5 Practical Applications of Data Science in The Real World

As humans, we have a general tendency to undermine the potential or value of an entity because it has not affected or influenced us personally. That is why when we say we that we understand somebody else’s pain, we continue to consider ours more intense and painful. Probably that’s how we are all.

Also, we don’t acknowledge something as priceless or revolutionary unless it has benefited us. We feel data science falls into this category as well. On a daily basis, we read a lot of articles and headlines on data science, how it has transformed from being a mere buzzword to revolutionary science and technology, how it’s touching industries and how it is impacting human lives. However, we hardly acknowledge the last aspect of what we have mentioned.

Why?

We don’t have firsthand experience, or we haven’t realised even one of several ways data science is making our life simpler. This article is all about bringing the hidden applications of data science in real life that you probably have failed to see so far.

E-Commerce

If you have subscribed to any online video streaming website, you would know where we’re going with this. Have you ever noticed that whenever you are at nearing a season or series finale, the website automatically throws at you another series that is equally captivating and addictive? Well, that’s because the website knows your tastes and preferences. It recognizes that you are into dystopian series or sitcoms and even your favourite cast and crew. That is why you ‘binge’ on television series.

As a fun fact, Netflix even came up with House of Cards with data science. With the database of its customers it analyzed, it understood that people loved Kevin Spacey, David Fincher and the hit Brit show House of Cards. With data backing guaranteed viewership, it produced its original House of Cards and you know the rest.

The same is the case with ecommerce websites, which know your tastes and purchase history. Using predictive analytics, it can precisely understand what you are most likely to buy and show it to you on its recommendations. It also knows when you abandon a product on your cart and it immediately gives you a coupon code to make an instant purchase. Have you ever been shown deals on baby diapers at frequent intervals? if yes then you have a baby at the age of using diapers. You may or may not searched for diapers but you have searched for something else for that age group.

Online Dating Websites

Online dating websites are superficially to find an ideal spouse or friends. But the technology they have up and running at the backend is incredible. Websites like OkCupid have a sound data science solution in hand to deliver you quality dating experience. To ensure you meet someone really compatible, it shows you questions. As you keep answering questions, it understands you better and uses its algorithms to match you with someone of a similar wavelength. The algorithms are the cupids here if you notice!

Autonomous Cars

Though still in its prototype stages, autonomous cars are as real as they can get. With data at the technology’s fulcrum and sensors and devices being part of a larger ecosystem called the Internet of Things (more posts on this coming up), cars are designed to understand a myriad of factors such as lane changes, incoming traffic, rash drivers from the opposite sides, unexpected pedestrian crossings, bad roads, one-way roads, bad weather conditions, detours and more to make informed driving decisions. Their stepped down version is the connected car technology that is already in the market today.

Search Engines

To give you a quick heads up, there are close to 1,879,988,+++ websites and 4,565,+++ blog posts written as you read. For search engines like Google, Bing and others to index this vastness expanse, they have to be backed by optimum data science and machine learning algorithms. In fact, search engines are some of the most basic and highly profound applications of data science today. Coupled with machine learning and your search history, they can also anticipate and give you precise results of the concern you had in mind.

Gaming

Easily, a field that we take for granted! Gaming today is immersive than ever and studios across the globe are trying to make games as realistic as possible. We are not even talking about motion-sensor gaming because the conventional games you play come with rock-solid build, physics, logic and algorithms.

To make your experience immersive, they allow you to use the in-game environment to make your moves and play how you would in real. Contrary to a linear gameplay technique, games today have alternate endings and free-world scenarios, where your actions can invariably modify the progress and storyline of a game. Games like GTA and Far Cry are terrific examples of this. All these with rapid data processing and machine learning techniques!

So?

Aren’t these everyday experiences like we told? Sometimes, we fail to understand the intricacies technology is bringing in today and just keep consuming the benefits of it.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the science of data and its functioning behind it, can you think of other fields data is minimizing time and incrementing experiences?