![]() Post contributed by Peter Ludolph As technology has advanced, face-to-face communication has, for many people, diminished. We instead find ourselves using things like Facebook Messenger, text messaging, and e-mail as our primary means of communication. However, as we continue to advance, we can also see that face-to-face virtual communication sits at the forefront of the next technological revolution in communication. Products like Google Glass, Oculus, and today's feature, Microsoft HoloLens, will be leading the charge in this new form of communication, a form that has been anticipated for decades and may finally come to fruition. The three superpowers of wearable virtual technology have been hard at work developing their products. Google, with its Glass technology, has tried to make a wearable lens that can take the practicalities of technology on phones and computers and cram it all into a wearable and physically cooperative headset, in the form of glasses. Google hopes that Google Glass is something that a person can interact with and use in practically any setting. Oculus has a product called the Oculus Rift, and has tried to create a virtual reality headset primarily used for gaming. However, Oculus has another product, the Gear VR, that can be coupled with newer Samsung phones to create a virtual reality experience using only the phone. Lastly, Microsoft has recently developed the HoloLens, which in some ways bridges the gap between Google Glass and Oculus Rift. The Microsoft HoloLens functions as both a device for work and play. It has more advanced optics than Google Glass and a more sleek design than Oculus Rift. With a technology like Microsoft HoloLens, the world of digital communication that we experience now will change drastically. It is a transition from an onscreen experience to one in which we are immersed. The digital experience will move beyond the boundaries of a screen and a device; instead, it will be an experience in which we are physically active participants. People will interact with their documents with a wave on an arm. A person will be able to set up a virtual living room and have their physical environment become intertwined with a digital environment. A teacher will be able to create drawings in mid-air to students in order to help visualize a concept. The potential of this product is staggering, so the anticipation is high. It is yet to be seen whether this technology can live up to its hype. Previous technology such as Google Glass at first seemed revolutionary. However, after some time it was deemed by many users to be impractical. The HoloLens is still largely in its developmental stages, with the first prototypes being released in early 2016. In virtual imaging technology, we are only just now reaching the edge of the technological sophistication that is needed for this sort of product to exist. With companies like Microsoft and Google at the forefront of development, there are sure to be some interesting developments in the coming years. As this technology becomes more prominent, I think that we will see a shift in how we communicate. Through these systems we will communicate through a different digital perspective that is tied much more closely to our natural person-to-person conversation style. Not only will our communication change from person-to-person with this technology; we will also change how we communicate with digital technology and computerized systems. There will be a much more collaborative system linking humans and their technology as we see the virtual world take shape. Below are Links to the Oculus Rift, Google Glass, and Microsoft HoloLens websites. https://www.oculus.com/en-us/ https://www.google.com/glass/start/ https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us
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![]() Post contributed by Amanda Bagnall-Newman Today’s age is filled with a variety of technology within our reach. From where I sit, I can reach my iPhone, iMac, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 2DS, Tablet, Bamboo Pen, Underwater Camera, Graphing Calculator, and my digital alarm clock. This is more technology than my grandfather ever used in his lifetime, all at my fingertips. Americans are wired to their smartphones, tablets, and other tech devices. This isn’t necessarily bad. I personally enjoy my tech lifestyle (having Yahtzee on my phone has been the greatest). Now, what is the closest living thing to us humans (other than ourselves)? Our pets! I love my babies! My family has five lovable outdoor cats and two mutt-weilers (Rottweiler/mutt mix), and we love them to the ends of the Earth. And I am sure I am not the only person who loves their pets. So why not share our lavish tech-savvy lifestyle with our beloved pets? I've found an article that addresses this very question: Why your cat needs an iPad. Welcome to the year 2015, where we have so much amazing tech laying around our house that we don’t use, so we give to our pets. A whole new line of apps are popping up that market towards our cats and dogs. No longer do we have to touch that slimy tennis ball or the dead mouse off the carpet; we have an app for that. Go Dog Go has released a fetch machine that launches balls for a dog to chase. The dog can be trained to reload the launcher and play to his heart’s content. Your dog is a strong, independent animal and doesn’t need a human to throw the ball for it. One problem, my neighbor had a dog that would play fetch till it would pass out from exhaustion. That dog lived for the chase: the tennis ball chase. Imagine if your dog ran itself to death because you weren’t around to stop it. Wouldn’t this then seem like a bad idea? The article mentions a great point; Americans live such a busy lifestyle that we can’t always provide the attention our pets deserve. This is understandable. When I get home from my night shift in the summer, my kitten will go crazy for attention, even hopping in the shower with me (freaked me out the first time, but we’re cool now). So how can we solve this problem? Provide our critters with a new form of entertainment: iPads. But the bigger issue is this. Technology is creating a communication gap between humans and our pets. Instead of your dog being excited to see you when you come home, he gets excited to see you take out an iPad. While we provide entertainment for our pets with these new devices, they will slowly replace us. There are already machines that feed animals automatically, provide a constant stream of fresh water, and even clean out the kitty litter box. The only connection we have left with our babies is love and affection, but yet again, we have an app for that. ![]()
Post contributed by Amanda Smith
According to AT&T, 70 percent of drivers look at their smartphone while driving. Common activities include texting (61 percent), checking email (33 percent) or social media (40 percent), and surfing the net (30 percent). In 2010, AT&T’s It Can Wait viral campaign was launched. It started with a focus on raising awareness about texting and driving in 2011 before shifting to what can be done to pass the message on in 2012. Then it shifted to advocacy in 2013 and became a social movement. According to FleishmanHillard, “The movement had two main goals: 1) reduce the number of automobile crashes caused by texting while driving, and 2) spur advocacy to show that texting and driving is as dangerous as drinking and driving.” Today, the focus of It Can Wait encompasses all these ideas, and has grown to include distracted driving as a whole instead of focusing on the texting part. There are several components to this campaign, which include mini documentary and simulated advertisements on YouTube and TV; online and physical driving simulators that show what can happen when one uses their phone while driving; and an app for some Android and Apple smartphones that sends messages to people trying to reach the driver that he or she is currently driving and cannot answer the phone. The heart of this campaign is online through students, parents, celebrities, politicians, etc., who use #itcanwait with their online posts. However, more than 500 events also occurred nationwide offline in 2014 to spread the message. In Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker has made October Distracted Driving Awareness Month. In addition, 25 schools throughout Wisconsin will have an event during this school year that will educate students on the danger of driving while distracted, which will also include the use of a simulator to show students what happens when one is behind the wheel and on their phone. “When we launched the It Can Wait campaign five years ago, our message was simple – no text is worth a life,” said Scott T. VanderSanden, president of AT&T Wisconsin, in a Fox 6 News article. “The same applies to other smartphone activities people are now engaging in while driving. We are urging people to please keep their eyes on the road and not on their phones.” More than 7 million people have now taken the pledge. Will you take a stand to stop distracted driving? Go to http://www.itcanwait.com/all to learn more about It Can Wait, take the pledge, or start your own advocacy program. For the longer version of the video, please check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVnRcIXEqaU. Post contributed by Serina Jones
The Apple company is currently dealing with controversy in China. The newest iOS 9 software update gave Apple customers the benefit of receiving news sent right to their devices. The News app works in the favor of anyone who has access to it, simply because one is able to access any kind of news they want. When the app is opened for the first time, the customer is able to choose what kind of news they want to receive and what source they want to receive that news from. Now, the problem is that China has no access to the News app. This is because of China's firewall that prohibits anything that is not allowed in China. Sources say that the app is on Apple devices there, but customers in China just cannot receive news. It has also been stated that Beijing insists that companies censor the things the country does not allow before they bring their products out there. As of now, the News app only works in the United States, but is being tested in Australia and Britain. China is Apple's second largest source of revenue at this time, so the company is treading lightly with the moves they make concerning this app. ![]() Post contributed by Willie Franke On September 29, 2015, Google released two new smartphones to the world: the Nexus 5x and the Nexus 6p. The 6p is larger at 5.7 inches, and the 5x is 5.2 inches. The 6p has a 12.3 megapixel back-facing camera and an 8 megapixel front facing camera which, according to Google, takes “the best selfies in the world.” Another feature of the new phones is the ability to take slow motion videos with ultra HD 4K video. Google is also using a new fingerprint scanner to unlock the smartphones instead of having the classic unlock code used with previous phones. Google is using its own Android Marshmallow Operating System. I had no idea what this “Marshmallow” system was until I looked it up here. One feature of the operating system is called “Now on Tap.” It works when a user holds down the home button while on a page, prompting the system to highlight main words like places, celebrities, locations, and events. All the information taken from the text pops up in a little box on the bottom of the screen, and the user can send that information to another user or paste the location in the maps feature. I think the new operating system and phones are great additions to the technology and communication world. People today love documenting their experiences and keeping up with current news quickly. The new cameras on these phones and the new operating system help users get information faster and post better selfies or pictures of experiences. |
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