Technopreneurship Assignment #1
Have you ever heard the song “BETAMAX “of a Philippine band with the name of Sandwich? The lyrics include the lines “Wala pa nung internet, wala pa nung iPod o mp3, wala pa nung cable, wala paring CD o DVD, meron lang Betamax”(Before there was no internet, there was no iPod nor mp3, there was still no CD or DVD, we only have Betamax) The word technology according to Dictionary.com is defined as the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. Technology has given us many benefits from reducing human work, to entertainment, to improving our communication and socialization with others, medical advancement and many other things. As a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology student, we are exposed to the current and emerging technologies for these are what we future Information Technologist will use to develop applications and software or new networking topologies that can be used by the public.
As part of our IT Elective – Technopreneurship 1 subject we were tasked to observe three fast food chains, three shopping malls, three homes and USeP and from our observation we should come up with a technology that can solve the problems present among the said places. Some of my suggestions might be impossible as of our technology today but technology moves fast! We may see my make-up technology in action in the near future.
FAST FOOD CHAINS
Fast food chain is the term given to an establishment where you can buy food that can be prepared and served very quickly. There are many fast food chains here in Davao some of which are Jollibee, McDonalds, KFC, Chowking, Shakey’s, Mang Inasal, and many more. You can found them having independent buildings but most of the time inside shopping malls. On my opinion, the reason why these fast food chains gain tremendous popularity to the public it is because like what people say “Time is Gold” and in our current time where every second counts the people are getting use on doing things in a fast manner where some people also want to have food serve quickly because they only have a limited time allotted for eating. According to Wikipedia.org, “In order to make speedy service possible and to ensure accuracy and security, many fast food restaurants have incorporated hospitality point of sale systems. This makes it possible for kitchen crew people to view orders placed at the front counter or drive through in real time. Wireless systems allow orders placed at drive through speakers to be taken by cashiers and cooks. Drive through and walk through configurations will allow orders to be taken at one register and paid at another. Modern point of sale systems can operate on computer networks using a variety of software programs. Sales records can be generated and remote access to computer reports can be given to corporate offices, managers, troubleshooters, and other authorized personnel.” This just proves that there is an effort to make these restaurants serve faster to the customers. But customer service does not only stop on serving scrumptious food but it includes the effort of making them feel welcome from the start they step in the restaurant and the quality of entertainment while they are enjoying their food. These give the owners of these fast food chains addition challenges to top among others in the fast food industry.
Every time me and my friends decided to eat at a fast food chain, preferably at McDonalds, we have this recurring dilemma of finding tables and chairs that would accommodate us all. Of course, we have to move the tables ourselves if only there is enough space but there were times that we had to wait for other people to finish eating in order for us to have enough space to connect the tables. It is really awkward to walk around the place where other people are staring at you and during the busy hours you sometimes bump to other people and if you are unlucky you might bump a table and spill their drinks. As I observed, we were not the only ones who are constantly having this problem. Some students from other universities or colleges who come in fast foods in groups also find difficulty on finding tables. Although some fast food staffs will volunteer to arrange the tables for you it will still take some time and there is no guarantee that there is a staff to entertain you especially on busy hours.
It will be big advantage for the customers if, before they enter the fast food chain, there are already allotted tables for them. It would be nice if a there is such technology that will resolve this problem. A technology will be something like before the customers enter a fast food, the glass door of the entrance will show to them the vacancies inside the establishment where, if there is enough space, one customer will input the total number of members of his group then the system will now calculate the tables and chairs needed as well as the space required. After that, the crew or the tables and chairs themselves will arrange according to the specifications that was defined by the system whereas it will lessen the time of finding and moving the said furniture as well as reduction of effort in the part of the customers which gives the business plus points for additional customer service. The technology also have a feature of giving the customer the option of assigning the tables and chairs according to their ideal area like if they want to eat beside the window, close to the air conditioner or the counter. The system will also have the capability of calculating the efficiency of the whole area where it will also consider if other customers will have a chance to dine in if ever it puts the tables and chairs at a specific area. After the customers leave, the tables will immediately change into “cleaning state” where they will proceed to the cleaning room and go under tremendous cleaning and disinfection. A special type of robotic arm will scan the items present on the table and segregate them accordingly. After that the tables and chairs will change to “waiting state” where they will automatically fold to reduce space consumption and they will have to wait for the system to assign them new coordinates and the signal to turn to “active mode”.
Have you ever brought a laptop inside a fast food but you are afraid to use it because you might spill your beverage on it? Well in a simple sense the answer is easy: don’t use it. But what if you have to check your account for an important email? There could be a big problem if the worst scenario happens. To resolve this problem and in order to give additional entertainment to the customers the tables will act as water-proof monitors. They can browse the internet using the browser available where the sites are filtered to avoid prohibited sites. They can login to their social networking sites accounts where they can post about their experience while they are eating which is also an additional advertisement for the fast food. Moreover, a built-in camera is available for them to take pictures in order for customers have the chance of uploading it on their social networking sites accounts. And if you’re lucky enough, a blogger might write how wonderful and welcoming is to stay in your restaurant using your table which can increase the number of customers. Furthermore, if you don’t need to use the internet, the table will also have a paint application which is an additional reason for artists who loves to doodle to dine in your restaurant. You can also select a theme for your table whether be it on Christmas theme, Halloween theme, Happy Birthday theme and many more. You can also integrate the pictures you took using the built-in camera to make a customize theme just for your table. It also includes games for the kids and kids-at-heart to enjoy playing which will be fully-interactive and can be played by multiple players. The customers will have the chance to contact the staff via an application in the table where you can request for additional ketchup or a refill of a drink. And to maximize the fast food chain experience, the customers can send a feedback to the owner using again the fully-interactive table to give the whole fast food chain staff credit of the effort they have done to make then cozy during their stay.
SHOPPING MALLS
A shopping mall is a building where you can buy different kinds of products from clothing, to school supplies, house supplies, groceries, and many more or just do window shopping. It can also accommodate restaurants, fast foods, and entertainment centers to increase the number of clients. So with this kind of concept for a business it is ideal for the building to be enormous in size in order to house the large number of tenants and hundreds or may be even thousands of customers. The top ten malls of the Philippines according to the wikipilipinas.org have the following floor area and floors: (10th) SM North – 48 hectares with six floors, (9th) Robinsons Place Manila – 24 hectares with seven floors, (8th) Robinsons Galleria – 21 hectares with five floors, (7th) Gateway Mall – 9 hectares with five floors, (6th) SM Megamall – 34 hectares with five floors, (5th) Trinoma – 19 hectares with four floors, (4th) Shangri-La Plaza – 8.6 hectares with seven floors, (3rd) Greenbelt Mall – 12 hectares with four floors, (2nd) Glorietta – 25 hectares with five floors and last but not the least (1st) SM Mall of Asia – 40 hectares with two floors in the main building and six floors in both south and north building. The newly constructed Abreeza Mall in Davao City has a total retail floor of seven hectares with four floors with a parking-lot capacity of 2000+ cars but SM City Lanang is said to be bigger, according to neodavao.wordpress.com, with a total area of 44 hectares including IT buildings, Condos, Sport Club and etc.
Another thing you can do in a mall and what most people also do is just leisurely walking; taking time on appreciating the multi-million interior design of a shopping mall but what if you only have to run an errand or just eat at a restaurant to a point that you don’t have time to mind the environment wouldn’t it be annoying to walk a hundred steps just because the store or the restaurant that you want to go is on the other side of the building? Well, at least you know where you are going but what if you don’t? Will you succumb on walk the whole floor? That would be very exhausting, based on personal experience. But some malls nowadays, already have “walkalators”, a slow moving conveyor machinery that transports people; across a horizontal or inclined plane; over a short or medium distance. But the mechanism is rarely seen inside a mall and not flexible enough to solve the problem.
An “Automated Floor Panel” is what I recommend to resolve this dilemma. The whole floor of the shopping mall is somewhat like a giant “walkalator” but rather than having a fixed position, the customers have the ease to input where they want to go. Once you step on the floor of the building a hologram menu will appear in front of you where a 3D map of the inside of the building is waiting for you to set your destination which is, obviously, the store that you want to go. But if you don’t know where you are going, it has a search feature in order to lessen the time of finding the store you want to go. It also has a sort feature that will sort the stores present inside the mall according to type (e.g. shoe store) for you to have the opportunity to avail other stores with the same type. After you pick the destination, the computer controlling the floor will calculate the shortest path with consideration to traffic subsequently the floor itself will create a “walkalator” particularly from the shortest path generated. It will also have a traffic management system to avoid customers to collide with other customers or with a foreign object. It also has a speed meter where you can also have the option to choose your rapidity for example when you are in a hurry, you can choose the maximum speed. What if you saw a friend? No worries. It also has a PAUSE feature giving you a chance to talk to other people or having a quick window shop over a store. After that you can press the RESUME button to continue going to your destination. If you change your mind, a STOP feature is also available to halt you and give you another option on where you want to go. This technology is not only built for leisure but also as a part of a high-tech security measure, the security guards will also have a special access to the whole panel where they can stop or to be precise cancel the movement of the thief from running away by making the floor he is currently stepping on go to the opposite direction. After that, a blinking red circle will appear on the floor having the thief at the center in order to alert the customers of the presence of the thief in order for them to do the necessary safety measures. It will also help the security guards to immediately locate the offender.
Have you ever tried searching for a shirt in the mall by going through the stores one by one and checking their clothing also one by one? It’s very tiring and quite a hassle. Another technology that brought up by my wild imagination is what if the glass windows of the stores will also be a way for customers to find or select clothes easily. It will have a menu where the customers will select what type of clothing they would like to see (e.g. jacket, pants, t-shirts). It can also be sorted according to color or pattern and according to the type of fabric. After that a series of images of the desired type will appear on the glass window so the customer will have the ease to pick without walking around. The customer can also view the clothing 360° in order to fully assess the exquisiteness of the fabric. It will also have a weather simulation feature where you can see what will happen to your clothes on a specific type of weather (e.g. windy, sunny, and cold). It will give information about what additional temperature it will give to your body, how long it dries if it gets wet, or the way it moves along a certain wind direction. This will give an additional precaution for customers before buying the product in order for them to be ready for worst case scenarios. But what if you are searching for a specific item? It also has an item Identicality feature where a customer can send an image of his or her desired item from the customer’s phone via Bluetooth to the system then the program will search if there is an identical item in their store. It will also give a percentage of how the item is identical to the other items inside the store. This will lessen the time consumed if the customer was to search inside the store item by item. The program will also give the details of the individual items in the store like how the designer explain the design of the dress or polo. And in order for the store to evaluate their customer service rating a feedback feature will also be available where the legit customers can post their comments to the glass windows which can give additional advertisement to the store.
HOMES
A home is not merely a place to stay but it is a place where we can be comfortable of ourselves. It is, as other people would describe, our comfort zone. As a comfort zone, it comprises entertainment, solicitude, sense of belonging and resting place. It is what motivates some people to do better on their work to enhance not only the tangible things inside your home but the connection between them and their family members can be amplified by bonding. You may buy appliances and furniture to increase the comfort of your home like plasma televisions, high-speed computers, king-sized bed, luxurious chandeliers, and many more. But lavish items are not the only way to be comfortable. In our current time, pollution and environmental problems has been sprouting out due to the misuse or overuse of the technology provided that is why green technology is encouraged for scientist, engineers, programmers and alike to develop to lessen the causes of green house gases, water pollution, air pollution and other environmental issues.
The traditional window structure of the houses here in the Philippines is: it is caged with metal bars to prevent burglars to come in; then with series of jalousies that can be open and close to let air or light come in; and lastly screeners to prevent bugs, lizards and any small foreign object to come in. It is quite an, on my opinion, inappropriate design basing on the weather conditions of our country. Sometimes there is no enough air that comes in that is why we sometimes use our electric fans or air conditioners 24/7 which is extremely a waste of energy and it is one of the contributors of green house gases. I suggest a new architecture for the window structures that is not only be usable here in the Philippines but also a great benefit for other countries. It is a high-tech window where it is covered with a special type of hard glass that has microscopic holes that can let air in. The glass will have a menu where you can select how much wind or air you would like to come in without worrying about dust because it has a filtering mechanism that removes the dust on the air before coming in. It will also have a light regulator where you can select how much light will come in. You can also have the option to download an app for you smartphone to control the windows remotely. It will lessen you electricity bills because you will no longer have to use your lights in the morning and afternoon, and you can lessen the usage of the electric fans and air conditioners. You will not only worry about how much electricity is used for the high-tech window for it also has the capability to collect solar power where it is used to charge itself and power the whole system. If it is raining, you can still let in air because the high-tech window will not let water to pass through therefore you are safe from getting your things wet and you are taking advantage of the strong wind made during raining. If you don’t have a beautiful view outside your window, the special glass can also function as a screen where you can choose a realistic background to best suit your interest. You can put a vast garden full of flowers background even when you are located at the middle of a city. It will be also has a security measures added to it so that you will no longer buy other products. If a burglar tries to open or cut through a window, you will be immediately alerted by the window nearest to you about the attempted break in. If you are far away from a window or you are in a position where you can’t notice the window like when you are sleeping or the window is behind you. The window system will have the capability to send an alert text message to your smart phone. It will not be just a simple text message but an alert message where your phone will be programmed to vibrate and give loud annoying to wake you up or to divert your attention to the message sent by the system.
A home is not only for family members but also for friends to hangout or make projects. I already had the chance to go inside the homes of my classmates. Of course, them, as the hosts of the house they are doing their best to make us, the guests, as comfortable as possible. They serve us drinks and snacks, make us watch the television, and other more. There were times that we have to move tables and chairs at the living room to have enough space to accommodate us all. It is quite awkward to tell your guests to make them help move the furniture. So the next technology that came into my mind is an automated furniture mover. The menu for this system will be located at any part of the wall. As you start the system, a 3D representation of the inside of the house along with all the furniture and people will appear. You can now change the arrangement of only the furniture by just simply dragging the 3D representation of an object to the desired location where it will send signals to the physical object or furniture will instantly move with the help of wheels or with an automated floor panel to the destination set by the user. It will also alert you if you are about to smash an object to another or to a person to prevent unlikely results. It will also have a recommendation feature where it will recommend an arrangement for you depending on the location and the space you need. This feature will be great if you have no time to rearrange your furniture if you are planning to hold a party or any kind of event. You can also view the information of the furniture inside your house. The system can give the detail when you brought the object inside the house, the current value if you are planning sell it, and the place where you bought the furniture. Have you ever encountered that you forgot where you put your keys or pen? No worries. This technology will also have a search feature where after you input the name or the image of the image you lost, it will scan the whole house and give you the exact location of the object. And as for people who love to decorate their houses, the system can suggest furniture to maximize the beauty of your dwelling place. It can also suggest a theme according to the occasion or with the current trend. It will also have security functionality in order for the owner of the house, especially of those who has enormous houses, to know who the persons inside the building are. Whenever it detects an unidentified person it will alert the owner to give him time to have preventive measures. Whenever there is a fire or flood, the walls will give you the instructions on what to do and directions on where immediately to go in order to prevent harm.
USeP
A university is a sanctuary for those who are eager to learn and explore the vast world of knowledge. It is with common sense that the environment must be conducive for learning in order for students to have the appropriate atmosphere to get their brains to work. The University of Southeastern Philippines, as one of the leading universities of the country and an aspirant of becoming one of the leading universities of the ASEAN Region, should find and make ways of enhancing the teaching methodology of professors in order for students not only to learn more but also give them the interest to go to school. Based on personal experience, students learn more if they are thought using audio-visual presentations and PPTs. Teaching with the help of videos or with any graphic material negates me from being bored. Moreover, time consumed on writing on the board will be lessen thus the instructor will have more time to discuss his lessons while the students will only have to write down important notes because the entire discussion can be uploaded to the internet for students not only from the university but also from other students worldwide to download. But as a state university, we have insufficient facilities and equipments to make this kind of teaching methodology a day-to-day basis.
It would be better if the blackboards used in the university will have the capability the same of a touch-screen computer. The instructor will use a stylus rather than chalk to write on the board which will remove the possible allergic reactions and skin diseases caused by chalk powder. The board should also have a universal serial bus in order to use flash disks to view PDFs, WORD documents, AVPs, PPTs and others during the class. It will also function as an attendance system for students where the part of the board closest to the door will have a biometric machine so instructors will no longer make a roll call or the students will no longer write down on a piece of paper which will also eliminate discrepancies. It can also access the internet to find additional reference like educational websites and electronic books. It can also record the activities done on the board as well as the voice of the instructor using a built-in microphone so students can download it to replay the discussion which will be highly beneficial for late and absent students. And in order to fully interact with the students, they will have a special chair with the tablet arm that will function as a touch-screen monitor. It will view all the things that the instructor has done on the board which gives a chance for near-sighted students to participate well on the discussion. The students will no longer have to bring ball point pen and notebooks for they can type on their tablet with ac word application installed in it. Just like the blackboard the tablets will also have a universal serial bus so students can transfer the files given to them by the professors as well as the recording of the whole discussion to their flash drive.
Another technology that is brought out by my mind is a study center gazebo. An invisible ceiling will protect the students from tremendous light and rain where they can set a background for that ceiling to add ambiance while they are studying for example a cloudy sky or a starry night. During the middle of the day, where the sun is at its highest; the ceiling will also let out a cooling mechanism in order for students to stay at the medium temperature. When it comes to electricity, the ceiling will collect solar power during the day in order to conserve energy. The tables will also function as computers where they can insert their flash drives to access their documents where multiple users can use synchronously. They can also video call other students from other gazebos to have a sharing on what they are studying. The table will also function as a fax machine where students can now insert their assignments and send it to their respective professors. This will lessen the time and effort wasted in going to the faculty room and finding for the teacher. A special glass will surround the gazebo to protect the students from dusts and other foreign objects where they can set the amount of wind that comes in. They can also set the amount of light according to their liking. Another dilemma that I observed and encountered during my first week in USeP was that I did not know where my classrooms were located and there was this one time that I was late on my Psychology class because I roamed around the Engineering Building where my classroom was located at the College of Arts and Sciences Building. For this reason, the gazebo will not be only for students who want to study but also for those who are new to the university. It will also function as an information booth where a 3D hologram of the whole perimeter will appear on the table so that they can have a virtual tour of the university. This will be great advantage for new students who do not know where his or her classroom is located which can be very exhausting to find by walking. It will also give them information about the location of the offices of the different divisions of the university. This technology also has the capability of alerting the security guards for explosions and fire in order to know immediately the source of the fire and call the authorities.
And these technologies are just a result of my wild imagination. To think we only have four places to assess yet we can come up with so many different things what more if we were not limited with the places. There are so many possibilities in the world of technology that we can’t exactly predict how easy life will be in the future. Like what movies depict of the future will be: flying cars, teleportation devices, shrinking rays, time travel, food pellets that grow when heated in the oven and a ton of other stuffs. But let us all remember that moderation is always needed. You can observe nowadays the causes of our problems are not the technology itself but the people who are using it incorrectly. Hopefully, green technology like what I wrote above will gain popularity to the public for it will benefit the whole human race. Just like time, technology will continue to go forward enhancing the lives of the people. Use it wisely.
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