3 new technologies you need to know about

BY MARK JOHNSON | 3 MINUTE?READ

Those who know me know how passionate I am about new technology—not because it’s new, but because of what it means for businesses, our society, and our future. What gets me most excited is technological advancement that can help accelerate future advancement. If a technology has the potential to improve a user’s life now or in the future, then I’m smiling.

Here are three new technologies I am especially excited about, and tips business leaders can adopt to ensure they are staying at the forefront of technological advancement.?

THREE EXCITING NEW TECHNOLOGIES

1. Humanoid Robots

Many people have been very critical of Elon Musk’s new Optimus robot which was unveiled at the Tesla AI Day. However, critics of the robot are missing the good news: the robot is being made for scale, meaning the parts are being sourced from materials that could be reproduced for millions of units and at a cost significantly less than a car. Compare this to Tesla’s competitors, whose robots require expensive parts and complicated manufacturing techniques making reproduction costly, unsustainable, and largely inaccessible to the general public.

Keeping in mind that the first iteration isn’t the final product, we can see exceptional innovation in what has been accomplished by Tesla in such a short amount of time. The excitement comes in the continuous improvements and bringing something simple to a greater scale.

For example, smartphones existed well before the iPhone was debuted by Steve Jobs in 2007. There were even apps and app stores before the iPhone came out. But Apple helped to bring these ideas to scale, which in turn created a whole new industry and changed millions, and even billions, of lives.

While others may be skeptical about the initial prototype, I’m excited about the possibilities and the progress of Optimus and other humanoid robots.?

2. OmniFiber

Speaking of helping humans, there’s?a new artificial muscle-based fabric?being rolled out by MIT Media Lab. These OmniFiber-based devices work by sewing fibers into the garments users wear to augment an action, such as playing an instrument or memorizing the respiratory physiology of a classically trained singer.?Just imagine wearing gloves and being able to play the piano like a professional musician, or wearing a shirt that would help you support your diaphragm like a classical singer!

3. Water Technology

I am regularly learning about new technological advancements focused on food, water, and housing—technologies aimed at providing sustainable access to the most basic human needs.

One such technology is being developed by HART specifically for water technology.?According to?Water Technology,?“These systems regularly use flow, pressure, temperature, level and other process data to monitor and control water quality and availability, but they often discard status and diagnostic data. By passing this data by, plant personnel may miss out on opportunities to optimize, simplify and safeguard their operations. When this data is ingested by intelligent plant analysis systems, facilities increase their ratio of proactive to reactive maintenance, thus reducing unplanned downtime, as well as equipment and human safety hazards.”

Basically, HART is using software and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) to help improve water quality. This is good news for humanity, and is something I’m personally excited about since I live in Michigan where we are surrounded by 20% of earth’s fresh surface water in the heart of the world’s greatest freshwater?ecosystem.

LESSONS FOR LEADERS

The three new technologies described above span multiple industries and serve as a good reminder that everyone is disrupted at some point.

To ensure you and your team are staying flexible, list out any important trends that could disrupt your industry. Lean in to what you can, but consider how you might also be able to overcome any disruptions.?

It’s also helpful to use new technologies as inspiration. Someone has to do the disrupting—why not you? To get started, encourage your teams to talk about innovation. This is important because most people won’t naturally innovate. Innovation creates change, and change creates uncertainty.?

There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to new technologies like the Optimus robot, OmniFiber, and better access to safe water. Technologies like these have the power to majorly disrupt industries and change the world for the better.?

Mark co-founded?Michigan Software Labs?and is a frequent technology contributor for Forbes and Fast Company