ARGUS-IS: Hayley Nicolich and Griffin Magee

               In 2007, DARPA was awarded a contract with a budget of $18.5 million to develop the Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System, more commonly known as ARGUS-IS. Recently, a limited amount of details regarding this military surveillance system were released to the public. This technology, designed by Yiannis Antoniades, has incredibly innovative and impressive capabilities. ARGUS is actually composed of 368 5 megapixel cell phone cameras in a mosaic-like form which are mounted to a drone. The video stream from each of these chips is blended together to create an incredible 1.8 billion pixel real-time video stream, capturing areas up to 15 square miles in a single glance. The resolution is so defined that an operative can zoom in from 17,500 feet to clearly view an object as close as 6 inches from the ground. Not only does ARGUS-IS stream video at a rate of 600 gigabytes per second, but it also is capable of storing a million terabytes, or 5,000 hours of high definition footage per day. And this is just what the government has allowed us to know so far. 

             Whether or not the implications of the ARGUS-IS are cool or terrifying is disputable. First, let’s delve into the positive aspects of this technology. The fact that this imaging system can transmit 600 gigabytes of data per second is a huge leap into the future of wireless data transfer technology. Although it is unclear what this means for everyday Americans, it is not unwise to assume that this will impact the speed at which we are able to transmit data on a societal level. ARGUS-IS is also obviously beneficial for its very purpose: to make military reconnaissance more reliable. With this technology, American military operatives will have the ability to gain more reliable information from further away. There is also a possibility that ARGUS-IS could be used in the field of law enforcement to do anything from locating criminals to finding missing persons. 

             The fact that some pieces of the sensor are still considered classified information raises suspicion, and fairly so, in the minds of many Americans. The use of this device on American soil presents an array of problems, most of which arise from the potential for conflict with rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution.  The Fourth Amendment offers protection against warrantless searches and seizures, which in recent years has been extended to include the use of GPS devices to track citizens.   Now, one of the features of the ARGUS-IS is its ability to isolate and record the movement of specific objects in its field of view.  Because this type of technology is unprecedented, no legislation has been passed with regards to its use in America, but it is certain to be found to conflict with the rights assured in the Fourth Amendment.  The unsettling nature of this device is not limited to the infringement upon Constitutional rights, however.  In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the amount of surveillance that each citizen is placed under every day.   The addition of the surveillance ability of the ARGUS-IS would only be another step towards a George Orwell-esque future in which we are constantly monitored and controlled by “The man”.

iPhone - Pros

Though the pros of the iPhone are great and plenty, refrain from belittling my work.  With a focus on the iPhone 5, here is a video explaining the device in detail:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/#video

Apart from the instantaneous, almost magical appeal of the iPhone, in my presentation I brought up several key features such as these:

• Beautiful high resolution screen
• Siri
• E-mail functionality
• Camera quality
• Intuitive design
• Lightning port that goes to HDMI
• Facetime capabilities

This technology is not one that the authors of our readings would argue against; the potential for learning and development on the iPhone is astounding.  I shall begin to conclude with a poem:

Iphones are black
Iphones are white
Never out of mind
Never out of sight

Can be used for work,
Can be used for school,
Iphones are everything
But infinitesimal.

Apart from the levity, this really is the case.  As the vice president of Apple said in the attached video, the iPhone is one of the few things that if one leaves their house without it, they go back and get it.  It has become and integral part of our daily lives, and like I said before, this is for the better.  The level of communication we are able to achieve is remarkable; over the cellular network, we can make calls, send text messages, and video chat with others around the world.  I state, of course, my own humble opinion, but I believe that the iPhone is a device that makes the world a better place.

What Is Progress?

     I recently came across something in "Proust and the Squid" (page 213) which I find to be very profound.  Wolf makes a commentary on a quote from Ray Kurzwel, an excerpt of which you will see here:

"How can we, limited by our current brain's capacity for 10^16 to 10^19 calculations per second, even begin to imagine what our future civilization in 2099 - with brains capable of 10^60 calculations per second - will be capable of thinking and doing?"

The brains in the future that are referred to here are computers.  Wolf responds:

"One thing we can imagine is that our capacities for good and for destruction will also be exponentially increased.  If we are to prepare for such a future, our ability to make profound choices just be honed with a rigor rarely practiced by learners in past generations.  If the species is to progress in the fullest sense, such preparations require singular capacities for attention and decision making that incorporate a desire for the common good."

I completely agree with Wolf here.  This is like a large scale version of Spiderman's "With great power comes great responsibility".  I hope that humanity can make moral progress forwards.  With a sense of common good and technology to assist us, we can do great things.

     I am highly interested in this topic because if I ever have the privilege of designing a piece of technology, I want it to have positive impact and not be abused.  While mankind always has the choice to misuse something which is good, I sometimes wonder: Is it possible to design something which by its very nature encourages the user to use it properly, or use it for good?

Pebble Watch- Alexis deZayas and Monica Bravo

The Pebble Watch proved to have many positive uses and aspects. The Pebble is the newest smart watch that can actually connect to an IPhone or Android phone and send notifications directly to the watch. The watch has a sleek style unlike many other smart watches, which appear bulky or unattractive. The Pebble is waterproof and has a battery life of over 7 days. One noteworthy aspect of the watch is that you can download new apps for it on your smartphone, and you can actually create your own apps for the watch. 

Although the Pebble Watch has many neat features and uses, there are quite a few downsides to it as well.  For one, it is made with a cheap screen.  If it drops on a hard surface, there is a fair chance that it will crack and need to be replaced.  It also only works with iPhones and Androids.  This means that not everyone is able to utilize this new technology unless he or she has a compatible phone.  The fact that the watch uses between five and ten percent of your phone’s battery life is also a negative factor.  There are already so many things that run down our phones; the use of this tool means the battery will hold a charge for even less time.

Another big glitch in this product is that if the Bluetooth connection is lost, you must reselect which notifications to send to your watch each time.  This is a huge inconvenience as Bluetooth connections fail quite often.  It almost defeats the purpose of convenience that the watch is supposed to provide.  Finally, the question comes up of if we really need to be connected to our phones even more than we already are.  Are we really too lazy to just pull them out when we want to check something?  I don’t think it is really necessary to have a screen on your wrist to display your notifications and such when we can just as easily look at our phones and see the same thing.  If you didn’t have to carry the phone around in addition to the watch, it would make much more sense on why this watch is really benefitting us at all.

3D Printing–Potential Disadvantages

Dear Class,

Three-dimensional printing progressed from academic curiosity to powerful production tool through the 1980s and 1990s. The apparatus works by injecting media onto a bed, sometimes submerged in liquid, in thin layers, usually around 100 micrometers. After repeating this process many thousands of times, a physical model of a digital object is produced in three dimensions.

As with most technologies, three-dimensional printing has the potential to be socially disruptive. For instance, how will we, as a society, decide to protect the intellectual property rights of companies whose products are likely to be copied using three-dimensional printing? (See this article on how three-dimensional printing is likely to disrupt tabletop gaming company, Games Workshop.) How will we choose to regulate the production of certain objects, like assault rifles? (For more information about weapons manufacture using three-dimensional printing, see this interview with Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson.)

As technology is adopted, there is the tendency for our lives to be lived farther and farther from the physical. Three-dimensional printing is an odd reversal of this trend, a movement of the digital world into the physical. And yet, the physical experience of three-dimensional printing is not the same as other acts of creation. The designer of objects for three-dimensional printing never knows the human pleasure of craftsmanship, the tactile experience of exploring material as it progresses from imagination to form.

The craftsman knows the sensory delights of working in the physical world: the sound and smell of wood as the plane removes shavings, the touch of the plane, the sight of wood taking its final form.
(Image Source.)

With best wishes for your happiness,

Hayden

3D Printing--Pros

Last week my partner Hayden S. and I did our technology presentation on 3D Printers. 3D printers, while relatively new to the manufacturing world, may have the potential to redefine it. 3D printers function in a very similar manner to normal 2D printers, except instead of using paper and ink, they utilize layers of thermoplastic powder into which a binding solution is injected. The solution is injected in areas according to a scan of an object or a 3D design created with Computer Aided Design programming that has been "sent" to the printer. The result is a nearly perfect replication of almost any object imaginable.

 I discussed the many positive implications 3D printing in our presentation. First and foremost, 3D printing is extremely efficient. Many of the processes used to create, assemble, and distribute mass produced products could be eliminated completely with the use of 3D printers. This would simultaneously maximize productivity and minimize cost, which could be beneficial in reducing the price of many useful devices that are too expensive for many to afford. 3D printing also nearly eliminates the production of waste byproducts, meaning that 3D printing could potentially be labeled as a sustainable option for mass production.

One of the most important uses of the 3D printer may be in the medical realm. Technology is being developed which could allow for the "printing" of viable organs, essentially eliminating the need for organ donors and transplant lists. As a result, many lives could be saved. This kind of technology, while not available to hospitals yet, could become a regular practice within the next five years.

These are just a few of many reasons why 3D printing could have a very positive impact on the world within the next decade. Below is the link to our presentation on 3D printers.

Uwand and IR technology--cons

As the presentations for technology come to a close, I'd like to take the chance to take you back to our first day when Colette and I discussed the Uwand. This magical remote incorporates infrared technology--nothing new to the tech world. As a matter of fact, it was first used as a missile detector on Queen Elizabeth's jet in 1990. Since then it's been implemented into security systems, measuring devices, motions sensors, temperature monitoring, and a variety of other consumer products; however, this is it's first application with a television. The Uwand offers a very basic remote with very basic controls with a very basic goal--ease of use.

The Uwand's ease of use marketing strategy borders on false advertising because of its inability to be used through walls and susceptibility to weather. In addition, prepare for the next Iphone to be capable of the exact IR technology making this technology obsolete to the everyday consumer.

Remember when we used to just "watch" tv. We never clicked, browsed, or scrolled on it. We just enjoyed whatever lame CSI came on for an uninterrupted hour. While our brains are not  necessarily turning to mush, our ability to concentrate is being depleted if we need to be able to interact with a television.

Don't get me wrong, I find the ease of use to be extremely cool, but I would expect my Uwand to do my homework and make me the coolest guy at Reggie's on Monday for a market price of $200. It's just not financially sound for its capabilities.

Fortunately, only the 20% of people who actually have smart televisions--66% of which don't even use the apps--can experience its blatant downsides. Carr quotes Doidge in The Shallows saying, "The paradox of neuroplasticity is that for all the mental flexibility it grants us, it can end up locking us into rigid behaviors." Philips is merely playing on the fact that our brains are locked in the "rigid behavior" to have the latest technology--whether is useful or not.