10 Weird and Wonderful ways IBM Watson is entering our everyday lives.

Cybersecurity

Eight universities across the US are running a yearlong research study to develop “Watson for Cybersecurity”.

Feeding Watson computer security reports and data, the cloud based system will be able to learn how to identify threats and how best to counter them, with the hopes of developing a truly responsive counter to cybercrime. TechRepublic

Healthcare

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, UK, has partnered with IBM to develop the “cognitive hospital”. CNET

A range of lifestyle apps, such as Welltok’s employee app: CaféWell Concierge, which provides users with tailored healthcare advice. Welltok

Watson is being put to use countering viral outbreaks, such as the Zika Virus. techradar

Pet Care

Watson is the basis for LIfeLearn’s Sofie app, a diagnosis and query tool for veterinarians, allowing them to quickly diagnose and identify treatment for their animal patients. LifeLearn

Fashion

Fashion brand, Marchesa, used Watson based analysis tools to design a “cognitive dress” for the 2016 Met Gala. Using a colour palette and fabric selection based on Watson’s suggestions, they even incorporated cognitive processing into the weaving, as LED lights were threaded through the dress which responded to social media traffic about the dress, all analysed and processed by Watson tech. IBM

Fashion lifestyle apps which customize clothing suggestions purchases based on customers’ needs and preferences, even informing users what clothing might be appropriate for certain occasions. Economic Times

Hotels In the Hilton hotel in Mclean, Virginia, USA, there is a

new member of staff: a robot concierge named Connie. It’s able to answer a variety of questions on hotel services, offer travel advice, and even give tips on local attractions and dining, all thanks to a variety of IBM Watson based platforms. Information Week

Teaching Children

The Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization that underpins kid’s tv show, Sesame Street, has partnered with IBM to develop personalized learning applications for pre-schoolers.

Constructed around a “cognitive tutor” system, the applications will be able to develop the best and most effective means to create interactive learning experiences, based not only on an individual child’s responses, but based on data analysed from thousands of others.

The aim is to develop software that actively monitors a child’s progress and development, and craft teaching tools that are tailored to their specific needs. Forbes

Image courtesy of IBM Espana

Teaching Adults

At Georgia Tech, USA, students were surprised to find that a Teaching Assitant they had been corresponding with all year was actually an Intelligence program based on IBM Watson.

“Jill Watson” updated students on upcoming deadlines, answered queries, and directed them to appropriate resources.

Though this was initially just a test to fool the students, the success of the program has implication that something similar may be introduced soon. The Verge

Politics

Recently debuted at the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon, Watson Elections analyses speech content of the current US presidential candidates for mood and content, and then matches the candidate to the user.

Still in very early stages of development, but the hope is to implement more tools, such as instant fact checking on speeches, or even projections of eventual victors. TechCrunch

Food

IBM has partnered with Kellogg’s Bear Naked subsidiary to create custom granola.

Users select a base ingredient for their granola, and Watson based analysis tools select ingredient suggestions that might go with it best. Engadget

Quiz Shows

In 2011, two of the greatest Jeopardy contestants ever were defeated by IBM Watson technology.

The structure and nuances of Jeopardy style questions (contestants are given the answers and must supply the questions), means that until now then, victory appeared to be beyond computer intelligence systems.

Watson won by a large margin. TechRepublic