Emerging Technologies

APPLICATION OF INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGIES (ICT)
Impact of Emerging Technologies
Some of the latest technologies are:
◦ Artificial Intelligence (AI)
◦ Vision Enhancement
◦ Robotics
◦ Quantum Cryptography
◦ Computer – Assisted Translation (CAT)
◦ 3 – D and Holographic Imaging
◦ Virtual Reality
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Biometric
A known problem with biometric technology is that many Fingerprint Identification System
falsely reject a person’s fingerprint – when the scanned fingerprint are checked against the
database no matches are found.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) biometric overcomes this problem using dynamic profiling – the
system learns by using AI about a person’s fingerprint on every scan.
System will learn how to detect fingerprints
(entered in database) with different alignments.
Cont..
Facial Recognition Systems have the same problem. System should easily detect human, if he
has grownup facial hairs, wear glasses or get aged.
Computerized facial-recognition systems are confused by such soft biometric changes.
New systems use AI to learn from scanning a number of faces and can pick out these soft
biometric features. This means the system can still recognize faces and cross-reference these
attributes with corresponding images stored on the database.
Other AI biometric technologies are being developed,
so these security systems become increasingly more reliable.
Vision Enhancement
Vision enhancement is a field of technology which is able to restore, vision, one of our five
senses, to those who have lost it. The ultimate goal of vision enhancement is to be able to
provide blind people with images of their surroundings.
Low-vision Enhancement System (LVES) uses video technology through a headset connected to
a computer.
The system allows images to be projected inside the headset in front of the eyes.
This effectively brings the object closer for examination by the user of the system.
Cont…
Night Vision Enhancement (NVE) amplifies infrared light and visible light so that an image can
still be seen in apparent darkness.
For example, the military use this technology to carry out surveillance at night.
The dim light source is captured and passed through an images intensifier tube, which converts
the light into electrons.
These electrons pass through another tube where they are amplified to produce several times
the original number of electrons.
A screen at the end of the tube is coated in phosphor dots that glow when electrons collide
with them – this results in an image that is considerably clearer than the original.
Robotics
Robotics has been around for many years, mostly
in the manufacturing industry.
They are used in car factories to weld car bodies,
spray body panels and fit items such as
windscreens.
No human intervention is required.
However, there are areas outside manufacturing
where robotics is evolving rapidly, and we could
see robots appearing in many areas of our lives in
a relatively short space of time.
Cont…
One application is the use of drones.
These are unnamed flying devices that are used by both the military and civilians.
The military have used drones on reconnaissance missions for a number of years.
Civilians uses include surveying the landscape in 3 – D for use with GPS, investigating weather
phenomena, or search and rescue / fire fighting in natural disasters.
All of these are currently under evaluation and many more applications could evolve over the
coming years.
Cout…
Another application is the use of robots in surgical
procedures.
Robotic surgery allows surgeons to perform
complex procedures with more precision, flexibility
and control than standard surgical techniques.
With this technique, surgeons use robotics
equipped with a camera arm and several
interactive mechanical arms these have joints that
work like a human’s wrist.
Quantum Cryptography
• Cryptography is the science of making a message unintelligible to any
unauthorized user (a hacker). This technique is often referred to as
encryption.
• There are many methods of cryptography in existence but all of them have a
limited life as computers become faster and faster at number crunching.
• A consequences of this is that, over the next few years, a hacker is increasingly
likely to decipher encrypted message unless computer designers can further
strengthen security systems.
Cont…
◦ Quantum cryptograph is based on the use of photons (light) and their physical
quantum properties to produce a virtually unbreakable cryptography system.
◦ This helps protect the security of data being transmitted over fiber-optic
cables.
◦ The technology relies on the fact that photons oscillate in various directions
and produce a sequence of random bits (0s and 1s) across the optical
network.
◦ It is based on the laws of physics rather than mathematics (which is how
current cryptography methods work).
Computer - Assisted Translation (CAT)
CAT is a type of language translator that uses specific software to help in the translation
process.
In particular, CAT uses two tools:
◦ Terminology databases – linguistics databases that grow and ‘learn’ from translations being carried out
◦ Translation memories – these automatically insert known translations for certain words, phrases or
sentences.
All CAT software needs some post-editing by the user to remove errors from the translation process.
While not perfect, they are certainly more accurate than existing free online translators.
3 – D and Holographic Imaging
Holography is a technology that allows 3 – D images (known as holograms) to be produced.
The technology involves the use of:
◦ A source of laser light
◦ Interference of light
◦ Light diffraction, and
◦ Light intensity recording

Formation of Hologram
Cont…
◦ Formation of Hologram: As a holographic image is rotated, it appears to move
in the same way as the original object, thus appearing to be in three
dimensions (3 – D).
◦ The hologram is produced by first splitting a laser beam. Half of the light
(know as object beam) is reflected off the object on to a photographic plate.
◦ The other half of the light (know as reference beam) is reflected off a mirror
and on to the same photographic plate.
◦ The holographic image is produced where the two light beams meet on the
photographic plate.
Cont…
Hologram have the following applications:
◦ Engineering design (CAD)
◦ Architecture (ability to rotate design through 360 degrees)
◦ Simulation
◦ Medical imaging (see inside the organ using 3- D – links into tomography, which is the same technology behind
3 – D printers)
◦ Cinema (special effects)
◦ Gaming (special effects)
◦ Advertising
◦ Holographic television (expected by around 2025, these should give a full 3 – D experience without the need
for special glasses)
◦ Holographic Computer Memories (a new type of optical storage – a crystal the size of a sugar cube can hold
upto 1TB of data)
◦ Opticla Computers (these will operate at speeds that are trillions of times faster than-current technology
computers)
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is an artificial environment created by software. The user makes use of data
goggles, sensor units, data gloves or helmets to get a feeling of reality (that is, the feeling of
being there;’).
The technology is used in
◦ training (e.g., in a nuclear reactor where the user can see all the walls, pipes vessels and valves as if
they were inside the reactor, so that they can be trained safely to deal with certain events),
◦ education (e.g., to explore the inside of a building such as a castle in a history lesson)
◦ or in games (where the user can interact as if they were there, such as a driving simulator where the
road ahead is output on to visor in a helmet strapped to the
user’s head).
Cont…
Virtual Reality is used in all of the following areas:
◦ Military applications (training to use a tank)
◦ Education (looking into a part of history lesson)
◦ Healthcare (as a diagnostic tool)
◦ Entertainment (games where gloves or helmets are worn to give realism to the scenario and even to give
images or sound to make it seem real)
◦ Fashion ( fashion show before doing the real thing to see the clothes on people, check out the venue and so on)
◦ Heritage (showing monuments such a Stonehenge)
◦ Business (training courses and role-playing scenario for staff)
◦ Real estate (allowing people to ‘look around’ houses that are for sale)
◦ Engineering (seeing how new design will look)
◦ Sport (a golfer trying to improve their swing can use this technology and get feedback to improve their game)
◦ Media (special effects in films such a The Matrix)
◦ Scientific Visualization (looking at molecular structures in chemistry)