Experiences: Technology Trends

As recently as 25 years ago, the physical reality in which we lived was an analog world that was becoming increasingly global. While globalization is still very much a factor today, our world is now decidedly connected and is becoming increasingly virtual. However, thanks to a combination of enabling technology and the possible impacts of global warming, some aspects of globalization are shifting back to being local. This connectedness—both virtual and local—is contributing to the emerging world of smartware.

As we detailed in “The Smartware Transformation,” smartware is a convergence of emerging technologies and science. Artificial intelligence (AI) is fueling its rise. The technologies that are enabling smartware include the Internet of Things (IoT), mixed-reality environments, and additive fabrication, or 3D printing, as are incredible advances in sciences such as genomics and neuroscience. Some or all of these advances are core to the emergence of incredible new products that are just over the horizon—products such as self-driving vehicles and neighborhood parts manufacturing. In “Smartware, AI, and Magical Products,” we took a look at the current darling of technology and entertainment media: artificial intelligence. We’ll continue that analysis in this installment, as we look at some other core smartware technologies, before covering the key sciences underlying smartware in our next column. Read More

The metaverse, a virtual-reality space in which users can interact, is projected to have a significant impact on the healthcare industry. In today’s marketplace, companies can position digital health solutions for rapid growth because of the emergence of outstanding new technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality. Digital health solutions are transforming the healthcare sector and becoming a fundamental, empowering agent of advancement in the biotechnology field.

The metaverse is integrating cutting-edge technologies such as cloud and edge computing, augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, and artificial intelligence to produce creative solutions. In this article, I’ll describe some of the ways in which the metaverse could change and benefit the healthcare industry. Read More

In the next few years, the adoption of high-resolution displays—with 150 or more pixels per inch—will significantly alter our conception of what the Web and networked applications can potentially be. As the price of high-resolution displays comes down to earth and early adopters make way for mass consumers, beautiful visualizations of data will enrich the digital realm. High-resolution displays will allow us to chart greater depth in financial data on screen, render finer lines in maps and illustrations of technical designs, and show greater detail in photographs. In specialized areas of medicine, where the price tag of these displays is unimportant, this transformation of the online world has already begun. To describe the enhanced online experience high-resolution displays will make possible, I’ll build on a term from the broadcast, cable, and satellite industries—high-definition television (HDTV)—and coin the term high-definition Web (HDWeb). Read More