Vaughan Davies20762500Emergent Technologies

Group:Zoe Hall,

Sam Foote, Jenny Fraser, Basak Guler.

WHAT IS ‘EMERGENT TECHNOLOGY’?DEFINITION BY WEBSITES, DICTIONARY AND PERSONAL OPINION.

“In the history of technology, emerging technologies are contemporary advances and innovation in various fields of technology.” - Wikipedia (Article - Emerging Technologies)

“New technologies that are currently developing or will be developed over the next five to ten years, and which will substantially alter the business and social environment. These include information technology, wireless data communication, man-machine communication, on-demand printing, biotechnologies, and advanced robotics.” - BusinessDictionary (Emerging Technologies)

It is easy to tell, just by these two definitions, that the phrase; ‘emergent technology’ is an over-complication and generalisation of any form of advance in any field. That is not to say that any “new” invention can be called emergent, this label is only acceptable on something that contains a technology/ system/ function that has previously been nonexistent.

New technologies are regularly related to human evolution, which to some may seem illogical but for me is obvious. If humans can create a way to whisper to a friend a thousand miles away, that blatantly shows evolution.

To try and prove my point of relation between natural evolution and the use of emergent technology I will show the definition of evolution and compare the two.

DEFINITIONS.

DEFINITION - EVOLUTION.

PERSONAL OPINION.

ev·o·lu·tion (v-lshn, v-) noun. 1. A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form. See Synonyms at development. 2. a. The process of developing. b. Gradual development. 3. Biology a. Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species. b. The historical development of a related group of organisms; phylogeny.

ANALYSIS OF TERMINOLOGY.COMPARISON OF THE TERMINOLOGY OF EMERGENT TECHNOLOGY AND EVOLUTION TO FIND CORRELATION.

“In the history of technology, emerging technologies are contemporary advances and innovation in various fields of technology.”

ev·o·lu·tion (v-lshn, v-) noun. 1. A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form.

a. The process of developing. b. Gradual development. 3. Biology a. Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species. b. The historical development of a related group of organisms; phylogeny.

“Contemporary advances” is a phrase that means modern developments, growth within a particular sector. “Process of developing” and “Gradual Development”. These are phrases that could be used to describe emerging technologies.

The word “emerging,” in this context, means “Newly formed,” or “Appearing as prominent.” If we compare this to the evolutionary phrase I have highlighted we can show that, in technologies life-style, evolution does exist through processes of elimination, not only this, but natural selection exists in technology but it is a conscious selection in which humanism/ social trending/ necessity is the decider.

The only difference viewable from these examples seem to be the difference between technology, which is controlled and decided upon consciously and natural evolution which is random because of mutation.

SINGULARITARIANISM.This is when things get interesting.

Definition.“Singularitarianism is a technocentric ideology and social movement defined by the belief that a technological singularity—the creation of superintelligence—will likely happen in the medium future, and that deliberate action ought to be taken to ensure that the Singularity benefits humans.” Wikipedia - (Article - Singularitarianism)

Although this definition of the Singularity theory is somewhat inclined to mention the negative ‘side-effects’ that may come from the movement.

To put it simply, singularity is the point in technological evolution in which technology gets to such a rapid rate of evolution that it can self-evolve without decisions made by any human mind.

Obviously, due to film and tv, the idea of self-evolution (or AI, Artificial Intelligence) is frowned upon because of the apparent destruction of human race. But a Singulartarian (a follower or believer of the idea of singularity) takes steps to make sure this technology can be controlled in way that does not diminish the evolution of this technology.

Singularitarianism is also heavily connected to Transhumanism which is the movement of a positive want of transforming the human condition. Transhumanists and singularitarians are both inclined to think heavily on the impact of Singularitarianism on their own lives and possibly even start preparation which is predicted to be around the date of 2045.

Obviously, because of the magnitude of this supposed movement, it has a mass ‘cult’ following. There are philosophers and researchers that have delved into this subject as well as those who promote the movement.

One of the main “spokes-person” for the movement is Jason Silva who is known for his documentaries regarding this subject. I implore you, at this point, to watch this video [ www. http://W ] to fully understand the intensity of the singularity theory.

SINGULARITARIANISM [CONTINUED]WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE SINGULARITAN MOMENT?

Ironically, the Singularitarianism is not recognised by spell-check, which is a great example of how technology has evolved in a way to assist humans.

A question I want to try and answer is;

‘What will happen at the Singularitarian point?’

I will do this by looking into what is said by Silva and Kurzweil, as they are the ‘poster-boys’ for singularitarianism.

Jason silva says; ‘Ideas are just as real as the neurons they inhabit.’ This metaphor describes the effect that an idea can have. If you have an idea to af-fect the world the we can see, that idea has materialised itself from the image we see in our head to the real object that we can experience with other senses. This means that we have a constructive force within us to be able to imagine something that does not exist. Silva quotes Terence Mckenna by say-ing that when humans invented language, that is when biological evolution ceased and we began creating our own evolution through inventing ways to help ourselves survive.

In a Q&A with Silva [http://singularityhub.com/2012/09/25/singularity-hub-qa-jason-silva-shares-his-motivations-and-vision-with-members/ ] he says this;

“I think the Singularity is a great metaphor that suggests things will change DRASTICALLY. Technology bootstrapping on its own complexity is accelerating the rate of change exponentially- There’s a great line: “There used to be decades where nothing happens and now we have weeks when decades hap-pen.”… I think doing what we can to accelerate progress, to find ever more creative ways to transcend our limits, to elevate humanity further and farther is how we achieve our sense of cosmic heroism… Is using technology to build better technology and solve the grand challenges of humanity a means of dealing with our mortality? It certainly could be, but it doesn’t make it any less important.”

MY OPINIONBy reading his opinions on the subject and analysing what he has said, it is fairly clear that we cannot predict what the world will be when technology has reached this point. We can only speculate as to wether or not we will ever be able to overcome the questionably set way that nature has directed us. I believe that we will be able to connect ourselves to technology in a way that seems alien to us at this moment in time but will be the norm when the said technology exists.

WHAT WEBSITES SHOULD WE EXPECT?WHAT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO US IN THE FUTURE?

As an example of connectivity being visually presented, the website: (http://cinema-series.orange.fr/evenement/universeries/en/) has made something similar to what we will be trying to accomplish.

This website has tracked american t.v shows and has linked all of the creators and those who worked on the projects together in an aesthetically pleasing way.

CHOSEN BRIEF

D&AD Student Awards 2013

Digital BriefBrief set by: BBC

What does it mean to be ‘alive’ online?

BackgroundThe BBC is the world’s leading public service broadcaster. Its mission is to enrich people’s lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain.

BBC Online is unparalleled in delivering content and services beyond the expectations of its audience across ten products (BBC Homepage, Search, News, Sport, Weather, Knowledge & Learning, CBeebies, CBBC, iPlayer and Radio & Music) and four screens (Connected TV, Desktop, Mobile, and Tablet).

Traditional broadcasting uses ‘live’ as an output to connect the audience to events as they happen. Digital technology allows a ‘live’ output to become much more dynamic, multi-faceted and responsive, ie ‘alive’.

BBC Online also presents the broadcaster’s output through continuous access, with live updates, catch-up services and archive information all in one place. BBC Online want their service to be ‘alive’ to new information and for the context of their audience – mixing curation and participation.

Creative ChallengeHow might we turn otherwise static websites into pages that feel updated, dynamic and relevant? How should live updates sit alongside our archive and connect to the rest of the BBC’s content? The London 2012 Summer Olympics, the UK riots in 2011, Glastonbury Festival and the recent US election are all great examples of specific events that have been enriched by a multi-faceted live element – coming alive across all platforms, for all audiences.

Considerations• Consider the different audiences of

the BBC. What are the specific user needs and desires? Think about their key products and screens. Are there any common needs across multiple products?

• Will your idea be tailored to a particular audience or will you create a more ubiquitous solution that encompasses everyone’s experience?

• What are the different levels of audience participation and interactivity? E.g. social media, apps or second screen experiences.

• Think about current and future trends. Who will the BBC’s competitors be in five years’ time? What technologies will be available? How might audience behaviour have changed?

• Consider creating a service blueprint that brings to life how your proposal will work across different user journeys, screens, BBC products, and with editorial teams etc.

Target AudienceThe target audience for the BBC is very broad – you will need to consider how a large variety of people will engage with your idea.

MandatoriesThere is no need for code, just compelling communication of your vision. Include a convincing rationale that explains your focus and design decisions.

DeliverablesMain deliverable: Upload a presentation film of your work (max. 2 mins) or up to eight images showing your solution.

Optional supporting material for presentation film: Up to four images; interactive work (websites, widgets, apps, HTML, etc.); supporting information (up to 400 characters).

Optional supporting material for images: Interactive work (websites, widgets, apps, HTML, etc.); supporting information (up to 400 characters).

Keep any text on images to a minimum; supporting information can be entered online.

For full format specs and guidance, see ‘Formatting Your Entries’ on the next page. Work in formats other than those outlined will not be accepted.

DeadlineEntries for this brief must be submitted by Wednesday 20 March 2013.

#studentawards

How might we turn otherwise static websites into pages that feel updated, dynamic and relevant? How should live updates sit alongside our archive and connect to the rest of the BBC’s content? The London 2012 summer Olympics, the UK riots in 2011, Glastonbury Festival and the recent US election are all great examples of specific events that have been enriched by a multifaceted live element - coming alive across all platforms, for all audiences.

I will continue my research as normally but I will also keep the brief in mind.

Because of the massive target audience that the BBC has, I will have to figure out the age-range and class group of the general audience.

The target audience for the BBC is vary broad - you will need to consider how a large variety of people will engage with your idea.

Main deliverable: upload a presentation film of your work (max. 2 mins) or up to eight images showing your solution.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Television users - this could be any age, sex, race or job salary due to the availability. There is something for everybody with the BBC - and the BBC know this.

News followers - the BBC is very well advanced in its news delivery, as they should, being the first news channel

iPlayer viewers - because of the huge success of BBC iPlayer since its launch in September 2008, the BBC is fully aware that a lot of its audience watch, almost exclusively, content from iPlayer.

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE FOR THE BBC CHANNELS?

CLOUD SOFTWARE SIMILAR SOFTWARE The iCloud is Apples way of sharing content that has come from users and shares that content across the different platforms that the user has.

The Apple iCloud allows the user to upload pieces of content (Photos, songs, files) to a central server and have the ability to retrieve that piece of content using any one of the platforms that is connected to the iCloud (Mac, iPhone etc.)

There are multiple possibilities that are offered by Apple that allow the user the integrate all of their platforms, such as Photo Stream which allows the user the view photos from the iCloud and this can be done on smartphones, HDTVs and anything else that supports the iCloud software. Other services include; iTunes match, Find my Friends, Find my iPhone, Back to my Mac and a backup and restore service that allows the user to backup all of their information and content.

BBC WEBSITE The BBC site is neat, tidy and easy to manoeuvre. It is also clean and from what I can see, it has no malfunctions.

I do not think that it is the website itself that is calling for the remake, but the link between product and consumer is virtually nonexistent.

I will create my own account and see if there are any bonuses to signing up.

BBC WEBSITE - Analysis of ‘sign up’.

Immediatly after clicking the sing in button, I was taken to this page which is a completely different layout and design to the previous page. There is already a lack of continuity between pages, but it also reveals how solid the system is. ‘If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.’

There are two external ways of signing up with BBC, although this technology is not new, it is one of the leading ways to connect a viewer to a site.

Knowing that BBC is possibly Britains most trusted business, there is an expectation of professionalism and BBC is aware of this and has posted ‘We store your information securely, and we never share it without your permission.’ This is only there for peace of mind because it is illegal for BBC to do this anyway.

I was very surprised with the standard of the registration page. It felt almost rewarding when the box turned green. It is the most simple way to register and I believe it has been done well.

I also wanted to see what BBC would say if there was an error in the password boxes and I was told promptly and in a way that made me want to correct this situation.

BBC WEBSITE - Analysis of ‘sign up’.

Apart from getting your name/ email/ username at the top of the page, there does not seem to be much benefitto signing up to the BBC website.

BBC WEBSITE - Analysis of ‘sign up’.

I believe that the typical viewer of this site is currently viewed by the BBC as being ‘easy to please’ in the sense that they only need to make the website look good, it does not need to go any deeper. But, apart from iPlayer, there is nothing interactive about the BBC website.

I will redesign the website and create something that can connect the user to best parts of the BBC.

CONNECTING ON FACEBOOK

IDEA GENERATION

To get to our idea we decided to sit and talk through potential concepts and when we had got to the point where we had a great idea, Jenny would sketch out the necessary explanations for the group. These are her sketches.

OUR IDEA

CLOUD

PLATFORMCONSUMER USEDBY

SENDS CONTENT

This is our idea. We want to be able to give relevant content to the consumer and the only practical way to do this is by having a cloud-type system that can learn from regular use by the consumer. This is the first diagram to show this, but I believe there is a better diagram to show this.

There is the chance in this diagram for somebody to argue that this is copying Apples iCloud, and I will agree to an extent. The Apple iCloud receives information that has been sent by the user. This information is then stored and can be accessed through any Apple device that has iCloud enabled on it.

Our concept is different because instead of giving your information to the ‘BBC cloud’ and then accessing that information from a separate device, the BBC cloud will learn about what type of information you regularly look at and present to you related information and content from the BBC.

The difference will be that the BBC will give different (but relevant) information back to the consumer, where as the Apple iCloud gives back the same information that is put into it.

This learning idea will be structured by a BBC profile that you can log on to on a range of device platforms.

OUR IDEAThis is the better explanation of the diagram as opposed to what was on the previous page.

CREATING OUR IDEA

Vaughan Davies

Friends

Vaughan’s favourite content

Snog Marry Avoid? 4. Mel and Luke Makeunder show with Ellie Taylor and POD. Mel is transformed from punk to princess, while Luke’s bling is so minging that POD’s sensors go into overdrive.

Sam Foote’s favourite content.

Vaughan Davies Newport 10th December 1991. Male

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Our idea revolves around the concept of the BBC learning about what the consumer wants and to do this we will need to make something that houses the BBC profile whilst keeping the interactivity that we want. The best idea we had was to start with an online site, because of the already large use of iPlayer, and then bleed into other platforms.

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Some of the web’s most-visited porn sites are increasingly putting their visitors at risk of being infected by harmful software, a researcher finds.

Seoul says the evidence points to North Korean spies being responsible for cyber-attacks that disrupted work at six TV stations and banks in March.

Ubisoft takes its PC video games store offline after hackers find a way to download games for free including upcoming Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

Vaughan Davies

Friends

Vaughan’s favourite content

Snog Marry Avoid? 4. Mel and Luke Makeunder show with Ellie Taylor and POD. Mel is transformed from punk to princess, while Luke’s bling is so minging that POD’s sensors go into overdrive.

Sam Foote’s favourite content.

Entertainment

Sport

Science

Technology

Arts

Politics

Business

Weather

Vaughan Davies Newport 10th December 1991. Male

These two designs are our ideas for the localising of the profile. They work in the sense that there is space for content that can be recommended, although, these designs are not what we had in mind. We will re-design these and make them more consumer friendly.

THE TOOLBARThis toolbar was created by Sam and Zoe and is the main recurring theme within our designs. It holds all of the relevant options to make the experience within the BBC enjoyable, un-invasive and easy to manoeuvre.

This is the BBC ME notification icons, not indifferent to the notifications icon on Facebook. This is where all of your recommended content will be revealed to the consumer.

This is the help centre, every great website has a page that helps the user come to grips to its unique user face.

This is the Profile button, this takes you back to your profile page and from there you can manoeuvre throughout the website.

As well as a help centre, every website has a settings page where users can edit their details such as age, name and preferences.

Sam’s Feed

5 Following 8 Followers

Video News Sports Lifestyle Nature

Sam FooteNewportAdvertising Design

Sam’s Comments:

Vaughan Davies: Hey man have you checked out the new Dr. Who yet? Let me know when you have!

April 20th 2013 at 9.24 Reply

Vaughan Davies: I saw you were looking for stuff to do with global warming? Check out this link, it might be of use to you :)

April 18th 2013 at 7.45 Reply

Evidence of Global Warming:A Case Study.

6) The Voice Blind Auditions

5 Following 8 Followers

Video News Sports Lifestyle Nature

Sam FooteNewportAdvertising Design

BBC Me Voice Search: Help!

Evidence of global warming

Brian Cox speaks up about global warming

Africa - Sahara

Global Warming - The Debate

Bitesize Science:Global Warming

Wonders of the Solar System

The battle against Global Warming

Why are the ice caps melting?

Global Warming: What is being done?

‘Facts about global warming’ ‘environment’

Search Results:

Previous Searches:

Why are the ice caps melting?

‘Top environmental issues in the past decade’

April 4th 2013 at 3.41

Sam has no more previous search

results.

Top Related Search:BBC Blogs - Global Warming, the Missing Energy.

12

4

12

Sam FooteNewport

5 Following8 Followers

COMMEN TS

VAUGHAN DAVIES ‘Hey man, have you checked out the new Doctor Who yet?...’ READ MORE

VAUGHAN DAVIES ‘I saw you were looking for stuff to do with Global warming...’ READ MORE

YOUR CHANNEL

THE APPTo keep the multi-platform experience, we will need to create a face for access through smart phones and tablets. All of the same content will be available, just shaped differently to fit other platforms.

THE VIDEOIn order to show how all of the different parts of this project can work together, we will make a demonstration video that shows the BBCs coverage of the University name change. The video will show our user, Sam, going through his day and showing how he experiences the BBC ME software.

LINK TO VIDEO.