Month: December 2021

Building a Plane in the Metaverse

Shabbir Chunawalla

In future, both work and play will shift to an immersive virtual world, now referred to as the metaverse. It symbolises the dawn of a digital revolution occuring globally.

Boeing factory of the future will have immersive 3-D engineering supplemented by robots. Mechanics will be across the globe by linking HoloLens headsets made by Microsoft. The aim is to improve quality and safety of the aircraft and to assert its engineering capability. The estimated investment is to be $ 15 billion. It wants to put behind its structural flaws affecting its 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing, the US company, is in competition with the European Airbus. It seeks to invent new production systems and leverage the power of data to optimise its industrial system. Instead of incremental advances, it opts for the systemic overhaul.

Data Protection Bill

Shabbir Chunawalla

The joint committee on Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019 presented its report on 16 Dec. 2021, recommending changes to draft legislation. It has recommended to change the name of the legislation to Data Protection Bill, as it seeks to include both personal and non-personal data under a single law.

Non-personal data is the data which is with entities like e-commerce companies. They are general profiles, rather than individual personal data.

The Committee was concerned about the capacity of the government departments to protect the large volume of data they collect. It will have to establish SOPs in the ministries and departments etc. to protect the huge amount of data collected. The government will be a significant data fiduciary. It means an entity that controls the storage of data and defines the permitted ways in which it can be processed. Data protection officer must be appointed by every significant data fiduciary.

There will be one data protection authority for personal and non-personal data. Chairperson and members of data protection authority must be appointed within 3 months of the notification of the Act. Sensitive and critical personal data must be brought to country from foreign entities. It is called data localisation.

Social media platforms will be treated as publishers on certain counts. When they are not acting as intermediaries, they are liable for content they host.

These would be restrictions on cross-border data flow.

The Committee has provided a time-frame of 24 months for the implementation of the Data Protection Act.

The Committee has suggested that data fiduciaries dealing exclusively with children’s data must register themselves with data protection authority.

India’s Role in Shaping Metaverse

Shabbir Chunawalla

Metaverse, the virtual reality universe, will be shaped by tech saavy manpower from India, according to Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Indian talent of app developers, AR developers, and online gaming developers will contribute a great deal in building the foundation of the metaverse. Zuckerberg articulated his views at Fuel for India 2021 event.

AS we know, Facebook has been rechristened Meta in consistence with Zuckerberg’s vision of the future of internet.

Meta is investing in education and commerce too through startups. Meta wants to accelerate the developments of fundamental technologies, the social platforms and creative tools that are necessary to bring the metaverse to life.

Metaverse will not be developed by just one country or one company. It will be a huge collaborative effort.

At present, Facebook has an audience of 3 billion users globally and it aims to double this user base. A huge amount of foundation of metaverse is likely to be built here in India.

Indian Incentive for Semiconductors

Shabbir Chunawalla

On 15 Dec. 2021, Union cabinet approved $ 10 billion (Rs.76000 crore) proposal to build semiconductor ecosystem in the country. Over the next five-six years, the incentives will be extended to greenfield chip fab units, display fab units, compound semiconductor and ATMP (assembly, testing, marking and packaging) facilities.

There are fabless players — the design companies — which will be given a fiscal push. Semiconductor and display fab units will be offered financial support. Compound semiconductor units make chips for mobile chargers and electric vehicles. The government will offer fiscal support to compound semiconductor units and ATMP facilities.

The move will attract international investment into the country. It is estimated it will bring an investment up to Rs. 1.7 lac crore.

Developing capability in semiconductor design and manufacturing is a vital strategic necessity for India. Advanced microchips power defence missile systems, satellites and communications. Through these complex bundles of software and microscopic hardware, a foreign power can snoop on or control. There could be a chase for parts at a crucial moment. It is prudent for India to develop a semiconductor manufacturing industry.

As business go digital and the use of AI, VR, AR increase, the notion that India should focus on medium and low-end chips is flawed, There is need to build competitive advantage in high-end semiconductors and chip design.

The machines necessary to supply components of a chip fab are sophisticated and produced by a couple of companies. Here we should do backward integration.

The government’s intention is to create a complete semiconductor ecosystem. India intends to join the list of Asian countries that currently control 3/4ths of the world’s fab capacity — Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and China. The US is far behind with a share of 13 per cent.

The global short supply and fear of dependence on China for fab supplies have driven the present incentivisation.

The government is actively engaging with top global investors. It is in talk with leading chip makers — TSMC, Intel, Hynix, STMicroelectronics as well as the Tata Group.Vedanta too is interested.

There is a demand for display fabs, the major market for which is controlled by China. Display fab makes half the cost of a TV a a quarter of the cost of a mobile. India can ill afford to depend on China.

Media Tech Assisted by AI for Deepfake

Shabbir Chunawalla

You are an ordinary man or woman, and still you can be projected as an actor in a movie or a TV serial. You or any of your friend or acquaintance can be made a dancer. There could be a swapping between you or any one you choose with a celebrity. A porn clip can be created using a deeptake in a second. All this is achieved by using synthetic media software. It uses ML to digitally model faces from images and then swap them into films seamlessly. It is a recently developed technology. It is available to any smart phone owner. It does not demand any specialised knowledge. Even a novice can create deepfake videos. The software does not require consent, though it makes the whole exercise illegal and unethical. It is open to abuse. It can cause gendered digital violence. Women are easy targets.

Exoclick, the online advertising network was abused to make objectionable videos. Majority use these for entertainment with not bad intentions, but can be used maliciously. There are other online ad networks but it is not certain whether they have encountered any deepfake software.

The app on Apple Store or Google Play Store does not mention, its possible abuse. It is available to anyone over 12.

While creating a synthetic reanimation video (known as deepfake), a green wireframe model covers an actor’s lower face.

Web 3.0

Shabbir Chunawalla

Merry Christmas, 2021 to All of You.

The next version of internet, Web 3.0, is coming. Internet to begin with, was driven by consumers consuming information. In the current Web 2.0 version, on account of social media, people not only consume information but contribute information too. Thus Web 2.0 essentially the world of social media and mobile apps. Here, the users’ data is owned by the organisations.

Web 3.0 is envisaged as the decentralised internet. The data will not reside on the centralised databases, but would reside on blockchain technology. Thus in simple terms, Web 3.0 can be described as internet on blockchain.

This is going to affect the business model of Big Tech who monetise people’s data. They could be more community-owned and driven. Some experts feel that they do not see internet being built around blockchain.

Web 3.0 consists of an idea that the next version of internet will be built upon the concepts of decentralisation, openness and greater user utility.

In Web 2.0, people’s data is owned by large organisations, such as Facebook, Google and Amazon. In Web 3.0, the data is envisaged to be owned by consumers, and resides on blockchain networks ( as opposed to centralised organisations). Blockchain technology is not controlled by one organisation. Your data becomes your choice then. If an advertiser pays Facebook, you should get a piece of it.

Internet in the first phase was driven by users. In the second phase which is in progress, users become contributors on account of the social media. The third phase will evolve over the next 10 years. Digital assets or cryptos are blockchains which fuel the future financial ecosystem and Web 3.0. Web 3.0 has the potential to contribute $ 1.1 trillion to Indian’s GDP over next 10 years.

A quantum internet would be able to transmit large volumes of data across immense distances at a rate that exceeds the speed of light. Global quantum network could come by 2030, say it is just 8 years away.

Samsung Semiconductor India R&D Centre, Bangalore

Shabbir Chunawalla

This centre works on products and apps that go into making of Samsung products. It also works on external clients to customise solutions. It focuses on three areas — memory, foundry and Large-Scale-Integration (LSI).

They work on camera chips. They use an image processing algorithm. They also work on smaller chips — their sensors and image processing algorithms. They do memory processing too. They are doing work in niche areas like multi-media IP development and multi-media software development. This they do for Exymos processor. They also work on GPU or graphics processing unit. GPU is an important component of mobile phones as more people take to gaming and expect a better user experience.

Router Protocol

Shabbir Chunawalla

A singapore-based company has put together a team of developers in India to work on Router Protocol, a blockchain infrastructure project, that allows interoperability between two independent blockchains. It is attracting funding which it proposes to use for hiring more developers and conduct security audits. DeFi’s holy grail to go ahead is the communication of blockchains with each other. The investors are deeply involved or are hands on in the design and development of Router as well as decentralised exchange.

Router Protocol will monetise every transaction and will have both retail and institutional clients.

Institutional clients would be able to use Router Protocol’s software development kit on any decentralised application that require cross-chain capability to seamlessly plug into a Router and enable cross-chain messaging and communication.

Luxury Brands Tokenised

Shabbir Chunawalla

There are digital department stores which sell virtual luxury brands. These stores offer clothing and accessories which exist only online. The apparel sold is for digital avatars. Most of the products are limited editions. However, at one time, only a single product is available on line. Those who buy these products receive an NFT (non-fungible token). It is a virtual ownership certificate that runs on blockchain technology.

The outfits bought are called skins. They customise appearance. In the next version of internet, called metaverse, such shopping will receive a tremendous boost. Avatars will be as common as DPs are today.

Screen Size for Advertising

Shabbir Chunawalla

In the 1970s, the primary media for advertising were print, radio, cinema and outdoor. Cinema ads were seen in Technicolor on a large screen, say of 500 sq. ft., with an effective sound system. It was a time to enjoy the visuals of Old Spice Surfing ad or Karen Lunel’s Waterfall ad for Liril. It was time to exploit the full impact of the big screen, where captive audience was in attendance.

TV appeared later in its rudinentary form — B & W 21-23 inches set. It reached the homes and bedrooms, and became the family medium. It did not have the booming sound of cinema. It cannot project the dramatic shots of waterfall. There could not be panoramic shots, especially on B&W sets. The characters have to communicate with the families on one-to-one basis. Thus ads with good dialogues were shown. We had Lalitaji’s ad for Surf detergent — Surf ki kharidari mein hai samajdari. This was the scenario in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the TV sets became bigger and better. The screen size expanded so as to accommodate panoramic shots. There were ads such as Fevicol bus.

By the 2000’s, there was computerisation everywhere. Laptops were used extensively, and video messages were delivered through them.YouTube videos became popular since 2005. Ads were to be adopted to computer – laptop screen. A laptop is a one-to-one medium, unlike TV which is a family medium. Thus laptop may need subtitling, since in offices the videos are played in law volume. The screen size had shrunk to 13 inches, but the viewer was just two feet away.

By 2015, India became the biggest consumer of video content on the cell phones. A TV ad may not be perfect for a laptop. And a laptop one may not suit a 5-inch cell phone screen. Should brands run one and the same ad across all these screen? Or should they curate for one medium, and let it play on others? Is it necessary to repurpose videos for each individual medium?

Video consumption in India has shifted primarily to cell phones. It means ads will be seen on 5-7 inch screens. The sound will be heard through weak mobile speakers or through headphones. There is going to be a less than one-feet distance at which the mobile phone will be held from the eyes. There will be passive viewing, as the consumer is likely to indulge in other activities while viewing.

Perhaps, it is time to go hyperclose on mobile screens, say ECU. Maybe, there should be the same language subtitling. Panoramic shots of the film era should be kept to the minimum. The whole technique of ad making for the mobile era has to be evolved. What worked in the past may not work now. Colours, characters, music, dialogues and editing — each element must change.

Brands have to think where they would like to optimise – TV, laptop, mobile or cinema.