Technology is an integral part of how we live our lives in today’s world. We rely on our smart tech to help us prepare for work, plan for weekends, and keep us informed about the world around us. Technology teaches us, entertains us, and even dresses us.
When the iPod first arrived on the market, it became common for users who enjoyed taking it out on a jog to purchase armbands to secure the iPod to their person. This trend of buying clothes that allow us to keep our tech close to us continues. Delivery riders use neck gaiters to secure their earphones while driving, and car drivers sync Bluetooth headsets to their phones.
Thus, it is no surprise that wearable technology is of increasing interest to today’s innovators. For others, the interest factor is how technology can be used to benefit our daily lives.
Crowdsourcing Solutions
Crowdsourcing is not a new concept, but technology has made it easier to take advantage of the collective human consciousness. Nowadays, people crowdsource to find answers to questions, decipher mysteries, find missing people, receive funding, and so much more.
It is an incredible resource that is immediately available at the touch of a button on our smartphones. Applications such as Tik Tok and Instagram instantly connect you to a broad audience. The opportunity for misuse is high, especially when it comes to financial platforms. But the good it brings is worth the effort of keeping these avenues open.
Cost-Effective Energy
There is no question that the question of energy production is of prime importance. Humanity relies heavily on receiving steady electricity to keep our lives running. The pandemic has made it even more clear that the world now runs entirely on electricity-powered technology.
Thus, with the effects of global warming so clear and fossil fuels running out, it becomes increasingly important to find cost-effective and eco-friendly energy sources. Tech firms are at the forefront of this race as they rely on the supply of energy to keep people using the devices they sell. Our dependence on our technology is reliant on their ability to continue being of use to us.
Governments now offer subsidies and tax benefits to citizens who install solar cells in their homes. They offer tax benefits to people who switch to the forms of clean energy they offer. Federal and state benefits are available to companies willing to adopt clean energy sources and begin applying the principles of sustainability to their production process.
Health Monitoring and Functioning
One of the fields that have found the most beneficial uses for technology has been the medical research field. We have come a long way from the days of the iron lung. It may have been bulky and uncomfortable, but it was a form of technology that added years to the lives of people stricken by a terrible disease.
Now, people have access to wearable devices that allow them to retain a great deal of their lifestyle. Some of these devices can even be implanted.
These devices run the gamut from regulating the electric signals to a persons’ heart to monitoring for falls. Even smartwatches and fitness trackers fall under the category of wearable health tech. This is because they can help people keep track of their weight, eating habits, sleeping habits, stress levels and remind them to hydrate.
Expanding the Network
There is so much good that can come from giving people access to technology. Some countries are even making legislation to guarantee the right to Wi-Fi as a human right. This means that people must have the ability to access the Wi-Fi networks of the world. Even if people have physical technology in rural areas, it can be prohibitively expensive to get internet to them. Innovators have found a solution in stratospheric balloons that can carry transmitters into a ‘near space’ height.
Stratospheric balloons may be a more reliable way to get internet to people as they can be relied on to maintain the network even in a natural disaster.
Where your fiber connection can be disrupted by a large enough storm or a bird looking to make a nest, a balloon in the planet’s stratosphere is difficult to interfere with and find.
People are using technology in many interesting ways. Bringing together experts in a particular field with technology experts opens up avenues for solutions that may have never come about organically.
These cooperative task forces have developed ways to use robotics to aid people who have lost limbs to walk again. They have found ways to clean up the oceans. They are using artificial intelligence to reduce traffic congestion in countries that have world-record-breaking levels of traffic jams.
The ceiling on technological innovation is not in sight. The only barrier is the limits of our imagination.