Unit-IV
Introduction to Emerging Trends
New technologies and initiatives emerge with each passing day. In order to understand the existing technologies and have a
better view of the developments around us, we must keep an eye on the emerging trends. Emerging trends are the state-of-
the-art technologies, which gain popularity and set a new trend among users.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
An intelligent machine is supposed to imitate some of the cognitive functions of humans like learning, decisionmaking and
problem solving. In order to make machines perform tasks with minimum human intervention, they are programmed to
create a knowledge base and make decisions based on it. AI system can also learn from past experiences or outcomes to
make new decisions
Example :- On uploading a photo on a social networking site, has it ever happened that your friends in the photograph
were recognised and tagged automatically? . These are some of the examples of application of Artificial Intelligence. The
intelligent digital personal assistants like Siri, Google Now, Cortana, Alexa are all powered by AI.
Machine Learning
Machine Learning is a subsystem of Artificial Intelligence, wherein computers have the ability to learn from data using
statistical techniques, without being explicitly programmed by a human being. It comprises algorithms that use data to learn
on their own and make predictions.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
The predictive typing feature of search engine that helps us by suggesting the next word in the sentence while typing
keywords and the spell checking features are examples of Natural Language Processing (NLP). It deals with the interaction
between human and computers using human spoken languages, such as Hindi, English, etc. it is possible to search the web or
operate or control our devices using our voice. All this has been possible by NLP. An NLP system can perform text-to-
speech and speech-to-text conversion.
Immersive Experiences
Immersive experiences allow us to visualise, feel and react by stimulating our senses. It enhances our interaction and
involvement, making them more realistic and engaging. Immersive experiences have been used in the field of training, such
as driving simulators flight simulator and so on. Immersive experience can be achieved using virtual reality and augmented
reality.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) is a three-dimensional, computer-generated situation that simulates the real world. The user can
interact with and explore that environment by getting immersed in it while interacting with the objects and other actions of
the user. At present, it is achieved with the help of VR Headsets. In order to make the experience of VR more realistic, it
promotes other sensory information like sound, smell, motion, temperature, etc.
Augmented Reality
The superimposition of computer generated perceptual information over the existing physical surroundings is called as
Augmented Reality (AR). It adds components of the digital world to the physical world, along with the associated tactile and
other sensory requirements, thereby making the environment interactive and digitally manipulable. Users can access
information about the nearest places with reference to their current location. They can get information about places and
choose on the basis of user reviews. With thet help of location-based AR App, travellers can access real-time information of
historical places.
Robotics
A robot is basically a machine capable of carrying out one or more tasks automatically with accuracy and precision. Unlike
other machines, a robot is programmable, which means it can follow the instructions given through computer programs.
Robots that resemble humans are known as humanoids. Robots are being used in industries, medical science, bionics,
scientific research, military, etc. Some examples are:
• NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission is a robotic space mission to study about the planet Mars .
• Sophia is a humanoid that uses artificial intelligence, visual data processing, facial recognition and also imitates human
gestures and facial expressions.
• A drone is an unmanned aircraft which can be remotely controlled or can fly autonomously through software-controlled
flight plans.
Big Data
Today, there are over a billion Internet users, and a majority of the world’s web traffic is coming from smartphones. The
current pace, around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created each day, and the pace is increasing with the continuous
evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT). This results in the generation of data sets of enormous volume and complexity
called Big Data. Big data not only represents voluminous data, it also involves various challenges like integration, storage,
analysis, searching, processing, transfer, querying and visualisation of such data. Big data sometimes hold rich information
and knowledge which is of high business value, and therefore there is a keen effort in developing software and methods to
process and analyse big data.
Characteristics of Big Data
Big data exhibits following five characteristics
(A) Volume- The most prominent characteristic of big data is its enormous size. If a particular data set is of such large size
that it is difficult to process it with traditional DBMS tools, it can be termed as big data.
(B) Velocity- It represents the rate at which the data under consideration is being generated and stored. Big data has an
exponentially higher rate of generation than traditional data sets.
(C) Variety- It asserts that a data set has varied data, such as structured, semi-structured and unstructured data. Some
examples are text, images, videos, web pages and so on.
(D) Veracity -Big data can be sometimes inconsistent, biased, noisy or there can be abnormality in the data or issues with the
data collection methods. Veracity refers to the trustworthiness of the data because processing such incorrect data can give
wrong results or mislead the interpretations.
(E) Value- Big data is not only just a big pile of data, but also possess to have hidden patterns and useful knowledge which
can be of high business value. But as there is cost of investment of resources in processing big data, we should make a
preliminary enquiry to see the potential of the big data in terms of value discovery or else our efforts could be in vain.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The ‘Internet of Things’ is a network of devices that have an embedded hardware and software to communicate (connect
and exchange data) with other devices on the same network.At present, in a typical household, many devices have advanced
hardware (microcontrollers) and software. These devices are used in isolation from each other, with maximum human
intervention needed for operational directions and input data. IoT tends to bring together these devices to work in
collaboration and assist each other in creating an intelligent network of things. For example, if a microwave oven, an air
conditioner, door lock, CCTV camera or other such devices are enabled to connect to the Internet, we can access and
remotely control them on-the-go using our smartphone.
Web of Things (WoT)
Internet of Things allows us to interact with different devices through Internet with the help of smartphones or computers,
thus creating a personal network. But to interact with ‘n’ number of different devices, we need to install ‘n’ different apps.
Wouldn’t it be convenient to have one interface to connect all the devices? Web of Things (WoT) allows the use of web
services to connect anything in the physical world, besides human identities on web. It will pave way for creating smart
homes, smart offices, smart cities and so on.
Sensors
What happens when you hold your mobile vertically or horizontally? The display also changes to vertical or horizontal with
respect to the way we hold our mobile. This is possible with the help of two sensors, namely accelerometer and gyroscope
(gyro). The accelerometer sensor in the mobile phones detects the orientation of the phone. The gyroscope sensors tracks
rotation or twist of your hand and add to the information supplied by the accelerometer. Sensors are very commonly used
for monitoring and observing elements in real world applications. The evolution of smart electronic sensors is contributing
in a large way to the evolution of IoT. It will lead to creation of new sensor-based, intelligent systems.
Smart Cities
The idea of a smart city is to make use of computer and communication technology along with IoT, WoT to manage and
distribute resources efficiently. The smart building shown here uses sensors to detect earthquake tremors and then warn
nearby buildings so that they can prepare themselves accordingly. The smart bridge uses wireless sensors to detect any loose
bolt, cable or crack. It alerts concerned authorities through SMS. The smart tunnel also uses wireless sensors to detect any
leakage or congestion in the tunnel. This information can be sent as wireless signals across the network of sensor nodes to a
centralized computer for further analysis.
Cloud Computing
We use cloud services while storing our pictures and files as backup on Internet, or host a website on the Internet.Through
cloud computing, a user can run a bigger application or process a large amount of data without having the required storage
or processing power on their personal computer as long as they are connected to the Internet.
Cloud Services
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)- The IaaS providers can offer different kinds of computing infrastructure, such as
servers, virtual machines (VM), storage and backup facility, network components, operating systems or any other hardware
or software. Using IaaS from the cloud, a user can use the hardware infrastructure located at a remote location to configure,
deploy and execute any software application on that cloud infrastructure.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)- Through this service, a user can install and execute an application without worrying about
the underlying infrastructure and their setup. That is, PaaS provides a platform or environment to develop, test, and deliver
software applications. Suppose we have developed a web application using MySQL and Python. To run this application
online, we can avail a pre-configured Apache server from cloud having MySQL and Python preinstalled. Thus, we are not
required to install MySQL and Python on the cloud, nor do we need to configure the web server (Apache, nginx).
Software as a Service (SaaS)- SaaS provides on-demand access to application software, usually requiring a licensing or
subscription by the user. While using Google doc, Microsoft Office 365, Drop Box, etc., to edit a document online, we use
SaaS from cloud. A user is not concerned about installation or configuration of the software application as long as the
required software is accessible.
Grid Computing
A grid is a computer network of geographically dispersed and heterogeneous computational resources.Unlike cloud, whose
primary focus is to provide services, a grid is more application specific and creates a sense of a virtual supercomputer with an
enormous processing power and storage. The constituent resources are called nodes. These different nodes temporarily
come together to solve a single large task and to reach a common goal.
Grid can be of two types —
(i) Data grid, used to manage large and distributed data having the required multi-user access.
(ii) CPU or Processor grid- where processing is moved from one PC to another as needed or a large task is divided
into subtasks, and allotted to various nodes for parallel processing.
Blockchains
We perform digital transactions by storing data in a centralised database and the transactions performed are updated one by
one on the database. That is how the ticket booking websites or banks operate. However, since all the data is stored on a
central location, there are chances of data being hacked or lost. The blockchain technology works on the concept of
decentralised and shared database where each computer has a copy of the database. A block can be thought as a secured
chunk of data or valid transaction. Each block has some data called its header, which is visible to every other node, while
only the owner has access to the private data of the block. Such blocks form a chain called blockchain.
A system that allows a group of connected computers to maintain a single updated and secure ledger. Each computer
or node that participates in the blockchain receives a full copy of the database. It maintains an ‘append only’ open ledger
which is updated only after all the nodes within the network authenticate the transaction. Safety and security of the
transactions are ensured because all the members in the networkkeep a copy of the blockchain and so it is not possible for a
single member of the network to make changes or alter data.
