#hyhtechnology

Observation: L’oreal has create Snap Camera filters which allow you to attend online meetings with varying styles of make up. Why: Creating creative opportunities for online meetings is much the same as in regular “selfie” spaces. We are looking for ways to be creative with our faces and our looks, and in this case perhaps you can actually use them for more sober purposes like your meetings where you don’t feel like “putting on your face”  Future: More stable plugins for all online video platforms. At this stage Snap Camera is slightly sluggish. 

Observation: NASA targets kids with latest MARS Rover announcement.

Why: Space for the millennial generation was a distant imaginary dream dominated by movies and other science fiction outlets, now there is a far different attitude towards space travel and how realistic it is. Using imagery and tone that kids are open to will increase the passion for science and broaden the imaginations of the kids who will grow up with space travel being more of a reality than a dream. Doing this will increase the NASA brand and possibly the diminished budget that they receive from the US government.

Observation: Flash Forest aims to use drones to plant a billion trees by 2028. Some drones can plant 100,000 trees per day whereas a person can plant 1 500 trees per day. It combines the use of drones with specially-designed pods and an accelerated seed germination process. Drone are currently firing seed pods to restore the devastation from the Toronto wildfire. 

Why: Every year our planet loses 13 billion trees and regains less than half of that. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that “it’s necessary to plant 1 billion hectares of trees—a forest roughly the size of the entire United States—to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” Trees need to begin growing as quickly as possible now. Drones plant 10 times faster than humans and at 20% of the cost.

Observation: There has been an increase of hackers appearing on random Zoom conferences, disrupting meetings and sharing inappropriate information and spamming people. This type of activity is known as Zoombombing. School pupils and teachers in New York have been using zoom as platform to still teach however they too have been victim to Zoombombing and therefore are opting to leave the platform.

Why: Many countries and cities are in shutdown because of the Corona pandemic. Online teaching through platforms like Zoom have been adopted by many countries. The world has seen the rapid adoption of digital technology  due to the Covid pandemic. With more people using digital technology as a form of communication and learning, hackers and trolls have seen this as opportunity to exploit people and commit crimes. This has heightened the issue of privacy on digital platforms.

Zoom is a platform used by many people, because of the Corona Virus, the digital platform  has seen a significant increase of members. Many minors and elderly,  the most vulnerable in society, are forced to become digital during this pandemic. Zoombombing has heightened tension about privacy concerns especially for minors. With Zoombombings and privacy invasions, the pandemic has made people raise concern about every aspect of their lives. 

Digital platforms such has Zoom have help to alleviate the concern and damage the pandemic has created. Even though they helped they are creating problems such privacy and child endangerment through exposure of inappropriate content.

What's here now and what's coming soon

Samsung Galaxy Fold

Observation: Foldable phones are finally making their presence felt in the smartphone world after some notable false starts last year. In February alone, two foldable devices have hit store shelves — Motorola's reimagined Razr and the Galaxy Z Flip. And we have the feeling that more will come throughout the year.

LG G8X ThinQ

Why: The appeal of foldable phones is clear: you get the productivity-boosting powers of a big screen that can fold up for maximum portability. 

Here's some flexible phones that have been announced so far, and what we could eventually see.

Foldable phones you can buy right now

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

Motorola Razr

Samsung Galaxy Fold

Royole FlexPai

Huawei Mate X (China only)

Observation: Japanese cellphone company creates phone that incorporates an AI-powered sensor banning users from saving or sharing naked shots with others. The phone's camera has an image recognition tool that is capable of labelling photos as inappropriate through the use of AI. It doesnt stop there, when a photo taken is flagged by the AI, a notification will be sent to the guardian, giving details of where and when the image was taken, and a pixelated thumbnail is also sent to them.

Why: As our worries about privacy and security grow, so do our concerns for the most vulnerable amongst us. Children can be taken advantage of in many ways, so using a tool like this might create another barrier to their ulterior motives. This does of course bring up privacy concerns for the children, but there are those who would say that its a small price to pay. But no one asks the children.  Future: Could we see this an an opt in software for some phones? Another consideration is how children and those trying to take advantage of them will find ways of beating the phone. 

Observation: Already in use by law enforcement, Clearview AI can use any face image to scrape the internet of a claimed 3 billion open-source images to find information on that person, including finding out where they live, work as well as their name. The law enforcement services that use it have little idea knowledge of how Clearview works and who is behind it, yet they use it as no one else including the US govt has come up with a better version of the functionality.  Why: Face recognition technology is in a massive state of development and apps like these can end privacy entirely. This app, although in use by primarily law enforcement opens the door to abuse as we don't know the ethics of the police services or the people who will gain access to this app in the future. Face recognition is a standard that we are going to have to get used to, with phones using your face as a passkey we are opting into this already.  Future: Will masks in public become more common? Will make up artists create different looks on peoples faces to confuse the tech?

Observation: MIXMSTR is a new mobile video game that lets you be the star DJ you wish you were. 

The superstar DJ life is glamorous, but it’s also difficult to attain. MIXMSTR is a new game for those of us who’ll never make it. Created for iOS and Android, it’s a mobile rhythm action game that puts you in the role of an aspiring DJ. You buy tunes, mix records and strive to move up from a pub DJ to a headline act.

Why: With electronic, dance and techno music on the rise, there are more aspiring DJs on the rise. These games play into the real life desire of being able to lead that lifestyle, generate a fan base and be a well known and liked DJ.