Nay Ye Oo - Blog Post 1

AI & Future

"In rare showing, Google arrives at CES to battle Alexa and Siri"

By Hayley Tsukayama

January 7, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/01/07/the-battle-of-the-voice-assistants-comes-to-ces/

This article is interesting because it talks about what the next big thing in tech world is for the next few years - a virtual assistant. As of now, the giant titans dominating in this field are Google (Google Assistant), Amazon (Alexa) and Apple (Siri). Recently, Google made a giant stride by showing a presence at CES 2018 (Consumer Electronics Show), a convention where tech companies unveil new gadgets and creations and potentially network with other similar companies. The competition is fierce as Google and Amazon offered 'drastic holiday price cuts' just to beat Apple new speaker product called HomePod which would have Siri-incorporated in it. However, while these giant titans are fighting, some other companies such as Roku, video streaming service, have a different target in mind. Instead of competing against these titans where they will absolutely lose, they aim for a specific audience and with a more specialized features but only in controlling video streaming and television control. Additionally, there are more companies such as Samsung with Bixby and Baidu from China that are also trying to compete in this sector of future technological advances. Therefore, one can be certain soon everyone single person in the future (perhaps a decade or even less from now) will have their very own personal virtual assistant that will cater to their every and any needs.

Computer & Future

"Mini PC Invasion: These radically tiny computers fit in the palm of your hand."

By Brad Chacos

January 19, 2017

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2911098/computers/mini-pc-invasion-10-radically-tiny-computers-that-fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand.html#slide1

This is a website that has 15 slides that gives you a list of devices are literally small yet powerful. With the current rate of development and improvements in technology, computers have been developed to be smaller in size for portability without compromising its quality in performance. Out of the 15 devices, all devices can be categorized into sub groups based on their physical appearance and size: box, card, stick and chip. All the devices here are an amazing feat in itself as they are all legitimate computers (some may have limiting features) that can analyze and compute and perform just like a regular one without the bulkiness. Out of these products, my favorite is the  Raspberry Pi Zero (see image below), a mini-PC in the form of a chip. It only costs $5 and has adequate specifications: Broadcom BCM2835; 1 GHz ARM11 core; 512 MB RAM; microSD card slot and ports such as mini-HDMI, micro-USB and 40 GPIO pins.

Software & Future

"U, Google pioneer 3-D smartphone mapping software."

By Steve Alexander

March 15, 2014

http://www.startribune.com/u-google-pioneer-3-d-smartphone-mapping-software/250274411/

This is an old article, therefore its news may seem not as relevant. However I find it interesting because it seems relatable for Drexel students in the co-op program. An student worked at Google for an internship and brought back this project to his university, University of Minnesota and introduced it to his professor, Stergios Roumeliotis. The project was developing a 3-D mapping software for a phone. It only consumes little processing power, "almost as much as Angry Birds" according to Roumeliotis. The goal behind developing this software is to create an augmented reality of an indoors map in real-time with little to none time lapses. Basically, a miniature version of Google maps but for the indoors universe where satellite is not needed and only the mobile's sensors are relied on. Even though this project did not make a big enough break through as desired, it shows potential that big companies such as Google do cherish the value of college and universities and aim to work together (especially in the research & development phases of a project).

COMMENTS

Mark Odorozzi (AI)

I share to an extent a fear of AI not taking up our jobs. I understand that for now, majority of robots that are created or even in the testing stages are only created to do work that humans do not want (for various reasons) but what defines what humans want and not want to do. Right now its manual labor but soon it might actually take on the design aspects of our trade. Again this reiterates our class discussion of how AI has yet to achieve the ability to create or decided on its own. So yes I agree that AI is getting scarily advanced (Based on the Black Mirror episodes I have watched) but from the perspective of a structural designer, I can say at least for the next decade, we should be fine.

Allison Abad (3D Printing)

The 3D Printing of building envelopes video had great visuals and theoretical concepts. However, there are some parts that leave me confused as to how it functions. Specifically, I am talking about how it has ventilation as well as insulation because any means of hole or pore in the envelope would compromise insulation. But this could also be because there is an intricate and complex design behind this. I hope their tests work out as this would bring a new way of putting up building facades in a more sustainable and efficient manner.

Thomas Sisson (BIM)

As someone who has not been that exposed to BIM, I find this article you have chosen a very interesting read. The three things listed IOT, cloud storage and augmented reality are all novel steps in the construction field. IOT was what we discussed in class last week about how we can incorporate technology into day-to-day tasks and how we develop more and more 'smart' devices. As for cloud storage, I always thought that it was a great convenience to have if possible. I believe it would be costly to have a cloud storage space dedicated for a project but it seems to be the direction that modern companies are heading towards. Ultimately, it boils down to cost-effectiveness. As for augmented reality, I can absolutely visualize that it is the next thing after VR because it will help, in the current construction field, visualize and act as a a platform where one can have a better understanding of the construction site. Great post!