Innovation & Me Being Judgmental

I was once told that “the science of knowing what conventional logic is wrong about” is a great marketing strategy. But now I know that non-conventional logic is not necessarily always astounding.
  

Can a new Samsung TV idea which can turn from vertical to horizontal and back again be classified as an innovation? 

Haven’t we seen this happen before in our iPad and all other tablets! Agreed that millennial and gen z love their tablets but is that a good enough logic to assume that they will love to have their TV doing the same.

But why sweat about a TV after all? How many of the young people watch the box these days. TV does not provide the privacy of space and contents that is so dear to them.

I am certain that no theory of innovation can justify launching this creation of Samsung. We know that time will deliver the final verdict and rest assured that the wait will not be that long.

While this vertical TV doesn't excite me, I have seen a fantastic use for a vertical screen elsewhere that shakes the very foundation of innovation of use.

These are the the Smart mirrors, which are also called smart displays or MemoMi Labs Digital Mirrors that Neiman Marcus installed in 34 locations in 2017. 

This emerging technology which combines Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will definitely change of future of retail and makes the virtual shopping  experience I have been waiting for not so distant affair.Check here

The luxury retailer also installed MemoMi sun-glass mirrors in partnership with Luxottica, the eye-wear company.

Siri, Cortana, you and the machine next door

Are you one of those who gets psyched by the dominance of Artificial Intelligence in our lives and scared that they will very soon take over the world? Well this is entirely possible and in this post I am going to show you how it could happen. But ever wondered the voice behind Siri and Cortana are of real persons of flesh and blood? I will introduce them to you towards the end of this article. If you are women, then you more susceptible to voice theft. It has been scientifically proven that people are more likely to take instruction from a female voice and it might start from birth.

We have been obeying machines voice instructions through answering machines, telephones, banking systems, ATM machines etc. It has been one way communications as we were always in the “listening end”.  But then came Siri along and usehered in yet another Apple initiated makeover to our world. At the beginning, both Google and Microsoft ridiculed Apple’s idea of voice assistant but both companies quickly dropped their objections and copied Apple. The rest is history as they say!

Artificial Intelligence and machine learning is increasingly becoming the backbone of everything from self-driving car to virtual assistants. Recently Google’s Sundar Pichai had demonstrated how google assistant could fix a saloon’s appointment or secure a restaurant reservation. If you have read Dan Brown’s latest book, “The Origin”, then you have already met Winston and experienced his prowess.

Susan Bennett has been talking for the machines for decades. She has spoken for ATM machines, airlines, movies and list will go on. In this interview she explains how she has recorded for 4 hours for a period of a month without having any clue that she would end up becoming the voice for Siri. Jennifer Lee Taylor, an American voice actress has given her voice to Microsoft’s Cortana. Similar to Susan, Jen too recorded short sentences over a period of time. Now the machines synthesizes those short sentences to form their answers for whatever questions that we might ask.

One day in the near future, a rogue machine would coerce you to lend your voice. Then synthesize that to form sentences of its own to take over your family, your friends and finally your life. Someone might be already recording your telephone conversations secretly for that very purpose.