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Thursday
Jan302014

Trends in 2014: Frog

Frog is probably one of the lesser-known design (innovation) firms: "Founded in 1969 by Hartmut Esslinger, frog is a global innovation firm with an interdisciplinary team of more than 600 designers, strategists, and technologists. Frog creates products and services across consumer electronics, telecommunications, healthcare, energy, automotive, media, entertainment, education, finance, retail and fashion."

In this brief survey in Fast Company's Co. DESIGN, folks from Frog opine about 2014's tech trends. 

15 Tech Trends That Will Define 2014, Selected By Frog

DRONES, DRIVERLESS CARS, AND THE DIGITAL DRAGON OF CHINA ARE JUST SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WILL CHANGE OUR ECONOMY, AND OUR LIVES, THIS YEAR.

WRITTEN BY Frog

Through a pessimistic lens, 2013 looked like the dystopian future we’ve been warned about. We learned the NSA can spy on our every word, right as Google shared a breakthrough product that could put a camera and microphone on everyone’s face. Amazon wanted to replace UPS with autonomous drones, but the humans who weren’t downsized would soon be driven door to door by an emasculating robot chauffeur. So what will 2014 bring? Frog design expects that this is the year of technological kickback, when privacy goes mainstream and we take the reins on our own quantified self, when artists tame 3-D printers and we learn to unplug. And yes...when drones, driverless cars, and the digital dragon that is China rise to change our economy, and our lives, forever.

Article continues at link. 

I like these three as interesting or likely, or both: 

THE UBER-FICATION OF SERVICES

San Francisco startup Uber has led the revolution of personal transportation: Click to order, and minutes later your personal, quality-checked driver arrives, with the payment taken care of behind the scenes. 2014 will see this “on-demand” model extend across other personal services, from home maintenance to dog walking. Appliance repair person? Your device says they’re only three minutes away. --Michael Robertson

QUANTIFIED SELF AT THE OFFICE

How long you slept and how fast you ran won’t be the only quantified elements of your life. Quantifying your time at work will become the norm: How, when, and where you spend your time at work will be automatically captured and translated into timesheets, project management software, and analytics dashboards. Expect debates about privacy rights and coercive versus caring uses of the technology --Clint Rule

AUGMENTED REALITY

Technology has always helped us solve problems and extend our potential. Until now our technological tools were external add-ons, largely separate from our bodies. Today they are evolving on a new path integrating with our physiology; we are “hacking” the human body and the senses. Wearable technology, such as Google Glass, is an example of the first generation of consumer products that is changing the way we think about technology extending our potential. But it’s only the beginning: system-powered exoskeletons, and bionic arms, feet, and eyes, are the next phase. --Antonio De Pasquale

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