The Evolving Case of Blockchain

If we were to trace the origin of blockchain, it would lead us to the first white paper on peer-to-peer payment system written by Satoshi Nakamoto. This peer-to-peer payment system also known as bitcoin was built on a technology that is today called blockchain. It was only years after the bitcoin whitepaper that the technology fraternity decided to explore the standalone capabilities of the blockchain. Today every IT company or even new age startups have at least one product built on blockchain and that too addressing issues other than finance.

Even though the idea of blockchain shook the very concept of a central authority for due diligence, multiple businesses have today jumped the bandwagon to reap its benefits. With companies building their own blockchains and bitcoin counterparts, crypto transactions are entering a new horizon and reaching the masses. Last October, McDonald’s Thailand entered into a strategic partnership with Omise, an Ethereum based payment gateway infrastructure provider, to implement its payment gateway on both website and app. Food retailers are not only looking at blockchain as a payment service enabler, but also at using it to aid a transparent supply chain. In India, where farmers are dealing with the problem of overproduction, Farm2K has developed a network of farmers to understand the food consumption trends and plan production for the next harvest. The platform also has a blockchain solution that could identify an entire batch of infected produce that will help in ensuring food safety. Especially with growing veganism and clean eating, blockchain is set to differentiate grain from chaff.

One other application of blockchain is in helping consumers make informed and ethical purchase decisions by assisting authorities in regulating illegal trade. As per 2015 Nielsen report, 43% of consumers are willing to pay more for brands with social value and this percentage is on an increase at a substantial rate. Last month, IBM announced its, Trustchain initiative, collaboration with a consortium of gold and diamond industry leaders to follow the source of finished jewelry along the supply chain for improved transparency. The initiative provides digital verification, physical product and process verification, and third-party oversight. This is aimed at creating and bringing together a community of responsible and ethical organisations along the complicated jewelry supply chain. Applying the same concept to apparels and fashion industry can ensure virtuous brands and may even shut sweatshops altogether putting an end to modern day slavery.

Sustainable shopping is not the only social-cause blockchain is contributing to. ID2020 a global public private partnership is leveraging blockchain in helping world governments identify millions of faces around them. As per 2017 update of the World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) Global Dataset, 1.1 billion people worldwide cannot prove their identity. It is to overcome this crisis that United Nations along with other organisations such as Accenture, Microsoft and the Rockfeller Foundation has formed the ID2020 partnership committed to improving lives through digital identity. In association with this effort, Accenture has come up with a solution integrating biometrics and blockchain to empower individuals to access and share appropriate information anywhere anytime without the need for paper documentation. This could be our answer to refugee crisis, fair voting and even a lost passport in a foreign country.

Given the changing consumer base, increasing population and economic and behavioural changes, blockchain seems to have a long way to go in exploring frontiers yet to be addressed by existing technologies. Though the concept was developed for eliminating third parties in financial transactions, today it has seen extraordinary traction across industries and use-cases. The more we innovate in this area, we are set to lead a simpler and hassle free life but how it would affect the changing cognitive biases is something to wait for.

*This article was first published in Medium by the author

 

When Virtual Becomes Real

The idea of transporting people to a virtually simulated environment and building illusions around them is centuries old. Considering Pepper’s ghost effect, Pygmalion’s spectacles and the first VR headset by Ivaan Sutherland we have come a long way today. Even when the underlying principles and vision remain the same, we are still working on perfecting our travel to the virtual world.

Many a times people consider Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality to be entertainment elements, what most of us forget is the massive potential these technologies hold in perfecting our real world. Keeping all possibilities of Avenger and Star Wars technologies at bay, we currently have live examples of how various industries are benefitting from these technologies.

Healthcare

Surgeons are no less than complex machine experts. They are in need of complete understanding of the human body or its part to perform a successful surgery. This is where the advances of technology come to their help. Physicians, today, are using Virtual Reality headsets to explore three-dimensional view of the organs they are to operate on. CT or MRI scans are taken of the body parts and are converted into 3-D images, which can be viewed using a head mounted device for surgical procedure planning and reviews. Practitioners are also flocking to VR devices to experience the intricacies of a surgical procedure. ImmersiveTouch, a Chicago based company, specializes in bringing operating table experiences to the VR world. They claim to be the first company to have incorporated haptic feedback to their VR programs such that the surgeon gets to experience the feel of cutting through bones and tissues while performing a virtual surgery. They are also taking this technology to the patients in order to help them understand their condition better.

Other areas where VR is making a mark are physical rehabilitation and geriatrics. Physical rehabilitation and motor control patients can be exposed to VR environments to encourage independent practice and real-time performance feedback. In case of geriatric care, practitioners are adopting VR technology to develop empathy in caretakers by exposing them to simulations of hearing loss, vison impairment, movement restriction and so on.

Manufacturing

While manufacturing industry has always been an early adopter of technologies, worker safety and training has always been its poster child given various labour intensive processes and the need for qualified and well trained workforce. Hence, it comes as no surprise when majority of the manufacturing usecases in VR revolve around worker training. Many heavy machine operators are today trained on VR devices using real life yet simulated environments. Distress situations can also be simulated on VR headsets to immerse trainees in the scenario and evaluate their performance. This is an area where the concept of digital twin can be explored. Digital twin is essentially a virtual replica of a physical asset on which various conditions can be replicated and scenarios simulated. An engineer or operator could make use of a VR headset and immerse himself in such simulated environment and identify and correct lead times, bottlenecks as well as improve efficiency and productivity.

Retail

With the advent of ecommerce sites, brick and mortar stores are losing their edge. While many retailers are closing down their stores around the globe due to reducing footfalls, others are investing heavily on experience centers and omni channel offerings. Fashion retailers today are exploring options of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality both in store and on apps to enable virtual try-ons and store walkthroughs. Anything from cosmetics to ornaments are today available for virtual try-ons. L’oreal has been experimenting with mobile apps to give virtual cosmetics and hairstyle trials to customers. L’oreal’s Makeup Genius app was an instant hit in the Chinese markets where customers usually shied away from experimenting bold looks while the Style My Hair app, which was initially launched as a makeover tool, today has evolved to become a service platform for hairstylists and consumers. Jewelry brands like Caratlane in India are also experimenting with virtual try-ons of their products especially where the consumers are conscious about the size and look of the ornaments. Interior designers and architects are also making using of VR and AR techniques to appease their clients and plan spaces. Augmented Reality enables practitioners to visualize additions or removals to a particular structure while Virtual Reality is used to give property walkthrough for customers.

Even though manufacturing, health care and retail sectors steal the show in the frequency of AR, VR instances, multiple other industries have also embraced the revolution. For instance, classroom education, training and even entertainment has mounted the headgears. Automobile manufacturers are giving virtual test drives for potential customers; they even go to the extent of having a celebrity presence in the simulated environment to take you for the ride. Travel and hospitality industry is changing the way it entices potential visitors by giving them a virtual view of the tourist destinations they could visit before fixing the itinerary. Hotel chains like Marriot are investing in experiences that could ‘teleport’ their users to the top of Eiffel tower or the red rocks of the Grand Canyon. Marketing and journalism are also areas where VR is explored. Promotional events of movies such as Avengers and Star Wars have seen extensive use of VR, this not only engages the customers but also provide top of mind recall through firsthand experience. News agencies are also adopting immersive journalism through VR for better storytelling and empathy generation. Journalism is making use of VR today to get their readers or viewers to places where they might be, otherwise, unable to go.

The technology and gadgets behind realizing complete immersive virtual experience are evolving with time. Augmented Reality could have been a technology intensive piece earlier but now it has become common parlance with PokemonGo and many makeover apps. Moving forward, this could be the future of Virtual Reality too with lighter technology and less resource intensive techniques, maybe your phones itself could become your headgear. There has been significant advancement from Ivaan Sutherland’s spectacles to the current HTC Vives and Oculus Rifts. VR headset manufacturing companies are working on building lighter and easily portable devices with larger field of view. Facebook owned Oculus Rift is currently working on its next version of the headset with a field view of 140 degree and displays that move automatically to help adjust focus. With progress in technology and research, virtual and augmented reality are to conquer more frontiers with much ease.