From Fad to Fossil: 14 Tech Innovations That Left These Items in the Dust
AI acts as the umbrella term, covering everything related to artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence describes machines with capabilities attributed to conscious humans. These robots and machines carry out tasks like driving cars, speaking, solving problems, and understanding emotions. AI, like most creations, comes with plenty of positive and negative factors, however, these 14 inventions improved their predecessors.
1. Almost Self-Driving Cars – Regular Cars
Imagine a world where a car drives itself. That is our reality. Almost. Engineers continue operating on self-driving cars, hoping to one day release a vehicle that needs zero human programming to drive down the street. At the present moment, the highest level of self-driving automobiles requires a human presence for temporary self-driving sessions.
2. Telemedicine – In-Person Visits
We don’t need to leave our house to see a doctor anymore. This idea became popularized during the 2020 lockdown, yet it remained a way to receive treatment for people who can’t leave their houses. Telemedicine pairs a doctor with a patient for examinations, mental health therapy, and physical therapy. Even urgent care exists within the telemedicine realm. Telemedicine speeds up treatment, protects others from getting sick, and allows patients to interact with doctors from anywhere.
3. 3D Printer – Regular Printers
A 3D printer makes a copy of a computer-designed graphic as a three-dimensional object. The printers create the object by adding layer upon layer until the desired result materializes as a 3D copy of the vision. Technology cannot create layers without human assistance, so the person printing must print layer by layer and connect the different pieces during the printing process. 3D printers work with objects such as plastics, metals, wood, and carbon fibers.3D printers produce medical supplies, dental supplies, automobile parts, beauty products, technological accessories, and houses.
4. Virtual Reality – Imagination
Virtual realities create imaginative scenarios that place a person inside that dream world. For example, someone in a bright-colored living room might log on to a virtual reality set in an aquarium. Virtual reality bears no relevance to the user’s actual surroundings, yet it transports them to a mystical place. People use virtual reality for entertainment, healthcare, engineering, training, and virtual travel.
5. Augmented Reality – Imagination
Augmented reality captures a setting and adds to the location. For example, if you’re moving into a new house, you might brainstorm which furniture looks best in which rooms. With augmented reality, you can see how the table looks in the middle of the room, along the wall, or near the door. People use augmented reality for hypothetical appearances, hypothetical situations, healthcare, tourism, and marketing.
6. Smartphones – Cell Phones
Our phones seem to know more about us than ourselves. They remember our favorite songs, recommend videos and movies based on past conversations, know our location and names, allow us to chat with others through various forms of communication, and give us access to the internet. Cell Phones existed as tools permitting us to call or text one another and maybe take the occasional picture. Today, we can configure our entire house functions through a few clicks and button pushes on a smartphone.
7. Sesame Phone App – Nothing
Sesame phones were the first hands-free smartphones for disabled people who couldn’t use handheld phones. Although the physical phone company went out of business, the company designed an app for paralyzed individuals to download on smartphones. These apps work from head movements, giving paralyzed people the same opportunities to use smartphones.
8. Chatbots – Automated Systems
Raise your hand if you’ve dealt with an annoying automated voice on the receiving end of a call. No matter how many times you explained your situation, the computer responded with confusion. You pleaded with the computer for access to a human, but they still misunderstood your concern and hung up the call. Chatbots work as middlemen when a customer needs a task that doesn’t require a human representative. Canceling an appointment, asking a question, and moving on to the next step of the process. These chatbots work with words instead of spoken communication, which limits the ability to misunderstand.
9. Solar Power – Electricity
Solar power panels take the sun’s rays and transform them into energy to power a house. Machines that required an electric bill and outlets now work based on natural light. Several solar power users capture the solar energy in batteries for later use.
10. Noise-Canceling Headphones – Non-Noise-Canceling Headphones
Noise-canceling headphones block out surrounding sound for a full, sonic experience. This invention pairs well on loud flights while studying in a common area, on babies, on people with sensory sensitivities, or during the times you crave an immersive concert without disruption.
11. Digital Fingerprinting – In-person Fingerprinting
On a basic level, digital fingerprinting prevents anyone except the owner of the gadget from unlocking the said gadget.No fingerprint is the same, so no one can crack a digital fingerprint. A digital fingerprint process cuts back on lengthy in-person fingerprinting with immediate uploads for work purposes. As far as legal processes are concerned, identification with digital fingerprints is a much quicker and easier process.
12. Screen Readers – A Person Reading Aloud
Screen readers convert written text into spoken text or braille for blind or visually impaired people. Before this technology emerged, these people needed to find text in braille or have a designated person read them the text. Screen readers increase autonomy and independence for those using them.
13. Voice-to-Text Translator – Sign Language Translator
Voice-to-text translators capture spoken words and translate them into written language for the deaf or hearing-impaired. The technology works almost as fast as the person speaking, letting the user keep up with the conversation instead of waiting for a translator to sign out the speech.
14. Smart Cities – Regular Cities
Smart Cities rely on technology to transmit data about the city to the government. The technology collects data points based on housing, infrastructure, and populations to improve the quality of life and increase environmental sustainability. Smart cities work with current technology to improve the future.
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