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Showing posts with label ENGAGEMENT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ENGAGEMENT. Show all posts

Smart cars just aren’t ready for the car wash

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With progressing technology, autonomous vehicles are able to differentiate between dangerous obstacles and non-threatening objects much more easily and accurately than they used to.
However, the car computers have still not perfected the process to the level that is needed for circumstances outside the norm.  For example, driving one of these smart cars through a car wash can be complicated if the override system is not easily provided.  The systems in some of these vehicles experience difficulties in knowing when it is necessary to turn on the brakes or override impulses.
See also:  Are self-driving cars speeding past smartphones?
The reason behind this problem is that the radar sensors view the soapy lathered brushes and large water jets as an impending threat. Therefore, a car equipped with these sensors can get confused and kick into safety mode in order to avoid an anticipated collision.
Adam Korngold, President of Waves Car Wash, states “We are just starting to see this issue come up.  Some of the vehicle manufacturers have put in safety devices that sense a car in front of the vehicle and the vehicle will automatically apply the break.  We’ve seen a couple times that a few of the higher end cars will recognize our curtains in the wash and automatically cause the car to stop.”




Are cars too smart for the car wash?

Craig Fitzgerald, Editor of BestRide.com, recently conducted a car wash test, while in a 2017 Kia Cadenza.  When he drove in and the conveyer belt tried to move him forward, the car wouldn’t move because the autohold break, a safety feature to keep the car from moving when it is parked in neutral, was on.  However, he said that it was really easy to turn that feature off by pressing a button.
He went on to explain that other cars, such as the Volvo XC90, are not nearly as easy to override.  The Volvo XC90 has its override information located deep in the middle of the owner’s manual, and the instructions to turn off the system are a bit more complicated.
Some vehicle companies such as Tesla have considered these kinds of scenarios and have provided an easy method for owners to turn off the vehicle assistance when going through a car wash.  As autonomous vehicles become more and more popular, these bugs are sure to be worked out.  Until then, owners just need to be prepared and know how to override the safety systems when necessary.

BMW will launch iNext autonomous car in China, too

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BMW has every intention of launching iNext, its first autonomous car, concurrently in China, Europe, and the United States, barring any regulatory resistance.

Speaking at an artificial intelligence and robotics conference in Shenzhen, Maximilian Doemling, the senior manager of the autonomous group, said:

“If you’re expecting autonomous function where you can be on the highway, press the button and the car does everything for you, like lane changing and driving, and you can play with smartphone, and you’re al
ways safe, we had the big announcement with Intel and Mobileye that we will have the iNext in 2021.”

It’s not surprising that BMW is prepared to launch iNext in China in the opening year. The country buys more cars than anywhere else, and in the past ten years people have started moving from General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen to more luxury brands, like BMW and Mercedes Benz.



BMW wants in on booming China market

Electric cars are also becoming a lot more popular in China, as residents in large cities see the impacts of pollution everyday and seek to reduce their own.

Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has said in the near future the company may start manufacturing cars in the country, due to the high demand for the Model S and expected demand for the Model 3.

BMW has a 2021 release date for the iNext, though that is only preliminary. While Tesla and Google may boast that self-driving is already safer, it still needs to get through a lot of regulatory hurdles before people can drive without looking at the road.

That said, BMW is positioning itself as a key player in the market, partnering with Intel and Mobileye to build a driverless system. BMW is also part of a consortium of German manufacturers that purchased Here Maps, giving them another resource for its self-driving endeavour.

Wearables prove research chops in U.S. cancer study

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Wearable devices are enabling patient-generated data for a U.S. cancer study, as connected technology is proving increasingly useful for medical research.
As reported in an article by Mobile Health News, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) has teamed up with cloud-based analytics startup Medidata to research multiple myeloma. This comes as wearbles are used increasingly in medical applications.
The two New York-based organizations are launching the patient-generated health data trial of 40 patients afflicted with the blood cancer that accumulates in bone marrow. Wearable devices on the subjects will track activity and sleep, while patients will use an app to answer surveys about life quality aspects like appetite and fatigue.
“This is a first exercise and the hope is that we’d be able to take learnings from this exercise to the deployment of mobile health technologies either with this particular partner or with others,” said Medidata’s Kara Dennis, a managing director of mobile health.
“We want to make sure we can support the application of these tools with technology, so we’ve got mechanisms to gather and process and analyze all the data.” “We’re very focused on building tools for those purposes and we want to make sure this can be implemented in a way that patients can effectively use these tools and technologies and that investigative sites can also make use of these tools and technologies,” Dennis adds.
The specific nature of this type of cancer dictated how connected devices were incorporated into the study, particularly in the search for the most useful data on such aspects as quality of life.
“Because of the nature of the disease, myeloma patients are subject to bone pain and fractures,” said MSK hematologist Dr. Neha Korde, who is captaining the study.
“Pain is one of the most difficult symptoms to manage and assess,” said Korde. “We believe that activity and sleep patterns will correlate with self-reported pain levels.”


Encouraging cancer results should lead to larger trial

Once the four-month study is complete, MSK and Medidata hope to use insights gained for the possible development of similar patient-generated health data studies in the future. Korde said that MSK is likely to expand the research to a larger trial if the pilot study proves accurate, reliable and easy for patients to use.
Meanwhile, Dennis said that Medidata may look to partner with others for similar trials if the MSK study goes well.
“There is a broad interest from sponsors we’ve spoken with in quality of life in oncology as a way to evaluate one dimension of therapeutic impact,” said Dennis. “So a number of companies, organizations are interested in understanding, while on therapy, what is the ability of patients to move, to leave their home, to be active, to be productive, to go to work. Those kinds of things along with sleep quality, ‘are subjects waking in the middle of the night’, duration, time to sleep onset, number of night awakenings, those kind of quality of life elements are interesting to many oncology sponsors we’ve spoken with.”

Will security vulnerabilities dent smart city efforts?

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As the Internet of Things (IoT) drives ever more smart city initiatives, security experts fear IT departments will soon be overwhelmed by hackers attracted by huge new troves of data.
A recent article by ITWeb discussed increasing IoT and smart city security issues with Paul Williams, major account manager for network security firm Fortinet.
Williams sees a new IoT-driven era emerging where cloud services and connected workplace devices proliferate rapidly. While IoT technology growth is undeniably benefiting productivity, he warns that it is also creating chaos for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) whose tightly held control over their IT systems is being shattered.
“CIOs now have to grapple with the idea of employees using unsanctioned cloud services via unsecured phones to hook up to corporate servers and accessing sensitive business data,” said Williams. “CIOs should look at IoT devices that offer device-to-device encryption, and bolster comprehensive encryption schemes to protect data in networks, cloud services and endpoint devices.”
He sees the quickly expanding smart city services technology and services available as adding to this chaos with new targeted security vulnerabilities.
“Connected devices will generate huge data repositories and businesses that adopt big data systems will see an even larger data deluge,” he said.
“To protect huge amounts of data with large inflows and outflows, the bandwidth capabilities of security appliances will come to the fore.”


Smart cities weakened by devices’ authentication issues

He says smart cities bristling with connected devices face a major vulnerability in that most of IoT technology only requires a one-time authentication process across multiple sessions. This differs from laptops and cell phones which usually require authentication every time.
“This will make them attractive to hackers looking to infiltrate into company networks, as it allows easy control and sniffing of traffic,” said Williams.
“CIOs should map out where these gateways are and where they are linked to − they can reside internally or externally and even be connected to IoT device manufacturers.”
The dangers posed by the growing global footprint of smart cities are very real, and he says new viruses are emerging to specifically target IoT technology. Williams gives the example of the new Conficker worm which was designed to attach itself to IoT devices and spread via PCs.
“Such worms and viruses are persistent and can propagate from device to device particularly with mobile and the Android operating system,” he warns. “They can easily infect up to 50 million PCs if the spread of IoT worms is not properly mitigated.”

How the Internet of Things helps build brands

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Brands are poised to benefit greatly from the Internet of Things (IoT) over the next several years, as companies are being connected with their consumers in ways they never could before.

Engagement is at the heart of IoT. It isn’t a dusty server sitting in a back office, it isn’t your laptop or even your smartphone. It is a concept built around connecting the various items we interact and engage with throughout the day in a way previously only reserved for what we would describe as computers.
This means that brands have a variety of new methods by which they can connect with and deliver value to the consumer, and to create a lifestyle around interacting with their brand and the environment around consumers.
In much the same way that Michelin generated brand awareness and encouraged use of its tires by creating the Michelin Travel Guide, brands like Under Armour are becoming all-in-one solutions for customers that want to live a healthier and more active lifestyle.


Amazon and Under Armour taking a swing

Customers are buying Under Armour apparel, fitness trackers, and in return providing a ton of useful data to Under Armour to help them create new, targeted products.
The brand previously only associated with tight-fitting fitness apparel is now becoming synonymous with life goals: health and fitness.

Retail outlets like Amazon are branching out from their traditional sales approach and into IoT in a big way. Amazon has recently launched an entire line of products and services aimed at making their services accessible throughout your home. This includes buttons that place orders for common household products with a single press and actively-listening devices that respond to voice commands.
For consumers, this is a good thing. It means that you can get more value from the companies you do business with. They get to branch out and become better connected to you and your individual needs.

IoT revenues up 15%; cloud computing a big driver

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A new report shows healthy revenues for 21 benchmarked Internet of Things (IoT) companies in the last quarter of 2015, with revenue growing by almost 15% to levels approaching $7 billion. Cloud computing and IT infrastructure are especially potent drivers of IoT revenues, as vendors help companies cope with ever increasing rivers of data.

In a press release Technology Business Research (TBR) reported that commercial IoT opportunities drove year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter by 14.8% among the 21 companies it tracks in its regular Commercial IoT Benchmark report. Total revenues for the quarter were $6.7 billion among benchmarked vendors that include Verizon, Microsoft, Intel, Google, Amazon, Siemens, Cisco, Ericsson and Oracle.
See also: Hackers drive huge growth in IoT security market
“Effectively, every type of IT and operational technology (OT) vendor will have a stake in the growing commercial IoT market, as IoT solutions will drive increased use of diverse IT and OT products and services,” said Dan Callahan, a TBR analyst specializing in devices and IoT.

TBR says revenue growth is being driven by a rise in go-to-market refreshes by top vendors who are striving to become known as early leaders in the commercial IoT space.
“In addition to building interest in established IT products, commercial IoT will create growth in specialized business consulting, hardware, network, development, management and security components,” said Callahan. “IT and OT vendors that are quick to capture IoT opportunities within their current customer base, and attract new ones through developer programs and investing in growing mindshare, will enjoy additional, immediate, revenue opportunities.”


Revenues driven by explosive growth in data management needs

TBR’s report showed vendors are looking to become early IoT leaders in order to drive profits in this emerging industry. Vendors who take an early IoT leadership position are benefiting because there is less competition, customers have limited outsourcing options due to early IoT’s security challenges, and clients require custom solutions due to the lack of technology standards.
Cloud computing services posted the highest year-over-year revenue growth rate of 79% to record $604 million in the quarter. This growth is being propelled by the vastly increasing need being created for platforms to process and store data.

TSR also noted strong growth in IT services and ICT infrastructure, which charted a 51.4% growth rate in revenue for the quarter. This subsector is benefiting from the increasing capacity requirements created by the huge streams of IoT data that is being generated, as more companies struggle to tame the growing flood of information into actionable insights.

Are wearables exposing us to unwanted health risks?

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In the growing age of the Internet of Things (IoT), the increased exposure to radiation has become a topic of concern, and more articles are starting to pop up explaining this little understood topic.  Recently, Dr. Rajan Pandey discussed these health hazards, especially with wearable devices, beginning with an interesting comparison.
“Back when smoking was accepted for both men and women in the US, a majority of physicians smoked. Yet, there was rising public worry about the risks associated with the use of cigarettes. The marketing response of tobacco companies was to employ the aide of physicians who reportedly saw no problem with the use of cigarettes,” he said. “As these ads, using doctors, continued through the 1950s, executives in the tobacco industry used the physician image to put to rest any concerns the customers might have that their cigarette brands were unsafe.”

Today, he added, “we face this same sort of marketing agenda, in regards to fitness wearables.”
Dr. Pandey states that many of these fitness wearables are untested, unscientific and can cause anxiety. While these wearables are being paraded as the greatest new thing in the health industry, they may actually be imposing great risk.
Q: What are some of the health problems associated with these wearable devices?

Dr. Pandey: Radiation that is released by these gadgets can cause reduced sperm counts, eye irritation, headaches, reduced appetite, nausea, mood swings and sleep disruption.
In this day and age, there is a plethora of IoT gadgets and gizmos, which has become the norm in society. These devices have become so ingrained in the regular lives of people, despite the cost, and these people are surely paying a high price, in more ways than one.

Q: What is considered to be the cause of these wearable devices becoming such a massive health risk to people?
Dr. Pandey: The Electro-Magnetic Radiation (EMR) and radio signals, which are released continuously by these gadgets, have become one of the most toxic forms of pollution and a major health concern. With the constant use of cell phones and electronic devices, which offer near constant connectivity, hazardous toxins are wreaking havoc on the human body slowly and surely. EMR has actually been categorized as a slow poison by some countries.
Q: Aren’t many of these wearable devices designed to improve a person’s health?
Dr. Pandey: Fitness fanatics and beginners alike all use these gadgets geared toward exercise, such as Smart Watches. Cell phones are usually kept by their users in pockets.   Even when people aren’t using their devices, the devices are still interacting with towers, and the radiation that is released can be harmful to the area of the body that is close to the phone. All this may lead to interference with heart beat patterns, because the natural electrical pacemakers are disrupted by the radiation emitted from these devices.  Keeping a mobile phone in a pants pocket increases the chances of a reduced sperm count. Headaches, irritation to the eyes, reduced appetite, sleep problems and mood swings are all things that a person could suffer from due to overuse of these devices.


Wearables may pose highest risk to children

Dr. Pandey states that children are the ones at risk the most, due to their skulls being thinner, and their still developing nervous systems. And aside from the actual environmental toxins emitted from these IoT wearable devices, there is another danger produced.  People are so engrossed in their gadgets, they are not paying attention to the real world.  Many accidents are caused by drivers who are texting, or pedestrians who are walking, while simultaneously staring at their phones.  This issue has caused many cities across the country to incorporate laws forbidding the use of cell phones while driving.
Q: Is there any research to support the fact that these devices are harmful?

Dr. Pandey: There is existing information from the WHO panel that consisted of 31 scientists from 14 countries, in which the panel deduced that cell phones were “possibly carcinogenic” and the devices could be as toxic as certain pesticides. The WHO panel also recognized that the amount of distance a device is from a person’s head directly correlates with the level of pollution they are exposed to, so it is safer to text than make a phone call, where the phone would be touching a person’s ear.”

Wearable technology won’t be disappearing and will most likely continue to increase.  But adults and children alike need to limit the amount of time they spend connected to their devices.  Don’t keep these IoT devices near you when you don’t need to.  Try to minimize your exposure.

Should billions be invested for smarter US cities?

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The US federal government should bust out the checkbook and invest billions in making its cities smarter, says the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) in a new report.  advising the federal government to invest billions of dollars in smart city technology.

The report, entitled “Technology and the Future of Cities,” outlines the current state of smart city technology infrastructure in the US and describes opportunities for economic growth. PCAST also recommends the best steps the federal government should take to efficiently improve the lives of its citizens through harnessing data collected by the Internet of Things (IoT).
Around the globe, smart city technology is poised to provide citizens services ranging from traffic management to a better coordination of health information. Countries in Europe andAsia have already funded widescale smart city initiatives, and there’s the feeling that most of the US is being left behind.

smart city billions 2

Smart city billions already sought by Obama administration

Support for smart cities is nothing new from the Obama administration. Last September, it announced a plan to invest $160 million on research and local infrastructure. In this new report, PCAST urges the federal government to scale up this effort for a “more integrated approach to supporting new technologies.”
To do this, the report recommends that the administration seek legislation for an initial $10 billion appropriation from the Treasury Department, allowing for the financing of an eventual $100 billion in local infrastructure development and retrofitting projects.

But the report’s primary recommendation is for the Secretary of the Department of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, to launch the “Cities Innovation Technology Investment Initiative.” This initiative will require open collaboration between the Departments of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, and Transportation, along with the local agencies needed to organize these efforts.
PCAST also advises the administration to follow the Department of Transportation’s “Smart Cities Challenge” model. The report asserts that the Commerce Department should “fund five districts with funding in the range of $30-40 million each, from existing sources in its constituent agencies and with at least two of the districts in low-income communities.”

Despite its scope, the report has received some criticism from smart city experts. Chair of the Smart Cities Council, Jesse Berst, supports the effort but isn’t a fan of its suggestion of neighborhood-by-neighborhood implementation. “But even these smaller-scale projects must be driven by a citywide vision,” Berst advises. “Otherwise, you’ll end up with disjointed, less connected neighborhoods.”

What role will the government play in IoT?

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As the Internet of Things (IoT) market begins to boom, we are bound to see the government take a more active role in investment and policing what is right and wrong in the industry.


That’s what an April 6 notice on the Federal Register by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seems to suggest, asking for all parties involved in IoT to discuss with the administration about the evolution of IoT and shifts in global economies from the new technology.
See Also: Will IIoT Bolster Industrial Automation Investments? 
“NTIA seeks broad input from all interested stakeholders — including the private industry, researchers, academia and civil society — on the potential benefits and challenges of [Internet of Things] technologies and what role, if any, the U.S. government should play in this area,” said NTIA in the notice.


While it reads civilly enough, the U.S. government has shown a lack of enthusiasm for major projects like commercial drones, which we shut down by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2015.
That might worry IoT stakeholders that want to see the market grow unhindered. If new regulations or subsidies are set in place, it might change the dynamics of the market drastically.



Government trying to get a handle on IoT

Federal Times explains that the comments will be added to a green paper, which will be given to the government to “identify key issues impacting deployment of these technologies, highlight potential benefits and challenges and identify possible roles for the federal government in fostering the advancement of IoT technologies in partnership with the private sector.”

While IoT has been around for a decade now, it has only gained its bearings in the last three years. The growth in the consumer sector, with devices like Nest’s thermostat, Philips Hue, and Amazon Dash Button selling well, has brought more interest from all across the industry, which Gartner claims will balloon to 26 billion IoT devices by 2020.
It doesn’t appear to be a market desperate for government intervention, though no doubt some will argue for and against government assistance.

Lot gets down and dirty in Australian smart sewers

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An Australian trial of Internet of Things (IoT) technology hopes to get the lowdown from city sewers without workers needing to get knee deep in the muddy waters. This comes as more global smart city initiatives push the frontiers of data collection both above and below ground.
Gizmodo reports that the state of Victoria is working with IT and communications companies to test out Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) systems in its sewer and water systems. Huawei, Optus and Vodafone are partnering with the state agency South East Water for the trial in urban areas that include Melbourne.
NB-IoT is a low-powered, low-cost radio technology that allows thousands of connected devices and infrastructure elements to gather and share data, regardless of the location. The three-month trial seeks to provide operators with access to granular, real-time data to better the safety, reliability and efficiency of Victoria’s sewer and water infrastructure.
“The emergence of lower powered, low cost networks with increased coverage has the potential to unlock enormous value for water utilities and their customers,”1 said South East Water’s corporate and commercial general manager Phil Johnson.

Sewers become more reliable to client and safer for workers

“Through this trial, we are building a platform for a more reliable and sustainable water supply, a safer place for our people to work, and more cost-effective services for our customers,” he said.
The trial will see NB-IoT sensors placed on sewer manhole covers to inform city workers of unauthorized access, to reduce the risk of injury and damage to water assets. NB-IoT technology will also be fitted to rainwater tank management systems to monitor storage levels amid efforts to optimize stormwater runoff and rainwater harvesting.
And NB-IoT will replace existing 3G technology across South East Water’s peninsula early connection option sewer network. The real-time information generated will be used to locate faults across the network and to manage waste water flows.

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