Tag: innovation

Brief steps for innovation in the era of E-commerce

As the Economist Joseph Schumpeter said Entrepreneurs can’t sit idle and try to innovate. They are the people who have an uncanny sense of using the resources from less productive use to more productive use. They are the ones who do Value creation, this is what we call innovation.

E-commerce belongs to this generation and Technology is irreversible; no one can hold it back and only curiosity won’t help us. Research activity is also needed. Scientific knowledge is essential (supported). Research is also supplemented by Developmental activities (R&D), closer to practical uses.

The Technological Innovation world involves product and process development activities (converted into manifestation forms). Then it transcends to the market/people with practical uses. Invention and discoveries constitute the technology world/innovation world- product process- market development activities (Administrative capabilities needed as well).

This all has to be assembled holistically and make the tech happen/forward driven with innovation. Business world needs tech entrepreneurship and administrative skills.

We have to question what value the tech will bring to our product. Simple innovation without value creation cannot create Blue Ocean/has no meaning.

Technological importance means the value that the technology brings to a product/potential product

We have to ensure not to bring value to other products in the competition. We need technological positioning. Frontier-ending R&D investment is needed to compete with the rival companies that are deeply entrenched in technology. Keep competitive parity is not an advantage.  

A technology portfolio consists of- Bet, Draw, Cash, and Fold

Regime of Appropriability

Is the effectiveness of legal mechanisms of protection of technology, Patents, copyrights, trade secrets, tacit knowledge, and codified knowledge.

Process innovation can’t be protected by patents.

Codified knowledge is very prone to industrial espionage, in other words, Hiring people from other companies. The regime of appropriability can be from high to low depending on the technology. E.g. KFC spice formula (easy to safeguard) or a new search algorithm (hard to seep safe).

Any innovation passes through two stages-

Pre Paradigm and Paradigm stage

Pre Paradigm is when a technology is in the process of innovation. Every innovation goes through this stage when it remains in the domain of the innovators and scientists.

In the Paradigm stage product designs are fluid and the manufacturing process is loosely organized whereas in the Paradigm stage less uncertainty for the design emerges and a final design emerges. The focus is now on process design.

Our objective is to transit from the pre paradigm stage to the paradigm stage as fast as possible. Successful transit of tech to practical use is called commercialization and has to be ensured with another set of capabilities called complementary assets.

The tinkering or invention needs to be followed by research and then a complimentary stage in development. Entrepreneurs have to ensure that complementary assets have to be built around innovation to be successful. Innovators need to have certain complementary assets which are not generic (highly specialized).

There is a third category of assets called Co specialized. These assets have a bilateral dependence. These assets have no other use other than their intended use. E.g.: A spacecraft manufacturing facility.

Many innovators fail and succumb and they don’t have the complementary assets. To counter that, entrepreneurs can do collaborative strategy by collaborating with partners with complementary assets. It should exclude the possibility of any other collaboration.  

Technology has to be adopted by people otherwise, it has no meaning. Early adopters need to leverage by patronizing the products. This gives way to the early majority who are more market-orientated. If they are satisfied they give way to the late majority. This transition will secure our position in the market.

But there is a catch, when technology falls between the transition space of early adopters and the early majority. This is known as ‘Chasm’. This change in emphasis poses a problem for innovating firms since incumbents are often much better equipped to meet the desire for complete products and low-risk purchases,and once you fall into this space. It gets really difficult to get out of it. A tornado (another group of people) is needed to take it out of the chasm and hit it into the mainstream.

E-commerce implementation can have two strategies:

Bottom-up approach and Top-down approach

Introduction of Ecommerce has complemented traditional business. This has also made traditional businesses more competitive.

Top-down approach implementation is preferred on a large scale and national level but when it comes to administrative (meeting the requirements of civil services), local trade and commerce services are suited to have a bottom-up approach.

Digital infrastructure is essential for making e-commerce successful. Cradle to grave digital identity is emerging as the new measure to the unique identification of people.

Common service center: Helps in providing e-Services to rural and remote locations where availability of computers and Internet is negligible or mostly absent. With the help of Interoperability and common information center data and information can be accessed at any location.

Mobile banking is another approach that is also increasing its proliferation.  But it’s still in its nascent stages.

Another concept that is emerging is Cashless transactions where all the POS and banking services can be attained remotely. Although the security issue remains which has to be taken care of by a central agency (Government).

One of the most important things to consider is Digital literacy. A certain amount of literacy is needed for availing all these digital infrastructure and access. For a widespread utilization of digital services, we have to ensure that more people are digitally literate.

We also have to keep in mind that common support ICT infrastructure and adequate private and public partnership will help to make these services more efficient and better.  With the help of aforementioned knowledge, an E-commerce can certainly endure in the realm of digital world.

References:

https://www.reed.edu/economics/parker/f10/201/cases/appropriability.html

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/stages-paradigm-shift-organization-78904.html

Artificial Intelligence

The world has stepped into many engrossing horizons like self driving cars, smart assistants, social media monitoring, disease mapping, automated financial investing and many such persuasive developments. Have you ever wondered what is involved behind such innovative developments? It is certainly the Artificial intelligence. The hype for AI has been accelerated to a great extent to meet the demands of the contemporary world. The term refers to the simulation of human intelligence, induced in machines that are programmed to think and work like humans and pretend their actions as well. The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits the traits associated with a human mind such as learning, problem solving, speech recognition, decisive making etc. It is a wide range of branch concerned with building smart machines making them capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. Building an AI system is a careful process of reverse-engineering human traits and capabilities in a machine, and using its computational prowess to surpass what we are capable of. AI requires a foundation of specialized hardware and software for writing and training machine learning algorithms.

There are three types Artificial Intelligence

  • Artificial Narrow Intelligence – Specializes in one area and solves one problem.
  • Artificial General Intelligence – Refers to a computer that is as smart as a human across the board.
  • Artificial Super Intelligence – An intellect that is much smarter than the best human brains in practically every field.

The Artificial Intelligence intend to aid human capabilities and help us make advanced decisions with far reaching consequences. It has the potential to help human lives significantly, devoid of hard labor and help manage the complex web of interconnected individuals, companies, states and nations to function in a better way. AI has seamlessly transitioned into our daily lives which we might have failed to notice from music recommendations, map directions, mobile banking to fraud prevention, AI has framed an advanced path. It has made it ways to many sectors from science to agriculture. It has its applications in various fields like retail, shopping and fashion, security and surveillance, sports activities etc. Here are some of the major sectors where AI are implemented for enhancement in the respective fields.

AI powered assistants – It is an application program that understands natural language voice commands and completes tasks for the user. Virtual shopping assistants and chatbots help improves the user experience while shopping online. The assistants have real time engagement with the customers. Amazon’s Alexa is a virtual assistant AI developed by Amazon capable of voice interactions setting alarms, providing weather , traffic, sports and other real time information and similarly so does the Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and so on.

AI in Robotics – Robots powered by AI are used for carrying goods in hospitals, factories and warehouses, cleaning offices and large equipment and inventory management where robots use real time updates to sense obstacles in its path and pre plan its journey instantly.

AI in Healthcare – It is used to build sophisticated machines that can detect diseases and identify cancer cells. It can help chronic conditions with lab and other medical data to ensure early diagnosis and used to identify trends or genetic information that would predispose someone to a particular disease.

AI in agriculture – AI aids in identifying defects and nutrient deficiencies in the soil and also detecting diseases in plants, pests and poor plant nutrition on farms. AI sensors can detect and target weeds and then decide which herbicides to be applied. This is done using computer vision, robotics, and machine learning.

AI in marketing – Using AI marketers can deliver highly targeted and personalized ads with the help of behavioral analysis, pattern recognition etc. It uses technologies to make automated decisions based on data collection, data analysis, and additional observations of audience or economic trends that may impact marketing efforts.

So the benefits of AI are widespread in various spheres. There is always a fine line between the advancements and destructions. There’s always two sides to a coin and so in the AI. There are some of the snags listed below.

  • High cost of implementation
  • If the super intelligence’s goals come to conflict with human values AI poses a risk of human extinction.
  • With human cognitive power we would be able to evolve with age and experience. But it becomes skeptical with the AI machines, it starts to wear and tear with time.
  • We cannot expect creative piece of work from AI’s. Creativity is limited to the persons who program and commands machines.
  • With the rapid development in the sector of AI, it may carry risks of unemployment.

Tales of younger inspiration leads the roads to newer innovation

Modern world has opened the doors for newer technologies. Every day, people bring new ideas to transform the way of thinking and doing things. Stories from all over the world from different fields influence many to pursue with their field of interest. There are several successful women in many fields in India also; they become true inspiration to all the young dreamers. Moreover, this pandemic have also taught us to be more skillful to achieve success and continuous growth in our lives.

One of the inspiring stories that have made young girls believe in their dreams is that of P.V. Sindhu. She started playing Badminton at the age of 8 and made her international debut when she was 17 yrs old. After tremendous hard work and with constant learning she became the World’s 6th Ranking Women in Single Badminton. This dedication and her constant efforts are real inspiration for the women out there who believe on themselves.

Image: Sports24

Likewise, Sharanya a 24 yr old young junior doctor who treated the victims of the Kozhikode Plan Crash. After working for 1 year at Kozhikode General Hospital,she quits to start preparing for her NEET exams. On one of the fateful night, when the hospital needed all hands on deck, she jumped into help without a second thought.

12 year old Haaziq from Pune came up with ingenious innovation- Ervis – which is a prototype ocean cleaner ship that can suck out plastic from the surface of the ocean. The picture of a young whale that died of intestinal blockage after consuming huge amount of plastic is what made this 12 year old to wage war against plastic. His novel idea received global attention and he got a chance to present this idea before audience through TED-X club.

India is one of the countries having most number of youths; the need is to give them a proper direction to think and to bring a change. Engagement of young people at local, national and global levels is impacting lives. The more they explore the more idea they collect. At this stage of confusion and uncertainty youths from different part of India are setting examples for others. No talent should be wasted, because they are capable of much more. But due to societal pressure and constant discouragements they often confused to choose their field of interests.

Image: Rightful Owner

The 22 year old a Haimanti founder of the NGO Junoon, is the inspiration for people who want to bring a change in the field of education especially for underprivileged children. Since May 2018, she has been on a mission to equip them with necessary skills along with education that will enable her to enroll them in a regular school under the Right to Education Act.

There are several more tales of young minds whose acts inspire us to work towards innovative methodologies. A young regular college student from Palakkad district, Shahinsa belongs to an agrarian family from the Panamanna village have deep passion for farming and finds the time to grow crops using modern technology in the fields.

Sriya Donepudi (15), a school going girl from Khajaguda started an initiative to recycle used flowers after social functions. She collected discarded flowers from various events and with the help of women from economically weaker sections they made soaps, paper-weights and other items from floral waste. According to The New Indian Express, this initiative made her bag The Diana Awards of 2020.

In the year 2017, Malhar and his friends collected the garbage thrown by visitors at Dadar Beach. Earlier, they started it as a weekend activity that gradually turned into a fully fledged cleanup movement engaging over 20,000 Mumbaikers. Collectively they have gathered 1000 tonnes of waste including plastics, stale food and religious offerings that had been cleared from the beach side. His efforts for this cleaning drive recognized globally when United Nations felicitated him on the International Volunteer Day.

Most of Indian startup and innovation landscape provide opportunity to young inventors to bloom. Their keen observations combined with deep sense of strategic ideas helps them in dealing with various problematic situations in the field of technology. These tales not only made us proud but also inspire us to build a new India with innovative thoughts.

Image : Shutterstock

Each of us is great in our own fashion. Even a tiny story of inspiration can influence thousands of youngsters to pursue their dream; each act can impact the world.  Every one of us has that hidden power, the requirement is to have faith and continue our work with relentless efforts. These tiny tales of youths inspires many to pursue their dream . This pandemic is really tough and a challenging time for all the innovators but if you’re passionate enough to achieve your goal, you should continue with perseverance and patience.

Interesting products on Kickstarter-2

Hug – The Insulated Collapsible Mug

“Creativity is making marvelous out of Discarded” 

Plastic Cups Pollution:

The world uses about 500 million plastic cups every year. That’s really a massive amount. Imagine these plastic cups dumped as a pile. These piles add up every year and the number tends to increase due to the increase in population. These wastes make the environmentalists who are bent over backwards in attempts of cleaning up the wastes feel exhausted. The plastic cups are not used intentionally. They are used because of the lack of an alternative. Many people have guilt about using these plastic cups. Most of us would have thought of having a reusable, variable size and handy cup. But we are provided with either or options which is just partially beneficial.

Hug – The Mug:

“Every lock has a key. Every problem has its solution” 

Ruary Hewson has carefully observed the situation and has come up with an exquisite design. The features of the mug are listed as follows:

  • Double Walled Insulation: The Mug is double-wall insulated which makes it suitable for all environmental conditions, You can also heat it up in the microwave and have your drink piping hot. 
  • Customizable Height: The height of the cup we use varies according to the drink and time of the day. Hug has an option for every such choice. It has 9 customizable height options to choose from. 
  • Patent Pending Lock Mechanism: Hugcomes with a lock mechanism to lock at the height of your choice at a jiffy. The lock and unlock mechanism is built to last for 1000 cycles of its use.
  • Pocket-friendly and quick: Hug can easily fit into the pocket of your jeans, sweatshirts, purses and what more do we need? The speed of stretching it can be done in a blink of an eye. It can be done within 3.4 seconds. 
  • Recycled: The cups are fully made from Recycled plastic which means it recycles the past used plastics and prevents the future use of plastics. 
  • Spill-proof: The major hassle in using cups is spills caused by them on our precious assets. Hug is way cooler. It is completely spillproof and provides you with an unperturbed user experience. 
  • Cool and Colourful: Hug comes with 4 vibrant colours to choose from and thus removing the restrictions of you to be cool with your cup. 

Facts about Hug:

  • Hug is backed by 4500 backers for $ 2,04,205 which is 45 times higher than the amount targetted for. 
  • The campaign is about to end in 4 days and rock with the delivery by next year.
Fact Sheet: How Much Disposable Plastic We Use

Longest running light bulb since 1901: The case of Planned Obsolescence

Centennial Light is the longest-running electric light bulb on record. It has been running continuously since 1901 and it has never been switched off. It is located in Fire Station 6 in Livermore, California. The ordinary dim light bulb looks like any other bulb and there is also a camera that live-streams the light bulb onto the internet.

Link for the official website and live webcam of the light bulb.

http://www.centennialbulb.org/photos.htm

It was manufactured in the late 1890s by the Shelby Electric Company, of Ohio, using a design by the French-American inventor Adolphe Chaillet. It has operated for over 100 years with very few interruptions. In 2011, it passed a milestone: One million hours of near-continuous operation. In 2015 it was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s longest-burning bulb.

The 60-watt bulb uses a carbon filament. One of the reasons for its longevity is that it seems to have an incredibly durable vacuum seal. There have been some researches done on bulbs manufactured by Shelby Electric Company of that era. But no one really exactly knows how these eternal bulbs were made as they were experimenting with various but the company was experimenting with a variety of designs at the time.

The electric model was quite different when first homes in The U.S had electricity. The servicing was the responsibility of the electric companies and customers would purchase entire electrical systems manufactured by a regional electricity supplier. The companies would also take care of the installation and servicing of any burned out electric bulbs would be replaced for free.

It made more logic for the suppliers to manufacture bulbs that would last longer and would burn out as least as possible. But this business model was later replaced and homeowners were responsible to change the light bulbs. It was soon realized that it would be more profitable to make cheaper bulbs that burned out faster. Since the mid-1900s goods were manufactured with a pre-determined expiry date aimed at forcing consumers into repeat purchases. This phenomenon has only been exacerbated in recent years. This can also be called planned obsolescence.

In 1924, the life span of the light bulbs was at least 2,500 hours. Phoebus cartel was formed in 1925 in Geneva. It comprised of the major incandescent light bulbs manufacturers at that time: Osram, General Electric, Associated Electrical Industries, and Philips. The cartel had directed their engineers to cut the life of the bulbs to 1,000 hours, which the engineers did by adjusting voltage and current. The cartel was intended to operate for 30 years but it was starting to fall apart in the early 1930s after General Electric patents expired and as the cartel faced competition from non-member manufactures from other regions. The cartel ceased its operations after the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

Planned obsolescence is a very critical area it does not only decrease the lifespan of the good but as a consequence, it is also wasteful. It is not sustainable for the environment and the main focus of this practice is to maximize profits. It also reminds us that technological innovations are often not accessible in favor of corporate greed.

References:

Interesting Kickstarter Products-1

Innovative Bird Feeder

“True Innovation is coming up with a product that the customer didn’t even know they needed”Extinction of the Exclusives:Birds are the most lively and charming creatures existing on Mother Earth. They play a vital role in the food chain. Extinction of bird species is increasing at an alarming rate. Major reasons for bird extinction are as follows:Aggravated Human Population , Contamination of soil by excessive use of fertilizers,Poor Air Quality,Destruction of Forests and Natural Landscapes.Although some of us are not directly involved in such extinction , we all are involved in the same without our knowledge. Every lock has its key. What if we could rectify the situation with an innovative product? Then Kickstarter has got an offer for you.Bird Buddy:Kickstarter is evolving as a hub of innovative products. One product that has recently caught my eyes is a Novel Bird Feeder. Everyone of us would have done a bird feeder out of cardboard or waste materials and would have placed it in our homes. The joy we get while the birds are fed with the feeder is astonishing. But sometimes we would forget to refill the feeder or while we are out of town we wouldn’t be able to feed them and have a look over them. The Bird buddy will save you at those times.Unique Features of Bird Buddy:Magical Moments captured are treasures to be cherished:Bird Buddy has a camera in it and it captures every featured friend who is benefited by your benevolence. It will also recognize them and send a notification to your mobile regarding their visits. It also identifies the arrival of birds using their voice with the help of its built in microphone.Weather Resistant: In our childhood days , we would be agonized when the bird feeder crafted by us were destroyed in rainwaters.Bird Buddy is safe all day , everyday.Win Win Situation:Bird watching is an art that is underrated. Watching those little creatures enjoying their meal is an unmatched emotion. Sometimes our little lovelies are frightened by our presence and fly away in the middle of a meal. But with Bird Buddy it’s a win-win situation for both. The birds enjoy their food at peace whereas we could get a sneak peak of them at our comfort zone.Easy to use:The bird buddy is simple to operate and maintain. It has a built-in battery to power the microphone and camera. The refilling option is very easy.Cool Add-ons:Bird Buddy comes up with cool add ons like solar roof , wall and fence mounts.The product has got more than 20 backers till June 2021. Hope this might bring back joy in our lives and enhance the food chain.

LIFE CYCLE OF INNOVATION

INNOVATION

Innovation is the action or process involved in improving an existing product/service. It involves new techniques and ideas to create better products that add up value to the customers. Innovation enhances the brand value and is the key to the successful running of the organizations.

Example: Power banks – They are innovative reusable devices that replace conventional chargers in the absence of electricity. Power banks store the battery and give power through USB ports to the devices in need of charging.

LIFE CYCLE OF INNOVATION

The phases of innovation in an innovation life cycle can be the following

  • Ideation – Ideation starts with the necessity of a solution for a problem or to satisfy the customer’s requirements. The problem statement is identified first and the feasible idea to solve it, is generated. Curiosity, Creativity, Involvement gives impetus for a new idea to spark. This may either increment an old one or open a new market. Innovation potentials are generally identified through
    • Targeted search – This involves finding potentials through creativity workshops, idea contests, or LEAD user workshops.
    • Random findings – This involves discovering the new idea randomly while coming across some new products, suggestions, and customer feedback.
  • Research – This is one of the important steps as it involves identifying risks. After the idea is generated, research should be done to conceptualize and bring an idea into a form. Proof of Concept (POC) must be provided and it should prove that neither a similar product is available in the market nor POC is available and patented. This phase should ensure that the idea is possible by analyzing
    • Customer’s requirements – Customer’s unheard problems and needs.
    • Market potential – Market size and attractiveness for the generated idea.
    • Growth potential – Expected opportunities, growth, and scalability.
    • Risks and feasibility – Potential risks, technical barriers and laws, standards, and patterns.
  • Offering – This phase involves offering the product as a complete one to the market. Before it is offered, the availability of resources and scope of the product in the market must be analysed. The feedback from the potential customers must be obtained and incorporated. Use these customers as an anchor to obtain new customers. 
  • Commercialization – This involves launching the product as a commercial one to gain profit from it. The following points should be considered for commercialization
    • Sales plan and marketing strategy – How the product is delivered to the customers and attracting, convincing, and making the customers realize the need for the product.
    • Contracts and license management – Regarding the terms and conditions for using the product
    • Product management and engineering – Involves packaging, delivery, and installation. Striving continuously for future enhancements and updating the versions on a timely basis.
    • Customer support – Customer helpdesks, feedback management, etc.
  • Growth – This phase is to ensure leading the market. Continuous study on the competitors, new arrivals, and customer needs could help retain the market position. The product should be able to sustain the competitive market. Customer acceptance and support should be increased through the performance of the product. Eventually, revenue generation increases. The availability of the product must be expanded.
  • Retirement – A product goes through this phase when there is a replacement of the product by an advanced one. The product tends to lose the market position thereby failing to generate expected revenue. This may happen due to a decrease in demand, the substitution of technology or the product may no longer provide a relevant solution to the customers.

These phases of innovation are considered indispensable in the product’s lifecycle. So, it becomes mandatory to take care of every detail in the life cycle to achieve success and sustain in the market.

Oobleck: A non-Newtonian fluid revolutionizing speed bumps

Oobleck? Yes you read it right. Thinking you have never come across this term in all your life? Well, Oobleck is nothing but a mixture of cornstarch and water. What does corn starch and water have anything to do with speedbumps? The answer can make you marvel at the human mind with its simple, yet smart thinking capabilities.

Why traditional speedbumps are a problem?

Speed bumps have been a part of the road culture for more than 5 decades now. The were introduced in the 1970s and have managed to exist till now. They are raised ‘bumps’ with 3-4 inches of thickness, used as speed reducing mechanisms for vehicles on road, specially in speed sensitive regions. While they do their purpose, there are some unwanted problems related with the usage of speed breaks, ranging from economical to health concerning issues.

Some of the problems are:

  • Inconsistent speed and abrupt slowing of vehicle due to speed bump and then picking up the speed leads to higher emission, leading to air pollution.
  • Often slow down emergency vehicles
  • May cause spinal damage to some people
  • Inconsistent speed can lead to rupture of vehicles
  • Extra cost (manpower and raw materials) involved in maintaining the road signs, painting and marking, indicating that speed bumps are ahead.
Oobleck

As I already mentioned, Oobleck is a corn starch slurry. This mixture is filled in long cylindrical shaped rubber reinforced tubes resembling a speed bump which is secured to the road. When vehicles pass this speed bump with a slow speed, the liquid parts and allows the vehicle to pass thorugh as if there was nothing present. But, when a vehicle with high speed tries to pass through, the liquid hardens, thus limiting the speed of the vehicle. How does that happen?

oobleck bump
An oobleck filled bump.
The speed bump deforms under the tire when vehicle approaches with a slower speed.

Non-Newtonian fluids and the science behind

Oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid. A non-Newtonian fluid is one whose viscosity changes under stress. That is, when you apply force to such liquids, it hardens (viscosity increases) and on the release of the force, it gets back to its normal form. But other ‘normal’ Newtonian liquids do not exhibit such characteristics. On application of stress, they do not resist that stress and thus does not cause a strain. Stress is when you hit a metal with hammer and strain is the resulting dent occurred due to the stress.

Non-Newtonian fluids are not rare. We come across them in our daily life without even knowing them. For instance take tomato ketchup. Many times, you may struggle getting the ketchup out from the bottle, and you unconsciously tap the back of the bottle. And you will see that ketchup now falls into your plate. Ketchup is a non-Newtonian fluid whose viscosity decreases when stress is applied. By tapping the back of the bottle, a stress is applied and the ketchup becomes runnier, thus easily pouring out.

Some more examples are:

  • Viscosity decreases with stress over time – Honey ( on stirring honey, it becomes runny)
  • Viscosity increases with stress over time – Cream ( on whipping, it gets thicker)
  • Viscosity decreases with increased stress – Tomato ketchup
  • Viscosity increases with increased stress – Oobleck
Try it at home!

You can easily try this at home by adding 1/2 cup of water gradually to 1 cup of corn starch. After the powder is fully wet and feel like liquid, its time to get your hands messy. Dip you hands into the mixture and try making a ball. It will start to shape due to the stress you are applying with your hand. But once you stop shaping, like magic, the ball turns into liquid and oozes down. Try it and there is no going back. The inner child in you will want to play with it all day long. Visit here for more details on how to do it at home.

 

Shaping oobleck into a ball by applying stress.
Shaping oobleck into a ball by applying stress.

 

Liquified oobleck
When we stop shaping it, it turns into liquid.

An environment friendly alternative

As the speed bump works as per the speed of the vehicle, there is no need for vehicles to slow down hence increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing emissions. The cost of installing and maintenance is low compared to traditional speed bumps. It does not do damage to the vehicle as the work of shock absorbers is reduced. Hence it is high time that countries start adopting this technology and try to reduce the damages we do to the environment one speed bump at a time!

 

 

 

New Microsoft Surface Duo (2020): Is it worth the hype?

Many of you would have probably heard about Microsoft surface Duo already and discarded it as just another smartphone in the market which fancy features to attract buyers. You wouldn’t have considered it an innovation but just as another smartphone.  But when you view it through the technical lens, you will realize that this is the future. This post does not go deep into the exact specifications of the device, but answers the question of is it worth the hype. To check specifications, visit here.

What is Microsoft Surface Duo?

Microsoft Surface Duo front
The Microsoft Surface Duo- Front appearance.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, surface duo is a foldable smartphone with two screens. The scope of foldable screens is not just limited to the smartphone industry. It can be used in many life changing devices ranging from the medical sector to military use. The possibilities are just endless.

In short, Microsoft Surface duo is a glimpse of the future!

So now back to the present. Let us go deeper into knowing the features, major pros, cons and more of the surface duo.

To start with, let me address the firsts. This is the first:

  • foldable phone from Microsoft
  • dual screen pocketable device
  • 360 degree hinge
  • razor slim

These are the feats achieved by just the release of the phone. I’ll tell you why it is genuinely being applauded, one word: Multitasking.

Multitasking

In this busy generation, world cannot function without multitasking. Many of us would’ve seen dual monitor setups being used to improve multitasking capabilities and to improve productivity. Instead of such bulky setups, Microsoft Surface Duo achieves all of this and still can fit into a pocket. Pretty great right.

You can now be chilling to the lyrics of your favorite song on one screen and going through your calendar for the next week. You can watch you video lectures on one screen and take notes in the other. The combinations are huge!

To support this sort of multitasking, Microsoft provides various modes to view the screens.

  • Single screen mode – where it can be used like any other normal smartphone
  • Tent mode – for 2 people watching simultaneously
  • Span mode and more

A Dual monitor setup
A Dual monitor setup

  • Surface Duo double screen
    The dual screens allow multitasking. Left screen with spotify, right screen with mail box opened. 
Is it worth the hype?

To be honest, the answer is disappointingly no, considering common users. Due to the dual screen, an extra layer of hand gestures are added the name of enhancements which only make it more complex. For one screen you have to remember to double tap to wake the screen, remember gestures for opening certain features, to switch apps between the two screens. All of it makes the user interface difficult.

All basic features that other phones have, like camera, speakers, battery performance are all second generation here. Some drawbacks observed are:

  • Confusing Software
  • Basic features- Second generation
  • No 5G
  • No headphone jack
  • No wireless charging
  • Camera and Speakers- Not so good for a high end phone
  • Expensive ($1500/INR 1.7Lakhs)
  • Battery drain due to dual screen

Hence it has many drags and hiccups as it is still in the research and developmental stage.

What to expect in the future?

Even though it suffers from major functionality issues, Microsoft took the big leap. It has set foot in a new field which requires more exploration. But it is sure that in the future all giant brands will release a range of foldable phones. And one more exciting news is that the Surface Duo 2 is said to be released this year. Hopefully the major drags of the previous version are rectified in Duo 2 and meanwhile all we can do is wait for the future of foldable phones unveil before us.

IIT Bombay’s convocation ceremony goes virtual

Avatars attended graduation and not let the spirits get dampened by the current pandemic. The students of IIT Bombay showed their technical talent at their virtual reality graduation ceremony held on Sunday, 23 August 2020. Over 2000 graduates attended this ceremony as their own digital avatars. The University created avatars for each student, faculty members and speaker. In computing World Avatar is a digital representation of a person or character. This word had been taken from the concept of Gods having various forms in Hindu mythology. In Sanskrit, Avatar means Descent. In Hindu mythology when Gods come on to Earth, they take different forms of life and these forms are known as Avatars. We can think of VR as near reality. Virtual Reality uses technology to create an experience that seems real but is not actually happening. It stimulates an Environment and users can interact with 3D objects and living things in this virtual environment. Student avatars walked on the podium to receive their diplomas. Afterwards, these students even interacted with each other. Classmates and Colleagues virtually explored the campus. The Director of IIT Bombay, Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri hoped that this effort will inspire Engineers to think big and think innovatively. His words: “providing a virtual reality experience to all our graduates needed not only highly innovative steps but also a tremendous effort by our professors and staff.” Director Subhasis Chaudhuri said students should not be disadvantaged of a convocation ceremony. “The process involved a lot of planning and technology implementation,” he said. With two months contribution and hard work of a team of 20 resulted in making the virtual convocation a reality. The event live telecasted on DD Sahyadri Channel, Institute’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Live telecasts commenced with speeches and one student saw each from different categories collecting medals and degrees virtually with their names and photos. A mobile application is designed specially only for IIT Bombay students in which they can see their animated personalized avatars graduating and getting his or her degree. IIT Bombay has taken the health of the students as their first priority besides understanding their needs and emotions. “The Institute thought it best to arrange such a VR-convocation for the graduating students so as not to put their health at risk but at the same time, not deprive them of the sense of achievement and pride of passing out of India’s premier engineering Institute,” IIT-Bombay said. By seeing IIT Bombay’s great Innovation, in his speech, Stephen A. Schwarzman said, “India occupies a unique position in the world today, especially when it comes to technology, where it has established global leadership through its talent. Of the 72 Indian-origin engineers who have founded unicorns across the world, 50 per cent are IIT alumni. IIT engineers are defining the global technology landscape and the newest alumni will be the next generation of future global leaders who will advance that mission”. He further said, with a young, ambitious and tech-savvy population, a forward-thinking government that supports entrepreneurship, and the fourth-largest start-up ecosystem in the world, India is poised to stake its claim as one of the world’s great innovation hubs.” Virtual Reality is a wonderful and innovative technology that is able to spread smiles on IIT Bombay graduates without depriving them from their achievements.