Following new tech trends is rapidly becoming less about keeping up with actual developments in technology and more about finding what it is that Google is interested in. Google‘s public image has pulled it ahead of even major other companies with large, well-respected research firms. Despite the contributions of other major manufacturing and marketing firms, like 3M and their invention of the Post-IT, the invention of the microwave by NASA and similar breakthroughs, Google is synonymous with new discoveries. Somehow, a company that generates most of its revenue through advertising by helping people find websites has become a major research power, and is continually developing new technologies to connect more people to the Internet.
To know where technology is going, one just has to find where Google is pointing. Here’s some trends to look out for when attempting to capitalize on emerging markets.
Computer-driven operations may become standard medical practice.
Beyond the driverless car
The most exciting futuristic project that Google has been working on its automated car program, but there are other options the company is pursuing. Instead of focusing on just transit, let’s take a look at medicine. Putting a robot in charge of driving to work is scary enough, but even more exciting and mildly disturbing is robotic surgery. Yet, somehow, that is exactly the trajectory that Google is exploring. The robotic surgery platform by Google is designed to create robot-assisted surgery, which could provide real-time image analysis. There are no plans, yet, to include a scalpel wielded by drone with high tech precision, but that day must eventually be coming.
Health through search
“Even Google‘s research into self-driving cars could help the elderly.”
A feature that many may have already seen is a new automated result that Google provides for health conditions. When a term like “gout” appears in the search bar, Google will bring up information about it both related to overall statistics and to common symptoms. The goal of this is to reduce the amount of misinformation online, but to also provide useful statistics to users as fast as possible. This may likely be used in conjunction with information gained through Google Fit, which is designed to collect and aggregate data from fitness tracking applications. One day, your computer may be able to tell you that you need to go outside and mean it.
Anti-aging
Google acquired a company called Calico in order to focus on aging and age-related diseases. This seems to have little to do with the rest of Google‘s projects, other than being the kind of thing that a mad scientist would work on, but may yet pay off in the future. After all, dementia and Alzheimer’s diseases do bear research into reducing their effects on the elderly. If senior citizens didn’t have to worry about the creeping onset of old-age disabilities, they wouldn’t require the same sort of care that they frequently do from hospices and similar organizations. Instead, they could have those problem cured and age much more gracefully.
The car
Even Google‘s research into self-driving cars could help the elderly. Seniors that lose their drivers licenses in many parts of the U.S. have no way to be self-sufficient. As eyesight goes, it becomes more difficult for them to handle driving. An automated car could eliminate the problems that many seniors have with purchasing themselves groceries and sustaining autonomy into old age. Eventually, everyone winds up needing assistance. It would be great if that could come from an infrastructure that cares for its citizens. A By developing self-driving cars, which are now already on the road in some areas, Google could help those who need it most.
