Could IoT be the Answer to Colonizing Other Planets?

There is a lot of banter going on these days about colonizing Mars and the Moon. While it is true that we are closer than ever before to actually take the first steps towards such a program, the possibilities of actually establishing a human colony on the Moon, let alone Mars are pretty bleak according to scientists who have been researching this for decades. Yet all hope is not lost. For most parts of the whole grand scheme of colonizing other planets humans would probably be the last to be sent. It would be robots, rovers and many other automatons that will go first and prepare a planet for our arrival.

On paper, this seems like quite a plausible idea, as we already have plenty of rovers on both Mars and the Moon. In the crazy times known as the 1950s, the Americans were determined that they’d set up a fort on the Moon by 1969 and that it would house mainly soldiers. However, things are not that simple or straightforward or in their case based on a child’s fantasy. The rovers that currently reside on these objects, are merely there for reconnaissance and relaying the data derived therein. We are really far away from any working technology that could terraform a planet and prepare a habitable base. Also, we have to remember that these robots and devices have to last for years. If Mars One, SpaceX and Elon Musk’s plans are anything to go by, we might have all the technology required to successfully establish a Mars or Moon base in the next 10 years. And if such an event comes to pass, IoT will be a crucial technology that will help with the coordination of all these devices.

Internet of Rovers

Every single rover on the Moon and Mars are autonomous and are capable of performing several actions on their own. However, they need to be guided on which quadrant on the surface they need to analyze and so on. When the colonization process starts, getting all the machines to communicate would be an ideal option. While we’d still be providing the coordinates and all other data, drilling, mining construction and so on. Even if astronauts are around, there needs to be an internal communication between the machines. An IoT system will allow them to communicate smoothly and coordinate the processes without any delay in work.

The Long Trip

It takes anywhere between 5 to 10 months to get to Mars. That is a long time for humans to be in transit and travelling at 32,000 Kms per hour is not going to make the experience any more bearable. Tempers may run high, all sorts of issues may pop up between the astronauts, even leading to fights. So, it would be wise to keep them engaged with various social and recreational activities and minimize their involvement in the operations of the spaceship. While navigation is to a great degree automated in space crafts, there are several other processes that are usually done by the astronauts, be it monitoring or physically interacting. With IoT, most of these processes could be done by the devices themselves without drawing the attention of the humans. Furthermore, the use of wireless technology could save a lot of space and weight in the spacecraft allowing more room for payload. There are several research programmes that currently focus on this particular aspect.

XBee ZigBee Modules

Digi International an M2M developer worked with NASA a few years ago to test the potential of IoT in spacecraft and eventually in colonizing Mars. Digi helped NASA incorporate its XBee ZigBee Modules into their Sub-Orbital Aerodynamic Re-entry Experiments (SOAREX). The aim was to test the effectiveness of wireless operations in space. This is a substantial step for future long-term missions such as the one planned for Mars. These technologies will allow astronauts and researchers to gather much more data during burns, landings, lift-offs, and a myriad of other processes. By incorporating IoT a lot of devices can be allowed to function wirelessly freeing up space for payload or decreasing fuel consumption. Both are essential for long trips such as the one to Mars.

Landing On Mars

Even if things go as planned and according to schedule, there are several issues that need to be addressed.  By now we have gathered tons of data from the various space missions and flybys from as early as 1972. Yet with all this data, we’ve just scratched the surface. There is a lot of information that the four Mars rovers Sojourner, Opportunity, Spirit and Curiosity have sent back to us. The data sent by Curiosity in particular opened up the prospects for habitable conditions on Mars and in two years Mars 2020 will be bound for the Red Planet to further analyse the resources and topography and climate. This is where IoT will come in handy. If a cumulative effort were to be taken by the many space programs that are bound towards mars, IoT could be employed to mine out more than we have in the past 45. The application of IoT in robotics has been quite evident in for the past decade or so, including the Robonaut which is now wifi enabled and capable of connecting with the various devices on the ISS. So such a network of connected machines on Mars or the Moon even could speed up our journey to the far reaches of our solar system. And the potential for colonization could be further explored in detail.

From where we stand today, machines are the key. No human has stepped foot on a celestial body since 1972, ironically the year that the Mariner 9 probe was launched to orbit Mars and study the planet, a job it continues to do even today. So, it is machines that will help reboot our space touring days, and it is technologies like IoT and AI that will help us achieve this.

5 Ways IoT is helping Save the Environment

For several million years our ancestors used to be little monkey-like creatures covering and hiding the shadows from the titans that roamed this earth. Then those titans decided to give the little guy a break and presented us with the greatest gift of all ‘dying-off’. Of course, once they departed our rule began, but, we did not share the same sentiment as the dinosaurs about giving the little guy a break even if they are same species as you. So, we decided to take over the planet like no species ever has. In hindsight, it has not been going so well. We are running out of everything from air to heirs. In the not so distant future, we could witness a museum guide repeating the iconic line ‘Here behind the glass, that is a real blade of grass. Be careful as you pass! Move along! Move Along!’ However, there is hope yet, to avoid such a future given the efforts we are putting in to save our planet. Although that too has not been going so well. So it is time to kick the whole planet-saving thing into overdrive. In this article, we’ll explore how IoT could be leveraged to achieve this since it is the go-to solution for most things (at least in theory).

IoT and e-Waste Management

There used to be a time when people used to the adhere strictly to ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it policy’. Today the motto seems to be ‘I upgrade therefore I am’. Of course, if this were applied to the refinement of though, the world would be a better place. Most devices today have a lifespan of more than a few months before a newer product hits the shelves. This creates a lot of e-waste as it is called. From cell phone batteries to tons of discarded plastic panels, there are a lot of affluents that pollute the soil and groundwater or take years to decompose. To combat this there have been many efforts to make full use of all the components of electronic devices at all times. With IoT, in the near future, electronic components can be salvaged, or refurbished to be put back into circulation without letting anything go to waste. Companies like IBM are already implementing this with their clients and reusing IT-equipment components for maintenance and spares.

Wildlife Preservation

We have spent our entire existence on this planet fulfilling the noble quest of wiping out every single species that our taste buds can’t accept or we can’t tame. And after over 50 millennia of unrelenting effort just as we were at the brink of complete success those meddling little animal rights activists starting butting in. So, for the past century, they have been trying to get what is left of wildlife to safety. Yet their efforts have only afforded so much success. For every species saved at least, 10 have gone extinct the past 100 years. Since the traditional approaches have not been working that well it’s time to put them on steroids, this time in the form of IoT.

Today scientists are able to track endangered species, their movements, their behavior pattern, the inherent threats that may be around them and so on. A good example of this IoT in action as a tracking and preservation tool can be observed in the successful preservation of the Iberian Lynx. The Spanish captive breeding center ‘La Olivilla’ used collars to track the Lynxes in their habitats and their behavior. They also use connected drones to monitor them as they watched over them from a safe distance so as to not disturb their natural behavior. Similar efforts are being undertaken to save Dugongs and Australian Bees.

Environmental Monitoring

Although several researchers, scientists and activists are trying to monitor various aspects of the environment including polluted water sources, volcanic activity, radioactivity and so on, there are limitations to their efforts. Even with protection, there are several areas and levels of toxicity that are unbearable for the human body. Here IoT serves as a vital tool. It allows for the effective use of drones and sensors that are capable of measuring and monitoring various unreachable places and collect data which can be used to warn people, save the afflicted as well as take preventive measures.

Smart Farming

The use of IoT in farming has produced some great results for farmers. Through the use of connected automated irrigation systems, sensors, pesticide system and so on, we have been able to make the most out of every inch of land available. From soil condition monitoring to fertilizer management, there are a lot of advancements that have improved productivity as well as save space. Automation of irrigation systems will also facilitate the conservation of water and other resources. Smart Farming so far has had quite a positive impact on the environment.

The IoT Way of Combating Deforestation

Deforestation is an issue that requires constant monitoring and a lot of manpower to cover whatever is left of our forest life. The use of connected drones to this end have enabled forest protection agencies to monitor and get a detailed view of various areas. These drones are capable of providing detailed 3D images along with the diversity of vegetation found there, the soil content, nutrients and a myriad of other valuable data. In certain areas where the lumbering is illegal or regulated by strict government norms, trees are tagged and monitored using GPS and other tracking systems. Furthermore, trees that are cleared for cutting are tagged as such using special biometric systems and are tracked. Although at this point all forms of lumbering should be banned and instead a certain humble herb must be legalized again all over the world. That would be a win-win for both the environment and the creatures in it and most of the problems we face today would be gone. Because as Buddha realized in his 49-day penance ‘desire is the cause of all suffering’ and as Pink Floyd poetically it ‘encumbered forever by desire and ambition, there’s a hunger still unsatisfied.’ And we could all agree it is about time we gave up the pursuit of material wealth and yield.

How Deep Learning is Personalizing the Internet for Better Engagement

Working as a secondary field of machine learning, Deep learning focuses on the interpretation of data. This technology uses multiple layers of processing to understand a set of data. Every layer allows machines to evaluate and present data in a meaningful manner. Hence, the performance capacity of algorithms increases with the increment in data.

Advanced techniques such as NLP and image classification become possible with deep learning. Businesses are using it to enhance their communication patterns with clients and customers. The successful use of such algorithms brings personalization to the communication and hence boost engagement.

Personalization in the internet-driven market

Publishing companies, marketing agencies, e-commerce and many other businesses work through the internet. Deep learning offers an error-free system to enhance engagement in such business models. This is beneficial for users as well as businesses.

Fueled by personalization, businesses can reach a higher level of productivity in terms of communication and online experience.

Here are most valuable ways, in which, deep learning is personalizing the online world.

1 – Making recommendations more effective and relevant

On the internet, sites recommend a different set of content to the site visitors. An e-commerce site does the same with their products. However, a visitor will engage with the recommended content or product if it is relevant to him or her.

Traditionally, metadata is used to help with recommendations. However, poor metadata quality always presented issues of content relevancy in this process.

Now, deep learning is bringing effective changes in this department. Advanced algorithms use intrinsic characteristics of a content and evaluate it with visitor’s interests. These intrinsic qualities can be text, images or videos, which changes from content to content. Such technologies are now capable of creating a comprehensive view of content on their own and incorporating it when recommending products or content pieces.

2 – Focusing on interests for new visitors

When a visitor comes to a platform, it seems difficult to learn preferences and understand behavior. This happens due to the lack of layered data evaluation. Deep learning algorithms divide the clutter of interactional and transactional data.

Rather than just focusing on data gathering, deep learning allows business platforms to understand and evaluate customers’ behavior. Hence, every visitor sees what he or she desires to see.

For example, if a customer visits an e-store for the first time to purchase an oven, algorithms will collect that data. However, the use of this data will depend on the interests of the same customer when visiting the second time. If the customer looks for a mobile phone, then, the algorithms will leverage that interest to present personalized data.

3 – Leading customers towards decisions

A customer goes through various steps before deciding to purchase a product or service. This decision depends on brand loyalty, personal goals, and preferences. Deep learning understands these factors and personalizes image and other forms of content. Hence, businesses get to increase sales.

Personalization is the key to winning the business game on the internet. And DL algorithms can offer strength to this goal of your business.

IoT and the Dawn of Smart Farming

Farming for millennia has been a concept that has helped humans thrive. Trough the innovation we have made with the most ancient platform of all called earth, we have been able to revolutionize the art of farming to yield better vegetables and cereals in massive quantities. From the simple and humble wooden plow pulled by bullocks to the modern-day multi-storeyed mega harvesters, we have indeed come a long way to reach a pinnacle of sorts in the field of agriculture. Yet, today all the advanced machinery and genetic advances fall short to cope up with our dominant population. So, to manage today’s needs we need something more advanced than any farming machine out there. Or maybe we need the combined capabilities all the farming related machines out there. And there is only one technology that comes to mind when thinking along those lines – The Internet of Things (IoT).

Applications of IoT in Farming Today

There are a quite a few agricultural machineries available today for each and every aspect of farming. Connected devices have allowed for a myriad of uses that have made things easier for farmers and in doing so have also increased productivity. Here are a few major applications of IoT in Agriculture that are implemented on a mainstream level.

Livestock Monitoring

In developed countries, ear tags among cattle are a common sight. In some countries, all cattle farmers have tagged their livestock. These devices are capable of providing the location of each animal along with identification. More modern technologies such as sensors in various parts of the body allow the farmers to monitor the vitals of their cattle. These devices when integrated with IoT provide all the information pertaining to each individual cattle including signs of diseases. These integrated devices will enable 24/7 monitoring of all the cattle and easily isolate hurt or diseased ones and separate them from the herd. However, there are several challenges in implementing this. The biggest one being that putting wireless devices into an animal’s body is not an easy task. Especially devices that are meant to monitor internal functions. The second issue would be the battery life as most devices are not designed with batteries that can last the lifetime of the livestock.

Precision Farming

Monitoring the crops and soil is a much simpler and easier process. There is a wide variety of tools and devices incorporate IoT to assist farmers in improving their products as well as maintain and monitor them. From sensors to automated harvesting machines, there are a lot of products that make life easier for farmers. Sensors are used to allow farmers to monitor the status of the soil. They can retrieve information such as soil Ph level, amount of fertilizer required and when the soil is ready for planting. These sensors can be connected using a grid which could relay the information from each part of the land and provide farmers with live updates of the soil. Similarly, crops are monitored both for security as well as to prevent pests and other damages. Cameras and sensors monitoring the crops are connected and guide other devices in the grid such as sprinklers, alarms, and pesticide dispensers to be activated as when required. Factors such as sunlight and wind conditions are also monitored. Information such as chlorophyll content, water stress, biomass content etc. are also obtained using these devices.

Farming Drones

Automation is applied to a great extent in farming today. A good example of this is the use of drones for various farming tasks such as irrigation, planting, spraying and so on. Both land-based, as well as flying drones, are applied extensively. These drones are capable of automating the entire lifecycle of the farming process with even full-time surveillance and real times updates of the same which will include details regarding moisture levels, the potential for pest attacks, the onset of weeds and so on.

What We Can Expect in the Near Future

Since all manner of robotics and automation is still evolving, there are many prospects in that territory. In the near future, we can expect an IoT system that will be able to predict several contingencies and scenarios derived from weather and climate prediction and allow farmers to implement the best methods at the right time. Using IoT based analytics soon farmers will be able to increase their productivity many times over. Even alternate and newer methods of farming could be discovered analyzing the best possible conditions and scenarios for each variety of crop. Even now there is a lot that farmers can learn from the data acquired from various connected farming devices.

Conclusion

Since we have an ever-increasing demand for all crops, mass production on a larger scale is soon going to become a priority for us. With the help of IoT, farmers will be able to cultivate more on less land and come up with techniques to grow faster. As of now, IT technology based farming has not yet reached countries like India and China who are the World’s largest producers of several crops. The proliferation of IoT and other IT-based technologies in farming across the world is a key factor in the years to come.

How IoT Could Help the Emergency Services

There are few institutions out there that have a nobler intention than the ones that provide emergency services. Be it fighting blazing fires or getting a dying patient to a hospital, emergency workers are heroes who are revered with both admiration and respect by the entire humanity for the services they provide at great risk to own lives. There are several processes that help emergency and rescue systems function ranging from field work to dispatch and records. All of these aspects get updated constantly so as to keep up with the growing needs of the global human populous. Among all the technologies applied so far in Emergency services, there is one technology that is seldom discussed in this context despite its high prospects for such a field, IoT. So, let us now discern some of the most important aspects of Emergency services and how IoT could help various emergency response institutions cope with them.

Emergency Response Hotline

The easiest numbers to dial, often restricted to a maximum of 3 numbers, and capable of connecting without having a Sim Card, the emergency services numbers are often the first and last hope for people in varying levels of danger. The idea behind keeping these numbers simple and easy to dial like 911, 100 or 999 is to ensure that anyone in immediate danger can receive help immediately. But how reliable are these numbers and how would they cope during a busy day? Despite their simplicity and ease of access, there are some issues associated with them.

Network Traffic

Relying on one number all over a country makes sense for emergencies, but, connecting hundreds of millions of people and even in countries like India more than a billion people is no easy task. Heavy traffic on the emergency lines can cause a considerable amount of delays in relaying calls through to the concerned departments.

Location Tracking

Even though emergency services get constant updates to their infrastructure like new models of fire trucks, ambulance vans and police cars, their location hardware, as well as software, is still ancient. Even in countries like the United States where most of the domestic infrastructure is pretty developed, pinpointing the exact location from where an emergency call has been made is a challenge. Today approximately 2.5 Billion people in the world either directly use or have access to a smartphone. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Traditionally emergency phone operators triangulate a call’s source by referring to the address to which the number is registered. Ever since cell-phones have come around this has been rendered obsolete and operators have to rely on the use of GPS. Which again due to infrastructural constraints is proving to be a great challenge. Studies state that in countries where GPS systems are employed for tracking calls, the local food app more accuracy than the government emergency system.

How IoT can help with the Calls

Using IoT cell phones can be connected to the emergency services network allowing emergency services personnel to easily triangulate the source and use their guidance system to track them down easily. There could even be a system where an application could be used to send out an emergency message or a beacon of sorts to alert the services. There is also a prospect to automate the process in such a way that a signal is sent out immediately without someone having to do so manually. One way to do so would be relying on CCTV cameras, car sensors and other sensor-based technologies to detect accidents, fires, crimes and such. A system with such devices connected to an IoT network could be an ideal solution for reducing delays caused due to the problems in the phone network.  While this may sound like a far-fetched concept, it is presently being applied by a few cities. Cities like New York have provided their Police Department with an IoT system that allows them to detect and triangulate gunshots using car sensors. The same technology is applied by the fire departments as well.

Dealing With the Traffic

Overpopulation has been a problem for quite a number of years now and there seems to be no viable solution to dealing with all the problems that stem from it unless an asteroid was to strike and trigger another mass extinction. Like almost everything affected by overpopulation, emergency services also have their fair share of woes. One of the biggest ones being the constant surge in traffic. It is estimated that in the year 2015 there were approximately 947 million passenger cars and 335 million commercial vehicles actively in operation around the world. The traffic issue in crowded cities is a problem just as old as overcrowding itself. Even cities that have experienced a recent and sudden surge in population and infrastructure growth like Bangalore can feel the pinch (although often it feels more like a punch in the stomach after being stuck for hours in traffic).

This truly puts emergency vehicles in a spot of bother when they run into gridlocks when they are racing against the clock. With an IoT system, an emergency vehicle could have real-time access to an entire city’s traffic light system and could somehow manipulate it to allow them to pass through. As a matter of fact, such a system has been tried before but with very less effect. Because no matter how well connected a system may be, aspects like traffic need a human presence to deal with them effectively. So, there are quite a few kinks to be worked out here, but there is still plenty of prospect for an effective solution to this through IoT.

The Potential for the Advent of Robotics in Emergency Services

We have discussed Calls, the vehicles, and tracking, but, all of this would be just moot without the sweat and blood of the emergency responders. The Paramedics, the Firefighter, the Police Officers, all risk their lives every single day to keep the World safe. Their jobs are anything but safe and they try to ignore this fact when getting a job done and often end up paying the ultimate price for doing so. All the protective gear and safety measures in the world could fall short in the most critical of situations.

Robotics to this end seems to be a potential solution to minimize casualties and work under situations even the most staunch of firefighters couldn’t handle. While Robotics is already in use in an infinitesimal capacity in certain aspects of Emergency management there have been no such results that would prompt further proliferation. However, there are plans in place to employ IoT to introduce the robotics elements on a mainstream level in Emergency response. By employing robots for certain tasks, the effectiveness of the process could be increased while minimizing the risk. The robots could be dispatched ahead of a firefighting team or a police squad, to asses the situation and start the implementing rescue or relief measures. Establishments like the United States’ National Institute of Standards and Technology are already working on making robots designed to perform quite a few ambitious tasks such as search and rescue, climbing up stairs with various degrees of inclination, working in pitch dark or extremely bright environments and so on. With the use of IoT, these efforts could be put into overdrive and an almost automated system could be created which can work alongside the Emergency responders to produce a cumulative result which could only be achieved by the sum of both man and machine.

How IoT is Influencing Healthcare

The Internet of Things or IoT, by definition, is a technology that connects multiple devices to create a network much like the internet. Over the past decade this technology has been applied to many fields, but none more vital than healthcare. In healthcare the application of IoT is quite versatile, covering quite a few aspects of healthcare including patient care and supporting doctors and other medical professionals. While IoT has the ability to save millions of lives as part of the healthcare industry’s technical complement, it is not without drawbacks. So, let us take a look at some of the things that IoT could revolutionize in healthcare and the challenges it could pose.

IoT and Healthcare Monitoring

Today there are several devices, wearable or otherwise that are being used for monitoring several aspects of the human body. From our heartbeat rate to the ph levels in our blood sweat and urine, the traditional hands-on methods of diagnosing are way behind us. We can do a lot of monitoring on our own using these devices. The monitoring devices also serve as a vital tool for doctors to keep track of their patients’ health when they are in the hospital as well as after they are discharged. With IoT such devices can now be connected and provide medical professionals with all the data might require often in a compiled manner so they have access to every aspect of it. Furthermore, these devices when connected could come in handy during emergencies such as heart attacks or strokes by relaying the information to emergency services and facilitating the dispatch of necessary vehicles and personnel.

IoT in Medical Research

With monitoring technology growing exponentially at a steady rate, research has become considerably effective and more fruitful. Using the data received from patients and healthy test subjects, researchers can now craft medical solutions more effectively with a minimal chance of failure or side effects. IoT helps to enhance this process by facilitating the collection of data in real time and allowing it to be analyzed immediately, irrespective of the patients’ location. When it comes to drug testing, mobile IoT applications keep track of the patients’ behavior and body vitals while intimating them to take their medicine on time and double checking whether they have actually done so.

Enhancing Infrastructure Management

IoT’s application in the actual healthcare process has been quite useful so far. But, another aspect of healthcare where IoT is applied is infrastructure and budget management. Healthcare has always been an expensive affair and all the technological updates that the industry has had so far have only complicated things. IoT to this end helps out by analyzing all the infrastructural needs of an institution based on patient population, the frequency of consultations and the effectiveness of treatment imparted. Furthermore, healthcare facilities are now capable of accessing patient information and helping them out remotely using the connected devices, which saves a lot of time on infrastructure. Most services that can be offered remotely are surely bound to help ease the financial burden both for the healthcare providers as well as the patients.

Inventory management is also done using IoT today and this is proving to be an effective method of managing resources for healthcare institutions as well as pharmaceutical dispensaries. Keeping track of all the medical supplies that are dispensed to patients is by no means an easy task no matter. For large scale facilities, this is an even bigger issue due to the volume of cases they deal with and the frequency of emergency cases among them. Lack of proper monitoring could also lead to overcharging patients for supplies that had not been used on them.

The Roadblocks

Today there are several factors that pose a challenge for the healthcare community while implementing IoT as part of their service module. Most of these stem from the fact that the healthcare sector is not yet quite familiar with the technology and its use hasn’t spread across the globe as with other verticals such as retail.

Security

In the digital age, security is an issue everywhere and for an industry like healthcare where the healthcare data of millions if not billions of people are stored, the fallout could be drastic. It is estimated that a very high percentage of connected devices in the healthcare sector has been exposed and are extremely vulnerable to threats. According to experts the reason for this is the lack of understanding of IoT and its requirements by the top management of the healthcare centers. Most healthcare facilities tend to overestimate their own infrastructures and their capabilities and become oblivious to the actual things needed to support connected devices.

Multiple Device Integration

For IoT to function effectively in a healthcare system it is prudent for the integration of multiple devices functioning on a myriad of different platforms including mobile. Since IoT is a relatively new addition to healthcare, there is a lack of uniformity in protocols and regulations applied by various device makers which can lead to discord on a large scale. This is an issue that exacerbates the use of IoT in healthcare.

Scalability

For IoT and supporting devices to grow in the healthcare sector, the application of this technology must achieve a global level. The only issue here is that, today we are not even close to this scale. Many countries developed and developing alike still use primitive healthcare tools especially when it comes to patient data and medical records. This could stunt the growth of IoT to a great extent.

Conclusion

IoT undoubtedly has been a vital technology for healthcare. Its use have allowed doctors and patients to co-ordinate better and has also sped up the healthcare delivery system in countries where it is employed on a comprehensive level. But, its various shortcomings, most of which could be attributed to the lack of expertise and exposure to the technology, are the cause for some serious concerns. Security in particular is a menacing issue that needs to be resolved immediately. The good news here is that various IoT companies and the various governments are trying to coordinate to bring their respective healthcare systems up-to-date.

The Artificial Intelligence in Music Debate

Music has come a long way from the early days where the only instrument was the human vocal cord. The use of computer-based technology in music started in the 60s when the iconic Moog synthesizers starting taking over the British music scene and paved way to the irreplaceable artform that is progressive rock. If it was not for the Minimoog, Keith Emerson would have just stuck to literally rocking the Hammond L100, riding it like a bucking bronco, brutalizing it with knives and occasionally when he got the time even playing music on it. Yes indeed, the 60s and 70s were crazy times. But the introduction of integrated circuits and eventually processors paved way for a lot of innovation in music and the discovery of many new genres of music.

However, technology in music didn’t stop with the synthesizers. Over the past few decades, many technologies have been incorporated into music including the controversial auto-tune. In recent times though the most technology to make its way into the musician’s arsenal is Artificial Intelligence. While the overuse of technology in music is heavily debated and often shunned by the musicians of yore, there is still a lot of support as well. So, let us have a look at how AI is being used in the music industry today.

Algorithmic Composition

Surprisingly the roots of Artificial Intelligence in music date back to as early as 1965 when synth pioneer and inventor Ray Kurzweil showcased a piano piece create by a computer. Over the years, the use of computer programs in the composition, production, performance, and mass communication of music has allowed researchers and musicians to experiment and come up with newer technologies to suit their needs.

Algorithmic composition is one of the more complex applications of AI in music. Kurzweil’s early efforts towards producing music using computer algorithms relied on pattern recognition and recreation of the same in different combinations to create a new piece. The process of creating music cognitively used today have spawned from this idea. The algorithms used therein are created by analyzing certain human parameters that influence how music is perceived. The first step here is for the cognitive system to understand the music as a listener and then draw vital information from it as a musician would. To achieve this the AI system must first be able to compute the notational data in relation to its audio output. Aspects such as pitch, tone, intervals, rhythm, and timing are all taken into consideration here.

Based on the approach and the result intended there are several computational models for algorithmic composition such as mathematical models, knowledge-based systems, evolutionary methods etc. Each model has its own way of uploading a piece of music into the system, how the system would process it, what information it can derive from it and how it would do it. Composition is not always the purpose of an Algorithmic system. Musicians can use it for comprehension or even draw inspiration.

Non-Compositional Applications

While AI-based music composition is a work in progress that has been going on for decades and could take quite a few more to perfect, AI serves the music industry in many ways outside the studio.

Engagement Tracking

Today almost every form of art and entertainment profits most from the digital medium. This is also the case with music if it wasn’t obvious enough. Artists create music for a target audience which is spread around the many platforms like Youtube and Spotify. So, the engagement data recovered from these platforms have a huge impact on the songs that are created as well as how they are promoted. Artificial Intelligence plays a central role in this process. AI systems often act as the buffer between the distributors, advertisers, marketers and the audience for all their processes including monetization and the transactions involved therein.

Analytics

Analytics data is an essential aspect of almost every online venture today. And music is no exception. Music creators, independent and signed alike rely on analytics data to manage their online presence. AI-based analytics tools help bring speed and accuracy to the analytics processes, so as to help musicians keep up with the fast-paced internet competition.

It’s not Rock and Roll, Man

Music, being an art form that demands a great deal of creativity also demands a human mind behind it that is creative rather than analytical. This is the debate that has been surrounding the AI-music alliance for a long time. Technology, in general, has had the music world divided for eons. In a decade where bands like Pink Floyd thrived exclusively on ‘space age’ technology like the EMS VCS3 and a whole bunch of other stuff, acts like Rush, Motorhead and Aerosmith roughed it out with just the rudimentary instruments. Although most musicians are always open to new technologies or eventually warm up to them, that has not been the case with AI. The prospect of having to put in very less creative effort to compose may entice some, (especially given the volume of music that is being put out everyday) it also opens up the debate of industry giants such as Sony, Universal, Warner and Tips misusing or overusing it which could lead to an eventual vacuum in creativity.

I’m Perfect! Are You?

AI has always been a source of contradiction among all communities so it is no surprise that the music community is both supportive as well as skeptical of it. So far efforts towards harnessing Artificial Intelligence-based composition have been of infinitesimal proportions. So, there is not much out there for us to judge and take sides. Ventures like Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist (AIVA) are working exclusively towards bringing out the full potential of AI as a means of completely automating music production. While such ideas are a grey area today, how these will come to influence music as we know it, only time will tell.

What you Should know about Google AutoML

One of the highlights of last year’s Google I/O was the announcement of Google’s Automated Machine Learning or AutoML which according to founder Sundar Pichai was their ‘AI Inception’. The Machine learning Cloud software suite is finally about to hit the alpha stage and as of now, it seems like there is a lot that developer and designers alike can leverage from this tool. So let us explore this new addition to the Google family.

What is AutoML?

AutoML is Google’s Cloud software suite for Machine Learning tools based on Google’s Neural Architecture Search (NAS). Using AutoML a user can train deep networks without having any expertise in deep learning or Artificial Intelligence. This is achieved by leveraging NAS to derive the most suitable data network for the task at hand. This is a huge step for businesses as they will be able to harness the power of machine learning without using experts with years of experience in any field of automation. Customization of various AI product models meant for mundane as well as complex tasks.

How Will Businesses be able to Leverage AutoML?

Today, with deep learning still being in its infancy, most business use, AI for simplistic tasks. And considering the fact that AI and Machine learning experts are hard to come by and are quite expensive to hire, most companies try to keep their deep learning efforts to a minimum. This is where AutoML makes a world of difference. One of the most common applications of deep learning for businesses today is Image processing. Today companies rely on Image classification networks that run on neural matrices. This although running on machine learning tools, requires quite a bit of manual effort to isolate the proper network for the image datasets and then train the models to adapt to the task they intend to accomplish. With AutoML companies can skip the tedious processes of research and get directly into the transfer process. As a matter of fact, Google’s first AutoML tool is intended for exactly this aspect for visual companies.

AutoML Vision

This is AutoML’s first tool which will help developers create custom image recognition models. According to Google this tool will allow developers to upload their labeled data and the system will automatically create a custom machine learning model for them. This, in turn, will allow them to focus more on product development, design and other important aspects.  Although still in its alpha stage, this tool is being used by many big-time players such as the animation giant Disney.

Conclusion

As the concept of ‘Software 2.0’ catches on, developers around the world are getting used to the new tools largely built upon their predecessors, to write software without actually having to code each and every part of it. Tools like AutoML are a good example of how this is being applied to every aspect of software irrespective of the purpose. With AI the scope is further enhanced. Yet, for such tools to achieve any degree of comprehensiveness, they themselves need to be further developed to accommodate the needs of the upcoming generations of developers who will be relying upon them to do most of the work. So the road ahead will be the chicken and egg paradox where the efforts of both the man and the machine will craft the future. Today we have that sense of direction as to where we need to focus our efforts in terms of research, which is great news for AI tools such as AutoML.

How IoT is Influencing the Automobile industry

The Internet of Things is a technology that has been making a buzz in every forum and in doing so it is proliferating into every aspect of human existence. The IoT that we know of today is still in its infancy and all its applications that we see today are just a glimpse of what is to come. And it is a pretty elaborate glimpse. There are quite a few fields that have adopted IoT and are leveraging it on various degrees. Automobile is one such industry where IoT has several prospects lined up. So, how will a world of smart sentiently connected automobiles work and what can we expect in the future?

The automobile-IoT Story So Far

Connected automobiles is not a phenomenon we should be expecting in the near future, but something that already exists and has been around for quite some time now. There are several automated and semi-automated features in automobiles that have existed for decades. We all marveled at the GPS and mapping services in automobiles when they were introduced. Surprisingly this is a technology that was conceived decades ago, in the 60s. General Motors the American automotive giant, launched a program in 1966 named Driver Aid, Information and Routing System or DAIR which was intended to function similar to the modern GPS systems, but used ground-based infrared systems to relay the information rather than the satellite-guided internet system we use today. Even though DAIR never took off from its R&D phase, it helped laid down the foundation for the many ventures that followed in the ensuing decades.

G.M.’s most successful effort to incorporate a navigation system into automobiles came in the 90s with OnStar. This was also the first effort at using networking for navigation and guidance purposes. Although the devices applied for this were the now obsolete CDMA mobile phones. The services offered through OnStar included navigation, guidance and security features. Considering the technological limitations at the time both on the hardware as well as the software fronts.

The Smart Cars of Today

From the age of integrated circuits to digital, there has been a sea change. The dawn of the 21st saw the advent of several technologies that made things that once thought impossible literally a child’s play. Navigation, cab services, security, entertainment, and a myriad of other aspects became a staple feature in the modern cars. Once software applications started going mobile, the possibilities became endless. The noughties was a decade of competition. Application war would be a better term to describe the rat race that ensued between Blackberry, Google, and Apple. A war that is still going on with seemingly no end in sight. What this led to was the rapid evolution of the mobile platform and its prospects which have delivered us to the technological jungle that we live in today. The self-driven car which many an expert once predicted could only be brought to life in the distant future, is very much a reality today and is improving every day. The advancements in networking have further fueled progress on this front allowing onboard devices to function autonomously. Automation, in general, has received quite a boost and various functions are now getting automated and mobilizing for scalability and better access. This has been great news for cars. The only downside today is the service and monitoring charges that are associated with such services today.

Driverless Cars

There are quite a few driverless cars out there today. From Google’s Waymo to the many Tesla cars, innovations in the past few years have sown the seeds for a market for automated vehicles. Tesla just announced that all its cars will feature autopilot options. This is indeed a huge step as we head towards a future where many daily processes mundane or otherwise could be automated.

V2V and VII

The most effective aspects of IoT in automobiles are the Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle Infrastructure Integration technologies. To bring these innovations to life, many companies turn to expert automotive software development services that specialize in embedded systems, connectivity solutions, and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).Although still under research these technologies are proving to quite useful in the practical application they have been subject to so far. V2V and VII, collectively known as V2X integration function by enabling a communication network between devices embedded within the car in sensor and other forms, with wearable, portable and centralized devices which will be relaying information between each other. This network will enable functions from basic monitoring and diagnostics to the automation of various processes including driving itself. Progress on the data analytics front will further enable this to leveraged to a greater extent allowing more effective coordination between devices which could eventually lead to a safer, smoother and enjoyable ride.

The Long Road Ahead

IoT is still a relatively new technology and it has a long way to go before we could harness its full potential. The progress done so far with the resources we have has been quite remarkable despite the few shortcomings which have even claimed life in recent times. There is no denying that the idea self-driving cars will be the subject of unending debates for many more decades to come and the inevitable accidents could make the already skeptical populous even more paranoid about it. This could probably be the biggest roadblock that automobile manufacturers and the IT industry will have to overcome to build an IoT superhighway of the future.