If you think that the greatest inventions and innovations have already been made and that those to come will be nothing but gadgets and trivia, you are wrong! A large number of innovations to come, and even some already present, will indeed change your daily life! If for you, the notions of virtual reality, augmented reality, autonomous car, domestic robot or straddling bus seem abstract, this article will help you to see more clearly!
Virtual Reality
You’ve probably already heard of the Oculus Rift or Virtual Reality (VR) helmet, but never really knew what it meant… So what is VR? It’s simply a computer technology that reproduces an environment, real or imaginary, and simulates the physical presence of a space to allow interaction with the user. To be clear, you are totally immersed in a virtual world using a headset.
Oculus was the first to develop this technology with equity financing. The brand, since bought by Facebook, has created a number of prototypes and versions of the famous Oculus rift helmet but finally decided to wait to market it to the general public.
If for the moment virtual reality is aimed at “gamers”, we notice that this technology can be applied to many more sectors than video games! Let’s take real estate for example, no more need to travel to visit a house. Just put on your helmet!
Similarly for the cinema, in the near future probably, we will be watching movies at 360°. This technology can be applied to many fields. And even if it can be a little scary, there will surely be people who will only live in this virtual world, doing all their daily tasks in the world they have created.
Augmented Reality
Often confused with RV, this technology is really different. Augmented reality is a computer technique that allows the superimposition of 2D or 3D models in the real world, in real time. By taking a medium like a smartphone, it is therefore possible with the camera to inlay a tree in your garden or a swimming pool for example, to see what it would look like in reality.
So you can imagine all the possibilities that this technique can provide. Try on glasses without buying them, try on clothes without wearing them, etc… Augmented reality can help in many areas, such as video games, game-based learning, virtual treasure hunts, film and television. But also industries (conception, design, maintenance, assembly, piloting, robotics and telerobotics, implantation, impact study…etc.) or the medical field.
The Autonomous Car
We’ll talk more specifically here about the Google Car. The most advanced prototype at the moment. Manufacturers have been trying for quite some time to make their cars more and more autonomous.
Power steering, driving assistance, sensors everywhere and more recently the “park assist” or in other words “the car that parks itself”. As for google, it’s more interested in the 100% autonomous car: the car that drives by itself! No steering wheel, no pedal, just seats to drive you from point A to point B without a driver.
Of course it makes you dream! These prototypes are already in circulation in several American states, on the only condition that there is a responsible person inside in case of problem. The only worries this innovation meets are consciousness and efficiency.
Indeed, for the car to be totally efficient and accident free, it would need a totally autonomous system with only Google Car without the intervention of Man. And until then who is guilty in case of an accident? The owner of the car? These are questions that will have to be resolved before a real commercialization.
Domestic Robots
Everybody has dreamt about it at least once! A robot that does everything for you and interacts like a human being. A robot that can feel your emotions and adapt to them. This robot, apart from “i-robot” nobody has seen it and yet it exists and it even has a name: Pepper.
This French-Japanese robot manufactured by the company in Japan. It measures 1.20 m, it is considered as the first real domestic robot. Pepper can speak, hear, move, learn, see, analyze your emotions and react accordingly. The robot is already marketed in Japan for the general public and businesses. All this has necessarily a rather consequent cost.
The Straddling bus
Finally, let’s talk about an invention that will drastically reduce traffic jams in big cities: the Straddling Bus. It’s a kind of bus or rather a tram that moves and straddles the road. Hence the name “straddling”. Located at a height of more than 4 meters, it allows vehicles to circulate freely underneath.
This bus will be able to accommodate more than 1200 people and will be perfectly equipped for maximum comfort. It will certainly take time before this project is really completed. And above all to get people used to seeing a tram running over their heads while driving quietly!
All these new technologies are already on the market or will be on the market in the coming years. So science and high technology have not finished shaking up our habits.