How Tech Innovations Are Changing The Way We Live
There was a time when it was possible to be well-informed about important innovations in the world, but technology is now changing at such a rapid rate that it’s often difficult to keep up with it. When you do learn something new it’s usually by accident. A friend tells you about an experience in a self-driving car. A client asks you why you’re not using cloud computing to improve your business performance. A blog post bursts your bubble about the three-dimensional world by talking about two-dimensional sheets of graphene that are only one carbon atom thick.
photo/ Michael Jarmoluk via pixabay.com
A big part of the story of the evolution of civilization is how something as simple as setting a clear goal can produce a world of wonders. In our current day, smart human beings, motivated by a mix of curiosity and ambition, are proving remarkably successful in creating smart machines that will forever alter the trajectory of world history.
Today, the main conversation regarding innovation is not about technological feasibility of improving a domestic or commercial process, but the societal impacts of the radical innovation and the industrial transformation it will bring in its wake.
Let’s take a closer look at three amazing things that are creating the future now:
- Home Security
We’ve come a long way from deploying drawbridges and moats to stay safe. While our homes may still be our castles, we have devised new ways of protecting the hearth from rude intruders and unexpected misfortunes.
The best protection from security systems doesn’t need to be hardwired into your house because current systems are more affordable and work far better. Take surveillance equipment, for example. It used to be difficult and expensive to install cameras in a home and then monitor the events in the yard or inside the house. Now it’s possible to place discreet video cameras anywhere and use cloud technology to record and store unlimited amounts of video footage.
Moreover, consider the security firm you hire to monitor your home for suspicious behavior in and around your home while you’re away. In addition, you can monitor your own home with your smartphone, adjust the temperature, turn the lights on or off, and lock or unlock doors. In fact, you can even remotely turn the television on or switch it off.
- SMART home technology
The home automation market is expected to reach a market value of about $12 billion in the next three years. A smart house has built-in automation. This means that home devices can be monitored through the Internet. Although we can already do a vast number of things via the Internet, the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) will create a situation when our devices can talk to each other.
Current systems use switches, sensors, and a central hub (referred to as a gateway). This system interfaces with a mobile phone app, a tablet, a laptop, or a wall-mounted terminal. While Internet-based cloud services play a large role, they aren’t always essential for access to Wi-Fi used to remotely monitor and control devices in the home. Here are just a few things that you can remotely control in a smart home: lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, home security,· washers, dryers, ovens, refrigerators, and freezers.
- Self-Driving Cars
Even a mechanical genius like Henry Ford would be astonished by the self-driving car, which has also been called by a variety of other names: the autonomous car, the robotic car, and the driverless car. Essentially, a self-driving car senses its environment and navigates accordingly. The goal of innovative car-makers is to develop a vehicle that will be completely automated, without the need for any human course corrections. Although many models have developed, none are yet completely autonomous and all require a driver to take control when necessary.
Since they are still being tested, no cars are permitted on public roads without a driver at the wheel. Autonomous cars “interpret” their environment through the use of a synthesis of technologies like computer vision, odometry, GPS, laser lights, and radars. These control systems make it possible to coordinate sensory input and detect roads, vehicles, obstacles, and signs.
While optimists believe that technology will make life better for everyone, pessimists fear that machines will take over the world and create mass unemployment as automation takes over jobs that machines can do better. However, the future is open, and the ingenuity that ushered in these changes will also allow us to use technology to improve human life rather than become enslaved by machines animated by artificial intelligence (AI).
Author: Jimmy Simond
