Resonance AI Blog

What Is The Difference Between Deep Learning, Machine Learning, and AI?

When Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo program defeated South Korean Master Lee Se-dol in the board game Go last year, the terms AI, machine learning, and deep learning were used in the media to describe how DeepMind won. And all three are part of the reason why AlphaGo trounced Lee Se-Dol. They are not quite the same thing but, the perception that they are, can sometimes lead to some confusion.

The easiest way to think of their relationship is to visualize them as a set of Russian dolls nested within each other, beginning with the smallest and working out. Thus, deep learning can be roughly thought as a subset of machine learning, which becomes a subset of AI.

Let’s walk through how computer scientists have moved from something of a bust — until 2012 — to a boom that has unleashed applications used by hundreds of millions of people every day.

Artificial Intelligence — Human Intelligence Exhibited by Machines

When we speak of artificial intelligence we refer to all those initiatives and efforts to create machines that behave intelligently. Back in the summer of ’56, a fair number of computer scientists dreamed of a complex machine — enabled by emerging computers — that possessed the same characteristics of human intelligence. This is the concept we think of as “General AI” where those fabulous machines have all our senses (maybe even more) and think just like we do.

As technology, and our understanding of how our minds work, has progressed, the concept of what constitutes AI has changed. Rather than increasingly complex calculations, work in the field of AI concentrated on mimicking human decision making processes and carrying out tasks in ever more human ways.

Nowadays, new terms like weak (or narrow) AI and strong AI entered the Artificial Intelligence arena. We will explore them in depth in the next articles but, these terms depict in short whether the system applies the intelligence in general or in very specific tasks. Machine Learning —  How to Achieve Artificial IntelligenceMachine Learning is a current application of AI based around the idea that we should really just give machines access to data and let them learn for themselves.The phrase "machine learning" dates back to the middle of the last century where Arthur Samuel in 1959 defined machine learning as "the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed." The emergence of the internet helped the software engineering to pursue this theory, rather than teaching computers and machines how to do everything. Thus, the internet becomes the source of all the information in the world at any time while machines use algorithms to parse data, learn from it, and then make a determination or prediction about something in the world.

Deep Learning — How to Implement Machine Learning

Deep Learning is a new area of Machine Learning research, which has been introduced with the objective of moving Machine Learning closer to Artificial Intelligence.

It relates to study of “deep neural networks” in the human brain and, under this perspective, the deep learning tries to emulate the functions of inner layers of the human brain, creating knowledge from multiple layers of information processing. Since the Deep Learning technology is modeled after the human brain, each time new data is poured in, its capabilities get better.

Under the deep learning paradigm, essentially the machine is “trained” using large amounts of data and algorithms to give it the ability to learn how to perform the task. This data is fed through neural networks which ask a series of binary true/false questions or numerical values, of every bit of data which pass through them, and classify it according to the answers received.

Today, image recognition by machines trained via deep learning, in some scenarios is better than humans, and that ranges from cats to identifying indicators for cancer in blood and tumors in MRI scans. Back to some lines ago, Google’s AlphaGo learned the game, and trained for its Go match —  it tuned its neural network —  by playing against itself over and over and over.

Deep Learning, Machine Learning and AI in Facts

In the reality, deep learning, machine learning, and AI are still far from being really intelligent; artificial neural networks still need a human being to make them start learning. Even more, they have discrete layers, connections, and directions of data propagation that set them apart from real brains.

During the past years however, artificial intelligence has moved fastly from science fiction to scientific facts. Google AI recognizes voices and images, Netflix and Amazon decide what you want to watch or buy next, The IBM supercomputer Watson is now predicting patient outcomes more accurately than physicians whereas, MIT researchers are trying to predict the future.

Did you like this article? Want to know more regarding the difference between AI, machine learning, and deep learning?

Stay tuned because we are going to explore soon the concepts, the techniques, and the experiments that big or small companies are running in front of our eyes. AI has a bright future for sure!

What Do Users Want

Let’s speak clear: no one exchanges personal data for flies. Your app needs to make actionable the data it gathers: they must drive clear, effective and understandable benefits.

Moreover, people raised their expectations regarding apps and connected products. Smartphones, wearable devices or smart thermostats, are almost everywhere. But now, people want them to interact with each other and with personal life; they want something that connects the dots to give them a holistic, complete experience, throughout their life journey. For this reason, they generally drop them after a short while. 

Last but not least, users are greedily looking for mass-customized experiences. Digital products should serve certain needs, at the very perfect moment, to suit that specific user. This is why we provide you with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence; these technologies ensure the perfect solution, at the right moment, for that very personal problem.

Resonance AI is designed to offer both personalized and holistic UXs while securing the actionability of the data gathered.

So, need some tips to start from? Just keep on reading.

Make The Car Resonate

We said you should always keep in mind that your users will download your app because it gives them some certain benefits. You can’t ignore it; the more evident the benefits are, the more download you will obtain.

Resonance AI enables you to leverage machine learning and AI to make the life on the wheels easier, safer and smoother with your app. The idea is to provide your users with an enhanced and connected experience, even if they don’t own a connected car.

Just think how often you showed up late at an important business meeting, because of unexpected heavy traffic on the regular itinerary; or remember the last time you eat a horrible meal because you didn’t know of good nearby restaurants during a business trip.

Sometimes travelling could be boring, and people need to see their lives and their personalities bridged to their needs while driving.

Jump here to obtain some hints. 

Make The Home Resonate

We spend a lot of time at the workplace. However, where is the most pleasant place in the world? Your spot, where you want to relax and ease your mind? Yes, you got it, your home!

How can you offer a better home experience? Resonance makes your users savvier, safer and more relaxed in many ways.

Connect life-contexts with smart thermostats or indoor illumination in order to make your users both save money, and feeling better at home; moreover, you can make the security system context-sensitive with personalized reactions (considering whether the user is around or not). Just put some smart automation here and there to create an enchanting home experience.

Here are some tips to start from.

Make The Workout Resonate

Getting in a perfect shape can be taught, but sometimes is only a matter of motivation. You just need to set the perfect conditions to succeed.

We must be sincere, the competition among Personal Trainer Apps becomes every day harder and harder. You need something that strongly differentiates your product among that jungle.

Let's start from the beginning: most of the apps don’t secure the continuity of being healthy and trained. Bad weather, work issues and our busy life, in general, feed our laziness and kill workout sessions. Hence, for regular people maintaining and achieving goals becomes very hard.

There is no secret recipe, no standard formulas, but those people want a helping hand to achieve a correct personal balance. Now you have the tools! Provide your user with “Best Days To Workout” notifications, based on personal training activities, or make the smartphone launch Spotify as soon as the user plugs the headphones in and starts running.

Now, you can make all this happen! Follow this link to collect your killing ideas.

This Is Just The Beginning

We gave only some good practices, concrete examples, and use cases that can be implemented in any App thanks to Resonance AI dashboard. Let’s personalize these bits of advice and differentiate among the billions of apps out there!

Let the force of creativity run through your fingers, and discover how to empower your App with Resonance AI.

Enhance User Productivity

Imagine: you jumped in your car during a regular a working day. The sun is shining and the road in running under your wheels but, suddenly, you push the breaks of the car…. A huge traffic jam. In less than 30 seconds, you realize that the important meeting you scheduled, will delay... Dramatically. How can you prevent this bad scenario?

Let the power of resonance run through your fingers and code a traffic-jam notification to be displayed right before the time of the commute. With Resonance, it looks as follow: 10 minutes before the user is leaving home, during working days, DO check the traffic along the routine route. IF heavy traffic occurs, DO send an alternative itinerary. Easy, fast, effective!

Otherwise, can you recall the last time you eat a terrible meal? Probably you were driving (maybe it was a business trip) and you got right into the first restaurant you found. The stomach aches afterwards, made you totally regret that choice (maybe this is not your case but, trust us, it is rather common). Tell Resonance to stream good TripAdvisor suggestions of nearby restaurants while driving during lunchtime. Unwanted E&A trips after lunch avoided!

Offer A Bigger UX

Resonance AI secure an easier, safer and smoother life on the wheels. The idea is to make users feel like they really own a connected car while making the UX last longer than the driving.

Let’s bounce directly at the end of the day when you head to your car right after a long, heavy working day but… where the hell did you park it? Believe us or not, but lots of people don't have the necessary skills to locate their own vehicle a few hours after they left it, in a very specific location. Simply ask resonance to retrieve the last parking location and display it (through SMS or notification), before the user generally goes home. A car locator embedded in the smartphone in few lines of code.

Problem Forecasts

There is something that unites the cities worldwide: rainy days make the traffic crazier. Few people walk around, no one uses the bicycle, almost everyone opts for their car. As a result, no one can’t see a thing, and accidents are more frequent. There is a simple solution: “watch out for traffic” notifications, due to bad weather conditions. IF bad weather is forecasted for the day after, DO send a notification in advance. In this way, users will be aware that they should anticipate the commute.

Make Them Real

These were some examples to prove that life on wheels can be cooler and more responsive; just put some automation here and there that make people feel as if they own a connected car.

Once you created the scenarios, involve your friends and ask them the questions from this video. Test again and find new creative ways to help users! It looks like a very long process, but it’s a game changer that won’t make you waste time on useless codes.

Make People Save Money

Lots of people blow their money due to energy wastings. For instance, thermostats can’t adjust accordingly with weather conditions or people at home, indeed they work more or less on a static, manual base.

Simply make the temperature vary accordingly with weather conditions or family routines. Nevertheless, If you are brave enough, the thermostat could act differently whether the family is away for a trip.

Less money drained, more life gained. 

Make People Feel Safer

Imagine someone breaks into the house while you are travelling abroad. How to give a check? Change the game with smart alerts that act differently whether the user is nearby, or far away. So, IF someone breaks in (or IF there’s something wrong) AND no one’s home, DO alert the police. IF the user is nearby DO alert him, ELSE DO alert a dear too.

No one asks for the Universe, but rather for some easy and clever enhancements to personal lives.

People Want Pleasant Experiences

You may agree or not, but when people are at home, they only want to switch off their mind and chill out.

It is plenty of use cases. For instance, the Bluetooth speakers would start playing a certain playlist whenever the user gets home, and change it as soon as the partner commutes. Otherwise, the music could vary accordingly with time, weather or other conditions. For example, IF Morning during working days, DO play energetic music and so on. Hence, the house experience changes as the context does, following the family needs.

Nevertheless, lots of people own a Philips HUE. The bulb's color or intensity could vary appropriately with life contexts; weather, people at home and so on. It is a simple matter of problem-solving and... Fantasy.

Make Them Real

These were some examples to prove that the life at home can be more charming and responsive; just put some smart automation here and there to create an enchanting home experience.

Once you created the scenarios, involve your friends and ask them the questions from this video. Test again and find new creative ways to help users! It looks like a very long process, but it’s a game changer that won’t make you waste time on useless codes.

Make your App user-centered, and achieve the first requirement to rock the App stores! Make it easier with Resonance.

Yours Sincerely

Make Users Avoid Excuses

The first enemy of training is laziness. Getting in a perfect shape can be taught, but sometimes is only a matter of motivation.

So, bad weather kills personal motivation; people skip their training session, due to a single cloud in the sky, even if they train indoor. However, you could send a weekly notification with the “Best Days To Work Out”, simply by crossing weather conditions with workout routines (if there are any). Ask Resonance “When is going to rain next week?”, and customize it with personal routines by asking “How often does the user work out weekly?”. Thus, if the user works out twice, rather than three times per week, the program will be different.

Otherwise, you can just ask Resonance “When does the user train?” and make them avoid wet workouts.

Make Training Sessions More Pleasant

Being a healthy, trained person is a continuous state of being, but most of the apps can’t deal with this. There is no secret recipe, no standard formulas, but those people want to be guided in order to achieve a correct personal balance

For instance, you can remind users the workout days, and advise them to select the Spotify playlist they would like to play during the session. Afterwards, Spotify will play it as soon as he/she will start running while plugging in the headphones.

Simply ask Resonance “When the user is used to train” and detect when he/she starts running to make this magic happen.

Make Them Real

These were only some examples to improve motivation and training sessions; just put some smart automation here and there to make people feel they have the power to succeed.

Once you created the scenarios, involve your friends and ask them the questions from this video. Test again and find new creative ways to help users! It looks like a very long process, but it’s a game changer that won’t make you waste time on useless codes. 

Make It Life-Aware

Lots of irons in the fire here! Resonance AI is a platform that uses connected devices and services to create contextual predictions based on personal lives. 

The dashboard offers a full set of AIs (yes AIs, not mere APIs) to make user UXs disruptive. In fact, the App will learn user's most important places (home, work, gym, etc.), and will use them to predict what he/she is going to do.

Afterwards, you simply need to put some automations, here and there, that will make the App a kind of magic!

For instance, suppose it is a regular early morning. Resonance learned that this place is your home and that you’re about to go out to work with your car. How? Because it used the data from your devices to know where are your most important places (home, work, the gym, etc.), and which are your routines (how/when you commute, shop, go out for dinner, etc.).

Right now, you can start using the dashboard for free; you only need to register, create a new project by simply activating the modules to be involved in, and activate the rule engine to provide life-driven smart automation and suggestions.

The Artificial Intelligence In Your Pocket

Com’on! Each techie wants a personal Jarvis in the pocket. However, Iron man’s assistant sometimes is very long-winded, don’t you think? Thus, we preferred a silent, and proactive ninja that learns from users to enhance their life.

Once you decided the AI you want to involve, stretch the fingers and In few steps, you will create magic, mass-customized experiences, that will enchant users while pushing their engagement!

From best route suggestions before leaving home, to automatic heating programs based on personal routines, put that ninja at your user service and make your App a kind of magic. Everything will be only a matter of lines!

In the next days, we are going to give you some tips, and some hints to start building compelling use cases... So, check our blog ;)

Try It Out Before We Change Our Mind!

Still thinking whether Resonance might be really for you? Just test it! Let’s access the dashboard and start playing with Resonance… It’s free and you don’t have even to put your credit card!

Since this is a beta version, in return we ask you only to code marvellous things and to give us your feedback, in order to make Resonance better and better.

If you don’t want to have a real Artificial Intelligence in your pocket, don’t follow this link.

Not The Californian Sun, But Honest Slush

Held during the darkest time of the year in Helsinki, Finland, Slush is a student-driven, non-profit movement originally founded to change attitudes toward entrepreneurship, but it grows every year faster and faster. Thus, Slush has rapidly become the Europe's leading startup event and brings together the top actors of the global tech scene to Helsinki for something very special. Described by many as “Burning Man meets TED”, the event has grown in just a few short years to 15,000 attendees and 1 million live stream viewers. Close to 2,000 startups, 800 venture capitalists, and 700 journalists from over 100 countries come to Slush to drive business, and to experience the phenomenal atmosphere. Furthermore, in 2016, Slush is spreading to Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore.

Not The Conference You Were Looking For

Five stages full of program and up to 15,000 people to connect with. Founders, investors and the media take the stage to share their stories in fireside chats and keynotes. One stage is dedicated purely for pitching. The others are filled with tech experts sharing their stories and sparking a dialogue on the future. This year speakers include Daniel Ek, Founder of Spotify, Chris Sacca, Founder of Lowercase Capital, Arielle Zuckerberg, Partner at KPCB, Tracy Young, Co-Founder of PlanGrid and Steve Jurvetson, Partner at DFJ, to name a few. Take a look at the agenda if you want to know the full program

Last but not least, the Slush venue has always stood apart from other conferences. From 2011 onward, the Slush has been designed around specific concepts. Last year, for instance, Slush was built with thousands of kilogrammes of electrical and electronic equipment waste and other recycled materials. With props built from washing machines, old computer parts and circuit boards to name a few, the venue told the story of the industrial revolutions, ranging from the lumber industry to the digital revolution.

Meet Resonance AI and Our Team

Last year the Slush has been really exciting for Atooma because our CEO Fabrizio Cialdea pitched among the best 100 disrupting startups worldwide. But, this year we are still proud of being selected by the ICE - Italian Trade Commission selected us to represent Italy during the event. Thus, we are going to have a dedicated booth where you can meet Francesca Lucchi (Growth Hacking Specialist at Atooma) and our latest creation Resonance AI, the white label SDK that uses the IoT (Internet of Things) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to forecast personal problems and provide tailor-made solutions.

Resonance learns and analyzes personal lives from multiple sources. That information is used to predict user problems and provide instantly tailor-made solutions.

In this way, our customers can:

Easily shape their connected products around the final user;

Create value around their devices with a holistic experience;

Transform them into must-to-have products effective in dailies.

The future of connected devices lies in extended meaningful user experiences, and Resonance has the key to achieving it in a very smart way. Let’s grab your tickets and follow this link to get in touch with Francesca, if you wanna know more about Resonance AI and its disrupting capabilities!

Let’s meet at the Slush!

The Internet Of Things - Who Cares?

We won’t name respondents in order to preserve their privacy, by the way, the interview involved people working in several industrial fields in order to highlight better the current panorama:

Insurance

Fintech

Wearable Technologies

Telco & Handset

Most of the respondents occupy managerial positions or they could rely on a high level of independence, but each of them has an active role in shaping IoT use cases and strategies in their companies.

The Internet Of Things Arena 

One of the most interesting findings we had, was that today very different industries are trying to approach and enter the IoT space as quickly as they can: “Today, we’re forced to enter the IoT arena. This is because if we avoid it, this negligence would break the company’s value chain, especially when the competitors are faster than you to enter this reality”. So, it turns out that the market itself is claiming for IoT solutions.

All of the companies the participants belong to are trying to enter the IoT space, but most of them are still struggling to involve technologies able to ease the entrance.

Unexpectedly, when we tried to define which benefits, if there was any, those technologies would bring them, they only mentioned qualitative attributes like better profiling or connectivity capability but they weren’t able to go in depth and rank them in a quantitative manner. This is because we are at the first steps of the process and the technological evaluation they used in the past, in this case, it doesn’t work properly. The IoT falls outside regular standards and ”It’s hard to evaluate the real value technologies should us, maybe lately next year we’ll be able to answer this question. It is still a young market, and this doesn’t allow us any further evaluation”.

The Internet of Things Value Chain

If we would name the biggest problem to face while entering the IoT space, what should it be? The value. The IoT fragmentation is not a big issue anymore, because “There are always more applications and platforms that act as standard layers”. However, players still can’t figure how to create value with this unbounded connectivity. This is a new field where use cases and applications are still under construction but unfortunately, it is already plenty of meager examples; from the connected fridge to the ring that sends condolences to your nearest and dearest when your heartbeat stops, the market is plenty of things that are totally useless in dailies. It is true, this is completely a new field for technology, and its always dropping cost helps to enlarge the Internet of Useless Things.

The first problem links directly to the second one: final customer digital education. People are still not confident with privacy, data collection and the IoT in general. Even if people mindlessly share their stuff on the Internet and they might actually be using products or services of that kind without knowing it (e.g: wearables, Facebook, etc.). This creates the biggest barrier to IoT diffusion and adoption. The majority of people are still unconscious of the data they produce with their devices, what sort of data they actually share and which benefit they bring them, outside the normal use of technology. In this scenario, they are only proud of the showcase they created with the social network platform they used, but in the end, they are not aware that big data can be extremely powerful in real life.

Thus, technologies to be involved in company’s IoT solutions and strategies should be so smart to bring value to final customers in order to educate them. Even if the screening operations should consider the value those technologies create for the final user, those companies still provide solutions, looking for a problem to solve. In this way, they will not bring innovation, but they will only put on the market the next nice-and-useless thing.

How Should An IoT Product Look Like?

How is it possible to endorse a genuine design and development of the next generation of IoT products? Which is the best move to take in order to make tech products sustainable? A cooperation between actors with different or complementary expertise (e.g: tech companies with insurance companies), could combine knowledge, needs and perspectives  able to create a better product together, scalable and really disruptive.

By the way, merging different approaches in order to achieve common goals isn’t still enough. While designing the IoT, these actors should be aware that the focus should be on the final user. The user is the person who decides if the good worths his/her money or not, if he/she really needs that object or whether they really solve personal problems. Thus, a user-centered approach becomes the keystone to build the future of the IoT.

The IoT competition stands on the value that players bring, but which bricks should be used for this building? Two other buzzwords: Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. The first one hides personal current behaviours, preferences or location and it actually plays an important role in the context-awareness. Whereas, the latest practical advancement in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, are paving the way to more interesting applications, by simply learning patterns from data. 

Someone could argue that people will not ever be comfortable with spontaneous technologies, but someone else instantly rejects this objection: early adopters. Like every time in technology, there’s a slice of people who don’t feel comfortable and will not use innovation until other enthusiasts will prove that it isn’t somehow harmful. This is precisely that fair amount of people who think that data is worth to be shared if it can trigger automations which enhance their productivity, savings and safety. Those people again, are more willing to share the data if an artificial intelligence can learn and autonomously set smart automation.

The conference

Their mission is to gather the greatest innovations from all over the world and connect them to important corporates and investors. The South Summit every year sees more than 7.000 attendees, including 3.500 entrepreneurs and 450 investors. Therefore, the South Summit has become one of the most relevant European startup events.

From Oct. the 5th till Oct. the 7th at the South Summit there will be a deep dive in 8 different industries, while looking at the impact the Disruptors are having on these sectors. The Sandbox and the Playground stage will host innovations from Media & Entertainment, Food, Edtech, and Travels, Industry & Energy, Fintech, Healthcare & Wellness, and Fashion, Beauty, & Lifestyle whereas two more stage will get down to the detail and explore different ecosystems and verticals from all sides of the industry. Take a look at the full program to learn more.

Are you an investor? Well, there are two more reasons why you should be in Madrid during those days (not only for the lovely Spanish weather). The Investor Den is a space where the South Summit investment community meets, learns, shares and connects to better support their portfolio companies and make better investments. It’s a spot designed to share best practices, lessons, learnings and discuss some of the biggest threats and opportunities in the industry today.

The other reason is the South Summit Startups competition: 100 of the most promising startups on the globe will compete with their pitches and their disruptions until only one will survive!

The competition

Ten tracks for 100 startups until only one will stand on the stage. At Atooma we are so excited to say that, thanks to our B2B solution Resonance AI, we are among South Summit disruptors!

Francesca Lucchi (Growth Hacking Specialist at Atooma) will pitch at The Playground on the 5th of October around 10.50 am for the first round. So, don’t miss the chance to learn live what we do and how we want to disrupt the future of connected devices. Fabrizio will present Resonance AI, our Software platform able to learn user habits and use them to deliver smart actions and suggestions based on user lives. Want to learn more? Take a look at our website. 

How To Get  In Touch

Are you curious about Atooma and Resonance AI? Would you like to go in depth our solution and how does it work? Would you like to ask us something F2F? Get in touch with Fabrizio Cialdea or Francesca Lucchi and schedule an F2F meeting during the South Summit. We’ll be pleased to answer all your questions and curiosity!

Let’s Get the 20% Off Your Order Here!

The Web Console

Let’s begin with the crispiest part! Would you like to use Resonance AI white label SDK to potentiate your connected products, but you can’t code at all? We think that this part will grab your interest.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we present you in private alpha use only, Resonance web console which makes the IoT a cakewalk! We think that coding has always been an issue and that anyone should be able to create their own projects, even without being a developer or a nerd. Here’s the tool that makes the coding just a touch of magic. Our customers just need to log in and in few and simple clicks they will be able to shape the SDK on their needs.

Moreover, the web console provides useful statistics to monitor the project status and enhance it time after time. Deep down, perfection is an ongoing process and not a final destination, don’t you think?

Today, the console is a VIP zone in private alpha access only. But the invitation can be requested easily: just visit the website, request the SDK, describe your project and our team will get back in touch with you right after your click.

Why We Developed Resonance AI White Label SDK

We had to do the dirty work and interview several companies providing connected devices to understand the real problem they face with their products. What did we learn? Well, they struggle to provide connected products that really worth the money of the final user: they don’t simplify their life, they are too hard to use for common people, or worst, they are online brochures only.

Resonance AI aims at overcoming these limits. It leverages the IoT & Big Data capability in order to shape connected products around the user and create value with it. We know that people love to see their routines automated, but we understand that sometimes non-techies have difficulties to approach technologies. Resonance analyzes user habits from connected devices and services and this information can be used to trigger predictive smart automation aimed at enhancing user productivity/savings/safety. For example, Suppose the user is used to run every Wednesday. Resonance understands it and gives suggestions like: IF it is Wednesday AND bad weather is forecasted, THEN notify the user in advance to modify the workout schedule.

Resonance will simply self-teach where the user lives, works, how and when he/she commutes, when he/she works out and much more in order to use them to trigger preventive smart action and suggestions. Who will use Resonance dashboard, from one hand will be able to develop user-centered use cases that will simplify the real life of the user, from the other hand, even non-techies will be able to use the product because it will learn autonomously personal routines to deliver tailor made use cases.

The Perfect Fit: Everything at a glance

We’ve never liked jargon or similar, everything should be smooth and crystal clear to everyone at the very first sight.Thus, our home page went to the GYM to prune and clean every unnecessary stuff; we made it simpler so every important thing is now at everyone's fingertip.

The benefits, our mission and special contents, everything now flows rapidly and seamlessly…. Just test it!

But Atooma's creation, Resonance AI, is growing faster and faster and it needed more space to express itself and to show its capabilities. For this reason, the IoT platform is the real protagonist of the homepage and the website.

Resonance AI is our white label SDK. It is a tool able lo analyze and learn user habits, that can be used to trigger with smart and predictive automations... A new and proficient way to create value with new-generation connected devices.

The Accessories: Special Report Area

A tip-top shape is not completed without good accessories… not big, but only good ones. Now white papers, special reports, analysis or case of studies are in a unique place.

Do you want to know the current IoT trends? How it will evolve and useful expectations? This is the page that suits your needs. Don’t forget that our blog is still a good source to keep you up-to-date and you can easily access it from the homepage.

What are you waiting for? Let’s visit our special report area or our blog to learn the most disrupting news related to the IoT world!

Seriously, what is the Internet Of Things, and Why Should it Matter?

First things first; raise up your hand if you DO know the real definition of the Internet. We are all using it, but only a few know exactly what it is. The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link billions of devices worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies (source: Wikipedia).

Ok, let’s connect even smartphones, cars, buildings or any object able to collect and exchange data with this network of networks. Let us introduce you this even more complex network made of things which collects tons of data about our day life (big data, they say).

Why should the IoT matter? Because this data can give an edge to daily life management, personal productivity, safety, and savings at home, while driving or elsewhere in the world.

Challenge no 1: Connect it to the IoT

The first challenge companies are facing while entering the IoT space is to create interactions between their own devices with the others connected to the Internet. Don’t worry, we won’t speak jargons, but today there is a multitude of protocols and operating systems which make this operation really hard. Basically, it is like putting in the same room a Russian, a German, a Danish and a Spanish and then hope they will understand each other while speaking in their mother language... Can you imagine this? Translators are the only solution to make them talk seamlessly.

The tech world works in the same way: isolated systems that speak their own language, until common protocols will be defined, are leveraging on translators: dynamic and flexible languages which work as bridges.

Once created a way to make them somehow talk to each other, new problems related to interactions emerge: data, privacy, and its safety.

Let’s face the reality. Is The IoT safe?

Everything new and shiny has downsides, and security and privacy are one of the biggest challenges for IoT.

While 41% of smartphone owners self-assess their mobile privacy IQ (person’s knowledge of safe privacy practices while using a smartphone) to be above average or higher, there’s a lack of awareness around what it truly means to put your mobile privacy first: those aware people still browse unsafe websites, download apps from uncertain sources and they don’t read terms of privacy.

This highlights a sort of ignorance between what privacy actually is and what the final user perceives it. Probably this is the reason why 44% of the users believe that the Apps they own on their smartphone mishandle or misuse their personal data.

The always more frequent news related to lacks of security in data (e.g: WikiLeaks or the recent Zuckerberg's profile hack), shine a spotlight on the privacy challenges inherent to a connected world, its importance and how to make people more conscious of the need to protect their personal data.

Security experts argue that not enough is being done to build security and privacy into IoT at these early stages, and to prove their point have hacked a host of devices, from connected baby monitors to automated lighting and so on. Hackers haven’t, for the most part, put much attention to IoT; there’s likely not enough people using connected appliances for an attack against them to be worth the effort, but as ever, as soon as there’s a financial benefit to hacking smart homes, there will be a cyber criminal working away at it.

So, in brief, yes, IoT is relatively safe: you’re not likely to face serious loss or damage because of your smart meter, any more than your home PC, at least. However, there’s no guarantee, and so far not enough is being done to ensure IoT isn’t the next big hacking target.

Making Sense Of The IoT

Business insider estimates that there will be 18 billion connected devices by 2018. While considering IoT on a consumer level, Strategy Analytics claims we will have 4.3 smart devices per person on the planet by 2020. Among such horizontal distribution of the internet of things, a lot of data is being generated by people and objects. This amount of available data can and will have a strong impact on every industry, but Big Data is valuable only as long as it is actionable. So while securing the “IoT chain”, companies must find a way to make sense of these uncountable connections. Big corporates aren’t flexible and agile enough to detect and change their focus on these nascent business models, so they leverage the startup ecosystem in order to proof and validate IoT applications: from the connected cars  and the energy optimization, throughout food wasting reduction, to the lean industry, startups have brilliant ideas to make the IoT meaningful and scalable and they are working hard in order to proof them.

In poor words, the next challenge related to the IoT is to making sense of the huge amount of data it brings.

IoT Examples: What can my grandma Do with the IoT

This is not a joke! IoT can boost our lives, even if we aren’t tech addicted. Some IoT examples can involve what your Grandma can do to “age in place” (that is to remain in her home and stay as active and independent for as long as possible). One possible way to achieve it is to use technological assistance for medications. Startups are always a step ahead, and Memio is one of those which is doing well. This Italian startup offers a personalized service that reminds people to take medication at the right time through texts or vocal messages. The caregiver just has to plan the medication reminds and Memio does the rest. They are even going to launch soon a smart pillbox that can be synchronized with smartphones and wearable devices, so stay tuned if you want the IoT to help your beloved ones.

IoT Examples are various you just have to choose which one fits better your needs.

Last Challenge: How To Make The IoT Loyal

Accordingly with a study of the MEF (Mobile Ecosystem Forum) and supported by AVG Technologies, only a third of consumers (37%) are comfortable sharing personal data with an app. As we’ve already seen, things get more complicated while using data related to financial information. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel: In his new book, “Digital Context 2.0: Seven Lessons in Business Strategy, Consumer Behavior, and the Internet of Things” David W. Norton, Ph.D., a leading researcher on consumer behavior and the impact of digital, reports that decision makers, social media users, and younger demographics are more and more comfortable sharing data in order to close the gap between thought and action. Basically, people are more willing to exchange personal data in favor of concrete benefits. And how can we blame them?

After securing the IoT and the data streaming, after applying transparent data and privacy policies, companies must secure that data sharing worths to exist because it is useful in daily life and enhances people productivity, safety, and life in general.

For instance, current behaviors, preferences or location can be inferred from data and they actually play an important role in the context-awareness. Moreover, the latest practical advancement in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, are paving the way to more interesting applications. For example, things can know in real-time what the user is doing and react accordingly; recursive patterns can be analyzed in order to extract routines and anticipate these reactions. In this manner, things can expect future needs and behave to prevent daily hitches or tasks. Traffic-based alerts for personal commute variation, real-time and preference-based restaurant suggestions during lunchtime, and much more. Startups are still pioneers in these advancements and are playing a huge role in making the IoT not only a network of devices but a web of sense-makers.

What’s Next?

Nowadays, the biggest problem related to the IoT is that big corporations aren’t able to understand what they can actually do with this super network and for this reason, their IoT products don’t take off. They are like dinosaurs: They move slowly in a highly competitive and fast-changing environment and they aren’t able to adapt as fast as other smaller entities do: startups. Fortunately, they understood their handicap and they are actually trying to leverage the knowledge of these smaller acquaintances. Said that, startups not only provide powerful tools to be involved in these challenges, but they bring also a perspective, a strategy or an alternative approach to problems solving.

TechFounders, An Open Space for Innovation

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“We make leading enterprises and startups overcome innovation barriers by realizing mutual business opportunities”. This is TechFounders: a 20-weeks full intensive international accelerator program focused on startups in the automotive field, robotics, automation, financial services, clean-tech, insurance, industry 4.0, mobility, wind power and related industries based in Munich, Germany.

The TechFounders team aims at bringing tech startups together with their industry partners (Bosch, BMW, Siemens, Festo, HypoVereinsbank - Unicredit Group, Munich RE) and give startups the chance to cooperate with one of these industrial excellences in order to develop their business and craft a product together. A great opportunity to get in touch with German industrial pillars!Bosch As Leading Partner

We presented our white label SDK Resonance AI (for B2B) to the TechFounders team and their partners. It is an innovative IoT platform which enriches connected products and apps with a predictive context-awareness based on user lives. Resonance analyzes and learns habits and the various contexts the user encounters, in order to link them with ad-hoc and personalized smart actions and automation.

“Resonance AI piqued Bosch interest and we are very proud to say that, in the next months, we are going to meet this German giant” says Fabrizio Cialdea, CEO at Atooma. “This opportunity is a great chance for us to land on the German market. Moreover, thanks to our physical presence there, it allows us to get in touch with other important players in that area”.

What Happens Now?

Scenarios are various, but the collaboration with a global actor like Bosch will undoubtedly enforce Atooma’s business with important returns in terms of visibility and portfolio.

The last July 15th, TechFounders team kicked off the program and now begins a full agenda of meetings with mentors, coaches, VCs and Bosch.

Let’s get it started!

The Startups Festival

The main scene for May 24 & 25 is the prestigious Hofburg Imperial Palace, located right in the city center of Vienna. Surrounding that “epicenter of innovation” the festival reserves a dense agenda of disrupting public- & private-access events. Here’s a snapshot of what you’ll get:

5 STAGES: 100 hours of inspiring & educating contents feeding your tech curiosity and more;

FOCUS EVENTS: Private receptions, networking drinks and 2 LEGENDARY PARTIES

MATCH & MEET: A.I. Enhanced personalized Matchmaking & Intro service.

Founders of Pioneers Andreas Tschas and Jürgen Furian explain the vision as such: “We create a world where tech innovators have the network to succeed”. So, you should take a look at the full agenda but, this is not the end of it!

Pioneers500 And The Ecosystems

Any start-up – no matter from which corner of the world – that has not already raised more than EUR 3M in funding and provides an innovative service or product solution qualifying in one of the seven ecosystems: this is Pioneers500!

A very selected committee has chosen 500 of the most promising startups providing an innovative service or product solution qualifying in one of the seven ecosystems: Materials & Manufacturing, Financial Services, Mobility & Transportation, Business & Productivity, Life Sciences & Agriculture, Energy & Utilities as well as Lifestyle & Entertainment.

Atooma convinced the Pioneers committee with Resonance AI our white label SDK for those companies interested in quickly entering the Internet of Everything (IoE) with a high-quality offer. It is a SW platform which makes new things and Apps able to deliver autonomous and proactive automation based on user lives. This happens thank to the Artificial Intelligence that analyzes user routines and makes things able to deliver automation from them.

How can you meet this brilliant idea and rock the IoE with us? The team is exhibiting at the Pioneers festival during both days of the event… You just need to book a meeting slot!

No Rush? The Festival is almost sold out!

There are only a few tickets left to join the Pioneers Festival May 24-25 in Vienna. You must just follow this link to purchase the tickets and get the chance to be involved in one of the most inspiring and sparkling event within the innovation in tech panorama.

Don’t forget to drop a line to [email protected] and get in touch with Francesca Lucchi (Growth Hacking Specialist) or Fabrizio Cialdea (CEO), if you wanna know more about Resonance AI and its disrupting capabilities!

Let’s meet at the Pioneers Festival!

Insurer of Things

The Pivot Opportunity For The Insurance Industry

The nascent insurance telematics market is rapidly on the rise, but the main issue concerns customers beliefs on data collection. They aren’t used to see their insurer like a potential ally, but they see him/her more like a money-sucker instead. How can Insurance companies change this stereotype?

Read it on Atooma Blog

IoT

Arduino’s IoT Development Environment, and Community Project Platform

Amongst the new web properties is Arduino IoT but, much more importantly, there’s the  the new Arduino “IoT Manifesto.”  This sets out not only how Arduino will tackle the Internet of Things, but also how they intend to develop tools for it, and how they think others should approach building their own things for the Internet of Things.

Read it on Makezine

Smart Home

What happens when a 4-year-old meets home automation?

This is the story of a geek family on the road of the home automation and how children can master it faster than parents.... causing them UX troubles ;)

Read it on Baby Center.com

Wearables

Heart rate variability predicts epileptic seizure

Latests advancements in research suggest new use cases wearable-related. Thanks to these achievements  the next step is to develop a wearable seizure prediction device. With that kind of device, patients would be able to ensure their safety and prevent seizures.

Read it on Medicalexpress.com

Connected Cars

Toyota Is Racing Into the Cloud Revolution

Cloud technology became an important part of life from controlling indoor temperature to other innovative services. Toyota depicts the future of the cloud technology related to the connected cars, where we can expect not only to see vehicals that talk to human, but even vehicles that are talking to other vehicles who will also be talking to infrastructure.

Read it on Fortune

Other

IoT and the development of a circular economy

IoT technological advancements could reinforce existing paradigms, simply making the current take-make-dispose linear economy more and more efficient, whilst failing to address resource and natural capital issues. Alternatively they could enforce the opportunity to re-think the underlying system and support the development of a circular economy.

Read it on TechCrunch

So it’s time to share your take on them! Which article did you liked most? Which less? Please comment, share and like! ;)

Don’t See It As a Big Brother

Let’s jump in details. Black box insurance works when your car is fitted with a small ‘black box’ device, about the size of a smartphone, which records speed, distance travelled and the time of day or night that you are on the road. This tiny device is also able to assess your driving style by monitoring braking and cornering.

At a fist sight, this looks like yet another attempt of the insurance company to gather more data from their customers. No doubt, there is some truth in those feelings but, let’s be frank about it: this can bring win-win solutions for both parts. For instance customers will achieve more tailor-made pricing and solutions or, even better, they could obtain better and faster assistance in case of accident or, moreover receive preventive notification whether the engine requires maintenance.

Let’s turn the tables: the insured exchanges more detailed data about his/her driving style for a better and personalized shelter, based on his/her real needs. It’s all about changing the vision from a standardized historical risk view to an approach based on real time and personal data.

Who benefits from black box insurance?

The answer is easy: all those categories that usually belong to historically negative risk profiles and, for this reason, they usually have to pay more.

For instance risk profile for a young and unskilled driver is significantly higher than the average: One out of five drivers has an accident in the first year driving, 26% on the road accident involve at least one driver aged between 17 and 24 and the majority of accidents that take place on Fridays and Saturdays involve at least a young driver (source: Road Safety Observatory). Thus, young drivers have been paying very high and unsustainable insurance premiums for many years, because time series clearly demonstrate they are a risky category.

According to this view, Telematics and black boxes can finally give them the chance to challenge statistics. In fact, it has been demonstrated that young drivers are less likely to be involved in accidents if they are using a telematics-based insurance policy. This is because premiums are based primarily on a driver’s current behavior, which gives them an opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable and responsible behind the wheel.

What Are The Drawbacks?

It looks like black box insurance is undoubtedly like a much fairer system, but everything has its dark side. For example, say somebody has a long commute to work and back, or say that a driver is not as safe as he first thought, these people won’t see any savings at all, and they may also end up paying more for their cover.

Last but not least, the cost of the ‘black box’ and its installation added to the cost of the cover is the first point which could bother potential customers. However, it is unlikely that this will outweigh the potential savings.

Octo telematics tried to overcome these limits with the creation of devices that don’t need any technical intervention for the installation. Thus, insurers are still able to collect good data and the customer doesn’t have to pay a big amount to install the black box. This looks totally like a wiser solution.

Next Steps

There are currently around 450,000 telematics policies in force in the UK and their number has nearly doubled over the course of the last 12 months. But Italy remains the largest market for telematics in Europe with over 2 million policies in force and 800,000 new policies sold in 2013 alone, with Unipol Group as the largest provider. Moreover, in the US telematics is also making significant inroads and Progressive insurance now has more than 1 million policyholders using telematics.

We must add that people aren’t comfortable with novelties, but the main problem is that customers don’t trust their insurance company, they are concerned about their personal data and privacy. On the other hand, they are willing to share them with Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. This naïve approach tells us that they are more focused on the inspector side in case of unfair situations, rather than on the services provider part that may help them.

It’s Not About Data, It’s All About Additional Value

Big data and the Internet of Things; Smartphones and other devices collect a huge quantity of disjointed data (you know… Big data) and the truth is that people aren’t aware of this. Our routines, our transfers, our preferences, everything is gathered by our devices. Said that, people are even less conscious that, if they allow to make sense of that data, results may be amazing.

Beyond the traditional benefits of the GPS tracking (e.g: better location in case of theft or accident), future black boxes insurance policies may evaluate the driving style, not only for profiling purposes, but also in order to endorse behavioral changings and award good practices. This is the additional value that the insurance industry may aim at: support and suggest good habits, based on the attitudes of that specific driver in order to leverage on real benefits related to consumptions, savings, safety and even discounts on the policy’s renewal.

Someone said that human beings are sense-maker, they only need to make sense to data acquisition. This is Atooma’s take and this is the reason why Resonance AI focus is also on insurance telematics: making sense to data collection can change from the popular perception of the money-sucker insurer, to a more genuine one where the insurer really protects the customer thanks to real and personal data.

Atooma For The Stereotypes Changing

“Data are useful only when they are actionable” we said in a previous article, so the right way to change customer’s perspectives is to proof them that their data are worth to be shared instantly. We aren’t merely speaking about tailor-made solutions but, for example, about instant alert in case of accident, emergency or other additional services that could improve consumer’s safety.

We mean instant notifications before a dangerous stretch of road, simply by crossing other user’s breakings, cornering or accidents. Smart suggestions to improve driving styles and cut consumptions. These are only some example on how the additional value can be built and created around the customer. Because the final user is important and he/she worth a perfect and proactive protection! This is the message the insurance companies should send out.

“Big data” is not just the umpteenth buzzword of the Internet of Things. Data can be useful and can really bring the additional value that technologies need at this stage. Companies should only find a solution to make sense of them.

And we think we’ve got one!

Visit the website to learn more

Wearables 

Wearable Tech Trends to Watch

Thanks to the always dropping down prices of technologies, the wearable market and competition increase as consequence, with always more startups and ideas involved. But which are the trends emerging from the scene?

Read it on the Motley Fool

Smart Cities

A Regulatory Framework for Emerging Technologies

Rather than embrace an entirely new agency to regulate emergent technology, state and federal agencies likely already have a cornucopia of means by which light-touch and appropriately tailored regulations can effectively address the public interest concerns. When pondering the need for regulation, government officials should ask three general questions before proposing new rules...

Read it on 1776

IoT

The Internet of Everything consumer hype

IOE has an immediate role to play in manufacturing and heavy industry, where the value of the good or service is significant or where acceptable downtime is measured in seconds per year. But the consumer version of IOE can leave baffled as to its timing, investability and, frankly, utility.

Read it on The Globe and Mail

Wearables

Sony’s Future Lab shows off its ‘N'

Earlier this month Sony announced a new R&D initiative called the “Future Lab Program” and a mysterious device simply called “N” was concurrently shown off in a YouTube video. Details on this audio-based wearable were light until today...

Read it on 9to5Google

Connected Cars

Hacked cars just the beginning of IoT security threats

With more enterprise buying into the IoT and consumers adding more and more devices to the network, this means by default that more valuable data will be traveling over the network. The connected car is one of the IoT’s flagship initiatives.... What about hacks attempts?

Read it on Orange-Business.com

Other

Facebook for IoT, NASA gets athletes ready to compete and more

This week, the US patent office issued 6,769 patents. Each patent adds a little something new to the human knowledge base. As we cannot list all five thousand, the PatentYogi team has selected the six most interesting patents

Read it on The Next Web

So it’s time to share your take on them! Which article did you liked most? Which less? Please comment, share and like! ;)