- Have you ever wanted to time travel just to see all the cool
gadgets we'd be using? Well, it may be closer than you think. Breakthroughs in the fields of science and technology are not only useful, they have often been
created with saving lives. Here are 10 inventions that
will soon change the world. (spinning) (happy music) Number 10. Copy and Paste. Copy and paste is
undoubtedly one of the most useful functions available
to us as computer users. But have you ever wondered
what it would be like to apply the same principle to real life? Well, the technology already exists as a portable, handheld scanner, having been designed by
Jayeong Yoon and Seulki Kim. The gadget promises you the
ability to scan any image, and then recreate it on a flat surface, with two buttons for scanning
and printing respectively. The magic happens by running the scanner across the image that you wish to copy. Say for instance an image
in a newspaper article and then across a blank, flat
surface to recreate it again. In a similar vein, make sure to check out the Senstone Wearable Voice Recorder. This handy gadget, which
can be worn as a pendant, necklace, or badge, records voice memos, organizes them, and then
translates them into text, all at the touch of your finger. The project began as a
Kickstarter campaign, but the finished product is
promising better LED visuals, including unique patterns to differentiate between each of the Senstone's tasks. Number nine. Synthetic blood. With significant shortages
of transfusible blood stocks on the horizon, many organizations,
such as the US military, have realized the need
for artificial blood. Indeed, investigations
into synthetic blood date as far back as the
time of William Harvey's analysis of the pulmonary
system in the 17th century. Offering an alternative
to a blood transfusion, synthetic blood is made in a laboratory and designed to offer
some of the same functions as its biological counterpart. One such example is the
hemoglobin based oxygen carrier Hemopure, which mimics the
activity of real hemoglobin in red blood cells and transports
oxygen around the body. Hemopure is not yet approved
for use in human trials, but marks an important step forward. Of course, synthesizing
a suitable replacement for blood is no mean feat. The aim of this research is
not to completely replace the patient's blood with
an artificial counterpart, but as an alternative
treatment for those who either cannot receive donated
blood for religious reasons or people who might
develop life-threatening immune responses from donated blood. Number eight. Food scanners. Primarily aimed at food retailers, Tellspec have developed a scanner which can non-destructively
analyze the quality and ripeness of fresh fruit,
in less than 15 seconds. It can also tell you how sour it is, using something called titratable acidity, which considers factors such
as the maturity of the fruit and the amount of organic
acids it contains. According to Tellspec, this metric is a far more reliable
predictor of the fruit's acidity than simply testing pH levels. It is hoped that the
scanner will go some way towards reducing food waste
since it gives retailers a better understanding of
whether a particular fruit should be sold to customers,
returned to the supplier, or donated to a food bank. The benefits are two-fold. Customers receive a higher quality product and retailers improve their bottom line through less avoidable wastage of food. In the future, this sort
of food scanning tech will likely help us analyze
a food's micronutrients to help us track our diet. Number 7. Cocotto. Cocotto is a special robot
designed to help raise children. Unveiled at a technology
exhibition in Japan in 2017, this ball shaped gadget helps
children build their senses through touch, conversation, and motion. It's meant to be both a friend
and educational companion with a number of functions
that can be programmed by parents through a mobile app. One such function is to adopt
the role a traditional human babysitter, by having simple
conversations with the child which makes use of
preschool level vocabulary. Other features include
telling children to go to bed and then downloading songs from the cloud to soothe them to sleep. Robots for the household
have certainly gripped the public's imagination,
with The Huffington Post even writing an article
on the ethical dilemma of whether to trust your
child's care to a robot. Number six. Prosthetics
with a sense of touch. Scientists in Rome made the
news this year when details were released of the first bionic hand with a sense of touch which could be used outside of a laboratory. The bionic hand itself had
in fact been in existence since 2014, with a delay of
four years needed to shrink the computer equipment
down to a portable size. The project required the combined efforts of a team of neuroscientists,
engineers, surgeons, and robotic specialists from Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. But how exactly does it work? The bionic hand is fitted with sensors which can detect features of an object. For example, whether it is soft or hard. These signals are then relayed to a computer in a
rucksack which encodes them into a language that
the brain can understand and finally onto the brain
itself via electrodes and planted in nerves in
the patient's upper arm. Almarina Moscarello was
the first patient to use the bionic arm and said that
it made her feel complete. Meanwhile, the researchers
thoughts are turning to future applications of robotic prosthetics and the possibility of building something which is able to perform
more complex actions than even the human hand can achieve. Number five. Health
monitoring contact lenses. Some people choose to wear contact lenses for cosmetic purposes,
but they could soon have significant health benefits as well. Transparent sensors which can be embedded in the contact lenses would be
able to track stress levels, monitor blood sugar, and even detect some early risk factors for cancer. The research has been pioneered by Gregory Herman of
Oregon State University, with the intention of
helping diabetes sufferers to monitor their blood sugar
levels more effectively. Alternative methods of
measuring blood sugar besides the standard
prick-and-test approach would involve invasive procedures to insert electrodes
under a patient's skin. With transparent sensors however, there would be no need
for such procedures. As this technology develops further, it's hoped biosensors could be used to track up to 2,500 bodily functions, using a single one millimeter
patch of contact lens. In its final stage,
Herman hopes to be able to link the sensors to transmit
health data to Smartphones and other Bluetooth or
wifi enabled devices. Number four. 3-D printed food. One of the biggest innovations
of the past few years, is undoubtedly the 3-D printer. Now companies such as nufood
robot, Natural Machines, and biozoon are paving
the way for a new era. That of 3-D printed food. If we look beyond the ability to serve ever-greater numbers
of restaurant patrons, or to sculpt intricate culinary
delicacies, 3-D printed food has several important
applications for wider society. The most important of
these would be to provide ready-access to food in
countries fighting poverty, or without access to fresh,
nutritional-rich ingredients. 3-D printers have already gone
through several iterations. The first batch made
use of a process called additive manufacturing,
which involved depositing layer upon layer of raw materials
until the food was made. Things improved slightly for
the second category of printer but this time the food was held together with something akin to edible cement. Doesn't sound so appetizing, right? Fortunately, the latest
generation of printer is much more advanced,
making use of robotic arms and nozzles, which drizzle
streams of chocolate. If that sounds too good to be true, one of the most cutting-edge printers, The Foodini from Natural Machines, can make pizza, quiche, and brownies using capsules filled
with natural ingredients. So what's next for the 3-D food printer? With an ever-increasing global population, food production will need
to increase by 50% by 2050 and it seems likely that 3-D printed food will be a part of the solution. Number three. Electronic price tags. If you've heard about the
physical Amazon store in Seattle, you may already be aware
of electronic price tags. However, you might not know
that trials are currently being run in other shops
across the globe too. Indeed, companies such as ses imagotag, a self-proclaimed world-leader
in electronic shelf labels are already promising retailers
better management of pricing and greater connection
with their customers. So how do they work? The most important part
of the system is the price management software,
which is either in-store or in the cloud, and this is connected to the electronic labels
via radio frequency. From here, retailers are able to manage everything from their
inventory to their prices. And these can be either increased
or decreased in real time based on current supply and demand. Planned future developments
in this technology include targeted real-time
offers to individual customers as well as a scan-to-pay function. This is particularly relevant
to the Amazon physical store as it trialed a similar pay
later concept in January 2018. Basically, it's check out free,
as customers just walk out and Amazon bills them afterwards, as they leave a credit card on file. Amazon tracks what they purchased
using cameras and sensors. Number two. Roller guard rails. First proposed by Australian
company KSI Limited in 2014, and now in development
in Korea by ETI Limited, the roller rail in intended for use in place of the standard metal guard rail. A collision with a metal
guard rail can cause massive damage to a vehicle and often poses a risk of injury to passengers too. According to the latest figures, almost 1.3 million people worldwide are killed in car crashes each year. And a further 20 to 50 million
left injured or disabled. In a collision with the roller rail, force of the impact is instead
absorbed by the rollers, and the vehicle is deflected
back into the flow of traffic to reduce the chance of
further road accidents. When the roller rail works perfectly, trials have shown that test
vehicles returns to their correct lane with far less
momentum than they would have done so with the standard metal rail. This means that any secondary impacts which might occur as the
vehicle returns to the road, would be far less severe
than if the vehicle had hit the metal barrier at full force. Let's hope the roller
rail is widely adapted in the coming years. Number one. Invisible bike helmet. Developed by two Swedish students in 2005, the invisible bike helmet, or Hovding, is every cyclist's best friend. The technology is entirely
contained in a wearable collar which deploys an airbag
to encircle your head in the event of an accident, and provides both gentle
pressure and shock absorption. Which makes it able to withstand
any impacts that may occur. It's a pretty simple concept,
but the benefits are clear. It can save your life. It was uniquely designed
to be both thicker and softer than a traditional helmet. Utilizing ultra-strong nylon fabric, it covers a greater surface area than standard helmets would too without obscuring your field of vision. It's even been tested by researchers from Stanford University,
including Dr. David Camarillo, who concluded that it reduces
the risk of concussion by up to eight times and almost completely eliminates the
risk of skull fracture. The results are pretty conclusive. But if you want even greater
protection whilst on the road why not consider The Safety Sphere? The Safety Sphere is designed to provide comprehensive protection to motorcyclists through an inflatable bodysuit. It consists of two layers, an outer shell of tough materials similar to a parachute, and an inner layer of thin
elastic synthetic material. In the event of a crash,
the suit surrounds the rider and cushions them, in much the
same way as an airbag would. Now for the interesting part, the airbag is triggered electrically. When a cord connecting them to
the motorcycle is yanked out an explosive canister of
gas stimulates the inflation of the airbag and the rider
lives to ride another day. Which invention are
you most excited about? Do you know of any
others that I've missed? Let me know in the comments
section down below. And thanks for watching. (choppy music)
