Those of us who have been born in the 90s are lucky to be in the midst of a technological revolution. In fact, even prior to the 90s and as early as the 70s, cartoons like the Jetsons, depicted the future with video calling, flying cars, mobile phones and talking robots. Who would’ve thought that we were going to be witness to that, thirty years down the line?
We are living in an age where everything is portable, most things can fly and most importantly, everything is convenient. Let’s take a look at just a few gadgets (even though there’s a wide variety) that make us feel lucky to be a part of the future:
1. Portable Single Line Printer:
The printer was first conceptualised in 1938 and the original laser printer called EARS was developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center beginning in 1969 and completed in November, 1971, as reported by inventors.about. However, printers were, until recently, heavy contraptions with wires and plenty of buttons.
Today: We have something called the Mini Mobile Robotic Printer which is just what we needed in this age. It uses a mobile phone to function, and is the size of your palm. A product of Zuta labs, this printer costs a mere 135$ (Rs.8,600 approximately) which is a small price to pay for the large convenience it is.
2. Oculus Rift:
Physicist Willy Higinbotham invented the first “video game” as early as 1958. It was a table tennis like game and had to be played on an oscilloscope. In 1961, Steve Russell, a student of MIT, created the first computer game called ‘space wars’ after which, there was no stopping the magnanimous evolution that gaming would undergo.
Today: We have the Oculus Rift, the HTC vive and other Virtual Reality gadgets that don’t just allow you to play the game but actually make you a part of it. As if the amazing visuals weren’t enough, the Oculus Rift recently collaborated with Pebbles Inc to add the use of hand gestures into your gaming experience.
3. Clock that writes the time for you:
There used to be time where our ancestors used to use a sun dial to tell the time and even prior to that, watches were used as an ornament to ward off evil. It was cumbersome and eventually, as early as the 16th century Galileo introduced the concept of using a pendulum to tell time. In 1970, the first digital watch called the Pulsar, was introduced. It had an LED display and was naturally, a hit.
Today: In 2014, the Potclock was announced. What is it? it is a clock that writes the time for you with a marker, on a white board. It then erases the seconds and continues to do the same with every passing second, minute and hour.It is powered by an Arduino board and the parts of the clock are 3D printed. Cool, isn’t it?
4. Garbage bin that catches your waste:
How many times have we chucked a piece of waste paper into a bin, pretending to be Michael Jordan, as it unsuccessfully falls far away from the target? Umpteen number of times. Although, this is a rather amusing invention, one cannot miss its ingenuity. This bin catches your waste automatically so that you never miss. Imagine if India could actually get bins of a larger size that did the same thing, it would truly boost the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan.
5. Wheelchair that can go up staircases:
John Dawson of Bath, invented the wheelchair in 1783. It had two big wheels and a small one and outsold all other wheelchairs or systems that assisted the handicapped, prior to this. However, George Klein brought the Klein Drive Chair in 1953, that was the first motor wheel chair that operated electronically instead of manually. However, handicapped people continued to face difficulties like going up and down rocky terrains and even going up the staircase.
Today: Technology has made life much easier for the differently abled. They don’t need to depend on people as the ‘Topchair’ is capable of taking you safely up and down the stairs without any assistance whatsoever.
Obviously, there are numerous other inventions and gadgets that are worth adding on and are even being created as we write this post. This was just a slice of the massive variety of technologies that we are lucky enough to witness, today.
