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TECHNOLOGY
FIVE TECH TRENDS AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR DIGITAL FUTURE The technology poised to transform the world in meaningful ways AUTONOMOUS TRANSPORTATION GOOGLE SELF-DRIVING CARS We may not have jetpacks yet, but when it comes to transport of the future we are pretty close to robot chauffeurs who will whisk you from work to home while you kick back and watch Netflix in the back seat. Google is leading the charge in the self-driving car space, and while the prototype that it revealed in 2014 (which has been spotted zipping around streets in suburban San Francisco) was only the start, Google’s next tester car for the self-driving project will be a joint venture with Chrysler for a completely autonomous minivan. While a self-driving minivan might not sound as sleek and futuristic as one might hope, the partnership with Fiat Chrysler – the first time Google has worked with a car maker on the project – will allow them to get a lot more tester cars on the road very quickly. Fiat Chrysler will custombuild the vans to allow Google to more easily implement its self-driving computer and sensors, allowing them to collaborate closely and helping both teams to better understand how to create a fully self-driving vehicle that can take you from A to B with the touch of a button. Once they nail this first step, the potential to scale this technology up to other modes of transport can’t be too far behind. Imagine summoning an Uber via your smartphone only to have a completely driver-less car show up. Or long haul cargo trucks 3
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that autonomously travel from depot to depot, automatically pulling into charging stations when their batteries start winding down. The future of transportation is self-driving and it’s coming sooner than we think. MIXED REALITY MICROSOFT HOLOLENS While Virtual Reality has been making huge waves in the gaming space thanks to the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, Microsoft has been hard at work on its own interpretation. Enter HoloLens – less of a product designed to transport users to virtual gaming worlds, this space-age looking visor aims to help augment the world around you by projecting digital images, video and models into your field of view,
1. Google’s selfdriving car 2. Fiat Chrysler will provide Google with Chrysler Pacifica minivans to be outfitted with driverless technology. 3. Microsoft Hololens