Augmented Reality (AR) was discussed with Virtual Reality in class last week. After doing some research, I’ve realized that AR is becoming very popular in today’s digital world. AR is known to be a part of education, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail, however, it is not penetrating the sporting industry until now. Originally, the sporting world did not think that AR would help its viewers, but that opinion has changed. AR is now being used to revolutionize fan viewing of their favorite sports. AR will not only be great for the viewer, but can be used for coaches and professional players as well (Para 1). There are five ways in which AR is being placed into sports and has become very beneficial for the industry (Para 2).

The first use of AR in sports is on-field decision making. There are often times that both the viewer and the teams on the field disagree with a call that an official made. AR can create the ability to allow everyone at the sporting event to review the call that was made (Para 3). One of the main applications that has been used is called the Hawk-eye system. The Hawk-eye system is computer based, and is used in multiple sports (tennis, bad-mitten, soccer, and volleyball). The system tracks the ball and gives a hypothesis of the path in which the ball will go. It tends to be very accurate (Para 4). Another use for AR is through training.

How AR can help professional athletes in training is by collecting data on the athletes and create videos, helping the athlete understand how they play and how they can improve their skills. The technology can also be used to create videos and pinpoint strategies of the opposing teams, which can help the team overall (Para 7). Another use for AR is through broadcasting. Sports are broadcasted and watched throughout the entire nation. AR can make the experience more interactive through 3D graphics that the user would be able to see through an app of shorts. These 3D graphics can include alternate plays to help viewers understand the game more and do video replays as well (Para 9). The final uses for AR in the sporting world are marketing and playing fantasy sports. The advertisements using AR implementation can be interactive and more fun for viewers to see the advertisements (Para 10). The interactive ads will most likely have a positive effect and possibly have more people watching sports. For fantasy sports, the use of the AR system is similar to that of the marketing strategy. AR would be used to make the app or website for fantasy sports more interactive, hopefully leading to users staying on the website for a longer time period (Para 12).

As you can see, AR has become a great system for the sporting industry. I believe it should be implemented more, as it will make sports a lot more fun and exciting than they already are. What are your thoughts on AR? What other industries do you think could benefit from AR?

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2019/10/26/revolutionizing-sports-with-augmented-reality/#63cc1a681416

In class this week, we discussed virtual reality and how it is becoming more popular in society today. The definition of virtual reality is very interesting. It takes the definitions of virtual and reality as we experience them as people, and explains the virtual reality is often referred to as “near reality (Para 1).” Virtual Reality tackles our sense of balance and other sensory inputs, which includes our brain sense-making mechanism. Because we experience our reality through our sensory inputs, not exclusive of our five senses, it makes it possible to present us with a made up version of our reality. Since majority of how we experience our reality is through our sensory input, our body has the ability to change itself to adapt and change to a new reality, for example, a virtual place or environment (Para 2 – 3).

The technical definition of virtual reality is slightly different then the basic understanding of virtual reality. The technical term of virtual reality is “a three-dimensional, computer generated environment,” which can interact with a person who is placed in the environment. While in this environment the person is able to manipulate objects placed into the environment (Para 4). In today’s society, we are often exposed to virtual reality through a computer system, which has the user wear a headset of sorts, gloves, or runs/walks on a treadmill that is attach to a headset (Para 6). However, there are difficulties with the virtual environment.

Since our body reacts to what is around it, if something in the virtual reality environment is a little off, our body will be able to point it out. Add on to some items being off, our vision is not of a video frame, we are able to see in our peripheral vision, which you cannot see in a virtual reality environment. Because of this small change, this can cause a person to become nauseous in the virtual reality system (Para 7).

In today’s society, people are often focused on the virtual reality of video games, however, there are also virtual reality systems. These can be seen in architecture, medicine, entertainment, sports, and the arts (Para 8). I believe that VR will continue to become popular and be used in more areas of jobs, particularly in government agencies.

What are your thoughts about VR? Would you be willing to try it?

https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/what-is-virtual-reality.html

In class this week, we briefly went over Net Neutrality and the issues we are facing with it. Net Neutrality is defined as “the principle that individuals should be free to access all content and applications equally, regardless of the source, without Internet Service Providers discriminating against specific online services or websites (Para 1).” What this means in simpler terms is the idea that the company who has connected you to the internet does not have the right to control what you are doing on the internet. If we do not have laws/rules set for Net Neutrality, internet users can become chaotic, as there is a chance in which they will not be able to get on to their favorite websites. For example, my internet provider is Verizon. If we didn’t have Net Neutrality laws, Verizon could prevent me getting onto Netflix and redirect me to a competing website, such as Hulu, which Verizon is gaining money from through every user they redirect to Hulu (Para 1).

Currently, there has been a lot of talk about Net Neutrality through the government. Starting in 2014, the FCC sued Verizon for violating their Net Neutrality rules. The result of the case favored with Verizon, which forced the FCC to become more specific with their Net Neutrality rules. In May 2014, the FCC released their new rules on Net Neutrality and got over 4 million comments on these rules. From the comments, they specified some of their laws, which lead to President Obama, in November 2014, endorsing their Title II and broadband protection, which passed through in February 2015 (Para 2). However, in 2017, Ajit Pai was appointed chairman of the FCC, and had plans to eliminate Net Neutrality. Chairman Pai proposed an appeal on the 2015 ruling, which was then passed in December 2017 (Para 3).

In present day there are:

• No rules preventing the blockage of websites, services, or content on the internet
• No rules preventing the slowing down of websites or services on the internet
• No rules preventing bribing, where internet providers are giving preferential treatment to certain websites and services compared to other options (Para 4)

What are your thoughts on Net Neutrality? Would you prefer to have Net Neutrality or to not have Net Neutrality? Is it an invasion of privacy?

Net Neutrality

In class we have been talking a lot about the Internet of Things and how it is becoming more prominent today. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is not far behind from this popular trend. KAIST has recently used machine learning to create object identification through sounds, vibrations, and other interactions through our smartphones. This technology has been named “Knocker (Para 1).”

Previous versions of object identification included pictures or scanning of an object to determine what it is, however, would often not work in bad lighting and forced user to take picture of every item they wanted to identify (Para 2). What makes “Knocker” better compared to previous technology is that it uses the sensors (such as microphones) in a smartphone and be able to identify an object just by “knocking” it, even in a dark area/environment. Machine Learning collects the data, analyzes the objects, and can identify what the object is (Para 3). In real life circumstances, the “Knocker” has been used to identify books, laptops/computers, water bottles, and bicycles (Para 4).

How this relates to the IoT is how this device can be integrated into the IoT. The study comments on this and uses the example of an empty water bottle. Let’s say a user of the “Knocker” taps on an empty water bottle. From that data, the smartphone can now order full water bottles for the user to drink. Another example used was that the user can knock onto a headboard if they are about to go to bed and then the smartphone can turn off all the lights in the room (Para 5). I feel that because of these examples, this type of technology can fall very easily into the idea of IoT becoming a prime use of human life. What do you think about this new type of technology and how can it help our daily life?

Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191002102817.htm