“How Tech is Used To Make Real Life Exciting”

What would be awesome is to have the same functionality we have in websites, exist in the real world. Imagine, fully personalized experiences, limitless access to knowledge, entertainment where ever you go, automatic upgrades that create new functionalities, all in real-world physical environments.

Is that at all possible?

We typically think of objects in the physical world as having a set functionality. A website or an app can upgrade overnight, but the washing machine will not become a dryer following a new version release. The cooking stove in the kitchen will not ask us how well we can cook and offer guidance on how to make the perfect dinner.

Websites capture multiple data points descriptive of visitor’s behavior. The website operator knows which items captured our interest, which links we clicked, where we paused to think. Improvements to engagement, retention, and buying decisions are made based on this data. Imagine if we could do the same in the physical world. If we could create web-like hyper-personalized experiences in physical environments, we could create a tremendous amount of value for businesses, and better experiences for end users.

Now with IoT, Edge Computing and AI, objects, as well as environments are becoming more Web-like. Upgrades are made possible to the extent that your car will gain new functionalities from one day to the next and entire environments can be more agile, to match the changing conditions or behaviors within them.

What If We Could Optimize Environments Based On Real-Time Behaviours?

How many times have you waited at the red light, frustrated, because you were the only vehicle as far as the eye could see? There are many such instances in which we need to wait for a predetermined cycle to complete. We have become accustomed to accepting such annoyances in real life, but have long forgotten similar experiences such as generic websites or pages that take time to load online. Now things are starting to catch up in real life. Traffic lights, for example, are now beginning to be smarter using computer vision. By understanding the conditions in a junction, the lights can better manage traffic as well as respond to the emergency conditions.

Click here to read the full article by By Hod Fleishman, originally published in Forbes.com