Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Data mining 24/7


The following are examples of how data mining is applied in different industries, and its 24/7 functionality:


The Energy Sector: In 2009 utility companies such as Duke Energy implemented a data mining system called Smart Grid.  This system enables a two-way "conversation" 24/7 between the company and the customers using advanced meters and other high-tech communications equipment that collect and sends data to the data administrator. This device is connected to the main transformer to collect timely information about what is happening in the area, quickly detect and resolve problems, prevent and shorten power outages, improve service reliability and give customers information to better manage their energy use. 

Home Security Systems: Security and surveillance companies are looking at a different type of data mining called video mining. A San Francisco based company created the "Dropcam" which stores limitless videos in your cloud, eliminating the need for SD memory cards. When Dropcam is on and streaming, it sends encrypted live footage to the cloud for motion and sound detection 24/7. Your video then streams securely from the cloud to your devices for viewing. Users can review videos of the last 7 days and they don’t have to watch them from the beginning to the end.  Instead, Dropcam automatically marks the video segment with motion so that you can jump to those segments right away.

Electronics and Home appliances: Smart TVs are now in the market. Stores are in constant renovation of their inventory, it appears as consumers are no longer looking for the size and quality, but also for “smartness" of their TV. Most TVs now have internet connectivity,  a camera, display content from your smart phone, and play movies from YouTube and Netflix.  They also have Facebook, Skype, and voice command recognition systems, similar to Siri on the iphone.  These TV’s collect data such as the type of movies or shows selected by day, time, category, etc nonstop; it captures the viewer’s activities on the remote control, stores the information and is capable to make recommendations based on historical data.


Political campaigns: If you watched the last presidential debate, you were part of the data-mining operation for Obama’s reelection campaign. His campaign consisted of an analytics department larger than the 2008 team utilizing a sophisticated platform called “Narwhal”. This platform was used to gather data 24/7 and provide information for strategic use during his campaign.  They were able to partner with television service providers, mixing data from both sources to obtain a real target viewers who tuned on the presidential debate.

 
These are only a few examples, nowadays companies are strongly investing in technology and taking advantage of the limitless opportunities found in data mining. What are your thoughts on the different uses of Data-Mining? Can you think of anything you see day-to-day that could use data-mining?
Sources:

 Chen, Adrian. "How the Obama Campaign's Data-Miners Knew What You Watched On TV." Gawker. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.
"Duke Energy: Envision Smart Energy." YouTube. Duke Energy Media Center, 06 Nov. 2009. Web. 17     Sept. 2013.
"Samsung Smart TV 2013 with Smart Interaction - Discover What's New." Samsung Smart TV. Samsung, 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.
"There's No Need to Be Insecure." Dropcam. Dropcam, Inc, 2013. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

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9 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:37 PM

    I'm starting to hear more and more about these Smart TVs, wouldn't mind trying one out. As for other types of data mining, I read recently about musical data mining being used to find similarities in music, resulting in a more objective genre classification.

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    1. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:39 PM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:41 PM

      Jay, excellent point. You are definitely right. In example, when one purchases music on iTunes that genre is classified and when the customer goes to suggestions more top hits from that genre are listed for the customer to purchase.

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    3. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:41 PM

      Jay, excellent point. You are definitely right. In example, when one purchases music on iTunes that genre is classified and when the customer goes to suggestions more top hits from that genre are listed for the customer to purchase.

      Delete
    4. UnknownSeptember 20, 2013 at 6:59 PM

      Continuing on the music and data mining theme, Pandora is an excellent example of this. As many of you likely know, the software takes your approval and disapproval of certain songs and compares it to a long list of attributes associated with different genres of music, ultimately attempting to hone in on a unique selection of music that will appeal to the user.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 24, 2013 at 7:50 PM

    Great article, I think that the security system camera being able to mark frames of the video footage with movement is pretty wild. I know at my work whenever we need to refer back to a security camera we have to rewind to get to the correct date and time of when an event occurred. Also great presentation this past Monday.

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    1. Mary StikeleatherOctober 7, 2013 at 7:07 AM

      Thanks for your comments, we are glad our audience is able to relate to the information in our blog and apply it to daily activities.

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  3. UnknownOctober 3, 2013 at 7:54 PM

    For the home security piece I can definitely related, 7 years ago when my parents got their security system installed the alarm would go off if there was a crashing sound. So if you broke a window or vase fell and brake. I got the same company 3 years ago and they upgraded to the motion sensors now, so if you are a quiet burglar the alarm would still sound once you walked into the sensor. You can now arm or disarm your system from any smart phone or PC. Recently I saw them advertising video monitoring now with live feed from your cell phone or PC. This new feature is incredible to see who is at your door without getting up or being physically home.
    I think I might just have to threaten to leave for their competitors and they probably would upgrade me to this new feature. It’s very interesting watching the transition from past into the future. Great article!

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    1. UnknownOctober 9, 2013 at 5:39 PM

      Youshika, thank you for your comment. It is interesting to see a real world example of this. I can disarm my house remotely and enjoy the comfort of knowing I did not forget to lock my doors. Data Mining provides the opportunity for competitive advantage as much as the threat of misuse.

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