We know that you are passionate —and for this reason, you are in search of— the technological advances that exist in the world and for that reason today we want to present our top of the best product launches, announcements and innovations in technology that have left us this year.
Some of the technological advances in this ranking were presented at CES 2019 (Las Vegas) – the trade fair preferred by technology lovers – and at IFA 2019 (Berlin). Others are the most representative advances in the opinion of Bill Gates.
1. MEDICAL ASSISTANTS
This year Samsung wants to offer the elderly or those who require medical care a better option with BotCare . Medicine does not rest and these robots are designed to be a kind of assistants or a “mini doctor” that will be available to you and will be able to perform tasks such as measuring heart rate, blood pressure, sleep status, respiration and many others. tasks that can simplify your life.
What is most striking is its ability to determine an accident such as a fall or its autonomy to call for emergency assistance.
2. THE FIRST PORTABLE PH SENSOR FOR THE SKIN
My Skin Track pH is a small and very flexible patch-like sensor that measures the pH level of your skin in as little as 15 minutes by simply collecting a little sweat from your pores. Although for now it is only a prototype, this technology developed by La Roche-Posay, promises to be very important for people who want to maintain the health of their skin.
The device will work through an iPhone application that, after the sweat measurement, will tell you data about the health of your skin, the speed at which you sweat and product tips that you can use to keep it healthy.
3. CLIMBING AND FLYING CARS
Hyundai presented within its proposals the “climbing car” that has the name Elevate . We know this is a bit strange, but it was designed for those who normally take long drives and climb very steep or rocky terrain, where even some “off-road” cars tend to get stuck.
How does it work? Turns out this car was able to turn the wheels into articulated arms, making it easier for them to get up and down the cab or climb the steepest hills. Would you dare to use it?
Similarly, other brands such as Byton, WayRay and business associations such as Audi and Disney, or Hyundai and Bell Aviation also presented their perspectives for what will be the cars of the future . Steering wheel displays, increased use of AR and VR technology, improved fuel economy, and even a glimpse of what flying taxis will look like (courtesy of Nexus) were all featured at CES 2019 and what constitute the most relevant technological advances in the automotive sector.
4. ELECTROCARDIOGRAMS (ECG) ON THE WRIST
The technology of smart watches progress has so much that this year we could see what it would have a monitor on your wrist. Make no mistake about it: it’s not a fitness tracker. It is an electrocardiograph, a medical device that health professionals use to diagnose abnormalities in the heart and its chambers. Also read: Apple Watch 5, the best smartwatch on the market.
The companies currently developing this technology are Silicon Valley startup AliveCor with its Apple Watch compatible band , and healthcare device company Withings. Unlike a watch that monitors heart activity with a single sensor, a device like this will operate on 12 channels (like EKGs) and will be able to detect a heart attack in real time.
5. FOOD MADE IN LABORATORIES TO COUNTERACT CLIMATE CHANGE
We are specifically referring to meat made in laboratories. Meat production is an environmental problem that has many companies in the world in trouble. Due to the enormous amount of carbon dioxide that livestock generates – in addition to the other problems that its consumption presents – many brands have sought solutions that are more friendly to the planet . One of them is Impossible Foods, a company that develops plant-based meat meal substitutes. Although they had already introduced their first Impossible Burger – a product made with soy protein – this year they released an improved version (now gluten-free).
Burger King and its Impossible Whopper popularized the concept, but will this product be enough to counteract the devastating effects that meat production has on the environment? What do you think?
6. CINEMA IN GLASSES
TCL, the well-known Chinese TV manufacturer brand, launched at IFA 2019 a pair of glasses that promise to bring you the experience of a cinema in your eyes.
This concept of a portable screen is not like what Google Glass offers, a display screen that can be used while performing other actions. Rather, what TLC seeks with this prototype is to offer the experience of a television in the eyes. Since they consist of sunglasses, polarized and with UV protection, they are intended only for your personal entertainment, that is, you can not use them while walking or doing housework, but when you want to see your favorite series on Netflix after a long day at work.
7. PERSONALIZED CANCER VACCINES
Current cancer treatments attack both cancer cells and healthy cells. These vaccines will seek that by identifying unique mutations for each tumor, the body’s natural defenses attack the cells responsible for cancer.
Bill Gates said it and the world’s scientists second it: this is one of the most promising technology news of this year since, if it works as it should, it could effectively stop many types of cancer, without the damage to healthy cells that they do cause conventional chemotherapy treatments.
Although this was not a 2019 discovery (this technological advance in the field of medicine has been developing since 2008), this year BioNTech and Genetech are looking to design manufacturing techniques to mass produce these vaccines and make them truly affordable.
8. THE SKILL OF ROBOTS
Despite all the fears that the fourth industrial revolution arouses in the minds of workers (due to the idea that machines will replace humans in their jobs), robots are still quite clumsy. They can develop specific tasks precisely, but if a factor changes in the development of their work, they lose control of the situation and do not know how to react. That is why for Bill Gates, the great strides that have been made this year in improving robot dexterity are the most important innovation of 2019.
This year’s featured project is Dactyl, from the San Francisco company OpenAI, who taught himself how to spin a toy block in his fingers. Through reinforced knowledge, this neural network software learns to grasp the object through virtual “trial and error” before even making contact with the block.
Doesn’t seem like a great achievement, does it? But it is necessary to bear in mind that the ability to determine the volume and the best way to grasp an object just by looking at it is a net skill of the human mind. This robot – consisting of a robot hand surrounded by an array of lights and cameras – taught himself to hold the block in his fingers without even touching it, just like a person would. This is an unprecedented technological advance in this field.
While it is a long time before machines will replace humans in cargo work, for example, there is no doubt that this is a first glimpse of what robot prowess can achieve.
9. NUCLEAR POWER OF THE NEW WAVE
Although many say that fusion reactors are an impossible dream, the truth is that fusion and fission are getting closer and closer to being a fact as power generators in the world.
In addition to promising to be a safer and cheaper energy alternative, advanced generation IV fission reactors are intended to start supplying the public grid in some countries such as Canada in the coming years (although the promise, somewhat exaggerated, of their developers is by 2020).
10. A ROLL-UP TV, A 219-INCH TV, AND LOTS OF 8K TVS
What is most striking about this product is the ambition with which it was created. This device will be the solution that the electronics company LG offers to those who have problems with lack of space, since the Signature OLED TV R television will be able to solve them.
At first glance it is a common smart TV but after clicking a simple button, its “roll-up” action begins to activate and ready to save! This is an attractive upgrade that many consumers will appreciate as, with the continued growth of displays, space in homes will shrink. So this TV that rolls like a blind may be setting a precedent that possibly other brands will follow.
