Presentation Link: https://vimeo.com/191799862
Jeopardy Link: https://www.jeopardy.rocks/emergingtechg14/play
Research and Script:
- Emerging technologies are new and intuitive means of communicating and manipulating the physical world. These technologies, more often than not, are derived from pre-existing technologies or multiple new technologies in conjunction. For example, the HTC Vive VR headset wouldn’t be able to exist without the high resolution of modern displays for seeing and the advancements of infrared sensing for movement. Not to mention the graphical and computational components required to render a virtual environment. In this way, technologies pave the way for others.
- Emerging Technologies from 1 to 3 years ago impacting us now:
- Self-Driving cars – These are vehicles that have basic auto-pilot functionality, as well as automated brake systems for collision prevention. Though this technology has been sought after and created in several iterations since the 1950’s, it was only introduced on public roads in 2015 when Tesla added it as a feature in a software update. The legality of these vehicles has yet to be ruled upon and they are only allowed to be used on limited-access highways.
- VR – Virtual reality is able to render digital environments that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors. Just like the self-driving car, this idea has been around for quite a while, even finding its way into pop culture before being fully realised. Now that its component parts have been developed enough in other technology, convincing and realistic virtual reality has become feasible. Major developers include Oculus and HTC, with higher end VR, while Google and Samsung have allowed smartphone users to get a taste of the technology with Cardboard and Gear VR headsets.
- Augmented Reality – This includes wearable technologies like Google Glass and the Microsoft Hololens that allow the entire view of the user to become a digital interface. They allow the user to surf the web on the fly, as well as use a variety of applications built specifically for the AR experience. 3D modeling apps are able to create and manipulate shapes and models within the user’s line of sight, giving them depth and seemingly placing them in a real-world environment.
- Technologies that will impact our lives 3-5 years from now:
Technology: Smart Houses / Internet of Things
How it will impact us: Although this idea has been around for decades, it’s named coined by mobile innovator Peter T. Lewis, the options for home customization and integration into the “internet of things” will only become more diversified. Imagine a home in which all appliances and control systems are embedded with the simple ease and connectivity of a smartphone, all controlled by your smartphone or a wall-mounted system. This idea has spread from our phones, to our televisions in Smart TV’s, and continues to insert itself into every facet of the home. This will allow us to regulate our lives with absolute efficiency and comfort (using sensors to collect data about our homes and our appliances) as well as causing us to appreciate the power we wield in our pockets every day.
Technology: Li-Fi
How it will impact us: Li-Fi uses visible light communication (VLC), flickering light on and off to at incredible speeds, to transmit information in binary format. This flickering is so fast that we can’t even perceive it, which means we’ll just see Li-Fi lights as normal wall, desk, or ceiling lights. The difference is that these lights have been tested to transmit up to about 200 Gb/s in the lab, and 1 Gb/s in real-world beta testing iterations. This technology will impact the world by increasing the average internet speed 100 times over, while also making internet services more accessible.
Technology: Flexible Electronics
How it will impact us: Most technologies of today, from TVs to smartphones to computers, are constructed from rigid components, stiff circuit boards, and solid screens. Replacing those features of technology with organic materials and certain polymers, on top of a plastic substrate, may result in technologies that are able bend and flex. This is the basis of flexible electronics, also known as flex circuits. This malleability could be integrated into our smartphones, perhaps allowing them to wrap them around our wrists and wear them as a smart wristband or, at the very least, allow them to be dropped without any damage. Samsung plans to release a flexible phone as early as 2017. Once this technology is widespread, screens will be able to fit the contours of any surface and find a place in any environment. The possibilities for flexible electronics are nearly endless, waiting to be explored.
- Artificial intelligence is the means by which a mechanized or computerized system is able to solve problems and accomplish a set goal. We live in an era where blooming instances of artificial intelligences and found their way into our everyday lives. From personal assistants such as Microsoft’s Cortana and Apple’s Siri, to automated assembly lines, vacuum cleaners, and video game adversaries. The future of artificial intelligence is in the hands of projects like the Human Brain Project, which has sequenced and simulated real rat neurons into a growing and learning brain. Improving exponentially, it is soon expected to surpass the mental capacity of a human brain. The project’s hope is to apply the intelligence of our own neural network to analytics, computation, and robotics.
- Choose one new technology and discuss how this might affect the future of education.
Using power of the “internet of things,” education would be imbedded with the interactivity of a smart device. This emerging technology will allow for advancements such as automatic attendance keeping, wall displays updated from different databases, and virtual interfaces integrated into classroom materials, such as notepads and even tables. Teachers could even use visual or sensory cues sent over a network to direct the class’ attention, as well as send students notifications in and out of class to keep the conversation going. Although expensive, these additions to the classroom will allow for a seamless learning experience from the classroom to home.
Haley Campbell 