Kevin

I am the writer, editor and publisher behind this future technology blog and I predict you will keep reading to see what is coming right around that metaphorical corner.

Hologram Technology for Classrooms of the Future

Education Technology Comments Off

Oct 112020

The coronavirus pandemic has brought several challenges to our lives. And in order to address those troublesome circumstances, people have started making the best use of the latest technologies. One such example is hologram technology by professionals in Texas.

In order to create a safe classroom environment for students during the Covid-19 pandemic, they launched a creative solution of beaming the professor to the classroom in the form of a hologram.

The McCombs School of Business at Austin recently established a connection with a Contextual Content Group in Austin, and they created a brand-new 3D immersive video solution for the intuitive learning experience. This new system combines hybrid, in-person, and online teaching experiences to deliver interactive, engaging, and valuable distance learning experience.

Joe Stephens, the director and senior assistant dean at McCombs School of Business, recently said in an interview that the teams here were eager to make the digital learning experience much better. He revealed that authenticity, curiosity, tenacity, and enterprise are the four pillars of the system at McCombs, and they took the initiative to utilize these pillars more creatively during this pandemic.

The Recourse platform launched by the school is currently being used by the accounting professor Steve Limberg to handle his Executive MBA class. Reports reveal that he is the first most faculty member in the school to adopt this technology. Limberg, while interacting with media, said that this new system is very reliable, and it leads to an authentic experience as he can see all the nuances and gestures made by the students. It is more like a real classroom where students can interact, raise their hands and enjoy active learning sessions.

This pandemic has created a new opportunity for the McCombs school and University at Austin to help students learn during the entire semester of the year 2020. It was also a reliable way to follow social distancing measures as guided by medical health professionals. The new Hologram based teaching practices made it possible to collaborate online while keeping students and professor safe.

Jim Spencer, the CEO of Contextual Content Group, recently revealed that this technology is very robust, and it has a long way to go. While developing this concept, the main goal was to help professors teach safely with socially distanced experience. As students and professors were not able to join the classroom physically, the online virtual experience could lead to enhanced returns. And the great news is that this new technology is working fine and is currently in use.

The technology is a good fit not just for the pandemic duration; rather in the long run for the McCombs School of Business. The professionals here are even looking for some ways to expand it further to enhance teaching-learning experiences.

Such inventions can make student’s life easier while helping them stay in touch with the professor virtually. They can discuss their doubts, queries, and new ideas openly via hologram technology. What does the future hold for this technology? Well, hologram students in the classroom as well.

Citation

https://news.utexas.edu/2020/09/17/hologram-technology-to-launch-classroom-of-the-future/

Oxsight Smart Glasses for the Visually Impaired

smart glasses Comments Off

Sep 042020

Oxsight Smart Glasses

In life, vision is everything and it’s only when we start to notice reductions in our vision that we realize just how important it can be. That’s why the introduction of a host of exciting new visual aids for Oxfordshire residents are so exciting. The people of Oxfordshire are being asked to try out new smart glasses made by a company based in Oxford called OXSIGHT.

The glasses are developed by a team of scientific experts and clinical experts who have worked on visual aids in the past. The are expected to provide a meaningful improvement to those with central vision loss and can also help people to recognize faces, deal with tasks close at hand, and enjoy day-to-day tasks such as reading. These glasses will provide those who wear them with an enhanced visual experience relative to what they can enjoy without aids.

The aim is to help those with sight loss to start seeing a small amount once again. This works by providing a projected, magnified live stream from a small central-mounted camera that are on the screens in front of the eye. The latest model, the OXSIGHT Onyx, is expected to help those with central and general field vision loss greatly.

A new vision for Oxford visual limitations

The company, though, needs people to help test them out in the field – and they are actively looking for help and support in making that so. Testing sessions will be taking place throughout August, with tests on both the 25^th and 26^th, providing those with macular conditions a chance to try out the treatment for free.

The company has found that 100% of users so far have found facial recognition to be easier, while 75% said they could read better than without the glasses. With Oxford one of the cities in the UK with the highest risk of avoidable sight loss, OXSIGHT got into action to come up with a solution to what is a growing local and nationwide problem.

The CEO of OXSIGHT, Dr. Rakesh Roshan, said: “We believe that 75-percent of people with central vision loss will benefit from these cutting-edge smart glasses, especially due to the further isolation caused by Covid-19. The feedback we’ve received is that Onyx is life-changing because it gives people back their independence. To people with degenerative eye disease, that is invaluable.”

As it stands, then, these could be the next step forward in creating visual aids that can actively improve the lives of so many people. It’s a hard thing to get right, but for centuries we have wrestled with visual aids that can minimize the impact and risk of blindness. With smart technology providing us with so many opportunities, this might be the most innovative addition to the industry in some time.

Citation

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18653494.oxsight-launch-new-smart-glasses-oxfordshire-residents-test/

The Future of Smart Cities

Smart Cities Comments Off

Aug 022020

Smart City

Smart Cities is a term that, once you hear it a few times, it begins to stick in the mind. It makes us think of something from a sci-fi novel; a city that thinks and acts based on the needs of is citizens. And while there is a natural uncertainty about how this kind of power could be used or abused, the benefits are clear. Smart cities are becoming more and more commonplace around the world, but how are they going to impact on our lives?

What is the long-term future of the Smart City?

Making city life easier

Live in a big city today, and you likely will find the pace of life to be hectic and chaotic. Most of us find that big city life is quite bustling and busy; it can feel hard to stop for a moment and simply take a breath. That is why making life easier through Smart City integration is such a wise idea.

This is going to help make life easier, as we try and make day-to-day quality of life a little higher whilst reducing the pace of life.

Reduced crime

Another big factor in the development of the Smart City is how tough on crime it could be. The aim is that eventually we could see crime reduced by as much as 30% if investment was consistent enough. This would reduce crime significantly and ensure that people are far less likely to take risks and commit crimes.

With cities that are much more secure than previously, it’ll feel easier to walk the streets at night.

Traffic and congestion

Smart City traffic is supposed to become easier to navigate. The idea is to ensure that you can move through the city with consummate ease, all the while ensuring that traffic is handled to avoid bottlenecks and keep the flow moving.

If a part of the city needs more flow, then other areas can be slowed to allow for easier movement of traffic, reducing traffic jams and delays.

Better use of resources

Today, living in a big city will see a city utilise a massive amount of resources on a daily basis. For example, things like trash being handled or water pumps being used to excess can be addressed. With Smart City technology, it becomes much easier to watch and follow every part of the city. From waste collection to garbage disposal, everything can be arranged and put on a much more consistent and timely manner.

Lower living costs

The aim is also to ensure that the day-to-day living cost of your average person comes down quite significantly. Lower living costs are something that you could easily benefit from, and if the city is using less resources just to simply exist then the cost of living in the city is naturally going to reduce. The less is spent on administrative and utility purposes, the lower your bills are going to become as well.

In short, Smart City technology is changing everything about the cities that we live in and inhabit for the better – and that shows no signs of changing anytime soon. As we continue to embrace technology, things will change for the better.

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