TIGER Talk Recap: 2018 Annual Technology Update With Buckeye Interactive

Written by Innovate New Albany@InnovateNA7 years ago

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Buckeye Interactive is the technology partner for Innovate New Albany. Buckeye Interactive stays up to date on technology, not just because it’s cool, but because it’s effective.

Brad Griffith, founder and president of Buckeye Interactive, attends the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas every year in January with his dad. CES is the world’s largest trade show covering 2.6 million square feet with more than 180,000 in attendance. Showcasing the latest technology, there is a broad range from home appliances, cell phones, virtual assistants, and medical devices. Brad was there to scope it out and give us an update for the 2018 trends in technology.

Brad opened with three learning objectives:

1. TRY – try one new technology this month
2. RECOMMEND – recommend one new piece of technology to someone whom it may benefit
3. LEARN – discover one new piece of technology that you’d like to learn more about

Upon arrival at the CES Central Hall, Samsung had an interactive booth where an attendee was snowboarding in merged reality. Merged reality is a trend emerging this year; as the body shifted on the actual snowboard, the Virtual Reality (VR) glasses configured with what his body was doing to match it with the VR display.

This year, CES didn’t focus as much on phones, tablets, 8k TVs, social media, or big data like they have in the past. There were seven themes that Brad did notice that he included in his TIGER Talk; read on.

Democratization — Everyone can have advanced technology today; it’s not just for “techies.” Technology isn’t exclusive. Everyone can use it, from kids to seniors.

Kano is a company that sells kits for kids to build their own tablets and computers. Seven-year-olds can put together their own tablets now and learn to code while they’re at it.

Robotics were popular and there were many robots that were kid-friendly. There were small robotic figures with sensors inside of them that kids can program to manipulate the robot’s behavior, bringing code into physical existence.

Anyone can get their DNA tested and affordably too with Orig3n. Have your cheek swabbed and find out how efficient your metabolism is, check out your genetic predispositions, or find out if you have food allergies. These tests start out around $30.

There was a direct to garment printer the size of a small table made by Ricoh. This is a great piece of technology for those in the clothing or graphic tee business.

Omnipresence — You can’t escape technology even if you want to. This may sound scary or really convenient depending upon your perspective. You can sync all of your devices including your phone, your TV, computer, and Amazon Echo. There’s a lot of this, for better or for worse.

From LG’s canyon of TVs to displaying football stats on the glass of a football stadium box, to charging devices wirelessly from transmitters in a room, there’s no escaping technology.

Accessibility — Separate but equal is not OK. Technology today is built with impairments and alternative user interfaces (UI) in mind.

Orcam is a pair of glasses with a camera on the edge. It sees what you see; it’s great for those who are visually impaired. Look at the page of a magazine and have the glasses read aloud to you. You can read over documents and that information can be stored. It’s fast, powerful, and safe. Any information you look at with the glasses remains contained within the device.

There was a kid-friendly magnifying glass with an augmented reality display. A kid sees a picture of a tiger and wants to know more about tigers; hold the magnifying glass over the tiger and a wealth of information appears providing answers to the curious child. This is making information more accessible to kids and can even be supportive for doctors wanting more information about a medical device.

Privacy & Security — Ubiquitous tech is as accessible to bad actors as it is intended users. Some consumers are scared of today’s technology. At CES, there were products being sold as “privacy doors” on webcams, Amazon Echo Show, and microphones on the Amazon Echo.

Modernization — Old companies, institutions, and people are getting onboard with modern tech so they aren’t left behind.

USPS, one of the most long-standing institutions in our country, has come a long way over the past few years. They now offer a free Informed Delivery service for every person with a residential address that will show you a photo of every piece of mail you are going to receive that day.

PUP, a hand-scanner, will scan your documents by lining up with them and will immediately drop them into Dropbox. This one is not on the market yet.

One device was an airbag for your hips. If you’re worried about breaking a hip, this is the device for you. You wear these airbags on your hips and with its sensors it will detect if your balance is off, predicting a fall, and will inflate the airbags to break the fall, preserving your hips.

Connected Home — Connect your devices, appliances, entertainment, and more with all of your devices. Control it from your home. Turn your lights off and on from your phone while you are on vacation to appear as if you were home. Look inside your fridge from the webcam inside when you’re at the grocery store. Ask your Samsung fridge to give you recipes with the ingredients in your refrigerator that are about to expire. Turn on your oven and stove top on your way home from work so your dinner is ready when you get arrive.

Quantified Self — The technology that brought you FitBit and Apple Watch is taking it to a whole new level.

Connected clothing has sensors all over it to take your body temperature and tell you about your fertility. With so many sensors, it will generate a 3D animation of you moving. This can be a great technology for actors and animators. Others are using it to collect data about the stresses on the body throughout the day for ergonomics studies.

There are single-use food allergy tests. Put the tester into your meal at a restaurant then plug the USB key into your phone and it will tell you if there’s any gluten in your food.

Afraid that one of your employees has the flu and could spread it through the office? Have your employee take a flu test by spitting on it and plugging in the USB key fob to your computer. Know within minutes if there is any type of influenza present.

Modius, a weight-loss device, sits on your head like a crown, stimulating nerves behind your ear. They say it can make you feel tipsy, but it’s totally safe.

A new Sleep Numbers bed was showcased that collects data about your sleeping; if you’re snoring, it will raise the bed in the relevant area to stop the snoring.

Overall, makers are striving to personalize technology.

So with all of this information and technology, where do you focus your attention?

1. Start small. Try a voice assistant technology like Amazon Echo.
2. Learn new things.
3. Don’t wait for technology to be perfect. See where it can make your life easier.

If you’d like to connect with Brad, you can find him on Twitter, LinkedIn, and next door to Innovate New Albany at Buckeye Interactive.

Watch Brad’s live presentation here.

Innovate New Albany, the city’s incubator for technology startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses, features 16,000 square feet of space within the New Albany Business Park’s Signature Office Building, 8000 Walton Parkway.