27/04/2013 Click

Her the wait is over. This week, Click takes a ride around a smarter

city, where queues I giving way to big data. We will also breathe

heavily over the uplifting technology that keeps England's

finest on the ball. Or of that, plus the latest tech

news and a music tutorial that makes playing guitar as easy as E,

A, D, G, B. Welcome to Click. These days, more

and more ordinary objects are going online. They're giving of

information about where they are and what they are doing. The grand

vision is that one day all of this data will be gathered and processed

and used to make our lives easier and to help make systems and whole

cities run smoother and smarter. Cities generate an enormous amount

of data every day. In London, 8 million residents can already find

out where and when trains, buses and planes will arrive. The

information is all there, available through a multitude of applications

and websites. It is not only the transport network that broadcasts

its status. We do as well. If you own a smartphone, for example,

chances are your location is being collected and used into live

traffic information on Google Maps. Parking spaces are also getting

smarter. In this exclusive part of town, an exclusive trial is helping

dapper clientele find a well- fitting spot. These sensors in

parking bays report back their availability every few seconds,

allowing visitors to find vacant spaces. But it is not just about

packing right now. These graphs should give an insight into the

likelihood of finding a space at any time of the day you choose.

Over time, this collected data can help the council make better

parking arrangements. What we have been able to establish is that we

probably do not have the packing right. We might have too many Bays

of certain kinds. Perhaps we can use this to reconfigure the street

and provide more spaces for people that need them at the right hands

of the day. Smart packing, smart buses, smart trains, smart cars.

But what is not so smart is the fact that all of these projects a

separate ventures and do not talk to each other. That means in London,

at least, the data generated by all these applications is the only

thing guaranteed to flow freely. For a city to get smarter, you need

to draw them altogether. That is why we have come here, to Dublin.

Like many cities, it already has a traffic cameras, sensors on the

tarmac to protect traffic flow, buses reporting their positions

back to base. But crucially, this city has volunteered itself to be a

test bed, to see what happens when you gather all that information

together and see whether it can be used to predict the future.

At IBM's Dublin Research Centre, a new traffic management system is

analysing the City's circulation, trying to spot patterns in the ebb

and flow of the traffic. Incidents, accidents, closures and weather can

all have effects beyond their immediate surroundings. And what

happens in the cards to a particular combination of events,

the system should help officials for predict how a problem might

affect the City's nervous system. It will not just rely on Dublin's

official eyes and ears. It will also mash up social networking and

other information streams. It will assimilate all of this data into a

big picture, meaning potential problems can be spotted and

resolved before they even become problems. Taking that data and

breaking it down and building on it and finding the relationship

between weather and how people drive, what is the relationship

between temperature and humidity? What is the relationship between

the time of day? We need enough data to build models that can help

us to predict and optimise. That is part of the research, to say that

we need effective volumes of data and effective algorithms so that we

can do predictions that we have not seen the data for. The optimal goal

is to use the City's existing infrastructure more intelligently

rather than dismantling it. If a train is delayed, for example, the

boss should know that it needs to wait so it does not travel and tea

and leave the next one overcrowded. -- entity. This application, still

in the early days of development, uses sophisticated production

algorithms to minimise journey times and, just as importantly,

waiting times. It will know about any congestion and use historical

data to tell you how that might affect your on returning and make a

reliable assessment of your arrival time. -- estimate. It can guess

whether there will be a space to dock your bikes at any time of day.

Increasingly it will be a more personal kind of system. Your boss

is there in five minutes, off you go. You're on the bus and they will

say that there is an accident overhead and you're better off

getting off. All through the journey you're being provided with

information and providing information back. Maybe when you

say that this is a slow bus or a good route. You will get a pain

singer better last bus is ten minutes away. -- been saying Europe.

A smarter city is also a greener city. Tour traffic jams mean fewer

idling vehicles spewing harmful emissions into pedestrian airspace.

Current attempts to reduce pollution have not proved quite as

smart. In Mexico City and Beijing, for example, each car is forbidden

for driving for one day per week depending on the last digit of its

licence plate. That just leads to drivers avoiding the ban by find a

second car with a different licence plate. It is in the developing

world where IBM hopes to make the biggest impact. These are the

movements of the citizens of a city in the Ivory Coast captured by

monitoring mobile phone signals. By observing the flow of the Work Day,

bus routes can be extended to ease the to congestion. By 2050, 9

billion people, 70% of us, will live in cities. The most expansion

is expected in the developing world. By helping to plan and ship the

circulation now, those cities stand more of a chance of breeding more

freely for longer. Next up, a look at this week's tete

news. A student falsely linked to the

Boston Marathon bombings on a social media site has been found

dead by members of his university rowing team in a river near Rhode

Island. It is not clear exactly when he died. He was one of two

people wrong they identified a suspect by users of the website

read it. They had already apologised to his family after the

discussions provoked an online witch hunt. And another news agency

fell foul of a suspected phishing attack this week.

Association press's Twitter account published a bogus post about

explosions at the White House. It caused stock markets to dip

temporarily. The Dow-Jones shaded 150 points. A group calling itself

the Syrian Electronic Army claims to be behind the attack.

If he says too many video games can damage your eyesight? Scientists

have found that a few rounds of cactus can help treat lazy eye with

these specially designed goggles. Each eye is given different bits of

information, forcing them to work together. Professors at McGill

University say that plenty video game worked better than

conventional patching of the could And finally, out of this world or

out of their minds, how about an interplanetary reality showed based

on a man trip to Mars? The Dutch organisation is already scouting

for potential contestants for the one-way seven-month trip. When

colonists arrived, they would live in a specially designed habitat to

protect them from the extreme temperatures and thin atmosphere.

It is not clear whether selling the global television rights would pay

for the trip, which is estimated at Football may not be the first thing

you think about when you think about tech. Except goal line

technology. But what about players and coaches, how do they stay ahead

of the competition? We went to the England team's headquarters to find

out. Nestled in the heart of England

beats the heart of English football. St George's Park has been a decade

in the making and, for the first time, a place all 24 national teams

from seniors through to juniors can call home. With eight pictures, two

hotels and state-of-the-art sports facilities, it has been future-

proofed and provides a modern environment for training. We can

give players and coaches the ability to capture information in

real time and have it available to them at any time in the future.

Whether they are back in their room in the training centre, wherever

they might be, they can access that information, analyse it and looked

to get better. Today it is my turn to get a taste of what the players

experience. I am practising on one of the international side pictures

and I need some improvement before I hit the big-time. But the

professionals don't need in for -- intuition. They have data by the

bucket load to help them and their coaches. The dressing-room

dressing-down used to consist -- consist of a pep-talk and a drink.

Now, it's a touch screen TV connected to a laptop. The coach

can analyse first half play. Information which has been manually

put into tablets from data collectors. They measure things

like successful passes, crosses, set plays and formations. All of

that data is sink with video and strategically placed cameras. Using

software, coaches can jump to any point in time and point out areas

for improvement. For example, underperformers may need to pace

themselves to sustain stamina. These tricks and tools help develop

that -- help develop the win in the second half. That is the theory.

That video and data can be crunched anew afterwards. Players and the

manager can comment and reflect online before they meet their next

opponents. And it's not just players to benefit. The philosophy

is to impact the whole football ecosystem up and down the land.

Whether it is analysing a pay you's performance, whatever data we can

collect that enhances their performance or the coach's

performance, those small differences add up to what we hope

is a significant difference over time. But this place is not just

about improving performance through analysis. It's at training ground,

keeping players at their peak fitness. That is where the Human

Performance Lab comes into play. At first glance it looks like your

average two. But it is pretty special on closer inspection. First,

I can measure my vitals. These skills are so advanced. They

measure your overall fat percentage and break it down. They also give a

disquieting level of detail about your body's composition. Lot of

food for thought. Maybe a little less food needed. Who knew I was

made up of 59% water?! But it is increasingly about athleticism. To

win the game, you need to stay ahead. This pressure plate is

connected to sensors and analyses your balance when you are standing

or walking. The Heat shows exactly how you distribute your weight. --

the heat map. And a slow-motion camera combined with software to

give players sophisticated data analysis when running. Both

machines can identify potential problem areas before they become

real injuries. Reactions are a vital part. This helps monitor and

improve peripheral vision. Great for goal is, where every second

counts. It might sound a bit clinical and indeed this place can

be a bit short on atmosphere. Take this altitude chamber, which gives

you a punishing workout by taking you one Mile High in a matter of

seconds. Aim higher still and you can get a work out which is well

and truly uplifting. Let me introduce you to the anti-gravity

treadmill. Only found in very few elite sporting establishments. Air

is pumped into the chamber, sealing in my lower body to reduce the

effects of gravity by 80%. It feels a little bit like I am running on

air. It puts less pressure on my joints, which is perfect for people

who need to preserve them at all costs, like footballers or even

simply people who were cut -- recovering from injury. A similar

take on this concept is found in the hydration pool. Here, the water

of buoyancy is taking the strain. After all of that intense training,

the real question is, has my play improved? Yes, it seems like there

is still a bit to go. At least you know what the golf

looks like! -- goal.

This week's Webscape starts with a musical theme, specifically for

anybody who wanted to learn a musical instrument. The guitar is a

good one to start with. Kate Russell has something to get you

strumming. One of the many ways the Web has

made many more accessible is interactive music lessons. -- made

the word. We have seen a few over the months but he is a really

simple and effective option if you want something free and simple,

that you can run at your own pace. Instinct. It recognises the notes

played through a microphone or the sound input. This is not a game in

the same way as Guitar Bots. It is not nearly as engaging. That said,

he will not have to pay a monthly subscription. If you don't have a

guitar, you can play along virtually. But there isn't that

much.. You are just 20 indiscreet - - strings as they become active on

the screen. -- much point. Sign up for a weekly lesson delivered by e-

mail. It's a good way to get a gentle and run -- reminder about

your ambitions to become a rock star. If you have not been alone

much or if when you were to were not OK with it, just wait. You will

find it is fine to be alone once you embrace it.

If you are more of a sit back and observe person, check this out.

With a mixture of quotes and video, this collection has been lovingly

compiled by hand and hits the spot if you need a little morale boost.

If you are shy, you can hang out with yourself in mirrors.

creators of the side started the database by scouring the Web for

the most amazing and inspiring content they could find. But you

are encouraged to add your own to the collection so that it can grow

oar mac -- organically. Subscribe for a daily dose of internet

goodness by e-mail or just browse through the archive until your

emotional Cup runs over and do have a renewed sense of purpose.

only way you can put it in the scale of purpose is if you imagine

Manhattan. The whole massive city I am in Portsmouth, Virginia.

are getting more used to experiencing life in bite-sized

pieces of line. Twitter in 140 characters, Vine. But if you want

visuals with more punch, check out this one. Tout is the new platform

that allows you to record all upload new clips to share with the

world. It is like a video for Twitter. As we see cities and Rick

-- reporting becoming more important, this is exactly the kind

of service that will make it easier than ever to get local stories out

to the world really quickly. Especially with the addition of

free iOS and android apps. If you followed out team you would have

seen the touts from the expo floor. 45 seconds. Media professionals can

apply for upgraded accounts that give you 30 and 45 seconds record

options. For everyone else, the limit is still 15 seconds. But it

forces a headline state of mind which I like and is perfect for

building a conversation through the Commons. I loved the background. --

comments. The Sky Is beautiful. You're out this week and creating a

buzz, the perfect way to feel smug about your finances... Or not.

Global Rich List lets you compare your personal wealth with the rest

of humanity, along with some other thought-provoking stats. Last week,

we reported on Twitter's new music service but how is it shaping up?

It recommends music based on the artist's you follow and some

complex algorithms around track shearing. Personally I only follow

one artist. He is pretty awesome. What are my recommendations? How on

earth do you get from Tim Minchin to failed X Factor contestants Jen

would? -- Jedward. It lost credibility for me there. But I

could only listen to a short Preview anyway.

Kate Russell's Webscape. All of those links are up on our website.

While you are there, you will find a load of other techs staff to