Written by Dakota Murphey
When you cast your mind back to 2009 – a time when Barack Obama was US President, the iPhone 3GS was all the rage and the Nintendo Wii had just come out – it’s amazing to think how far technology has come.
In the years that have followed since, technological advances have come about thick and fast. We now live in an age where driverless cars exist, artificial intelligence (AI) has advanced more now than it ever has since its birth in the 60s, and streaming services are all the rage. This highly exciting time for technology may have already defined history, but it doesn’t look like slowing down anytime soon.
With 2020 just around the corner, join us as we take a look at the key technological advances to look forward to over the coming decade.
Source: Flickr
While we may still be a long way away from the robots we typically see in films like Terminator, Star Wars or I, Robot, the world of robotics has made a significant number of strides over recent years.
Those developments don’t look set to slow down as we head into 2020 either, with more and more companies starting to develop highly sophisticated, specialised systems. As 2019 comes to an end, artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be one of the major themes within robotics, with Alexa, Siri and Google Home Assistant all skyrocketing in popularity over recent years.
AI technology will only become more refined as the years go on and soon new, improved AI-based robotic systems will be able to perform functions currently unimaginable with the existing technology. Take Microsure for example – back in 2017, this Dutch robotics company became the first in the world to complete AI-assisted super-microsurgery using robotic hands.
Source: Watches & Crystals
Thanks to the continuous evolution of ‘smart’ devices, the world of fashion looks set to change. While it’s unlikely we’ll all start dressing like people from The Hunger Games any time soon, many leading fashion brands are starting to utilise scientific advances in their creations.
Nano-technology, for example, is being developed to help make textile products more attractive, strong and responsive to consumer choice. Fibre-based Nano generators are also being researched and designed to allow people to generate their own electrical current as they walk around town.
Smartwatches may already be all the rage, with Apple’s recent Series 5 release labelled as a defining moment in the history of horology, but – over the coming decade – this technology will only improve.
Traditional wrist watches also look set to progress with the technological time as well. Watchmakers will look to alter the materials that watches are traditionally made from, harness the millennial need for ‘retro’ wearables, and adopt new technologies – like GPS, chat-bot platforms and NFC payment methods – in their devices.
Watches aren’t simply for telling the time anymore – they will, and can already, do so much more.
Source: The Toledo Blade
Modern architects are creating structures that not only look incredible but often defy physics as well.
Take the Revolving Tower in Dubai, for example. This yet-to-be-built engineering marvel will feature more than 60 independently rotating floors, giving its inhabitants a constantly shifting view of the world outside. As a result, the independent rotations will also give the building an ever-changing exterior, constantly bending and warping into different, highly complex designs.
That’s not to mention the building’s crème de la crème. The real innovation comes from the wind turbines that will be integrated in between each floor, designed to power the tower using pollution-free energy.
Other projects to look forward to include the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia – set to become the world’s tallest skyscraper – and the eventual completion of Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia, only 137 years after work first started on it.
Source: Wikipedia
Science is an area of constant research and development. Whether it be developing a viable drug to combat a particular disease, looking for life on nearby planets, or designing a system aimed at refining human-based processes, scientists are always on the lookout for breakthroughs – discoveries that will not only revolutionise the world we live in, but also enhance it.
Over the coming decade, one such area of excitement looks set to come through the development of bio technology. Many companies across the globe have already started developing various prosthetic prototypes capable of giving amputees the limbs back that they’ve lost.
For example, Scotland-based company Touch Bionics, which is now owned by Icelandic Ossur Hf, has recently created a bionic hand which can be controlled using brain signals. Their ‘Pro Digits’ hand allows people without fingers to have fully functional hands, giving them the ability to handle delicate objects.
Other areas of bio tech research are suggesting that paralysis could be effectively cured soon. In one such study – known as STIMO – a group of Swiss scientists cured chronic paraplegia in three patients, using electrical stimulation via a wireless implant to target a highly specific area of the spinal cord. Further advances like these could truly revolutionise the world as we know it.
Dakota Murphey has a wealth of experience in business management and has previously worked as a business growth consultant for over 10 years. She now enjoys sharing her knowledge through her writing and connecting with other like-minded professionals. Find out what else she's been up to on Twitter: @Dakota_Murphey
