We have seen great leaps
in digital technology in past the past five years. Smartphones, cloud computing, multi-touch tablets, these are all
innovations that revolutionized the way we live and work. However, believe it
or not, we are just getting started. Technology will get even better. In the
future, we could live like how people in science fiction movies
did.
Today’s post is about 10 upcoming, real-life products that is set to
revolutionize the world as we know it. Get ready
to control the desktop and
slice Ninja fruits with your eyes. Get ready to print your own creative
physical product. Get ready to dive into the virtual world, and interact with
them. Come unfold the future with us.
(Image Source: YouTube)
Augmented Reality has already gotten into our life in the forms of simulated experiment and education app, but Google is taking it several steps higher with Google Glass. Theoretically, with Google Glass, you are able to view social media feeds, text, Google Maps, as well as navigate with GPS and take photos. You will also get the latest updates while you are on the ground.
It’s truly what we called
vision, and it’s absolutely possible given the fact that the Google’s
co-founder, Sergey Brin has demo’ed the glass with
skydivers and creatives. Currently the device is only available to some
developers with the price tag of $1500, but expect other tech companies trying
it out and building an affordable consumer version.
2. Form
1
Just as the term
suggests, 3D printing is the
technology that could forge your digital design into a solid real-life product.
It’s nothing new for the advanced mechanical industry, but a personal 3D
printer is definitely a revolutionary idea.
Everybody can create
their own physical product based on their custom design, and no approval needed
from any giant manufacturer! Even the James Bond’s Aston Martin which was
crashed in the movie was a 3D printed product!
Form 1 is one such personal 3D printer which can be yours at just
$2799. It may sound like a high price but to have the luxury of getting
producing your own prototypes, that’s a reaonable price.
Imagine
a future where every individual professional has the capability to mass produce
their own creative physical products without limitation. This is the future
where personal productivity and creativity are maximized.
3.
Oculus Rift
Virtual Reality gaming is
here in the form of Oculus Rift. This
history-defining 3D headset lets you mentally feel that you are actually inside
a video game. In
the Rift’s virtual world, you could turn your head around with ultra-low
latency to view the world in high resolution display.
There
are premium products in the market that can do the same, but Rift wants you to
enjoy the experience at only $300, and the package even comes as a development
kit. This is the beginning of the revolution for next-generation gaming.
The timing is perfect as
the world is currently bombarded with the virtual reality topic that could also
be attributed to Sword Art Online, the anime series featuring the characters playing games in an entirely
virtual world. While we’re getting there, it could take a few more years to
reach that level of realism. Oculus Rift is our first step.
4. Leap
Motion
Multi-touch desktop is a
(miserably) failed product due to the fact that hands could get very tired with
prolonged use, but Leap
Motion wants
to challenge this dark area again with a more advanced idea. It lets you
control the desktop with fingers, but without touching the screen.
It’s not your typical
motion sensor, as Leap Motion allows you to scroll the web page, zoom in the
map and photos, sign documentss and even play a first person shooter game with
only hand and finger movements. The smooth reaction is the most crucial key
point here. More importantly, you can own this future with just $70, a price of
a premium PS3 game title!
If this
device could completely work with Oculus Rift to simulate a real-time gaming
experience, gaming is going to get a major make-over.
5. Eye
Tribe
Eye tracking has been
actively discussed by technology enthusiasts throughout these years, but it’s
really challenging to implement. But Eye
Tribe actually
did this. They successfully created the technology to allow you to control your
tablet, play flight simulator, and even slice fruits in Fruit Ninja only with
your eye movements.
It’s
basically taking the common eye-tracking technology and combining it with a
front-facing camera plus some serious computer-vision algorithm, and voila,
fruit slicing done with the eyes! A live demo was done in LeWeb this year and
we may actually be able to see it in in action in mobile devices in 2013.
Currently
the company is still seeking partnership to bring this sci-fi tech into the
consumer market but you and I know that this product is simply too awesome to
fail.
6.
SmartThings
The current problem that
most devices have is that they function as a standalone being, and it require
effort for tech competitors to actually partner with each other and build
products that can truly connect with each other. SmartThings is here to make your every device, digital or non-digital,
connect together and benefit you.
With
SmartThings you can get your smoke alarms, humidity, pressure and vibration
sensors to detect changes in your house and alert you through your smartphone!
Imagine the possibilities with this.
You could
track who’s been inside your house, turn on the lights while you’re entering a
room, shut windows and doors when you leave the house, all with the help of
something that only costs $500! Feel like a tech lord in your castle with this
marvel.
7.
Firefox OS
iOS and Android are great, but they each have their own rules and policies that
certainly inhibit the creative efforts of developers. Mozilla has since decided
to build a new mobile operating system from scratch, one that will focus on
true openness, freedom and user choice. It’s Firefox OS.
Firefox OS is built on
Gonk, Gecko and Gaia software layers – for the rest of us, it means it is built
on open source, and it carries web technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3.
Developers can create and
debut web apps without the blockade of requirements set by app stores, and
users could even customize the OS based on their needs. Currently the OS has made its debut on Android-compatible phones, and
the impression so far, is great.
You can
use the OS to do essential tasks you do on iOS or Android: calling friends,
browsing web, taking photos, playing games, they are all possible on Firefox
OS, set to rock the smartphone market.
8.
Project Fiona
Meet the first generation
of the gaming tablet. Razer’s Project Fiona is a
serious gaming tablet built for hardcore gaming. Once it’s out, it will be the
frontier for the future tablets, as tech companies might want to build their
own tablets, dedicated towards gaming, but for now Fiona is the only possible
one that will debut in 2013.
This beast features next
generation Intel® Core i7 processor geared to render all your favorite PC
games, all at the palm of your hands. Crowned as the best gaming accessories manufacturer, Razer clearly knows how to build user experience
straight into the tablet, and that means 3-axis gyro, magnetometer,
accelerometer and full-screen user interface supporting multi-touch. My body
and soul are ready.
9.
Parallella
Parallella is going to change the way that computers are made, and Adapteva offers
you chance to join in on this revolution. Simply put, it’s a supercomputer for
everyone. Basically, an energy-efficient computer built for processing complex
software simultaneously and effectively. Real-time object tracking, holographic
heads-up display, speech recognition will become even stronger and smarter with Parallella.
The
project has been successfully funded so far, with an estimated delivery date of
February 2013. For a mini supercomputer, the price seems really promising since
it’s magically $99! It’s not recommended for the non-programmer and non-Linux
user, but the kit is loaded with development software to create your personal
projects.
I never thought the future of computing could be kick-started with just $99, which is made possible
using crowdfunding platforms.
10.
Google Driverless Car
I could still remember
the day I watch the iRobot as a teen, and being skeptical about my brother’s
statement that one day, the driverless car will become reality. And it’s now a
reality, made possible by… a search engine company, Google.
While the data source is
still a secret recipe, the Google driverless car is
powered by artificial intelligence that utilizes the input from the video
cameras inside the car, a sensor on the vehicle’s top, and some radar and
position sensors attached to different positions of the car. Sounds like a lot
of effort to mimic the human intelligence in a car, but so far the system has
successfully driven 1609 kilometres without human commands!
“You
can count on one hand the number of years it will take before ordinary people
can experience this.” Google co-founder, Sergey Brin said. However, innovation
is an achievement, consumerization is the headache, as Google currently face
the challenge to forge the system into an affordable gem that every worker with
an average salary could benefit from.
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