Category "analytics"
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Error bands, or why models will be models (of the mathematical variety)
In response to our article on the Social Progress Index (SPI) and prediction markets, the Social Progress Index folks asked why we didn’t just stop at optimizing the SPI. Two reasons, we said: (1) There’s an unfortunate tendency of people to believe (math) models are reality. They’re just models with error bands. (2) There’s going to be politically-motivated suspicion of any model (as well as political-motivated attempts to manipulate models and their interpretation). [For our readers coming over from our fashion design section, or our earlier article on virtual reality fashion models and modeling, we are talking about mathematical models here.] So how do models go bad? Let’s use the Social Progress Index as an example. We talked elsewhere about the tension between things like freedom of press and national security in a model like this. (In general, such tension will exist in an useful economic or financial model. If the tension did not exist, there would be nothing interesting to optimize, and so need for such a model in the first place.)… Read the restMH17 and big data: preventing the tragedy?
This might be a good time to take a break from our usual Internet of Things and Predictive Analytics technological musings and take a quick look at current events. Can big data be applied to the tragic recent shoot-down of MH17? Could a country-scale analytics dashboard (or lessons derived from analytics) have prevented this tragedy? We think so. In an earlier blog article (before the tragedy), we discussed possible frameworks for country-wide analytics dashboards. For any such dashboards to be successful, it needs to be as apolitical as possible. For this to work, these models need first to be accepted by stakeholders (e.g., politicians, corporations, voters, citizens, tax-payers, oligarchs, dictators). There needs to be a general consensus that the models’ predictions are based on sound social science. Even if the models are not perfectly accurately, there should be an understanding that they are at least directionally correction in terms of connecting input parameters with future outputs.… Read the restExciting times for home automation: using light to alter moods
A number of companies have also done scientific studies showing that the color of light from multi-colored LED smartbulbs can impact things such as mood and reduce the impact of jet lag. The sun’s light naturally changes color throughout the course of the day, and human biology appears to take cues from that. In addition to saving a lot of energy compared with traditional or fluorescent bulbs, you can do a lot of other color things with multicolored smartbulbs. Some folks have them automatically flash purple to remind children of their bedtime. Smarthome bulbs should not, however, be seen as panacea. Many of these devices are first generation. Most current LEDs don’t emit in all the wavelengths that human eyes are known to detect (infrared wavelengths, used for circadian rhythms, is missing from most of these systems). Nor are these devices marketed (or intended) to treat medical conditions. But if you’re a technophile, an environmentalist interested in greener bulbs, or just like the idea of seeing what light can do, you may want to look into new gadgets.… Read the restopen semantic meaning platforms: alternatives to IBM Watson?
We’ve been a fan of IBM’s Watson semantic meaning analytics system since IBM first announced they were opening up their ecosystem. Around the time of CES we pointed out that the explosion of data from Internet of Things devices meant semantic processing made more sense than just writing more specialized apps. [Update June 2015: Check out our more recent post on Watson, which includes a selection of Ted Talks on Watson. This also talks about Watson’ use of distance matrices in statistical inference, and how this relates to our CEO’s own peer-reviewed academic research in that area. These internal metrics, whether automatically selected or manually defined, are likely to impact all similar systems. It would seem to be key technical factor in the cost and success of any new semantic data implementation.] There’s one small problem with developing IBM Watson cloud apps currently: access to the platform is currently still limited to a few partner companies, and IBM has not yet publicly announced pricing.… Read the restRecent Comments
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