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Perhaps more than any other trend we’ve seen over the last 12 months, the boom in the maker movement has been the most noticeable. Services such as Fictiv arrived on the scene, offering a service that could rapidly 3D print prototypes and then deliver them the same day. By making prototyping easier than ever before, such companies will only serve to increase the number of amateur (by name — not nature) designers in 2015. Perhaps the most intriguing of all the maker movement facilitators spotted last year, however, was the Scribble pen. The pen features two ends — one with a nib and one with a scanner. Users can press the scanner against any surface to capture its color, which is then translated into an RGB value. The inks inside the pen are mixed to match that value, and the user can then draw in the color just scanned.
Last year we saw two innovations looking to tackle a much under-reported issue in poverty stricken areas. Namely: the severe shortage of backpacks for children to transport their books during their long walks to and from school. First we saw the ingenious Aarambhproject in India, which upcycled old cardboard boxes to create school bags that then transformed into desks to improve pupils’ comfort and posture as they worked — rather than have them write with their books on the floor. Also looking to tackle two problems at the same time, Repurpose backpacks are made from 100% recycled material from old plastic bags. Not content with driving recycling while providing backpacks however, Repurpose then attached a small solar panel to the top of each bag that’s capable of capturing the sun’s energy while students walk to school. When they arrive back home, the bag is capable of powering a small lamp for up to 12 hours so that they can complete their studies at night — without the need for harmful kerosene lamps.
Drones could truly become mainstream in 2015. We fully expect distributors to begin using them on a wide scale, and we equally expect legislation to be ramped up to ensure the safety of the skyways. One of the most interesting applications for the technology, however, could actually be for healthcare. San Francisco pharmacy QuiQui is already set to offer 24/7 delivery of pills and prescriptions via drone, and we also have hopes for the first ever ambulance drones this year. Alex Monton’s original working prototype has already garnered much interest, promising to deliver a drone equipped with a compact defibrillator, medication and CPR aids, as well as other essential supplies, in around one minute after assistance is requested via a companion app. Once it lands, the drone’s built in intercom enables paramedics to direct a member of the public in offering aid.
Here at Springwise we’ve lost count of the number of articles we’ve read recently telling us how time-poor the average consumer has become, as they’re bombarded with ever-increasing volumes of information. (The irony that we’re increasingly feeling bombarded by the number of articles on the subject, has not been lost on us). The truth of the matter remains however, which is why Spritz was so popular with our readers. The team behind the mobile app believes that humans can reach much, much faster reading speeds by using their system of ‘streaming’ text at up to 600 words per minute. Based on the theory that most readers are slowed down by the movements of the eye as it scans lines of text, Spritz squeezes entire novels into a small, 300 pixel-wide space and flashes each word for a brief fraction of a second. It’s remarkably effective, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the tech applied in a wide range of applications over the next few years.There was another innovative technology — also designed to facilitate reading — that stood out for us this year. The FingerReader initiative from MIT provides visually impaired readers with a wearable ring that can scan written text and read it out loud. The innovation could open up the vast amount of literature still unavailable in Braille to blind and visually impaired readers.
The Internet of Things boom is only going to grow stronger than ever in 2015, and we’ve already seen plenty of truly remarkable intelligent and connected devices on our virtual pages. There’s the table that detects the food placed upon it and makes recipe suggestions, and the Roost smart battery which replaces standard 9V batteries in any smoke alarm to upgrade it with smart capabilities. The Roost demonstrates a trend we expect to see more of over the next few years: retrofitted smart device upgrades. Until the cost of smart devices comes down, products that promise to upgrade existing “dumb” devices should do well. With the rise of the Internet of Things will also come the need for intelligent interfaces for users to control all of their devices. We’ve seen the Homeysystem that uses voice recognition to enable users to simply speak orders to their home, but it was Jibo which stood above the rest. A cross between Pixar’s animated lamp and R2-D2, Jibo is a friendly robot that uses facial recognition and natural language processing to offer personal assistance in the home. Jibo learns what its owners’ faces look like, as well as their voices, so it knows who’s speaking to it and who it’s addressing in its Siri-like natural voice. It can sync with other smart appliances and learn homeowners’ preferences and daily habits.
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