No More CDs or DVDs but "Holographic Memory"

Okay guys, I'll wait you until you stop saying "WOOOOOOOW~" for the title ;)

So here's my 1..2...4.. ah! my 6th post actually about the latest technology and its impact for the society. Just read it out :)

Technology Holographic Memory is basically utilizing the light to store data and reload data or information. This technology uses 3D holographic images to store more information in a smaller space and offer faster data transfer. It uses the volume of the recording medium for storage, instead of only the surface area. So they called it store in 3D.

Actually devices that use the light to store and read data has been famous for nearly two decades, CD (Compact Disc) for example. CD allows you to store multi-megabytes of data. Then an improved version of the CD, called DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), which enabled the storage of full-length movies on a single disc. These conventional storage mediums meet today's storage needs. In order to increase storage capabilities, scientists are now working on a new optical storage method, called Holographic Memory.

This is how Holographic Memory works, this technology uses holograms which are created when a light from a LASER beam is split into two beams; the signal beam or objects beam (which carries the data) and the reference beam (which designed such easy and simple to be reproduced as used as a reference). In holographic storage, at the point where the reference beam and the data carrying signal beam intersect, the hologram is recorded in the light sensitive storage medium.

Adapted from Inphase Technology, when you create a variance in the reference beam angle then hundreds of unique holograms can be recorded in the same volume of material. To read the stored holographic data, the reference beam is deflected off the hologram reconstructing the stored information. This hologram then projected onto a detector that reads the entire data page of over one million bits at once.

Prof. Yohanes Surya said when this technology has been successfully completed, we could save hundreds of our favorite movies only in a medium with the same diameter of a regular CD or DVD. Soon the entire contents of the books in library can be stored in a small device, so that we can have a mini encyclopedia that the content may be more complete than the content in library. (WOOOOOOOOWWWW~) We can also store and listen to thousands of our favorite music only in a small device. Moreover, the data reading process is performed in high speed (fast transfer rates). So that the society can save their money to buy a new storage medium.

Name : Figlenia Tirta
Lecturer's Name : Adityo Pratomo
Campus : Surya University

References :

[1] http://www.i-techmagazine.com/wawasan_iptek/artikel_teknologi/ys_artikel_teknologi/holographic_memory.pdf

[2] http://computer.howstuffworks.com/holographic-memory.htm

Make your own food by 3D Food Printer

Once you read the title, I guess that you are just "Are you kidding me? It's kinda impossible!" Yeah, I have felt the same with you before, but let me make it straight :)

3D Food Printer is "absolutely" a smart printer that is able to print food in 3D, not only in paper or document as usual but in unique shape of course ;) It claimed can print sugar, chocolate or candy in pretty much any design imaginable. For those who love sweets (like me) would certainly pleased to hear this latest technology. According to a report from Ade Astuti from Voice of America, this technology has the similar works with the general printer. To create a sweet, the printer needs water and dry powder ingredients. So, basically this printer spread the very smooth powder (icing) and use a head of inkjet to spray water to the surface of sugar. When the water hits the powder, it recrystallizes, so that whatever the water touches, it harden and make a complex shape like twist, turn, and sparkle shape.

This 3D printer had the price around US$ 10k. Due to a very high cost, this printer is not really worth it for individual consumers or even home-based businesses (unless you have enough money to buy this printer :p). However, this 3D printer could be interesting for the large company to save their operational cost. When the operational cost can be reduced, the product can be less expensive and the sales can be increased. That is a simply  impact for the society I think :3

Liz Von Hasseln and her husband, Kyle, are both trained architects. They started a company named The Sugar Lab, to create and design custom confections for events. All started when they both graduated from school. According to their website, they wanted to make a unique birthday gift to their friend, so they hacked a 3D printer and tried to print a cake. The gift ultimately turned out well and the 3D printer acquired in The Sugar Lab in September.

The creative director of food products for 3D Systems, Von Hasseln said the print result can be used as sculptural toppers on wedding cakes, custom sugar cubes, printed and personalized sweets, and everything in between.

In addition, a 3D food printer is also an answer for those who are not expert in cooking. For using this printer, they were as if good at cooking but actually they are not ;P Everyone will be able to be creative to make their favorite sweets without having the trouble to learn in cookery or provision of cooking.

That's it. Interesting, right? Especially for those who wondering, they have tried a piece of 3D printed candy, sour apple flavor and they said it was delicious. Yum!!
Thank u for reading. Mind your comment please :))

Name : Figlenia Tirta
Lecturer's Name : Adityo Pratomo
Campus : Surya University

References :

[1] http://www.i-techmagazine.com/index_berita/laporan_utama/feb2014/printer3d.html

[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/chefjet-3d-printer-food_n_4573271.html

Eye Tracking Technology

What is Eye Tracking? and How about Eye Tracker? How are eye movements tracked? What is usability of Eye Tracking? To answer those question... here we go :D

Eye Tracking is a technique that offers an objective way to measure eye movements and record eye position. It is the process of measuring either the point where one is looking or the motion of an eye relative to the brain. While the Eye Tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement.

To understand how Eye Tracking works, it's important to know how the eye itself works. The human eyes are constantly moving until they stop and focus on a point. When the eyes stop to focus, it is called a fixation. When the brain interprets the visual information from the eyes, the length of fixation is usually an indication of information processing. For example, in reading studies it has been proven that the fixation lengths when we read the common words is shorter than when we read the less common words. The number of fixations can indicate how easy something to find, for example, a specific package on a shelf.

So let's take a brief for Eye Tracking usability. One of industry that already used Eye Tracker into their gadgets is SAMSUNG. Eye Tracker let the users especially SAMSUNG Galaxy S4 users read web content without having the touch screen. The phone's front camera will track the eyes and automatically scroll content when it sees that the users have read to the bottom of the screen. Thus, the phone is actually watching. This feature is further implementation of Smart Stay feature in SAMSUNG. Similar to Eyes Scroll, when Smart Stay enabled, the phone uses the front camera to track for the eyes movements and see if the users actively looking at the screen. If so, it makes sure the phone display doesn't dim or go into sleep mode. It simply can make society save the power of electricity and simplify their life of course ;) 

Eye Tracking is commonly used in a variety of advertising media. Commercials, print ads, online ads and sponsored programs need Eye Tracking technology. Why??? because Eye Tracking can be used to find out how to catch the subject’s eyes. Analyses focus on visibility of a target product or logo in the context of a magazine, newspaper, or website. In this way, an advertiser can know the success of a given campaign in terms of actual visual attention.

In other case, when you are going to search something on the search engine like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. When it gives you the answer, which part of the result that give you an attention? Yes. A study found that in a search engine results page received more attention than the paid ads or even the first line of the result.

Next, one of the most promising applications of Eye Tracking is in the field of automotive design. Research is currently integrate Eye Tracking cameras into automobiles. By equipping automobiles with the ability to monitor when the driver is sleepy, driving safety could be dramatically enhanced. and the last but not least, since 2005, Eye Tracking is used in communication systems for disabled persons. Eye Tracking allows them to speak, send e-mail, browse the Internet and do other such activities using only their eyes. 

Name : Figlenia Tirta
Lecturer's Name : Adityo Pratomo
Campus : Surya University

References :

[1]    http://www.tobii.com/

[2]    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_tracking

[3]    http://eyetracking.me/?page_id=9
[4] http://gigaom.com/2013/03/04/thanks-to-eye-tracking-samsungs-galaxy-s4-is-sure-to-watch-you-watching-it/

Cloud Computing and Its Positive Impact

Okay, so this is my 3rd post on my blog. Due to deadly deadline before mid-term test, so I made this post with the same topic with my presentation. Maaf pak lagi kehabisan ide T^T

So this is it..

Could you see the picture above? yeah. It's simply a joke about Cloud Computing. Though it just a joke but it tells us a lot =]

Cloud Computing is a phrase used to describe a variety of computing concepts that involve a large number of computers connected through a real-time communication network such as the internet [1]. Cloud computing provides online computation, online software, online data access, and online storage services [2]. Cloud Computing divided into several layers :

The uppermost layer consists of Client Computers which connected to the web browser (Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc) and an unique applications that are required to access the data on the 'Cloud'. The next three layers are the Central Server of the Cloud Computing service provider that has function to manage the system, monitoring traffic and client's demands in order to keep it running smoothly.

The most useful excess of this application is ease of access. Cloud Computing allows us to access data anywhere and anytime as long as it's connected to the internet because this application can't be executed if there is no internet connection. For example, if we don't have any Power Point software on our computer, then we can make it in Cloud Computing service provider such as Google docs and we can directly save the documents in the 'Cloud'. In other case, if we forget to bring our laptop, we can still access our data eventhough from the different laptop or computer, because all of data stored in the Central Server.

In addition to ease of access, Cloud Computing has flexibility impact, which the data don't need to be stored on storage devices such as harddisk or a flashdisk. Even to add a storage spaces, we don't need any additional equipment. We can simply pay a Cloud Computing service providers to increase the storage spaces. 

Another positive impact is Cloud Computing enables the companies to reduce the high-cost procurement and maintenance of computer infrastructure especially in the large companies [3]. Indonesian government has proved it, they already used Cloud Computing services for use in government agencies (e-Government). Based on IPTEKnet Agency calculation, the use of cloud computing service can save the costs by nearly 50%, because they don't need too many IT staff and the IT staff are no longer deal with the updates, configurations, or other things related to computing. With the Cloud Computing, we are also not burdened to pay the license fee over the software that we've installed and used, because the software can be used through Cloud Computing.



Name : Figlenia Tirta

Lecturer's Name : Adityo Pratomo

Campus : Surya University

References :

[1] Mariana Carroll, Paula Kotzé, Alta van der Merwe (2012). "Securing Virtual and Cloud Environments". In I. Ivanov et al. Cloud Computing and Services Science, Service Science: Research and Innovations in the Service Economy. Springer Science+Business Media.

[2] http://www.chip.co.id/chipversity/general/6872

[3] http://www.sby.dnet.net.id/dnews/september-2011/

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing