gt march april issue 2017 global technologies

E d i t

Global TechnologiesMar - Apr 2017 1

Dear Friends

This was my 11th consecutive trip to the world’s largest show related to consumer

electronics and again was one of the select few hosted journalists. The Golden Jubilee

event of CES turned out to be its largest global gathering of technology professionals as

175,000 + visitors from more than 150 countries convened in Las Vegas.

This year apart from 3,800 exhibiting companies, CES hosted more than 600 startups

at the Eureka Park Marketplace. Spread across more than 2.6 million net square feet, CES

2017 attracted more than 175,000 industry professionals, including 55,000 from outside

the U.S.

As always the show had some ground-breaking technologies and innovation on

display. This year the range was quite varied right from automated vehicles, smart

textiles, AR, VR, robotics, AI, wearable’s, content, health care, sports, travel, smart cities,

and even clean energy.

During the Media Days 28 companies hosted preshow news conferences, with a wide

array of major product announcements including Prototype of BMW’s 7-fully automated

sedan, Casios PRO TREK, a smart watch, Faraday Future – The FF 91, a fully-electric,

fully-connected, self-driving, keyless, The Honor 6X dual-camera, dual-sensor

smartphone, LG Signature OLED TV W, or the “The Wallpaper TV” etc.

CES had all types of innovative vehicles - electric, autonomous, beta prototypes and

tech savvy or advanced. But it was the beautiful red coloured 3D printed vehicle - a one-

door/two-seater supercar called the Blade - that attracted both visitors and media.

Divergent, the company behind this provides a disruptive new approach to auto

manufacturing that incorporates 3D printed joints, which they call as NODE, connecting

carbon fiber structural materials that results in an industrial strength chassis that can be

assembled in a matter of minutes.

As many of you may be aware the actual manufacturing of vehicles is anything but

environmentally friendly. The whole aim is to radically reduce the materials, energy use,

pollution and cost of car manufacturing and bring awareness and adoption of cleaner and

greener cars.

While future 3D printed cars won’t all be supercars capable of 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds

but the possibilities with the technology look quite attractive.

Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) every year organizes two major

electronics shows – one in April (Spring Edition) and another in October (Autumn

Edition). This year again the Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) and the

International ICT Expo, will be staged concurrently at the Hong Kong Convention and

Exhibition Centre from 13 to 16 April 2017.

Entering into their 14th editions, the two fairs will provide an international platform

for around 3,400 exhibitors to showcase their hottest electronics products and cutting-

edge ICT solutions to potential business partners worldwide. In the 2015 editions, the

twin annual fairs welcomed around 92,000 buyers from 150 countries and regions.

The twin HKTDC fairs will be launching a new Startup zone enabling tech startups to

showcase their innovative electronic products and ICT solutions to potential investors

This year again over 20 Indian exhibitors are participating under the aegis of

Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC). ESC is considered

to be India’s best Electronics and IT trade facilitation organization and assists Indian IT

industry particularly the SMEs.

Under the Innovation section we have covered some of the best technologies from

Fraunhofer group.

Chandragupta Amritkar

Editor

[email protected]

[email protected]

Editor - Chandragupta Amritkar, Managing Editor - Varsha, Design - Manoj Durgam

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C o n t e n t s

Global Technologies Mar - Apr 20172

Innovation

...........................22

CES 2017

............................04

Cover Story

e-commerce

iuzeit............................16

Curtain Raiser

HKTDC...........................18

Gadgets Galore at CES 2017............................08

3D printing

3D printed vehicle............................20

This was my 11th consecutive trip to the world’s largest

show related to consumer electronics and again was one of

the select few hosted journalists. As always the show had

some ground-breaking technologies and innovation on display.

This year the range was quite varied right from automated vehi-

cles, smart textiles, AR, VR, robotics, AI, wearable’s, content,

health care, sports, travel, smart cities, and even clean energy.

This year apart from 3,800 exhibiting companies, CES hosted

more than 600 startups at the Eureka Park Marketplace. Spread

across more than 2.6 million net square feet, CES 2017 attracted

more than 175,000 industry professionals, including 55,000 from

outside the U.S. ““What an incredible way to celebrate the 50th

anniversary of CES – with the largest show floor in our history

showcasing the next generation of innovation that will revolu-

tionize our world. CES 2017 shifted to a new level as large and

small companies from around the globe gathered to reveal solu-

tions for many of our world’s most challenging problems,” said

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, Consumer Technology Associ-

ation (CTA). “Our industry is bettering the world through connec-

tivity and innovation, touching literally every facet of our lives.

Today’s connected world was on full display this week at CES

2017 – our largest, boldest show in history.”

“From startups to established businesses, traditional tech com-

panies, along with those in new industries like travel and sports,

came together and vigorously embraced technology for the 50th

anniversary of CES,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president,

CES and corporate business strategy, CTA. “This year’s show

was all about connectivity – both in the form of the technologies

unveiled and in the valuable face-to-face business connections

happening throughout the show.”

Connectivity was everywhere at CES 2017 – enabling nearly

every product category, from self-driving cars and smart cities to

digital health and 5G – and a major focus throughout CES con-

ference tracks.

During his keynote, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf intro-

duced the 5G future, a new kind of network with unprecedented

scale, speed and complexity. "5G will be the tipping point that

builds on LTE and finally enables IoT," said Mollenkopf. Qual-

comm introduced the Snapdragon 835, the first 10 nanometer

mobile processor that can deliver extended battery life, built-in

security, eye-based authentication, secure audio, on-device

machine learning and immersive experiences.

NVIDIA founder & CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made multiple

groundbreaking announcements regarding developing advanced

graphics processors and artificial intelligence. Mass Effect:

Andromeda, a popular video game made by BioWare, was pre-

viewed by NVIDIA along withGeForce NOW, a streaming serv-

ice that turns any PC into a powerful gaming PC from the cloud.

Huang also unveiled a new version of the Shield TV -- now just

called Shield -- which will support 4K HDR for both games and

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Whoa! CES 2017: Truly creates a WOW factor

The Golden Jubilee event of CES turned out to be its largest global gathering of technology professionals as 175,000 +

visitors from more than 150 countries convened in Las Vegas. Chandragupta Amritkar reports from Las Vegas

movies making it the world’s first 4K HDR entertainment plat-

form. To support Shield’s Artificial Intelligence (AI), Huang

introduced NVIDIA SPOT, a plug-in device that understands nat-

ural language and complex patterns to help build a user’s AI

experience. Huang also announced an AI car supercomputer

called Xavier used in NVIDIA’s own self-driving car BB8 and a

new capability on the NVIDIA AI car computer called AI Co-

Pilot, which provides drivers with road alerts and recognizes

facial expressions and voice recognition to improve drivers’

experience.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group in his

keynote address announced a new smartphone with a dual-cam-

era – a second generation Leica Dual camera, featuring dual sen-

sors and 2X hybrid zoom. Yu showcased an ultra-long lasting bat-

tery with the Huawei SuperCharge, which charges four times

faster and lasts 50 percent longer than other smartphone batteries.

He also introduced the Mate 9, the world's first intelligent smart-

phone to integrate with Alexa, the intelligent voice service.

Nissan Motor Corp. chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn shared

the company’s vision for a zero-emissions, zero-fatality world.

“The disruptive angle of autonomous drive technology, electric

vehicles, connected cars and services means we will see more

change in the next ten years than we did in the last 50,” said

Ghosn. He then announced that the next-generation Nissan Leaf

electric vehicle will come with the semi-autonomous ProPilot

system, as well as the company’s plans to launch their Seamless

Autonomous Mobility (SAM) system. Developed from NASA

technology, SAM enables a “human in the loop” approach to

autonomous driving, which monitors a vehicle’s path from a dis-

tance, providing peace of mind to drivers.

Ford President and CEO Mark Fields shared the company's

vision for how the future of mobility will be transformed by con-

nectivity. "Imagine what could happen when the way you get

around looks completely different. Cities will change. The way

we work and play and socialize will transform. And it will all be

enabled by connectivity," said Fields. He announced that Ford

Sync is expanding to deliver cloud-based services and that soon

all Ford vehicles will be controlled remotely with the FordPass

app. He also recapped Ford's recent partnership with Toyota to

form the SmartDeviceLink Consortium to establish industry-

driven standards for in-vehicle apps.

With more than 6,500 members of the media in attendance,

CES 2017 garnered worldwide media coverage.

CES will return to Las Vegas Tuesday, Jan. 9 through Friday,

Jan. 12, 2018.

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Holland Startup Pavilion

During CES, I had the opportunity to interact with H.R.H. Prince Con-stantijn of Holland, special envoy of Startup Delta, an organisation topromote start-ups from the Netherlands at the Holland Startup Pavil-ion. This year CES saw the first ever Holland Startup Pavilion whichwas shared by 22 Dutch startups. “StartupDelta represents the inter-ests of the Dutch startup ecosystem. Our Dutch companies andknowledge institutes have come to explore collaborations in numer-ous fields including the field of photonics, smart and e-mobility, ener-gy storage etc,” said Prince Constantijn.The startups represented areas in which The Netherlands play a lead-ing role worldwide: Robotics, Autonomous Driving, 3D Printing, Drones, Wearables, Nano Technology, Con-sumer Electronics, VR/AR and various Cloud based Enterprise Solutions.“Netherlands is already one of the top European countries in the field of innovation. My aim is to makeNetherlands the #1 Startup country in Europe. Most of the startups are looking for large investment espe-cially from foreign venture capitalists. AT CES we expect some of our companies to get initial funding,” saidPrince Constantijn.Apart from Prince Constantijn the high tech trade mission consisting of over 100 high tech entrepreneurs,startups was led by Minister Henk Kamp with an aim to strengthen the transatlantic cooperation. Theimproved positioning of Dutch tech startups in the US market can help attract capital and talent while simul-taneously strengthening collaboration opportunities with American companies.When queried on how he plans to help startups Prince Constantijn said, “We must organize startup missionsto events like CES in Las Vegas and Slush in Helsinki, so startups can put themselves in the spotlight withpotential clients and investors. CES 2017 is our first step. Next year we hope to have a bigger presence atCES.”On bringing a delegation to India Prince Constantijn said, “It would be a good idea as we can look at somegood collaborations and exchange of ideas.”

CES Unveiled the official media event of CES 2017 fea-

tured 190 exhibiting companies including 60 startups

from Eureka Park showcasing the latest in virtual reality,

companion sensing robots, wireless headphones, sleep trackers,

smart lighting, wearables etc. During the two full Media Days 28

companies hosted preshow news conferences, with a wide array

of major product announcements. The major ones were -

• A&D Medical/Mobile Health – The MobileHelp Tablet Med-

ical Alarm with MobileVitals Monitoring.

• BMW – Prototype of BMW’s 7-fully automated sedan. The

BMW HoloActive Touch system is an innovative interface

between the driver and vehicle and acts like a virtual touch-

screen; its free-floating display is operated using finger ges-

tures and confirms the commands with what the driver per-

ceives as tactile feedback.

• Bosch – Concept car featuring face recognition and intelligent

personalization, gesture control with Ultra Haptics, a crystal-

clear OLED display and digital exterior mirrors.

• Carnival – Ocean Medallion, a highly personalized wearable

concierge service, which enables elevated service through

enhanced guest interactions during the entire cruise experi-

ence.

• Casio – PRO TREK, a smart watch, which uses Android Wear

2.0 and is equipped with low-power GPS and new full-color

map functionality.

• Continental – High-Resolution 3D Lash Lidar, capable of 3D

measurement of the environment in challenging conditions

such as fog, dust, rain and light.

• Faraday Future – The FF 91, a fully-electric, fully-connected,

self-driving, keyless vehicle experience with a “driverless

valet” function that allows the car to park itself from your

smartphone.

• FCA – Portal, a concept car, is battery electric, cloud connect-

ed and offers fully self-driving capabilities.

• Hisense – The H10D 4K HDR TV, featuring proprietary

ULED display technology, quantum dot wide color gamut and

full array local dimming.

• Huawei/Honor Brands – The Honor 6X dual-camera, dual-

sensor smartphone, retailing for $250 USD.

• Hyundai – IONIC Scooter, a "micro mobility" fold-up scoot-

er aimed at those who live in urban environments with limit-

ed parking options.

• LG – LG Signature OLED TV W, or the “The Wallpaper TV.”

The 65” model is 2.57 mm wide – 1/10th of an inch – with no

gap between the TV and wall.

• Lucaro – iRobotics 7 Medical Massage Chair, a full-body

massage chair that also uses blood pressure and heart rate

monitoring for added comfort and options.

• Monster – Soundstage 2, to be integrated with Amazon Alexa.

• Panasonic – Lumix GH5 mirrorless camera that excels at

shooting video and has 4K and 6K capabilities.

• Qualcomm – Snapdragon 835, the first 10 nanometer mobile

processor, with enhanced efficiency that helps to create thin-

ner phones with longer battery life.

• Royole – The Royole Moon, a 3D virtual mobile theater com-

bining 1080p AMOLED displays at over 3000 ppi resolution

that simulate a giant 800” curved screen, with stereoscopic

3D and noise-cancelling headphones for a completely immer-

sive experience.

• Samsung – The Wash and FlexDry IoT-enabled washer/dryer

system featuring four separate compartments for washing and

drying, letting you maximize efficiency and customize how

you manage your laundry.

• Sony – Crystal LED integrated structure display, with

superfine LED structures serving as a light source, making it

virtually impossible to see the pixels.

• TCL – The Xess series – X2 and X3 models – which are edge-

less, flat and curved proving ultimate picture quality.

• Toyota – Concept-i, a self-driving car allowing passengers to

interact with the car’s artificial intelligence agent named

“Yui,” which anticipates drivers’ needs, measures emotions

and responds automatically.

• Valeo – The 360AEB Nearshield, an emergency braking sys-

tem that eliminates drivers’ blind spots, bringing the vehicle

to a stop in emergency situations.

• VOXX – Terk delivers the strongest Wi-Fi signals throughout

the home, as well as free HDTV. The soon-to-be released Terk

Omni features circle beam technology, which will allow you

to receive broadcast signals up to 65 miles away.

• ZF – The ZF ProAI, a deep learning software and ZF’s first

step into artificial intelligence that goes beyond automotive

applications.

• ZTE – The Hawkeye, the world's first crowdsourced phone.

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Press Meets and Launches

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It’s difficult to showcase all that happened at CES 2017 as I

attended press conferences, interacted with numerous compa-

nies, handled many new gadgets and quite a few promising

new startups on the expo floor spread across three venues. We

attempt to showcase a few of the interesting gadgets and innova-

tions from CES 2017

LG SUPER UHD TV

The third generation LG SUPER UHD TV lineup features

Nano Cell technology and offering Active HDR with Dolby

Vision. Its 55-inch SJ9500 is only 6.9mm at its thinnest point giv-

ing the illusion of floating in the air.

“Our 2017 SUPER UHD TV lineup with LG’s proprietary

Nano Cell technol-

ogy is a break-

through in display

technology that

advances the LCD

TV viewing experi-

ence by combining

an expanded color

gamut with the

ability to more

accurately create those colors, resulting in superior picture quali-

ty regardless of viewing angle,” said Tim Alessi, head of product

marketing at LG Electronics USA. Nano Cell LCD displays offer

a technological advantage by employing uniformly-sized parti-

cles approximately one nanometer in diameter to create more

subtle, accurate colors that can be viewed from wider angles than

other LCD TVs.

Toyota Concept-i makes cars – “warm, welcoming and,

above all, fun”

Designed by Toyota’s CALTY Design Research the Concept-i

was leverages the power of an advanced artificial intelligence

(AI) system to anticipate people’s needs, inspire their imagina-

tions and improve their lives. “At Toyota, we recognize that the

important question isn’t whether future vehicles will be equipped

with automated or connected technologies,” said Bob Carter, sen-

ior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota. “It is the

experience of the people who engage with those vehicles. Thanks

to Concept-i and the power of artificial intelligence, we think the

future is a vehicle that can engage with people in return.”

At the heart of Concept-i is a powerful AI that learns with the

driver to build a relationship that is meaningful and human- lever-

aging advanced automated vehicle technologies to help enhance

driving safety, combined with visual and haptic stimuli to aug-

ment communication based on driver responsiveness. In short

Concept-i will know if the peak-hour traffic (be it in Mumbai or

Hong kong) is becoming stressful, you’re not 100 per cent

focused on the road (probably too much of drink) and will either

give you a quick seat massage or will make the car take over. An

onboard Super-Siri, named ‘Yui’ will do this in addition to pro-

viding the driver with helpful hints about steep turnings, potential

hazards and the best route to take to your destination. Yui will

also greet driver and passengers thus making cars – “warm, wel-

coming and, above all, fun.”

myCharge

myCharge, innovators in portable power, introduced quite a

few new products. The RazorPlatinum and the RazorUltra USB-

C are the first chargers of their kind to combine the fastest indus-

try standard for charging with

USB-C. The RazorPlatinum

with Quick Charge 3.0 and

Power Delivery (13400 mAh)

features both USB-C input (36

watt PD) and output (36 watt PD) ports as well as a USB-A port

with QC 3.0 for a broad range of charging options. The 12000

mAh RazorUltra USB-C with Quick Charge 3.0 expands

myCharge’s USB-C product offerings. The new PowerGear

Tunes case will make it possible to charge any Bluetooth ear bud

set with PowerGear Tunes. The rigid shell opens for easy access

and charging is as simple as plugging in the ear buds when stor-

ing. They also introduced Adventure series for smartphones,

tablets and other small gadgets is built for the outdoors.

Smart InstaView refrigerator

How nice it would be if we could peep

into the refrigerator without opening the

opaque door. LG’s new refrigerator fea-

tures a 29-inch touch LCD display, which,

thanks to its InstaView feature, instantly

turns transparent with just two knocks of

the screen and allows users to look inside

the refrigerator without opening the door.

With webOS, consumers can also explore a

host of WiFi-enabled features directly on

the refrigerator, creating a streamlined and

powerful food management system. Ama-

zon’s Alexa Voice Service gives users

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Gadgets Galore at CES 2017

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access to an intelligent personal assistant that, in addition to

searching recipes, can play music, place Prime-eligible orders

from Amazon.com including groceries, add items to a shopping

list and more. With over 6,000 skills available, Alexa can also

control one’s smart home, request car service, set kitchen timers

and check the weather – all hands-free by just using voice com-

mands. With Alexa, daily tasks in the kitchen – such as cooking

or planning for the day – turn into a dynamic, entertaining expe-

rience. To check inside the refrigerator remotely, a 2.0 megapixel

panoramic super-wide-lens camera captures images of the interi-

or from a variety of different angles which are accessible via

smartphone.

Samsung : Quantum Dot curved monitor

Samsung’s new CH711 Quantum Dot curved monitor is

designed with gamers in mind. Available in 27- and 31.5-inch

variations the CH711 features 1,800R curvature and an ultrawide

178-degree view-

ing angle, making

content clearly

visible wherever

you may be in a

room. Its

ergonomic design

also enables view-

ers to adjust the

monitor’s hori-

zontal and vertical positioning for optimal comfort. It has nearly

125 percent RGB color coverage and 2,560 x 1,440 WQHD res-

olution.

LG SIGNATURE OLED TV

CES Best of Innovation Award winner was the 77-inch LG

SIGNATURE OLED TV W and with Dolby Vision and Dolby

Atmos integrated viewers can recapture the magic of the cinema.

The LG 2017 OLED TV lineup, consisting of the following mod-

els: the 77- and

65-inch W7, 77-

and 65-inch G7,

65- and 55-inch

E7, 65- and 55-

inch C7 and 65-

and 55-inch B7.

LG’s 2017 OLED

TVs feature the

amazing blade-

slim design of the

B7 and C7 series,

Picture-on-Glass design of the E7 and G7 series, and the unique

Picture-on-Wall design of the newest W7 series. The OLED

panel, measuring only 2.57mm thin in the 65-inch model, can be

mounted directly on the wall, eliminating any gap between the

TV and the wall. LG has partnered with leading digital content

providers such as Amazon, Netflix and Vudu.

World’s Largest USB Flash Drive - 2TB Capacity

Kingston launched DataTraveler Ultimate Generation Terabyte

(GT), the world’s highest capacity USB Flash drive. DataTravel-

er Ultimate GT offers

up to 2TB of storage

space and USB 3.1

Gen 1 (USB 3.0) per-

formance. Power users

will have the ability to

store massive amounts

of data in a small form

factor, including up to

70 hours of 4K video

on a single 2TB drive. DataTraveler Ultimate GT offers superior

quality in a high-end design as it is made of a zinc-alloy metal

casing for shock resistance. It comes with a 5-year warranty with

free technical support and is ompatible with: Windows 10, Win-

dows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 (SP1), Mac OS v.10.9.x+,

Linux v.2.6.x+, Chrome OS.

Smallest look and shoot camera

PogoCam is the smallest look and shoot camera in the world

attachable to eyewear. It is simple to use; just "look and shoot". It

was designed from the

start to fit on eyewear

without distracting from

the fashion look. Pogo-

Cam can easily and

quickly be removed if

needed. Its actual size is

10.9mm x 12.5mm x

42.8mm with a 5 megapixel sensor. It can take up to 100 photos

or 2 minutes of continuous video. The charge time is just 35 min-

utes.

Samsung Gear 360

Samsung Gear 360 which was launched mid 2016, was a rage

in Las Vegas as many were using it. Gear 360 is designed for

travel, festive gatherings to provide an all-encompassing visual

experience. It is equipped with

dual fisheye lenses, which both

have 15 megapixel image sen-

sors, giving users the ability to

capture high-resolution

(3840×1920) 360-degree video

that also supports 30 megapix-

el still images. Users are also

able to shoot 180-degree wide angle video and images with only

using one side of the camera lens. Built for any time of day, Gear

360 offers Bright Lens F2.0, which creates high resolution

images even in low-light conditions, where users can create full

panoramic videos. When Gear 360 is synced with a Samsung

smartphone, users will be able to preview content in real time

when recording.

Casio WSD-F20

Casio Computer new WSD-F20 is a

Smart Outdoor Watch featuring water

resistance and tough performance for out-

door activities. WSD-F20 runs on

Android Wear 2.0 and is equipped with

C o v e r S t o r y


low-power GPS and new color map functionality that can be used

offline to expand the range of outdoor adventures. The WSD-F20

now incorporates richly-designed and easy-to-read map data from

Mapbox, which is used worldwide. Maps can be downloaded in

advance to the WSD-F20 and used with GPS data to track the

user’s location, even when offline. The WSD-F20 enables quick

access to the information during activities, such as trekking,

cycling, fishing, winter sports, and watersports. This watch

allows users to keep their hands free and fully enjoy outdoor

activities.

Honor’s 6X

Huawei sub-brand Honor launched the Honor 6X - a decent

phone that doesn’t pinch the pocket and brings a dual camera

experience with a long battery life and sleek all-aluminum form

factor. This handset features an

expansive 5.5" IPS LCD

screen with 1080p Full HD

resolution for watching videos,

viewing photos, and playing

games, and 32GB of expand-

able storage for your apps and

media. The front of the phone

has an 8MP camera for self-

portraits and video chatting,

while the rear has a dual-cam-

era setup. A 12MP and a secondary 2MP camera. With 3340mAh

battery power the phone is alive for two days and I believe bat-

tery life will be a strength of this phone. It runs a Huawei operat-

ing system, which is based on Android. There are two versions –

the more expensive 64GB version, which also includes 4GB of

RAM to the 32GB and 3GB RAM combination.

IONIQ Scooter

Solving the last mile transportation problem is the Hyundai

Motor’s innovative portable-mobility concept IONIQ Scooter. It

enables drivers to continue their journey

after parking or helping them to travel to

public transit stations. The compact scooter

is charged while it sits conveniently inside

the front door of the IONIQ Electric. Users

can fold and unfold the scooter with just

one hand, and its lightweight construction

enhances its portability. The scooter is

equipped with front and rear lights to aid

visibility, and an occupant sensor detects when the rider is safely

aboard before riding mode is enabled. Acceleration is controlled

by the rider scrolling up their thumb switch, while braking is

achieved by pressing a pad over the scooter’s rear wheel or scroll-

ing down thumb switch.

Asus ZenFone AR and ZenFone 3 Zoom

Asus ZenFone AR is the world’s first smartphone to be both

Tango and Daydream-ready. It represents a significant advance in

mobile virtual-reality (VR) and augmented-reality (AR) tech-

nologies. Tango is a set of sensors and computer-vision software

by Google that enables smartphone augmented reality. Daydream

is Google's platform for high-quality, mobile virtual reality and

supports Daydream VR apps. ZenFone

AR is powered by the latest Qualcomm

Snapdragon 821 processor, and is the

world's first smartphone with 8GB of

RAM. Its 5.7-inch WQHD Super

AMOLED display and a new five-mag-

net speaker makes Daydream VR apps,

games, and videos more immersive and

entertaining.

ZenFone 3 Zoom is built for photogra-

phy and extended use with the world's

best smartphone camera and a large,

5000mAh battery. ZenFone 3 Zoom’s innovative dual-camera

system comprises two 12MP cameras, one with a f/1.7-aperture,

25mm wide-angle lens and a second with a 59mm lens. It is also

the first ASUS smartphone with SuperPixel camera technology

that enables it to focus incredibly quickly and capture clear pho-

tos at night or in low-light environments.

Dell Canvas

Dell Canvas—a new category of smart workspace technology

that expands creative productivity for content developers and

designers. The 27-inch QHD smart workspace can be used at an

angle or flat on a desk so profession-

als can create, communicate and

express their thoughts and ideas as

naturally as they do with pen on

paper. For example, through the use

of touch, digital pen and totems, the

Dell Canvas turns drawings into part

of the digital workflow and enhances

collaboration. Developed in partnership with Microsoft Corp. and

powered by virtually any Windows 10 device, Dell Canvas plugs

seamlessly into software solutions from partners including

Adobe, Autodesk, AVID, Dassault Systems, SolidWorks and

Microsoft.

Acer Predator 21X gaming laptop

The Acer Predator 21 X is the world’s first notebook with a

curved screen and integrates eye-tracking technology for an even

more immersive user experience. The Predator 21 X features the

latest 7th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, 5 cooling fans and

dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 GPUs in SLI for unmatched

graphics performance. Featuring Windows 10 and designed for

gaming enthusiasts. As the world’s first notebook to offer a

curved 21-inch IPS display (2560

x 1080 resolution with a 120Hz

refresh rate), it delivers a truly

immersive gaming experience,

especially when combined with

the notebook’s eye-tracking tech-

nology from Tobii. Supporting all

this power is 64GB of DDR4-2400

memory, up to four 512GB solid

state drives in RAID 0 configuration (including 2 NVMe PCIe

SSDs, which are up to 5x faster than SATA SSDs) and a 7200

RPM hard drive of 1TB capacity. Mind you it doesn’t come cheap

and is priced at $8,999 (Rs. 6,00,000/-)

C o v e r S t o r y


How did the idea of iuzeit

originate and what does it

mean?

iuzeit was actually born out of frustration. I used to spend

countless hours researching products, scouring websites for

“trusted” information to ensure I was making a smart purchase.

But, after all that effort, I was still left with buyer’s remorse. The

credibility of the information was questionable because the

sources were from unknown reviewers, not my personal network.

It occurred to me a gap existed between quality data and those

seeking it.

Hence, the birth of iuzeit—a socially connected product dis-

covery platform that compiles reliable data in one place to create

personalized product recommendations for consumers. Once con-

sumers have the necessary information, iuzeit directs them to

their retailer of choice to make a purchase.

Do you foresee such a big potential?

We live in a digital, connected world. We consult Yelp, Ama-

zon, Facebook, and other platforms to help us make decisions on

a daily basis. This landscape demands “big data,” but consumers

often find themselves struggling to organize and trust that data.

iuzeit has the potential to become the essential layer between

people and data. We take overwhelming amounts of information

and make it relevant to each consumer, guiding them to the right

purchase decision. Can you imagine the potential impact of all

those decisions? We can.

What is your USP?

The unique value of iuzeit is our platform’s focus on streamlin-

ing the consumer research process. Since iuzeit does not directly

sell products, we can objectively compile and deliver the data

quality that consumers seek prior to making purchase decisions.

iuzeit also offers the benefit of connecting users to their networks

for credible recommendations.

What are your services offerings?

At iuzeit, we provide a valuable serv-

ice for both retailers and consumers.

For retailers, iuzeit provides a new

sales channel. For consumers, they

have an easier way to find the perfect

product for them. Our one-stop+shop is

simpler; it saves the consumer time and

frustration by making the data and link

to purchase options available in one spot. Our initial focus is on

the smartphone market, but we plan to expand to other consumer

electronic and ecommerce products in the future.

What is your model to tie up with retailers to sell their

products through iuzeit?

Our model generates revenue for retailers at a marginal cost.

We join retailers’ existing affiliate programs, creating partner-

ships with third-party sites, such as iuzeit, that drive traffic to the

retailers’ products. These programs allow a revenue share for

sales via commission that originate at the affiliate site. The affil-

iate program structure will allow iuzeit to scale at a rapid pace in

terms of ecommerce partnerships.

Who are your major customers?

Our ultimate intended user base captures all consumers con-

ducting online research before purchasing a product. But current-

ly, we are focused on the 81% of millennials that spend 12 to 15

hours on average finding and researching a product before they

buy it online. In the future, retailers will become customers, as

iuzeit will be able to provide consumer data based on products

and demographics.

How do you look at the Indian/Asian market?

With publications like The Economist stating, “Shopping malls

and chain stores account for only about one-tenth of total retail

sales . . .” in India, we see major potential in establishing a pres-

ence in the Indian/Asian market within our first year. With a

growing, young, tech savvy population with increasing dispos-

able income and ecommerce spend, the Indian/Asian market

offers the perfect growth opportunity for iuzeit.

Where do you see the company in next 3 years?

In 3 years, iuzeit will be a household

name, representing a space that con-

nects consumers to trusted product and

service information, which guides their

purchase decisions. As iuzeit grows, so

will our content, featured products, and

user functionality. Additionally, by

leveraging new technologies, such as

artificial intelligence and machine

learning, we aim to revolutionize the

way consumers make purchase deci-

sions.

e - c o m m e r c e


“iuzeit has the potential to become the essential layerbetween people and data”

As the demand for online shopping is on the rise and more so in India the confusion for

consumers is equally growing thanks to multiple sources and numerous reviews – positive

or negative. In order to streamline the consumer journey Yogi Patel CEO and founder

of iuzeit a site that combines ratings and reviews from consumers, experts, and friends

in one place providing a good shopping experience. In an e-interview with Yogi Patel he

highlights his vision and passion for using technology to solve problems and connect peo-

ple. Excerpts

Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) every

year organizes two major electronics shows – one in

April (Spring Edition) and another in October (Autumn

Edition). This year again the Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring

Edition) and the International ICT Expo, will be staged concur-

rently at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from

13 to 16 April 2017.

Entering into their 14th editions, the two fairs will provide an

international platform for around 3,400 exhibitors to showcase

their hottest electronics products and cutting-edge ICT solutions

to potential business partners worldwide. In the 2015 editions, the

twin annual fairs welcomed around 92,000 buyers from 150

countries and regions.

Hong Kong’s electronics industry is the largest merchandise

export earner of the territory, reaching US$ 271.6 billion in the

first 11 months in 2016, up 1.3 per cent year on year. As the

important electronics trading hub in Asia Pacific, Hong Kong is

the ideal location to stage influential trade fairs for industry play-

ers to preview the upcoming trends and exchange market intelli-

gence.

Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director, HKTDC, said,

“HKTDC organises the Spring and Autumn Electronics Fairs in

April and October respectively each year to align with the sourc-

ing periods of global buyers. The Hong Kong Electronics Fair

(Spring Edition) is the largest spring electronics fair in Asia.

Together with the concurrent International ICT Expo, this is an

effective platform for exhibitors to present their new products and

solutions to buyers which creates abundant trading opportunities

for crossover business activities.”

Inaugural Startup Zone

Startups are a growing force in driving economic diversity. A

new Startup zone to be located at Hall 3F-G Concourse will be

launched at the two fairs, which will gather tech startups from

around the globe to present their innovative electronic products

and ICT solutions, allowing investors to explore investment and

partnership opportunities.

A series of themed events will be arranged to provide an excel-

lent platform for startups to present their ideas. These include

pitching session where startups can pitch solutions or product

ideas to potential investors on the spot, “Startup, Smart Launch”

where newly developed technology and products can be intro-

duced to buyers, as well as Startup Mentoring sessions where suc-

cessful entrepreneurs will share their experience with startups.

Debut Virtual Reality Zone at Spring Electronics Fair

A new Tech Hall will be introduced at Hall 5F-G of the Spring

Electronics Fair this year, clustering four thematic zones includ-

ing the inaugural Virtual Reality zone, as well as Connected

Home, Robotics & Unmanned Tech and Wearable Electronics.

This assemblage will help buyers source high-tech electronic

products with ease.

During the Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition) held in October

last year, the HKTDC commissioned an independent survey, dur-

ing which more than 1,000 exhibitors and buyers were inter-

viewed about the outlook for the electronics market and new

product trends. The survey found that over 70 per cent of the

respondents believed that the market potential and demand of

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) devices or

applications would be 'promising' or 'very promising' over the

next two years. To satisfy the market demand, a new Virtual Real-

ity zone will be launched at the Spring Electronics Fair to feature

a range of VR headsets and related technology as well as VR

video cameras.

The Connected Home zone will return to introduce the applica-

tion of Internet-of-Things (IoT) for home automation such as

smart home system controlled by mobile apps. The Robotics &

Unmanned Tech zone will feature aerial camera, electric scooters,

industrial and household robots amongst others. Another popular

zone returning is Wearable Electronics, which will showcase a

wide range of related products such as smart watches and smart

wristbands with healthcare and sports monitoring functions.

C u r t a i n R a i s e r


New Startup zone garners interest at the twin HKTDC fairs

Be it CES, MWC, GITEX or any major event in the field of electronics or ICT and there is a surge to get startups involved

in a major way. The twin HKTDC fairs - Hong Kong Electronics Fair and ICT Expo will be launching a new Startup zone

enabling tech startups to showcase their innovative electronic products and ICT solutions to potential investors

The fair’s Hall of Fame will return with over 570 internation-

al leading brands, including Bigben, Desay, GP, HKC, Hubble,

Intel, Motorola and Polaroid. Other themed zones include Audio-

Visual Products, Electronic Accessories, In-Vehicle Electronics &

Navigation Systems, Personal Electronics and many more.

Global ICT Solutions for Enhancing Competitiveness

Running concurrently with the Spring Electronics Fair, the

International ICT Expo is one of the signature events of the

“International IT Fest 2017”. It is the ideal platform for different

industries to keep abreast of the latest products and solutions in

information, communication and technologies (ICT) with the

objective to enhance business efficiency and stay competitive.

The Expo is categorised under various themed zones for busi-

ness visitors to look for the solutions suitable for their business-

es. e-Commerce zone will showcase cyber security, e-commerce

platform, e-payment, logistics, O2O business solutions and IT

integration. Retail

Technologies zone will feature business improvement solutions

which include retail and payment technologies. Enterprise Solu-

tions zone will present software solutions for the corporate world

enabling business to upgrade internal processes and everyday

operations.

Home-grown Innovation zone will feature the latest technolo-

gies developed by some local companies and institutions. Other

themed zones include Digital Infrastructure, Digital Marketing

and Smart Devices & Accessories and more.

There will be dedicated theme for the seminars and sharing ses-

sions held on each day of the Expo, featuring hot industry issues

which include Startups, e-Commerce & FinTech, Disruptive

Technology and Career Development. Besides, for the first time,

the Expo will open to tertiary students on the last day (16 April),

providing fruitful information on ICT career development and job

opportunities.

Besides, the popular SME IT Clinic will return to offer compli-

mentary professional consultation services on ICT systems and

solutions to help SMEs enhance business efficiency.

hktdc.com Small Orders and Value-added Events

The hktdc.com Small Orders zone will continue to serve as a

convenient platform for buyers to source in smaller lots, featuring

products available in the minimum order quantities between five

and 1,000 pieces. It is also online at http://smallorders.hktdc.com

for global buyers to source products and complete transactions

online, featuring over 120,000 products from more than 11,000

suppliers.

A series of seminars, themed under the 2017 Tech Trends Sym-

posium covering industry hot topics such as Wearables, Virtual

Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR),

Smart Home and Robotics, will be held at the fairs. Besides, there

will be Product Demo & Launch Pads, networking events and

business matching services for exhibitors, buyers and visitors to

share industry trends and market knowledge, as well as expand

their business networks.

Partial List of Indian Participants

Under the aegis of ESC, India the ICT Expo held in Hong Kong

along with Hong Kong Electronics Fair will again see a substan-

tial Indian presence both exhibitor and visitor wise.

With India becoming an economic power house thanks to its

excellence in the field of ICT many Indian IT companies exhibit

at major events across the globe trying to provide their knowl-

edge and skills to local players in that market. One such impor-

tant show is the HKTDC ICT Expo. Infact for Indians the Spring

Electronics Fair is more attractive than the Autumn Electronics

fair (even though it attracts more exhibitors and visitors) as this

has the ICT Expo running parallel to it.

This year again over 20 Indian exhibitors are participating

under the aegis of Electronics and Computer Software Export

Promotion Council (ESC). ESC is considered to be India’s best

Electronics and IT trade facilitation organization and assists Indi-

an IT industry particularly the SMEs.

HKTDC International ICT Expo (all exhibitors in Hall 3G)

1. Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion

Council

2. Hiteshi Infotech Private Limited

3. Neosoft Technologies

4. Variance Infotech

5. ABC Buildtech Pvt Ltd

6. Roger International Pvt Ltd

7. Linkites Infotech Private Limited

8. Cyber Infrastructure

9. InSync Tech-Fin Solutions Ltd.

10. Infonet Solutions

11. NexusLink Services

12. Evolvan Info Solutions Private Limited

13. Emorphis Technologies

14. Hypersoft Technologies Limited

15. eQuasar Solutions

16. Empower Integrated Solutions (P) Ltd.

17. Jenixcloud Software Solutions Pvt Ltd

18. Uflix international private limited

19. Clavax Technologies Private Limited

20. CDN Solutions

21. Nick IT Solutions Private Limited

HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair 2017 (Spring Edition)

1. HAL Robotics Pvt. Ltd. Booth No. 3CON-206 - 91 8010

275 275

2. Gospell Digital Technology Private Limited Booth No. 1C-

A08

C u r t a i n R a i s e r


CES had all types of innovative vehicles - electric,

autonomous, beta prototypes and tech savvy or advanced.

But it was the beautiful red coloured 3D printed vehicle -

a one-door/two-seater supercar called the Blade - that attracted

both visitors and media.

Divergent, the company behind this provides a disruptive new

approach to auto manufacturing that incorporates 3D printed

joints, which they call as NODE, connecting carbon fiber struc-

tural materials that results in an industrial strength chassis that

can be assembled in a matter of minutes.

Divergent’s NODE connectors are the key building block we

developed to build cars. They are connectors made of a metal

alloy and are produced using 3D printers. The NODE connectors

in conjunction with carbon fiber structural materials are the key

components in building a car chassis. With this approach one can

build a very strong and very light chassis, and do so while saving

energy and generating less pollution. The NODE approach dema-

terializes and democratizes auto manufacturing, and it enables

continuous long-term innovation and adaptation. The current pro-

totype is composite. Since the body is not structural, it could be

made from virtually anything – even spandex.

As many of you may be aware the actual manufacturing of

vehicles is anything but environmentally friendly. The whole aim

is to radically reduce the materials, energy use, pollution and cost

of car manufacturing and bring awareness and adoption of clean-

er and greener cars. They plan to radically reduced resource-use

and pollution generated by manufacturing; Up to 90% lighter

than traditional vehicles with more strength and durability; A

stronger, lightweight vehicle means less wear on roads and fewer

accident fatalities.

Divergent’s NODE connectors made of a metal alloy and are

produced using 3D printers. The NODE connectors in conjunc-

tion with carbon fiber structural materials are the key components

in building a car chassis. With this approach they can build a very

strong and very light chassis, and do so while saving energy and

generating less pollution. It takes less than 30 minutes to assem-

ble the chassis by hand and weighs 630Kg. It can go from 0-60 in

about 2.5 seconds and uses a 700 HP, 4-cylinder turbocharged

internal combustion engine fueled by compressed natural gas or

gasoline. A standard set up can produce from a few cars up to

10,000 cars per year.

While future 3D printed cars won’t all be supercars capable of

0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds but the possibilities with the technology

look quite attractive.

3 D p r i n t i n g


3D printed vehicleIt was my first chance to see a 3D printed vehicle and I was quite impressed as I saw a remarkable 3D printed ‘Blade’

car and 3D printed ‘Dagger’ motorcycle at CES. The car was displayed as a prototype along with its 3D printed frame.

How to contact usKarlsruher Messe- und Kongress-GmbH | Festplatz 9 | 76137 Karlsruhefon +49 721 3720-0 | fax +49 721 [email protected] | www.messe-karlsruhe.de | contact: Regina Feiner

How to find us- easy to travel to - by rail, roads and air- direct access to nearby motorways: A 5, A 8, A 65- only 1 hour from Frankfurt airport - direct rail link- approx. 3 hours from Paris on the TGV (high speed train)- excellent local transportation infrastructure, Messe-Express (shuttle service) from the main station to the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Center

CapacitiesTrade Fair Center - award-winning architecture, premium quality materials- 3 halls, each measuring 12.500 sq. m plus the 12.500 sq. m dm-arena- an atrium with events hall measuring 1.800 sq. m- an atrium with garden atmosphere for events- an open-air exhibition area totalling 10.000 sq. m- a conference centre accommodating approx. 2.000 guestsConvention Center- 4 event venues/halls, 28 rooms, space for approx. 13.000 seated guests- 20.000 sq. m exhibition area in the halls and foyers- 10.000 sq. m open-air area for exhibitions and events- 1.000 underground parking spaces- attractive location in the city centreEuropahalle- Room for 9.000 guests, seated or standing, or 5.097 guests seated in rows in the inner area and seating galleries- 4.400 sq. m usable area- best conditions for any kind of sporting events and entertainment

Support from A to Z- exhibitor services- visitor/participant services- event organiser services- travel services- KMK-TV - Germany´s first trade fair TV channel

Hotel recommendationsBest Western Queens, Novotel, Radisson SAS,Renaissance, Ringhotel Residenz, Schlosshotel

Everything.Out of the ordinary.

Open new doors. Savour success. Experience inspiration. Stage trade fairs, conventions and events in Karlsruhe and everything fits together. More than you would expect. In three world-class locations for events, with plenty of room for creativity . For your latest innovation. And your ideas. Welcome to Karlsruhe Messe- und Kongress-GmbH.

Stable Biological Coating for ImplantsThe extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates all important cell

functions and is an interesting biomaterial for scientists. Fraun-

hofer has developed an ECM that contains artificial chemical

groups which supports natural cell behaviour outside the body. It

can be applied as a stable coating on implants or be used in cell

culture dishes.

Biologists, chemists and physicians have to know how biolog-

ical reactions occur inside the human body to be able to – for

example – insert

new implants,

develop new

active substances

or to replace dis-

eased tissue. The

extracellular

matrix (ECM)

plays an impor-

tant role in these

researches. In

human tissue it is

the natural envi-

ronment of cells

and is responsi-

ble for important

functions (see

box). Tissue spe-

cific composi-

tion makes it the

ideal material for

use in medical

technology.

“However, it is

very complicated

to modify the matrix in such a way that it can be adapted to dif-

ferent uses, but still behave naturally”, says Dr. Monika Bach

from the Department of Interfacial Engineering and Materials

Science, in the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering

and Biotechnology IGB.

Biological Coating in Medical Technology

The chemists and biologists at the Stuttgart research institute

have worked together to develop a functional ECM, which sup-

ports natural cell behaviour even outside the body and which can

be flexibly adapted to problems related to biology or to materials

science. Prof. Petra Kluger, Head of the Department of Cell and

Tissue Engineering, described the current state of the research as

follows: “We have shown in the laboratory that the biomaterial

fulfills its functions in spite of the additional artificial chemical

groups and supports the natural behaviour of cells that are in con-

tact with it.” The IGB scientists are currently looking for collab-

orators to help them to develop specific products with the patent-

ed technology. One possibility would be to coat implants so they

are more rapidly accepted by the body. According to Dr. Bach,

“In principle, this technology would also be interesting to devel-

op new materials that can be used to support healing in bones or

wounds.“ The material could also be used to coat cell culture

dishes in the laboratory. It is providing cells with an ideal envi-

ronment, so that they exhibit their natural growth properties dur-

ing culture. “Complex living material reacts very sensitively to

even small changes in the environment”, Bach explains.

Chemical reaction that clicks

In order to equip ECM with artificial chemical groups, the sci-

entists exploit natural cell metabolism and let the chemical

groups incorporate themselves. For this purpose, cells isolated

from human tissue samples are incubated in cell culture dishes

with sugar molecules which differ from normal sugars in that

they have a reactive artificial chemical group at one position. The

cells pick up this modified sugar and use it as a building block to

assemble molecules within the cell and in the ECM. As Dr. Bach

describes it, “This chemical group can then undergo a selective

chemical reaction – a click reaction – with a suitable binding part-

ner. Imagine it is like a fastener button: one half, the other half

and then click!” The advantage of the clicking together is that the

selective chemical reaction has a high yield, without side reac-

tions and under physiological conditions, without interfering in

natural cell processes.

Planning building projects faster andmore efficiently

Building Information Modeling, an innovative modeling

method, displays blueprints clearly in three dimensions and pro-

vides additional information such as technical specifications and

requirements, building costs and timeframes. Its main advantage

is that all the various data sources are digital, so information can

be merged coherently into joint models.

Building Information Modeling, BIM for short, is a new con-

struction planning method. BIM creates digital building plans

with detailed information. All the various data sources are digital,

so information can be merged into joint models. This speeds up

building projects.

Example of a virtual building model

Architects, bricklayers, plumbers, pipe fitters – tradesmen of

all sorts work together on building construction. This variety

means that coordinating work isn’t always easy, as domain-spe-

cific plans are hard to understand for others, leading to errors and

delays. Building Information Modeling (BIM) simplifies work

I n n o v a t i o n


A scientist from Fraunhofer IGB cultures cells to

form a functionalized extracellular matrix – the

click ECM. © Photo Fraunhofer IGB

© Photo pbbReference object »OfficeCenter Pionierkaserne« in

Ingolstadt.

coordination by integrating all data into a three-dimensional

model, adding details of technical requirements, building costs or

timeframes, and storing it all centrally. In this way, all project par-

ticipants can be sure that they are referring to the same, up-to-date

architectural plan for their work. As a result, planning is coordi-

nated, decisions are made more transparent and construction is

quicker, more accurate and more cost-efficient.

A wide variety of additional information can be attached to

individual construction components, for example fire protection

data, energy characteristics, data from life cycle analyses, manu-

facturer details, assembly instructions, operating characteristics

or maintenance intervals. Each component can have additional

information associated with it. “BIM effectively creates a digital

twin of the building,” says Peter Noisten, project manager at the

Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP. This enables proj-

ect participants to visualize the nascent building better and earli-

er and to make more informed decisions, resulting in more accu-

rate planning and a decreased error count.

“BIM in Germany” – BIMiD

Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institutes for Building

Physics IBP and Industrial Engineering IAO aim to promote this

planning method in Germany by gathering practical experience

and generating recommendations. To this end, they are collabo-

rating with various partners in the “BIM Reference Project in

Germany BIMiD” project, which is focused on two construction

projects funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic

Affairs and Energy: a Volkswagen Financial Services building in

Braun- schweig and the Pionierkaserne office complex in Ingol-

stadt. A reference process – developed by Fraunhofer IBP togeth-

er with AEC 3 Deutschland GmbH and approved by the architects

and engineers association AHO e.V. – maps out the main building

development stages according to HOAI, Germany’s official Fee

Regulation for Architects and Engineers, in chronological order

from the initial concept to a building’s dis- mantling. This refer-

ence process is available online since May 2016; Fraunhofer IBP

will use it in construction projects receiving the institute’s support

as a tool to help builders and planners as well as facility managers

during the introduction of the BIM method.

“Decision-makers are convinced of the benefits of BIM,” says

Noisten. “Not only does it let them make important decisions

much earlier on than before, but those decision makers are also

much better informed.” Günter Wenzel, head of department at the

Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, elaborates:

“BIM is extremely effective when experts get together to com-

pare notes, too. Construction professionals stand together in a

CAVE projection room for an immersive virtual reality simula-

tion, where the technology lets them experience the latest plan-

ning status naturally and intuitively, with no laborious explana-

tions necessary. This notably increases efficiency – issues that

previously required two or three meetings to resolve can now be

completed with just one.

Simulating indoor climate with reliable data

Having a “digital twin” of a building presents advantages that

prove useful far beyond the normal construction planning

process. For example, Fraunhofer IBP researchers use the virtual

plans to simulate and optimize indoor climate, acoustics and

energy use and optimize them – long before the foundation stone

is laid. “Until now engineers were obliged to reenter data from

the plans manually into other software. With BIM, we can plug

data directly into a simulation,” says Noisten.

BAU ZEIT – A tool for everyone, including SMEs

To date, smaller trades such as pipe fitters have not been able

to benefit from BIM’s advantages, as the relevant software was

too expensive to be profitable for them. Instead they have contin-

ued with their previous planning methods. The problem is, their

current software is not compatible with BIM software, so pipe fit-

ting companies are left without access to the overall plan and any

changes to it must be sent to them separately. Breaks in commu-

nication of this sort are a frequent cause of building errors.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation

and Automation IFF in Magdeburg seek to fill this gap with their

IT project BAU ZEIT, with a view to smoothing the path to BIM

for small and medium-sized enterprises. “We’re integrating com-

mon planning tools such as MS Project and Excel into BIM soft-

ware,” explains Stefanie Kabelitz, a scientist at Fraunhofer IFF.

“Communication will become easier, planning effort will

decrease and costs will fall. We expect individual parties to save

up to 30 percent of working time.” The BAU ZEIT tool collects

all information in a central database and communicates any

changes to all the different participants.

I n n o v a t i o n


© Photo Fraunhofer IAOVirtual construction meeting at

Fraunhofer IAO.

© Photo AEC3 GmbHExample of a virtual building model.

Communicating better with future users and citizens

BIM isn’t just good news for construction professionals:

“laypersons” also benefit from BIM. It allows a building’s future

users to connect with the project early on – doctors monitoring

the construction of a clinic for example. Digital imaging serves

here as a comprehensible visualization tool. It also helps citizens

connect with public building projects, as researchers at Fraun-

hofer IAO found out working with communication scientists

from the University of Hohenheim on the VisB+ project. Previ-

ously, many taxpayers had the feeling that they were only pre-

sented with beautified versions of draft designs for planned con-

struction projects, rather than realistic designs. BIM now makes

it possible for members of the public to view the current planning

status of a project as an intuitive and credible 1:1 virtual model.

Compound eyes for industry and smart-phone

Fraunhofer researchers have developed a process enabling the

production of a two millimeter flat camera. Similar to the eyes of

insects, its lens is partitioned into 135 tiny facets. Following

nature‘s model, the researchers have named their mini-camera

concept facet VISION.

The mini-camera from the Fraunhofer IOF has a thickness of

only two millimeters at a resolution of one megapixel. The cam-

eras are therefore suitable for use in the automotive and printing

industries and in medical engineering. Thanks to their low thick-

ness, their basic principle may change the design of future smart-

phones.

Just as the insects’ eyes, the Fraunhofer technology is com-

posed of many small, uniform lenses. They are positioned close

together, similar to the pieces of a mosaic. Each facet receives

only a small section of its surroundings. The insect’s brain aggre-

gates the many individual images of the facets to a whole picture.

In the newly developed facetVISION camera, micro-lenses and

aperture arrays take over these functions. Due to the offset of

each lens to its associated aperture, each optical channel has an

individual viewing direction and always depicts another area of

the field of vision.

"With a camera thickness of only two millimeters, this technol-

ogy, taken from nature’s model, will enable us to achieve a reso-

lution of up to four megapixel", says Andreas Brückner, project

manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Preci-

sion Engineering IOF in Jena. "This is clearly a higher resolution

compared to cameras in industrial applications – for example in

robot technology or automobile production." This technology

was developed together with scientists from the Fraunhofer Insti-

tute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen and was funded by the

Fraunhofer-Zukunftsstiftung.

Economical production on wafers

The micro-lenses of the Fraunhofer researchers can get eco-

nomically manufactured in large quantities – using processes

similar to those applied in the semiconductor industry. Computer

chips are mass-produced on wafers (large and thin semiconductor

slices) and subsequently separated by sawing. Accordingly, thou-

sands facetVISION camera lenses can be manufactured at the

Fraunhofer IOF in parallel. "The cameras are suitable in medical

engineering, for instance – for optical sensors, which will be able

to quickly and easily examine blood", says Brückner. "In the

printing industry, however, such cameras are needed to check the

print image at high resolution while the machine is running." Fur-

ther applications: Cameras in cars that help parking or in indus-

trial robots that prevent collisions between man and machines.

An eye on smartphones

Compound eye technology is also suitable for integration into

smartphones: today, their mini camera lens is normally five mil-

limeters thick in order to show a satisfactorily sharp image of the

surroundings. The manufacturers of ultra-thin smarthones face

the following challenge: since the camera is thicker than the

smartphone housing, it sticks out of the smartphone’s back cover.

The manufacturers call this the "camera-bump" – the unaesthetic

"camera bulge". The camera lenses for smartphones are, howev-

er, not made on wafers, but in injection molded plastic. In this

procedure, hot liquid plastic is poured into the mold in a similar

way as batter into a waffle iron. Robots then assemble the fin-

ished lenses into the smartphone camera. "We would like to trans-

fer the insect eye principle to this production technology", says

Brückner. "For example, it will be possible to place several small-

er lenses next to each other in the smartphone camera. The com-

I n n o v a t i o n


The first prototype of the technology transfers the images from the

camera to the smartphone by Bluetooth via a transmission box. ©

Photo Fraunhofer IOF

The facetVISION camera can be industrially manufactured in mass

production. Fraunhofer researchers have shown this in trial runs. ©

Photo Fraunhofer IOF

bination of facet effect and proven injection molded lenses will

enable resolutions of more than 10 megapixels in a camera

requiring just a thickness of around three and a half millimeters."

Watching computers thinkNeural networks are commonly used today to analyze complex

data – for instance to find clues to illnesses in genetic informa-

tion. Ultimately, though, no one knows how these networks actu-

ally work exactly. That is why Fraunhofer researchers developed

software that enables them to look into these black boxes and

analyze how they function.

The software recognizes which parameters a neural network

uses to make decisions. It is of interest for any area in which data

such as text, images and signals are automatically processed and

evaluated by neural networks. For example, the software can ana-

lyze complex production data and deduce which parameters are

decisive for product quality or possible deviations.

Sorting photos on the computer used to be a tedious job. Today,

you simply click on face recognition and instantly get a selection

of photos of your daughter or son. Computers have gotten very

good at analyzing large

volumes of data and

searching for certain

structures, such as faces

in images. This is made

possible by neural net-

works, which have devel-

oped into an established

and sophisticated IT

analysis method (see box,

“How neural networks

function”).

The problem is that it

isn’t just researchers who

currently don’t know

exactly how neural net-

works function step by

step, or why they reach

one result or another.

Neural networks are, in a

sense, black boxes – computer programs that people feed values

into and that reliably return results. If you want to teach a neural

network, for instance, to recognize cats, then you instruct the sys-

tem by feeding it thousands of cat pictures. Just like a small child

that slowly learns to distinguish cats from dogs, the neural net-

work, too, learns automatically. “In many cases, though,

researchers are less interested in the result and far more interest-

ed in what the neural network actually does – how it reaches deci-

sions,” says Dr. Wojciech Samek, head of the Machine Learning

Group at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI in Berlin. So

Samek and his team, in collaboration with colleagues from TU

Berlin, developed a method that makes it possible to watch a neu-

ral network think.

Machine learning enables customized cancer treatments

This is important, for instance, in detecting diseases. We

already have the capability today to feed patients’ genetic data

into computers – or neural networks – which then analyze the

probability of a patient having a certain genetic disorder. “But it

would be much more interesting to know precisely which charac-

teristics the program bases its decisions on,” says Samek. It could

be certain genetic defects the patient has – and these, in turn,

could be a possible target for a cancer treatment that is tailored to

individual patients.

Neural networks in reverse

The researchers’ method allows them to watch the work of the

neural networks in reverse: they work through the program back-

wards, starting from the result. “We can see exactly where a cer-

tain group of neurons made a certain decision, and how strongly

this decision impacted the result,” says Samek. The researchers

have already impressively demonstrated – multiple times – that

the method works. For instance, they compared two programs

that are publicly available on the Internet and that are both capa-

ble of recognizing horses in images. The result was surprising.

The first program actually recognized the horses’ bodies. The sec-

ond one, however, focused on the copyright symbols on the pho-

tos, which pointed to forums for horse lovers, or riding and breed-

ing associations, enabling

the program to achieve a

high success rate even

though it had never learned

what horses look like.

Applications in big

data

“So you can see how

important it is to under-

stand exactly how such a

network functions,” says

Samek. This knowledge is

also of particular interest to

industry. “It is conceivable,

for instance, that the oper-

ating data of a complex

production plant could be

analyzed to deduce which

parameters impact product

quality or cause it to fluc-

tuate,” he says. The invention is also interesting for many other

applications that involve the neural analysis of large or complex

data volumes. “In another experiment, we were able to show

which parameters a network uses to decide whether a face

appears young or old.”

According to Samek, for a long time banks have even been

using neural networks to analyze bank customers’ creditworthi-

ness. To do this, large volumes of customer data are collected and

evaluated by a neural network. “If we knew how the network

reaches its decision, we could reduce the data volume right from

the start by selecting the relevant parameters,” he says. This

would certainly be in the customers’ interests, too. At the CeBIT

trade fair in Hannover from March 20 to 24, 2017, Samek’s team

of researchers will demonstrate how they use their software to

analyze the black boxes of neural networks – and how these net-

works can deduce a person’s age or sex from their face, or recog-

nize animals.

I n n o v a t i o n


Fraunhofer HHI’s analysis software uses algorithms to visualize com-

plex learning processes (schematic diagram). © Photo Fraunhofer HHI

For Your Information


Feb 27– March 02 Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain

March 03-06 Infacoma, Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, Thessaloniki, Greece

March 05-09 EuroCIS, IT and Security in Retail, Dusseldorf, Germany

March 07-08 Internet World, Munich, Germany

March 08-09 easyFairs ICTexpo, Helsinki, Finland

March 13-16 GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONGRESS GEC, Johannesburg, South Africa

March 14-16 embedded world, Nuremberg, Germany

March 20-24 CeBIT, Hanover, Germany

March 21-22 Cloud Computing World Expo (CCWE), Paris, France

March 21-23 Cabsat, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

March 22-23 Embedded Systems, Paris, France

March 27-31 International Wireless Communication Expo, Las Vegas, USA

March 28- April 01 Comex, Muscat, Oman

April 11 – 14 Global Sources Consumer Electronics, Security, Components fair, Hong Kong

April 12 – 14 InfoComm China 2017, China National Convention Center (CNCC), Beijing

April 13 – 16 HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition), Hong Kong

April 13 – 16 HKTDC International ICT Expo, Hong Kong

April 18 – 21 Global Sources Mobile Electronics Fair, Hong Kong

April 24 – 28 Digital Factory / Hannover Messe, Hanover, Germany

May 04-06 CE China 2017, Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center

May 23-25 Broadcast Asia/ CommunicAsia, Singapore, Singapore

May 30 – June 01 Sensor+Test, Nuremberg, Germany

May 30 – June 02 COMPUTEX TAIPEI, Taipei, Taiwan

May 31 – June 02 Intersolar Expo (Solar Technology), Munich,Germany

June 07 – 09 CES Asia, Shanghai, China

June 14 – 16 InfoComm 2017, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL

July 11 – 13 Intersolar North America

July 30 – Aug 03 International Conference on Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH), Los Angeles, USA

August 21–23 Africa Mobile & ICT Expo (MOBEX), Accra, Ghana

August 22–24 Intersolar South America, São Paulo, Brazil

September 01 – 06 IFA 2017, Berlin, Germany

September 25-27 Intersolar Middle East, Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE

October 08 - 12 GITEX 2017, DWTC, Dubai

October 09 – 20 World Telecommunication Development Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina

October 11 – 14 TAITRONICS (Taipei International Electronics Show), Taiwan

October 13 – 16 Hong Kong Electronics Fair 2014, Hong Kong

October 13 – 16 electronicAsia, Hong Kong

October 18 – 20 Taiwan Int'l Photovoltaic Exhibition, Taiwan

Oct 31 – Nov 2 Integrated Systems Russia, Expocentre, Moscow, Russia

November 20-22 Startup Nations Summit, Tallinn, Estonia

December 5–7 Intersolar India, Mumbai

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