FUTURE TRENDS - Augmented Reality to Take Off This Year

(freepik.com)

Augmented Reality (AR) got off to a slow start.

Although the technology has been available for years, early consumer products were generally disappointing from both a sales and experience perspective.

The Oculus Rift had pre-order shipping delays, the HTC Vive had pre-order cancellations, and Google Glass was a failure with implications for other major developers as well.

But then, Pokémon Go. had $600 million in revenue in its first three months, and suddenly people were engaging with AR in ways they hadn’t before.

The app smashed expectations and opened up possibilities.

2017 promises to be the year that AR (and VR) finally starts to reach its potential.

Snap’s Spectacles seem to be succeeding where Google Glass didn’t, and on the Virtual Reality front, Google’s Daydream View is delivering a consumer experience that finally satisfies expectations.

Digi-Capital’s comprehensive overview of the state of AR/VR in 2017 includes the five major hurdles that AR will have to overcome before becoming an everyday technology:

1. hero device (i.e. an Apple quality device, whether made by Apple or someone else)
2. all-day battery life
3. mobile connectivity
4. app ecosystem
5. telco cross-subsidization.
   
   

Each of these issues presents unique challenges for tech companies who want to be at the forefront of AR market growth.

Battery life is a particular challenge, because consumers need an all-day battery on their AR technology if it’s going to become fully integrated in the way app designers hope.

Smartphones may be the answer to four of these hurdles, since they already provide battery life, connectivity, app ecosystems, and compatibility across telecom providers.

Once the new generation of smartphones are released later this year and in early 2018 - phones with the required sensors and software - what seems now like a significant series of obstacles will become much less challenging.

 

It’s unclear who will provide users with the “hero device” that Digi-Capital identifies as the critical and unsolved missing piece.

The Google Tango phone is a disappointing piece of hardware with exciting potential, and although it’s the first fully AR phone on the market, it won’t be the equivalent of the iPhone.

However, Apple, Samsung, and others could learn from the faltering first steps taken by Lenovo and Google’s collaboration.

In terms of the apps, there are a lot of exciting AR apps to explore, even with the current crop of smartphones.

One of the fastest growing AR apps is Lumyer, which has particularly taken off in Asia and South America.

The app allows users to augment photos and videos and share the results with friends and family.

Individual consumers aren’t the only growing market for AR technology.

While consumer sales and experiences were slow to build, enterprise was taking advantage of AR for everything from education to plant maintenance and business-to-business sales.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.

DIGITAL - Amazon Moving Further into Kids' Digital Market

Amazon has taken two significant steps in the kids’ digital media market in the last two months.

First, in April, they introduced a suite of tools for both parental monitoring and engagement on their well-reviewed kid-friendly FreeTime subscription service.

The new parent dashboard allows parents to see what their kids are watching, reading, and playing, and also track how much time they’re spending in each digital environment.

This kind of software-based tracking is somewhat controversial, and largely ineffective as children mature into teenagers (talking works better with teens).

But in the rapidly changing digital world and with kids as young as three and four engaging with games and shows on mobile devices, it’s viewed as a necessary part of responsible parenting.

The second major element in Amazon’s new parental toolkit is the Discussion Cards.

The Discussion Cards are designed to facilitate productive and meaningful conversations between parents and kids about what the kids are engaging with in the FreeTime service.

The cards are written by Amazon’s own contenteEditors, and there are already thousands of cards available relating to the existing content within the service, and also some of the additional content that is frequently added to FreeTime.

The added element of suggested discussion topics is an innovation in the market, and is part of Amazon’s consistently parent-friendly approach to kids’ products.

Other examples of their engagement with this market include their insured kid tablets, and the comprehensiveness of their existing parental controls.

FreeTime, for example, allows parents to limit screen time and set ‘pause time,’ to ensure kids aren’t using the service when they need to be sleeping.

One area that parents will be watching is the inclusivity of the content.

Content curation has come under fire when parent’s interests conflict with children’s rights, particularly when it comes to accessing information about gender and orientation.

For trans or queer kids, access to information and representation can be a lifesaver, even at young ages, and strict parental controls can block access to vital resources and knowledge.

Amazon’s Discussion Cards have the potential to be a significant benefit to queer and trans kids if the content editors include inclusive and compassionate conversation prompts, and links to resources for parents.

The newly expanded parental tools aren’t the only major move that Amazon’s made recently.

This week they’ve unveiled the FreeTime app on Android devices.

This is a major development, and will allow Amazon to reach a much broader consumer base.

Prior to this release, FreeTime was only available on Amazon’s Fire Tablets, Kindles, and Fire TV.

The new Android app is free, but purchasing FreeTime Unlimited adds a significant amount of content in the form of books, videos, and games.

The kids’ digital media market is huge, and continuing to grow.

With these two new developments coming one after another, Amazon is positioning itself to be the go-to place for parent-friendly kids’ content.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.

FUTURE TRENDS - 5G and Beyond, Mobile Futures at MWC 2017

(Courtesy World Mobile Congress)

Last month, the 2017 Mobile World Congress met in Barcelona, Spain.

Edelman identified 5 key takeaways from the congress, including the shift from content to context marketing (enabled by immersive experiences like social live-broadcast video, 360-degree video, and both augmented and virtual reality), the growing Internet of Things, ongoing progress in digital assistants and AI, the use of “big data” for social causes, and the development of 5G.

5G is being hyped as the technology advancement that will allow everything else to leap forward.

5G could provide the bandwidth, speed, and low latency to allow smart cities to reach their potential.

It will allow IoT devices to connect quickly and effectively, reducing the lag that continues to frustrate users.

But what is 5G? Nobody’s really sure.

It’s the next generation of mobile technology, but what does that mean?

Although industry standards for 5G have not been set yet, one proposal suggests that in order to qualify as a 5G connection, most of the following criteria should be met:

• One to 10Gbps connections to end points in the field

• One millisecond end-to-end round trip delay
• 1000x bandwidth per unit area
• 10 to 100x number of connected devices
• (Perception of) 99.999 percent availability
• (Perception of) 100 percent coverage
• 90 percent reduction in network energy usage
• Up to ten-year battery life for low power, machine-type devices
  
  

TechRepublic offers a streamlined list of qualifications for 5G:

• It should be capable of delivering a 1Gbps downlink to start with and multi-gigabits in future
• Latency must be brought under one millisecond
• It should be more energy efficient than its predecessors (though there's no agreement yet on just how much more)
  
  

It will likely be 2019 or 2020 before these connections become available, and if 4G is an indication, it could take up to eight years after that to reach market saturation. (4G was introduced in 2003/2004, and reached 1 billion connections last year.)

The technological promise of 5G is real, but so are the real-world hurdles that will need to be overcome.

In the meantime, LTE continues to adapt and evolve.

Two new versions of LTE, specifically designed for IoT, were featured at the MWC. These technologies may offer solutions long before 5G is widely deployed.

Although 5G, and the LTE alternatives, present exciting futures for mobile technology, the present is also looking pretty cool.

Among the gadgets and tech unveiled at MWC was Roborace’s sleek self-driving racecar, and CEO Denis Sverdlov’s insightful argument that race tracks offers tech companies a space within which to build consumer trust by testing themselves off the streets. (Given consumer anxieties about self-driving cars, this is a wise suggestion.)

It wasn’t all gadgets, though, and that’s important.

Mobile technology impacts every aspect of modern life, and intentionally including critical goals like youth involvement, gender equity, and sustainability will only serve to benefit the industry.

MWC did a great job on each of those fronts, with YoMo (the Youth Mobile Festival that offers 10-16-year-olds an opportunities to explore potential careers in the mobile industry), the Women4Tech program that provides a platform for women in tech to showcase their work, and offers opportunities to network and share best practices for gender inclusive mobile industry workplaces, and the MWC’s long-standing engagement with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which continued this year with their augmented reality SDGs in Action app.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.

FUTURE TRENDS - Cardless ATMs and the Continuing Development of Fintech

(City National Bank)

Less than a generation ago, cheques were ubiquitous.

In 2000, cheques were used in more than 40 billion US transactions, and by 2012 that number had plummeted by more than 50%.

In contrast, the use of debit cards skyrocketed.

But with the rapid development and adoption of fintech – technology that enables digital financial transactions – debit cards may face their own rapid end.

Multiple coexisting pressures drive the potential shift.

On the one hand, there is pressure to find an alternative to debit cards, and to introduce technology that is seen as more secure and reliable.

Banks have been dealing with a significant decline in trust for years now, while fintech companies have been gaining trust.

And debit card fraud is a concern for many users.

Although chip cards have reduced the frequency of debit card fraud, they have not eliminated the risk, and consumer trust remains low.

On the other hand, rather than pushing away from consumer distrust and faulty technology, is the positive draw of new technology and the many opportunities opening up within the realm of wearables and bearables – the portable, personal, personalizable, Internet of Things that users either carry with them, or wear as watches, necklaces, or other accessories.

Even Siam Commercial Bank Pcl, which is a 1000-year-old institution in Thailand, is excited about the potential in this digital future.

They’re working on a comprehensive app that would go beyond day-to-day banking and allow users to do everything from finding and paying for entertainment, to becoming a major portal for businesses attracting and engaging customers.

Those types of major banking redesigns are coming to banks globally, but for now, in North America, users can anticipate a smaller but no less momentous shift as banking cards go the way of checks.

And what will replace them?

Cellphones.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo all either have plans to introduce cardless ATM transactions within the next year, or have actually rolled out the technology in test cities.

Canadian bank BMO introduced cardless ATM machines in some US locations last year, and Spain has had them since 2011.

PayPal also offers some ‘cardless cash’ services, and both Apple Pay and Android Pay have introduced tap technology in both phones and watches.

Mastercard and Coin have also teamed up to offer wearable options.

Most of these ‘wearable and bearable’ IoT technologies rely on near-field chip technology, a growing tech sector that is set to take off in 2017.

There are security risks that come with the new technology, particularly because the IoT itself introduces risks.

Connected devices are often only as secure as the least secure device in the network, and that can leave mobile users open to threats.

Despite these risks, the potential is exciting.

Cardless ATM transactions take a fraction of the time that traditional transactions do, and the prospect of robust and comprehensive financial apps that streamline and secure the payment process across multiple types of purchase is definitely appealing.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.

BUSINESS - Blockchain Research Institute Launches in Canada

(Alex and Don Tapscott)

Don Tapscott, co-author of the best-selling book Blockchain Revolution with Alex Tapscott, announced the formation of the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) at the DC Blockchain Summit.

Based in Toronto, Canada and funded by companies and governments from several countries, the BRI will conduct the definitive exploration of blockchain use cases, opportunities and implementation challenges.

A global team of dozens of experts will explore financial services, manufacturing, retail, energy and resources, technology/media, healthcare and government; as well as how this new technology changes the way companies are managed.

“We believe blockchain is a transformative technology for businesses. The Blockchain Research Institute with its brilliant team will deepen and enrich the knowledge about blockchain. We highly appreciate and fully support this effort and will contribute our deep expertise in business processes as the global leader in enterprise software,” Juergen Mueller, SAP Chief Innovation Officer, said in a release.

Founding members include:

• Technology Industry – Accenture, IBM, SAP
• Financial Industry –  Digital Asset, NASDAQ
• Global Corporations – Pepsico, Centrica, Liberty Global
• Government – Province of Ontario, University Health Network
• Blockchain Pioneers – Nuco Inc., Paycase, Artlery, Votem, Cosmos, Youbase, Wisekey
• Affiliate Organizations – The Hyperledger Project, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, Coala.io, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance

With the growth in cryptocurrency and slow death of cash, blockchain is being adopted by a wide variety of industries around the world.

Blockchain technology describes a distributed, highly secure platform, ledger or database where value – everything from money, stocks, bonds, intellectual property, and deeds, to music, art and even votes – can be stored and exchanged without powerful intermediaries.

Ross Mauri, General Manager z Systems, IBM, said, “Blockchain has the potential to address some of the world's most pressing challenges --  from streamlining trade, to establishing trust in transactions, to tracing provenance for food safety. By working with top experts from around the world, we’ll be able to take full advantage of blockchain’s inherent strengths -- an openly-governed, collaborative approach – to make global business more efficient and transparent for consumers."

Don and Alex Tapscott will lead the BRI as co-executive directors.

Not limiting itself to research, the Institute will actively work on strategies to make a blockchain economy happen.

Projected program deliverables include reports and tools that disseminate program conclusions among member organizations, monthly webinars and executive briefings.

A Program Summit for institute members will be held in the spring of 2018.

FUTURE TRENDS - Technology and Changing Social Norms, Part 1

The Internet, and the changing nature of communication in the digital age, has sparked what MIT’s Technology Review calls “all manner of utopian and dystopian perceptions that, when examined closely through methodologically rigorous empirical research, turn out not to be accurate.”

The fear associated with changing technology is not new; in fact, Genevieve Bell points out that the same types of fear currently circulating about the destructive power of the Internet and social media also swept through society with the introduction of trains, steam engines, electricity, television, and radio.

Conrad Gessner first wrote about the dangers of information overload in 1545, following the introduction of the printing press.

Since then, and even before then, the introduction of technology, particularly when that technology changes the way we communicate and relate to each other, has met with significant resistance.

Slate points out that even Socrates felt some hand-wringing anxiety that new technology and media, such as writing, would harm children’s minds.

Each generation fears the losses associated with new technology - loss of time spent outdoors, of time spent with physical books, or of whatever else is considered sacrificed on the altar of technology.

But are these fears valid?

The digital age has accelerated the pace of change, and some writers worry that technology is rewiring our brains in ways we can’t always predict and may not want.

It is worth noting that all new technology “rewires our brains” – the effect of reading on brain structure is significant, and videogames have similarly significant effects on brain structure.

Television may not actually “rot your brain,” but, as Scientific American points out, sitting in front of a screen does present significant potential health problems.

Fears about social media may have echoes of earlier technology scares, but there are some real differences.

Social media tends to polarize individuals, and the algorithms that work to keep you within your bubble exacerbate this problem.

The anonymity of the internet can lead to behaviour that is disinhibited and aggressive, and the impact of this “trolling” behaviour has already resulted in multiple instances of real-world violence.

Particularly since social media has become such an important part of politics – used to spread true information and the now-ubiquitous fake news – the idea that social media is making it harder to connect with each other is legitimately fear-inducing.

In a world that feels more violent and less safe, finding community is critical.

Being within a community, one that includes membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional connection, is an important part of the human experience.

Humans are highly social animals, and articles that lament how smartphones are ruining relationships touch on some core vulnerabilities and fears.

But humans are adaptive, and technology moves forward, not backward.

However drastically new technology may impact communication and the sharing of information, adaptation will follow.

Novelists have already begun to adapt, and so has human behaviour in relationships.

The next article in this series will look at how some groups are adapting to new technology, and finding ways to connect across new mediums.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.