Session 9

The class started with a very interesting quote by George Bernard Shaw. What is basically meant was when you say why, you are limiting yourself, but when you say why not, you go beyond what exists and allow people to experiment and come up with new things. Asking why limits your perspective, while asking why not makes it soar!
We were shown an interesting video on Claytronics, which has the ability to change the way we interact and communicate with each other, the way we design things and so on.
The concept of rising stars was discussed again. Those people who have the ability to imagine and change the way things are, are the real risings stars. Problems should be thought of as stepping stones to achieve and solve long term problems. 

Another video shown to us was on plastic microchips to reduce the use of silicon as chips. The video basically highlighted the fact that the unmet need and desire of people for new products is a major driver for innovation. This is called market driven research innovation. 

Another driver for innovation is the fact that supply can create demand. Unless people start using something, they don't know whether they need it or not.

Mass media and advertising are also important drivers for change. Advertisements influence people's wants and needs. 

Prof also discussed the idea of the four Smarts, and how their confluence leads to a driver for change.

The four Smarts are Smart People, Smart Money, Smart Ideas, and Smart Alliances. 

Another very interesting video shown was one on a perfect woman, who is actually a robot, and takes care of one's need without complaining. The concept of a perfect woman who is actually not real is fascinating. It has both its pros and cons. The pros are that one does not have to deal with the mood swings of an actual person, while the cons involve emotional attachment to a robot.

Prof quoted one of his favorite authors, Kahlil Gibran:

"There is a space between man's imagination and man's attainment that may only be traversed by his longing."

If one is committed to translate one's imagination and dream to reality, only then will he/she be able to fill the gap between imagination and attainment. Perseverance and dedication is essential to achieve this objective.

We also discussed several up and coming technologies, like robotics, nanotechnology, GRID computing etc.

An interesting article I came across recently on nanotechnology was

http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/newsid=32921.php

Overall, it was a very interesting session. I would like to rate this session a 9 on 10 :)

Session 8

After a nice recess week, getting myself to class was really hard. However, what has to be done, must be.
In today's class, we discussed about Energy Technology and Change. Prof believes that the next big industrial revolution will be the shift from the intensive fossil fuel based use of energy to a sustainable and green method of energy usage.
A very important question that has been raised in today's times is: Why do we need to change the way we operate?
The west has thrived and grown on the fossil fuel path, and there is no way developing countries like India and China can follow the same path. It is important to develop a such a method of energy consumption so as to make it sustainable and not cause harm to the environment.
A driver for change in energy consumption is sustainability. Brazil was a leader in this. It used sugarcane to produce gasoline to fuel cars and other automobiles. Brazil is the leader in the innovation of such a green technology.

Another important driver for change is the cost. At the moment, fossil fuels are cheaper sources of energy because the opportunity cost is not taken into consideration. The concept of environmental pricing is developing where people are increasingly realizing that the market price does not reflect the true price, as the cost of production is not taken into consideration. 

We discussed about how modern lifestyle requires us to have access to energy to survive. We need sufficient energy resource to power them and keep them going. Most of the world is still dependent on fossil fuels, some of the countires dependent on renewable sources like solar and water. Some are still dependent on biomass which involves burning of coal and other organic wastes like animal dung and so on.

As we increase the efficiency of our energy utilization, we are going to require lesser energy to be used. In many countries, energy is a major source of income. 98% of Nigeria’s economy is dependent on petrol, as also with the Middle Eastern countries. Many of these countries are trying to diversify their economies as petrol is not a sustainable source of income. These countries are going on a massive industrialization spree to develop alternate sources of income.

 We discussed various sources of energy like solar, wind, geo-thermal energy etc. Prof discussed a very interesting thing. The sun provides more energy to the Earth in an hour than the entire human race currently uses in a year. This just goes to prove that we are ignoring and wasting a very beneficial and sustainable source of energy. It is essential to tap on the benefits of solar energy. It is an easy and cost effective method of sourcing energy and is the answer to all our problems of depleting energy resources. 

China is investing heavily in solar energy because it knows it cannot use too much coal due to the excess generation of pollution. USA is second.

Prof showed us an interesting video, the basic idea of which was to go into the Sahara desert and set up solar farms, harness energy and generate to the world. It is important for the setters of the solar farms to build up administration for the country in which the farm is developed.

Another important question raised was: Is it feasible to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050?

What is important is to have the political support and goals by the government which are enforced on people, to achieve this target. We have all the necessary resources to achieve this goal. It is not impossible.

The class was highly interesting, discussing solutions to a huge problem we are facing today, depletion of non renewable sources of energy and pollution of the environment. I would rate this session an 8 on 10.  :)

Individual Topical Review Paper, First Draft

Topic: Video Conference- Evolution and Future.[1]

Aishwarya Mirania Agarwal (miraniaa.2013@business.smu.edu.sg)

1st year student, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University.

Executive Summary

Video conferencing is such a technology, which enables people to communicate with each other, face-to-face, without actually being present there. This paper consists of a description of videoconferencing and the technology used in this process. The invention of videoconferencing has also been discussed.

Videoconferencing has evolved and come a long way from its invention, and the development and current use of it has been described further. The use of videoconferencing in education, medical and business sectors has been discussed in details. Videoconference has environmental benefits as well; it helps to reduce the emission of carbon footprints and various green house gases into the environment by reducing the use of petrol and other polluting gases.

This paper also talks about the trends in the future of videoconferencing as well as the various applications of this technology in the future. Various developments are being made by researchers from different countries on how to further enhance the process of videoconferencing, which makes the future of videoconferencing sound very exciting and interesting.

Why I chose this topic

The concept of video conferencing is a fascinating one as it has literally broken all barriers between people. I am interested to see how this technology will help us further down the road. In the present day, our lives are heavily dependent on technologies. Some technology or the other influences every aspect of our lives. In this paper, I would like to explore the role of video conferencing in our lives and how this amazing invention can help to improve the standard of our living.

Introduction

What is video conferencing?

Video Conference, as defined by the Oxford Dictionaries, is a conference in which participants in different locations are able to communicate with each other in sound and vision. It allows audio and video communication between people with the use of computer networks. Each participant has a video camera, microphone and speakers mounted on his or her computer or phones. Video conferencing allows three or more people to sit together and communicate virtually, as if they were present in the same room. It has also been called ‘visual collaboration’ and is a type of groupware. It is an intermediate form of videotelephony, first deployed commercially in the United States by AT&T corporations during the early seventies as a part of their development of Picturephone Technology. Until the mid nineties, hardware costs made videoconferening pretty expensive, but with the introduction of relatively low cost, high speed broadband services, complemented by powerful computing processors and video compression techniques, video conferencing is making successful development in various areas like medicine and education.

What is the technology used?

Videoconferencing functions with the combination of a few different technologies; some are hardware, while other software. Videoconferencing programs combine Web page tools and Internet communication into one interface to create an interactive meeting environment. These tools include:

·       HTML, XML and ASP mark up,

·       Java scripts,

·       Instant messaging,

·       Streaming audio and video.

The simplest type of video conferencing requires two people, each with a computer, an Internet connection and a PC with a microphone, a webcam or a digital video camera and a video capture card.

Video input from the camera and audio input from the microphone are converted to digital data. Software is extremely important to the videoconferencing process. Audio and Video data can take up a lot of space and time to be transferred. Software is used to compress the data so that it can travel more quickly via ISDN lines, broadband Internet or WiFi. When the data reaches its destination, it's decompressed to be viewed on a computer monitor or television screen and heard through speakers. Another important software component is the Acoustic echo cancellation software is used to remove sound interference and eliminate delays so that sound and visuals are in synch. This makes it possible for the parties to talk to one another in real time without any distractions.

Video conferencing software can be purchased by itself, or the software and server space can be provided by a hosting service.

Historical perspective



  Invention of videoconference

      The invention of videoconferencing can be traced back to the time, when the television was invented. Initially, it was known as simple analog conferencing. It was a very simple system, comprising of two closed circuit television systems connected by cable. German Reich Postzentralamt (post office) video telephone network serving Berlin and several German cities via coaxial cables between 1936 and 1940 was an example of the simple analog conferencing. In fact, NASA used two radiofrequency UHF or VHF links, in both directions. Such a system is still used by television stations to report live from distant locations.  

Videoconferencing was introduced in 1964 in the World Fair in New York. It was highly futuristic and no one could even imagine that one day it would replace the standard telephone. AT&T introduced the Picturephone a few years later, in 1970. However, this Picturephone was impractical and cost the consumers $160 per month for each fixed end point. However, when Ericsson demonstrated its first trans-Atlantic LME video telephone call, companies saw the immense scope for the success of this technology and began to develop their own videoconferencing technology.

The 1990’s saw the development of the videoconferencing system due to several factors, like technical advances in Internet Protocol, more efficient video compression technologies allowing even desktop or PC based video conferencing.

In 1991, DARTnet made history in videoconferencing by successfully connecting a transcontinental IP network, consisting of more than 12 research sites in the US and the UK using T1 trunks. Another videoconferencing system that made history and altered and impacted he future of commercial videoconferencing is CU-SeeMe, which ran on Apple Macintosh and became available to the public in 1992.

Global Schoolhouse students communicating via CU-SeeMe, with a video framerate between 3-9 frames per second (1993).

High-speed Internet became widely available at low prices by 2003. The cost of video captures and display technology also decreased. The masses were able to afford web cams and PC’s like laptops and notebooks became available at very low prices. Also, the availability of free software from leading IM service providers made video conferencing technologies more readily available to the consumers.

Current situation

Impact on society

Videoconferencing has greatly facilitated communication between people all over the world and broken down barriers. It is an effective way to communicate when people cannot come face to face to talk to each other. It helps in live conversation, which is actually virtual. It has also helped in reducing the cost of travelling and other expenses required for meeting of people at two different places. Videoconferencing is such a technology that is readily available to people of all different segments of society, due to the very low prices of laptops and mobile phones and high-speed and cheap Internet connection. Videoconferencing is used in various sectors of the economy like education, health, business etc.

Videoconferencing has changed the education sector in a drastic way. It is used in education for personal communication, collaborative work, presentations, research and so on. It has helped bring remote students in contact with teachers located at different places. It also provides an opportunity for students to go on virtual tours to different places, where travelling otherwise would be expensive and time consuming. It enables far-away experts to come into contact with students and provide them with assistance and guidance. Students can also interview these experts and get to know more without actually meeting the expert. Videoconferencing helps students practice the foreign languages they learn, by enabling communication with students from different countries, studying in different schools. It helps to complement traditional teaching. The students get to experience and understand what they have theoretically learned. Students in California were given the chance to explore the facility of NASA from the videoconferencing system in their school, as part of their science and engineering project. They were given a chance to ask questions and observe the workings of NASA. Such a trip could not have been possible without videoconferencing owing to heavy expenditure on travelling to the NASA facility.

A NASA astronaut talks to students about being in a space station Atlantis.

Videoconferencing is also gaining success in the medical field. There has been a great increase in demand for services of both public and private healthcare organizations driven by factors like aging population, greater awareness of various diseases and their cures, need to access remote populations from a centralized facilities. Videoconferencing enables doctors and medical service providers to extend expensive and expert health care services to people who cannot access it directly. It has helped to increase the geographical area and reach of medical services by the hospitals. A large proportion of the population lives in the rural area and health care services provided are not sufficient. Videoconferencing provides an easy solution to such populations. Videoconferencing helps in monitoring of patients. It is not possible for people to travel regularly to the hospitals to get check ups done, especially if they are old. Videoconferencing provides an easy solution to that by bringing the doctor to the patient. All that is needed is a laptop or a cell phone. Videoconferencing also helps in counseling and consultation of patients from the comfort of their homes.

Videoconferencing in the medical field is facing obstacles from various doctors, who rely on the face-to-face consultation of their patients. But once these obstacles are overcome, videoconferencing has a tremendous potential to grow further in the medical field.

Doctors having discussions with other doctors through videoconferencing.

Videoconferencing has greatly helped small and middle-sized business owners in growing their business, reach new markets and compete with companies of bigger size. These companies face the problem of understaffed IT departments and are generally on tight operating budgets. Videoconferencing has helped to overcome this problem. By holding meetings through multipoint videoconferencing, the cost of travelling and meeting expenses has been greatly reduced. The gas and petrol prices are on a rise and videoconferencing will help to save on these costs. Videoconferencing helps companies to achieve greater sales by widespread communication with buyers from all over the world. It helps them to reap the benefits of globalization. Business companies can also take advantage of outsourcing opportunities by holding online interviews with employees from different countries, enabling them to obtain the most talented and the best workers.

Videoconferencing also helps to telecommute. Telecommunication is employees working from home. This may help to improve employee productivity, as they may feel more comfortable working from home.

Also, the need for small and medium-sized businesses to become eco-friendly is growing. It is essential for such businesses to adopt greener methods of technology to appeal to the masses. Videoconferencing makes this possible without impacting the productivity of the business. It reduces the number of flights required to be taken for various meetings, interviews and conferences. This leads to a reduction in the amount of carbon footprints generated by companies. For example, 22.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be saved if 20% of business travel within Europe would be replaced by videoconferencing.

Airline expenditure is saved if videoconferencing is used

Videoconferencing has also helped the military of the United States. It is estimated that 1% of Americans are enlisted in the United States Armed Forces, according to the CNN. Videoconferencing enables all the soldiers, away in foreign countries, to talk to their families who may be miles away in distance. It provides comfort to these soldiers, who get to see their loved ones. Videoconferencing can also be used for briefing and giving directions to the soldiers situated at various base camps from one head quarter. Videoconferencing is being used efficiently by the USAF to facilitate their functions.

However, the current videoconferencing system has some disadvantages too. The video conferencing system can prove to be complex to operate. Users may find it difficult to understand the procedure, especially those users who are not too technologically abled. There is also a lack of personal touch, as the people conversing cannot understand each other’s environments. There is a problem of time zones. While holding meetings or conferences in different parts of the world, to decide a common time to communicate is very difficult.  There is also the problem of unstable Internet connections. Sometimes, in important meetings, there is a problem of getting disconnected, which may cause irritation to both the parties. Quality and expensive equipment is required to ensure such problems do not occur.

In videoconferencing systems like Skype, a certain charge is required to be paid to enable conference calls. This may be a setback too.

Future Consideration

Trends in future

Mobile video conferencing is the use of video conferencing technology on mobile phones, smart phones, and tablets. Mobile video conferencing is an up and coming trend in the world of videoconferencing. The sales of PC are on the decline, as the popularity of these smart phones is rising. Apple has moved to 37 million iPhones in the second quarter of 2013 while the Android OS phones sold a high 156 million devices in the next quarter. The reason for the increasing popularity of these smartphones is the convenient size; it can easily be carried around, as compared to a PC or desktop. Smartphones and tablets are here for the long run and may soon replace PC’s in providing a better medium for videoconferencing.

The change currently occurring in the industry, as evaluated by an August 2012 Forrester Wave report is that Videoconferencing technology is moving towards a more affordable and efficient solution, partially in response to the rise of mobile video chat. IT decision makers today must weigh the value of cost and scalability against that of immersive, life-like quality. Additionally, they may want to consider cloud technology such as unified communications solutions as a way of overcoming cost and skill barriers to adoption. With new solutions offering unparalleled realism competing against mobile solutions that provide flexible, accessible video chat, the debate about the future of videoconferencing is likely to continue.

Future application of video conferencing

Courts and law enforcement agencies are tapping into the capabilities of videoconferencing system. Mississippi’s Madison County Sheriff’s Department recently implemented a video arraignment system, allowing criminals to appear before a judge without leaving the jail. This system will help to cut labor costs as well as transportation costs involved in taking the prisoners from the prisons to the court and back. It will also improve safety for officials while transporting prisoners and reduces the risk of the prisoners escaping during transportation. A Homeland Security News Wire article noted instances of videoconferencing in district courts in places such as Detroit and Oakland. In Oakland, the video arraignment project saved an estimated $8 million in its first five years, the publication reported. This may prove to be a very beneficial step for courts if it works out well.

Another interesting development in the application of videoconferencing is the one undertaken by European researchers. They are trying to device such a telepresence conferencing system that creates the impression that participants are actually physically present. These researchers were inspired by the ‘Star Trek’ series, which enabled characters to be physically transported between different locations. These researchers are developing a system called “beaming” to improve telepresence communication. EU Commission’s Community Research and Development Information System (CORDIS) is in the midst of a four year plan to combine robotics, cybernetics, neurology, and more to translate a person’s virtual presence onto a physical avatar. Their goal is to provide an android stand in that offers the same type of personal interaction as an in-person meeting. CORDIS is also working to recreate facial expressions and forms of nonverbal communication for remote avatars.

These plans, if they succeed, will prove to be a new milestone in the development of videoconferencing. It will add a much more personal touch to videoconferencing. The concept of virtual but physical existence is a fascinating one. However, this may reduce face-to-face interactions between people. People would not like to leave the comfort of their homes, and may become anti-social. At the end of the day, nothing can surpass human interaction which is real. So this development has both advantages and disadvantages.

Conclusion

Videoconferencing is an amazing innovation that has come a long way since it was first developed in 1964. It has broken all barriers of the world and helped in the process of globalization by connecting people all across the world by means of a PC and Internet connection. People in the rural areas are connected easily with people in metropolitan cities. Initially, videoconferencing was possible only through desktops and PC’s, but now it has evolved and is accessible through smart phones, iPad’s, Tablets, projector screens and what not.

It is estimated that the enterprise telepresence and videoconferencing equipment market will reach 5.4 billion by 2015. Videophone industry is the fastest growing segment of the market with the strongest demand from North America, China, India and Brazil.

Like most technologies, videoconferencing has its pros and cons too. But the pros outweigh the cons and hence, videoconferencing has emerged as an effective, efficient, easy and cheap method of communication between people at different parts of the world. It has been adopted by various segments of the country in everyday proceedings. Many schools conduct classes through videoconferences, major meetings take place over Skype, and now even courts are adopting this technology for convenient and hassle-free legal proceedings. Videoconferencing has immense scope for development and use by all. It may become the major mode of communication between people in the future.

Reference

Definition of videoconference in English. ((n.d.)). Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/videoconference

Videoconferencing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/videoconferencing.html

Videoconferencing. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videoconferencing

Wallace, J. (n.d.). How military video conferencing works. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/how-military-video-conferencing-works1.htm

Spencer, W. (11, 12 12). How videoconferencing works. Retrieved from

http://www.tech-faq.com/how-video-conferencing-works.html

Video conferencing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nefsis.com/best-video-conferencing-software/video-conferencing-history.html

Horton, J. (28, 5 2008). How classroom video conferencing works. Retrieved from http://people.howstuffworks.com/classroom-video-conferencing1.htm

Butters, L., Clarke , A., Hewson, T., & Pomfrett, S. (n.d.). The dos and don'ts of videoconferencing in higher education. Retrieved from http://www.agocg.ac.uk/reports/mmedia/video1/video1.pdf

Frost. , & Sullivan, (n.d.). The growing use of videoconferencing in the health care market. Retrieved from http://www.techdata.com/lifesize/files/LIFESIZE_Whitepaper Frost and Sullivan Healthcare Videoconferencing.pdf

The business benefits of video conferencing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nefsis.com/best-video-conferencing-software/business-benefits.html

Courtrooms use videoconferencing to cut costs, improve accessibility. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.conferencetech.com/news/courtrooms-use-videoconferencing-cut-costs-improve-accessibility

What will the future of videoconferencing look like?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.conferencetech.com/news/what-will-future-videoconferencing-look

Disadvantages of video conferencing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.video-conferencing-guide.org/disadvantages-of-video-conferencing.html

Jones, F. (n.d.). Towards a greener future with videoconferencing. Retrieved from http://www.worldcommercereview.com/publications/article_pdf/87

Military uses for conferencing technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.conferencetech.com/news/military-uses-conferencing-technologies

Andres, Y. M. (Photographer). Original screen capture of Global Schoolhouse students collaborating via CU-SeeMe [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.video-conferencing-guide.org/index.html.

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[1]  This paper was reviewed by Sahana Iva Raghavan and Tam Chun Kit Joseph.

Session 7

In this session, we discussed about bio business revolution in terms of agrobiology, Environmental Life sciences and Industrial Bio technology. Bio technology is basically using our knowledge about life sciences in getting things done.

Prof told us about how all life on earth is built from the same building blocks. 98% of our genome is the same as a chimpanzee, 70% with rats and 48% with a papaya tree. Nature is a very smart innovator. It uses the same components and builds something new every time.

We then discussed about the different colors of biotechnology, red, blue, green.

Red biotechnology is that which is applied to humans, Green is the one applied to plants and animals, Blue is marine application, White is industrial application.

Prof showed us an interesting video- Earth has caught a case of the humans.

Our ancestors and we have been great sinners, and we should now progress on a path of change.

People are migrating to the urban areas for better job and lifestyle opportunities. Latin America has the highest rate of urbanization. As people move, their tastes and preference pattern changes. As we become more and more urban, there will be lesser people on the fields, and the food production may fall. It is highly essential to establish a balance between different occupations, or develop such a technology that will help us to increase food yield, without adversely affecting the environment. 

What is important is to establish a sustainable and organic method for production. People are ready to pay a premium for organic products. 70% of the fish consumed in the world is actually farmed and cultured. By cultivating them for food consumption, harm to the marine environment is prevented.

Another interesting concept is Genetically Modified Food, which Prof discussed about. Most of the foods like ketchup and Doritos come from genetically modified crops. However, some people like Europeans are against GM Foods, so it is essential to lable such foods.

Prof discussed the concept of Agrobiology. It is the application of life knowledge to agriculture, while agro biotechnology is application of science to agriculture. The traditional farmer does not adopt too much mechanization and adopts basic scientific principles to grow crops, like the concepts of composting.

Another interesting theory discussed was that of Food security- a condition where all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO).

UN estimates population will grow from 6 to 9 billion by 2050. It is essential to provide food for all. The more sustainable agricultural practices are, the lesser damage it will create. We are producing enough food for the population, but due to inadequate distribution of food there is world hunger.

Its is essential to facilitate adequate distribution of food.

I also had my individual presentation today, and the topic I presented on was Vermicomposting. I found this topic highly interesting and relevant for today's day and age, where it is essential to make do with whatever we get. I hope Prof, as well as the class, enjoyed my presentation as much as I enjoyed presenting it.

I would like to rate this class an 8 on 10. It was a thought provoking class, which made me think of all the waste I am generating and how I, as a global citizen, can do my part to conserve and adequately use these resources.

Recess week finally! :D