Technology is, somehow, never as good as we want it
to be. But there are legions of clever, dedicated and enormously
ambitious people working non-stop to improve our lives with gadgets.
Here are ten of this year's greatest innovations, from giants like
Google to home-spun startups. One day, all this will be yours.
Paper Tab
iPads are just so...rigid - right? What the world needs is a tablet you can shove in a bag without worrying about it, read like a magazine and - potentially - wear as part of your clothing. The Papertab is made entirely from plastic, uses an e-ink display like a Kindle, and as you can see, is pretty flexible. This year the Cambridge company demonstrated the first full-colour prototypes, with resolutions approaching HD levels.
Dextrus
Fed up with the cost and time taken to make prosthetics, British
robotics expert Joel Gibbard made his own low-cost, 3D-printed robotic
hand, called Dextrus. It has a greater range of movement than a typical
prosthetic, is made from simple plastic components than can be
individually replaced, and has a soft rubber coating for a better grip.
SpaceX Grasshopper
The SpaceX Grasshopper rocket prototype is designed to be reusable
instead of burning up in the atmosphere. It made a record-setting
vertical takeoff and landing on October 7, proving that commercial
spaceflight is coming of age, and doesn't need budgets the size of
NASA's - although founder Elon Musk has put over $100million into the
project. Eventually, it will be used to ferry materials into orbit.
Reviveaphone
Some innovations have an eye on the future; others solve a current
problem. Reviveaphone is firmly in the latter camp, and it does what it
says on the tin: brings water-damaged phones back to life. Better than
any DIY cures (rice in the airing cupboard) it actually uses a liquid
solution to remove mineral deposits that have accumulated on the phone's
circuit boards. It's easy to be sceptical, but with a 'results or your
money back' policy, Reviveaphone may be able to save waterlogged iPhone
owners a lot of money.
Samsung's 55-inch OLED TV
Not just another massive telly, this. Samsung's 55-inch OLED TV is, as
the picture suggests, beautifully curved. They say this is so every
portion of the image is equidistant from your eye - we say, it's because
they can. It doesn't end there: the high-quality display can show two
channels at once, interlaced with each other. Viewers have to wear
glasses for this to work, however. It's on sale now for £6,999.99.
LED bulb with wireless connectivity
Lightbulbs are not often found on lists of great innovations. But the
Philips Hue isn't an ordinary lightbulb - it's an LED bulb with wireless
connectivity. This means you can set it to be any colour you want; to
change colour according to the time of day, and turn it on and off
remotely. The bulbs link up to your home wifi and come with an app to
control them, which also lets you pick any colour from a photograph and
set that as your living room theme. Great for bringing some sunshine to
winter mornings or for livening up a party.
Motorola password pill
Since becoming part of Google, Motorola has been spitting out all kinds
of interesting ideas. It's a commonly accepted idea that the days of
written passwords are numbered; but Motorola's alternative is genuinely
innovative, if totally creepy at the same time. The edible password pill
contains a tiny chip that is powered by the acid in your stomach - it
then emits a signal similar to an electrocardiogram (ECG) which can be
uniquely identified by your phone, tablet or computer. It is approved as
safe by the US FDA, but is unlikely to be released in the near future.
The Illumiroom
The Illumiroom is the next step for Microsoft in immersive gaming. It
combines the Kinect module with a projector to expand whatever game
you're playing to fill the room. Turn the lights down and watch as your
living room is transformed into a racetrack, snowy blizzard or a
warzone. The Kinect senses what's in the room, letting the projector
cover the surfaces appropriately. Games really do feel as though they're
coming out of the screen at you. Expect some version of this to appear
on the Xbox One next year.
Oculus Rift
If the Microsoft Illumiroom is about thinking big for gaming, the Oculus
Rift is about thinking small. Kind of. It is the world's first
fully-functional virtual reality headset, designed to plunge you totally
into a 3D world that occupies your entire field of vision. Your
movements are tracked, enabling you to look around the virtual world
just as you would in real life. The premise is simple enough - two
cameras that present each eye with a separate image to generate the
illusion of a 3D world.
MYO
Thalmic Labs' MYO puts technology at your beck and call. It's a flexible
armband that uses muscle sensors and a 9-axis motion sensor system to
recognise a wide range of gestures. Connect it with bluetooth to your
device of choice and you'll be able to run a presentation by waving,
steer a helicopter drone, or simply control your TV or hi-fi with simple
movements. Another gesture turns it on and off. It's at the developer
stage, meaning products aren't yet on sale that work with it, but
enthusiastic early adopters can order one now and start tinkering with
anything that has a bluetooth connection.