Chapter 2

• Chapter 2: Emerging and Converging Information Communication Technologies 2.1 Emerging Software Technologies Smart Machines: Smart machines take human decision-making out of the equation, allowing intelligent machines to instigate changes and bring forward solutions to basic problems. Companies are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace because it enables workers to focus their skills on the most important projects and manages these intelligent devices for a more effective system.
• Artificial intelligence

  Harnesses algorithms and machine learning to predict useful patterns humans normally identify
• Five out of six Americans use AI services in one form or another every day
• AI

  • Used to schedule trains
  • Assess business risk
  • Predict maintenance
  • Improve energy efficiency
• AI face recognition

  Helps with missing people reports<|>Helps identify individuals for criminal investigations
• 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
• Artificial intelligence

  Harnesses algorithms and machine learning to predict useful patterns humans normally identify
• Five out of six Americans use AI services in one form or another every day
• AI

  • Used to schedule trains
  • Assess business risk
  • Predict maintenance
  • Improve energy efficiency
• AI face recognition

  Helps with missing people reports<|>Helps identify individuals for criminal investigations
• 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
• Virtual Reality (VR)

  Three-dimensional computer-generated environments that replace the normal reality in which our everyday lives play out
• VR environments

  • Engage a user's vision—and in some instances touch—to provide a seemingly three-dimensional simulated world to interact with or explore
  • Often described as "immersive"
• VR applications

  • Virtual reality games
  • Training and education in fields like medicine, engineering, and the sciences
• Telepresence

  The illusion of "being there"
• How telepresence is effected

  1. Motion sensors pick up the user's movements

  2. Adjust the view on the screen accordingly, usually in real time (the instant the user's movement takes place)

  3. User can tour a simulated suite of rooms, experiencing changing viewpoints and perspectives that are convincingly related to his own head turnings and steps
• Head-mounted display (HMD)

  • Virtual Reality's most immediately recognizable component
• Data gloves equipped with force-feedback devices

  • Provide the sensation of touch
  • User can pick up and manipulate objects that he sees in the virtual environment
• Augmented Reality (AR)

  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
• Current applications of augmented reality

  • Pokémon Go
  • Additions on televised football in the U.S.
• How augmented reality is being used

  1. Airports implementing augmented-reality guides to help people get through their checks and terminals as quickly and efficiently as possible

  2. Retail and cosmetics using augmented reality to let customers test products

  3. Furniture stores using augmented reality to lay out new interior design options
• The possibilities for augmented reality in the future revolve around mobile applications and health care solutions
• Careers in mobile app development and design will be abundant
• Information technology professionals can put their expertise to use in these interactive experiences
• Blockchain data

  A secure method that will continue to grow in popularity and use in 2019
• Blockchain data

  • Allows you to input additional data without changing, replacing, or deleting anything
  • Protects original data without losing important information
• Blockchain data

  Offers a safe and straightforward way to do business with suppliers and customers
• Blockchain systems

  • Provide secure private data
  • Can benefit the medical and information technology industries with added protection
• 5. Cyber-Privacy and Security: Cybersecurity, or information security, refers to the measures taken to protect a computer or computer system against unauthorized access from a hacker. On its most basic level, data privacy is a consumer’s understanding of their rights as to how their personal information is collected, used, stored, and shared. Cybersecurity is a concentration of IT that will help secure clouds and improve the trust between businesses and their vendors.
• Internet of Things (IoT)

  The network of physical objects—"things"—that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet
• IoT devices

  • Ordinary household objects
  • Sophisticated industrial tools
• There are more than 7 billion connected IoT devices today
• Experts are expecting the number of IoT devices to grow to 10 billion by 2020 and 22 billion by 2025
• Use of IoT

  • Turn on music hands-free with a simple command
  • Lock and unlock doors even from a distance