Top 10 Emerging Technologies in 2018

2018 has only begun and there is no denying the fact that technology will be the hot topic throughout the year. A number of emerging technologies are poised to make an impact on our lives for the rest of the year. Here we discuss technology or a collection of technologies that will have a strong impact on our lives.

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1. Sensing city: Various smart city plans have faced delays and have had issues due to cost but there is a new smart city project in Toronto which is working with Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs with an aim to rebuild the urban neighbourhood around digital technology. It aims to make decisions about design, technology and policy gathered from an extensive network of sensors which measure factors like air quality, human activity and noise level.

2. 3D metal printing: 3D printing technology has been in existence for many years and is used for rapid prototyping and medical device testing. However, not many organizations are actively using 3D printers as a part of business operations. 3D printing is easy to use and is less expensive to manufacture parts and this could change the entire manufacturing industry. Various companies have released 3D metal printers which can reduce the need for manufacturers to maintain huge inventory.

3. Artificial embryos: Embryologists recently grew realistic looking mouse embryos using only stem cells without an egg or sperm needed. Researchers are currently pursuing the next step of making an artificial embryo from human stem cells.

4. Dueling neural networks: AI can identify images after being trained on a database of pictures; however, it still fails to generate original images by itself. There has been a major breakthrough in the technology where two neural networks are taken and pitted against each other to create realistic images and speech. It is one of the most promising advances in AI in the last decade.

5. AI for everybody: Until now artificial intelligence tools were only accessible for major tech companies along with a few startups. However, new machine learning tools based in the cloud are helping more enterprises to tap the emerging technology. Sectors like manufacturing, medicine and energy can be transformed if they are able to implement the technology fully.

6. Babel-fish earbuds: Pixel Buds by Google work with the Pixel smartphones and Google Translate app to produce real-time translation. They show promise of mutually intelligible communication between the languages in real time.

7. Complete online privacy: A new tool called zero-knowledge proof could help true internet privacy become a reality. It was pioneered by digital currency Zcash to give the users power to transact anonymously. It could be an ideal way to use blockchain without sacrificing the privacy of the clients.

8. Zero carbon natural gas: Natural gas is a major source of carbon emission. A company named Net Power is currently testing technology which could make clean energy from natural gas and offer a way to product carbon-free energy from fossil fuel at a low cost.

9. Material’s quantum leap: Researchers at IBM are able to simulate the electronic structure of a small molecule using a seven-qubit quantum computer. It will allow researchers to design effective drugs and materials for generating and distributing energy.

10. Genetic fortune telling: Scientists are now able to use data from genetic studies to create polygenic risk scores and offer predictions about IQ and health by examining the DNA of an individual.