THE 6 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD [PART 2]

Continuation of the PART 1.

BLOCKCHAIN

The blockchain is a technology for storing and transmitting information, transparent, secure, decentralized, and operating without a central organ. In short, it is a kind of digital data management protocol, a large secure and transparent database. The blockchain can be seen as a kind of account book or register that contains a list of all exchanges made between users.

As this register is decentralized, it is stored on the servers of its users. This register is updated in real time and is tamper-proof because it relies on a cryptographic system of validation by users for each transaction. These sets of transactions (the rows of the register) are written in the book after validation, by blocks of data and thus form a string of unalterable blocks: the blockchain. 

The blockchain is often wrongly confused with Bitcoin, but Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that uses the blockchain to ensure traceability of transactions since each bitcoin has its own encryption code. Thus a user can only use his bitcoins with a single recipient corresponding to a single transaction.

During my visit to the Microsoft Experiences show, I was able to attend a conference on the blockchain and it turns out that the blockchain can be used in three distinct categories:

• The transfer of assets: currency, securities, shares, bonds, votes, etc.
• Register: better traceability of products and assets.
• Smart contracts: autonomous programs that automatically execute the terms and conditions of a contract, without requiring human intervention once started.

I also went to the Futur en Seine exhibition, which organized experiments, conferences, workshops on innovation and which brought together many startups including startups that used the blockchain for voting systems as part of, for example, an internal election. In general, blockchains could replace most centralized "trusted third parties" (banking trades, notaries, land registry, etc.) by distributed computer systems.

The blockchain could therefore replace the intermediation platforms used by Airbnb, Uber and BlablaCar, which are intermediaries that centralize information and interactions between users, capturing a commission, a portion of the value that passes on their platform.

With blockchain technology, there would be no need for intermediaries and users could conduct peer-to-peer transactions directly with a driver or a lessor, with almost no commission or intermediary. This blockchain technology could therefore threaten more or less the business of Airbnb, Uber and BlablaCar.

This blockchain technology could thus find many concrete applications such as:

• An online voting system: for example, during an internal election, the use of the blockchain allows a secure vote and a transparent result with a quick announcement of the results. The blockchain applied to the online voting system thus avoids any fraud and contesting voting results, and could therefore interest political parties or countries that sometimes have difficulty counting votes and fraud problems.
• Automatic compensation in the event of late or canceled flights: for example, travel insurance schemes may use the principle of smart contracts which are based on autonomous programs which automatically launch the conditions of the contract, without the person must fill in any form.
• A money transfer platform: the advantages of using the blockchain in this type of platform are the speed of transfers (a few minutes against several days for some transfers abroad) and the low cost of these transfers (a few cents for each transaction) through cryptocurrencies that are convertible into traditional currencies.

 The blockchain can therefore have many applications in various sectors such as banking, insurance, real estate, health, energy, transport, online voting, and thus finds other applications other than the monetary field.

Personally, I think that blockchain is a promising technology because it seems to have many advantages such as the automation of smart contracts, the creation of trust between two parties without intermediation platform, a new mode of governance (tamper-proof and ergonomic voting system) and a drastic reduction in transaction costs (finance).

In fact, in most potential applications of the blockchain, the challenge is to build a user experience and especially to win the trust of users to want to use this new technology.

VIRTUAL REALITY AND AUGMENTED REALITY

Progress in virtual reality and augmented reality has democratized their use with the release of many virtual reality headsets. To avoid any confusion between these two technologies, I will recall what virtual reality and augmented reality are.

Virtual reality means to create a user immersion in a 3D virtual world in which he can move and interact.

Augmented reality is to use the real world to display 2D or 3D information such as images, numbers and texts with which the user can also interact. This augmented reality technology actually superimposes virtual elements to the real world, so the real world is augmented with digital information to provide more detail to the user about his environment.

There is also the mixed reality, which is in fact, the mixture between the two previous technologies, that is to say between virtual reality and augmented reality which is reflected in the superposition of digital information such as images, numbers and texts in the real world and the superposition of objects or moving elements.

There are especially many virtual reality headsets and some augmented reality or mixed reality headsets. 

Augmented reality headsets:

• The Oculus Rift, which is Facebook's virtual reality headset for PC
• Sony's Project Morpheus for PS4
• The Vive of HTC & Valve for PC
• Samsung's Gear VR for mobile
• The Google Cardboard for mobile

Augmented reality headset:

• Hololens from Microsoft

 Mixed reality headset:

• Acer Windows Mixed Reality Development Edition Headset

A few months ago, I went to the Virtual Reality show in Paris, Virtuality 2017, where there were more than 110 startups who presented their products for virtual reality. This virtual reality show was a great opportunity to test the latest virtual reality technologies. I was able to test most virtual reality headsets like HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and the Microsoft Hololens augmented reality headset. In this show, it was also possible to test flight simulators and immersive rooms. In visiting this virtual reality show, I noticed that virtual reality is mainly used in the entertainment and video game industry.

For example, the Hypersuit startup introduced their technology combining a virtual reality headset and an exoskeleton to simulate air movement. This new technology is particularly suitable for games positioning the character in the air. However, I also noticed that virtual reality is also applied to train people in the medical, aeronautics, railway maintenance, petrochemical or nuclear industries. For example, doctors or surgeons can use virtual reality to train to virtually operate a patient. I also saw that virtual reality is also used for product marketing and a lot of virtual reality animations have been developed to promote products like drinks or perfumes for example.

There were also many conferences at this event, and I was able to attend a few conferences and it appears that many startups from different sectors rely on virtual reality technology. This virtual reality show attracted more than 15,000 visitors.

 As a conclusion, I think that the virtual reality is only at its beginnings, for example, the current virtual reality headsets can be bulky to wear and it is possible that the headset can be replaced by spectacle lenses. Google, for example, announced at its I/O 2017 conference that they would launch stand-alone VR headsets with HTC and Lenovo, that is, headsets that work without a smartphone, PC or cable. All electronics would be integrated inside the headset.

The progress of augmented reality will also accelerate the deployment of this technology, especially augmented reality in smartphones with a 3D camera that will visualize virtual furniture in his living room before ordering, or having tailored clothing thanks to the 3D camera of the smartphone. The 3D camera will also be a new human-machine interface with gestural or facial recognition. Thus, augmented reality will be more easily adopted than virtual reality because it does not separate the user from the real world.

THE 3D PRINTING REVOLUTION

In recent years, 3D printing has become possible thanks to 3D printers. 3D printers follow the same principle as 2D printers, but instead of printing ink on sheets of paper, the 3D printer prints objects by superimposing thin layers of materials such as plastic, clay, resin and others. From a 3D software or a 3D scanner, it is possible to model objects and then print them with the 3D printer. The printing possibilities are immense with the 3D printer, it is practically possible to print all possible forms. The only constraints are the size of the printer and the imagination of the user.

The 3D printer can be used in many fields of applications such as industry, robotics, jewelery, medicine, food, fashion, armament, DIY, architecture, design, health, aeronautics and marketing. There are even 3D nano printers, such as Nanoscribe, which prints on a scale of a few microns. Based on a CAD model of a spacecraft, the 3D nano printer, Nanoscribe, prints using lasers and rotating mirrors to direct the beams in order to create a multi-layer structure by polymerization.

Some 3D printers can print objects of several meters. This allows, for example, to print some pieces of wood to assemble a house. The project WikiHouse, is an open-source project that offers models of home to assemble oneself from models printed in 3D. However, printing a wooden house poses insurance problems and legislative regulations as well as problems of resistance and insulation. These homes can especially be an opportunity to shelter millions of homeless people. In Amsterdam, architects use the 3D printer to print their models but also to print their homes directly. In Shanghai, based on the assumption that cars and planes are mass-produced, a entrepreneur thought to do the same thing with the houses and therefore created a company that manufactures series houses with 3D printers by mixing concrete with a other material to solidify the house. One can also imagine that furniture can also be printed from 3D models.

The use of 3D printers allows you to print all forms of objects that you want. In the aerospace and automotive industry, this 3D printer technology makes it possible to build parts cheaply and save production cost. Cars can even be printed, this is the case of the company Divergent Microfactories who designed a sports car in 3D printing, which is the Balde.

 I think that 3D printing is a technological revolution because it revolutionizes the industrial production mode and invents new products that will build the world of tomorrow.

For example, companies like PSA, Airbus and Safran are now using 3D printing machines to build cars and planes.

The automotive and aerospace sectors are very concerned by this revolution in 3D printing. 3D printing has two advantages for these sectors, which are time saving and customization of parts. Indeed, for markets such as automotive and aerospace that are highly competitive, time is crucial, and the time saved in prototyping parts is a real advantage. Similarly, personalizing airplane or car parts without increasing the manufacturing time is a real advantage. On the private side, 3D printers, however, have nothing to do with those of industry, but they allow individuals to build their own objects or parts to make a robot for example. The advantage of 3D printers for individuals is that they can model any form of object according to their imagination.

To conclude on 3D printing, 3D printers are a real technological revolution because they will allow companies to create their products quickly and accurately and also to individuals to build their own objects and perhaps become architects of their own homes.

That is the end of this article, I hope you learned interesting things and you liked this article. Thank you for reading me.

Nicolas Chen