TOP 9 FUTURE TECHS THAT EXISTS TODAY
1)BENDABLE SMARTPHONES
What starts as powder and suddenly becomes so powerful it can withstand bullets? Well, with a little bit (OK a lot) of heat and pressure: the latest in transparent armor.
Lighter and even stronger than bulletproof glass, the Air Force has been testing aluminum oxynitride (ALON) in hopes of replacing windows in its aircraft. And judging by the fact that the clear ceramic material can stop a .50-caliber rifle’s bullet travelling 2,700 feet per second — normally powerful enough to slice through a lightly armored vehicle like butter — we’d say that’s a more-than-justified investment.
3)Telepresence
4)Military Exoskeleton
Sci-fi films from “Avatar” to “Elysium” have envisioned the soldier of the future, and from the looks of it, today’s battlefield isn’t too far off.
Several iterations (starting with GE’s Hardiman in 1966) have brought concepts to life with mixed results, but the most advanced to date is arguably the Raytheon Sarcos XOS.
Created by Raytheon’s Steve Jacobsen, the Sarcos XOS grants wearers incredible strength and endurance, in spite of its 150-pound frame. With two variants created — one for logistics and one for combat — the suits have only a little ways to go before their creators meet the 8-hour fuel requirements set by the military and our soldiers receive a helping (and heavy) hand.
5)Color-changing Contact Lenses That Alert Diabetics of
Glucose Levels
What better way to see into the future than through a pair of smart contact lenses that change color according to your glucose level?
This is what health care will soon look like for diabetes patients, as a team of biochemical engineers at the University of Western Ontario have developed a technology that uses nanoparticles that react with the glucose molecules in one’s tears to cause the change in color, should one’s blood sugar be too low.
Diabetic or not, the obvious convenience of not having to draw blood daily is matched only by just how cool you’ll look.
6)Sprayable Energy
Don’t drink coffee? Hate the aftertaste of energy drinks?
Twenty-one-year-old tech fellow Ben Yu and his 33-year-old venture capitalist partner Deven Soni have come up with a solution for that. With a quick spray on the neck or wrist using their own brand of bottled energy, their proprietary caffeine formula is absorbed through the skin and distributed through the body over the course of several hours for a longer buzz than your typical cup of joe.
While the tech is still patent pending, workaholics looking for the $15-a-bottle alternative to Red Bull can expect to see it available as early as October 2013 — whereupon sudden, significant spikes in productivity will finally bring an end to our long, national nightmare of recession. (Maybe.)
7)3D Printing
Already on the market and not without its share of controversy, 3D printing is just beginning to revolutionize our personal lives and impact nearly every corner of scalable manufacturing.
Ranging anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand, the now-affordable consumer product allows users to create virtually any shape from a digital model. From industrial to domestic use, an additive process using successive layers of material is able to create anything from bikes to underwear, toys from kid drawings, “foods,” and yes, even firearms.
With an open source distribution of data free for the taking, look for 3D printing to stick around much longer than the old cartridge-based ink jet collecting dust in your garage.
8)Jetpacks
We know what you’re thinking: Finally.
As the standard to which we’ve measured how far from “the future” we perpetually remain, the jetpack — despite countless iterations over the years with mixed results — is now a reality, andit may hit the market by next year.
Developed by Martin Aircraft, the “jetpack” itself is something of a misnomer — relying on two giant ducted fans for lift. What may keep folks grounded, however, is the potential price tag. At $100,000, the Martin Jetpack can provide flight for one person for up to 30 minutes at a time.
Look on the bright side, though: You’ll finally manage to look cooler than Sean Connery in Thunderball.
9)Next Generation IntelliLink... Available in the All-New Sierra
And for those who prefer a first-class driving experience, GMC’s next generation IntelliLink technology has got your bases covered and then some. Equipped with a color touch-screen operated by natural language voice recognition and Bluetooth-enabled hands-free calling, take all your media libraries from multiple devices with you on the road, and program your favorite albums and top tracks for easy-access. Or, sit back and let Pandora Internet Radio pick your new favorite tunes for you, all while you focus on what’s most important: the road ahead.
1)BENDABLE SMARTPHONES
What starts as powder and suddenly becomes so powerful it can withstand bullets? Well, with a little bit (OK a lot) of heat and pressure: the latest in transparent armor.
Lighter and even stronger than bulletproof glass, the Air Force has been testing aluminum oxynitride (ALON) in hopes of replacing windows in its aircraft. And judging by the fact that the clear ceramic material can stop a .50-caliber rifle’s bullet travelling 2,700 feet per second — normally powerful enough to slice through a lightly armored vehicle like butter — we’d say that’s a more-than-justified investment.
3)Telepresence
4)Military Exoskeleton
Sci-fi films from “Avatar” to “Elysium” have envisioned the soldier of the future, and from the looks of it, today’s battlefield isn’t too far off.
Several iterations (starting with GE’s Hardiman in 1966) have brought concepts to life with mixed results, but the most advanced to date is arguably the Raytheon Sarcos XOS.
Created by Raytheon’s Steve Jacobsen, the Sarcos XOS grants wearers incredible strength and endurance, in spite of its 150-pound frame. With two variants created — one for logistics and one for combat — the suits have only a little ways to go before their creators meet the 8-hour fuel requirements set by the military and our soldiers receive a helping (and heavy) hand.
5)Color-changing Contact Lenses That Alert Diabetics of
Glucose Levels
What better way to see into the future than through a pair of smart contact lenses that change color according to your glucose level?
This is what health care will soon look like for diabetes patients, as a team of biochemical engineers at the University of Western Ontario have developed a technology that uses nanoparticles that react with the glucose molecules in one’s tears to cause the change in color, should one’s blood sugar be too low.
Diabetic or not, the obvious convenience of not having to draw blood daily is matched only by just how cool you’ll look.
6)Sprayable Energy
Don’t drink coffee? Hate the aftertaste of energy drinks?
Twenty-one-year-old tech fellow Ben Yu and his 33-year-old venture capitalist partner Deven Soni have come up with a solution for that. With a quick spray on the neck or wrist using their own brand of bottled energy, their proprietary caffeine formula is absorbed through the skin and distributed through the body over the course of several hours for a longer buzz than your typical cup of joe.
While the tech is still patent pending, workaholics looking for the $15-a-bottle alternative to Red Bull can expect to see it available as early as October 2013 — whereupon sudden, significant spikes in productivity will finally bring an end to our long, national nightmare of recession. (Maybe.)
7)3D Printing
Already on the market and not without its share of controversy, 3D printing is just beginning to revolutionize our personal lives and impact nearly every corner of scalable manufacturing.
Ranging anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand, the now-affordable consumer product allows users to create virtually any shape from a digital model. From industrial to domestic use, an additive process using successive layers of material is able to create anything from bikes to underwear, toys from kid drawings, “foods,” and yes, even firearms.
With an open source distribution of data free for the taking, look for 3D printing to stick around much longer than the old cartridge-based ink jet collecting dust in your garage.
8)Jetpacks
We know what you’re thinking: Finally.
As the standard to which we’ve measured how far from “the future” we perpetually remain, the jetpack — despite countless iterations over the years with mixed results — is now a reality, andit may hit the market by next year.
Developed by Martin Aircraft, the “jetpack” itself is something of a misnomer — relying on two giant ducted fans for lift. What may keep folks grounded, however, is the potential price tag. At $100,000, the Martin Jetpack can provide flight for one person for up to 30 minutes at a time.
Look on the bright side, though: You’ll finally manage to look cooler than Sean Connery in Thunderball.
9)Next Generation IntelliLink... Available in the All-New Sierra
And for those who prefer a first-class driving experience, GMC’s next generation IntelliLink technology has got your bases covered and then some. Equipped with a color touch-screen operated by natural language voice recognition and Bluetooth-enabled hands-free calling, take all your media libraries from multiple devices with you on the road, and program your favorite albums and top tracks for easy-access. Or, sit back and let Pandora Internet Radio pick your new favorite tunes for you, all while you focus on what’s most important: the road ahead.
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