Emerging Technologies: Enhanced by Open Source
Here are five more emerging technologies that open source developers need to closely watch, and contribute to, in 2014.
Emerging technologies need innovation, and what better route to innovation nirvana than the open way! Open source technologies enable people from across the globe to innovate, contribute and enhance emerging technologies, eventually making them mainstream. In the previous issue, we featured five such emerging technology trends to watch, and contribute to, in 2014. Here are five more.
Putting Android to Bigger Use
Trend: Android, the Linux-based operating system for touch devices, smartphones and tablets, needs no introduction! It has earned a lot of fans because of the extremely large collection of free and open source apps available for Android users. You also have the ability to use the Android platform for various location-based sensor networks, home automation and social innovations. It is used for fitness apps, navigation and other location apps, social groups, and more. Android is also useful beyond the mobile space, in embedded applications such as smart TVs, cameras, wearable computing devices, gaming consoles and car infotainment solutions. The success of Texas Instruments’ Beaglebone and Google’s projects such as Android@Home, Google Glass and Google TV showcases this trend. The most interesting development, however, is Android’s growing acceptance in the enterprise space. With beefed up security features such as device encryption, the platform is growing as an effective tool for connecting employees with enterprise solutions, while on the go.
Trend+: I know somebody who uses an Android-based app to stealthily switch off the set-top box when his son has been glued to the TV for too long. But, that’s only the tip of
the iceberg. Here is what happened when a professor at St Joseph’s, a small Indiana college, decided to work towards the goal of ‘Android for everyone’! Using low-cost, refurbished or used Android phones, a small team of computer science students at the college started an outreach program for the local community. The team used the Android smartphones as the primary target platform for introductory programming classes, started programmes to collect historical images with embedded geo-location and sensor-provided data, offered real-time field access to USDA soil surveys and classification data, and enabled the recording of audio and video for a variety of media-distribution purposes. The team loaned the phones to economically-challenged people through a local café, whose owner provided free Wi-Fi to clients. So, the phones served multiple purposes for the local population—as sensors, media and data collection tools, and as a gateway to the WWW and its treasures.
The success of Beaglebone is another notable example of the versatility of Android. BeagleBone is an embedded computer platform based on an ARM Cortex-A8 processor that runs Android 4.0 and Ubuntu software. It has been used for a range of interesting projects such as underwater robots, 3D printers, a dirty dish detector and a real-life Iron Man suit! The Android platform is also popular for in-car infotainment systems. Parrot Asteroid was an early example. More recently, Clarion launched AX1 and Mirage, which run Android 2.3.7 and 2.2 respectively and feature GPSbased navigation, a 16.5 cm (6.5-inch) screen and options for wireless data access.
So we could say that the most significant recent milestone in Android’s journey is its acceptance in the enterprise application space. A survey conducted by cross-platform tool company Appcelerator in Q3 of 2013 indicated that the enterprise arena is slipping away from Microsoft, while acceptance for Android is growing and iOS is the number one priority for IT decision makers in enterprises. In a related press report, Nolan Wright, cofounder and CTO at Appcelerator, mentioned that one of the reasons for the increasing interest in Android could be Android’s strong overall market share, and with the current bring-your-own-device (BYOD) culture, enterprises have to build apps for multiple platforms.
Sharing the BIG stuff
Trend: If cloud computing is one way of sharing, highperformance computing (HPC) resource sharing is another. A lot of HPC infrastructure is Linux-based, and predominantly open in nature, which enables it to be shared by more than one research team. While some are owned by the government and shared by the sub-agencies, some are owned by universities and shared by the labs, and yet others are rented out by service providers. In any case, it would be a sin to spend so much on a HPC setup and not share it. So, ‘open’ is the way to go!
Trend+: Universities such as Yale have several HPC clusters available for faculty research. These clusters are a shared Linux environment with most of the popular applications, compilers and programs to support intensive research. So do research organisations like the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). Last year’s hyped news about CERN researchers discovering a subatomic particle travelling faster than light was also the result of resource sharing to crunch Big Data at CERN. Its HPC setup enabled thousands of scientists from over 100 countries to come together to collaborate on pathbreaking research—something that would have been impossible without an open platform. They used Apache Hadoop running on an open cloud and grid infrastructure, to analyse over 20 million GB of data produced each year by a mammoth structure called the CERN Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. Such open platforms can prove beneficial for other fields of research too, especially drug discovery and medical research, which is often carried out in secret, by industry leaders!
Wear your tech
Trend: From being carried in bags, now technology has evolved to a state where it is being worn. And we are not just talking about medical aids like pacemakers, but about trendy watches, pendants, wristbands and other such accessories, which have embedded systems performing significant tasks. Wearable devices help in a variety of ways—to monitor a person’s health; evaluate their exercise routine, diet or sleep patterns; track their location, deliver new gaming or travel experiences through augmented reality, for communication, or just to run simple applications.
Trend+: There is a lot of wearable technology being used by the army. In fact, soldiers’ jackets are now smarter than many of our phones! The other key application areas are fitness and healthcare. Some of the popular products in this category are Nike Fuelband, Fitbit and MyBasis. Slowly, wearable devices are being used in industries as well. For example, Google glass-based devices for miners and architects, or touch-sensitive gloves for surgeons. Other wearable devices help caretakers keep an eye on children or the elderly, by tracking their movements.
Generic or otherwise, wearable devices are a challenge to design. Designers have to always remember that the device has to be worn by a human, comfortably. It should neither be too bulky nor too hot. Similarly, it should be safe. These basic requirements greatly influence the design goals of wearable tech devices.
Wearable technology requires very low-energy, battery-powered components to minimise heat dissipation and provide extended battery life. Size is another factor that needs to be taken into consideration. For instance, the
chip required to enable augmented reality in sunglasses will be a lot smaller than that of, for example, a mobile phone. Miniaturisation is becoming increasingly feasible, thanks to micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and the development of cost-efficient batch fabrication techniques for their manufacture. MEMS are making it possible to integrate components such as microprocessors, sensors and radio communication circuits into a single integrated circuit (IC) or system-on-chip (SoC).
Open source platforms will play a key role in developing and deploying wearable technology, just as in the IoT, for much the same reasons. Only if the data from the device is accessible and users are able to harness it using multiple applications, will it be attractive in the long run. If the data from a device is always to be used only with a proprietary app, it will not be so much fun after a while!
3D printing—everything from spare parts to model planes
Trend: 3D printing has given wings to the dreams of many a do-it-yourself enthusiast! Interestingly, the cost of 3D printers has dropped significantly in the past few years. Previously, professional 3D printers used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, putting them out of the reach of individuals, hobby groups and colleges. However, now it is possible to own 3D printers like the MakerBot Replicator 2 for about $2,200.
The viability of 3D printing has emerged in tandem with the advancement and democratisation of 3D design or CAD software, which allows users to easily create a digital 3D model of an object and optimise the design before anything has been built. The combination of these two technologies—3D design software and 3D printers— means that it is easier for individuals to convert an idea for a product into a physical object.
Trend+: There is a lot of open source activity in the 3D printing space. From design software and product designs, to the design of printers themselves, a lot of material is open sourced. RepRap, for example, is an open source self-replicating 3D printer, using which you can 3D print the parts and make more printers! According to the team, “RepRap was the first of the lowcost 3D printers, and the RepRap Project started the open source 3D printer revolution. It has become the most widely-used 3D printer among the global members of the Maker Community.”
A more recent innovation that has been open sourced, following the path of RepRap, is a 3D metal printer unveiled by Michigan Technical University in December 2013. Unlike current 3D printers that use plastic and similar materials for printing, this sub-$1500 machine can print sturdy metal parts. The parts used in the device include a small commercial MIG welder and an open source microcontroller. According to news reports, the printer is still a work-in-progress, but the team believes that it will be perfected very soon, once the vibrant open source community gains momentum. Everything required to build the printer, including detailed plans, software and firmware, is freely available.
Likewise, there is no dearth of 3D design tools such as FreeCAD, Wings3D, Seamless3D, and such. You can also find countless 3D designs to print on the Web, ranging from 3D greeting cards and toys to model airplanes. As a starting point, you could look up Makerbot or Thingiverse.
The more the merrier, in gaming too
Trend: Gaming is serious business these days. There is a lot of activity in this space, and people are spending big money on it! Understandably, open source principles and technology have pervaded gaming too. From open source games, to game design tools and console designs, there are loads of open source resources for game makers and players too. Open source games, generally made using open tools and open source software, are available not just for the Linux platform but for Windows, Mac, Arduino and other platforms too. While some games are just-for-fun, others are made with serious goals, such as sending across a serious social message or designing a serious strategy game for a well-defined target audience.
Trend+: Generally, making a game calls for selecting a game engine, a graphics engine, an AI framework, graphics tools, game design tools, sound tools, version control, project tracking, development IDE, and packaging and build tools. All these are available in the open source repertoire. In a wonderful article, Casper Bodewitz explains how he chose open source tools for each of these categories when building the strategy game Tenshu General (http://www. gamasutra.com/blogs/CasperBodewitz/20130913/198043/ Open_source_tooling_try_it_before_you_buy_it.php). There are also full-fledged game development tool chains and cloud-based platforms.
One interesting tool for 3D game development is Panda3D, developed by Disney and maintained by Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Centre. The Panda3D game engine is a framework for 3D rendering and game development for Python and C++ programs. It is open source, and can be used for even commercial ventures due to the liberal terms of its licence.
Ogre is another notable open source 3D graphics rendering engine for making fantastic games. Other good open source game engines to test would be ObjectOriented Graphics Rendering, Quake 3, Crystal Space and Irrlicht Engine.