Jennifer Maria

It’s so sad to be saying goodbye to this mostly weekly blogging I have been doing all semester for my trendspotting class at Syracuse University. This class has served as a way for me to really stay on top of what’s happening with current technology and what’s in the works.

One of the most important lessons I learned from this class was to always be thinking about how new technology could be used in my future field of work (broadcast journalism). One thing that’s going to make a station or even myself stand out is if I’m willing to push my organization to try and incorporate some of the newest technology into our field. 

Another important lesson I learned is that it’s usually really techie guys who create the new gadgets, but they don’t necessarily think of creative ways to use the technology. People in the media need to help inform these people on what they can create that will be useful to many instead of going through a bunch of trial periods to iron out the wrinkles.

...who’s going to win this battle and what is the future of wearables?

According to The Next Web inside report, iOS releases will get better with age and speed, because consumers want something that works quickly and is quality. The article says this is going to happen because Apple is already pushing the Apple Watch customers to use its newest software to run it. Also, the switch from iOS 8.2 to iOs 8.3 had a significant lower amount of crashes during the update. Android matches this success in creating a stable OS. This push is making people adopt newer devices because they are starting to realize that devices are more compatible with the newest software and technology.

For my last two blog posts of the semester, I thought I would write one about when we started seeing wearable technology and one about where we should see it soon in the future.

So where did wearable technology start at? One Techcrunch article tells us that wearable devices started out as portable that hung around our necks, like cameras, FM radios and the infamous Walkman. Eventually we saw the first mp3 players and other more complex devices that we could carry with us. Things were continually getting smaller and cheaper, much how technology is created today.

In my trendspotting class at Syracuse University, we always touch on the topic of how when technology is new, it costs a lot more because it is in its developing stages. Very often new technology remains in a commercial introduction / operational use, and it can take a lot of time for people to adopt it. When it is in this stage it costs the most, sometimes thousands of dollars before being released. Once it reaches a widespread adoption phase, it eventually gets cheaper and easier to make because more people are buying it. It’s the same wave of technology that we see time and time again.

Pretty soon...virtual assistants are going to replace using touch screens. A recent article from Business Insider says that Cheyer’s new company, Viv, is working on an assistant that can tell you what wine to have with a Italian dinner, where a liquor store is that has it and make sure it’s a place that’s on the way home from work. Viv is working on putting together what would usually be four searches into one. Facebook is also working on a similar idea with its M service.

In my trendspotting digital media class at Syracuse University, we learned about what’s called the Kondratieff wave (what we refer to as the “K” wave). It helps us to forecast cycles of the economy, but we looked at it as a way to determine what stage technology is in and headed to. Right now, this “personal assistant” technology is in its operating prototype stage, or more simply “early spring.” 

The new smart home of the future, but this is only the beginning. A recent Wareable article says that in our homes, a lot of small wearable devices will be able to control how we function. From your bed to your kitchen, your appliances will be able to tell you if you are sleeping right and if you are sticking to your fitness goals to eat right.

A lot of problems today with these technologies are that they don’t accurately keep track of everything you are doing. They’re kind of clunky. This article basically says that the new smart microwave will be able to measure your food and tell you exactly what you should be eating in the first place. Your fitness devices will be able to tell it what your calorie intake should be and it will help you plan out your eating schedule. 

In our reading for this week for my trendspotting class at Newhouse, I learned that the continuity of pattern is just one of four types of continuity that can be used when generating foresight for the future. Patterns are one of the reasons why many changes conform or break away from the norm.

Universal remotes for TVs have always been a great idea for watching with because you don’t have to worry about where you put the remote when you want to change the channel. The remotes of today, especially one called Neeo actually comes with a remote and a “brain.” The “brain” or hub makes it possible to connect anything from Wi-Fi to Bluetooth or other devices like Apple TV and Roku. In addition to this, the remote makes it possible to turn the lights off, lock your doors and to adjust the house’s thermostat. You don’t have to necessarily use the physical remote, instead you can use the smartphone / tablet app. The hub supports up to 10 remotes.

Well, the foldable smartphone isn’t going to make it into the market this year according to a new Digital Trends article. But wait, a smartphone that can fold in half? This combines the idea of a smartphone and a tablet into one device. I sometimes find myself wishing that my phone screen was a little bit bigger to see something more easily. This would take all of the guesswork out of the smaller device and allow for a bigger screen.

Okay...so take everything you know about wearable technology and turn it into a drone. That, my friends, is what they call Nixie. It’s not anything new at this point, but until my last class I had never heard anything about it.

This wearable drone puts together a lot of the ideas I have already looked into for my blog, and a lot of the ideas we have discussed in my Trendspotting class at Newhouse. As a combination of increasing mobility and technological progress, Nixie will be the next, easiest drone for everyone to use. There have been many predictions that the sales of drones for Christmas will explode this year. 

Within the next 5 years, I can see this technology being integrated with journalists out in the field. How nice would it be to get a video or pictures from a distance of the overall scene? Sometimes the helicopter shot is too high and far away to have a good idea of what something looks like. This would offer a whole new perspective on almost anything that could turn into a bunch more ideas in the future.

It’s a remote...that’s doing it all. Once again, a trend that we discuss in my trendspotting class at Newhouse. Consolidation of technology into one device is just one of the ways that we like the media to come to us.

According to a post on Wired, Savant is leading the industry in selling installations for houses that allow homeowners to control anything from the lights to the blinds in the house. Now, their new Savant Host hub makes it possible for each family member to have their own accounts on the remote and it remembers what they like / don’t like. The interface allows for access to network and cable shows, Sonos, Roku, Apple TV, game consoles and the lamps in the room!

1. “Broadcasting isn’t the same as connecting.” 

2. “Broadcasting can create awareness.” 

3. “But connecting people can create engagement and change.”

The three of these are in a Washington Post article I found today. What’s crazy...is they’re true. Broadcasting is a platform that pushes content, but anymore people want to choose their content. That’s pretty evident through social media and sites like Netflix. People choose what they want to see / read. Long gone are the days where we can tell them what they must read.

In a Forbes Magazine article I recently found, it talks about how the Web of Things is the future of communication. Basically, everything will be able to communicate with each other, like our houses, cars or objects on the street, seamlessly. 

We’re not that far away from having something like this. Already with apps like Snapchat, you can take a picture of someone’s Snapchat logo and you instantly can become friends on the app. Perhaps it will only be a few more years before the technology will do this without us needing to intercede. The article calls this Near Field Communication, the two-way interaction of devices that are nearby.

Additionally, the article mentions that devices will be able to harvest energy (power) from the environment around them. This is not the first time I have seen this idea. 

In my trendspotting class at Newhouse, our most recent reading was about creating scenarios to see if either of these are probable things for the future. Right now both of these are in the works. If the two-way communication was to work properly, we would need to have something attached to a part of our brains that allows for the interaction to occur without us mentally focusing on it. I really don’t think there would be any other way for this to appear “seamless.” A consequence would be that people may be able to access our heads and it could be an invasion of privacy. Creators would have to think of a way to make sure others can’t get too deep in our heads.

In an article I read from Andrew Hooge, an entrepreneur who has a few startups, he talks about how right now wearables have the ability to simply blink and take a photo. Additionally, he talks about how right now it is such a hassle when we forget our passwords. Personally, I have an app on my phone that has one password to access it, and once you’re in all of your passwords are saved in it. He takes it one step forward and believes based on current heart rate monitors, it will be possible for authentication to enter sites or your devices based on your own personal heartbeat. This would completely replace the need to remember passwords in the future!

Technology is one of the 6 DEGEST trends that we discuss at my class at Newhouse. The trend says that while technology can raise living standards, we often overlook the downside of it. In this scenario, using your heart beat is giving away vital personal information. Let’s say you have an abnormal heart rhythm, would it be easier for insurance companies to have access to this data and not want to provide you a certain rate because they already know about this problem in advance? Sometimes these privacy issues get overlooked before the technology is diffused in society.

In a recent article from journalism.co.uk, writer Catalina Albeanu explains that there are four possible outcomes for the future of journalism by 2025: wisdom of the crowd, a handful of apples, the Shire and Darwin’s game. Wisdom of the crowd is simply everyday people will make news stories on their own, they wouldn’t have gone to school for journalism. The handful of apples is highly personalized news that individuals can get when they want it. The Shire is simply that everything becomes localized and there is a distrust in public institutions. Finally Darwin’s game is when people allow big companies to pave the way because they are not adapting all of the emerging technology.

All of these predictions follow trends that we have seen in the past, but I think some are more likely than others. In my trendspotting class at Newhouse, we discuss how trends bridge the past and the future, and by spotting them, that’s how we can predict things that will happen way down the road and not in the immediate future. Although people have the technology to do their own journalism, I do not believe this will ever be the case because journalists a lot of training that helps them tell stories properly. I highly doubt this will ever become common knowledge or we would all be out of jobs. I do, however, believe that there is a good chance we will get better quality viewer footage of events as the technology progresses. Darwin’s game is the other prediction that I do not agree with. People have been slow at adopting technology, but technology is so much a part of our lives anymore that it is probably more likely people would be willing to get it. 

I do, however, agree with the handful of apples and the Shire. Local news is big anymore. Not that national stories are not important, but viewers are a bit more disconnected with them because they aren’t happening near them. Localization is a huge topic that they teach us at Newhouse. We get quizzed a lot on things that are happening locally because those are the kinds of stories non-network journalists tell. Also, the Shire is already happening. Many news organizations are adopting ways to stream broadcasts live or to have them saved if you missed them, and you can catch up at your leisure. Also,  push notifications allow for the general public to know what’s happening with the news that they already care about.

According to PwC, they see the trend of wearables to model very similarly to the acceptance of tablets. They say that tablet acceptance sat at 20% after two years, but increased to 44% two years later.  They see wearables allowing for three factors: safety, healthy living and medical care access and simplicity. Manufacturers are already using smart glasses for “hands free productivity,” sports teams are using the technology to measure body movements and advertisers want to jump on this technology to make ads even more well-targeted at their audiences. 

Do you want to know what’s funny about this? We have talked about this at my class at Newhouse. Two of these emerging factors in the wearable technology field are two of the six supertrends that affect media. “Improving Health” is one of these points. These technologies may be actually helping people to live longer because they remind us to work out and to keep us within our physical limits.  

“Technological Progress” is the other supertrend this PwC information touches upon. The point of this supertrend is that it is now easier than ever to communicate messages across the world than ever before. Simplicity and ease of using technology are all that people want.

These four platforms are where many journalists are broadcasting live events right from their phones. According to Poynter, Periscope is probably the most friendly because users can make their broadcasts live for the next 24 hours so people can continue to watch if the happened to miss it when it was live. I just started to notice that one of my favorite TV stations, WTAE in Pittsburgh, has started to really incorporate it into their brand. The anchors use it to help narrate their personal lives, to make them appear more accessible and like they are real people, not just talking heads who deliver the news each day. 

Even on Poynter they point out that it is great for going behind the scene at the news. Viewers get a chance to see what it is like to be there when they record. Their takeaway message from this article is to play around with these technologies and see where they take us.

I really like this graphic from Delta 2020 that is a very believable depiction of what wearable technology can look like in the next 5 years. Basically, from the clothing to the gadgets, it is all going to work together to power our future technology. The shirt and pants use energy created by the person to power everything on his body. This way there’s no more worrying about what happens if my phone dies. 

That’s right. According to Gartner, we won’t be able to see 30% of wearable technology by 2017. That’s a little scary, I must say. I thought for sure this would take at least five years, but I guess we are doing better than I expected with this technology. It’s kind of crazy to think that they are already making the contact lenses that do this. I actually mentioned this in a previous post, and part of my prediction was that we won’t even need that after a while because all we will have to do is insert a chip behind an ear that connects directly to the brain. Gartner also says that by 2018 the idea of virtual reality will literally explode. Over 25 million head-mounted displays will be sold! THAT IS CRAZY, but that’s also the point of this class I am taking at Newhouse.