Omnie Solutions Blog - Web And Mobile Application Development Company

COVID-19: What Changes To Expect From Airports Now & In The Future

2021-08-18T11:30:00.002-02:00

The aviation business has hugely impacted across the world during the shutdown of traveling and closure of borders as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. As the lockdown restrictions are lifted and the traveling has resumed, there is an important need to deploy new technologies at the Airport so that passengers can travel stress-free without the fear of getting contaminated by this infectious disease.

The good news is: The aviation industry globally has well understood the urgency of adopting new technologies that support contactless travel so that people can enjoy traveling again without any tension or fear. For this reason, the tech revolution began even before the flights were resumed however certain advancements are still undergoing to make the experience rich and safe.

Through this blog, we would like to take you on a short ride to discuss such emerging technologies that you might have already or soon encounter on your next travel.

ü Facial Recognition

In order to reduce the contact between humans and the surface, the boarding and arrival procedures will be conducted through AI powered facial recognition. It will also help in making the boarding process smoother than before. Touchless technology is probably the best way to reduce the transmission of the virus from one person to another. You will use your face to do many things required at the airport without the need to touch anything. Some of the advanced technologies can even scan the face with half-covered. Isn’t it amazing?

ü Digital Boarding Pass

For reducing the interactions between passengers and staff, online check-ins for boarding passes will soon be made compulsory by the airports. We all know social distancing is extremely crucial at this stage. Most of the hassle at the airport can be seen in the check-in line. To skip long queues and to maintain social distancing, check-in online and get your boarding pass to save time and stay protected as well. Later on, you will be able to scan the barcode at the airport security whenever required. This facility is already available at most of the airports.

ü Body Temperature Check

One of the main symptoms of the novel coronavirus is a rise in temperature. For this reason, body temperature check has already become the new normal not just in airports but at every public place be its grocery store, restaurant, or malls to detect abnormal body temperature. However, industry experts say that a thermal camera scanner won’t be feasible to identify the infected individual because the symptoms of coronavirus vary from one person to another. Asymptomatic coronavirus cases are another concern of the same. What do you think?

ü Airport Sanitizing

Hygiene is an important step to reduce the spread of the virus. Therefore, deep cleaning is taking place at the airports so that passengers can travel safely. You may see Robots cleaning the floor at airports, full body disinfection booth, UV-based disinfection facilities for sanitizing baggage, hand sanitizers in the airport premises, and other such technologies to adhere to every health and safety measure that ensure safe travel. Airports are maintaining high standards of hygiene and sanitation to reduce the risk of infection.

ü Mobile Ordering

Mobile ordering has been around for years however its usage has accelerated in the times of coronavirus as it is one of the safest and convenient ways to order because of minimum human contact. For this reason, the restaurants, food & beverage shops, lounges etc. at the airport premises will allow passengers to order via QR codes through which they can access menus and make payment as well. Some of them could also ask you to download restaurant apps that can be helpful for the owners as they can have access to guest data.

ü Smart Airport Apps

Such apps are designed to make our airport experience easier. As the pandemic hit, these apps have now become crucial to use so that travelers can stay informed about departure and arrival information, navigating pathways to their respective flights or food restaurants, lounges, parking availability etc. It will also play a part in ensuring physical distancing and make the airport experience easier as travelers can get any information at their fingertips over the mobile phones.

Final Takeaway

Airports will undergo a massive change and implement innovative solutions in the near future as the primarily focus is the safety of the travelers and the staff members onboard and at the airport premises against this viral pandemic. Passengers can expect an increase of self-services which includes baggage drop, home app check-in, automated boarding gates and more that helps in reducing the contact of passengers and airport staff.

If you have been recently at any airport, we would love to know about your new norm experience!

Post-Pandemic: What Are The Technology Trends That Will Continue After the Coronavirus Era?

2021-01-29T10:30:00.000-03:00

The number of Coronavirus cases continues to rise despite the implementation of public policy measures to combat the spread of COVID-19. Businesses and economies all over the world have been impacted by the challenging situations due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Working from home, e-learning, virtual get together and video conferences has become the new reality.

This viral pandemic has completely changed the way we used to live. Now, we have become more dependent than ever on our advanced technologies to perform our daily tasks. Businesses and industries are leveraging digital tools to keep their operations going. The “Digital Switch” has made it possible to meet the challenges of Novel Coronavirus and will continue to do so. Want to know why?

Let’s dive into the article to understand how digital tools have become the necessity to seek solutions and overcome the obstacles of Coronavirus.

Here we go!

Virtual Conferences:

In the case of COVID-19, social distancing is the key element to stop the transmission of the disease. For this reason, businesses have shifted towards a working from home culture to safeguard the health of their employees and flatten the curve of the deadly virus. It has caused many events, conferences, and meetings to be canceled or postponed.

In such a case, video conferences have emerged to be a great help for many industries across the globe. Through this technology, people can virtually connect with each other eliminating any time or location barrier as well. Zoom meetings have become an essential tool for the business for their regular meeting in a more productive way than what we used to do pre-COVID era. This trend is here for the long run.

Online Learning

During COVID-19 education has shifted to e-learning. Although, it is not a new concept but the closure of schools and colleges across the globe has made it more essential than ever. With this sudden shift towards e-learning, many educational apps have emerged to provide access to education in these difficult times.

Remote education is an effective source of learning. The interactive content available online makes the session more engaging for the learners. The best part is: you can access it as per your availability. With all its advantages, remote learning will continue to remain post-COVID.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality has a significant role, especially during times of lockdown. As we were asked to remain in the home and protect ourselves from getting contaminated by the virus, people moved towards virtual reality or augmented reality to pass time and overcome boredom.

Our summer plans couldn’t be the same due to the challenging situation but with VR/AR at least we are able to explore our dream destinations virtually. From VR games and shopping to businesses using it to hold a meeting, the usage of VR has boosted in the times of Coronavirus.

Contactless Payments

In order to avoid the transmission of the virus through paper and coins, people have switched to a digital mode of payment. Earlier, many e-commerce websites have also stopped using COD as a mode of payment and insisted the customers use a digital payment mode, either in the form of a card or e-wallet to ensure safety.

The Coronavirus has accelerated the growth of digital payments. It is expected to continue because of the tension and fear among the individuals who get infected from the virus. It is easy, convenient, and definitely more secure than cash payments.

Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT has a vital role to fight against this global pandemic. IoT enabled devices like drones have helped a lot during the lockdown period. For example, as illustrated by Forbes, drones were being used in Dharavi to keep an eye on the residents to ensure lockdown regulations or make an announcement as the drone was connected with the cell phone for the Mumbai Police.

IoT devices like a thermometer are great tools for the healthcare system to slow down the spread of the virus. Other devices such as touch-free attendance, hands-free sanitization, supervision of body temperature will continue to help in limiting the number of cases, if executed properly.

Artificial Intelligence

AI technologies are highly beneficial in the battle against Coronavirus. Since the outbreak, India began using the tools and solutions of AI to ease the situation. Tackling the viral disease has been a lot easier through the usage of robots, contact tracing apps, chatbots, facial recognition, etc.

Many technology start-ups are building various artificially intelligent systems to help fight the COVID-19 and find a potential cure as well. AI is a great weapon, not only in this tough time, but also for future purposes as well. In the coming years, we might be able to use it for early detection and prevention of any future pandemics due to the stored data AI can handle.

Final Thoughts

Technology has come to the rescue since the outbreak of COVID-19 to keep the world operating as much as possible during these unprecedented times. At the moment, technological tools and devices have become essential in order to support the world and give opportunities to businesses, the education sector, and various other industries to invest into new markets and products.

Here's How Smart Technologies Are Helping To Combat Global Pandemic

2020-11-17T11:44:00.005-03:00

The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus has totally transformed our lives. From virtual meetups with friends or family to zoom meetings and shopping; it seems that everything going online has become the new normal.

Every country has been trying their best to prevent the spread of this deadly disease and safeguard the health of their citizens. For this reason, the usage of new and smart technologies is paramount. Technology is not only helping to lessen the impact of this infectious disease but also it is teaching us how to effectively handle similar situations in the future.

Through this article, we would guide you to know how technology is helping to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic. Keep reading!

Smartphones

The use of smartphones in our lives has never been more important than during these crucial times. People are reaching out to delivery apps to get groceries and other essentials shipped to their doorstep which minimizes their exposure to the virus. The usage of e-wallet through phones is protecting people from getting contaminated by reducing the transmission with money. Besides that, COVID-19 apps like Arogya Setu helps to educate, warn, and track people in a limited area who are infected via Bluetooth.

Work From Home

Social distancing is the need of the hour. To comply with this, every small and big organization has adopted work from home policies for the safeguarding of their staff. Without the internet, it would have not been possible. Today, we just need an internet connection to work easily and effectively like we used to do at our workplaces. Apps like Zoom, Slack, Team Finder etc. play a key role in attending meetings, sharing screens or files instantly. Plus, working in PJ’s is so comfy and we all love it!

Distance Learning

With the shutdown of schools, parents were stressing about the impact of COVID-19 on their kids’ education. It is essential to keep the kids occupied so that their mental health remains stable. For this reason, e-learning has been very helpful to overcome this difficult challenge. Schools have also recognized this problem and have started providing online classes. Many education portals also came forward to roll out new interesting online lessons that students can take part in and get lessons while sitting at home.

Video Conferencing

Video calls have made it possible to stay connected with our friends or family, no matter how far away we might be. People need to maintain their distance to stop the spread of this disease but fortunately, through video calls, we can remain remotely connected. Many organizations are conducting interviews through video conferencing, people are even organizing weddings/parties, fitness trainers are conducting online classes, virtual doctor visits and so much more has been possible with this amazing technology.

CCTV

It’s hard to track the places that an infected person has been to in a certain period of time. But, with the help of CCTV, it has become easier to detect and track down people that have been in close proximity with a COVID-19 patient. It is a quick way to identify infected individuals and those who also break rules despite being under home quarantine as per the Government instructions.

Robots in Healthcare

As per a news article published in the Hindu, a robot has been deployed in a Kerala hospital to serve food and medicine to patients. Many hospitals in India are using robots to deliver essential supplies to the patients. It is helpful to reduce the risk of getting contaminated for health care workers and the staff of the hospital. Humanoid robots are assisting doctors to fight COVID-19 and helping to keep medical staff safe.

Takeaway

Technology has become a key weapon to effectively fight off this deadly infection. However, to be prepared, survive & succeed whatever comes next, we should adopt new technological solutions and evolve our technology like using smart vehicles, drones, and robots to reduce human contact.

How Virtual Conferences Will Grow Your Business During COVID-19 And Beyond?

2020-10-23T05:47:00.002-02:00

The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, which began in November 2019 has affected every industry and business across the world. With the urgent need to maintain social distancing, businesses have transitioned to a work from home culture. Remote working has become the new normal in which the employees are connected through virtual mediums to continue their operations.

The virtual switch that the businesses took is expected to remain post COVID-19 as well. While this concept is not new, the outbreak of the Coronavirus has realized the importance of adopting this advanced technology to smoothe the work process and help the business to stand strong despite any unfortunate circumstances.

This article will briefly explain how the usage of virtual conferences is beneficial for your business during and after the Coronavirus era.

Let’s get started:

Convenient For the Attendees

Colleagues, partners, and customers can connect in a convenient and effective way through video conferencing. Modern businesses are using this advanced communication tool to collaborate globally regardless of physical location. There are also no restrictions regarding the number of attendees as we used to have for physical events, nor does it involve any cost for people to join, thus going virtual means an increase in the number of attendees. What else could you wish for?

Onboard New Hires

The recruitment process is a tough task, especially during the current circumstances, where keeping yourself socially distanced is the need of the hour. Several people are left without a job or money due to the pandemic. Companies have been cancelling in-person interviews but thanks to video conferencing, businesses have been able to recruit new talent without any fear of getting exposed to the virus. It will be a helpful tool in the future as well as companies can use it to reach out to the candidates living remotely.

They Are More Engaging

Without any doubt, video conferences are more engaging. The graphics, animations and 3D aspects used online is effective at creating a more engaged workforce. Other tools like text exchange, screen sharing, file sharing, remote control, and conferencing recording overcomes the conferences that we used to have pre-COVID era. This allows effective and better decision making as well. Better the engagement, better the business!

Easy To Store

Video conferences can be easily recorded. As a result, those people who could not attend the live session can easily watch it later at any time, from anywhere. In such scenarios, the businesses have an opportunity for generating revenue by imposing a certain fee for those who wish to re-access the virtual meeting or just want to replay it for learning purposes. These companies can also later analyse this performance of the conference through the stored data which can further help in improving engagement.

Rewarding For the Presenter

The presenter works really hard to acquire a deep knowledge of the subject that they are going to discuss in order to conduct a successful video conference. The preparation time consumes a lot of time and energy that definitely should not go in vain. With video conferences, even those people who are on leave can access it easily which made the effort of the presenter more worthwhile.

Final Takeaway

Video conferences are the most important part of the working from home culture when we are forced to cooped inside and avoid meeting people as much as possible. Through the virtual route, companies don’t need to cancel their conferences, events, or meetings anymore as now they can conduct it remotely to increase their growth especially during the times of Corona. Video conferences have successfully eliminated time, cost, and communication barriers that will continue to boom if invested in with proper strategies.

Do share the benefits of Video Conferencing for your association. We would love to hear!

Why Have Voice Assistants Started Supporting Conversations In Hindi Language?

2019-12-19T09:22:00.000-03:00

Image Source: Gnc.com

Hindi, the fourth most spoken language in the world, has recently paved its way into the virtual assistant industry. As the usage of voice assistants has recently started to grow, tech companies are working on different tactics that help them to further expand their reach in India, one of the largest populations in the world.

For today’s discussion, we have compiled some of the main aspects behind voice assistants that support the Hindi language, and much more that you just can’t miss out!

Without further ado, let’s dive straight in.

Among the 1.3 billion people in India, English is still considered as a more predominant language than Hindi. Although English is spoken and understood by many, people usually like to hold their conversation in the Hindi language. Know why?

Why Is The Hindi Language Preferred More Over English?

Hindi is the most widely spoken first language in India over English. Derived from Sanskrit, Hindi is not only the most preferred way to communicate, but also represents India’s culture and tradition.

English speakers are generally people belonging to the elite class, and are educated. The topmost digital assistants like Google and Alexa, a digital assistant of an e-commerce giant Amazon, have recently introduced a new feature that allows the users to speak to their assistants in their native language – Hindi.

The Usage Of Hindi Language In Voice Assistants:

Image Source: Princebaba.com

With a little research, we have come across a few of the main reasons behind the usage of Hindi language among voice assistants.

Let’s have a quick look below:

In order to make Digital assistants more accessible to users and to break the language barrier, the digital voice assistants have adopted the Hindi language in the voice assistants. This allows users to give commands and receive results in Hindi.

It has also been found that although people are normally comfortable with using English as their device language, while communicating they tend to either speak in Hindi or a mix of both Hindi & English, called “Hinglish”

The customers that are using smart assistants generally are from metropolitan cities, and are educated enough to speak in English as well. By supporting the Hindi language, customers from smaller towns and cities are likely to give smart voice assistants a try.

Consumers in India are showing more interest in searching any queries via voice search. Google, being one of the world’s top-most leading companies, has found that as soon as they have released the feature of Hindi voice search, they have found a rise in Indian users. Keeping that in mind, introducing the Hindi language in voice assistants will make a good deal for both companies and their users.

With this new feature of giving commands and receiving responses from the smart voice assistant in the same language, customers will be experiencing a personal touch that was missing until now.

What Is The New Multilingual Support In Digital Voice Assistants?

The war between the voice assistants has been in full swing since Siri was first created.

At the moment, the only digital assistants supporting the Hindi language are Amazon’s Alexa and Google assistant. To make your task easier, we have detailed information on the latest features which both of the digital assistants upholds.

Alexa:

Image Source: Diariodelviajero.com

The e-Commerce and retail giant Amazon have incorporated the Hinglish language in the Alexa, speaking and understanding Hinglish and performing the same function for supporting “Shudh(Pure) Hindi”.

“If you say, Alexa, alarm set karo, in that 'alarm' and 'set' are English words, but 'karo' is a Hindi word. But, if you ask somebody, he will say – haan, wo Hindi main baat kar raha hai (yes, he is speaking in Hindi). That's the way Indians speak in Hindi to a large extent, and that's why Alexa can speak and understand shudh (pure) Hindi. It also supports the Hinglish variant” - Dilip Kumar, Vice President of Alexa, said in a recent press conference held in New Delhi.

Do you know someone who speaks in pure Hindi in this era? Considering this, access to Hinglish in Alexa might come as a complete revolution by the digital assistants in the near future.

Google Assistant:

Image Source: pocket-lint.com

To level up the game of digital voice assistants, Google has launched 8 other local languages which are – Gujarati, Kannada, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu in its Google assistant.

On top of that, users don’t need to change the language from the setting menu as they can start off with their respective spoken language just by speaking “Okay Google, Hindi may Bolo” or “Hey Google, talk to me in Hindi”.

With this latest update, users will be able to access and make use of this amazing feature, helping the company to reach more to their Indian users.

Final Thoughts:

People feel more comfortable speaking in their local language, so adopting the most popular language by the voice assistants will ease voice assistant companies into making their way into Indian households. Moreover, with an end on the language barrier, customers who don’t speak or understand English will feel more comfortable in using the assistants, and the usage of voice assistants shall continue to grow.