Consumer electronics was seen as a field where technologies were applied, not invented. Today, this relationship is being inverted as technology is driven by the wants and needs of individuals.
Some of these technologies seem to be emerging right on schedule: We expect Virtual Reality to really start hitting its stride this year, with prototype and first-generation devices for both capturing and displaying 3-D scenes being replaced by more polished products. Home health and wearable products too are expected to expand their presence, and smart vehicle technologies of various kinds are also beginning to proliferate.
Here Stu Lipoff, IEEE Fellow and president of IP Action sheds some light on consumer electronics technology and how it impacts smart living.
What all areas of technology does Consumer Electronics (CE) encompass?
Everything— Consumer Electronics now not only includes each and every aspect of electronics but also now represents the most advanced highest performance, smallest size, and lowest cost of any and all fields of interest from military to industrial to business.
What is the current state of various technology areas in consumer electronics?
There are a lot of technology areas under consumer electronics, however, current state of some of them would be:
- Home automation: It is ‘a challenge for the integration of services’ and the irruption of the IoT is compelling us to change the assignation and requirements for home applications and devices. Therefore, user centered should move towards real IoT at home which means there is a need for new features and enhancements along with need of Standarization.
- Wearables, Humans & Thing: Step counting by a watch & a phone is no instant gratification! There is a need to better understand humans & how they do and prefer of doing things, while considering both safety & comfort.
- Health & The Measured Self: There are advances in technology & analytics in this segment – new possibilities of combination of embedded sensors, wearables, personal input-consumer technology.
What consumer electronics segments are growing the fastest?
Personal electronic devices with internet access to cloud based information, services, and applications.
Tell us about some disruptive areas of consumer electronics technologies.
The most disruptive centre about artificial intelligence that improves and makes simple the man machine interface. Those technologies that make powerful complex devices easy to use are disruptive because previously unknown small firms that master ease of use can come from no-where to become industry leaders. Example- self driving cars.
How can these contribute to a smart living?
These technologies can contribute a great deal to a smart living if the playing field is levelled by not requiring advanced college education to be able to realize the benefits of doing things, learning things, access to info, participation in public affairs, etc.
What do you think is the plan for future developments with respect to a focus on meeting important social and human needs as well as enabling the individual pursuit of happiness?
In order to focus on meeting important social and human needs as well as enabling the individual pursuit of happiness, the government needs to get out of the way and let private industry innovate with less regulations. Example of bad behavior–> the USA FDA is trying to prevent medical apps that run on smart phones from being sold until the FDA approves them.
