Since the end of the 1990s, the world has experienced an unprecedented technological boom. With the democratization of the Internet, the lives of almost five billion people have changed. Even more, this figure for 2020 highlights a 110% increase in users in ten years. Today, few of us could live with the same comfort without this technology. It has become so well integrated into our daily lives that it seems to have always been there.
And that’s the mark of technologies that truly change people’s lives and fit right in.
Fortunately, the human race does not stop innovating. There are thus inventions or projects that monopolize the hopes or fears of specialists and neophyte observers alike. Focus on these technologies that could transform our daily lives.
Virtual reality and augmented reality
Photo by Tumisu, CC0
Caption: Thanks to video games, virtual reality is already a big hit
Facebook has just changed its name to Meta. Thus, the world-renowned group wants to make the metaverse a new tool to change behaviors as social networks have done. By illusorily erasing the navigation instruments, the principle of the metaverse is to plunge us into a virtual reality, a “constructed” Internet, a real digital world.
Augmented reality will be the reality-integrated version of this metaverse. While this may sound like science fiction, the projects are very real.
In a few years, we may be walking around in the metaverse, shopping, or getting together with friends and family thousands of miles away. Directly linked to the Internet and designated as its definitive version, the metaverse raises as much hope as fear. But it is a technology to follow, without any doubt.
3D printing
This is a technology that we have known for several years now. 3D printers can “sculpt” any object in three dimensions with unbeatable precision. Already used in the space industry, it still lacks refinement.
The slowness of printing is thus one of the main problems of this technology. However, the applications are endless. Some researchers atESA, the European Space Agency, are working on giant models to create bases on planets, without having to build everything upstream.
With the possibility of producing any part or shape with specific materials, this technology appears to be the obvious solution to revolutionize the space conquest. But that’s not all. With the development of faster and more powerful machines and the creation of small home printers to replace a defective part or simply have fun could be possible in a few clicks and for everyone. A real revolution is coming.
Photo by ZMorph3D, CC0
Legend:Still bulky and slow, 3D printers have yet to be fully democratized around the world
A.I. in deep learning
Artificial intelligences are becoming more and more powerful, there is no doubt about it. However, with the technology of Deep Learning or Deep Learning in French, the field has made a more than impressive leap forward.
With this revolutionary system, the machine learns from its experience, just like man. The more mistakes she makes, the more she observes, the more she plays or tries to solve equations, the better she gets at it. A machine that trains itself.
While this may seem far-fetched and without concrete application, it is not. These machines are thus able to beat the greatest champions in their own fields. Chess, go game, poker, nothing escapes him. But if these confrontations by the game are highlighted by the researchers, it is well to show the capacities out of standard that this method allows.
At a time when intelligent terminals such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home are a resounding success, imagine your home managed by one of these intelligences.
The quantum computer
This last technology is probably the one that is the least close to a potential democratization. The quantum computer is a feat of science, but it is also for the moment an extremely complex and fragile machine, extremely difficult to operate correctly for more than a few minutes.
This is because, based on quantum physics, this computer does not compute in the binary system. If a bit has to determine whether it is a 1 or a 0, the qubits can be both at the same time. Versatility and functionality that far surpass the best current machines.
China announced in 2020 that it had built a quantum computer billions of times more powerful than the world’s largest supercomputer. A coming revolution for scientists of all kinds, if it comes one day.
