An online-research firm released a list of what it says are the most popular mobile apps in the world. CIO.com blogger Al Sacco says the list is questionable, but it does provide some interesting findings
The infographic in this post supposedly spotlights the 16 most popular mobile
apps in the world, based on usage. It comes from online-research firm
GlobalWebIndex, which asked respondents, "Which of the following mobile
applications have you used in the past month?"
.
(Click to enlarge)
The exact methodology used to garner these
numbers is a bit unclear, and I think it's safe to say that the inforgraphic
isn't exactly "scientific." The numbers are apparently based on a survey of
randomly selected "internet users aged 16-64 from the most highly respected
research panels in the market research industry." Whatever that means. And
GlobalWebIndex did not specify how many respondents it queried. (Read more about GlobalWebIndex's methodology here.). As such, you should take the infographic and the
information contained within with a healthy dose of kosher salt.
From the research company:
"We've identified the apps that are actually used by the 969.49m strong
global smartphone population…GlobalWebIndex’s top 10 of actively used smartphone
apps [is] based on the % of global smartphone users who have taken advantage of
the services they offer in the last month."
Here are a few observations of note:
Google makes three of the four most popular smartphones apps in the world,
according to GlobalWebIndex: Google Maps; YouTube; and Google+, all of which are
available on multiple mobile platforms. So while Google continues to flog user
privacy in its Gmail
email service and Chrome
browser, Internet users clearly aren't mad enough about the invasions to
stop using Google's mobile apps.
Eight of the 16, or 50 percent, of the top mobile apps in GlobalWebIndex's
ranking are social-media apps.
The fifth most popular app in the index is Weixin/Wechat, a Chinese chat app
that's "basically used only in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia." I'd never heard
of this service, but it's supposedly used by 27 percent of the global smartphone
population. Considering it's mostly used in just a few countries, the usage rate
in those countries must be through the roof. That is one popular chat app. In
fact, it's reportedly more popular than both Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
I’ve tried Windows 8 in the hopes that it would solve some issues I had with the performance of my PC but even though it’s relatively lighter than Windows 7 (after all, it’s mostly made for people with mobile devices) I wasn’t really a big fan of it. Don’t get me wrong, I still like it enough to include it in my list, but thanks to Metro, it remains at number ten. The performance benefits were great but I feel they need to work on a it a bit more in order to make it more PC friendly.
I have several different machines and I use them for different things. My gaming rig runs Windows 7. As a long-time Windows user, I must say I was impressed with Windows 7, especially after that Vista fiasco I am still trying to forget. It strikes the perfect balance between performance and utility and has the added benefit of being one of the main PC platforms in the world, meaning most games and programs are made for it. Even though it’s not anything special, it’s a solid OS and I’m sticking to it for the foreseeable future.
8. Fedora
Let me start by saying that Linux has many, many distros and some of them will be featured on this list. Fedora is one of my favorite operating systems. It combines speed and innovation like no other OS. It has tons of tools and gives you the ability to do whatever you want with as long as you know what you’re doing.
Mac OS X shines more with its design than functionality. It’s true that there are numerous different programs and tools at your disposal, but for most people it’s just a fancy way to access their Facebook while enjoying the eye-candy. It gets bonus points for appearance.
6. Ubuntu
Ubuntu is by far the most popular Linux distribution. It’s very user-friendly and has countless programs, application and customization options, especially with Compiz enabled. To be honest, I am not a big fan of Unity but that’s just a matter of personal preference.
5. Linux Mint
Linux Mint is another great Linux distro which is fast and reliable, even with the KDE desktop environment. Linux Mint 15 (code name: Olivia) is a great OS for people who are making the transition from Windows.
4. Debian
Debian is one of the most stable operating systems you can use and has all the benefits Ubuntu has to offer.
3. OpenSuse
One of my favorite KDE based systems, OpenSuse is a bit more demanding from resources standpoint but it’s completely worth it because it is gorgeous.
2. ArchLinux
ArchLinux targets the more experienced Linux users and a lot of the work through the text-based interface and commands. I wouldn’t recommend it to newer users, but if you have a grasp of using the terminal in other distros, you can give it a shot.
1. Puppy Linux
I still keep my first laptop. I saved for it for a long time and it’s still here to remind me that when I set my mind to something, I can achieve it. Puppy Linux enables me to still use because it’s one of the most lightweight distros you can find. It offers you style and performance and is perfect for older machines you don’t throw because of nostalgia.
The leading Chinese language search engine, provides "simple and reliable" search exp... Moreerience, strong in Chinese language and multi-media content including MP3 music and movies, the first to offer WAP and PDA-based mobile search in China.
China's largest and most used Internet service portal owned by Tencent, Inc founded in Nov... Moreember, 1998. Presently, Tencent is aiming its operations at the strategic goal of providing users with a "one-stop online life service". Tencent's Internet platforms QQ, QQ.com, QQ Games, and PaiPai.com have brought together China's largest Internet community. Tencent's communications and information-sharing services include QQ.com, QQ Instant Messenger, QQ Mail, and search engine SOSO. Linked up with heavily used features such as forums, chat rooms, and QQ Groups, Tencent's Qzone has grown into China's largest personal Internet space. These services foster group interaction and resource sharing. Virtual products such as QQ Show, QQ Pet, QQ Game, and QQ Music/Radio/Live have been successful in providing entertainment and customization options to users. Mobile phone users can take advantage of a number of value-added wireless services. Tencent's PaiPai.com is a C2C on-line shopping platform that seamlessly integrates into Tencent's other community platforms.As of June 30th, 2009, the number of registered QQ Instant Messenger users has reached 990.0 million. Active users numbered at 448.0 million. Peak concurrent users have reached 61.30 million. QQ Games platform counted about 6.2 million users simultaneously on-line. QQ.com has become China's most visited Internet portal website. PaiPai.com has also become China's second largest Internet shopping platform.
Launched in May 2003, Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com) is the most popular consumer-to-consu... Moremer (C2C) online marketplace in China catering to buyers who value product selection and price competitiveness. With around 760 million product listings as of March 2013, Taobao Marketplace is one of the world’s top 20 most visited websites according to Alexa. For the year ended March 31, 2013, the combined gross merchandise volume (GMV) of Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com exceeded RMB1 trillion. Taobao Marketplace is a business within Alibaba Group.
At first, Google Glass was a rarity. Explorers were members of an exclusive club. Nowadays, the club is still invitation only, and you can still turn heads wearing one on the street, but for anyone who wants to put Glass on their face, it's just a matter of a little time and a lot of money.
The increasing number of Google Glass invitations being sent to beta testers means that tech-savvy early adopters are struggling with an expensive question right now: is Google Glass worth it?
To answer that question, I turned a critical eye to Google's sci-fi-looking wearable computer and tested its latest Explorer Edition of Google Glass. With the sound of my voice, I took hands-free photos by saying "Okay Glass, take a picture." I instructed it to upload the resulting point-of-view image to Twitter and Facebook and attached a caption, all with voice commands. It's a surreal experience at first
I saw flight information automatically beam to my eye with a gentle Google Now reminder the day before traveling. The weather for both my departure and destination cities, and directions to the airport were already being provided by this instinctual software. All of this data appeared in the top right corner of my vision, all without the need to take out my smartphone.
Google recently made the complicated ownership decision easier thanks to the release of Google Glass 2, an updated version of its Explorer Edition heads-up display with an almost identical form factor. It includes new accessories and future-proofs the design for prescription lenses, a badly needed addition. Moreover, new apps and updates to the linear operating system that weren't available at launch make this current Google Glass 2 a tempting buy. This is what users see when wearing Google Glass
Still, this new Glass is better at addition than subtraction. While features have been added the price hasn't dropped. At $1,500 (about £914, AU$1,709) plus tax, Google's experimental wearable is exorbitantly priced for the average person. It's also best if you're an Android person.
Compatibility with the iPhone has improved thanks to the launch of an iOS MyGlass app, but text messages still don't forward to Glass and navigation is dodgy. These features are missing for Windows Phone 8 users entirely, though technically any Bluetooth phone can offer Glass tethered data with a personal hotspot enabled.
Google Glass is very much a prototype, even after eight months of being in the hands and on the faces of tens of thousands of beta testers.
But that's partly why this out-of-reach, futuristic-looking curiosity is so fascinating, despite, or possibly because of the massive cost to your Google Wallet (that's actually how you have to pay for Google Glass). Peoples' mind=blown reaction, more so than snapping photos hands-free and getting directions that turn with your head, makes whomever is donning Google Glass a walking wonder. It became an attraction of its own at Disneyland
How to get Google Glass
Google undoubtedly wants Glass in the hands of developers who will make the experience better, more so than curious individuals who want it for personal use. Therefore, those who qualify for developer status will have the best shot at Glass access.
Signing up gave me access to an Explorer Edition beta code within a few months in November, while my friend received an invite less than three weeks in January. That alone shows how much easier it is to receive an invitation today.
Strict rules still limit who can ultimately take advantage of the invite code and purchase a prototype. For example, you must be 18 years old and a US resident, so adults living in the UK and Australia aren't eligible just yet. The unboxing at my fitting appointment
The fit
Google Glass now ships to US addresses, though the company still encourages beta testers to pick it up in person at its New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles offices. LA, specifically Venice Beach, is where I went for my "fitting experience" with a friendly Glass guide named Frank.
The Google employee helped with my Google Glass unboxing, adjusted the nose pads, tweaked the delicate nose stems and shaped the malleable titanium head band until it didn't sit so crooked on my face.
Within five minutes it looked perfect, or at least as perfect as one can appear with a wearable computer sitting on their face. Google makes sure Glass fits you just right
The look
Though pliable, the titanium head band remains durable as it stretches from ear to ear. It runs alongside a plastic casing that hides Glass' key components and gives it an overall clean look. This subtle style makes the exposed parts like the camera lens in the front stand out even more - for better or worse.
Everyone's attention is also immediately drawn to the adjacent cube-shaped glass prism that sits above the right eye. It has a 640 x 360 resolution and hangs just out of the way of the wearer's line of sight. For the wearer, this personalized display acts as a much bigger screen, one that's equivalent to a 25-inch HDTV sitting eight feet away. Too big to carry in a pocket
The Google Glass dimensions are 5.25-inches at its widest point and 8-inches at its longest point. It's too long and wide to fit into my pocket, even though I've been able to carry a Nexus 7 tablet in my jeans' back pocket with a little squeeze.
Society has banned fanny packs and the titanium head band doesn't collapse, so storage options are limited. When out and about it's either on my face or in the complementary case, which I stow in a backpack. There's no in-between. Google Glass comes in five colors
Google Glass 2 is almost indistinguishable from its predecessor, and the fact that it comes in the same colors doesn't help. The options are black, orange, gray, white and blue. Or, as the Glass guides insisted: charcoal, tangerine, shale, cotton and sky.
Charcoal and cotton, the two non-color colors, appear to be the most popular, as they were initially sold out when I first entered my invite code to buy Google Glass. Luckily, before my seven-day invite expired, both options became available and I chose white. The choice made online actually didn't matter until I got to the on-site appointment. I was given one last chance to switch colors during the moment of truth. The battery bulges behind the ear
The glaring exception to Glass' svelte design is the battery that rests behind the right ear and juts out rather noticeably. It's too big, yet it's not big enough for a full day's charge.
The feel
Even with the bulkiness of the battery and durable frame, Google Glass is extremely lightweight and comfortable resting on my face. It weights just 42 grams (1.48 oz) and because everything, including the screen, is just out of my line of sight I often forget I'm wearing it. Google Glass is surprisingly light
At first, Google Glass did give me slight headaches as I strained my right eye to focus on the tiny prism in the top right corner of my vision. The team at the Venice headquarters did forewarn me about this, instructing me not to use Glass for more than a few hours the first couple of days. It's incredibly unnatural to have just one eye focus on a screen while the other goes without use, but my eyes and brain adjusted to the phenomenon to the point where it's intuitive.
Like a modern smartphone, there are few physical buttons and ports on Google Glass. That's because most of the interaction is done via a long 3.25-inch touchpad on the right side. Underneath the touchpad is a micro USB port for charging the device and on the top is a camera button that's great for quick snaps in noisy environments. The power-on button is hidden near your temple
The most discreet button is tucked away on the inside on the touchpad and near the temple. Giving it a light press turns Google Glass on and powers up the all-important apps.
Movirtu has unveiled CloudPhone, a software platform that lets users make and receive calls over Wi-Fi networks using their mobile phone numbers on tablets and laptops without a regular SIM card.
Movirtu has unveiled CloudPhone, a software platform that lets users make and receive calls over Wi-Fi networks using their mobile phone numbers on tablets and laptops without a regular SIM card.
Mobile operators have to find ways to compete with companies such as Skype, which offer Internet-based communications that are challenging traditional services. Movirtu's CloudPhone will allow them to do that, CEO Carsten Brinkschulte said.
With the IP-based CloudPhone, tablets and laptops become virtual smartphones, letting users make calls when they are out of mobile coverage range or when their smartphone is low on battery, according to Movirtu.
Travellers can also use CloudPhone to cut roaming costs by making calls over Wi-Fi, Brinkschulte said.
In addition, operators can offer CloudPhone on smartphones as an alternative to improving cellular coverage using small cells. Instead of using small cells, mobile operators can rely on Wi-Fi networks, which are cheaper, Brinkschulte said.
The platform consists of client-side applications and software that operators install in their network. Calls are sent to all devices registered to a phone number, letting users choose whether they want to pick up using their tablet, regular smartphone or laptop.
Most laptops and tablets don't have a regular SIM card. Movirtu instead moves that functionality into the network using what it calls Virtual SIMs. Virtual SIM technology has previously been used to enable multiple phone numbers to be active on a single standard SIM card.
To turn on a new device a PIN code is sent via SMS to a mobile phone. The code is then entered into the client. The communication, including phone calls, is protected using encryption.
Movirtu's CloudPhone is based on WebRTC, a technology that adds real-time communications functionality to Web browsers via JavaScript APIs. It is backed by companies such Google, Mozilla, Ericsson and AT&T.
"I have to say that [WebRTC] is quite mature. There haven't been that many commercial deployments yet, but I suspect you're going to see a lot more in 2014," Brinkschulte said.
There are CloudPhone client-side apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone, but the product is also compatible with Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox. So laptop and desktop users can make calls from their browser or a Web-based app, thanks to WebRTC.
"We think the main adoption will be using the native applications ... Most people think that WebRTC has to be used in the browser because of the name, but there is no such limitation," Brinkschulte said.
While Movirtu hasn't yet signed a deal with a mobile operator to offer CloudPhone-based services, there is an interest for these kinds of services. Operators like Telefónica and Three have developed similar solutions. But, in general, mobile operators need to be more innovative, according to Brinkschulte.
"With CloudPhone we are trying to bring back some excitement to an old technology," he said.
Like many other telecommunications vendors, Movirtu is heading to Mobile World Congress at the end of the month where CloudPhone will be demonstrated.
- See more at: http://www.computerworld.in/news/movirtu-turns-your-tablet-and-laptop-into-a-mobile-phone#sthash.dqYVWUyH.dpuf
Brooke Martin, 13, was inspired by her dog Kayla (both shown here) to invent iCUPpooch, a device that allows video chat and treat dispensing remotely to keep separation anxiety at bay. Credit: Courtesy of Brooke Martin
Brooke Martin's golden retriever Kayla hated being left alone, and Martin, now 13, wanted to help her. She wondered: "What if you could talk to your dog if you were gone?" and "What if you were able to give them a treat while you were away?"
Then the answer came to her: video chat and dog treats dispensed remotely.
Her invention, called iCUpooch, has earned her a spot competing against nine other finalists in a young scientist competition for middle-school students. These finalists, selected based on their short video presentations, are collaborating with mentors over the summer before heading to the final competition in St. Paul, Minn. [Fun Middle-School Science Fair Projects]
Even before hearing about the competition, Martin knew what she wanted to do, and had been working on prototypes in the garage of her Spokane, Wash., home.
"I have always been an entrepreneur at heart," she said.
After Martin's video put her among the 10 finalists in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, she was paired with Delony Langer-Anderson, a product development scientist in 3M's consumer health care division.
The two communicate by phone and email. "I just lead her down the product development path," Langer-Anderson told LiveScience. This path includes guidance on how to test the potential product, which combines a video chat device that answers automatically on the dog's end with a dog treat dispenser the owner can remotely activate.
"One thing I have thought about a lot is, what happens if while the device is on the floor, what if your dog knocks it over, or scratches the screen?" Martin said. She and Langer-Anderson discussed this, and Martin is now testing materials at a local dog shelter by taping them to the kennel floors to see how well they withstand canine claws.
Brooke Martin's invention iCUpooch lets owners "video chat" with their dogs remotely and even dispense treats. Credit: Courtesy of Brooke Martin
Like Martin's invention, the other students' projects propose possible solutions to everyday problems. The finalists create prototypes they can test, with the guidance from a mentor. Other projects include a fuel cellthat converts cut grass into electricity and an app that rewards drivers for not texting or calling.
Langer-Anderson tries to help the students work through the scientific method, testing their hypothesis, in an affirming way, "so the kids don't get buried in data," she said. But that doesn't mean guaranteed success.
"I try to encourage my students I mentor that sometimes it is just as good to learn what doesn't work, and they should all experience that at some point," Langer-Anderson said.
Martin, who starts ninth grade this year, has yet to test her device on dogs other than her own: Kayla and, now, Zoey. Both of them respond well to it, but Kayla no longer suffers from separation anxiety, thanks to Zoey's presence, Martin said.
"This idea could be a cheaper solution to getting another dog," Martin said. She has started a Kickstarter campaign to fund work on iCUpooch.
The winner of October's competition is expected to receive $25,000, a trip from Discovery Student Adventures and the title "America's Top Young Scientist."
Cameras coming: The Highways Agency is bringing in grey cameras
Grey speed cameras could soon be placed on the M25, to catch motorists exceeding the 70mph speed limit.
The cameras, which had previously only been on stretches of road with
roadworks to enforce variable speed limits, will be put on the country’s
busiest motorways.
The Highways Agency wants to introduce the “stealth cameras” to
prevent traffic jams and create better traffic flow by controlling
drivers’ speed.
The new cameras, part of the Highways Agency digital enforcement
camera system, will be up and running on 100 mile of motorway in the
next two years, with further rollout expected to cover 400 miles of
road.
A spokesman for the Highways Agency said: “These are not stealth cameras they are more visible than they were before.
“These motorways are not about speed limits. They are about smoothing the traffic flows and increasing capacity.
“The onus is on the driver to abide by the speed limit.
After a long succession of mobile mishaps, he has delivered the portable Facebook app
I've always wanted… and there's hardly any evidence that Paper is a
Facebook product. Upon opening the app for the first time you're greeted
with a shimmering Paper logo set in Helvetica Neue UltraLight, the
opposite of the bold, white logo Facebook has used since 2005. It’s a
fresh start, and it could be just what the company needed.
As Facebook reaches 1.25
billion active users and celebrates its 10th anniversary, the company
faces increased skepticism from both pundits and consumers. The company
is no longer new or cool, they say. Facebook might be too big to fail,
but that might also mean it’s too big to make aggressive changes to its
service. The company's informal motto, "Move fast and break things,"
doesn't seem to hold the same gravitas it once held.
So for its next app,
Facebook started from scratch and started small. “Great products don’t
start with a billion users, they start with just a few,” says Michael
Reckhow, product manager on Paper. And it came up with something
decidedly unlike anything Facebook’s done before.
Bill Gates is taking on a
bigger role at Microsoft. Though he's stepping down from his role as
chairman today, he'll take up the role of a technology advisor to
Microsoft's new CEO, Satya Nadella.
""I'm thrilled that Satya has asked me to step up, substantially
increasing my time at the company," Gates says in a statement. "I'll
have over a third of my time available to meet with product groups and
it'll be fun to define this next round of products working together."
Though Gates has regularly said that he'd prefer to spend more of his
time working toward philanthropic projects than Microsoft, Nadella is
said to have requested Gates assistance as he steps into his new role.
Gates will be succeeded as
chairman by John Thompson, who joined Microsoft's board in February of
2012. Thompson is currently the CEO of Virtual Instruments and
previously served as CEO and chairman of Symantec.
New tech that senses how you're feeling inside:
is it the key to self-knowledge and the future of communication? Or
just the return of the phony "mood ring"? Check out our gallery of the
top mood-sensing technology in development.
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-- A long distance drive can be lonely with
only a radio for company, and if the driver is stressed or tired it
becomes dangerous.
A car that could
understand those feelings might prevent an accident, using emotional
data to flag warning signs. Sensors could nest in the steering wheel and
door handles to pick up electric signals from the skin. Meanwhile a
camera mounted on the windshield could analyze facial expressions.
Alternatively, if the
driver exhibits stress, the vehicle's coordinated sensors could soften
the light and music, or broaden the headlight beams to compensate for
loss of vision. A distressed state could be broadcast as a warning to
other motorists by changing the color of the vehicle's conductive paint.
This empathic vehicle is the goal of AutoEmotive, a research project from the Affective Computing group
at MIT's media lab, who are focused on exploring the potential of
emotional connections with machines. 'AutoEmotive' is their latest and
most integrated project, following successful efforts to make interfaces
of everything from bras to mirrors.
Researchers believe the
concept is destined for the mainstream, and have fielded interest from
manufacturers. "We have already tested most of these sensors", says
Javier Rivera, MIT researcher and project leader. "The hardware required
could easily be built into cars. Most cars have cameras anyway; you
just have more to capture the physiology. It could be done
unobtrusively."
But we don't have to wait
for emotion sensors. They are flooding into a new market, using a
growing range of mood metrics to suit diverse applications. Voice
recognition app Beyond Verbal can tell you if you flirt too much in just 20 seconds. A sweater that detects skin stimulation to color code your feelings is available for pre-order.
How iris recognition 'reads' your eyes
'Electronic sketch artist' fights crime
The fastest-developing method is facial recognition, led by Affectiva,
a start-up that spun off from MIT's Affective Computing group three
years ago. In that time, the company has amassed a database of over a
billion facial expressions, which it uses to train algorithms to
recognize and classify basic emotions such as happiness or anger, with
over 90% accuracy.
Their flagship
technology, Affdex, has been swiftly adopted by advertisers, who use it
to test reactions to their campaigns, and modify them accordingly.
Market research partners Millward Brown have standardized its use for
Fortune 500 clients including PepsiCo and Unilever.
"In the past this
technology was confined to laboratories because of high cost and slow
turnaround," explains Nick Langeveld, Chief Executive Officer of
Affectiva. "We've cracked those issues; the cost is very low as the
service is over the web, and it can be turned around almost immediately
after the data is collected."
Competitor Emotient
also specializes in face recognition, but its primary target is the
retail sector. Their software is on trial in stores, pinpointing 44
facial movements to monitor emotional reactions of staff and shoppers,
as well as demographic information including age and gender. From
customer satisfaction to employee morale, the benefits to business are
obvious, and Emotient claim major retail partners plan to make the
system permanent.
It is also time to bring
these tools into clinical practice, believes Dr. Erik Viirre, a San
Diego neurophysiologist. "While so many medications list suicide risk as
a possible side effect I think we have to use biosensors, and there is a
big push within psychiatry to bring them in. Thought disorders could be
picked up much quicker and used to determine treatment."
Viirre has studied
headaches extensively and found that contributing factors build up days
before they strike, including mood. He argues a multi-sensor approach
combining brain scans, genetic tests and emotion sensing could
dramatically improve treatment.
But emotion sensors are
currently limited in their capacity to differentiate nuanced expression,
says Tadas Baltrušaitis of the University of Cambridge Computer
Laboratory, who has published research on the subject.
"It is easy to train a
computer to recognize basic emotions, such as fear or anger. It is more
difficult to recognize more complex emotional states, that might also be
culturally dependent, such as confusion, interest and concentration."
But there is scope for
rapid progress: "The field is relatively new, and only recently has it
been possible to recognize emotions in real world environments with a
degree of accuracy. The approaches are getting better every year,
leading to more subtle expressions being recognizable by machines."
Baltrušaitis adds that
combined sensors -- as with 'AutoEmotive' -- that pick up signals from
skin, pulse, face, voice and more, could be key to progress.
Buyers beware
I think variations are already being used in places like airports and we would never know Chris Dancy, futurist
In this post-NSA
climate, companies are keen to head off privacy concerns. Affectiva and
Emotient are vehement that all their data has been gathered with
permission from the subjects, while the latter defend their use of
recognition software in stores by saying it does not record personal
details.
But the technology is prone to abuse, according to futurist and information systems expert Chris Dancy.
"I think variations are already being used in places like airports and
we would never know", he says. "I can't imagine a system to take value
readings of my mind for a remote company being used for good. It's a
dark path."
Producers claim they
strictly control the use of their sensors, but facial recognition
technology is proliferating. UK supermarket Tesco could face legal
action for introducing it in stores without permission, while San Diego police have been quietly issued with a phone-based version.
Ironically, Dancy -- a leading proponent of the Quantified Self movement
-- is pursuing many of the same insights into emotion as advertisers,
but by alternative means and for personal goals. He keeps himself
connected to sensors measuring pulse, REM sleep, blood sugar and more,
which he cross-references against environmental input to see how the two
correlate, using the results to give him understanding and influence
over his mind state.
'Moodhacking' has become
a popular practice among the technologically curious, and has given
rise to successful applications. Members of London's Quantified Self
Chapter created tools such as Mood Scope and Mappiness
that help the user match their mental state to external events. Hackers
and makers will have an even more powerful tool in March, when the
crowd-funded OpenBCI device makes EEG brainwaves available to anyone with a computer for a bargain price.
For all the grassroots
hostility towards corporate use of emotion sensors, there may be
convergence. Affectiva are keen to market to Quantified Self
demographics and an Affdex app for android is imminent. As the machine
learning develops, and different industries combine to join the dots, we
can all expect to be sharing a lot mo
LONDON:
Now, smell the coffee on your television! Japanese scientists have
developed a 'smelling screen' that allows you to see as well as smell
the coffee or food displayed on it.
The "smelling screen",
invented by Haruka Matsukura at Tokyo University of Agriculture and
Technology in Japan and colleagues, makes smells appear to come from the
exact spot on any LCD screen that is displaying the image of a cup of
coffee, for example.
It works by continuously feeding odours from vaporizing gel pellets into four air streams, one in each corner of the screen.
These air streams are blown out parallel to the screen's surface by
fans, and varying the strength and direction of them manoeuvres the
scent to any given spot on the screen. The airflow is gentle enough to
create the illusion that the smell is actually wafting from a digital
object on-screen, New Scientist reported.
The current system only
pumps out one scent at a time, but Matsukura said the next stage is to
incorporate a cartridge, like those for printers, which allows smells to
be changed easily. Matsukura suggested it could also be used to enhance
advertising screens and museum exhibits. The screen was shown at the
IEEE Virtual Reality conference in Orlando, Florida, last month.
Ever wonder how much deep sleep you’re getting or how many
calories you’ve burned?
These mobile apps can be great tools for keeping track of your health.
An app called Map My Fitness lets you track activities like
walking, running, biking or hiking. The app lets you create maps of your route
or follow a path uploaded by someone else in the community. Use the website to
log your meals and set goals for a well-rounded experience.
The app is free, but a $30 annual membership will unlock
features like live location tracking, interval training and heart-rate
analysis. You can download the app at Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Do you know your resting heart rate? An app called Instant Heart Rate can
use your phone’s camera to measure your heart rate. You place your index finger
over the camera lens and it can detect a heartbeat when your capillaries expand
and contract.
The developers say the app must be used in good lighting to
get an accurate reading -- use the built-in flash if you have one. The app is
$1.99 at Apple’s App Store, Google Play and Windows Phone Store.
Nothing is better for your health than getting a good
night’s sleep. The MotionX sleep monitor can help you keep track -- and it doubles as an all-day activity
tracker.
At night, the app uses the motion of your body to sense
whether you are getting deep or light sleep. If you set it to record your
sleep, it will produce clips of when you snore or move in the middle of the
night. You can even set it to wake you up at the optimal time in your sleep
cycle.
During the day, the app has a pedometer with daily step
goals. And it can send you an alert if you’ve been sitting around for too long.
The app is $.99 at Apple’s App Store.
The Basic House is a temporary housing solution so portable it can
be folded up to fit in your pocket. Created from a metalized polyester
material, when unfolded it self inflates with body heat or from the heat of the sun to provide an instant shelter.
Once inside the shelter, the material reflects your body heat to
keep the user warm. If reversed the material will reflect the sun to
keep a cool interior.
Provided it can provide adequate ventilation once inside, this form
of temporary housing could be a real asset to communities hit with natural disasters or with other needs for emergency housing.
The Basic House was designed by Martin Azura, a Barcelona-based
designer who works with minimal materials and seeks to use natural forms
of energy or the environment to complete his work. The prototype for
the house has been a part of collections at the Museum of Modern Art and
the Vitra Design Museum.
New tech that senses how you're feeling inside:
is it the key to self-knowledge and the future of communication? Or
just the return of the phony "mood ring"? Check out our gallery of the
top mood-sensing technology in development.
