nearby restaurants, stores and points of interest. Augmented reality can impact many industries in useful ways. Airports are implementing augmented-reality guides to help people get through their checks and terminals as quickly and efficiently as possible. Retail and cosmetics are also using augmented reality to let customers test products, and furniture stores are using this mode to lay out new interior design options.