MORLEY Chapter 8: Emerging Technologies

1. MORLEY Chapter 8:Emerging Technologies

2. Chapter Overview • The computer of the future • Emerging technologies, such as nanotechnology, that are already impacting our lives • Emerging networking technologies • Artificial intelligence (AI) • Technological advances in medicine & the military • Societal implications of emerging technologies

3. Envisioning Technology • http://envisioningtech.com/

4. Computers in the Future • Smaller, faster, and more powerful • More user-friendly • Voice input and gesture/touchinterfaces • Multisensory output, not just sight and sound • Mobile computers closer in capabilities to desktop computers and used for broader purposes • Part of walls, desks, appliances, clothing • More environmentally friendly

5. Emerging Input Hardware • Gesture-based devices (ex., Wii, Kinect) • Surface computing: Interacts with the user using ordinary objects, such as a table top; ex., Microsoft Surface • 2D barcodes: Uses vertical dimension also • Augmented reality (VR): Overlaying images with data; used in mobiles, eyewear, windshields • Radio frequency identification (RFID) and Near Field Communication (NFC): Used for payment systems

6. Wii, Kinect, Surface

7. 2D Barcode, Near Field, VR

8. New Processing Technologies • Multi-core CPUs • USB 3.0 • Flexible processors • Terascale computing: The ability of computers to process at least one trillion floating-point operations per second (one teraflop) • 3D chips: Components are layered, cutting down on required surface area • Graphene

9. More Power + Tighter Spaces = Heat • Heat can damage components • Cooler chips run faster • Fans and heat sinks traditional answer • Water cooling; even liquid nitrogen cooling

10. New Processing Tech: NVRAM • Nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM): Data stays when power off • MRAM: Uses magnetic polarization to store data • PRAM: Have a special coating that changes when heat is applied, similar to recordable CDs / DVDs • NRAM: Nanotube-based memory • May replace SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM) for a PC’s memory sticks

11. Emerging Output Devices • 3D display screens: Use filters, prisms, lenses and other technologies to create a 3D effect • Wearable personal displays: Typically built into eyeware; project images to the glasses • 3D projectors: Display laser holograms • Tiny portable projectors: Display on any flat surface • Available as stand-alone devices • Built into mobile phones, portable digital media players, portable computers, or other devices

12. Sample Emerging Output Devices

13. Project Glass

14. Emerging Flat-Screen Devices: OLED • Organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays: Use a layer of organic material that emits light when electric current is applied • Do not use backlighting • Wide viewing angle, low energy consumption, longer battery life • Emerging in digital cameras, portable digital media players, mobile phones, TVs, etc.

15. Types of OLEDs Include • Flexible OLED (FOLED) displays • Transparent OLED (TOLED) displays • Interferometric modulator displays (IMOD): Uses external light so images are bright and clear even in direct sunlight • Use no power unless image changes • Use no backlighting • Beginning to be used with mobile devices but may also be used with large outdoor displays

16. Emerging Output Devices

17. Emerging Storage Devices • Hard drive technologies are increasing density • For portable personal storage, USB flash drives are: • Continuing to be built into a variety of everyday items • Including new capabilities (recreate user’s primary PC PC environment on any computer, protect the data stored on the flash drive, etc.)

18. Emerging Storage Devices:Holographic Storage • Use laser beams to store data on holographic (3D) discs (currently hold 300 GB each) • Uses two beams to store data: • Reference beam: Determines the location • Signal beam: Contains the actual data • The hologram is stored where the two beams intersect within the medium • Over one million bits of data can be stored at one time in a single flash of light (~ 50 pages of text) • A detector reads the data one page at a time

19. Holographic Storage

20. The Impact of Nanotechnology • Creating computer components, machines, and other structures less than 100 nanometers in size • One nanometer (nm) is one billionth of a meter • Today’s CPUs use transistors that are 64 nm or less in size (1 human hair = 60,000 nm wide) • Components in the future may need to be built at an atomic or molecular level • Research is leading towards new products in many areas

21. The Nanoscale

22. Carbon Nanotubes • Tiny hollow tubes made up of carbon atoms • Used in a variety of computer (ex. memory chips) and consumer products (ex. cheap flat screens) • May be used to clean up contaminated water, protect soldiers, treat cancer, etc.

23. Quantum Computing • Applies quantum physics and mechanics (atomic and sub-atomic level studies)to computers • Utilizes atoms, nuclei, electrons, photons working together as qubits (quantum bits) • Qubits function as the computer’s processor and memory • Each qubit can represent more than the two states (1 and 0) used with electronic bits • Could build quantum computers far more powerful than conventional computers; good for code-breaking and encryption; very experimental • If quantum computers ever become a reality, the “killer app” for them will most likely not be code breaking but rather something so obvious it is rarely even mentioned: simulating quantum physics.

24. Optical Computing • Optical computer: A computer that uses light (ex., from a laser) to perform digital computations • Optical chips move data as photons, not electrons. • Devices much smaller & faster than normal • Opto-electronic computers: use both electricity and light (ex., fiber-optic cable) • Medical diagnostic systems • Remote sensing systems • Fiber-optic communications • Artificial eyes

25. Quick Quiz 1. Which of the following is NOT a type of flat-panel display technology? a. NFC b. OLED c. IMOD 2. True or False: Holographic storage records data just on the surface of the disc, like a CD. 3. A quantum bit is known as a(n) __________________. Answers: 1) a; 2) False; 3) qubit

26. Networking Technologies • Improvements are constantly being made to wired and wireless networking technologies to: • Increase speed and connectivity options for local area networks (LANs) and Internet connections • Support the continued growth in Internet-based multimedia and communications • Voice over IP (VoIP) • VOD and mobile TV • Telepresencevideo conferencing • Geobrowsing and GPS monitoring systems

27. Voice over IP Network technology that allows telephone users to send and receive calls via an Internet service instead of from a traditional land-line or mobile provider

28. VOD and Mobile TV • Video on Demand (VOD): Network technology that allows customers to receive on a network-aware device movie titles or TV shows they request • Service can be immediate or scheduled • Mobile TV: Network technology that allows customers to watch TV programs on a hand-held device, such as a mobile phone

29. TelepresenceVideo Conferencing • Video conference: the use of telecommunication technologies to allow meeting participation by individuals at two or more different locations • Telepresence video conferencing: Offers life-size, high-definition views and audio of meeting participants

30. Geobrowsing Network technology that allows users to look for information visually – often starting with a map – and then navigate / “drill-down” to the desired text

31. GPS Monitoring Systems

32. Wired Networking • Ethernet: The most widely used networking protocol • Continually evolving to support faster speeds • 10 Gbps today; 30 Gbps, 100 Gbps in development • Power over Ethernet (PoE): Allows both electrical power and data sent over standard Ethernet cable • Used most often in business networks • Requires special hardware and devices • Eliminates need for devices to be near outlet

33. Power over Ethernet (PoE)

34. Broadband Over Power Lines (BPL) • Allows data (primarily Internet data at this time) to be sent over existing power-pole infrastructure and a building’s regular power lines • Based on the Powerline standard • Requires additional hardware on power poles • Potentially offers broadband access to any home or business with access to electricity

35. BPL Example

36. Wireless Networking: WiFi • Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity): Family of wireless networks using the IEEE standard 802.11 (a, b, g, n, etc.) • Current standard for wireless in home or office • Designed for medium-range data transfers • Performance depends on: • Wi-Fi standard and hardware being used • Number of solid objects and distance between the wireless access point and the device • Interference from cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves, etc., on same radio frequency

37. Wireless Networking: WiMAX • WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, or IEEE 802.16): A wireless standard that is faster and has farther range than Wi-Fi • Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e): Designed to bring broadband Internet service to users via mobile phone, computer, or other WiMAX-enabled device

38. Wireless Networking: Mobiles • Cellular standards: Evolving to meet demand and mobile trends; classed by bandwidth “generation” • Bandwidth: Measure of how much data can move per second through assigned “pipe” • Actual standards can differ by vendor and country! • 3Gstandards: first to support both data and voice • 4G standards: support for gaming, mobile TV, etc. • Mobile WiMAX • Long Term Evolution (LTE)

39. Wireless Networking: Short-Range • Bluetooth: Original wireless standard designed for short-range connections between devices • Wireless USB: Similar to Bluetooth, but transfers data more quickly • WirelessHD (WiHD): Designed for home consumer electronic devices • TransferJet: Designed to transfer large files quickly between devices as soon as they come in contact

40. Wireless USB

41. Quick Quiz 1. An emerging networking standard designed to connect home entertainment devices is ____________. a. LTE b. wirelessHD c. mobile WiMax 2. True or False: The most common protocol used with wired networks is Wi-Fi. 3. An emerging wireless standard that can transmit data over a distance of up to 6 miles is ____________. Answers: 1) b; 2) False; 3) WiMAX

42. Artificial Intelligence (AI) • Artificial intelligence (AI): The science and engineering of making computing machines that think and act like intelligent humans • Turing Test: A test of AI • An observer interacts electronically with a human and a computer by sending them questions and reviewing the typed responses • If the observer repeatedly cannot tell which of the responses is human and which is machine, the machine is viewed as intelligent

43. Turing Test and Loebner Prize Loebner Prize: Includes a gold medal to be awarded to the developer of the first computer to pass the Turing Test; no winner as of yet

44. Artificial Intelligence (AI) • Early advances in AI were in game playing, ex., chess (huge number of possible moves) • Today’s chess-playing programs can beat human chess masters

45. Some Current AI Applications • Contain some aspects of AI though tend to mimic human intelligence • Intelligent agents: Programs that perform specific tasks to help make a user’s work more efficient or entertaining • Application assistants – online help, ex., Siri • Shopping bots (price comparison) • Entertainment bots (ex., Sony AIBO dog) • Chatterbots(simulate human conversation; ex., CleverBot)

46. AI: Intelligent Agents

47. AI: Expert Systems • Expert systems: Programs that can make decisions and draw conclusions, similar to a human expert • Include: • Knowledge base (database with facts and rules) • Inference engine (program that applies the rules to the data stored in the knowledge base) • Widely used for many tasks, such as: • Diagnosing illness • Financial forecasting • Scheduling routes for delivery vehicles • Credit authorizations

48. Expert Systems

49. AI: Neural Networks • Neural networks: AI systems that attempt to imitate the way a human brain works • Can learn by observation, as well as trial and error • Designed to recognize patterns in data and make more progressive leaps in associations and predictions than conventional computer systems • Used in (ex.): • Vision recognition systems • Fingerprint analysis • Oil and gas exploration

50. AI: Robotics • Robots: Devices, controlled by a person or computer, that can move and react to sensory input • Robotics: The development and study of robots • Business / industrial robots: • Monitor security • Facilitate teleconferencing (as a stand-in) • Search and rescue missions • Fight fires; search for gas leaks • Work on assembly line • Deliver mail / packages