Although building a time machine is a bit of a long shot, there are certain gadgets from the future that you could own now. Thanks to forward-thinking technophiles, you can enjoy the royalty of the future right now. From Microsoft to Samsung, many companies are working on futuristic technologies- technologies that are detrimental to shape the future. However, you don’t have to wait till 2050 to have one of these futuristic gadgets. These are already out in the market!
Microsoft HoloLens
Microsoft’s research on Augmented Reality(AR) is highly commendable. In 2019, the company announced that they have taken a big step from AR to Mixed Reality(MR). Nicknamed “Project Baraboo”, HoloLens is a head-mounted display unit. It features a custom-made Holographic Processing Unit(HPU). It is this HPU that processes and integrates the data obtained from the sensors.
In HoloLens there are 4 environment-understanding sensors and an ambient light sensor. Once the HPU obtains the data from these sensors, it carries out various tasks essential for further processing. These tasks include spatial mapping, gesture recognition, and voice & speech recognition. In addition to that, the HoloLens produces holograms. A user can touch, grasp, and move these holograms in ways that feel natural.
Keeback
Keeback is the backpack from the future. This one of a kind backpack is an innovative, simplified and multimedia function. It is more of a sound system juxtapositioned into a backpack. Its aesthetic design includes 1044 lamps display and 10W bass speaker. Despite all of this hardware being installed into the bag, it has an 8L capacity and only weighs 1.9 kg.
When it comes to design, the backpack is made up of 200 parts, making it one of the most complex builds on a backpack. The tech includes a smart GPS system. This system will alert you if your backpack is far from your smartphone. The RGB display at the front can display anything from the song you’re listening to customize messages. To keep your bag active for a prolonged period, Keeback has a battery capacity of 13600 mAh. If the future looks like this, then I can’t wait for it!
Solar Charger
Charging your phone from anywhere without a steady electrical source might sound ambitious. But all it needs is a solar charger! GreenLighting is a company that is currently working on this tech. Their solar charger boasts a 6000mAh Lithium-Ion internal battery that can fully and quickly charge any smartphone. It comes with a rubber suction cup that helps in sticking this charge on a window. The way it works is that it harnesses the solar energy incident on this window. It converts it into electrical energy using its inbuilt 1W solar panel. Simple, yet effective. This shows the future of renewable energy and our reliance on them in future. Needless to say, the future does look bright!
Personal Robot
Robots are soon to take over the world and automate those tedious manual tasks. In addition to that, Personal Robots are slowly becoming a trend. In popular culture, we have seen GERTY, Marvin and many others. But these are not fictional anymore. In CES 2019, there was one specific personal robot that received a lot of praise. Temi’s the personal robot of Robotemi. Robotemi is 3-foot-tall and features a touch screen-face that moves autonomously. It has facial recognition software that allows it to interact with people. Moreover, using this tech, it can follow users around acting as a virtual assistant. It is applicable in various sectors starting from military robotics to elder care. Moreover, a user can control the bot remotely using an app. Critics called it the first intelligent, mobile, personal AI-powered robot. Recently, the company inked a deal with Amazon to integrate Alexa into their robot.
Reusable Smart Notebook
For producing a ton of printing paper, 24 trees need to be cut down. On average, 90 million short tons of paper is consumed per year. That’s millions of trees! To stop this, Reusable Smart Notebooks is essential. Although a stylus and tablet work well as a notebook, people still prefer a standard pen and paper. Smart notebooks pertain to the user’s interest. It allows people to get the feel of a standard pen. When it comes to the tech part, it first turns notes into digital files.
Then it saves it to a cloud. Hence, keeping the notes safe and secure. You can access these later on, and can also edit it. As of now, there are a lot of companies working on this. However, not all offer enough cloud storage for your notes. Hence it is important to refer to the specs before making the purchase.
ZCan Wireless
ZCan Wireless is a productivity mouse that makes scanning easy. Though its design is akin to a wireless mouse, its intent is to scan through your printed text and convert it to a digital, editable document. It is ergonomic as you only need to swipe through the printed document. Its cutting-edge Optical Character Recognition(O.C.R) technology supports 199 languages. In addition to that, this gadget can translate the scanned text.
Moreover, the system can also read the scanned text loud, using the Speech function. However, both these functions require an external application. The translation is achieved using “Google Translate”. Whereas the “Speech” function of iOS is used for articulating the scanned text. Being able to edit the scanned easily through either Word or Excel is why this tool remains one among the productive futuristic gadgets.
Jet Pack
A miniature Jet Pack is something that the future holds. However, it seems as if this concept is already out in the public. Gravity industries, the brainchild of British Entrepreneur, Richard Browning, is behind this tech. This jetpack, named “Daedalus Flight Pack” uses several miniature jet engines to achieve vertical flight. Moreover, this gadget is also capable of hovering and achieving powered jumps. With a little bit of training, one can use this device for a smooth flight. It clearly shows that one need not be Tony Stark to have a hand-held booster! In future, there are plans to miniaturise this booster to make it more accessible and compact.
Samsung G.E.M.S Exoskeleton
Samsung’s G.E.M.S stands for Gait Enhancing and Motivation System. This device started out as an allrounder in walking assistance and resistance. However, this year, Samsung made its flagship exoskeleton a workout device. The ability of this prototype to offer resistance to the body made them rebuild, to offer an immersive workout experience. This device comes with an AR Glass that gives the user a virtual instructor. Wearing the skeleton, the user would feel the resistance, almost as if they are walking underwater. The prototype is still in its infancy. However, Samsung has clearly shown how people workout in future.
Hydrofoil Bike
Hydrofoil bikes weren’t a thing until a New Zealand based company, Manta5 unveiled it on CES. In layman terms, it is a bicycle that sails through water bodies. This is achieved by its unique design that mixes the characteristics of boat, aeroplane and a bicycle! Hence if the bike is submerged in water, the wings beneath it create the required lift to take off the hull from water. In addition to that, this lightweight bike also has inbuilt drive assistance from a 460W motor. The battery system is waterproof and has an IP68 rating. Moreover, the bike is capable of recharging in 5 hours. In the near future, hydrofoil bikes will be the vehicle of the seas!
