Virtual reality and Augmented reality

Avin Indrasoma | Undergraduate | National Institute of Business Management

According to research, an average American spends 7 hours and 4 minutes looking at a screen every day. For most people this is a mobile phone or a television, but what exactly is the future of this space? The Answer is virtual reality (VR), the use of computer modelling and simulation that enables a person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3-D) visual or another sensory environment. VR applications immerse the user in a computer-generated environment that simulates reality through the use of interactive devices, which send and receive information and are worn as goggles, headsets, gloves, or bodysuits. In a typical VR format, a user wearing a helmet with a stereoscopic screen views animated images of a simulated environment. The illusion of “being there” (telepresence) is affected by motion sensors that pick up the user’s movements and adjust the view on the screen accordingly, usually in real-time (the instant the user’s movement takes place). Thus, a user can tour a simulated suite of rooms, experiencing changing viewpoints and perspectives that are convincingly related to his head turnings and steps. Wearing data gloves equipped with force-feedback devices that provide the sensation of touch, the user can even pick up and manipulate objects that he sees in the virtual environment.

The term virtual reality was coined in 1987 by Jaron Lanier, whose research and engineering contributed many products to the nascent VR industry. A common thread linking early VR research and technology development in the United States was the role of the federal government, particularly the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Another term that you may have heard when discussing this space is AR or augmented reality, but what exactly is the difference between the two? Augmented reality (AR) augments your surroundings by adding digital elements to a live view, often by using the camera on a smartphone. Virtual reality (VR) is a completely immersive experience that replaces a real-life environment with a simulated one.

 

Augmented reality is the integration of digital information with the user’s environment in real-time. Unlike virtual reality, which creates an artificial environment, augmented reality uses the existing environment and overlays new information on top of it.

 

Boeing researcher Thomas Caudell coined the term augmented reality in 1990, to describe how the head-mounted displays that electricians used when assembling complicated wiring harnesses worked. One of the first commercial applications of AR technology was the yellow “first down” line that began appearing in televised football games sometime in 1998. Today, Google glass and heads-up displays in car windshields are perhaps the most well-known consumer AR products, but the technology is used in many industries including healthcare, public safety, gas and oil, tourism, and marketing.

Augmented reality apps are written in special 3D programs that allow the developer to tie animation or contextual digital information in the computer program to an augmented reality “marker” in the real world. When a computing device’s AR app or browser plugin receives digital information from a known marker, it begins to execute the marker’s code and layer the correct image or images.

AR applications for smartphones typically include a global positioning system (GPS) to pinpoint the user’s location and its compass to detect device orientation. Sophisticated AR programs used by the military for training may include machine vision, object recognition and gesture recognition technologies.

 

Metaverse

Himaathri Premakumar | Undergraduate | University of Vavuniya

What if you could read this magazine in a virtual world and talk with the authors? That’s pretty cool, right? Yes, it will be possible soon with the help of METAVERSE, the game-changer of the online world which provides a virtual 3D experience to all its users. Simply said, it is the next generation of technology or the evolution of the internet. It is predicted that in a few years, we will be able to see ourselves with our friends in a virtual world as avatars, and we will be able to look and feel like we do in the actual world. The term “METAVERSE” became popular after The Facebook, Inc. changed its name to “Meta” in 2021 October, where they have a huge budget to build the technology and make it the dominant 3D internet Platform.

This may sound like a new ideology but actually, the Snow Crash Novel which was released in 1992 already described a similar view of the future as a kind of next-generation virtual reality-based Internet. Several movies and novels also portray the idea of the Metaverse in the past. The Metaverse helps to improve the Internet by providing sophisticated usage for its users. This technology is possible with the help of Virtual Reality (VR) Augmented Reality (AR) Artificial Intelligence (AI), and high-speed internet with low latency. VR provides a real-time feel and AR gives real-time action and properties to the virtual world. AI provides the overall feel and action to the virtual space. All these components help to create the avatars of ourselves where we can represent a virtual version of ourselves and give the actions, and movements and create the animations to the virtual world. Entire digital space is used with the hardware consisting of a camera, and motion-tracking controllers to control the motion of the objects.

Metaverse helps to get connected with the parallels alive in the real world via the virtual world. Office setup through metaverse will help to work and communicate with employees where it is most useful in work from home environment. Metaverse helps most of the people who play games online. Multiplayer games and deeply immersive games make use of the virtual platform to provide a real-time gaming environment. Minecraft, Secondlife and Fortnite are some of the gaming platforms working to provide the metaverse experience to their users.  This also helps to socially connect with people without any language barrier, whereas the AI bots like Alexa and Siri help to make the conversation convenient. It helps to communicate with various language speakers immediately by translating the language and eliminating the language barrier. This will also play a major role in the entertainment industry by providing a real-world feel to internet users. In the future, we can sit together with our favourite celebrities and can feel the space around them virtually. Also, virtual music and dance concerts are possible with metaverse where everyone can participate from home. Digital currency used in metaverse will help to buy clothes and gadgets for gaming such as guards and shields to be used for games. The metaverse also allows you to try on dresses without having to put them on. It adjusts the dress to the user’s avatar and displays how it appears on us.

Despite the advantages of the metaverse, there are also risks and issues associated with this technology. As everything moves to the internet, there may be a disconnect between reality and perception. It may create hallucinations and some other psychological threats to people who frequently use it. It may also cause us to become engrossed in the virtual world and, on occasion, fall into the wrong hands online.

As a result, it is entirely in our control to utilize technology responsibly and not become addicted to it. Let’s cross our fingers that the metaverse becomes the pinnacle of human creativity, transforming the world into a better place to live.

AI & Data Analytics

Nethika Alagarathnam | Undergraduate | Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Today, we are in the midst of the digital age’s boom, with nearly every person gaining access to large amounts of processing strength and statistics. In recent times, information is the maximum valuable commodity. We can now bring in and analyse massive amounts of data that were previously impossible to execute. Artificial intelligence is an idea that has been around us for a long time. The generation has been here for a long term, however, what has stepped forward in recent times is the power of computing, cloud-based service picks, and the software of AI to our roles as marketers.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

John McCarthy, a Stanford computer science professor emeritus and the man who originated the phrase “artificial intelligence” and went on to define the subject for more than five decades. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a type of technology that attempts to imitate the human mind in areas such as analysis and learning. AI is programmed to form conclusions based on facts, comprehend ideas, learn on its own, and even communicate with humans. In a broader sense, AI is a technology that enables many processes to run more autonomously and automatically. It is a very successful technology that strives to construct systems that gather data, analyse it, forecast consequences, and eventually improve human life by implementing human-like intelligence in robots. AI refers to a collection of algorithms that use data to make judgments and complete tasks in the same way that people do.

What is Data Analytics?

Data analytics is a term that describes technology which analyses information and develops patterns from it. But, depending on the era, the characteristic might also differ. Advanced analytics, for example, may examine data to explain what is going on, but predictive analytics can forecast what will occur based on present events. It’s all about data; in the last few years, more data has been produced than in the whole history of the human species. Most electronic datasets were previously organized and fit into databases. But, owing to the linked world, our digital lives are generating even more big data, and the majority of the data created is not in a structured format, such as photographs, videos, and voice data files. Here’s where the use of data analytics comes into play. To provide useful information, these massive amounts of data must be examined.

Is there any difference between Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics?

Yes, they do have a variety of differences. As data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities come to be extra broadly used and employed in numerous operational approaches inclusive of marketing and delivery, it is vital to understand the variations between the two and what function they may perform in daily operations. It is also vital to recognize the differences between them.

Artificial Intelligence Data Analytics
AI is a part of computer science that focuses on developing intelligent machines that can be trained to think and act like humans.
On the other side, data analytics refers to the methodologies for analyzing raw data in order to gain important ideas from it.
AI is concerned with data analysis, assuming things, and attempting to make guesses which are surpassing human abilities.
Whereas data analytics is concerned with identifying patterns in previous data in order to forecast future occurrences.

Cleaning facts — an important level inside the analytical manner – is also made less difficult by the usage of AI in statistics analytics. Because AI is a part of the analytics atmosphere, it’s necessary to renowned that AI and analytics are not the same matter. If organizations need to get a bonus over their competition, they ought to recognize the difference and be prepared to embody technology.

Summary of Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics are the competencies to investigate and soak up big volumes of facts from an expansion of assets, in addition to apprehending patterns and forecast destiny developments. Predictive analytics facilitates businesses and industries to make production, advertising, and development alternatives. In a word, artificial intelligence (AI) is fixed technology designed to extract meaningful insights from large datasets and make educated judgments primarily based on those facts. For this, AI calls for first-rate information, and without extremely good information analytics equipment, AI can be unable to assess information and make predictions, and so could be unable to deliver beneficial insights. As a result, facts analytics and AI are inextricably related and knowing the differences between the two boils right down to choosing the perfect equipment for the activity.

Magician of the present technical era (Nanotechnology)

Thushini Abeysuriya | Undergraduate | Informatics Institute of Technology

The arrival of Nano Technology might sound like kind of a blast of all the difficulties and the blooming trumpet of every new technology. The real meaning of the word nano is derived from a Greek word that means dwarf. Therefore scientists use this prefix to expose 10-9. The nanoparticle is larger than atoms but much smaller to grasp from the naked human eye. The nanoparticle has specific characteristic features such as color, surface area, and catalytic activity.

“Nano Technology is an idea that most people simply didn’t believe”- Ralph Merkle

 Nano concept was firstly mentioned by  Prof.R.Feynman in 1959. This lecture is called “There is a lot of space down there”, Nowadays, this lecture is known as the origin of the nanotechnological era.

“Nano Technology” was introduced into the scientific world by N.Taniguchi at the international conference on industrial production in Tokyo in 1974.

E.Dexler developed the basic concepts of Feynman in his book ” Vehicles of creation: the arrival of the nanotechnology era” which was published in 1986.

Afterward, there was a considerable intensification of nanotechnological research and designs as well as publications increased sharply, A huge number of organizations were established, and many more countries were also involved in the process. Some of the research results could prove that along before the start of the present “nano era”,

For thousands of years, people knew about natural fabrics such as flax, cotton, wool, silk, etc. The nanoporous structure of natural fabrics possesses high utilitarian properties such as absorbing sweat well, quickly swelling and drying,

A research result of ancient Egypt which was conducted by Ph. Walter about a black dyed hair sample shows that ancient Egyptians used a dye that was made out of lime, lead oxide, and a small amount of water. Therefore it seems that they had used nanoparticles of gelatine(lead sulfide) without knowledge.

Some of the remarkable daily life applications are Batteries,fuel cells,solar cells,Memory,semi conducto devices,chips,sensors,functioning of cell,study of genes,pharmacy,fabric,garment

finishing, colour, fluids, polymers, particles, displays, lithography, photonics, forensics, punch machines etc.

Nanotechnology had made a new revolution and it has been the leading technology for the present crisis, Genetically modified (GM) foods are the best solution to overcome world hunger, gene therapy for hemophilia and Huntington’s disease, etc.

The recent discovery of “Nanobubble water” allows both freshwater fish and saltwater fish to live in the same water.

A Nanosensor probe called ORNL is another recent design through nanotechnology, it consists of a nanoneedle, Once it is withdrawn from the cell the ORNL nanosensor detects the signs of early DNA damage that can lead to cancer. Recently, a New biomaterial was designed for repairing damaged human tissue which doesn’t wrinkle when it is stretched. There is ongoing research that is hoping future tissue patches which have one or multiple layers, which are used to repair damaged heart walls, blood vessels, and skin. We can identify Thermopower waves which can cause powerful waves of energy to shoot through minuscule wires known as carbon nanotubes. It could lead to a new way of producing electricity.

This progress under this magical miracle is being made continuously and it’s not reversible.