The current pandemic has pushed technological advancement dramatically forward, but 2021 is where the real changes are starting to happen. As we learn to live in this new era, it is important to stay updated on all the new technological advances and even glance a little bit into the future of tech.
Here are our top three tech predictions for 2021 and beyond, as well as a little peek into the useful gadgets and services that are available right now.
The Rise in No-Touch Technologies
In the last year, we’ve learned to avoid touching things as much as possible - door handles, cash, elevator buttons - to reduce our chance of infection. After the pandemic is over, those things are going to be safe to touch once again, but the road has already been paved for no-touch technology of all kinds.
Speech recognition improved over the years. It’s no longer 2010, where Siri can’t understand you asking about today’s weather. Now machines can interpret us almost as well as another human. Imagine going into an elevator and simply saying, “Seventh floor, please” or pulling up to the gas station and use Alexa to pay for gas. The latter is already a reality - 11,000 of Exxon gas stations implemented Amazon’s new “Pay for Gas” solution directly at the pump.
Digital payments have grown rapidly in 2020 - Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay let you pay for your favourite yogurt at the grocery store without having to handle cash or the keypad on the sale card terminal. As of 2021, almost 1.3 billion people worldwide use mobile wallets and that number only continues to grow. The change does not seem temporary anymore, as we steadily move into a cashless society.
Biometric solutions, like facial recognition, are an important part of our no-touch future as well. Back in 2017, when iPhone X was released, Apple users had to get comfortable with having their face serve as their password. Now, a helmet from a Chinese company, Kuang-Chi Technology, comes equipped with both an infrared camera and facial recognition. The said camera can spot anyone with a fever within 15 feet of you. In other words, facial recognition has gotten crazy good. Licenses and passports will become a thing of the past, replaced by a database that will simply match your face to your records. ATMs will stop asking you for your PIN and just scan your face, and physical keys will disappear - the doors to your car or house will simply see it’s you and open up.
New Age of Healthcare
What will going to the doctor look like in 2021? Well, telehealth is no longer a thing of the future - the pandemic has sped things up and now 71% of healthcare providers use telemedicine tools to connect with the patients. Instead of waiting in line at the clinic or hospital, you are placed in a virtual waiting room and can speak to your preferred specialist within minutes.
Canada’s leading telemedicine provider, Maple, offers instant connection with Canadian doctors from your preferred device, including online consultations, prescriptions, referrals, second medical opinions at any time, 24/7. But this is just the beginning, and virtual telehealth solutions move into other areas. Colgate has recently launched a teledentistry platform, “Dentists For Me”, connecting people across India with over 150 dentists from the comfort of their own home. In the UK, “My Online Therapy” offers online mental health services to its customers. Whether it’s the convenience, the reassurance that you will avoid catching anything at the doctor’s office or the hospital, telemedicine offers a significant advantage over traditional healthcare.
Technology, particularly wearables like smartphones, smartwatches, rings and Fitbits, are becoming health tech tools themselves as they monitor our well-being in real-time. The newest Apple Watch Series 6 measures your oxygen blood level, heart rate, sleep patterns and can detect if you fall, automatically calling 911 if you set it up. The Samsung Galaxy 3 Watch beats Apple, as it offers blood pressure measurement as well.
Clothing is going to become smarter as well. With the recent development of microsensors, smart textile is now available to an everyday consumer. Hexoskin’s Smart Shirts monitor your health, activity and sleep just as well as any smartwatch would. This Canadian company integrates the sensors directly into the clothes and offers apps and online dashboards that allow you to visualize and track all the data your clothing collects.
Multiple companies are also trying to turn your smartphone into a medical device. Healthy.io uses your device’s camera to perform home testing for early detection of chronic kidney disease, urinary tract infections and digital wound management. US company Cue Health is working on a small device that will be able to perform numerous health tests, including COVID-19. The product has already been released in five states, but the actual testing is set to start in late 2021.
Education Shaped by Technology
As the pandemic hit, most educational institutions and services were forced into virtual spaces. Now, the virtual classrooms are here to stay. Many higher-education institutions are considering a hybrid-flexible (Hyflex) approach, combining face-to-face learning with online learning. This will allow flexibility never seen before: both the instructor and students can choose which mode of delivery suits them best. Hyflex will open up new pathways for both traditional and non-traditional students (adult learners), as the classes can be attended from anywhere and there is no pressure for the pupils to participate in-person.
Besides offering more flexibility, online learning will become more effective. Tech will play a larger role in education, as extended reality (ER) technologies - which include virtual, augmented and mixed realities - take shape, which is believed to become mainstream in the next five years. This will put education on a whole different level, as ER will allow for lectures to blend both physical and virtual worlds, creating a uniquely immersive experience. This sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but ER technologies are going to be a major player in 2021. Multiple augmented reality (AR) glasses are going to be presented to the market this year. Facebook and Ray-Ban have partnered up to launch their first set of “smart glasses” and a company named Mojo is developing the world's first medical-grade AR enabled contact lenses.
Education will take a different shape in 2021 and technology will be the driving force behind the curtains. Remote learning will make being a life-long learner as accessible as possible, and ER technologies will make learning more interactive and engaging. Virtual classrooms will become a norm and tech will go hand-in-hand with learning.
Cutting-edge technologies are transforming our world. The way of life is changing, and we must change with it. As technology advances, it will not wait for us to catch up - that responsibility falls onto us. This is why being a life-long learner and increasing your digital literacy is so important: we must stay on our toes and grow our comfort with technology, so you can benefit from it in the future.
- Anna Povorozniuk, Virtual Communications Developer