Imagine waking up to a new day. A smart alarm clock nudges you awake at the optimal time, as you check your smartwatch to see how the quality of your sleep was. As you ready yourself for work, the virtual assistant on your smart speaker reads you the news, and weather and traffic conditions as you brush your teeth.
Freshly brewed coffee from the automated coffee machine awaits you as you grab a cup before work. Just as you are about to head out of the door, a drone from the logistics company drops off a package just in time. You are scheduled to reach the office at 9am and you get some work done on the commute, thanks to your self-driving car.
All this sounds like science fiction, but the foundation for this scenario to happen is here today. Here are some tech trends from 2018 that are making the above a reality.
DRONES
Think of drones and images of buzzing, four-bladed brightly coloured plastic devices hovering over an open field may come to mind. For a time, these drones were limited to die-hard hobbyists, movie makers and the military. But today’s popularity in drones is fuelled by just how affordable and accessible they are now. The most popular and decent consumer drones cost about USD499, allowing the average user the opportunity to take stunning aerial photos and videos effortlessly.
Apart from being a hobby tool, drones have seen increasing use in commercial and research operations. Yes, your next pizza or delivery from Amazon could be delivered by a drone. While that reality may only happen in the future, we are getting there. In the meantime, one can find drones being used monitoring the yield of crops on farms and acting as eyes in the sky for law enforcement for surveillance and emergency responders during natural disasters.
