1. SCiO
SCiO is the world’s first affordable molecular sensor. It’s also small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. It sports a tiny spectrometer and allows you to get instant information about the chemical composition of what you scan. It runs partly with a smartphone app with which it communicates.
It’s marketed as a non-intrusive, no-touch optical sensor. This means all you have to do is run SCiO over the material you wish to know about, and its info is sent directly to your smartphone. This might come in handy for a wide range of interests, from calorie counting and health consciousness, to finding out what’s really in the capsules you’ve been taking.
2. The VK200
CTX Technologies has come up with the VK200. It’s a key fob type device that projects a usable virtual keyboard onto any flat surface. It features realistic, real time keyboard sound effects, as well as reading and displaying your keystrokes in real time. It has a 78 key board, as well as a full size QWERTY layout. It enables someone with a tablet, phone, or laptop to have a fullsize keyboard which takes up the room of a standard size key fob.
3. Robotic Exoskeleton
My how times have changed! This one makes me a bit nostalgic, to say the least. It takes me back to the 1950’s idea of futuristic. Contrary to Sci-Fi predictions, robots rose up to help us out, not take over. More and more these days, people are regaining function in otherwise unusable limbs thanks to this one. As the name says, the robotic skeleton goes on the outside, and with the help of complex and some not so complex hydraulic systems, otherwise immobile people are now becoming mobile again.
4. Self-Driving Cars
I’m not just talking cruise control here. Tech giants like Apple, Google, Tesla, and so on have been releasing self-driving automobiles. Even companies like Uber are taking part. Recently making headlines, however, were the accidents these self-driving automobiles are having. While the major accidents seem to be the fault of careless, less robotic drivers, hacking is still a real concern for these specialized, self-driving rides. With Tesla being the most notable, the price tags associated with just the self-driving function installed on standard automobiles is, to say the least, staggering.
5. The 400 Year Battery
Stumbled upon by accident nearly a month ago, A UCI student created a rechargeable battery that has the possibilities to last well into 400 years. The student found that standard wires in batteries for our mobile devices become worn thin after a short amount of use, resulting in consumers having to replace batteries, and in some cases, the whole device. Well, simply by switching the standard wires for more conductive, less fragile wires, and coating them in a conductive polymer-like substance, one student found she was able to make these wires, resulting in the battery lasting over 20 times longer than standard batteries.
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