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What is Computer Vision in AI and Machine Learning? Technology Upgrade

 What is Computer Vision in AI and Machine Learning?

 Computer vision is a field in artificial intelligence in computer science that aims to provide computers a visual understanding of the world.

It helps in building a machine, which has the ability to look at an image or video, understand that image/video & take relevant action.

We can say that, the goal of computer vision (is computer vision part of AI) problems is to use the observed image data to infer something about the world.

Machine with computer vision, contains algorithms that can track objects in video footage and reconstruct 3D models of them.

Many of us, must have heard of ‘Amazon Go’ stores. Here, one does not have to wait in long lines/queues for checkout/billing for the items purchased.

Here, using computer vision(computer vision of ai deals with), deep learning and sensors, machines identify the items picked, which were picked from the shelves, add it to virtual carts, and charge the amazon account.

The main aim of computer vision is to mimic human vision using digital images, using three main processing components executed one after the other.

  1. Image acquisition
  2. Image processing
  3. Image analysis and understanding

The scientific discipline of computer vision relates to the theory of artificial intelligence to extract information from images.

The image data can take various forms, such as a view from multiple cameras, video sequences, multidimensional data from a 3D scanner.

Computer vision Technology aims to apply its theories and models construction of computer vision systems.

Computer vision also includes scene reconstruction, object recognition, event detection, 3D scene modeling, motion estimation, video tracking, image restoration.

 

So let understand What is Computer vision in AI and How did it begin?

It started in the 1960s by universities that were studying artificial intelligence.

It was designed to imitate the human visual system robots could have intelligent behavior.

In the 1970s, the goal of the study was to achieve full scene understanding along with three-dimensional structures from an image.

The coming decade had a more rigorous analysis and quantitative aspect of computer vision. Concepts such as scale-space, texture, and focus.

By 1990, research in project 3D reconstructions got a better understanding of camera calibration, this further lead to the methods of 3D reconstructions options from multiple images.

There is a resurgence of feature-based methods in recent works, which is used in conjunction with machine learning techniques.

Deep learning techniques have brought new light to the field of computer vision. This is about What is Computer vision in AI , now

How it works

Computer vision needs lots of data (images/pictures/videos.).

It runs analyses of data over and over until it discerns distinctions and ultimately recognize images.

For a computer vision algorithm, pictures are arrays of color pixels that can be statistically mapped to a certain description. Image is stored as vector array in digital form.

With CV, machine tries to understand the content of digital images. This involve extracting a description from the image, which may be an object, a text description, a three-dimensional model, and so on.

Two essential technologies are used to accomplish this:

  • Convolutional neural network (CNN)
  • Type of machine learning called deep learning

 

ANN (Artificial Neural network) & CNN

An ANN refers to a network of interconnected, layered processing elements that work together to power computer vision. ANNs works almost same as the neural network configurations of the human brain. This allows the computers to see images/ videos and learn exactly what is in them.

The most popular architecture used for image classification is Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), which is a variant of ANN with convolution and pooling layers. 

CNN

A CNN helps a machine learning or deep learning model “look” by breaking images down into pixels that are given tags or labels. It uses the tags/labels to perform convolutions (a mathematical operation on two functions to produce a third function) and makes predictions about what it is “seeing.”.

 

As a human, when we see, say image from a distance, we try to figure out the contour of that image. Same way, here, CNN first discerns hard edges and simple shapes, then fills in information as it runs iterations of its predictions.

It is then recognizing or seeing images in a way similar to humans.

The neural network runs convolutions and checks the accuracy of its predictions in a series of iterations until the predictions start to come true.

A CNN is used to understand single images.

On the other hand, a recurrent neural network (RNN) is used in a similar way for video applications to help computers understand how pictures in a series of frames are related to one another.

An RNN can handle sequential data, accepting the current input data, and previously received inputs. RNNs can memorize previous inputs due to their internal memory.

Machine Learning 

Machine learning uses algorithmic models that enable a computer to teach itself about the context of visual data. Once enough data is fed through the model, the computer will “look” at the data and teach itself to tell one image from another. Algorithms enable the machine to learn by itself, rather than someone programming it to recognize an image.

 

Related fields to computer vision

Neurobiology

An important role is played by computer vision in the field of neurobiology. There has been extensive research on the study of eyes, neurons, and the brain structure involved in the processing of visual stimuli in both humans and various animals. This has led to a subfield in computer vision where the processing of different biological systems is mimicked.

 

Robotic navigation

Computer vision helps by providing information about the environment where a path is to be navigated.

Examples of computer vision Technology

Content organization

Computer vision helps us to organize our content. An example of this is apple photos.

The app can access our photo collections, automatically structures them, add text to them to create a more curated way of the best moments.

Facial recognition.

In biometric authentication, facial recognition plays a crucial role. Mobile devices are having face unlock applications. The front camera is used for face recognition; Based on the analysis of, (face) image , the device gives authorization to the person.

Augmented reality

Computer vision is a key element in augmented reality apps. AR apps identify physical objects in a given space and use this information to provide more data/information about the in the physical object.

Self-driving cars

Cars can make sense of their surroundings with the help of computer vision. In a smart vehicle, few cameras capture videos at different angles and send them as an input signal to the software. The video is processed and detect objects such as cars, traffic lights, pedestrian, etc.

Health

 90% of medical data which is used for diagnosis is in the form of an image. Image processing technologies such as  MRI, X-rays,  etc., have been proved beneficial. For instance, diabetic retinopathy can be detected with the help of computer vision algorithms. Cancer detection is also possible with its help. It is also possible to identify tumor regions by not getting confused with the normal areas which look like a tumor.

Sports

CV is helping various sport persons during their training, by recognizing activity patterns and analyzing the performance.

in case of gymnastics, the system could look into the performance of a gymnast, and prepare a report on the areas of improvements, strength, etc.

 

CV is also helping/improving referee decisions by tracking players/objects in sports.

Hawk-Eye system is used in Tennis, cricket & football.

As per Wikipedia

Hawk-Eye is a computer vision system used in numerous sports such as cricket, tennis, Gaelic football, badminton, hurling, rugby union, association football, and volleyball, to visually track the trajectory of the ball and display a profile of its statistically most likely path as a moving image

So, in Cricket, CV tracks the ball and predicts its trajectory. Based on that, the umpire can decide, whether a batsman was out ( LBW) or no.  

 

Agriculture

 Common agricultural problems such as weeds emergence or nutrient deficiency are managed with the help of computer vision.

CV helps in monitoring the health of plants. With CV, now we can prevent and control weeds, insects/pests as well as other plant diseases.

It also helps in monitoring the health of Cattle. By analyzing the behavior & body movement of animals, one can detect if a particular animal is sick.

Amazon Echo Look

 Amazon echo look is dedicated to fashion. It has a feature of voice-activated camera work, detailed cinematography for best pictures. AI components help you to choose from a wide range of clothing.

Document scanning

In almost all industries, various legal documents are required, while making any contract.

Those legal documents need to get signed by all parties involved in that deal.

As of now, one person has to manually check, whether the document is complete & duly signed by all parties. Now this work can be automated with CV. 

 

Some of the big players involved in CV are

Amazon, Chooch AI, Clarifai, Deepomatic, Google,IBM, Microsoft, Neurala and SAS.

Apart from these big players, I have listed below, some other players, who are creating new products, based on CV.

SenseTime

They are mainly in facial recognition technology.

Nauto

They work with commercial and autonomous fleets in order to reduce the number of collisions (thanks to advanced AI solutions).

Hawk-Eye Innovations

Operating mainly in the sports niche, Hawk-Eye is helping umpires, in taking better decisions.

It can track balls accurately using vision processing technology. If an official makes an incorrect decision, teams can challenge the call and the technology will provide a definitive answer.

Intello Labs

They are helping in agriculture. Now farmers can take photographs of specific crops & upload it to the Intello Labs database.

Depending on their needs, they can learn about weeds, pests, diseases, and more.

OrCam

OrCam is helping people, who are either fully or partially blind. With their product, consumers can read digital and printed text, recognize hand gestures, identify products in real-time, and pick out bank notes for payments.

Conclusion: What is Computer Vision in AI and Machine Learning

What is Computer Vision in Artificial Intelligence starts with the definition of Computer vision

Computer vision is a field that studies the theory and practice of processing digital images.

Computer vision has the power to change every field ranging from Health Care, security, gaming, and many more.

 

Computer Vision’s applications are much broader than they may first appear.

The field itself is also transforming, expanding its scope and finding new applications in domains as diverse as vision-based vehicle navigation, monitoring and analyzing the performance of computer systems and power grids, security systems, robotics, image-guided surgery, dentistry, and more.

Although privacy can be an issue here since our data is exposed to access by anyone, therefore, it can be concluded that computer vision has both advantages and disadvantages, but used vigilantly, it can help in changing the world.

Hope you got clarity on What is Computer Vision in AI and Machine Learning?

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What is Digital Therapeutics? Beginner’s Guide

What is Digital Twin ? Best Digital Twin Cases Studies that You Must Know.

What is Digital Twin ?

Digital Twin is a virtual representation of a physical object.

The idea of a Digital Twin is to take all the data collected from the physical device and translate it into a digital format.

A digital twin is a software simulation of a physical product that can be used to better understand its operation.

There are many advantages to the Digital Twin.

Digital twin acts as a real-time digital counterpart for the physical process.

It can be used to predict potential issues and failures in advance, and the simulation can then be refined and improved to control critical faults.

It combines physical data with predictive analytics to provide a digital representation of the product.

We can say that, the first practical digital twin model was introduced by NASA to help them in spacecraft simulation continuous improvement.

The digital twin concept has three parts:

The digital product,

The physical product,

and the connection between the two products.

The connection between the virtual/digital product and physical product is the data that passes from physical product to virtual/digital product and information that is available.

A digital twin is a logical construct, where the actual information and data are found in other applications.

 Further, there are three subcategories in digital twin per their level of integration. Digital shadow, digital model, and digital twin.

Examples of Digital Twins

  1. It is used to optimize the maintenance process of various heavy industry equipment. An example includes equipment used in power generation, aircraft/jet engines, generation turbines, and locomotives.
  2. 3D modeling also uses this technology to create digital companions of the physical object.

Digital Twin in the Energy sector :

Digital Twins are helping companies, who are having wind energy farms. These windmills are normally located at places, far away from the main city. The production of energy is dependent upon the local weather condition.

Also, the state/condition of the windmill is dependent upon the local weather. As of now, one is not sure how & when to run the wind farm due to the unpredictability of the weather (including wind direction, rains, storm etc.)

Also, what will be the average amount of energy generated per month.

By using digital twin technology, one can create a fully functioning replica of a wind farm and see which wind angles affect the turbine wings the most.

By gathering digital data that represents how much energy the wind farm generated during the past 6 months, one can successfully predict how much energy will be generated in the next 3 years by simulating the event in the future using digital twins.

Moreover, by monitoring the wear and tear damage that was caused by windstorms, one can simulate the same amount of damage to 10 wind energy generators and foresee the average lifespan of their wind farm.

This is helping in the proactive maintenance of windmills.

Aircraft

As of now, it’s very difficult to, know the lifespan of an aircraft.

The reason being, each aircraft, would have flown in different weather conditions, by different pilots to various different destinations.

It’s difficult to know, how long pilots can use an aircraft safely before the potential risk gets higher.

By creating a digital twin of an aircraft’s engine, pilots now have the ability to monitor engine health.

Also, by doing the simulation say for 5 to 15 hours (a normal flight time), one can find out the potential risk of the engine (or any other part of aircraft) experiencing a fatal failure in the near future.

Digital Twin in Manufacturing Industry

Digital twins are getting used in manufacturing plants, which rely on high-cost equipment. This equipment also generates a high volume of data which facilitates creating digital twins. Digital twins can help engineers test the feasibility of upcoming products before launching.

Construction

In urban planning, geographic digital twins are widely used as a new concept of smart cities is in Trend. 3D and 4D models are displayed of the urban cities for better understanding. Augmented reality systems are also used for designing and planning cities. For instance, AR can be used to create a building, maps, etc.

Healthcare industry

The concept of the digital twin is also getting used in equipment prognostics.

Life can be improved with the help of the digital twin in terms of Medical health, education, and sports.

It helps in getting a more data-driven approach to Healthcare.

With the help of Technology, it is possible to build personalized models for the adjustable patient and same can be tracked on Lifestyle parameters.

Automotive Industry

There is a remarkable improvement in the automotive industry with the help of digital twin technology.

Cost can be reduced with the help of digital twins by using the existing data and apply them.

A perfect example of digital twin technology in automotive is the simulation of, how cars will be driven/used in real life. By this process,

various failure conditions can be simulated & tried on ‘Digital Twin’ of the car.

Based on this, Engineers can suggest new features, which should be incorporated in the car to reduce road accidents.

Characteristics of digital twin technology

Few characteristics distinguish the digital twin from other Technologies.

Connectivity

Recent progress made in the internet of things has also helped in evolving the concept & usage of the digital twins.

One of the main characteristics of digital twin technology is connectivity, that is, the connectivity between the digital counterpart and physical component.

The connectivity is created with the help of sensors on the physical product, which collect data & help in making better digital twin models.

Smart and reprogrammable

Digital twin helps the physical product to be reprogrammable in many ways.

For example, data about the performance of an engine can be collected. Now this can be used to create a new version of the product.

Digital traces

While using digital twin Technologies, there are traces left.  These traces can be useful for engineers when there is malfunctioning in the machine.  The engineers can easily diagnose where the problem has occurred. This also help in improving the design of the machine so that malfunctioning can be reduced.

Modularity

 In the manufacturing industry, modularity means customization of a product and its production models.

Modularity to the manufacturing models helps in bringing small changes to the machine.

When the machines are made, modular digital twin Technology helps the manufacturer see which component performs poorly and replaces it.

This will help in rolling out ‘almost failure proof’ machines.

Conclusion: ABout Digital Twin?

The digital twin is an evolving term that is being used to describe a digital representation of a physical device, location, or process.

In essence, it is a digital replica of the physical entity. Consequently, for all intents and purposes, it is an exact replica of the entity.

Hope you enjoy reading …

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What is Digital Therapeutics? Beginner’s Guide

What is a Circular Economy and How does the Circular Economy Work?

What is a Circular Economy?

A circular economy is an economic system where we aim to eliminate waste and have continuous use of resources.

In other words

A circular economy is a new concept that challenges current methods of economic development.

The concept states that there should be no distinction between the economic ‘production’ and economic ‘consumption’ phases of the economic cycle.

Ideally, products should be designed for reuse from the very start. This means that products are conceived for recycling and created with the intention of being reused many times over.

A circular economy can be implemented by population segments such as towns and communities, or by a company.

The circular economy revolution has been made possible by the creation of new technologies that can design, manufacture, curate, and contribute to the cycle.

A circular system uses the method of reuse, sharing, repair, remanufacturing, recycling, and refurbishment, which creates a closed-loop system.

The circular economy’s main aim is to provide us with products and equipment that can be used for a more extended period and improve the productivity of the resources.

The waste materials which are received from a product should be used as an input for another product.

The current traditional model (often called Linear Model) is based on ‘take-make-consume-waste’ approach to using resources.

The raw material is transformed into a product and after it ends its life cycle is thrown to waste.

Nowadays the concept of recycling is gaining popularity.

These concepts are more sustainable than the present linear economic system.

In a circular economy, natural resources are utilized sustainably and efficiently, and products and materials are preserved for further use.

These are the 3 main parts of the circular economy

  1. Reduction of waste & pollution

This includes the reduction/minimization of waste & pollution by reducing damage from various economic activities.

  1. Extension of products & longer usage of their value

As part of this, we aim to extend the useful life of various products by creating the loops of products, circulating in the economy. We can achieve this by active reuse, proactive repair & remanufacturing the products in the economy.

  1. Regeneration of natural systems

This is to enhance natural capital & to create the necessary conditions for the regeneration of natural systems.

So, Circular systems employ reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling to create a closed-loop system, minimising the use of resource inputs and the creation of waste, pollution, and carbon emissions.

In the age of a dwindling planet, the circular economy is a highly pertinent concept. It is essential to protect the earth and its resources by being aware of what one buys and uses. It is also important to be mindful of how much and what one throws away.

Circular Business models

As part of this, in various industries, the focus has shifted from manufacturing new products to recycling, remanufacturing, and reducing/reusing the existing resources.

Their focus is to minimize the resource input and reduce the waste and emission leakage in the organizational system.

This involves recycling measures, use of phase extensions, and improvement in efficiency, and

substitute products by Software Solutions and services. To achieve these strategies, a well-planned

design of the material recovery process and adjoining circular supply chain is required.

Circular economy in textile industries

Textile industries adopt the practice of circular economy where clothes and fibers are recycled, so

that waste can be avoided. According to a survey, the” take, make, dispose of” model leads to an

economic loss of $500 billion per year. It also affects the environment by disrupting the ecological

cycle. Tons of clothes are disposed of in landfills and incineration.

Automotive industry

The automotive industry has also started adopting a circular economy. To give a boost to a circular

economy, carmakers get specific incentives.

According to research use of circular economy will lead to good quality and better convenience.

Agriculture

As many countries aim to have a circular economy, considerable changes are brought in the

field of agriculture. Some of them were as follows

-Using natural manure instead of artificial fertilizers.

-Reusing of the waste stream.

-Closure of the fodder manure cycle.

Furniture Industry

Generally, the products in the furniture industry especially durable therefore implementing strategies accordingly become important to extend the lifeline of the product.

This helps in lowering environmental pressure and lower cost. There is a massive potential in the furniture sector for the circular economy.

According to reports, 10,000,000 tonnes of furniture are discarded annually in Europe; most of it is used in landfills or incinerated.

There is another study that reports that 42% of bulk waste used in landfills is furniture.

The circular economy strategic management

A circular economy gives an alternative to think about a method to attain sustained competitive advantage (SCA).

Many companies still find it challenging to apply a circular economy as there is a lack of clarity among the firms.

Most companies still feel the circular economy is not applicable since it might be costly or risky to implement.

List of countries making progress in Circular economy

Germany: they are ahead in aspects of the circular economy such as waste management and recycling

Netherlands: by 2030 Netherland aims to reuse 50% of all the materials by converting waste into reusable materials.

They further strive to make the country 100% waste-free.

Belgium: Belgium is also leading the race for the use of a circular economy. In 2018 Belgium proposed a road map for a circular economy consisting of 50 measures.

Examples of some leading companies in ‘Circular Economy’

Winnow : It has developed smart meters/tools, which analyses the trash in a kitchen. With it’s powerful AI technique, it identify & suggest ways to reduce food wastage.

DyeCoo : It has developed a process of dyeing cloth that uses no water at all, and no chemicals other than the dyes themselves. It uses highly pressurized “supercritical” carbon dioxide, halfway between a liquid and a gas, that dissolves the dye and carries it deep into the fabric. The carbon dioxide then evaporates, and is in turn recycled and used again.

Close the Loop : It process & create new material/products from old printer cartridges and soft plastics. These products are mixed in with asphalt and recycled glass to produce a higher-quality road.

Enerkem : Their technology extracts the carbon from trash that can’t be recycled. It turns the carbon into a gas that can be used to make biofuels like methanol and ethanol, as well as chemicals which can be used in thousands of everyday products.

Schneider Electric: It uses recycled content and recyclable materials in its products, prolongs product lifespan through leasing and pay-per-use, and has introduced take-back schemes into its supply chain.

Conclusion of What is a Circular Economy

A circular economy is a closed-loop system that prevents waste of resources and creates long-term prosperity.

The goal of a circular economy is to keep the natural resources for generations to come.

A circular economy is an alternative to the linear economy, which cannot handle the negative consequences of exponential growth without relying on depleting natural resources.

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What is Blockchain Technology and How Does it Work?

What is Blockchain Technology and How Does it Work?

What is Digital Therapeutics? Beginner’s Guide

What is Digital therapeutics? Beginner’s Guide?                                                      

Digital therapeutics (DTx) is a subfield in digital health. 

It uses high-quality software programs to treat, manage and prevent diseases and medical disorders.

The treatment involves Lifestyle and behavioral changes. Because of the digital nature of the methodology, data can be collected and analysed as both a progress report and a preventative measure

The collected data can be analysed for preventive measures and progress reports.

What is Digital therapeutics?

“Digital therapeutics deliver evidence-based therapeutic interventions to patients that are driven by high-quality software programs to prevent, manage, or treat a broad spectrum of physical, mental, and behavioral conditions.

It forms an independent category of evidence-based products within the broader digital health landscape, and are distinct from pure-play adherence, diagnostic, and telehealth products – Digital Therapeutics Alliance

 The term itself has been in use since around 2012. The first mention of the term in a peer-reviewed research publication was in 2015, in Dr Cameron Sepah paper.

In the intervening years, digital therapies have grown to be more and more common, leading to some excellent digital products that can help people with mental illness.

Digital therapies have helped people of all ages and backgrounds to overcome their mental health struggles.

Some of these therapies are interactive, such as Soothing Seas, which is a video game that helps people who have been sexually assaulted.

Others, like Expressive Therapy, are aimed at reducing the symptoms of anxiety by giving users the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings about trauma through drawing.

Tree of Life, a game that focuses on mental wellness rather than mental illness, also lets users explore their feelings.

USAGE of Digital Therapeutic

 Digital therapeutics can be used in various ways.  The term can be defined as treatment that uses digital and internet-based health Technologies to improve a patient’s behaviour.

Digital therapeutics can be combined with other conventional treatments, such as pharmacological. 

As of now, digital therapeutics are used by patients, students, and medical professionals.

Digital therapeutics acts as a preventive measure for patients who show the risk of developing serious health conditions.

For example, a pre-diabetic patient will be suggested digital therapeutics as a method about the consequences that may lead to a diabetes diagnosis. 

Existing medical conditions can also be treated with the help of digital therapeutics.

For instance, a patient who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes can manage it effectively.

What is Digital Therapeutics and Methods 

Varied conditions can be treated with digital therapeutics. It helps patients to change their lifestyles by using the method of cognitive-behavioural therapy.

It helps to prevent numerous conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, lung disease, insomnia, hypertension, and others.

Neurological and psychological symptoms are also treated with digital therapeutics.

For instance, patients with disorders like depression, comma anxiety, and ADHD receive cognitive behavioural therapy through a mobile device.

A study suggested that mobile mindfulness apps help decrease acute stress and improving mood.

How does it function?

Dtx is a new form of application that helps in the treatment of the disease through the change in patient behavior and remotely monitoring.

Favorable outcomes are achieved with its applications; for instance, patience can be encouraged to follow a drug regimen and exercise routine.

Difference between DTX and other wireless application is that Dtx applications help to target specific disease which is particularly chronic like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary disease.

What makes Digital therapeutics so powerful?

  • Accurate data collection: Now with the introduction of various Now majority various wearables & connected devices, data can be collected on real-time. Earlier, when a person used to go to the hospital, the doctor used to ask various questions to understand, what may have happened.
  • And patients used to tell, based on their memory.
  • Many times, patients were not able to recall & provide correct data. Now, with wearables & other smart devices, installed at home, accurate data to doctors can be provided.
  • This helps a doctor to quickly arrive at the root cause of the issue.

With various wearables and smart consumer electronics (including smart devices in your bathroom), day-to-day normal data ( what type of food was taken, how the person was behaving, voice level, facial expression, walking etc) can be captured & used for analysis.

Apart from that, now with Interface with medical equipment, other data like blood sugar levels, blood pressure, pulse rate, can be collected by picking up wireless signals from a sensor embedded in the patient’s skin.

Devices such as blood glucose meters, insulin pumps, at other wearable gadgets can send data as a unified system.

It is also used for monitoring heart and lung conditions.

  • Faster data comparison & detection: Taking from the earlier first point, now full data of a patient can be compared, very quickly, against, vast amount of data, available worldwide.
  • This helps in correct & early detection of a symptom, leading to even prevention of disease.
  • So, if a personal has a family history of diabetes, during early age itself, symptoms can be easily detected & During early phase itself, of disease, person can be advised to take necessary precaution.

Here, with help of cognitive or motivational stimulation (gamification), behavioural change can be promoted.

 

This will help in better adherence to medicine & therapy (can be physical exercise, diet control, or meditation.) that could delay or prevent the onset of chronic disease.

Dtx is also showing good results in medication adherence by helping people increasing the benefits of conventional Pharmaceutical therapies.

For example, in the US, DTx company developed a robot to help people take their medications on time, preventing the problem of medication non-adherence.

  • With help of virtual reality (VR), help & therapy can be provided to persons, who are mentally disturbed.
  • This mental disturbance/trauma, could have been caused by various reasons (Ragging at college, work pressure, loss of dear one, ..).
  • Through VR, it can be identified, which part of the earlier incident is causing disturbance to a person & accordingly, counseling/therapy can be provided.

Over the past few decades, the technology has been used for a few conditions and in specialist centres.

The therapy of PTSD has extensive use of this technology.  DTx application in VR Technology helps people to learn by experiencing real-world situations.

For example, with the help of VR, patients are in a certain situation, where they learn how to think, act differently and feel.

Now many chronic diseases or neurological disorders, can be treated with Dtx. 

There is an increase in applications for the treatment of Mental Health disorders. 

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) promising results in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorder.

  1. Personalised Medicines: Based on real-time data of each person, personalized medicines, therapy & can be offered to the elderly population as well as people with a special conditions.

In addition to addressing different medical conditions, digital therapeutics also support various stages of the patient health care journey.

They can collect, synthesize, and analyse patient data so clinicians can personalize treatment and work with the patient to avoid complications.

DTx and primary care

 Dtx this also improved primary care practice.  The advantage of DTx is that it provides physicians an option to provide treatment anywhere and anytime, going beyond the physical borders of a Hospital or clinic.

Due to its low-cost treatment, primary care physicians can optimum benefit from it. 

Monitoring medication adherence can easily be done by primary care physicians with the help of detailed applications.

There are DTx programs that help in monitoring blood sugar readings, diet, medication intake what can be reviewed by a physician for getting a clear picture of the patient’s health.

Conclusion

What is Digital therapeutics?

Digital therapeutics, or digital therapy, is the use of digital technology such as mobile devices and apps to help people with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Common treatments include psychoeducation, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).

Some of the prominent diseases, where Dtxs is either getting used or under clinical trial include, type II diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lung disease, obesity, substance abuse, ADHD, insomnia, hypertension anxiety, depression.

Some of the major companies, involved in Dtx, include Pear Therapeutics, Akili Interactive Labs, Hinge Health, Click Therapeutics, SilverCloud Health, Holmusk, Cerebral, Liva Healthcare, Sword Health, Sanity group, Kaia Health & Omada Health.

Hope you got more clarity on What is Digital therapeutics.

What is Blockchain Technology and How Does it Work?

             What is Blockchain Technology and How does it Work?

There’s a vast Hype getting created as well, as you must also have come across this word, the best reason you are here.

What is Blockchain ?

Blockchain is a distributed ledger that serves as a transparent, traceable, and unforgeable system of record.

 The information on the ledger is shared and continually reconciled and therefore is immutable and correct by design.

 Blockchains are a new type of database and provide a single shared source of truth, which is visible to anyone and yet protected from tampering and revision.

Blockchain can be thought of as a public ledger system that records transactions from different parties in a permanent, anonymous, and secure way.

Blockchain has a huge impact – it can decentralize any sector including the financial sector.  It is the ability to remove the need for intermediaries and give a new opening around. 

Many times, data is stored & maintained by a central system. Someone having access to that central system, can always temper with data.

In Blockchain, data is encrypted & shared/stored across various nodes. It’s a time-stamped growing database, which are basic cryptographic measures to securely store transactions from being tempered.

It’s very difficult for someone to decrypt the data & change it across nodes, simultaneously. If data is tampered/changed only on a node, other nodes will reject that data & that that node may be moved, out of network.

Even a single change in the linked blocks results in the collapse of the hash link, and the chain is broken and is rejected by the network.

Generally, Bitcoin and blockchain are seen as the same, but actually, Bitcoin operates on the technology of blockchain.

What are blocks?

Let’s consider blockchain as a ledger; then, a block is a table or page where the confirmed transactions are recorded. 

A hash is used to identify each block in the blockchain. It also comprises of header and body.

Information about creation and a reference to the previous block is enclosed in the header. 

The body is a collection of accepted transactions. Successfully validation a block makes it a new part of the official blockchain.

Smart contracts

A smart contract is a self-executing contract. Here the terms of the agreement between both the parties (buyer and seller) are directly written into the software code.

Now, this code (and hence the agreements contained within it) exist on blockchain network ( so it is distributed & decentralized across various node).

The code controls the execution, and transactions are trackable and irreversible.

Smart contracts allow trusted transactions and agreements to be carried out among disparate, anonymous parties without the need for a central authority, legal system, or external enforcement mechanism.

But software code will contain ( & execute) what both parties have agreed. But Smart Contract don’t know. whether what they have agreed is right/wrong. It will just execute, what is coded.

 

Features of Blockchain

Blockchain has basically three parts.

Information part – the information of the executed transaction

Hash- unique ID

Previous hash- hash of the previous block

Every blockchain contains the hash of the previous block. Therefore, it is not possible for anyone to tamper with the data.

If a person wants to change it, that person needs to change each and every hash of a blockchain which is practically impossible; therefore, the data in the blockchain cannot be tempered.

  1. Data in a blockchain cannot be mutated, and it cannot be changed easily, as seen above. The transactions are also secure since approval is needed from everyone in the network before adding the block. The validation of the block is done by miners.
  2. A ledger is the record of transactions done, and since it is visible to everyone, it is known as an open ledger. Blockchain is an open ledger. Everyone in the connection of the blockchain has a copy of the ledger.
  3. Peer to peer network is provided in the blockchain. Due to this requirement of third-party authorization is removed since the transaction is only between two parties, the sender and the receiver.

Analogy for Blockchain system

Suppose you have physical copy of your bank passbook. So this passbook contains multiple pages & on each page, your bank transactions are printed. Also, at the end, final account balance is also printed.

Now, you can make photostat copy of this passbook and give to your family members. So initially, everyone will have same data/copy of original passbook.

In case, someone tries to modify a transaction (Or tries to add a transaction, in between)  than he has recalculate & modify subsequent transactions.

Also, these modified transactions ( say tampered data) will be reflected only in his copy. Other family members will object as in their photostat copy, these modification will not be there. And hence, this tempered data can be caught very easily.

Something similar also happens in Blockchain system & hence, it is very difficult to tamper data there.

To maintain the sanctity of data, In Blockchain, Proof of work (POW) & Proof of Stake ( POS) comes into picture.

In POW, one party has to spend significant amount of effort to prove that it indeed has correct data.
Post that, verifier confirms this with minimal effort. It deters frivolous use of computing power.
So in POW, Lot of computational effort need to be put, which requires big energy consumption.

So now, PoS is coming into picture.

In PoS, validators are selected based on their existing holding ( say blockchain token).
So if one has more blockchain token, he will have a bigger say in validation.
So less energy is spent during new data addition & validation.

But maintaining a temper-proof database has its own overhead also. In blockchain, data is encrypted & shared with identified/agreed node. 

Each transaction done on Blockchain system has a cost (in terms of securing the information related to data of transaction & sharing with other nodes).

So, you can’t delete or reverse a transaction.

If a wrong transaction had been recorded then you must put a ‘new transaction’ (called compensation transaction) to reverse the effect of an earlier transaction.

So it’s good to use Blockchain for ‘High Value, Low volume’ system. 

For example, Blockchain is good to maintain land records, citizen identity records (citizen name, date of birth, education detail..), vehicle owner & driving license data. Using Blockchain for ‘low value’ transactions like retail shopping, grocery shopping is not a good idea.

DATA TAMPERING : Keep in mind that Blockchain will make sure that data stored on BC can’t be tampered. But whether entered data is accurate or no, BC can’t check that. 

For example, we know that BC can be used to store birth records.

Now suppose twins were born. Now what time they were born, that will be told by doctor/nurse..So whether there is difference of 2 minutes or 4 minutes, you don’t know. You/Hospital just goes by, what doctor told about birth time.

But once that birth time data is entered in BC, now tampering that is very difficult.

Same is true for inventory data. So how may part are really available in inventory. That BC can’t see/check/tell. Someone outside the BC system ( one supervisor or team of supervisors using QR code/computer vision..) only have to decide & enter the data.

 

So, BC can’t check/validate the source of data or accuracy of data. But once data is stored on BC, tampering is very hard.

Conclusion 

What is Blockchain Technology and How Does it Work?

Blockchain is a significant data infrastructure that solves the problem of information asymmetry.

Up until now, transactions between two parties have been conducted and recorded in separate ledgers.

But with blockchain transactions, the ledger isn’t stored in a central location but stored and verified by every participant in the network who is involved in the transaction.

Transactions are recorded and verified through a peer-to-peer network and are not only easy to trace but also immutable, meaning they cannot be altered.

This also allows for transactions to be conducted and recorded without involving a third party.

Blockchain ensures that the data entered is accurate, the key is cryptographic, and the data cannot be held in one location since it is dispersed and replicated across a network.

Hope you got a clear idea of What is Blockchain Technology and How Does it Work?

Check our Best Blog on

What is cryptocurrency? Beginners Guide for Digital Currency

What is AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality?)

What are AR (Augmented reality) and VR (Virtual Reality?)

In current modern technology, the terms VR (Virtual reality) and AR (Augmented reality) are used a lot. 

There’s a certain trend among teenagers regarding the VR headset and AR apps such as L’Oréal Makeup app, IKEA mobile app, etc. 

As a technology, it seems similar, but there’s a difference between them in terms of concept, characteristics that differentiate from each other.

What are AR and VR

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies allow for immersive experiences that offer users the ability to interact with virtual objects as if they were real. 

This provides for an entirely new way of presenting information and entertainment.

AR and VR are computer-generated simulations that allow for alternate realities to be created and interacted with using technology.

Augmented and virtual reality are both technologies that are not entirely new to the world. 

The two technologies are similar in many ways, but there are some differences.

 Virtual reality integrates computer-generated images into a physical environment and is typically used to simulate the user to interact in an artificial world.

Conversely, 

AR overlays computer-generated images onto a person’s current environment, taking advantage of the functionality of the devices that most people carry with them on a daily basis.

So Now we go in More details about what are AR and VR? 

Virtual Reality

The VRs can be distinguished into two types, text-based network VR (“Cyberspace”) and immersive VR. 

The view on the screen changes as we move our heads. Generally, VRs are best used for training purposes.

A person using a VR is actually able to look around in the artificial world and interact with the different features present in the Virtual world.

This effect of VR is generally created using a headset with a mounted display in front of the eyes.

This can also be created by using special rooms with multiple large screens.

Below are some areas, VR can bring changes

  1. Mental Health

Using VR in mental training has changed the method of treating post-traumatic stress.

 The person can enter the traumatic event to change the incidents which had occurred and help in healing the person. 

Similarly, it has also been useful in the treatment of phobias, depression, and anxiety.

 For instance, some patients with anxiety find it easy to meditate with the aid of VR by managing their stress and relieve them.

  1. Military

 It plays a crucial role in military training. It becomes important for the militants to get proper training without risking their lives on the battlefield. VR makes it possible to give real battlefield training and creating an artificial battleground where the soldiers get an on-field virtual experience.

  1. Education

The use of VR doesn’t limit to the military and medical fields; it is also used in schools for giving children a three-dimensional environment where they can interact. It’s more costly and time-Consuming to take students on a field trip. The same experience can be enjoyed with the help of VR. Studies show that virtual reality is beneficial for students facing autism.

  1. Sports

Nowadays, VR is also used in sports for training purposes. It helps train the athletes more efficiently with the option of repeating a certain situation.

For example, a cricketer is not good at square cut while Playing; then the player can practice it multiple times using the technology and enhance the ability and attain perfection. It has also helped viewers by getting an experience of watching a live game. The viewers are able to watch live games at their ease and at cost-effective rates giving them a real experience.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory, and olfactory. (As per Wikipedia)

It basically changes live view with digital elements with the help of a smartphone camera. Example of Augmented reality is snap chat and Pokémon Go game.

Below is a list of professions where augmented reality is used.

  1. Retail Selling

 In current changing times, shoppers are also getting techie. 

They have started using their smartphones to compare prices or to get additional information about a product. 

World-famous brand Harley Davidson made a new trend by the development of an augmented reality app that can be used in the shop by shoppers.

 The app helps the user to view their selected bike in different variations of colors and customize it.

2.Entertainment 

 When talking about the entertainment industry, it’s important to have a good connection between your audience and the character. Movies like Harry Potter have fared well using this method. In fact, the makers of Pokémon Go are planning to introduce a Harry Potter-themed game.

 

3.Field Work

AR has also changed the way of repairing the equipment. Earlier the technician uses to take the equipment with them and bring it after repairing. Now it has changed, the technician will come with AR glasses that will help in identifying the issue and quickly fix it without reference to the manual.

 

4.Design & Modelling

Whether it is the building of a skyscraper or interior design, AR has helped professionals in knowing their final outcome during the building process. Using the headset, the engineer and designers get a direct entry into the virtual building, where they can make changes. The technology is so advanced that a city can be easily designed with the help of AR. AR is a must for a profession that involves any modeling or designing.

  1. Tourism

If you are visiting a new city (either for business purposes or as a tourist), AR can help, you know about various area/buildings. If enabled, you can just scan your smartphone & the AR app, which can tell you details about the building (when it was built, by whom, historical significance…).

Lastly, to Summarise, we can say that.

Augmented and virtual reality are technologies that are not only fun but useful.

Augmented reality adds the component of the environment to the real world through a viewer like a phone or a headset, and Virtual reality takes the physical world completely out of the equation.

I hope you got a better understanding of What AR and VR and how, with the use of these technologies, Human life, their behaviors and habits are changing.

 

What is cryptocurrency? Beginners Guide for Digital Currency

What is cryptocurrency?

If you are looking to know more about What is Cryptocurrency and How cryptocurrency works and what are the top cryptocurrencies to follow in 2021.

Then check this article till the end …

So, Let’s Start with

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrencies are digital money in electronic payment systems. Please remember that cryptocurrencies are different from the blockchain.

 A blockchain, contains, list of records (say blocks), which are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. 

Blockchain technology can be used for various business use cases. One of the use-cases is cryptocurrency.

Other use cases of Blockchain are, smart contracts, storing land records, citizen identity record,s etc in a temper-proof way.

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is secured by cryptography. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain. This makes it very hard/impossible to counterfeit.

Cryptocurrency generally does not require government backing or the involvement of an intermediary, such as a bank.

In cryptocurrency here, users of the system validate payments using certain protocols.

It does not exist in physical form (like paper money), and it is not issued by a central authority.                 

How does cryptocurrency work?

Cryptocurrencies are virtual “tokens” represented by ledger entries.

They allow performing secure payments. “Crypto” means different algorithm and cryptographic technique that safeguard these entries, such as hashing function, public-private key pair, and elliptical curve encryption.

Types

Bitcoin was the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency, and it’s still valued. Currently, there is a varied alternative like clones or forks of Bitcoin and many others which started.

Other popular cryptocurrencies are Litecoin, Peercoin, Dogecoin, Gridcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, EOS, namecoin.

As per statistics, over 18.6 million Bitcoin circulated in the market with a total cap of approx. $927 billion

Currently, the aggregate value of all cryptocurrencies in existence is around$1.5 trillion, of which Bitcoin represents more than 60% of the total value.

Advantages Associated with Cryptocurrency 

Cryptocurrency helps in the easy transfer of funds between two parties, without the need for any third party such as a credit card company or bank.

These transfers are secured by the public key and private keys and various forms of incentive system, like proof of work or maybe proof of stake.

In the current system, a user’s wallet or account address has a public key, while the private key is known only to the owner, which is used to sign transactions.

Disadvantages

Most Important – Illegal activities can be easily carried due to their semi-anonymous nature.

It’s not regulated by any government or central body. So basically, underneath cryptocurrency, there is no intrinsic value.

If you go back in history, you will realize that earlier our ancestor’s used the barter systems.

For example, one farmer needs to give ten kg of rice and in exchange, get various household utensils.

Later, various kingdoms started exchanging gold, spices, metal, food.

Post that they floated their own coins/currencies. Once sovereign nations formed, they crea

ted/floated their own currencies, which were backed, primally by gold.

Normally, a currency is backed by a government. Governments keep a ‘gold’ reserve or equivalent, which determines the value of that currency.

In other cases, underneath a currency, some other underlying (fuel, art-piece, precious metal,) is there.

But in case of cryptocurrency, underlying is only some algorithm !!!

There is always a lot of price volatility because which threat of large losses is always there.

 Cryptocurrencies, by their nature, are virtual in nature. Hence, they are not stored on any central database.

It’s very important to take them back up of private keys because a digital cryptocurrency balance can be wiped out by the loss or destruction of a hard drive.

Most Popular Digital Coins and How they are used….

                    Coin       Total Market Value
Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) $390 billion
Binance Coin (CRYPTO:BNB) $79.5 billion
Cardano (CRYPTO:ADA) $66.3 billion
Dogecoin (CRYPTO:DOGE) $63.4 billion
Tether (CRYPTO:USDT) $58.2 billion
XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) $51.8 billion
Polkadot (CRYPTO:DOT) $30.5 billion
Internet Computer (CRYPTO:ICP) $25.6 billion
Bitcoin Cash (CRYPTO:BCH) $20.1 billion
DATA SOURCE: COINMARKETCAP.COM. *AS OF 5/17/2021.  

 

Below are some of the most important digital currencies.

  1. Bitcoin is regarded as the first decentralized cryptocurrency using blockchain technology to facilitate payments and digital transactions.

2 Ethereum (ETH)

The first alternative of Bitcoin Ethereum(Ether), 

It is a decentralized software platform, and it enables Smart Contracts.

 And Decentralized Applications (DApps) to be built and run without any downtime, fraud, control, or interference from a third party.

3.Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin, which was launched in 2011, was among the first few cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin, and It has often been referred to as “silver to Bitcoin’s gold.” 

It was created by an MIT graduate Charlie Lee, an MIT graduate, and former Google engineer. 

Litecoin is developed on an open-source global payment network that is not controlled by any government body.

 It uses “scrypt” as proof of work.

4.Stellar (XLM)

Stellar was founded by Jed McCaleb, 

He was a founding member of Ripple Labs and developer of the Ripple protocol.

Stellar is an open blockchain network designed to provide enterprise solutions by connecting financial institutions for the purpose of large transactions.

 

Every new technology will have a degree of uncertainty about the future,

And the same case is with cryptocurrency.

While the popularity is growing, and also the demand is growing Still 

it is too early to know just how big of an impact cryptocurrency will have in Financial Ecosystem.

 As a potential financial revolution, 

it’s worth keeping an eye on it and learning and understanding more about it till it becomes legal.

Hope Now you understand the basics of  What is cryptocurrency? 

 

What is Machine learning with Examples and Why it is Important ?

Let’s understand What is Machine learning with Examples and Why it is Important?

Machine learning (ML) is the study of computer algorithms that improve their outcome & result automatically while processing various types of data.

Machine learning algorithms build a model based on sample data.

This sample data is known as “training data” in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to do so. (Wikipedia)

To put this in simple terms, now machines are able to learn on their own. That is, with one initial algorithm, computing power & big abundance of data, machines keep on improving the initial algorithm. 

As a part of scientific research, machine learning came from a curiosity for artificial intelligence. 

Basically, Machine learning is a field of digital science, computer science, and artificial intelligence.

Or We define Machine learning as the Automatic detection of Meaningful patterns from data, and now Machine Learning has become a powerful source to extract powerful patterns through any form of data.

It all started when during the early days of AI evolution, many researchers started experimenting with Machine learning from the data.

They tried to solve the problem with different symbolic methods and

these were mostly perceptron (algorithm for supervised learning of binary classifiers) and other models that were later found to be reinventions of the generalized linear models of statistics.

Later in the 1990s, Machine learning was reorganized as a separate field. It changed its goal from acquiring artificial intelligence to tackling the solvable problem of a practical nature.

Now Machine Learning has conquered the Industry. 

It is now the main reason for the existence of the number of high-tech products.

Like Powering Smartphones, Intelligent searches, Recommended products, and much more.

Nowadays, AI is a big topic, and ML is the main reason behind this.

How Machine Learning Help Business?

1) It eliminates manual entry and reduces personal involvement

2) It is a very helpful in voice command related work

  • For Amazon, the voice assistant is Alexa
  • Google Assistant.
  • Apple has developed Siri as their voice assistance
  • Microsoft has Cortana
  • and Samsung has Bixby

3) Image recognition 

This technology is widely used in car parking, Toll roads, offices, and many other places,

Face recognition is now widely used in Smartphones, entry and exit points, and many other places.

Basically, Image recognition enhances the overall customer experience.

4) It helps in Financial analysis. It’s very useful in Share markets analysis, various report regeneration where big data (related to purchase, sale, gains, tax..etc)is involved.

5) Medical Diagnose

6) Cybersecurity 

and many other dimensions.

What is the basic premise of machine learning?

Machine learning is working on the principle that digital machines “learn” the way humans learn and process information. Or this is also known as algorithm training that is automated. 

Machine learning is the use of techniques to automate the analysis and production that is trained on. It uses techniques to achieve automated data and algorithm analysis.

What is machine learning with Examples and its model?

A machine learning model is a set of inputs and outputs which helps achieve the tasks to be accomplished. 

It is the end result of the trained machine. A machine learning model can be in any format. Once trained, the model can be used across multiple different tasks and industries.

How can machine learning models be used?

Once trained, machine learning models can be used in any digital or manual process that needs automated learning to do something. In practical terms, the model can be used in areas where the traditional workflow process is inefficient.

 For example – A product manufacturing environment where the humans can be slower and resource-intensive. 

It also can be used in other industries such as healthcare and banking.

We can say that Machine learning works in a way that the digital machines “learn and understand” the way humans learn and process information.

When do we Need Machine Learnings? 

The answer lies in two major aspects 

1) How complex is the problem.

2) Task that is beyond Human capabilities to Solve it.

In simple words, a task that requires huge memory and very good processing speed.

Approaches for What is Machine Learning with Examples)

Machine learning approaches are divided into three categories, depending on the nature of signal or feedback accessible to the learning system.

  • Supervised learning: In this approach, the “teacher” presents the computer with the desired output, and the target is to learn a general rule that maps input to output.
  • Unsupervised learning: The learning algorithms are not labelled, leaving on their own to find structure in its input. Unsupervised learning can itself be a goal or a means towards an end.
  • Reinforcement learning: A computer application interacts with a varied environment in which it performs a certain target. As it comes across the problem space, the program is provided with feedback that is similar to rewards, which it tries to maximize.

For machine learning, input data is key. With respect to data, 2 things are important. Based on algorithm, either data is ‘Classified’ or ‘Put in Clusters’.

I hope you got a fair idea of What is Machine learning with Examples and Why it is Important?

In future articles, I will be talking more about ‘Classification’, ‘ Clustering’, ‘Exploration’, ‘Exploitation, various techniques like “Random forest regression’, ‘Upper Confidence Bound’, ‘Multiple Arm Bandit & ‘Thomson Sampling’ etc.

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What is Big Data Analytics and Why is it so Essential?

What is Digital Wallet and How it Works? A Beginner’s Guide

What is Digital Wallet and How it Works?

Do You know that Cashless transactions and Digital Payment are the future….

The birth of Digital Wallet and the subsequent development of advanced versions of Digital Wallets are the most important events in the world of managing Fund and Cash at the individual and corporate levels. 

We all use traditional leather wallets to hold our cash, credit & debit cards, driver’s license, insurance identification, shopping loyalty cards, and more.

But your wallet or purse grows thicker and more unwieldy. 

Also, carrying a leather wallet may be risky as sometimes you may forget the place where we have kept it, or might any thief that gets his hands on your physical wallet can easily blow all of your cash and do much more damage with other valuable information.

What is Digital Wallet and How it Works?

A digital wallet is an app on your phone or tablet or any other mobile device.

 It allows you to store virtual versions of items you would generally find in a physical wallet, like credit cards, debit cards, driving licenses, gift cards, coupons, even event tickets, and boarding passes. 

The information may be stored either on the device itself or in the cloud. 

It actually helps in getting mentally free from carrying any cash or other money-related instruments.

The digital wallet comprises of software and information. The users need to have a secured and encrypted transaction. 

A survey states that in Asia, one consumer out of five uses a digital wallet.

As per analysis, around 48.5% of consumers made purchases using smartphones in India, Singapore, and China. 

The Indian consumer is leading with around 76.4% using a smartphone to purchase.

This gives a boost to companies like many companies including famous e-commerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, and many other companies.

How Digital wallet Works?

When you add your personal information into a digital wallet, that data is then converted into a unique code via encryption that authorized entities can only access. 

Digital wallets go a step further by also adding in tokenization.

It takes that sensitive encrypted data and replaces it with a non-sensitive digital equivalent known as a token.

 These unique tokens are randomly generated every time a user makes a payment, and only the merchant’s payment gateway can match this token to accept the payment.

Ultimately, your information is useless and unreadable to fraudsters when encryption and tokenization are used together.

There are different types of digital wallets. 

1- Closed Digital Wallets: These ones are simple to make as they will help one make payments only for a simple application or a website.

It is for one particular brand name that doesn’t allow you to make payments outside, like in the case of Walmart Pay.

This is basically for those companies that have been in business for a long time, but the integration of e-wallets came in some time later.

These support only a specific application.

2- Semi-Closed Digital Wallets: Offering a broader scope of making payments, this type is different than the one we discussed earlier.

Allowing the users to make payments at stores that have an association with the app, this type can be used for online payments as well as payments at stores or restaurants.

However, not all stores and shops might be able to receive money through this medium, hence the name semi-closed e-wallets.

3- Open Digital Wallets: These are the most used Digital wallets as they allow the users to make payments online and at stores at any time.

In this type of digital wallet, the users can easily do monetary transactions by sending money through the platform directly to the accounts of other users.

The service provider allows them to make any transactions from any place in the world, provided both the sender and the receiver have their accounts on the same app.

Advantages of using Digital wallets  

After knowing What is Digital Wallet and How it Works?  Let’s understand the advantage of it.

1. Security: The most significant advantage of a Digital wallet is security. As explained earlier, it’s very difficult for someone to steal your mobile phone, unlock that & use your digital wallet for doing financial transaction

2.    Convenient

 It offers more convenience for many consumers. Users are able to get through a purchase in mere seconds; all you need to do is tap your device to the payment receptacle, or have your mobile device scanned, to pay for the items you are purchasing.

So, the experience of buying items becomes quicker and easier – leading to a greater sense of satisfaction.

Furthermore, with faster transactions, checkout lines within stores become much shorter.

3.    More option

Digital wallet applications provide a more convenient transaction processing method for customers, giving businesses that employ this technology a competitive edge in the market.

It redefines the user experience of paying and incorporates a novelty aspect to each purchase.

Freecharge allows you to use Digital cash in a number of places such as train tickets, bus tickets, gas, water, electricity, etc. PayPal also has partners such an s eBay, best buy, southwest, and many more.

Thus, Digital wallets offer a variety of options and save your time.

4 – Incentives and Promotions

Each wallet comes with its own set of incentives.

Digital wallets give plenty of money-saving avenues through discounts, cashback, offers, and free gifts.

You can benefit the maximum by going through their offer section and making optimum use of promo codes.

5- Range of uses

 Starting from bill payments for DTH, post-paid, data card, and broadband to buying air, bus, or train tickets, you can use an e-wallet for a variety of transactions.

From paying at your local grocery stores to paying for your utilities like gas, water, and electricity, the reach of mobile wallets has gone far and wide.

 6. Financial Inclusion: Digital wallets do not require a bank account with a physical firm or branch, often allowing those in poorer and rural areas to be served as well and therefore enables a more comprehensive financial inclusion.

Money can be deposited in the digital wallet prior to any transactions, or in other cases, an individual’s bank account can be linked to the digital wallet.

Users might also have their gift card, driving license, health club card, and other ID documents stored within the wallet. 

How has Digital Wallets played a vital role in the current situation of the pandemic?

The current pandemic has brought new social norms of social distancing and lockdown.

This gave a boost to online modes of buying essential things and commodities. 

A survey conducted by MasterCard in just three Asia-Pacific nations – Thailand, India, and Australia reported that 88 percent of the respondent in these nations have at least used one online payment mode.

Nearly two-thirds said they tried a new payment method because of the pandemic. 

As vendors, especially small businesses, start to realize the need for adopting a modern POS solution to accommodate changing shopper behavior, those businesses will likely gravitate towards payment solutions that handle both online and in-store payments, like Square and Stripe, as they’ll allow merchants to accept the same wallets across channels.

During this pandemic time, Digital Wallet is really helping customers to pay to the merchant while literally sitting at home/maintaining the required social distance. 

A simple, convenient, and social-distancing friendly mode of option.

Hope you got clarity on  What is Digital Wallet and How it Works?

Also Check one new Article on Cyber Security

Why Cyber Security is Important for Business in Current Times?

What is Big Data Analytics and Why is it so Essential?

What is Big Data Analytics and Why is it so Essential?

If you are thinking of ….

Collecting and Processing large data sets and also wanted to analyze and find the hidden trends, important correlations, and other deep insights than you are thinking of Big Data Analytics.


Do you know … The vast amount of stored data is valuable information in raw format. By inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling the data, companies find useful information that leads them to accurate decision-making and meaningful actions.

“It is the way to examine large amounts of data to uncover hidden patterns, connections, and valuable insights.”

Now using the latest technology, it is possible to analyze data and find the answer to what you are looking for.

In this article, we will understand the definition of big data analytics and why it matters.

First, Let’s Understand Big Data

The term “Big Data” can mean various things to different businesses of today. Depending on the business size, role and the reason behind obtaining the data determines the definition of big data for many organizations.

In layman’s terms, big data can be defined as the structured and unstructured data moving throughout the organization.

The structured internal data includes processed transactions, customer insights, payable information, and receivables.

While the unstructured data includes emails, photo images, customer reviews, and social media posts.

In conclusion, the data is extracted from ATMs, sensors, smartphones, web clicks, GPS signals, and many more to name a few.

Big data in simple words are massive amounts of stored data that can be analyzed for business profit.

Companies keep a track of their customers and all this structured data is stored in the form of spreadsheets or tables.

This can be carefully examined to understand the behavior of customers.

Using data through business analytics can lead to smart decision-making, optimize business outcomes & offer ‘personalized offer’ to customers.

What is Big Data Analytics?

Big Data Analytics involves

  1. Extracting data from different sources
  2. Cleaning & Transforming it in a way that it becomes available to be consumed by analysts
  3. Doing an analysis of this data to derive insights, which are useful to the organization’s business.

The process of converting large amounts of unstructured raw data, retrieved from different sources to a data product useful for organizations forms the core of Big Data Analytics.

The process and tools required to extract insights from massive amounts of data are part of big data analytics. The data is often defined by the 3Vs – Velocity (high), Volume (large), or Variety (extreme).

Big data analytics works efficiently to derive conclusions and correlations from the large chunks of unused data. It’s done with the help of tools such as python, Hadoop, R, and others.

 

Why is Big Data Analytics Essential?

The importance of big data analytics is becoming more apparent among various industries.

Big data analytics helps businesses to extract value from their data and create new opportunities.

This leads to better decision-making for the business, efficient operations, higher revenue, and satisfied customers.

Big corporations and enterprises utilize big data analytics to provide an excellent customer experience.

Big data helps businesses to use their data efficiently and create new profitable opportunities.

The data can predict the potential success of products among customers based on their interaction by using different techniques and algorithms.

 

Here are 2 major reasons why big data analytics matter 

Enhanced Decision-Making – Teamed with great speed of Hadoop and in-memory analytics and the ability to analyze new data, organizations can examine information quite rapidly and make better decisions from the collected insights of the customer behavior.

New Products and Services – Analyzing collected data can help immensely with predicting the success rate of new products and services. It also helps companies to create products and services based on analytics of customer preference.

Now companies can really understand each of their customer & offer ‘personalized solution’ to the customer, in his context. No, one size fits all or even, segmentation of customers.

In conclusion, big data analytics is vital because it helps organizations to optimize their performance and efficiency.

Implementing analytics into the business models reduce costs by figuring the most efficient way to do business and predicting the success rate of new products and services.

Industries Benefiting from Big Data Analytics

Any business that functions on quick, agile decisions to stay relevant and competitive in the market combined with innovative products/services is most likely using big data analytics to its advantage.

Here the most common sectors that benefit the most using big data analytics-

  1. Retail

The retail industry is one of the ficklest sectors that changes every season. The sector is entirely dependent on creating customer-centric products.

Big data analytics is the best way to gain customer insights and their preference.

According to the study from IBM, 62% of retail respondents confessed to having a competitive advantage by using information and analytics.

With more online shoppers, keeping track of retailers’ needs is a driving factor in generating revenue.

Retailers must know what and when a customer needs a particular product. Keeping the stock available at the right time is what big data analytics attempts to do.

It meets the fluctuating demands of the customer without losing them. The analytics provides infinite information, from buying habits to social media and various other in-depth knowledge of the customers.

Big data analytics is preferred for predicting trends, and the success rate of new products that eventually boost revenues.

 

  1. Medicine

The medicine industry is incredibly dependent on specialized equipment to diagnose, assist and track various medical procedures.

Using big data analytics tools, the industry is able to improve health in several ways.

The compiled data of patients’ family history provides comprehensive views about their well-being, potential risk, and various in-depth information about their health.

In other cases, public health departments use big data and analytics to prioritize food safety inspections.

  1. Banking

Banking is getting immensely reliant on digital technology infrastructure, and now many banks are getting innovative by using analytics.

For instance, Bank of America uses Erica, a virtual assistant that applies predictive analytics and natural language processing to view banking transaction histories or information about potential bills.

Virtual assistance does more than transactions, it also provides insightful financial advice to customers based on their banking habits.

Now banks are offering, totally personalized ‘financial solutions’ to their customers.  Big data analytics also help banks with detecting frauds.

  1. Transportation

Using big data analytics, customer journeys are getting more personalized and have a high chance of successful journeys.

Bus representatives inform travelers of the people on the given bus or reduce the distance the travels have to walk to board buses.

Not just in the bus sector, analytics is also used in the railway & air-travel.

On one hand, it is helping aero-plane companies in doing proactive maintenance of their various heavy equipment.

On other hand, by analyzing the data of their frequent passengers, they are able to roll out, various offers & new flights/connecting flights to the benefit of their customer.

In upcoming posts, I will explain various techniques & concepts like ‘Classification’,’ Clustering’, ’Exploration’, ’Exploitation’ , ‘Upper Confidence Bounds with clusters’ ,‘ Behavior Constrained Thompson Sampling….etc.

Hope you got most of your Questions Answered regarding 

What is Big Data Analytics and Why is it so Essential?

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