2015 was a great year when it came to technological innovations that could potentially change the way we live. Since the ‘top five tech innovations’ category was a very diversified one, we listed what we believed were to be the most popular entities in terms of innovation. Here they are.
Project Loon – Internet Coverage via Hot Air Balloons
Google’s idea of bringing free wireless internet access to various underdeveloped regions is very much possible thanks to Project Loon. But what exactly is Project Loon? The venture comprises up of hundreds of large air balloons suspended in mid-air through helium.
At this moment, a couple of dozen float over the Southern Hemisphere at an altitude of around 20 kilometers, and each balloon supports an array of solar-powered electronics. These electronics make a radio link to a telecommunications network on the ground and deliver high-speed Internet coverage to smartphones and other devices.
According to Google, these balloons will be able to deliver economic and social benefits since access to internet will bring about a wide range of learning opportunities for those living in impoverished areas, or those who cannot afford to pay for their own internet connection. In this way, lots of people will have access to limitless amounts of information, thus educating themselves in the process as well.
Flexible OLED Displays from LG For Next-Generation Gadgets and Consumer Electronics
LG first showcased its flexible OLED displays at CES 2015 and what they do is that they are able to project an image and at the same time, bend flexibly. This is possible thanks a bendable polyimide film, which has its obvious advantages over hard plastic and the screen size of this display was 18 inches. Another added advantage was that it can roll into a single tube and be stored for later use.
This will make it extremely portable for users who want to carry their large screen entertainment equipment and best of all, it will not even take up a lot of space. This is the technology that makes possible curved TVs and even wearables that may end up consuming less battery. LG expects to start mass production of 60-inch flexible OLED displays by 2017.
Driverless Cars from Google, Tesla and Others
Google and Tesla have been working on driverless cars for quite a while now and we have to say that in the foreseeable future, we will no longer have to rely upon our own two hands and feet to drive the vehicle because the autonomous, sophisticated and adaptable software is going to do that for us. We did speak about the possibility of Driverless Cars entering the geographical region of Pakistan, but in order for that to take place, consumers will have to embrace this technology, along with the severe improvement of transportation infrastructure as well as abiding traffic laws to the letter. Let us hope that our roads and traffic laws have significantly improved till then.
VR Gaming Becomes A Serious Prospect Thanks to Sony, Oculus and HTC
What is more immersive in gaming than experiencing visual fidelity in next generation gaming titles? Why its you being present inside a game of course! That is what Virtual Reality gaming, or VR gaming is all about. Through the use of your head and body motion, products like Oculus VR, HTC Vive and Sony’s Project Morpheus will allow you to place yourself in the game, and interact with in-game worlds and objects.
This time the demos from Sony and Oculus Rift are going for something more than just a gimmick. Right now it’s looking that VR headsets will take a hefty investment to own. But in time, we expect VR gaming to be an activity that is within the reach of the mainstream audience.
Project Ara – Build Your Own Smartphone Via Modular Components
If you can upgrade your computer hardware by replacing components, then why the same principle cannot be applied to mobile hardware? Of course it can; thanks to Project Ara, it is definitely possible to upgrade or switch your smartphone component for a better performing one instead of spending a huge amount of money on an entire new smartphone altogether.
The only problem is that this venture is much more complicated than what is actually being let on. It will definitely take a fair amount of work before the very first modular smartphones of Project Ara are sold at a mass scale (because mobile hardware works quite differently as opposed to computer hardware), but when they do, you will definitely be saving a ton of money when it comes to upgrading your handset.
These were our top five tech innovations of 2015. Do you believe that there was an innovation that belongs in our list? If so, then let us know in the comments below and why it deserves a place.
Great list there. You didn’t mention about Virtual Assistants (Cortana) and also the hololens by Microsoft.
Cortana is yet to be adopted by so many users and Microsoft’s HoloLens costs $3,000 just for the development kit, meaning that it will be much more expensive when the first retail units are released. For a country that will always be used to purchasing the inexpensive products, I only see HoloLens being adopted by very minute percentage of the Pakistan gaming community, particularly those who will be able to afford it.
But you see Google’s driverless cars being adopted on a wide scale in Pakistan? Moreover, how long has that project been in development without any significant progress? Same for Ara which keeps getting delayed year after year with still no official launch date in sight. And the only time we heard about project loon was during its start. Other companies like Microsoft and Facebook are already implementing their solutions to connect the world, but just like everything from Google, Project loon is a vaporware and will probably be shelved pretty soon like Google Glass. You included three things from Google, which IMO was the least innovating company this year, and not a single one from Microsoft. Fanboy much?
meh… need to be realised first on a wide scale !