Google Glass Computer Vision and Market Research

Steve Jobs Movie and the lost art of Innovation

I just watched the Steve Jobs movie starring the guy who replaced Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men. Well I watched about 20 minutes of it - the performances were wooden (at best).

However there were a couple of things that did interest me.

• The scene where Wozniak tries to talk up his first computer - a bunch of circuit boards - with a TV tube
• The second where their first investor - invests out of gut - but has no idea - of the implications of the technology.

What interested me - was just how raw the innovation was - there was a sense of potential - but no actual idea - of how this potential would manifest.

In a way - it was a type of disruptive innovation we have not seen for a long time (relative) in the Tech Space.

In the  2010's... people bandy around the word - disruption - all the time - but in some ways things are processing so painfully - and logically.

• Take "Big Data" - the internet revolution - means that all sorts of devices are leaving digital trails - big data is about analyzing that shit
• "Quantified Self" and biometrics- connecting human physiology up to the net...
• Google Glass - take the net - and turn it into a HUD

Nothing about any of these - is intellectually challenging - they are all obvious extensions of existing technology - it is the "Internet Revolution". The industrial revolution - began in England about 1700 - and lasted to about 1900. 

The internet age - 1990 - current - perhaps it has another 100 years to run!

It makes you wonder - what the next revolution could be and what its enablers will be.

• Fission Energy (free energy from sea water - like in the SciFi movie Oblivion)
• Human controlled Genetic Modification - we live 10 times as long and are 10 times as smart

However - wouldn't it be amazing - to be in the vicinity of the next 'age'!.

There is a latent consumer appetite for wearables

Short post.

I believe that there is a large consumer appetite for wearable's.

However - the whole sector is in discovery right now.

Old timers such as Nike Plus - are still doing well - but the whole Quantified Self - pedometer in a glossy case - stuff is boring.

More interesting is the success of the Pebble Watch - also of interest is the http://www.ringclock.net/ a ring and a clock in one.

I that Apple's elves - are busy working on wearable's right now - however - they are being cautious - they don't want to launch a fair ground curiosity - they want to launch a game changer.

My experience with Google Glass - are the use cases about Health?

We'll I finally got to test out Google Glass.

In a way it is a hero product - as it is very geeky - and it goes for it - without worrying about silly things like privacy implications.

The experience - it reminded me of one of those old fashioned slide projectors - but the screen being in the top right hand corned of your eye. Actually for such a tiny screen - it is very clear - and the writing (a tasteful font - similar to that IOS update) easy to read.

I took a photo - it was all really easy.

People are seeing that some of the best use cases - could involve Doctor's, nurses, GP's etc... For example:

• Bringing up patient records;
• Getting procedural advice;
• Being able to instantly upload image data - a wound etc... to a specialist etc....

Police:

• Effectively a more military grade HUD - says maps - alerts in a riot situation.

However for both examples - Glass has a relatively short battery life (3 hours etc...) so perhaps work needs to be done.

The guy who owned the Glass - said he would wear it out  - and yes - people (like me) would stop him all the time!

Changing tack from Steven Jobs's Four Year Plan

I have heard a few times that part of Steve Jobs legacy - is a four year product plan for Apple.

http://gizmodo.com/5848275/did-steve-jobs-leave-a-special-four-year-plan-for-apple

No one is  sure of its existence - however this Gizmodo article indicates it is likely - as four years plans are a standard corporate practice (so let's not be mysterious about this!).

It's hard to imagine Jobs focusing on such a plan - during the final passage of his life. However, being such a passionate person, you can imagine him pen to paper - much like Mozart was in his final days.

So what if his plan is wrong or what if the plan needs adjusting?

Goodness knows - Apple is currently investing a huge amount in Research and Development - and to be sure - there will be teams working on projects- that aren't just upgrades of the iPhone and iPad.

However one area where Apple has disappointed is services -like SIRI. SIRI started with such promise - but   is now a poor second to Google Now. The whole - intuitive assistant idea - ended up "owned" by Google's superior machine learning, gargantuan repository of information (the entire web) plus its unsurpassed data on digital interaction (profile + clickstream).

There are reports that Apple is beefing up SIRI (aqui-hiring) etc.. but will they be able to compete? - without access to a comparable data repository and analytics systems (a deal with Microsoft? or Yahoo!). Certainly small start-ups will struggle to fill this void.

A lot of the "brains" behind SIRI is Wolfram's Mathematica platform - so perhaps something is  being worked on? perhaps Mathematica is an acquisition target -  or more likely a joint venture?

Maps is the other focus - but Google bought WAZE - so are way ahead.

But there mobile ecosystems that are failing - possibly leaving a gap - notably - the digital wallet - and NFC payments (Apple doesn't support NFC - much like they didn't FLASH) . A cross between highly accurate location data (and low powered) + bio-metric authentication - a payment play?

It will be interesting - the iWatch could be a good source of bio info - did you know your heart beat - has a clear signature for instance? Combined with decent fingerprinting - it could provide two phase authentication.

The most aggressive of Apple's competitors is Samsung - who has a strategy of developing products to fill the "Apple rumor space".

Like Apple - Samsung also does not have in-house machine learning smarts - relying on external companies - such as Nuance (for voice).

In a way victory - could come to the company - who masters user data and machine learning fastest - the one who can truly make a "smart phone".

Who knows - but I interested to see how Tim Cook's reign pans out. He seems tough and strong to me - and I am hoping he is privy to some amazing innovations - that will hit the market - fully formed - when the time is right!

And let's be humble - it might be a fruit machine game (or candy) - that ends up dominating the world!

Welcome to the "Machine Learning"

Man used to fear the dark - because thousands of years ago - this was when animals much larger than us would hunt.

We have all sorts of phobia's - but the one that interests me is fear of computers - Cyberphobia.

Science fiction has long predicted - that computers will become our equals if not our superiors.

Computers are taking middle class jobs and often the jobs that graduates would take. In Spain unemployment is 56% for youth under the age of 26.
http://www.businessinsider.com/benja-serra-bosch-spains-unemployment-icon-2013-10

Lots of these starter jobs have currently been moved to India or the Philippines (where it is cheaper to outsource) in stead of computers. However this type of work is heavily scripted - i.e.  perfect for computers and India and Philippines will also be stripped this type of work. If these countries are clever - that will use the current outsourcing environment - to up skill their youth - while they still can.

There are plenty of articles on this phenomena.
http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/515926/how-technology-is-destroying-jobs/

The free market - as it exists - is slowly but surely boiling down to a handful of people at the top making all the money - and the rest of us - will only be required if a machine cannot replicate our function. The free market therefore desires machines that replace as many people as possible - and are faster than their competitors computers.

Currently machines using their computational powers - for our benefit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22380611

The area of AI, Machine Learning, Computer Vision (all areas that Robotics focus on) are still in their infancy (yes Deep Blue beat Kasparov)  -but people in the AI field generally blog about how this tech has never gone anywhere.

However, in my opinion, the reason for this if that they try and program a computer - to be a computer.

However, using different machine learning techniques, computers are beginning to think (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y43qwS8fl4). It's dam primitive - however - this is where it all starts.

We are successful as our brains are able to make multiple predictive assumptions - about what we see and hear and remember. We are amazing - at recognizing and assessing/scoring patterns. This ability - has allowed our species to dominate the planet. We recognize the patterns - that mean we are under threat - we recognize patterns that indicate opportunity.

However, at some point computers will be able to do this. Not now..... as the computing power required to access trillions of patterns and make sense of them - does not exist.

However, in a way, it may not be that hard as we think.

Take a look at the complex and bewildering patterns produced by simple fractal equations (Stephen Wolfram - has dabbled with the idea - that the entire universe was created by a simple pattern http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_wolfram_computing_a_theory_of_everything.html).

Computers will one day be able to see and understand patterns well beyond the human brain can process. Hopefully computers - will pass these insights back to us - to make all our lives better. In the short term - this is unlikely. Such insight - will be used by Governments and Countries - for their advantage.


Think the infamous PRISM....

Its naive to think this network is just about spying on terrorists! It is also extracting business insight - for US corporations - it is protecting both the USA's security - it is also protecting the countries business interests. Security and economy is always tied together!

At some point - computers like us will be able to reason/make decisions/and seek betterment for their existence. This is currently the realm of science fiction - but science fiction that was written a long time ago now. A lot of the enablers are appearing now... and funnily enough - a lot of them... right now... are just trying to get you to click on an ad!