2030 TOP 80 | TECH TRENDS OF THE DECADE | PART 1
3D Creator Tools | 4D Printing | A.I. Overview | A.I. Patents | A.I. Smell
3D Creator Tools 01
3D as a special effect has long been so high-tech that few could create it, let alone afford the tools needed to make it. No more, though, as companies are starting to offer 3D creator tools to the masses.
Spline is a new 3D design tool that allows website developers to easily create 3D content with interactive elements without having to deal with sophisticated coding and rendering. Superfan studio now offers an app that allows people to create augmented-reality 3D filters for their smart devices. Spark AR Studio — Create Augmented Reality Experiences. Powerful AR software. From easy-to-use templates and asset libraries, to advanced customizations and controls. Catchar.IO The world’s largest AR hub — the #1 world’s largest community and hub of Augmented and Mixed Reality creators and companies
The proliferation of 3D creation tools for the masses is helping transform the Web into a spatial platform and precluding the inevitable shift to MR.
4D Printing 02
3D printing capabilities continue to evolve with researchers constantly looking for ways to improve the technology.
MIT scientists may provide the latest boost to the technology with the invention of 3D manufactured “4D materials” that transform into much more complicated structures in response to changes in temperature and humidity. While much of the shape changing is rudimentary — from flat to orbs and domes — the researchers have also managed to create a 4D human face.
A.I. Overview 03
Scanning photographs can be time consuming, especially if you’re looking for things depicted in thousands of satellite images of Earth.
With that in mind, a geospatial data firm in New Mexico developed an A.I.-powered search engine that can rapidly search through billions of aerial and satellite images to find specific landmark features that are alike. Stanford University developed a similar system to track poverty levels in African villages over time, though their algorithm looks for changes to housing, lighting, agriculture, and roads to assess each tracked village’s economic health. Little doubt that such A.I. capabilities will soon be advanced enough to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.
A.I. Patents 04
Advances in artificial intelligence suggest that computers will soon be able to invent everything, which may block human invention efforts and stifle human creativity.
With a nod to that in the music industry, two musicians developed an algorithm that was able to create every possible MIDI melody in existence, and then copyrighted the whole thing and released it to the public as open source. Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has ruled that A.I. systems cannot be credited as an inventor in a patent under current law.
This raises the conundrum that some A.I.-generated inventions may not be patentable at all, which could stifle future A.I. innovations.
That said, world patent and intellectual property bureaucracies and organizations are avidly studying and debating the issues.
A.I. Smell 05
Our nose is able to learn and recognize smells, so there’s no reason A.I. cannot do the same thing.
Intel has developed an A.I. “neuromorphic” chip that mirrors the organic circuits found in the olfactory bulbs of a dog’s brain, allowing the chip to identify specific odors, which it then remembers. Tech firm Koniku has developed a similar device, which is being tested by Airbus as a replacement for bomb-sniffing dogs. Australian researchers developed an A.I.-powered “e-nose,” which can assess beer quality based on its aroma — a capability that could be used to assess other foods and beverages at all stages of production.
