Messages

106

Pricing / How Does Pricing Variables Affect a Business?

« on: May 27, 2018, 12:01:58 PM »

Underpricing

Underpricing a product is tempting when a business owner is anxious to compete; he assumes low prices will increase sales volume. However, cheap goods are perceived by customers to be cheap. Many customers will choose to buy from the more expensive competition, believing the item is of better quality. Underpricing is also a tricky long-term strategy; a business owner has a thin margin with which he can cover costs and bring home a profit. A business dependent on low prices will require a constant, and ongoing, stream of high volume sales to stay in business.

Overpricing

Consumers are price-savvy, and an overpriced product will sit on the shelf if the competition sells it cheaper. As much as customers look for quality, they will also protect their pocketbooks. Overpriced merchandise will lead to a decrease in sales, as it's possible to price products beyond the customer's ability and willingness to pay.

Other Business Priorities

A focus on pricing that produces profit can detract from other business priorities. The company's long-term strategy might include maximizing its market share; to achieve this, it might introduce a price point that garners less profit but increases sales volume. Developing a reputation for high-quality goods might require increased manufacturing costs to produce a luxury item. During a recession, the company might sacrifice its profit goals and reduce prices to maintain a revenue stream that keeps them in business. Going beyond the profit margin to look at the business's other priorities is often strategically necessary.

Outside Factors

Since pricing is so fundamental to the health of a business, external factors can directly influence profitability. A company that sells food will have its costs rise when crops fail or are ruined by natural disasters; prices will have to rise as a result, causing customers to change their buying habits. Even if the company survives the lack of sales, when its costs decrease again it may be forced to lower prices to earn back the customers it lost.

Source: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/pricing-variables-affect-business-30856.html

107

Digital Marketing / What Is Digital Marketing?

« on: May 20, 2018, 11:15:12 AM »

What Is Digital Marketing?

108

Digital Marketing / What Is Digital Marketing?

« on: May 20, 2018, 11:13:18 AM »

What Is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for all of your online marketing efforts. Businesses leverage digital channels such as Google search, social media, email, and their websites to connect with their current and prospective customers.

The reality is, people spend twice as much time online as they used to 12 years ago. And while we say it a lot, the way people shop and buy really has changed, meaning offline marketing isn’t as effective as it used to be.

Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and at the right time. Today, that means that you need to meet them where they are already spending time: on the internet.

Enter digital marketing -- in other words, any form of marketing that exists online.

So What Exactly is Digital Marketing?

From your website itself to your online branding assets -- digital advertising, email marketing, online brochures, and beyond -- there’s a huge spectrum of tactics and assets that fall under the umbrella of digital marketing. And the best digital marketers have a clear picture of how each asset or tactic supports their overarching goals.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most common assets and tactics:

Assets
Your website
Blog posts
Ebooks and whitepapers
Infographics
Interactive tools
Social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
Earned online coverage (PR, social media, and reviews)
Online brochures and lookbooks
Branding assets (logos, fonts, etc.)

Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-is-digital-marketing

109

Nanotechnology / Bio Based Nanotechnology

« on: March 26, 2018, 08:36:26 PM »

Bio Based Nanotechnology

Now that you have more understanding on what exactly nanotechnology is and what it can do, this article will explain the effects that nanotechnology will someday have on the body. We will go over each category of the body in which nanotechnology will play a role and hopefully you will find some comfort in the healing capabilities of these tiny robotic machines.

Nanotechnology In the Brain
Almost everyone is effected by some type of brain malfunction. Whether it be epilepsy, strokes, alzheimers, or whatever, nanotechnology will be able to cure those types of diseases. That means that even as you get into your elderly years, you’ll still FEEL like you’re 30. It brings up the question, though: Isn’t it our individual errors that make us human?

Cell Regeneration
Nanobots are 2.5 times smaller than DNA. That means that nanobots can enter individual cells and repair them. With that concept, nanotechnology will be able to cure just about everything because it all starts in the cells. Nanotechnology will not only be able to fix bodily errors, but also be able to extend your life because of that. People are going to start living a lot longer thanks to nanotechnology and its effects on cell regeneration.

Heart Disease
About one in four Americans alone are effected by some time of heart disease within their lifetime. Ranging from valves being unhooked or irregularities in pulse, heart disease is no pleasant trip. With the help of nanotechnology, however, heart disease will be a thing of the past. Nanobots will be able to dig their way inside of the heart and rebuild it so that any problems immediately go away.


Cancer
There’s many different methods of treating and curing cancer these days but soon we will have nanotechnology to aid us. Things like chemotherapy are good at destroying cancer cells but they also destroy living tissue that we want to keep (that’s why people who undergo chemotherapy are usually left weak and with no hair). What nanotechnology will be able to do, though, is target specific cancer cells and destroy them in a way that doesn’t effect the cells around it. The people with cancer today might not be blessed with this escape route, but those who are concerned about getting cancer in the future (which we all know is bound to happen at some point), they don’t have to worry anymore because nanotechnology will be able to get rid of it no matter how deep the cancer spreads.

Respiratory System
With all the millions of people in the world with some sort of respiratory problem, nanotechnology will help them all by not only warding off future infections and degredations, but also by rebuilding the lungs themselves. That means that for all the smokers out there who are concerned about problems like bronchitis and other lung infections, they won’t have to worry about it anymore. Nanotechnology is truly a wonder, don’t you think?

Diabetes
Nanotechnology will also help diabetics by either regulating the amount of insulin that they take in on a scheduled basis (the nanobots can be preloaded with the insulin so you don’t have to worry about taking those shots anymore) or they will simply take hold of the insulin that’s already in the blood and push it into the cells the way it’s supposed to already do. This will help diabetics not only gain their strength and health back, it will also help overweight people to lose that unwanted weight.

Birth
Many people are not capable of breeding simply because their bodies are not good hosts to a desirable environment. With the aid of nanotechnology, these little nanobots will quickly go to work at reconstructing your genitals and other reproductive features so you’ll once again be able to bear your own children. That means you don’t have to adopt children (if you don’t want to, that is) because you can now have your very own child that has your genes.

Senses
Nanotechnology will one day be able to not only cure the things that are listed above but will also be able to correct and perfect your senses in a way that you’ve never dreamed of before. You may think lasers can give you good vision now but someday, nanotechnology will be able to give you hawk’s vision. Think about standing on the top of a high mountain and looking out into the treetops below. Thanks to nanotechnology, you won’t just be able to make houses out as little dots, you’ll be able to see the birds in the trees, read street signs as if you were right next to them, you’ll pretty much be able to see whatever it is you want to see. It’s like looking at life through a telescope. The wonders don’t stop there, either. Nanotechnology will also be able to perfect hearing, smell, taste, and touch in a way that will simply astound you. Hear cats meow indoors down the road, smell an apple pie in the neighbor’s oven, taste all your foods as if you were biting into a tropical rainbow, and I’m sure that increase in touch will make sex extremely interesting. These new senses might be a bit overwhelming at first, but science is perfecting the technology in a way to slowly increase your senses over time and, as nanobots are just tiny computers, your preferred settings can be carried out so that you don’t overhear anything you don’t want to, smell the landfield a mile away, see insects in a completely scary way, feel every scratch like its a knife wound, or ruin the tasty things that you are accustomed to. New times are coming, my friends, and new senses come with it.

So there you have it. Nanotechnology will someday play a vital role in keeping the human body at its top level of performance and will eventually be so common that we won’t even think about it. Great strides in nanotechnology are coming soon and are currently in the works. The only question is: Are you ready? Have a wonderful day and I hope this article has brought some insight into your daily perspective.

Source: http://www.futurenanotechnology.net/

110

Nanotechnology / Future of Nanotechnology

« on: March 26, 2018, 08:34:13 PM »

Future of Nanotechnology

If you’ve read the other articles on this website then you now know what nanotechnology is and where it’s been but you may still be wondering “where is it headed?” Nanotechnology has a vast future ahead of it and we are constantly making breakthroughs in this industry every day. In this article, we will go over several of the most important features of nanotechnology that will impact our lives but we will also talk about what nanotechnology itself will be like in the future. Hold on tight, boys and girls, because we have a long, bumpy road ahead of us!

How will nanotechnology effect me?
Nanotechnology will play a big role on all of our lives in the very near future in everything ranging from clothes to medicine. Below are a few things that will benefit your life based on the wonderous possibilities of nanotechnology.

Health
Nanotechnology will effect the health industry far greater than it will anything else. There will be a lot of things that nanotechnology will be able to accomplish in the health business but the main one that most people are interested in is the ability to cure cancer. That’s right, folks, nanotechnology will cure cancer. It has been discovered that when a special type of nanites are irradiated by shining xrays on them, the nanites will produce their own electrons that can be controlled in order to target specific cancer cells and destroy them without harming much of the surrounding area. This involves no radiation (other than xrays) and absolutely no chemotherapy. You will not get sick, you will not feel pain, and you will not die. Nanotechnology is the cure-all medicine that we’ve been searching for for years and it turns out that it’s not actually a “medicine” at all!

Security
Nanotechnology will bring a whole new meaning to the word “security”. Do you have security cameras aimed at your garage but the damn vandals keep spray painting over them? Well now you can have nanocams that are too small for these hoodlums to even know they’re there. The nanocam could even be programmed to follow movement and alert the police if something (specifically, someone) gets too close. Nanotechnology will also allow us to make body armor that is a hundred times stronger than steel but light as a feather. That means that soldiers and police officers will be much safer while performing the dangerous duties that they take on in order to protect YOU. It’s amazing what simple, little computers can do.

Gadgets
One of the coolest nanotechnology gadgets that I’ve read into so far would probably have to be this one particular concept for food: I read about a device that would transform food in any way that you can thing of. Apparently it has nanites in the food already and then with a little handheld device you could change how the food behaves. It’s basically creating “interactive food” instead of the plain, boring food and beverages that we’ve grown accustomed to. You would be able to change what kinds of nutrients are available in the food that you eat and change the color, texture, smell, and taste of that food item. Tired of tofu but want to stay healthy? No problem! Transform your tofu burger into something that has all of the healthy benefits that you want while still tasting exactly like meat. Since when does healthy have to mean sacrifice? Savor that tofu! Did you just buy a Coke from Mcdonald’s but now you want Dr. Pepper instead? Don’t waste your money on buying another one and don’t fret about not getting what you want! Just wave the device over the Coke and it will transform into Dr. Pepper’s exact formula. Amazing, I know.

How will nanotechnology evolve?
Nanotechnology itself will evolve beyond what we can even imagine right now. Some say that one day, nanotechnology will be able to become self-replicating, in that it collects extremely small particles of metal that are as tiny as dust and engineer that metal into more nanites. The nanites would also be self-sustaining as they might be able to use excess sugar in the blood stream (that we don’t want there anyway) and use it to power their tiny fuel cells.

What kinds of precautions are there for nanotechnology?
The field of nanotechnology comes with all sorts of inherent risks but, thankfully, scientists are smart enough to put precautions in the programming to allow it to remain controllable. The first thing that you have to realize is that nanites are not intelligent. They are just like your own desktop computer or laptop. They can’t take control of your mind or force you to do anything that you don’t want to do. They are operated by a series of programming that the scientists encode into them. Each set of nanites will have a specific task to do and it will only do what they are told to do. So don’t worry, you’re not in any danger from the nanites themselves. There is a danger, however, if the nanites are hacked into by cyber terrorists. If these terrorists were to gain control of the nanites that are floating around within a person’s body, then they could tear the person apart from the inside on a molecular level. Hopefully, crime prevention will stay one step ahead of these nutjobs and keep them out of nanites and keep them out of you!

Nanotechnology stock market
You may want to seriously start thinking about investing in the nanotechnology market as soon as possible because once it hits the market, nanotechnology is going to boom. Think about where Google was just ten years ago: It had low popularity, very little resources, and no one thought it was going anywhere. The few people who did decide to invest a little bit of money in it, though, are now millionaires today. My advice would be to look up a list of companies that are specializing in different forms of nanotechnology and invest just $50-$100 in each of them if you can spare the money. In all likelyhood, many of those companies won’t take off, but some of them will. It’s those few companies that you invested just $50-$100 in that will soon make you an enormous profit.

When will it be ready
Some nanotechnologies are already on the market today. There’s a company in the United Kingdom that uses nanotechnology to track its products all the way from the distribution factory to the retail outlet so that if anyone steals a product or it goes missing, the company can then track that item down and report whoever stole it to the authorities. Other forms of nanotechnology are in the making as we speak and those companies who are involved in making them are investing loads of money because they know it will pay off. Nanotechnology is not some distant future that you, individually, will never see; it is a reality even in our present day and we get even closer to better forms of nanotechnology every day.

Source: http://www.futurenanotechnology.net/

111

Nanotechnology / 7 Amazing Ways Nanotechnology Is Changing The World

« on: March 26, 2018, 08:30:22 PM »

7 Amazing Ways Nanotechnology Is Changing The World

"Everything, when miniaturized to the sub-100-nanometer scale, has new properties, regardless of what it is," says Chad Mirkin, professor of chemistry (and materials science, engineering, medicine, biomedical engineering and chemical and biological engineering) at Northwestern University. This is what makes nanoparticles the materials of the future. They have strange chemical and physical properties compared to their larger-particle kin. The thing that matters about nanoparticles is their scale.

NANOPARTICLE-FILLED INK CONDUCTS ELECTRICITY

Tiny bits of conductive metal are crucial components of modern electronics, but future generations may not need high-precision machines. Circuit boards could be drawn by hand, enabling paper electronics, disposable antennas and a wide range of other items. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (and many other teams) are making conductive ink from silver nanoparticles, which they shrink using acid. The nanoparticles are suspended in a cellulose solution, so they have a greater viscosity and can flow from a pen, quite literally. A line drawing becomes a silver wire that can carry a current, enough to power an antenna or even a small LED display, like the light bulb at the top of the house in this lovely drawing. The pen allows circuits to be embedded on uneven surfaces--and it enables a new type of creative design.

CANCER DETECTORS

Gold nanoparticles are used in a variety of new "sniffers" for cancer and other diseases. As cancerous cells grow, genes and proteins within cells change, and this process emits volatile organic compounds that can be detected--this is why some dogs can be trained to "smell" cancer. Nanoparticles can smell it, too, and in tiny concentrations. Israeli researchers a couple of years ago reported new gold nanoparticle sensors that can tell not only whether a person has cancer, but which kind--lung, breast, prostate or colon cancer. The benefit of such a system is its early-warning capability. Doctors could administer a simple breath test, and be able to tell whether a patient has the beginning stages of cancer--well before any tumors would show up on an X-ray or mammogram. And it's not just cancer patients who can benefit. Chad Mirkin of Northwestern University is developing nanoparticles that can diagnose and treat disease, tracking cancer at earlier stages and even determining whether hospital patients have infections. If someone needs emergency surgery, it may not always be possible for doctors to obtain the person's medical history, which leaves plenty of unanswered and potentially dangerous questions--does this person have diabetes? Is she at risk for blood clots? Nanoparticles can be used to answer these and other questions. Mirkin points to a relatively new test for sepsis, or blood infection, which has great promise for treating patients better and saving money. Sepsis can be fatal if not treated quickly and thoroughly, but tests to determine a person's infection level can take three days to complete--meanwhile, the patient is pumped full of antibiotics. But gold nanoparticles functionalized with DNA can identify whether or not someone has sepsis, and which bug is running rampant through his bloodstream, Mirkin said. "It's the difference between a $20 test and hundreds of thousands of dollars in antibiotics," he said.

NANO-ABSORPTION

Perhaps no other product demonstrates more clearly the strange behavior at nanoscales than something called Osorb. An accident of chemistry, the swellable glass material was intended to react with trace molecules of explosives, which would have made it a valuable security tool at places like airports. But something very weird happened in the development process, recalled Paul Edmiston, Osorb's designer and a chemistry professor at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. He and some graduate students were trying to design nanostructured silica--glass--to change colors in the presence of vapors. "We serendipitously discovered a formulation by which the nanoparticles we were assembling into this porous glass film had become flexible. Instead of being a solid, they had the ability to swell," he said. "Yeah, we had the color change, but it soaked up the entire volume of the test solution. We put more on and it sucked up more. It just expanded." (Watch a video of that here). Edmiston was intrigued, but shelved the product in search of something that would satisfy the need for explosives detection, which was the point of his research grant. "It was like, 'Well, that's not going to work on a boarding pass,'" he recalled with a laugh. A graduate student resurrected it later and the team realized the material had some very interesting properties--especially its complete lack of reaction to water. Molecules can pass through the empty space between the nanosize silica, but water doesn't, Edmiston said. This makes it extremely useful for water cleanup. The swellable glass, now named Osorb and marketed commercially by a spinoff called ABS Materials, can soak up oil and other organic material, and you can wring it out afterward and use it again. How does glass swell? "Chemically, it's halfway between the window pane glass in your house, and the caulk that's around your sink," Edmiston explained. "Those type of ingredients, from a chemical level, build them up into a architecture that has the ability to expand and contract." Osorb is already being used in places like parking lots, where it can absorb oil from leaky cars and prevent it from washing into bodies of water. It can be decorated with other material, like iron, to capture chemicals like phosphate. Edmiston has a new grant to study how this works, because he's not sure if there's a biological factor at play. One other weird thing: As it swells, it generates a remarkable amount of force, Edmiston said. It can lift 60,000 times its own weight. "If you had a coffee can of it, that's enough to lift a car," he said. "You might imagine we discovered that the hard way. We've broken a number of things in the lab because you just cannot contain it."

FIGHTING CANCER AT THE SOURCE

If cancer does take hold, nanoparticles can help with this, too. The dog in this CT scanner is a prostate cancer patient, undergoing a clinical trial to determine the safety of radioactive gold nanoparticles to treat his disease. Dogs develop an aggressive form prostate cancer much like human men, and a recent study at the University of Missouri could eventually lead to targeted treatment for the human form of the disease. Sandra Axiak-Bechtel, an assistant professor of oncology at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, said the study's main goals were to determine whether the gold nanoparticles were safe--and they were. Dogs showed no swelling, toxicity or changes in their livers, kidneys or bone marrow. The dogs underwent CT scans to determine the sizes of their tumors, and then radiologists injected them with a purple liquid containing radioactive gold nanoparticles. The particles were rendered radioactive in MU's Research Reactor, Axiak-Bechtel said in an interview. Targeting tumors with radioactive particles is not a new concept, but the gold nanoparticles are. Earlier research showed it could be effective in mice, so the team wanted to try it on dogs, too. "A lot of owners that come in are very excited about something new that might be more effective than what we have to offer, and the potential to help men in the future--most people are very excited about that," Axiak-Bechtel said. Again, nanoparticle treatments can work for diseases beyond just cancer, including bacteria and viruses. At IBM, researchers in California have built degradable nanoparticles that can glom onto drug-resistant bacterial strains and rip them open, draining their contents. The polymer particles break apart when they finish killing bacteria, and flush away with the invaders they destroyed. This is possible because of the particles' size, which nicely attaches to the exterior wall of a bacterium.

GENE THERAPY AND DRUG DELIVERY

Practically every week, scientists announce a new breakthrough in the ability of nanoparticles to deliver genes, drugs or chemical messengers inside cells. Nanoparticles of different shapes and chemical makeup can track down and target specific cells of a chemist's choosing, and perform a variety of tasks. This image depicts DNA molecules (light green), packaged into nanoparticles by using a polymer with two different segments. One segment is positively charged, which binds the polymer to the DNA. This is shown in teal. The brown portion shows a protective coating on the nanoparticle's surface. By adjusting the solvent surrounding these molecules, researchers at Johns Hopkins and Northwestern universities were able to control the shape of the nanoparticles. The team's animal tests showed that a nanoparticle's shape can dramatically affect how well it delivers gene therapy. This is possible because DNA behaves strangely among nanoscale particles, explained Chad Mirkin of Northwestern. Spherical nucleic acids, one of his lab's inventions and an up-and-coming therapeutic technology, allow DNA to do something it otherwise can't: Enter cells. To insert gene fragments into cells, researchers have to trick the cell, which is designed to block invasion. This is frequently done using viruses, but those can have a wide range of side effects. Instead, spherical nucleic acids attach short strands of DNA or RNA to a gold or silver nanoparticle's surface, and the DNA molecules will organize into a spherical shape, Mirkin said. "You arrange a simple molecule in a spherical form, and it naturally enters cells better than anything known to man," he said. "That is a paradigm shifter for how we think about creating new therapeutics--in this case, involving the world's most important molecule, and learning how to arrange it in new forms on the nanoscale."

PROTECTIVE COATING FOR YOUR SKIN

Cancer therapy and gene therapy are still largely lab-based uses for nanoparticles, with new papers publishing often, but few if any FDA approvals. That doesn't mean the tiny particles aren't ubiquitous, however--one prime example is something you use every day in the summer (or at least should). Sunscreen contains nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, which are highly reflective and can prevent harmful solar radiation from penetrating your skin. This has been controversial for some time, however, with several environmental groups arguing for a moratorium on nanoparticle-containing sunscreens. But even sunscreens with micro-particles suspended in their lotion may contain nano-ones, inadvertently rendered nano by the manufacturing process. Previous studies have reached conflicting conclusions over whether nanoparticles can penetrate the skin. The debate continues to play out in the scientific literature, but a recent study at the University of Bath in the UK showed the titanium dioxide particles do not penetrate the top layer of skin, where they could theoretically do harm. "Using confocal microscopy has allowed us to unambiguously visualize and objectively assess what happens to nanoparticles on an uneven skin surface. Whereas earlier work has suggested that nanoparticles appear to penetrate the skin, our results indicate that they may in fact have simply been deposited into a deep crease within the skin sample," said professor Richard Guy from the university's Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, in a press release. Nano-coatings can protect more than your skin--they can make paper waterproof, protect carpets and clothing from stains, and even actively repel dirt from surfaces.

NANOMATERIALS IN THE FOOD SUPPLY

The most controversial and arguably least well understood impact of nanotechnology is its impact on our food supply. Nanoparticles could be used as a pesticide or as a fertilizer, but some research shows they could damage crops and can even be fatal. Zinc oxide--that sunscreen ingredient, also found in tons of cosmetics and electronic devices--can accumulate in plant tissues, according to a study of soybeans published in August by _ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_. Plant roots and root nodules can take up and store high concentrations of nanoparticles, and at high exposure levels, the plants were unable to fix nitrogen, Science Now reported at the time. "Is this an indication we should be worried about the food supply? I don't know," study author Patricia Holden told Science Now. "It's important that the scientific community asks these questions in advance." To that end, the federal Agricultural Research Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is in the middle of a three-year study investigating the use of silver nanoparticles for pest control. While some studies have addressed toxicity of nanoparticles in aquatic environments, there's very little research on the impact of silver nanoparticles on terrestrial creatures, the ARS points out. Much more work still needs to be done.

Source: https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-11/7-amazing-ways-nanotechnology-changing-world#page-8

112

Nanotechnology / Five ways nanotechnology is securing your future

« on: March 26, 2018, 08:19:30 PM »

Five ways nanotechnology is securing your future

The past 70 years have seen the way we live and work transformed by two tiny inventions. The electronic transistor and the microchip are what make all modern electronics possible, and since their development in the 1940s they've been getting smaller. Today, one chip can contain as many as 5 billion transistors. If cars had followed the same development pathway, we would now be able to drive them at 300,000mph and they would cost just £3 each.

But to keep this progress going we need to be able to create circuits on the extremely small, nanometre scale. A nanometre (nm) is one billionth of a metre and so this kind of engineering involves manipulating individual atoms. We can do this, for example, by firing a beam of electrons at a material, or by vaporising it and depositing the resulting gaseous atoms layer by layer onto a base.

The real challenge is using such techniques reliably to manufacture working nanoscale devices. The physical properties of matter, such as its melting point, electrical conductivity and chemical reactivity, become very different at the nanoscale, so shrinking a device can affect its performance. If we can master this technology, however, then we have the opportunity to improve not just electronics but all sorts of areas of modern life.

1. Doctors inside your body

Wearable fitness technology means we can monitor our health by strapping gadgets to ourselves. There are even prototype electronic tattoos that can sense our vital signs. But by scaling down this technology, we could go further by implanting or injecting tiny sensors inside our bodies. This would capture much more detailed information with less hassle to the patient, enabling doctors to personalise their treatment.

The possibilities are endless, ranging from monitoring inflammation and post-surgery recovery to more exotic applications whereby electronic devices actually interfere with our body's signals for controlling organ function. Although these technologies might sound like a thing of the far future, multi-billion healthcare firms such as GlaxoSmithKline are already working on ways to develop so-called "electroceuticals".


 
2. Sensors, sensors, everywhere

These sensors rely on newly-invented nanomaterials and manufacturing techniques to make them smaller, more complex and more energy efficient. For example, sensors with very fine features can now be printed in large quantities on flexible rolls of plastic at low cost. This opens up the possibility of placing sensors at lots of points over critical infrastructure to constantly check that everything is running correctly. Bridges, aircraft and even nuclear power plants could benefit.

3. Self-healing structures

If cracks do appear then nanotechnology could play a further role. Changing the structure of materials at the nanoscale can give them some amazing properties – by giving them a texture that repels water, for example. In the future, nanotechnology coatings or additives will even have the potential to allow materials to "heal" when damaged or worn. For example, dispersing nanoparticles throughout a material means that they can migrate to fill in any cracks that appear. This could produce self-healing materials for everything from aircraft cockpits to microelectronics, preventing small fractures from turning into large, more problematic cracks.

4. Making big data possible

All these sensors will produce more information than we've ever had to deal with before – so we'll need the technology to process it and spot the patterns that will alert us to problems. The same will be true if we want to use the "big data" from traffic sensors to help manage congestion and prevent accidents, or prevent crime by using statistics to more effectively allocate police resources.

Here, nanotechnology is helping to create ultra-dense memory that will allow us to store this wealth of data. But it's also providing the inspiration for ultra-efficient algorithms for processing, encrypting and communicating data without compromising its reliability. Nature has several examples of big-data processes efficiently being performed in real-time by tiny structures, such as the parts of the eye and ear that turn external signals into information for the brain.

Computer architectures inspired by the brain could also use energy more efficiently and so would struggle less with excess heat – one of the key problems with shrinking electronic devices further.

5. Tackling climate change

The fight against climate change means we need new ways to generate and use electricity, and nanotechnology is already playing a role. It has helped create batteries that can store more energy for electric cars and has enabled solar panels to convert more sunlight into electricity.

The common trick in both applications is to use nanotexturing or nanomaterials (for example nanowires or carbon nanotubes) that turn a flat surface into a three-dimensional one with a much greater surface area. This means that there is more space for the reactions that enable energy storage or generation to take place, so the devices operate more efficiently

In the future, nanotechnology could also enable objects to harvest energy from their environment. New nano-materials and concepts are currently being developed that show potential for producing energy from movement, light, variations in temperature, glucose and other sources with high conversion efficiency.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2016-03-ways-nanotechnology-future.html

113

Nanotechnology / How Nanotechnology Works

« on: March 26, 2018, 08:13:25 PM »

How Nanotechnology Works

There's an unprecedented multidisciplinary convergence of scientists dedicated to the study of a world so small, we can't see it -- even with a light microscope. That world is the field of nanotechnology, the realm of atoms and nanostructures. Nanotechnology i­s so new, no one is really sure what will come of it. Even so, predictions range from the ability to reproduce things like diamonds and food to the world being devoured by self-replicating nanorobots.

In order to understand the unusual world of nanotechnology, we need to get an idea of the units of measure involved. A centimeter is one-hundredth of a meter, a millimeter is one-thousandth of a meter, and a micrometer is one-millionth of a meter, but all of these are still huge compared to the nanoscale. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter, smaller than the wavelength of visible light and a hundred-thousandth the width of a human hair.

As small as a nanometer is, it's still large compared to the atomic scale. An atom has a diameter of about 0.1 nm. An atom's nucleus is much smaller -- about 0.00001 nm. Atoms are the building blocks for all matter in our universe. You and everything around you are made of atoms. Nature has perfected the science of manufacturing matter molecularly. For instance, our bodies are assembled in a specific manner from millions of living cells. Cells are nature's nanomachines. At the atomic scale, elements are at their most basic level. On the nanoscale, we can potentially put these atoms together to make almost anything.

In a lecture called "Small Wonders:The World of Nanoscience," Nobel Prize winner Dr. Horst Störmer said that the nanoscale is more interesting than the atomic scale because the nanoscale is the first point where we can assemble something -- it's not until we start putting atoms together that we can make anything useful.

In this article, we'll learn about what nanotechnology means today and what the future of nanotechnology may hold. We'll also look at the potential risks that come with working at the nanoscale.

source: https://science.howstuffworks.com/nanotechnology.htm

114

Nanotechnology / What is Nanotechnology?

« on: March 26, 2018, 08:10:36 PM »

What is Nanotechnology?

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering.

How it started?

The ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology started with a talk entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) on December 29, 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used. In his talk, Feynman described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules. Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultraprecision machining, Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology. It wasn't until 1981, with the development of the scanning tunneling microscope that could "see" individual atoms, that modern nanotechnology began.

Fundamental Concepts in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology

It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology is. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10-9 of a meter. Here are a few illustrative examples:

There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch

- A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick
- On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of the Earth
- Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve the ability to see and to control individual atoms and molecules. Everything on Earth is made up of atoms—the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the buildings and houses we live in, and our own bodies.

But something as small as an atom is impossible to see with the naked eye. In fact, it’s impossible to see with the microscopes typically used in a high school science classes. The microscopes needed to see things at the nanoscale were invented relatively recently—about 30 years ago.

Once scientists had the right tools, such as the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM), the age of nanotechnology was born.

Although modern nanoscience and nanotechnology are quite new, nanoscale materials were used for centuries. Alternate-sized gold and silver particles created colors in the stained glass windows of medieval churches hundreds of years ago. The artists back then just didn’t know that the process they used to create these beautiful works of art actually led to changes in the composition of the materials they were working with.

Today's scientists and engineers are finding a wide variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the nanoscale to take advantage of their enhanced properties such as higher strength, lighter weight, increased control of light spectrum, and greater chemical reactivity than their larger-scale counterparts.

Source: https://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definitionv

115

Smart Agriculture & Life Science / 15 Emerging Agriculture Technologies That Will Change The World

« on: March 26, 2018, 08:02:50 PM »

15 Emerging Agriculture Technologies That Will Change The World

Below are technologies related to agricultural and natural manufacturing under four key areas of accelerating change: Sensors, Food, Automation and Engineering.

Sensors help agriculture by enabling real-time traceability and diagnosis of crop, livestock and farm machine states.

Food may benefit directly from genetic tailoring and potentially from producing meat directly in a lab.

Automation will help agriculture via large-scale robotic and microrobots to check and maintain crops at the plant level.

Engineering involves technologies that extend the reach of agriculture to new means, new places and new areas of the economy. Of particular interest will be synthetic biology, which allows efficiently reprogramming unicellular life to make fuels, byproducts accessible from organic chemistry and smart devices.
We have included predictions based on consultation with experts of when each technology will be scientifically viable (the kind of stuff that Google, governments, and universities develop), mainstream (when VCs and startups widely invest in it), and financially viable (when the technology is generally available on Kickstarter).

Sensors

Air & soil sensors: Fundamental additions to the automated farm, these sensors would enable a real time understanding of current farm, forest or body of water conditions.

Scientifically viable in 2013; mainstream and financially viable in 2015.

Equipment telematics: Allows mechanical devices such as tractors to warn mechanics that a failure is likely to occur soon. Intra-tractor communication can be used as a rudimentary "farm swarm" platform.

Scientifically viable in 2013; mainstream in 2016; and financially viable in 2017.

Livestock biometrics: Collars with GPS, RFID and biometrics can automatically identify and relay vital information about the livestock in real time.

Scientifically viable in 2017; mainstream and financially viable in 2020.

Crop sensors: Instead of prescribing field fertilization before application, high-resolution crop sensors inform application equipment of correct amounts needed. Optical sensors or drones are able to identify crop health across the field (for example, by using infra-red light).

Scientifically viable in 2015; mainstream in 2018; and financially viable in 2019.

Infrastructural health sensors: Can be used for monitoring vibrations and material conditions in buildings, bridges, factories, farms and other infrastructure. Coupled with an intelligent network, such sensors could feed crucial information back to maintenance crews or robots.

Scientifically viable in 2021; mainstream in 2025; and financially viable in 2027.

Food

Genetically designed food: The creation of entirely new strains of food animals and plants in order to better address biological and physiological needs. A departure from genetically modified food, genetically designed food would be engineered from the ground up.

Scientifically viable in 2016; mainstream in 2021; and financially viable in 2022.

In vitro meat: Also known as cultured meat or tubesteak, it is a flesh product that has never been part of a complete, living animal. Several current research projects are growing in vitro meat experimentally, although no meat has yet been produced for public consumption.

Scientifically viable in 2017; mainstream in 2024; and financially viable in 2027.

Automation

Variable rate swath control: Building on existing geolocation technologies, future swath control could save on seed, minerals, fertilizer and herbicides by reducing overlapping inputs. By pre-computing the shape of the field where the inputs are to be used, and by understanding the relative productivity of different areas of the field, tractors or agbots can procedurally apply inputs at variable rates throughout the field.

Scientifically viable in 2013; mainstream in 2014; and financially viable in 2016.

Rapid iteration selective breeding: The next generation of selective breeding where the end-result is analyzed quantitatively and improvements are suggested algorithmically.

Scientifically viable in 2014; mainstream and financially viable in 2017.

Agricultural robots: Also known as agbots, these are used to automate agricultural processes, such as harvesting, fruit picking, ploughing, soil maintenance, weeding, planting, irrigation, etc.

Scientifically viable in 2018; mainstream in 2020; and financially viable in 2021.

Precision agriculture: Farming management based on observing (and responding to) intra-field variations. With satellite imagery and advanced sensors, farmers can optimize returns on inputs while preserving resources at ever larger scales. Further understanding of crop variability, geolocated weather data and precise sensors should allow improved automated decision-making and complementary planting techniques.

Scientifically viable in 2019; mainstream in 2023; and financially viable in 2024.

Robotic farm swarms: The hypothetical combination of dozens or hundreds of agricultural robots with thousands of microscopic sensors, which together would monitor, predict, cultivate and extract crops from the land with practically no human intervention. Small-scale implementations are already on the horizon.

Scientifically viable in 2023; mainstream and financially viable in 2026.

Engineering

Closed ecological systems: Ecosystems that do not rely on matter exchange outside the system. Such closed ecosystems would theoretically transform waste products into oxygen, food and water in order to support life-forms inhabiting the system. Such systems already exist in small scales, but existing technological limitations prevent them from scaling.

Scientifically viable in 2015; mainstream in 2020; and financially viable in 2021.

Synthetic biology: Synthetic biology is about programming biology using standardized parts as one programs computers using standardized libraries today. Includes the broad redefinition and expansion of biotechnology, with the ultimate goals of being able to design, build and remediate engineered biological systems that process information, manipulate chemicals, fabricate materials and structures, produce energy, provide food, and maintain and enhance human health and our environment.

Scientifically viable in 2013; mainstream in 2023; and financially viable in 2024.

Vertical farming: A natural extension of urban agriculture, vertical farms would cultivate plant or animal life within dedicated or mixed-use skyscrapers in urban settings. Using techniques similar to glass houses, vertical farms could augment natural light using energy-efficient lighting. The advantages are numerous, including year-round crop production, protection from weather, support urban food autonomy and reduced transport costs.

Scientifically viable in 2023; mainstream and financially viable in 2027.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/15-emerging-agriculture-technologies-2014-4

116

Smart Agriculture & Life Science / IoT Steps Up Smart Farming and Precision Agriculture

« on: March 26, 2018, 07:52:36 PM »

IoT Steps Up Smart Farming and Precision Agriculture

Smart farming through the application of information and communication technologies including IoT is expected to revolutionize the global agricultural landscape, making it more resource-efficient and productive. However, according to the World Bank, about 80 percent of the agriculture produce consumed by developing regions comes from smallholder farmers, and most of these farmers base their decisions on experience and guesswork rather than on any scientific guidance. This approach is not reliable in monitoring and predicting critical variables like the water quality, soil condition, ambient temperature and moisture, irrigation and so forth, which impacts the crop quality, yield, and thus the returns.

Smart Farming for Tackling Production Costs and Operational Challenges

The agriculture industry and automation suppliers are exploring now opportunities for using IoT and digital solutions for improving yields, profitability, and farming practices. From having sensors in farm and farm equipment, providing real-time data availability and alarms, to advanced analytics for taking corrective and preventive actions, IoT based smart farming will make it streamlined and more predictable. Recognizing the unique needs of the agriculture sector, companies have developed software platforms and apps for yield management, resource management, livestock management, and crop monitoring; including addressing issues that impact crop quality, productivity, and most importantly the cost.

Smart Farming Solutions

Whether it is major seed companies who generally practice contract farming or agriculturists, most would like to monitor the farms remotely.  Smart farming solutions would enable users to monitor and control their irrigation equipment, manage farms more efficiently in terms of usage of resources like fertilizers, seeds, and water, and monitor farm conditions in real time. This will help the farmers to detect inconsistencies, reduce operational challenges and to be more cost effective. Precision agriculture employs technologies like sensors, GPS, GIS, and drones to measure spatial variability, communicate farm conditions, plan irrigation and harvesting, and thus eliminate human intervention to a large extent.
In sensor-based precision agriculture, data from the sensors can be shared with the stakeholders either through local server or the cloud, depending on the reliability of the communication network and internet connectivity. This data is accessed via smart phones, and user-friendly apps can be used to represent it in a simple and clear format. However, to encourage adoption suppliers may have to work on the high initial purchase cost.

Major initiatives are being taken around the globe to promote IoT in agriculture industry. For instance, CEMA  (European Agricultural Machinery Industry Association) has formed a consortium of 73 partners, including CEMA and individual manufacturers, under the “IoF2020- Internet of Food and Farm 2020” initiative.  With an investment of EUR 30 million spread over 2016-2020, CEMA intends to increase IoT usage in the European farming and food sector. Moreover, the US government recently proposed the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018 to provide high speed internet access across farms in rural America to encourage higher adoption of precision agriculture technologies.

Smart farming also includes efficient use of agricultural machinery. As part of services offerings for these machinery and equipment, suppliers are offering an end-to-end connectivity platform for equipment management. The equipment is fitted with numerous sensors to capture data. Connecting the end devices to the connectivity platform aids in uncovering data for the benefits of various members in the supply chain, including third party services. This data connectivity and sharing is bi-directional, and thus inputs are given back to the end users i.e. farmers for optimizing their equipment performance and controlling costs.
For large-scale farmers in developed economies, transiting to such a model is more feasible compared to smallholder farmers in developing economies like India, where the farm mechanization levels are low. To boost mechanization in farm sector, companies like Trringo (a Mahindra & Mahindra venture), and numerous other start-ups in India are offering agricultural machinery on rental-basis. This market is expected to be around $2.3 Billion, and going forward the use of ICT and IoT -based technologies to remotely monitor and manage these assets is going to be significant. As the number of users increase, equipment lenders would need a connectivity platform and related services to manage their growing agricultural fleet.

Source: https://www.arcweb.com/blog/iot-steps-smart-farming-precision-agriculture

117

Smart Agriculture & Life Science / Why is Smart Farming Asia’s big new trend?

« on: March 26, 2018, 07:45:34 PM »

Why is Smart Farming Asia’s big new trend?

Smart Farming is the movement of the moment. Take Thailand, for example – tech spending shot up by over 7% just this year in agriculture due to government funding.

Countries across Asia are setting out national strategies to support the automation of farming with robotics, data analytics and sensor technology. These tools can make a huge difference to crop yields, quality, and – most importantly – rural farmers’ profits. Malaysia even has a high-tech Durian scheme.

GovInsider has gathered the cutting-edge and, yes, the cool, to highlight how countries in the region are ploughing ahead in this once old-fashioned sector.

1. Australia

Robots in Australia are milking cows. In Camden, south-west of Australia, the FutureDairy prototype can milk up to 90 cows an hour.

Cows step on to a revolving platform, where robotic arms then clean the teats, attach cups and extract milk.

Each cow wears a dongle around the neck that records and transmits the duration and volume of its last milking. Farmers don’t have to be down by the farms – they can access this data on their iPads, and check yield and production records.

In another project, the University of Sydney’s centre for field robotics is piloting agricultural robotics to assist farmers.

Swagbot is a robot herding cattle designed to roam vast and rough terrains, with hopeful deployment to eventually monitor the health of livestock in the next few months. “We want to improve the quality of animal health and make it easier for farmers to maintain large landscapes where animals roam free”, says Salah Sukkarieh, project lead.

2. Japan

Japan is looking at robots to automate crop farms and pick fruits.

The world’s first robot farm will operate by June of next year, and the automated helpers will carry out all the tasks, save one: “The seeds will still be planted by humans, but every other step, from the transplanting of young seedlings to larger spaces as they grow to harvesting the lettuces, will be done automatically,” JJ Price – Spread’s global marketing manager – told the Guardian.

The automated system will also control the temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide levels, and light sources, besides also sterilising water.

Between its two farms, Spread will see a boost in the production of lettuce heads to 50,000 a day, from 21,000 at present. Costs can also be slashed – LED lighting saves energy costs by a third, and 98 percent of water supply will be recycled.

“Our new farm could become a model for other farms, but our aim is not to replace human farmers, but to develop a system where humans and machines work together,” Price said.

Robot fruit pickers also exist – these machines can recognise ripe strawberries and tomatoes based on the colour, calculate the distance of its arms from the fruit, and snip away faster than farmers can.

3. Malaysia

Malaysia is leveraging sensor and data in farms, and aims to increase farming productivity by 20% in the next five years.

The country – one of the largest exporters of palm oil in the world – has launched a national IoT plan with agriculture as one of the priorities. It wants to ramp up farming capacities, and envisions generating 1.4 billion (US$320 million) in 2020 with smart farming tech.

MIMOS, the country’s ICT R&D centre, has developed an IoT platform that captures environmental data and shares it across agricultural producers, traders and suppliers.

It is also trialling sensors in farms. “We are using IoT to detect the right time to pollinate oil palm flowers”, Ahmad Helmi Abdul Halim, Senior Director of Corporate Market Strategy at MIMOS told GovInsider. Sensors will also be used to track the health of fish in breeding ponds and automate irrigation.

As part of its agricultural drive, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation last month also developed a platform for users and local exporters to track the standards of durians. It uses big data analytics and allows consumers to check details like authenticity and logistics data by scanning the barcode on the fruits. The agency plans to roll it out to a wider range of produce after testing initial reception.

4. Philippines

Philippines has teamed up with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to use drones to scope out where agricultural land is most vulnerable to natural disasters. The government will use this to better prepare for disasters and adapt agricultural plans accordingly.

The drones, equipped with GPS systems and cameras, will provide rich spatial data and maps. The data gathered can provide information on crop assessments and help the public sector decide on the most strategic location to build infrastructure projects like irrigation and storage facilities.

Besides this, the country is also tapping into satellites to help forecast weather conditions, annual rice yield and gather data on pest attacks. With two satellites launched in 2016, daily information collected will be fed to an agricultural information hub. Data and analysis will then be disseminated to crop and climate experts, aiding government agencies in decision-making and farming.

5. South Korea

Sejong City is encouraging startups to develop smart farming solutions, in a joint collaboration between the ICT ministry and SK group, a large conglomerate in the country.

SK group first tested its tools in Yeondong-myeon, a village in Sejong. Farmers collected real-time data on their phones, through temperature and humidity sensors, and surveillance cameras in greenhouses and farms. This monitoring system saved them travel time, and as a result the ICT ministry saw productivity efficiency rise by 23 percent, according to the Korea Herald.

The Sejong centre also has a store, where farmers can sell their products directly without third party vendors and in small volumes. They can check sales and inventory in real-time with their smartphones, allowing them to plan for shipments and planting.

“Now is the time when Korea’s agriculture industry and rural communities need to change their paradigms,” said Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. “The Sejong Center will become the main place for start-ups doing business with ICT-enabled smart agriculture.”

6. Thailand

Thailand is piloting the use of big data analytics in farming. “The Ministry of Agriculture wants data to help them provide solutions to farmers,” Sak Segkhoonthod, Chief Executive of Thailand’s E-Government Agency told GovInsider. The ministry can then advice farmers on what types of crops to harvest to ensure the stability of food prices.

39 percent of the country’s population works in agriculture, and it is the main source of domestic income for citizens, according to IDC, a market research company. The government’s focus on smart farming policies has since driven IT spending in the sector to 7.02 percent , it added.

In Mahidol University, Dr Teerakiat Kerdchaoen and his team are looking into precision farming – tech that can help farmers reduce wastage in agriculture. So far, he has worked on drones that monitor crop conditions, ground robots that gauge the nutrients in the soil, and a weather forecast system to inform farmers on weather changes. The approach can reduce the cost of farming and decrease the impact on the environment – slashing use of chemicals.

Countries in the region are boosting their farming manpower with robots, drones and sensors; it’s widespread, and getting increasingly popular in the industry. It’s healthier to think of them as helpers, rather than threats to manual jobs – after all, they work so we can reap the fruits of their labour.

Source: https://govinsider.asia/smart-gov/why-is-smart-farming-suddenly-so-cool/

118

Smart Agriculture & Life Science / The Future of Farming is ‘Smart’: Deciphering the Layers of Hi-Tech Agriculture

« on: March 26, 2018, 07:30:22 PM »

The Future of Farming is ‘Smart’: Deciphering the Layers of Hi-Tech Agriculture

In today’s digital world, it is not surprising that agriculturalists turn to IoT, big data, and machine to machine (M2M) technology, to maximize yield, maintain a steady flow of food in the supply chain, and optimize efficiency. Also, as the area of arable land keeps declining and populations increase at a steady pace, it is only logical that smart farm systems become an integral part of agriculture policies throughout the globe.

Hi-tech agriculture is surely more than just a fancy label. Apart from limited arable land, shrinking of freshwater sources is another major challenge which farmers are facing. It is in this context that synergizing technology, engineering, and farming comes into play.

Though the adoption of technology in the agriculture sector is a new thing, what makes precision farming an interesting area of research is the fact that it brings together several stakeholders, each making important contributions towards a common goal. Food is a basic requirement throughout the globe, and given the fact that FAO predicts a requirement of 70% increase in food production (compared to the 2006 production) – agriculture is turning into a dynamic business wherein existing and new stakeholders are willing to disrupt in every creative way possible.

Popular tools for smart agriculture

In an article titled “Towards smart farming – Agriculture embracing the IoT vision”, Saverio Romeo has argued that though stakeholders see this great gap between demand and supply as an amazing platform to industrialize and capitalize; the focus should rather be on building simplistic and sustainable agri-models. And, perhaps, the best possible way to do this is by re-visiting the existing farming practices and merging data-centric technologies into it.

Major names in the industry have come up with products like agricultural drones, sensors, and use of big data to precisely predict the climate pattern, quality of soil, and the best seeds to be sown. For instance, John Deere, one of the leading manufacturer of farming equipment, has come up with self-driving tractors which is able to display precise data about the farmers’ crop yields.

Use of real-time information is yet another popular tool which has simplified the farming process. Industry majors are in fact looking for ways in which smart farm systems can lead to the emergence of ‘connected farms’. The focus has also shifted to use technology as a means to understand the property value of farms and gain insight into the commodities market.

Source: https://www.technavio.com/blog/future-farming-smart-deciphering-layers-hi-tech-agriculture

119

How To Raise Money / 5 Clever Ideas to Raise Funds

« on: March 26, 2018, 07:24:08 PM »

5 Clever Ideas to Raise Funds

If you have come here looking for ways to raise money for your startup, here's some good news -- raising money for your startup isn't as challenging as you're probably thinking.

The challenging part is choosing the right source of funding. Each source, while promising in its own way, has a unique set of advantages and disadvantages.

Here is a list of 5 sources of funding that are proven to be the most reliable ways to raise money for a startup.

1. Crowdfunding
Even though crowdfunding is a relatively new way to raise money for a startup, its popularity is on the rise. When crowdfunding you're literally soliciting funds from a crowd of people.

To get started with crowd funding, you have to first present an idea that you want to receive funding for. From there, people can choose how much they want to give towards that project.

What's in it for the people funding the project? Most crowdfunding sites operate on a reward base model. Those who invest their money into a project are given rewards that go up in value according to how much money is invested.

Some of the most well-known crowdfunding sites include Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Fundable.

2. Angel Investing
Angel investors are best described as entrepreneurs looking to invest the money they've made back into startups. Some of the largest companies in the world received their first round of funding by angel investors. Including Google, Facebook, Skype and Twitter among others.

The benefits of an angel investor extend beyond just financial benefits. An angel investor is also a valuable source of advice and connections. Some of the most well known networks, which connect entrepreneurs and investors, include Angel List, Golden Seeds, Tech Coast Angels and Investors Circle.

3. Bank Loan
Peter Daisyme from Host, a company that recently raised capital said, "One of the most common ways for startups to raise money is through a bank loan. When applying for a bank loan, it's important to note that you make be asked to have your loan guaranteed by the Small Business Association before it gets approved. We've had the best luck with this as it will be approved or denied within 24-48 hours. It's good because you will know either way and don't have to play the guessing game."

The Small Business Association is a government agency that will guarantee up to 80% of the value of the loan if you meet their criteria. Another way to be approved for a bank loan is to offer some other form of collateral, such as your home.

4. Venture Capital
The goal of a venture capitalist is to aim to invest early in a business that shows high potential for growth. Venture capitalists traditionally receive equity in the business they're funding, these days they may request a combination of equity and debt financing.

Approximately 3 out of 4 businesses with venture capital funding fail. Venture capitalists rely on a big win making up for a lot of losses, and because of this they typically only invest in businesses with high growth potential. Venture capital funding may not be a viable option for you if the market you're in is fairly modest.

5. Get A Business Partner
You might not have the money to fund your startup on your own, but perhaps your know someone who could help you. If you're considering taking on a business partner, it might help to know that 28% of the Inc top 500 businesses received seed funding from a co-founder.

When selecting a business partner make sure you share the same business goals, because they will have as much control as you over the direction of the business. It also helps to have a buy out agreement in place in the event that the business relationship goes sour. This agreement should outline that the other partner must agree to a proposed buyout within a set time frame or buyout the partners themselves.

Source: https://www.inc.com/drew-hendricks/5-clever-ideas-to-raise-funds.html

120

VR & AR / Is Marketing ready for VR / AR in 2018?

« on: March 17, 2018, 09:28:30 PM »

Is Marketing ready for VR / AR in 2018?

The latest trends and innovations using VR / AR and interactive video to keep an eye on in 2018

Video is by no means a new marketing innovation, but it seems to be on the rise and considered the number one content consumption channel. It is still regarded as a highly popular method to distribute content to increase engagement rates across all digital channels. According to HubSpot's State of Inbound 2017 report, video is the main disruptor for marketers, yet YouTube and Facebook video are the 2 most popular distribution channels that marketers want to introduce into their strategy in the next 12 months.

However, it is important that these trends that are most popular are developed further with new and innovating ways to keep consumers engaged.
One trend we are seeing more and more of is the use of interactive video content - 360 videos, Augmented and Virtual Reality - the next progressive step from video providing an interactive customer experience. Now with Apple creating animojis, it seems like the first step (on a small scale) to animating yourself and sharing content in this interactive and creative way.

Although the travel sector has been using 360 photos and videos to showcase flights and exotic holiday scenery to convert users, sectors like retail, real-estate and social are now getting on the hype too.

It is important to have an up to date marketing strategy that integrates a multi-channel engagement cycle, to help conversions and build a positive brand awareness. But where will interactive video fit into your strategy for 2018 with the added possibility of introducing VR/AR to keep your audience engaged with your brand?

So where does VR / AR fit into 2018?

The use of Augmented Reality on mobile devices provides a niche and engaging way for marketers to reach their target audience - it's quick, easy and very interactive. The future of Virtual Reality in marketing remains uncertain as it requires a head-mounted display, making it much harder to reach potential customers without accessible hardware that is progressive as the VR software.

The virtual reality industry remains shaky for marketers, as it can be an expensive digital strategy that includes a head-mounted display, used primarily for the games and entertainment industry, at the moment providing little value for markers and B2B companies. I feel that the actual technology to make VR and AR is still developing, so it's difficult for companies to use it to its full potential until it's fully ready and available.

At Social Media Week 2017, Executive Creative Director Henry Cowling of UNIT9 talked of the future of Virtual Reality, stating

    "The first step is finding out how VR fits into your marketing strategy, the second is convicing your audience to put a headset on"

These are the biggest challenges marketers face with the possibility of introducing VR.

Google Cardboard, a pop-up VR headset, was the highest shipped VR - a headset that focuses more on immersive 360 videos than full Virtual Reality.

But can mobile AR conquer the current AR challenges?

    "The phone is probably going to be the mainstream consumer platform [where] a lot of these AR features become mainstream, rather than a glasses form factor that people will wear on their face" - Mark Zuckerberg, TechCrunch

Brands have already dabbled in interactive video on desktop and mobile, including 360 videos, but now brands like Ikea are taking the next step and launching product AR apps and social platform AR lenses to capture audience's attention, yet the future of VR remains elusive.

Let's take a look at some brands that are starting to innovate in the latest interactive video and AR trends - something to watch out for further in 2018.
IKEA, Augmented Reality furniture app

Have you ever bought a huge piece of furniture, don't like it and had to speak to 3 different people and fill out 2 return forms to send it back?

Ikea is now rolling out 'Place' an app for iOS users to preview furniture in their home before buying! This type of AR integration with ecommerce is ingenious as Ikea seeks to increase conversions by showing customers how their products will look in the surroundings of their own home, before buying.

The use of AR is essential to customer engagement, with users being able to walk around and place furniture and objects into the settings of their home. This type of advertising is a milestone in persuading customers that the furniture they are thinking of buying looks good in their home and if it doesn't? Well, you'll be able to preview another object until you find the right one.

The app is part of Apple's new Augmented Reality developer platform, ARkit, (part of October's iOS11 software update) which helps developers create apps that merge real-world imagery with digital and augmented objects. It is unsure whether Android users will be able to use Ikea's app in the future, as Google's Augmented reality platform Tango isn't automatically included on every android device.

Is this taking the fun out of the Ikea in-store customer experience (and meatballs) or a more practical, interactive and persuasive technique to convert users into buyers?

No more awkward returns!

John Lewis, 360 shoppable Facebook Ads

Innovators in video advertisement, many viewers eagerly await their Christmas advert. New to their video strategy this year, although neither Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality, UK retailer John Lewis are following a similar approach to that of Ikea. Their 360 shoppable video Facebook ads - a new and innovative idea they are trialling this Autumn - is similar to Ikea's Place app. If successful, it could pave the way for 360 interactive and shoppable videos on Social Media.

future content distribution channel

However, it is important that these trends that are most popular are developed further with new and innovating ways to keep consumers engaged.

Download Member Resource – Marketing Technology and Media Innovations guide

The guide outlines the most important new technologies marketers should consider when planning for future investment in customer-facing marketing experiences and communications to encourage brand engagement and purchase.

Access the Marketing technology and media innovation guide

One trend we are seeing more and more of is the use of interactive video content - 360 videos, Augmented and Virtual Reality - the next progressive step from video providing an interactive customer experience. Now with Apple creating animojis, it seems like the first step (on a small scale) to animating yourself and sharing content in this interactive and creative way.

Although the travel sector has been using 360 photos and videos to showcase flights and exotic holiday scenery to convert users, sectors like retail, real-estate and social are now getting on the hype too.

It is important to have an up to date marketing strategy that integrates a multi-channel engagement cycle, to help conversions and build a positive brand awareness. But where will interactive video fit into your strategy for 2018 with the added possibility of introducing VR/AR to keep your audience engaged with your brand?
So where does VR / AR fit into 2018?

The use of Augmented Reality on mobile devices provides a niche and engaging way for marketers to reach their target audience - it's quick, easy and very interactive. The future of Virtual Reality in marketing remains uncertain as it requires a head-mounted display, making it much harder to reach potential customers without accessible hardware that is progressive as the VR software.

The virtual reality industry remains shaky for marketers, as it can be an expensive digital strategy that includes a head-mounted display, used primarily for the games and entertainment industry, at the moment providing little value for markers and B2B companies. I feel that the actual technology to make VR and AR is still developing, so it's difficult for companies to use it to its full potential until it's fully ready and available.

At Social Media Week 2017, Executive Creative Director Henry Cowling of UNIT9 talked of the future of Virtual Reality, stating

    "The first step is finding out how VR fits into your marketing strategy, the second is convicing your audience to put a headset on"

These are the biggest challenges marketers face with the possibility of introducing VR.

Google Cardboard, a pop-up VR headset, was the highest shipped VR - a headset that focuses more on immersive 360 videos than full Virtual Reality.

VR customers

But can mobile AR conquer the current AR challenges?

    "The phone is probably going to be the mainstream consumer platform [where] a lot of these AR features become mainstream, rather than a glasses form factor that people will wear on their face" - Mark Zuckerberg, TechCrunch

Brands have already dabbled in interactive video on desktop and mobile, including 360 videos, but now brands like Ikea are taking the next step and launching product AR apps and social platform AR lenses to capture audience's attention, yet the future of VR remains elusive.

Let's take a look at some brands that are starting to innovate in the latest interactive video and AR trends - something to watch out for further in 2018.
IKEA, Augmented Reality furniture app

Have you ever bought a huge piece of furniture, don't like it and had to speak to 3 different people and fill out 2 return forms to send it back?

Ikea is now rolling out 'Place' an app for iOS users to preview furniture in their home before buying! This type of AR integration with ecommerce is ingenious as Ikea seeks to increase conversions by showing customers how their products will look in the surroundings of their own home, before buying.

ikea place example

The use of AR is essential to customer engagement, with users being able to walk around and place furniture and objects into the settings of their home. This type of advertising is a milestone in persuading customers that the furniture they are thinking of buying looks good in their home and if it doesn't? Well, you'll be able to preview another object until you find the right one.

The app is part of Apple's new Augmented Reality developer platform, ARkit, (part of October's iOS11 software update) which helps developers create apps that merge real-world imagery with digital and augmented objects. It is unsure whether Android users will be able to use Ikea's app in the future, as Google's Augmented reality platform Tango isn't automatically included on every android device.

Is this taking the fun out of the Ikea in-store customer experience (and meatballs) or a more practical, interactive and persuasive technique to convert users into buyers?

No more awkward returns!
John Lewis, 360 shoppable Facebook Ads

Innovators in video advertisement, many viewers eagerly await their Christmas advert. New to their video strategy this year, although neither Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality, UK retailer John Lewis are following a similar approach to that of Ikea. Their 360 shoppable video Facebook ads - a new and innovative idea they are trialling this Autumn - is similar to Ikea's Place app. If successful, it could pave the way for 360 interactive and shoppable videos on Social Media.

This approach attempts to enhance customers and social media users' interactive shopping experience - showcasing products in real-life house settings before buying.

This new video social strategy will offer customers with more interactive experiences than normal, or tradition, ecommerce shopping.

John Lewis' Senior Manager for Social Media told Marketing Week:

    "It is such a new format, it’s hard to calculate a ROI or bench mark, but I imagine the key here will be a mix of engagement and click through to sales"

But with the launch of this new innovation how well is it doing? John Lewis has over 1 million followers on their Facebook Company page, yet for this new type of content, it only received 11k views and less than 100 reactions.

It's great to see products in a home setting rather than a shop floor, or a generic picture for your ecommerce landing page - but it doesn't have the same personal touch as Ikea Place.

Snapchat 3D World Lenses

Rival photograph and video platforms, Instagram and Facebook stories, are slowly taking over the video social world from the original creator, Snapchat. More and more filters are being created to keep users interested and engaging with the social platforms, but Snapchat has announced a new direction for interactive filters - Branded 3D objects in Snapchat posts.

It seems they have been trialling this with their well-used and well-received dancing hotdog

This type of AR real-world lense allows brands some creative fun in their social strategy and consumers interactive engagement with branded 3d objects.

Snapchat first released sponsored posts when brands could purchase a unique branded filter, then launched 2D sponsored lenses, which were a little more interactive and more fun.

But in a recent bid to win over and get users interacting with brands, they have announced 3D world lenses. All 3D lenses can only be purchased through the Snapchat sales team. This is predicted to help brands increase awareness and engagement, whilst also reviving the social platform by doing something different from its competitors.

Giraffe360, Virtual Reality technology for real estate

A relatively new startup company based in London UK, Giraffe360 technology:

    "enables the real estate industry to elevate property viewing into a virtual reality experience". - Startup Guide

Brothers Mikus and Madars Opelts started their virtual tour service in 2010 and in 2015 turned over 500k.

Their VR software is design to create high-resolution HDR images that will help showcase a property anywhere in the world.

The use of VR for the real estate industry is a great idea if you're targeting an audience that would normally drive a long distance for a viewing. But, it can also help create a real-life virtual image of what new / developing properties will look like before they are finished.

Leeds, UK, based real estate company Citu is also building a fully immersive VR experience to show potential customers around new housing developments before it has been built, meaning real estate firms can always be virtually selling.

AR / VR forecast

It's evident that companies are beginning to test the waters and trial different interactive video formats and experience, yet the projection for AR revenue by 2020 is set to outweigh VR by $120 billion.

Although the forecast for AR / VR revenue increases Y-O-Y, I still remain sceptical about the rate and potential use of AR / VR for some industries. Whereas it shows huge potential for travel, real estate, retail and the games and entertainment industry, it is unclear how, why and even if this type of video interactive content can be applied to other industries like finance, agency, and B2B.

Source:https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-platforms/video-marketing/is-marketing-ready-for-vr-ar-in-2018/