Like a giant puzzle never ending and growing every second. Big data is composed of vast amounts of information from everywhere: the internet, smartphones, computer–it can be anything at all!
From whatever you were browsing on the web that afternoon to that video you clicked on; down even to statistics collected from satellites in space. Big data is so huge that your average PC just can’t handle it: you need special tools and a certain type of technology to comprehend what this awe-inspiring mass constitutes.
One example of how big data works is to be found in the energy that streaming services like Netflix and Spotify have put into genuinely predicting what you will want next. What millions of people watch, when they stop or rewind (swipe), and what they search for is all data which they collect. By examining this huge pile of information, they can recommend shows or music which match your tastes much more closely, in other words personalizing your experience.
Big data also plays an important part in sports. Coaches and teams use data that is gathered from things like sensors and cameras to analyse how well athletes are doing. Everything from the force of a baseball pitch to patterns in a footballer’s running can be studied. This information feed-back cycle helps improve training, set strategies, and perhaps even over time decide which players to use in the next match.
In medicine, big data saves people’s lives. Doctors and researchers gather information about patients themselves from their health monitors heart rates, blood pressure etc.; They also gather information from every corner of the planet on different illnesses and how they are treated. Making use of this data, they recognise patterns and developing trends, leading to better diagnosis & treatment plans and even predictions of outbreaks before they happen.
Big data isn’t only for people in work or businesses–it has an effect on our lives too. For example, when you use a map app on your mobile phone to work out the quickest way home to your friend’s place, big data is hard at work. The app analyses statistics from thousands of other users to detect where traffic is heavy & if there’s building which may slow things down for you, thereby helping you reach your goal sooner.
Big data is all around us, shaping both visible and invisible parts of the world we inhabit. It enables people to make the apps they use most discerning, helps keep us vital and even makes sport exciting. As we produce still more data, the technology supporting big data will become increasingly important–finding new answers to difficulties, making life more convenient for us and even entertainment.
It is an enormous subject full of interest; where we are already aware of developments today but which will no doubt continue into its brighter future as we progress farther into our digital age.