“Although this may sound like a futuristic scenario, all of these technologies exist today, and conform to what is called Ubiquitous Computing.”

Imagine this: A man leaves his car at the airport’s valet parking service. He heads to-wards the building’s entrance, and as soon as he enters, his smartphone connects to the airport’s network to search and confirm his travel documents with the airline. All he needs to do now is approach the kiosk to scan his fingerprint and confirm his identity against his boarding pass. This is a one-day trip, so there are no bags to check, the man is ready to go. His Google Glass shows him augmented reality arrows that point the way to his boarding gate.

As he walks, he pulls up his phone’s calendar to confirm his arrival time at his destina-tion, which is electronically sent to his potential business partners, with whom he will hold a meeting at a private conference room at his destination. Because he is running short of time, as displayed in his head-mounted display, he receives a message offering premier upgrade in his flight to speed up his wait at the security checkpoint. With a double blink, he agrees to the purchase and swiftly heads towards his boarding gate.

From Wearable to Ubiquitous ComputingScience Fiction is now IT Science

Manuel BelaunzaranCTO Neoris Mexico

Practical InSights

‘Practical InSights’ is a Neoris publication. This material shall not be reproduced or copied in whole or in part without Neoris’ express consent. Neoris is a business and IT consulting

company specialized in value-added consulting, emerging technologies and outsourcing solutions. Headquartered in Miami, Fl. Neoris has operations in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Africa, and

the Middle East. For local office information, please visit us at www.neoris.com703 Waterford Way. Suite 700. Miami, FL 33126Phone: (1) 305-728-6000 / Fax: (1) 786- 388-3139

Once on the plane, his phone synchroniz-es his profile with the screen located in the seat in front of him. It shows options to check his e-mail, watch a movie from a preselected list based on his purchase history on Amazon, or listen to his favorite music, also based on his preferences. He decides to review his presentation, instead, to ensure he is well prepared for this im-portant meeting. He accesses his cloud disk through the plane’s screen and checks those three last slides he did not review the night before. As he is about to finish, a blinking icon appears at the bottom of the screen prompting a message for an urgent purchase order approval for prototype ma-terials that his company is developing. As this is an important project, he rushes to approve it, and closes the application, turns off the screen and rests for the duration of the flight.

Upon arr ival , h is phone automat ical ly confirms his arrival to the airport business center, so they have everything ready for the impending meeting, he orders extra prints of his presentation and gets billed for a l l the services automat ical ly. Af ter a successful meeting he invites his new partners to lunch in order to celebrate up-coming success.

Although this may sound like a futuristic sce-nario, all of these technologies exist today, and conform to what is called Ubiquitous Computing. According to Wikipedia, it is:

“An advanced computing concept where computing is made to appear everywhere and anywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using any device, in any location, and in any format . A user in teracts wi th the computer which can exist in many different forms, including laptop computers, tablets, terminals and phones.”

In other words, this is the conjunction of Internet-of-Things, Wearable Computing, Mobile Apps, Geo Location, Augmented Reality.

Cloud Computing and many other develop-ments. They are all available today, and all that is necessary to make them work as described above, is the design of a workflow to connect technologies so they can interact with each other seamlessly and securely. This is real, and it is real today!

Our refrigerators can now keep track of in-ventory levels at home and create shopping lists that can be sent to a mobile device. At the store, a mobile device can synchronize with the store’s aisle plan, and optimize a route for the user to take in purchasing the items on the list. Smart shopping carts can keep track of the items put inside, and apps on a smartphone can alert the user to any rebates or electronic coupons avail-able for the items. Stores can now manage electronic shelf price tags, changing by the hour depending on the day’s sales. As a person leaves the store, RFID connected to banking services can check shoppers out without stopping at the cashier and au-tomatically charging the total to the user’s credit card. This is also a feasible retail ex-ample that will put early-adopters ahead of the competition in leaps and bounds.

Many industries can benefit from Ubiquitous Computing, including retail, banking, insur-ance, professional services, construction, transportation, manufacturing and healthcare. Making the consumer’s experience more attractive, effective, and streamlined can present a considerable edge for those businesses exploring these technologies. With customers who are more connected, informed, and proactive in leveraging these tools, there is no limit to what businesses can offer them to enhance their experience. This is a trend that is definitely worth look-ing into, as it presents incredible customer penetration opportunities for those who can adapt early.

Are you ready to start designing your future ubiquitous processes?

“With customers who are more connected, informed, and proactive in leveraging these tools, there is no limit to what businesses can offer them to enhance their experience.”

“This is the conjunction of Internet-of-Things, Wearable Computing, Mobile Apps, Geo Location, Augmented Reality, Cloud Computing and many other developments.”