Tag: mobile tech

Mobile technology use alters brain patterns

| December 30, 2014

A recent study revealed that using a smartphone creates similar responses as learning a musical instrument.

While learning how to send and receive texts on mobile technology such as a smartphone may not be as challenging to most people as learning to play a musical instrument, a recent study has revealed that these two practices could have quite a bit in common when it comes to the brain patterns that they produce.

Researchers have discovered that using a smartphone can impact the brain in a similar way to learning to play the violin.

The parts of the brain that guide finger movements are stimulated in the same way when using a smartphone with a touchscreen as they are when learning to play a musical instrument. Every part of the body is linked to a processing area within the brain that is known as the somatosensory cortex. That area in the brain is “plastic”, which means that they continue to change and develop throughout our entire lives. Therefore, when a person repeatedly practices playing the violin, the area that controls the fingers grows larger than it does in those who don’t play a musical instrument with their fingers.

Mobile technology use over touchscreens has now shown to produce growth of a similar nature.

Mobile Technology - Violin playingAt the Institute of Neuroinformatics of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, researcher Arko Ghosh examined the impact of daily smartphone use on the plastic areas of the brain. Ghosh stated that “Smartphones offer us an opportunity to understand how normal life shapes the brains of ordinary people.”

Ghosh’s team joined another team from the University of Fribourg. Together, they applied electroencephaolography (EEGs) to measure the brain activity within 37 people. Within that group, 26 people were touchscreen smartphone users. The remaining 9 people used cell phones with physical number keys.

While the jury is still out whether or not mobile technology such as smartphones are actually safe for overall health – with the body of conflicting evidence growing quite regularly – this study has suggested that in at least this one circumstance, the use of the devices with touchscreens can help to stimulate the brain and grow areas in a similar manner that is experienced by violin players. They determined that the growth was greatest in the specific part of the brain that is responsible for the control of the thumbs. The key difference between smartphone use and violin playing was that the growth occurred in the brain regardless of how long the user had been using the device. In the case of violin players, the growth depended on the age at which they began playing.

Mobile technology to play critical role in Samoa cleanup after Cyclone Evan

| December 19, 2014

Farmers and other people across the Pacific Island nation are using smartphones to purchase necessary supplies.

Despite the fact that almost two years have passed since Samoa was devastated by Cyclone Evan, the Pacific Island is still working to recover from the catastrophe, and mobile technology has been playing a vital role in this process.

During the worst of the storm, winds reached up to 105 miles per hour, whipping the sheets of rain.

The waves were 13 feet high and storm surges were driven by the powerfully gusting winds. The World Bank created a post-disaster needs assessment following the storm and it showed that it was the agricultural segment of the country that experienced the greatest devastation. Over 7,000 families on the country’s Upolu island lost their livestock, crops, and farming equipment. The loss of income continues to hurt the communities that were dependent on agriculture. Programs have been set in place to help to recover and many now include the use of e-vouchers and mobile technology.

Mobile technology has provided massive relief in a system that has been piloted by the government in Samoa.

Mobile Technology - Cyclone EvanThe program is based on the use of mobile device technology. Affected families have been provided with e-vouchers that can be used as payments for the replacement of farming supplies. The system works by transferring funds directly to the smartphones of the farmers, which have a special chip enabled within them.

The system then allows those funds to be used for the purchase of over 5,000 specifically pre-approved “white listed” items that are sold from designated vendors. The items that have been authorized to be purchased by the farmers include building materials, as well as equipment for fishing and farming.

This represents the first time that the Pacific region has used this type of technology using mobile devices, and the practicality and cost effectiveness of the effort has been astounding. The risk of fraudulent use of the funds has been considerably reduced by linking the point-of-sale systems to the white listed products. Moreover, as it uses mobile technology, the electronic databases notably lower the need for paperwork. Those same databases also make it possible for improved and more reliable evaluation and monitoring of the program.