Top 5 Technological Advances of 2017
Top 5 Technological Advances
The year of 2017 introduced a world of new technology to society. It’s unbelievable that writing letters and emails as a form of correspondence has died down and quick thumbs on a touch screen has replaced that. From creating a robot to developing face recognition on a smartphone, technology is rapidly advancing.
One of the most incredible developments is Sophia, a Saudi Arabia based robot, who declared citizenship: “she the first robot in the world to achieve such a status” according to Forbes. Sophia can think and respond as a human would, allowing her have full on conversations with people. She also has all human features with the exception of hair. Additionally, Forbes elaborates on her characteristics of having a sense of humor and being able to express feelings. It’s ironic that a robot is thought to be emotionless, yet Sophia proves otherwise.
Not only has Sophia stunned the world, but self-driving trucks are also making its way up. According to the New York Times, “Trucks will someday drive themselves out of warehouses and cruise down freeways without the aid of humans or even a driver’s cab.” Essentially, it’s not the question of how but the question of when. Millions of dollars are being invested into this project and companies “are betting it will be here sooner than most people think” (New York Times). Society is moving onto a more automated future. Planes have been using autopilot with pilots present, but these trucks will be able to go without any human behind the wheel.
Moreover, there are also technological strides in the medical field. Patients in a hospital in Switzerland are learning how to walk again after being declared permanently paralyzed. These patients “get the help of stimulating electrodes implanted in their spines” (Spectrum). Scientists began experimenting on paralyzed rats, and once they found success, they started moving on to quadriplegic humans. This is a major breakthrough in medicine as it could potentially help those in critical condition. Furthermore, this could be a significant benefit for soldiers returning from war who were seriously injured. Along with these different gadgets and tangible technological advances, medicine developments are forthcoming as well.
Even the action of taking pictures has revolutionized. Apparently, an ecological researcher at Harvard University “used a camera that creates 360° pictures, visitors can do more than just watch the feed; they can use their mouse cursor (ona computer) or finger (on a smartphone or tablet) to pan around the image in a circle or scroll up to view the forest canopy and down to see the ground” (MIT Technology Review). This kind of camera will ultimately let people see not just a single portion of a picture, but actually get a feel for the setting and what was happening. Moreover, it allows people to capture a more vivid and realistic perspective and when reminiscing, they can relive the moments.
One of the most recent piece of news is the release of the iPhone X. Apple has yet again proved that technology never stops advancing through their face recognition feature:
“Instead of one or more fingerprints, as with Touch ID, Face ID relies on the unique characteristics of your face” (Macworld). It’s truly amazing, that a gadget of that size is capable of measuring one’s facial features and detecting whether it’s that person’s face or not. Likewise, one wouldn’t even have to touch their phone if they wanted to perform a task such as sending a message, or making a telephone call with the aid of Siri. Apple is constantly finding new ways to improve their products by making them more efficient.
Society is becoming more and more technologically dependent each day. While some advances may initially seem positive, it’s forcing humans to become overly attached. If 2017 has brought this many technological advancements, what will the world be like in 5, 10, 15 years?