Natural language processing podcast

The future of computing....

Invisible computing

In almost everything we do these days, there is a computer involved. There is a computer that drives cars, one that makes coffee, and if you want one that cooks food, well you may want to wait a little longer though I would not be surprised if there is already one. It is this advancement in computing particularly personal computing that drove us to our futurist prediction: computing in the future or what one author describes as invisible computing. In his post eleven events, trends and developments that will change your life, Glen Hiemstra, (October 16, 2006) introduces the idea of invisible computing.

Invisible computing, or the replacement of computer hardware as we know it. In todays world the computer or at least the personal computer as we know it is either sitting on our desk or our laps and more and more in the palms of our hands…but that is another topic. Technology is advancing very fast and it is not hard to assume that in the future and by the future we are talking about 2020, we will arrive at invisible if not near invisible computing. What is invisible computing? This idea is funded on the premise that computing will shift from the hardware that performs computing tasks to the persons that perform the task. In this light Hiemstra believes that computers will all but disappear into flexible clothing and Nano paper screens.

In today’s computing environment, it is more about the technology that is needed to accomplish given task. It is about creating new and innovative UIs with the assumption that it allows humans to accomplish the tasks that they need. In the future, our focus should not be on the technology, it should be on what the user wants to do. What the users goal is should in my opinion be the driving force behind computers.  It is not hard to perceive that in the future we will have many a computer without having a computer…does that make any sense? Picture a child watching a movie in the year 2030 (they are watching a movie that was made in the 1990s) and the wife in the movie is complaining about the husband spending too much time in front of the computer… it is my belief that they will very likely not understand what this means. This incomprehension will be due to the fact that computers will not exist as hardware that performs a task but rather computers will be integrated into everything we do.

Did someone just whisper “farfetched”? We are almost already there believe it or not. My Whirlpool washer and dryer are programmable, my coffee marker is programmable. So how then is it hard to believe that in the future the computer will be there to assist us in the task that we need to complete but it will not be what we are used to. The Internet will be here and very likely will serve as a super machine that allows for ubiquitous computing. So what would be the driving forces that will make such a computer work?

Technological.

Already, there is rapid development of in areas of light based computing, spintronic, nanotube and quantum computing. These developments are not only increasing the speeds at which computers respond but they are also allowing for rapid reduction in the size of computers and at the same time making these computers cheaper. It is not hard to imagine that in the future computers will all but disappear into the devices that we use everyday. There is even talk of things such as Nano paper screens and wearable computers as already mention by Hiemstra above.  The development of devices such as the sixth sense at MIT only leads us to believe that there are greater things in store for computers in the future. 

Socio-cultural

Another force that is sure to spur the development of invisible computing is our constant need for information. Humans by nature want information but are not particularly interested in how that information is gotten. UI designers are beginning to realize that the way humans interact with computers need to be reevaluated such that we do not approach HCI as what technology can do for us but rather what the user wants to do ….

Xmind, the collaborative tool... my review

Ideas are worthless if you cannot express them in a logical easy to understand manner. One should be able to picture or visualize where the idea is coming from and where it is going to or what exactly the thinking is hoping to achieve. Now assume that you are in a group and you need to brainstorm with others and these people are not necessarily in the same room or geographic location as you are: that is where xmind comes in.

Xmind is an open source brainstorming and mind mapping application that allows users to plot their ideas as they think about them allowing for visualization. Not only is it easy to use, it is also easy to export its output to PDF or Microsoft office. Thus users can create mind blowing imaginative logic or logical solutions to problems which they can then share with their peers thus cutting down on time spent  on brainstorming. Xmind also allows users or groups of users to manage given projects by its use of Gant charting which provides users with a general overview of their given projects.

Features that support innovation:

For starters, xmind is open source and runs on a multitude of platforms including but not limited to windows, mac osx, Ubuntu Linux, android and the ipad (it is still in development but we can dream cant we?). What does this mean for users? Users can develop their ideas using xmind no matter where they are and then share these ideas with their team members in a collaborative space.  This not only removes the need to be in the same collaborative space as the people we work with but it also removes time as a factor of collaboration as one can now develop ones ideas in Bangkok (don’t ask me why I chose that city) and share it with ones peers in Ngelemenduka (yes that is a real place…)

Additionally Xmind works seamlessly with other open source products that allow for brainstorming such as freemind and mindmanager. What this means that users are not tied down to using Xmind but rather they can use whatever platform they choose to logically map their ideas or brainstorm and this will be easily workable with those of us that choose to use Xmind.  For a project such as our natural language processor for mobile devices, this means that we can have our different players be they linguist, psychologist, AI programmers, hardware programmers and what have you, brainstorm using different platforms with neither time, place or equipment being holding up the work.

With that being said , Xmind has the drawback that you can only get some of these features to work by paying for the pro version but hey if you want quality you may want to shell out some dough ….