We’ve had glimpses of the future through Sci-Fi movies for a few decades now. From Matrix’s anti-gravity ships to Marty’s self-tying laces from Back to The Future, we’re often longing for such technology inventions to make a debut.
If Light-Sabers and Warp Drives is what’s keeping you up at night, then you probably have many sleepless nights ahead of you. Because these latest technological inventions won’t make the front page anytime soon. But look at other aspects of the latest technology where enthralling breakthroughs are happening as we speak. You’ll realize the future is here already!
Modern inventions like Space Crawlers and prototypes like Jet Suits have already narrowed the gaps between games and reality. But it is the technological innovations in the fields of Medicine, Rehabilitation, Energy, Entertainment, and Data that impact our daily lives the most.
From such overwhelming technology, I’ve gathered the 10 best tech inventions of the 21st century that will change the way we live!
1. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is among the modern technology inventions that have been under repetitive assaults by conspiracies. Will it become autonomous enough to wipe out the entire human race? Or, will it start controlling human behavior?
While there is a chance that either of these makes it to reality in time, it is not enough to abandon reason for madness. AI is playing a remarkable role in Medicare, Security, and entertainment. From your growing social media feed to virtual assistants and home automation devices, we’re surrounded by AI wherever we go.
AI has been around since the Dartmouth Conference in 1956. But its prodigious development from solving basic algebra problems to operating a Space Crawler on Mars is nothing short of a miracle! But since you don’t launch satellites and crawlers out into space on your day off, let’s look into an AI program that can improve your everyday life.
Though the idea of having a Virtual Assistant seems cliché from the future’s perspective, it really does take many chores off your shoulder. VAs allow you to schedule meetings, make reservations, and even automate your entire house.
2. Augmented Reality
The hype for 3D theme parks and cinemas suffered a retrogressive decline as AR devices debuted in the mainstream markets. Though its earliest models from the 90s have a segregating distinction from the latest ones, they still set the benchmark for technology inventions that will impact advancements in the future.
You probably know AR from the neon stalls at the supermarket or games like Minecraft Bedrock and Pokémon GO. But that’s only the entertainment side of modern invention. Augmented Reality is reshaping the health sector by allowing for the practice of delicate surgeries.
Moreover, its AR has improved the scope of military utility as well. The notorious F-35 fighter jet uses AR to get a 360 view around the aircraft, eliminating any blind spots. Also, its role in surveillance and emulations is equally commendable as it saves millions of dollars for training new recruits.
Even the automobile industry has taken up to use the latest technology invention for its good. Big names like Porche and Harley Davidson are now giving their customers exclusive shopping experiences of their cars and bikes.
But to point an area out that you so often make use of and yet ignore, I introduce you to virtual tours. What got so common during the times of Covid, you can now have virtual experiences of a property, historical site, or any point of attraction around the world!
3. 3-D Printing
3D printing is another one of the modern technology inventions that keeps on proving the critics wrong. What saw much controversy on its capabilities in its initial days is now printing houses, helping the aerospace industry, and what not!
We’ve all wished as kids to grab a snack from the TV screen one day. And here we have it. It is that day! New startups are introducing the idea of printing meat and other foods. As surreal it sounds, it could be the answer to animal cruelty in farms and food production in general. Though it may not taste as good just yet, there’s no reason not to be optimistic for that to change soon as well.
Another facet of the recent Covid crisis unearthed about this modern technology invention is its contribution to healthcare. Many startups and renowned countries 3D printed personal protective equipment to meet the soaring demands of the public.
All in all, exotic and fine-crafted jewelry is also a byproduct of such 3D printing machines. 3D printing is undoubtedly among the best technology inventions to date. And that too with an incredible potential to grow even more in the near future.
4. Space Tourism
We’ve all seen Star Wars, and we’ve all loved it! And that’s why it’s music to our ears, knowing Space Tourism has already begun. It’s not a far-fetched futuristic idea but one of the greatest technology innovations taking shape.
In the early 2000s, Russia announced the world’s first Space Tourism program and sent seven paying customers to outer space. Since Russia shut down its Space Tourism activities in 2010, we see many private companies stepping up at the podium.
One of the many names you’ve been waiting to hear on this list is Elon Musk’s SpaceX. But don’t knock your socks off if I tell you many others, and even better companies are out there chasing the same goal. Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are unquenchably pursuing space tourism as well.
But that’s enough about where we stand today in our reach of outer space traveling. What’s more important is how it opens uncountable possibilities for the future. You can’t be anything short of a millionaire to get aboard one of these tourist ships now. But we hope and foresee a future where it is accessible to a commoner as well.
5. Technology Inventions of Robotics
Robotics is actually one of the many ancient inventions that underwent glorious modernization. If you think of the old Persian Wheel system to water the crops, you’ll see that those mechanics play a remarkable resemblance to Robotics.
But what we’re really here to talk about is where the field of Robotics is today. You’ll find Robotics to be a part of most technological inventions today. Think of the machine arm working at car manufacturing factories. Or, think of the Mars Crawler collecting data a planet away.
The advancements of Robotics in Military, Medical, and Recreational uses make it a contender for the best technology invention of all times. Automated MRI machines, Biopsy capsules and tubes, and bomb disposal robots are just to name a few.
Coming over to the daily life where robots surround us, let’s see where we may benefit from them there. Start with an automatic vacuum cleaner. It sure is expensive than the regular one, but it keeps your house vacuumed and mopped at all times.
Moreover, you can see the spirit of Real Steel revived in the Metal-on-Metal robot wars as well. We may not be all the way there in Robotics as advertised in the movies. But we sure are a decent way ahead in integrating our life with robots!
6. Energy Storage
With greater power comes greater responsibility! The growing sophistication of gadgets and electronic devices beg for only one thing, and that’s power. Even though we have some notorious ways of generating power, we don’t equal it with energy storage.
However, only until Tesla’s Elon Musk had not taken the technology innovation of an electric car battery upon himself. The tightly packed lithium-ion batteries that deliver impressive results for charge/discharge plays a greater role than improving the car’s center of gravity.
These batteries are made up of thousands of cells of film width and are tightly packed together. But how do you take out tech from a car and apply it to houses, towns, and cities?
Storage of the humungous power required by cities is one of the most common stumbling blocks. But since Tesla broke the ice by introducing an innovative technology invention, it is safe to place your hopes high in the year to come.
Such power storage capacities and options hold the potential to improve the power problem in many countries. And in return, it contributes to the economy, GDP, and the everyday lives of its citizens!
7. Technology Inventions of Prosthetic Limbs
Prosthetic or robotic limbs are not an entry because of a necessity for medicine and rehabilitation. But because they’re such an important technology invention that just can’t be left out. So, let me give you a little context to clear this out!
Remember Cyborg from Teen Titans? That guy was pretty much all prosthetic except for his brain. Now, that was fiction to us a few years ago. In 2018, scientists and researchers from the Johns Hopkins university implanted the first prosthetic limb to a Florida man.
It’s not a screaming cyborg, but it is definitely a promise to thousands of people who’ve lost limbs to war or disease. Unlike the older technology inventions, prosthetic limbs do not alter or connect to the brain directly in any way.
Instead, it is entailed and connected to the broken nerve endings that can still pulse a signal. Once the time-taking and delicate chore of binding the nerve endings to receptors are out of the way, a person can freely make the prosthetic arm or leg function.
Evidence shows favorable reactions and precision for the function of the arm. However, it is still a prototype and not available for mass production anytime soon. But when it finally makes it to the big market, it will be nothing short of a revolutionary breakthrough!
8. Biopsy Capsules
Endoscopy is a key function of the medical universe. A thin autonomous tube with a camera at its end is inserted into your body to collect Biopsies. Biopsies are cutting samples of your internal organs, more likely the intestines.
Apparently, you and I aren’t the only ones to think of it as a painful and intimidating surgery. Some experts thought the same as well and came up with a milder solution. Capsule Biopsies take anesthesia and any other discomforts out of the picture.
As the name suggests, it is a capsule that can navigate and collect intestinal samples. The only difference is that it is much more compact and easier to process for the body. Also, it is much better designed to reach even the lower endoscopy areas without troubling the patient.
Biopsy Capsules are among the great inventions of the medical industry. In the future, these can be an inspiration to develop and produce such equipment that can help to detect tumors and cancer cells in the body. Though we have an effective way of detecting cancer cells, it may eventually inspire a milder method of killing those tumors without the dreaded chemo.
9. Technology Inventions of Self-Driving Cars
Where’s all the hype dying about self-driving cars? They were nearly upon us a few years back with Prototypes from Mercedes, Google, and Toyota. But as time elapsed, the heat seems to have died as exponentially as it grew.
Not really, though! Hitting 160 MPH on the highway with your seat turned around is not what we may see anytime soon. But softer advancements are happening as we speak. Cruise control has been around for decades. Although it doesn’t exactly count in self-driving, it still paved the road for the many new features to come.
We now have car manufacturers like Cruise, who are only putting together self-driving vehicles. As a matter of fact, Cruise is rumored to hit the streets of San Fransisco soon with its self-driving cars. They will allow passengers to pay and travel around the city without the intrusion of a driver.
It is still a rumored thought so let’s see how far that one goes. But for the minor proofs of self-driving vehicles, you can look at the self-parking and remote-driving features of the new BMZ cars. Seeing all these technological innovations makes me wonder how far the future could really be.
10. High Broadband Internet
Covid wasn’t the only controversy to make it to the main stage last year. With the soaring number of cases, we also heard conspiracies of how the 5G towers may be helping it in its spread. But that’s not true at all. That’s not how it works!
Internet calls entertainment, connectivity, earning, defense, medicare, and even economies globally. The faster the internet, the more efficient the system it is used for. 5G is the latest technology innovation in wireless internet. To give you an idea of what all the hype is about, let me show you the bandwidth difference from its predecessors.
The 3G frequencies we used could support a bandwidth of 2.1 GHz, 4G supports up to 2.5 GHz, and 5G goes all the up to 95GHz. Such textbook advancement for this technology can provide limitless opportunities in every field.
The global connectivity will get even stronger, with even the weakest economies benefitting from it. No more internet connectivity problems with your PS4 or Chromecast devices! However, installation and coverage are much more expensive than that of 4G and 3G networks. So, it may take a while before we get to reap the benefits. But it is worth the wait!
Technology Inventions: Conclusion
The technology inventions of today are the most sophisticated versions we’ve seen yet. Either you’re already utilizing some of these miraculous inventions already, or you should get a move on to make your life easier with these best inventions!
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