Exercise 9

What is augmented reality? How can it help us to navigate, discover things we don’t    know, or get more information about things we know

Augmented reality is a form of virtual reality. It is live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.

                It can help us to navigate by enhancing the effectiveness of navigation devices. To illustrate, building and traffic information can be displayed virtually to facilitate navigation. Outdoor navigation for military operations and disaster management can also be optimized.

                Google Earth is a program that uses augmented reality. Apart from discovering new places and finding out more precise information about places we know, augmented reality allows Google Earth to output traffic, people, and landscape.

                Augmented reality can also be used in sports. For example, in American football, the touchdown line is shown virtually, whereas the players are real-world elements. Similarly, in swimming, telecasts often add a line across lanes to indicate the position of the current record holder as the race proceeds, allowing viewers to compare the current race to the record-winning performance.

What is a QR Code and what is it used for?

                QR codes, Quick Response code, is a matrix (2D) barcode originally used in the automotive industry. However, it has recently become mainstream and is used for various purposes, especially in smartphones. QR codes may contain URLs, which upon scanning, opens a link. QR codes also contain information and metadata.

                QR codes are becoming increasingly popular, in June 2011, 14 million mobile users scanned a QR code. 58% of that figure was scanned from home, while 39% from retail stores.

Exercise 8

Compare Resistive Touchscreens and Capacitive Touchscreens in terms of technology, cost, power consumption, touch sensitivity, display quality, and abundant raw material. Can you name any other technologies used in touch screens besides these two?

Differences between resistive and capacitive touch screen:

Difference	Resistive Touch Screens	Capacitive Touch Screen
Technology	Two thin, electrically conductive layers separated by microdots. When touch is received, the two become connected and electrical current flows through, which are sent to the processor.	The glass panel is coated with a special material that is able to store an electrical charge. The partial charge transferred to the user is registered by the panel control.
Cost	Cheap	Expensive
Power Consumption	Low	High
Touch Sensitivity	Accurate when used with stylus or pointing objects but not sensitive with fingers.	Sensitive, enables multi-touch.
Display Quality	Low light output, diffused resolution	High Quality
Abundance of raw materials	Indium Tin Oxide- running out	Indium Tin Oxide- running out

Resistive Touch Screen

Capacitive Touch Screen

Another technology used in touchscreens is the Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW). It uses ultrasonic waves that pass over the touchscreen panel. When the panel is touched, a portion of the wave is absorbed.

Exercise 7

1.     What is a hologram? How can a hologram be used as an output device and/or a communication device?

A hologram is a technique that allows light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the original object is no longer present.

A hologram can be used as an input device by capturing static holographic images. However, recent advances in technology allows the scientists at University of Arizona to create holographic telepresence, capturing video holographs. Thus, communication in 3D with someone from around the world is now possible. Holograms, displaying images, are therefore considered output devices.

In fact, Disney, among other large corporations, has incorporated holograms into their services. For example, in Disneyland California, the haunted house has a room of dancing ghosts, which are in fact 3D holograms. Also, holograms are projected onto tracks of rollercoaster for a more thrilling experience.

When President Obama was elected, Will.I.Am, a performer who publicly was an Obama supporter, was interviewed by Anderson Cooper via hologram. Therefore, it can be said that the dreams of technological advancement we once had are now coming true.

2.     Are there any 3 Dimensional input devices? If yes, list and explain some of these devices and whether or not you expect them to be handy in the future.

3 Dimensional input devices exist. For example, the Nintendo Wii is a 3D input device because it depends on user motion and kinetics across a three-dimensional axis. Sixense also developed a 3D input device in 2008 that broke boundaries in the tech world, sensing not only the usual wrist flicks and arm motion, but also whole body movements. The president of Sixense even invited developers to come up with more creative ways of using the technology.

I expect 3D input devices to be handy in the distant future, but not for the next couple of years. This is because the technology is not yet refined, and as of yet, still a bit cumbersome. As it is now, it still will not outwrestle the keyboard and mouse as standard household input devices.

Exercise 6

Universal Serial Bus (USB) became a phenomenon in the late 1990s and is still the platform of communication of choice for most hardware manufacturers. Explain in brief the history of USB, the versions of USB, and how can we use USB for input/output.

                In the past, connecting peripheral devices to computers often caused a dilemma. This is because there were too many different port types, such as serial, parallel, and PS/2. Also, peripheral devices did not support hot-plugging and automatic configuration. The introduction of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) in 1995 solved all those problems, introducing fast, low-cost, hot-pluggable Plug and Play hardware. USB allows the user to connect a wide range or peripheral devices, including keyboards, mice, printers, scanners, mass storage devices, cameras, and audio devices. The USB used only memory buffers in the USB system software. This user-friendly device was very popular among consumers. It soon became the default in the tech industry for connecting PCs and laptops.

            The USB was developed by companies such as Compaq, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft, and DEC, joined later on by Hewlett-Packard, Lucent, and Phillps. These companies together formed USB Implementers Forum, Inc. (USB-IF) as a non-profit corporation to publish specifications, provide support, and maintain a forum for the advancement of USB technology.

            USB 1.0 was released on January 15, 1996, featuring a low-speed transfer rate of 1.5MB/s and full-speed transfer rate of 12MB/s. Shortly after, a revision 1.1 was released on September 23, 1998. This was the first widely used version of USB. In April 2000, USB 2.0 was released.  It wowed users with a high-speed transfer rate of 480MB/s. Then in November 2008, the USB was vastly improved, with data transfer rates of up to 5GB/s. Recently, a SuperSpeed USB has been rumored to be in development.

            USB devices can be used as input devices in the form of keyboards and mice. A leader in such technology is Logitech, being the user favorite for these input devices. Most of these devices use USB connections. Another USB input device is printers and scanners. On the other hand, USB devices are also commonly used for output devices. This is in the case of speakers, monitors, and projector screens.

            It is obvious that USB is one of the most used hardware devices in the computer world, and it does not look like it is going to be replaced anytime soon.

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