Member Article

Where Can Technology Take Us?

As businesses become more reliant on the use of data, the question of where the next technological development will come from looms. What the average consumer/business uses day-to-day is constantly changing and improving. Business Intelligence is such an important aspect of the way all businesses run, that it would make sense that the next major mainstream advancement will be in that field.

Streams of progress has been made in Business Intelligence through video. The advantages of Video analysis are evident. Modern BI has taken Business Intelligence to new realms, using intuitive, agile systems to efficiently analyze business trends. For example, Modern BI can help business identify changing internal and external dynamics. This method of business intelligence can be used by most modern business ranging from schools to supply-chain manufacturers.

The key attraction of business intelligence is gaining actionable data. In recent years, the video industry has had a tremendous upsurge. Products such as The Sony Vision Exchange application allows cameras to be interlinked in teacher meeting spaces and classrooms, allowing the user to download, mirror and take snapshots of the footage. As quality gets better, the many uses of video have been amplified. Businesses are now turning to video as a way of analyzing business trends.

The retail sector has always been a consumer of video technology, Security cameras have become a vital part of high street businesses since their introduction. But now they have a further use, being able to analyze customer behavior, shop-floor traffic flow & staff efficiency.

It is these key pieces of analysis that allow progress.

For instance, if a shop can pinpoint the moment when a customer moves to a different part of the store, then they will be able to breakdown the contributing factor that is forcing these customers to move. This could be something as simple as a ‘loud’ piece of P.O.S. (Point of Sales) to as complex as a missing best-selling product on the shelf. Without these analytics, it would take significantly longer to assess this and make vital changes that will only improve the prospects of the business.

Another example of video analytics paving the way is evident in the education sector. Products such as the Sony Vision Exchange mentioned above allows educators to recognize patterns in the behavior of children, but there are other ways in which video analytics has aided the efficiency of teaching. ONVU Learning’s development of a 360-degree camera that can provide HD imagery/playback from all around a room is being used in selected education centres.

Teachers are using this product as a way of analyzing the way they teach. This allows them to learn efficiently and improve their methods of education through self-assessment. This provides evidence-based data that can back-up notions or self-awareness and help teachers better engage students. It is this notion of self-improvement that has pushed technology to where it is now. Could the next piece of revolutionary technology be internal 360-degree cameras in cars that allow drivers to analyze their driving to reduce road accidents?

Moving forward, who is to say that VR & AR is not the new way in which to learn how to drive? The possibilities of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are limitless.

Augmented Reality is already penetrating the retail market. In recent times, Topshop used AR as part of their launch of the Autumn/Winter collection in 2014. They used AR to allow customers to virtually ‘try-on’ clothes, thus making an informed decision before purchasing. IKEA used a similar product to encourage people to ‘try before you buy’, attaching AR codes to products in their catalogue. Customers could then get an augmented version of the furniture and place it in a room, seeing how it would look before they purchase it. It is this sort of ingenuity and endeavour that has seen technology develop to the place it is now.

Video could change every echelon of our lives. Who is to say that video analysis could not solve the issue of unattributed inmate violence. If a camera was able to identify an inmate from a crowd of others, then it could help with battling undue punishments.

Ultimately, video has the potential to accelerate the innovative practices of all businesses, from retail to education and everything in between, the combination of cutting-edge video software with the innovative use of AI and BI can completely transform peoples day-to-day lives.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by ONVU Technologies .