A look back at some of the most exciting moments & innovations Tech Trends covered in 2018!

Cryptocurrency

Crypto is crashing – or so the experts say –  but it is not going away, so Tech Trends was excited to welcome on board our very own FinTech wizard Richard Andrews who kicked off his soon to be regular series last month.

Is Cryptocurrency on the verge of going mainstream?

Image by MichaelWuensch from Pixabay

During the bull run of 2017/18, coins could pump 50% on little more than a tweet of a conference announcement or a trivial code release. The principles of decentralisation and innovation were king and governments, financial services and regulation of any kind the public enemy of this bright new decentralised future. But after the parabolic rise of 2017 and the sharp sell-off of 2018 investor sentiment has reversed dramatically in the hope that these same institutions can restore their fortunes.

Hopes of greater institutional participation hinge on the Bitcoin ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) allowing institutional investors to participate in the market without the risks of holding Bitcoin directly
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Hopes of greater institutional participation have largely hinged on the prospect of a Bitcoin ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) which would allow private and institutional investors to participate in the market without the risks of holding Bitcoin directly. A good comparison is the well-established GLD ETF that provides exposure to gold without holding it under the mattress. However, this approach has so far proved disappointing due to rejections and delays by the US Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC). Read his full article here.

Mixed Reality

HoloLens subscription service spurring immersive tech adoption

Since the HoloLens was first released almost three years ago, Microsoft has steadily been building partnerships and demonstrating an array of industry use cases across manufacturing, engineering, healthcare, education and many others.

Rather than place users in a fully computer-generated world, as virtual reality does, HoloLens allows them to put 3D digital models in the room alongside them. As the Windows-10-based product does not have wires or external cameras or require a phone or PC connection, users can walk around the objects they create and interact with them using gestures, gaze and voice. This tends to make it well suited for onsite industrial applications.

While many large companies have adopted mixed reality and HoloLens applications, the $3,000 price tag of the device has been perceived as a barrier for adoption among smaller players
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Yet while many large companies have adopted mixed reality and enthusiastically evangelized about the efficiency gains that they achieved with HoloLens applications, the $3,000 price tag of the device has been perceived as a barrier for adoption among smaller players, who understandably aren’t sure that the ROI would be justified in onboarding the technology at this relatively early stage. Read the full article here.

Health Tech

Epilepsy consortium believes technology could save the NHS £250 million a year

Today, up to one in 100 people in the UK are believed to suffer from epilepsy, leading to three per cent of all Accident and Emergency visits and a total of 1.3 million days in hospital a year. It’s a challenging condition to manage, particularly as existing medication only works for up to 70 per cent of sufferers. Of those who do not respond to medication, most are not suitable for invasive surgery, leaving many to continue to experience unpredictable and potentially life-threatening seizures. New research by Public Health England (PHE) has found a 70% rise in the number of deaths of epilepsy patients between 2001 and 2014. PHE said there was a need to improve the clinical management of patients and make improvements to their wider health by tackling smoking, alcohol intake and poor diet.

The programme provides patients with wearable technology that records vital health data to help clinicians build a tailored record of a patient’s condition and seizure patterns
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This is what myCareCentric Epilepsy consortium – funded by Innovate UK and comprised of Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Kent, System C & Graphnet Care Alliance and Shearwater Systems – is hoping to do by equipping people with the ability to self-manage their condition. Running on Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure, the programme provides patients with wearable technology that records vital health data to help clinicians build a tailored record of a patient’s condition and seizure patterns. It has the potential to learn to classify seizures; to alert clinicians and carers in real-time so they can consult patients remotely, and provide essential lifestyle recommendations and drug prescriptions. Read the full article here.

A Tragic Loss to Science

Stephen Hawking taught us about about life, the universe, and everything

I once met Professor Stephen Hawking as he was coming out of the elevator at the John Lewis store in Cambridge (UK – The original one), where we both lived at the time. And although I’ll admit this might be far from the most interesting Stephen Hawking story out there, it’s still one of my favourites. Being in his presence was an incredible feeling. I felt ridiculously honoured to have bumped into him in this ordinary shop.

Now, after his death, I feel much the same way about having had the honour of sharing the same time-space with him. In an age of fake news, President Trump and imminent Brexit, he was our steadfast voice of reason. Right to the end, he advocated for the things he felt passionate about, such as defending the National Health Service against the likes of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt who – with a level of misguided arrogance I can’t begin to comprehend – actually chose to argue with him (with entirely predictable results).

In an age of fake news, President Trump and imminent Brexit, Professor Stephen Hawking was our steadfast voice of reason
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And all this he achieved with wit, wisdom, and a wicked sense of humour, which endeared him to millions around the world. When combined with the inspiring way in which he defied an illness that should have killed him and transcended the disability which left him only able to move a few muscles on his face, he is indeed a formidably inspirational figure. Read the full article here.

Virtual Reality

PokerStars brings online poker to a truly immersive social VR experience

Tech Extremes

Ninja tech skills can come in handy even onboard an Antarctic research ship

A research trip around the Antarctic gave a Software Engineer Carles Pina i Estany a new perspective on how the very product he helped build was being used by scientists. Aboard a research vessel thousands of miles from shore and the nearest reliable Internet connection, these modern explorers routinely relied on Mendeley to do their work, even in subzero temperatures.

A research trip around the Antarctic gave a Software Engineer Carles Pina i Estany a new perspective on how the very product he helped build was being used by scientists
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The opportunity to take part in this unique expedition came when Carles’ partner, Jen Thomas, was invited to become Data Manager on a research trip led by the newly created Swiss Polar Institute, which has a mission to connect researchers active in polar or extreme environments, promotes public awareness of these environments, and facilitates access to research facilities in those extreme environments. As they were short of an IT person and Carles was already on a sabbatical from his work at Elsevier – during which he had already planned to travel around the world – he seized the opportunity to fulfil a longstanding ambition to take part in a polar expedition. Read the full article here.

Ted Talks with Zebra

Accessible design in the age of Industry 4.0

Earlier this month Tech Trends attended our first TEDSalon in New York! Presented by Zebra Technologies and TED the session theme was ‘The Next Wave’ and focused on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing a tsunami of change that will dramatically affect how we interact with and adapt to technology. The ways we choose to ride this wave will determine the shape of our future. Will we use this as an opportunity to solve our most pressing issues, or allow it to become a calamity that divides us? Hosted by TED’s Bryn Freedman, five speakers and one performer explored the tools and expertise we’ll harness to build the future

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing a tsunami of change that will dramatically affect how we interact with and adapt to technology
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The evening included fascinating presentations from experts on the woeful state of America’s election systems and how technology can help, and how we need to change the way we learn if AI is part of the process. Zebra’s own design technologist James Morley-Smith took inspiration from how his disabled son Fintan learned piano starting with the black keys (the opposite of the traditional method) to guide his designs. In his work at Zebra, Morley-Smith designs for employees who are often in noisy, poorly lit industrial settings and clad in bulky protective gear. By following the black-keys tactic, he’s factoring in users’ limitations from the get-go, much like the idea of accessible product design championed by Microsoft at this year’s Build Conference. Read the full article here.

Sex Tech

Porn legend Ron Jeremy sees VR as the future of the adult industry 

Every 5 minutes, Pornhub transmits more data than the entire contents of the New York Public library’s 50 million books. Pornhub’s yearly review of trends reveals that in 2017 a total of 3,732 Petabytes of porn data was streamed, which makes for 7,101 GB per minutes and 118 GB per second.

In 2017 a total of 3,732 Petabytes of porn data was streamed, which makes for 7,101 GB per minutes and 118 GB per second
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And a man who significantly contributed to those gigantic volumes of traffic is Ron Jeremy, an AVN Hall of Famer with over 2,000 films under his belt. Jeremy is the Guinness Book of Records holder for Most Appearances in Adult Films and a big believer in VR Porn. So much so that he’s now put his money where his mouth is and launched RonJeremyVR, a premium service hosting VR films directed by the big man himself.

Every 5 minutes, Pornhub transmits more data than the entire contents of the New York Public library’s 50 million books
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So where are we in this new age of online VR thrills? According to the Pornhub Year in Review 2017 report:

“Virtual Reality Porn continues to gain in popularity, moving up 14 spots on the list from 2016. Cheerleaders came back with a bang, moving up 366 slots and into our top 20 searches of the year. VR devices were a popular holiday gift, and it seems that porn was one of the first things people wanted to try out with their new headsets. After the New Year, average daily views remained much higher than the pre-Christmas levels at around half a million per day.”

With the demand for streaming porn continuing to grow, this data suggests that Ron is indeed on to a real winner
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With the demand for streaming porn continuing to grow, this data suggests that Ron is indeed on to a real winner.  Read the full chat with Ron here.

Internet of Things

IoT and the connected home have yet to fulfil their promise

IFA this year was much like previous years, hundreds of companies screaming from the rooftops about minimally iterative products. A few more pixels, a bit bigger screen, a bit faster processor and everything a bit thinner, oh and crap Robots. I love tech and love my gadgets and can geek out with the best of them but I attended IFA this time looking for more meaningful innovation than a bit better camera on an $800 smartphone. I am happy to report that I found it, but not where you might expect.

A decade ago the invention of the smartphone changed our lives but truly new products like this are few and far between, so every year companies try to reinvent what we already have through minor upgrades and tweaks. We are stuck in a loop where the market is slowly evolving but no real innovation is going on, and the largest companies in the world are all guilty of this lack of effort to progress, so we must start looking off the beaten track for those that are truly working to innovate.

The largest companies in the world are all guilty of this lack of effort to progress so we must start looking off the beaten track for innovation
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Thought sustainably producing high-quality, smart and connected home products @Beko can democratise technology
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IoT and the connected home has been much discussed and I have seen some interesting concepts and even a few eyebrow-raising products but it is not yet in our homes, changing the way we live, and judging from the hundreds of pathetic, unimaginative and almost useless ‘innovative IoT products’ on display at IFA 2018, it’s not going to happen any time soon. But Turkish behemoth Beko, makers of reasonably priced kitchen appliances, held a press conference to announce their technology strategy and issued a white paper on the future of technology in the home and impressed me with their assessment of how new, innovative technologies in our kitchens can improve our lives and can do it affordably and in the not-too-distant future. Read the full article here.

Well, it’s been a very exciting year for technology, and we’re off to play with our gadgets, but be sure to check back with us right after Christmas as we boldly go where no one has gone before in 2019…

Merry Christmas from TECH TRENDS!

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post A Year in Tech: 2018 Recap appeared first on Tech Trends.

Behind the scenes, industry is powering forward in this new technological age, so what does the future look like?

Earlier this month Tech Trends attended our first TEDSalon in New York! Presented by Zebra Technologies and TED the session theme was ‘The Next Wave’ and focused on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing a tsunami of change that will dramatically affect how we interact with and adapt to technology. The ways we choose to ride this wave will determine the shape of our future. Will we use this as an opportunity to solve our most pressing issues, or allow it to become a calamity that divides us? Hosted by TED’s Bryn Freedman, five speakers and one performer explored the tools and expertise we’ll harness to build the future

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing a tsunami of change that will dramatically affect how we interact with and adapt to technology. The ways we choose to ride this wave will determine the shape of our future
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The evening included fascinating presentations from experts on the woeful state of America’s election systems and how technology can help, how we need to change the way we learn if AI is part of the process and Zebra’s own design technologist James Morley-Smith who took inspiration from how his disabled son Fintan learned piano starting with the black keys (the opposite of the traditional method) to inspire his designs. In his work at Zebra, Morley-Smith designs for employees who are often in noisy, poorly lit industrial settings and clad in bulky protective gear. By following the black-keys tactic, he’s factoring in users’ limitations from the get-go, much like the idea of accessible product design championed by Microsoft at this year’s Build Conference.

Morley-Smith designs for employees who are often in noisy, poorly lit industrial settings and clad in bulky protective gear. By following the black-keys tactic, he’s factoring in users’ limitations from the get-go
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James Morley-Smith speaks at Zebra Salon – The Next Wave at the TED World Theater, November 1, 2018, New York, NY. Photo: Ryan Lash / TED

“It doesn’t matter what is impairing you from reaching your goals,” Morley-Smith says. “Reframe them so they are no longer a disability, and they might just be the advantage you need.”

This clever approach to how we design and use tech was only one example of how Zebra are innovating for this new revolution (and it won’t be televised ). It is difficult to overestimate the positive changes the development of the barcode brought us as consumers, that seemingly simple striped rectangle that we swipe over scanners in almost every shop on the high street (you can read more about its fascinating history and future here in this article that Alice Bonasio wrote originally for Quartz).

Liquid Expectations, where each amazing new customer experience becomes the standard to which all others are compared, are changing business models
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If you haven’t guessed yet Zebra (stripes… get it…?) were at the forefront of this technology and are now pushing the boundaries of where we go next when the challenges of tracking, tracing, stocking, allocating, selling and shipping products are only getting more complex as tech-savvy, online and mobile consumers drive change in the market.

Liquid Expectations, where each amazing new customer experience becomes the standard to which all others are compared, are changing business models. Customer expectations are higher after experiences such Starbucks mobile Order & Pay system so now retail companies are demanding that all their customer-facing employees work as intelligently as they possibly can. This has led to a huge uptake of connected IT devices that can run generalised applications in store to give quick access to more information for staff and customers. Explained Zebra’s CTO, Tom Bianculli

The cutting-edge technologies Zebra are developing right now are a fantastic example of how Tech Trends sees similar tech changing our lives in the not-too-distant future. The tech powering complex operations behind the scenes and out of public sight in the retail, health care and manufacturing sectors will soon bleed out into our personal lives, changing the way we interface with technology and the world. The future of how humans merge with technology is being forged by the industries that serve us and companies like Zebra are developing systems and interfaces that will soon change the way we live, shop and relax.

The tech powering complex operations behind the scenes and out of public sight in the retail, health care and manufacturing sectors will soon bleed out into our personal lives
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The key idea behind these advances is Edge Computing. Driven by the development of IoT devices and the increased capabilities 5G connectivity will bring, Edge Computing is basically the decentralization and redistribution of computing resources such as server power, software, AI and data processing from centralised data centers out to the edge in the form of handheld devices such as smartphones, tablets and wearables, or onsite IoT sensors, automated machines and robots used for on-the-spot computing and analytics.

Edge Computing is the decentralization and redistribution of computing resources. AI and data processing from centralised data centres out to the edge in the form of handheld devices such as tablets
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For example, driverless cars will need the ability to perform complex computing incredibly quickly and onboard rather than their sensors sending proximity and location data up to the cloud and waiting to be fed back vital instructions, braking commands or traffic data. That would simply take too long when decisions need to be made on the spot. The car itself will be an edge device, with AI taking a lot of the critical decisions and subsequent actions independent of the cloud. Sure it needs the cloud to function but the weight of the computing is split as appropriate between the two. The cloud’s role will lean toward system oversight and deep data analysis.

In a typical deployment we might have the edge devices and sensors in the stores and a cloud-connected server also on site. Then we do edge computing on the server but what we are seeing now is edge processing move down to the devices so you see processing happening on cameras and handsets. We are looking at pushing that processing closer and closer to the edge except for when you need more data than can be generated at the edge to reach the answer you are looking for. We are well on the way to true edge processing in some situations. Continued Bianculli.

Imagine how much safer from burns you would be if your hand recognized heat and decided to pull your arm away without having to send the pain signal to the brain, wait for the brain to process the correct reaction then send out a signal to instruct the arm’s muscles to pull back. I think that makes sense? Anyway, the benefits of this system are immense and open up the real possibilities of safe driverless cars, powerful IoT & wearables, autonomous robots and many more world-changing Sci-Fi technologies.

Imagine if your hand felt heat and decided to pull away without having to send the pain signal to the brain, wait for the brain to process the correct reaction and send a signal to instruct the arm’s muscles to pull back
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Edge Actions are when handheld devices tell staff which task to do next, rather than staff working to a scheduled list of jobs their actions are dictated by the local edge systems
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Zebra has partnered up with several of the big players in cloud computing including Google and already have 11K stores in the US using their tech to empower staff through edge computing to take Edge Actions. This is when their handheld device tells them which task to do next to improve efficiency, rather than staff working to a scheduled list of jobs their actions are dictated by the local edge system, meaning they can be more adaptable and effective in that moment.

The top of the line Android-powered smart connected touchscreen TC8000

Of course, the central core system monitors, records and analyses what’s going on but takes a broader view, possibly using the data to guide future procedures and provide insight on evolving company policy. A good example is Zebra’s SmartLens technology, which can act as a digital overseer using video cameras, RFID and onboard data analytics to monitor and guide operations and staff through smart handsets such as the TC8000 above, and all done in real time at a local, on-site level.

Zebra's SmartLens technology can act as a digital overseer using video cameras, RFID and onboard data analytics to monitor and guide operations and staff through smart handsets
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Zebra is focused on augmenting the worker to be the best possible so all workers can be like the best worker. There is a long way to go in improving the worker before full automation might take over, but that is a long way off. Concluded Bianculli

Zebra is focused on augmenting the worker to be the best possible so all workers can be like the best worker
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These product videos are pitched at retail customers but if you can see past the corporate tone the possibilities for these advanced technologies reveal themselves. Companies like Zebra are changing the world around us in ways we have yet to grasp and Tech Trends will be taking a look at their next generation of technology soon so watch this space.

The descendants of this tech will be all around us soon and in the hands of our children or sewn into their clothes, maybe not for scanning RFD chips in warehouses but for passively scanning products as we pass shops then activating interactive AR interfaces full of information and an augmented checkout. Welcome to the future.

There is a long way to go in improving the worker before full automation might take over
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Want to leverage Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality to take your brand to the next level? Tech Trends offers comprehensive Immersive Technologies Consultancy to help you get there.

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post The Fourth Industrial Revolution is Here appeared first on Tech Trends.