There’s a lot of innovation going on out there. And thanks to crowdfunding, companies that like to think outside the box and a real buzz for the future of technology, there’s also some real groundbreaking progress being made too.
IMAGE CREDIT: BENGAMINNELAN / PIXABAY
Here’s our list of five companies we think are going to have a significant impact on our tech futures, and why:
Revolutionising The Future Of Technology
1. Plastic Logic
Location: Cambridge, UK
CEO: Indro Mukerjee
What they do: Design and innovate flexible display technology and organic electronics
Why are they important: The days of glass-screen tech is drawing to a close, thanks to Plastic Logic. This R&D company, an offshoot of Cambridge University, have been developing paper-thin plastic screens that can be bent, creased, folded and manipulated, and all without any damage to the screen itself. Their innovations could represent a real game-changing shift in the way portable devices in particular develop in the next five years. A world without fragile, heavy glass screens will be embraced by the buying public, and when you consider just how many people have a glass-screen smartphone or tablet at the moment, it’s clear just how huge the potential market for plastic screen technology really is!
2. Form Labs
Location: Somerville, Mass. USA
CEO: Maxim Lobovsky
What they do: develop and manufacture 3D printers
Why they are important: Form Labs took advantage of crowdfunding to launch Form 1, the first truly consumer-orientated, high-quality 3D printer. They used their research time at MIT to develop a 3D printer that wasn’t just compact and affordable to build, but also produces exceptional results (when compared to the somewhat basic versions that are currently available). The 3D printer could be one of the most important developments in technology in the coming years, and Form Labs are focusing their considerable expertise and innovative spirit on making them available not just for industry use, but for everyone.
3. Oculus VR
Location: Irvine, California, USA
CEO: Palmer Luckey
What they do: Virtual Reality headsets for gaming
Why they are important: Don’t underestimate the importance of gaming. It’s shaping our culture, it plays a hugely important role in our leisure time and has even been used to train the military to operate everything from drones to strategizing battlefield situations. So anything that makes the experience of immersing yourself into a video game has to be important. That’s where Oculus VR come in. Thanks once again to the power of crowdfunding, they’ve been able to develop the Oculus Rift, a revolutionary VR headset that quite literally puts you into the heart of a game. As games become more interactive, VR will be a major part of our entertainment future.
4. Eye Tribe
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
CEO: Sune Alstrup Johansen
What they do: Create and develop eye-control devices
Why they’re important: Touch screen is so last decade in Denmark! The innovative team at Eye Tribe are streets ahead of many of their rivals when it comes to optical motion sensor technology, and have developed products that are controlled not by your fingers, but by your eye movements. Eye tracking has been a big talking point in the tech sector for years, but the team at Eye Tribe are actually developing kit that really works. The principles have been around for a while, but what Eye Tribe are doing is making it faster, more effective and more user-friendly. The term ‘hands-free’ could really mean something in the future if these guys have anything to do with it!
5. Adapteva
Location: Lexington, Mass. USA
CEO: Andreas Olofsson
What they do: Make mini-supercomputers for consumers
Why they’re important: Fancy a supercomputer on your desk that takes up no more space than a credit card? The team at Adapteva have come up with Parallella, an open source, energy efficient, high performance, miniature computer based on the Epiphany multicore chips that the company has developed. Adapteva are at the forefront of microprocessor computer innovation, and could effectively revolutionise the computer industry with their Parallella concept in the next five years.
