50 Disruptive Technologies

8/21/2019 50 Disruptive Technologies

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DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

A Disruptive Technology is a technology or innovation, which is initially a combination of niche

technologies or innovative ideas to create a high end product or service, typically such which the existing

market does not expect; and when the technology becomes affordable and accessible, it eventually ends

up disrupting the existing consumer market and creating a market of its own.

• Sustaining Technologies are different from Disruptive Technologies in such that they only rely on evolutions and advancements in existing products,thus making firms compete against one another leveraging the improvements each firm can make in their product

• In the nascent stage of a disruptive innovation, the market is largely exploratory and mostly led by smaller, innovation driven and entrepreneurialfirms. Larger firms tend to stay away from disruptive innovations because either the margins are too tight for them; or their business structure is suchthat even willingly, they cannot enter the disruptive innovation market due to potential tradeoffs such as cannibalization

• Every product market is dynamic and bound to encounter disruptions at some stage or the other. Disruptive innovations can even hurt successful, wellmanaged companies that are responsive to their customers and have excellent R&D. Hence incumbent firms must constantly try to innovate and keeptheir products relevant in the market

Source: KPMG, McKinsey & Company, Accenture

DIAGRAM 1: Big Bang Market Adoption

FIGURE 1:

Different types of theories used to describe the marketresponse to Disruptive Technologies. The Rogers’

theory explains this response in the form of a bell curve(grey), while the recent Big Bang theory explains it inthe form of a shark fin curve (orange)



What follows is a list of 50 major Disruptive Technologies/ Innovations/ Products that currently exist in marketsaround the world; and have either caused disruptions in their corresponding sectors or are on the cusp of doing so

• In today’s age, technological advancements, speedy internet, super computing and so on are shaping the course of our economies, in additionto enabling us to enjoy highly comfortable lives, with the knowledge of the world literally at our fingertips

• We are today at the cusp of a probable technological revolution which might not only solve existing global problems, but could also transformthe world as we see it and our lives as welive them

• The world needs solutions to overcome a breadth of interconnected challenges, ranging from the economic to social issues, which couldtogether result in an improvement in the quality of lives globally, if addressed properly

• In such a dynamic environment, it could be potentially disastrous for individuals, companies, and even governments who refuse to embracethe emergence of the disruptive way of thinking, since many of these disruptive technologies possess the potential to trigger the solutions toour global problems

• Innovators and investors, who recognize and attempt to seize the various opportunities in the development of disruptive technologies, standto reap a first – mover advantage once these technologies manages to disrupt the existing market and capture the fancy of users around theworld

Source: ‘Six Converging Technology Trends’, KPMG India and Nasscom, 2013

THE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Major sectors which could be influenced by the Disruptive Technologies presented in this document includeManufacturing, Infrastructure, Energy, Healthcare, Education, Retail and Entertainment

FIGURE 2: Expected Potential Impact of Selected Disruptive Technologies by 2016



Source: McKinsey & Company, The Engineer Magazine

Concept: 3D printing is basically an additive manufacturing process in which objects are built layer by layer

rather than through moulding or subtractive techniques. This technology allows the user to build real

objects from virtual 3D objects. This is done by ‘cutting’ the virtual object in 2D slices and printing the real

object slice by slice.

Consumer markets

•Certain consumer product categories arerelatively easy to make using this technology

Manufacturing (General)

•Cost cutting through elimination of toolingcosts, reduction in wasted material, andreduced handling costs

Manufacturing (Mold's)

•Shortening setup times, eliminating toolingerrors and high efficient moulding process

#1: 3D PRINTING

Industry Application

Current Stage:

• 3D printing could generate an economic impact of USD 230 Billion to USD 550 Billion per year by 2025

• Major techniques include selective laser sintering, direct metal laser sintering, fused deposition modeling, stereo lithography and

inkjet bio-printing

• The biggest advantage of this technology is that it provides instant modeling to get an idea of the final product, which can cut costs and

time significantly



Source: McKinsey & Company, Cisco Systems, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group

Current Stage:

• Has the potential to create economic impact of

USD 2.7 Trillion to USD 6.2 Trillion annually by

2025

• Currently around 8.7 Billion devices are

connected to internet and the number is

expected to touch 40 Billion by 2020

• The major challenge is to make use of the flood

of the data that is provided by the sensors

Concept: The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept of embedding every object or living being with sensors

or actuators and generating their virtual representation on the internet. Identifying all objects in thisunique manner can enable us to effectively track, monitor and even control them.

Manufacturing: • Identifying bottlenecks

• Optimizing processes

Healthcare: • Constant health monitoring• Detecting counterfeit drugs

Retail: • Keeping track of inventory levels

• Product details

Energy: • Smart Grid applications

Agriculture: • Soil sensors and Leaf sensors


#2: THE INTERNET OF THINGS

Urban Development:

• Traffic monitoring• Waste and Water management through smart meters

and leak detection sensors



Source: KPMG, International Journal of Internet Science, McKinsey & Company

Concept:

Big Data means the data sets with sizes beyond capacities of commonly used software tools to capture,

curate, manage, and process the data within a tolerable elapsed time. Big Data Analytics technology

refers to storing and managing large chunk of data in a single location for analysis and evaluation at laterstages. However, the term Big Data is quite variable in terms of data sizes ranging from few dozens

terabytes to many petabytes of data in a single data set.

Current Stage:

• The global market of big data isexpected to increase from USD 5.4

Billion in 2012 to USD 48 Billion till

2016

•

Clubbed with technologies like cloudcomputing, social media and mobile

internet; Big Data Analytics can offerbenefits to sectors like education,

defense, aerospace, government

services and several others

Retail • Improved marketing, merchandising,operations, supply chain and after sales service

Healthcare •Real-time exploration and predictive

analytics of clinical data for R & D

Telecom •Measure and analyze customer activities,

customer churn, call handling at call centers

Finance •Generate customer insight and reduce

fraudulent practices


#3: BIG DATA ANALYTICS



source: KPMG, McKinsey & Company

Concept: Cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of

your computer's hard drive. Here cloud is simply the metaphor for internet. This technology cansignificantly reduce the need of the personal storage devices and hence can cut down user cost

substantially.

Healthcare • Access and retrieve information storedin scattered systems in real time

Telecom • Reduced cost in setting up infrastructure

Retail • Data stored and accessed remotely forinventory reducing the time and cost

Public Sector • Easy and fast access to data andapplications remotely

Information Technology

• Cost cutting in infrastructure development asrenting a cloud server is far cheaper than developingone


#4: CLOUD CO MPUTING

Current Stage:

• The total economic impact of cloud technology could be USD 1.7 Trillion to USD 6.2 Trillion annually by 2025

• Cloud technology is the cornerstone for some of the most promising disruptive technologies like mobile internet,

automation of knowledge work, internet of things and big data

• Some of the major research areas for this technology are network capacity, security of data and cultural resistance



Source: McKinsey & Company, Inmesol Power Solutions

Concept: Any use or manipulation of materials at a scale of less than 100 nanometers (10-7 meters) can betermed as nanotechnology. Advanced nano-materials can be created by direct modification of molecular

sized nano-particles using tools like atomic force microscopes, electron beam or laser lithography whichare capable of dealing with nano-scale features.

Healthcare

• Rapid, inexpensive electronic DNA sequencing

Energy• Application in solar cells

• For energy storage as supercapacitors

Electronics

• Integrated Circuits• Transparent conducting electrodes, which can be

used as touchscreens; LCDs

Current Stage:

• For healthcare, which will be the most benefitted sector through this technology, advanced nano-materials could have a potentialeconomic impact of USD 150 Billion to USD 500 Billion annually by 2025

• Graphene is the most promising advanced material. It is one sixth the weight of steel and 100 times stronger. The production ofGraphene has been started, however at high cost and in limited quantities


#5: ADVANCED NANO-MATERIALS



Source: KPMG

Concept: Mobile devices have changed the way people access digital content. Smartphones and tabletshave brought rich, digital content to the fingertips of consumers. The surging popularity of mobile deviceslike smartphones and tablet computers has created ripples across the computing industry.

Retail• Browse, compare and buy products online

Healthcare • A patient can seek medical advice more

often and have flexibility in terms of point of care•Rise of mHealth services

Government Sector

•Involving citizens for better governance throughmaximum reach to the citizens

Finance • Easy and fast access to banking services

Current Stage:

• Mobile handset and tablet shipments are envisaged to grow from 1567 Million in 2012 to 2162 Million till 2016

• Today mobile devices are available in desirable size and shape at very reasonable price very easily. This includes mobile phones,

tablets and mobile computers

• Gujarat government has introduced m – Governance system for more involvement of citizens. One such example is of Rajkot

Municipal Corporation, which provides SMS facility for interactive services, alert services and management services


#6: MOBILE DEVICES



Source: Research and Markets

Concept: Augmented Reality (AR) offers a live view of a physical, real-world environment whose elementsare enhanced by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. An ARsystem generates a composite view for the user that is the combination of the real scene viewed by theuser and a virtual scene generated by the system that augments the scene with additional information.

Healthcare • Better view of body parts inside to aid thesurgery

Defense • Improved navigation for Soldiers

•Access to battlefield data in real time

Education • Can enhance a standard curriculum

•Better understanding by visual graphics

Construction • Visualization of georeferenced models of •

construction sites, underground structures, • cables andpipes using mobile devices

Entertainment

•Gaming, videos, music, photos, personalized apps

Current Stage:

• AR has gradually moved from the world of science fiction, to our everyday lives and now everyone from retailers to

healthcare providers have embraced AR

• The growth of the augmented reality applications market is expected to be exponential with the revenue growth

from USD 181.25 Million in 2011 to USD 5,155.92 Million by 2016, at a CAGR of 95.35% from 2011 to 2016

• High cost is currently a major challenge that in the large scale application of Augmented Reality


#7: AUGMENTED REALITY



Source: McKinsey & Company, British Journal of Cancer

Concept: DNA sequencing technologies, big data analytics and technologies with ability to modify

organisms altogether are known as next generation genomics; these could power rapid acceleration in thefield of biology as well as health care. This technology allows manipulation of genes for innovative disease

treatments and new types of genetically engineered products.

Healthcare

•Easy and early identification and cure of typical

diseases like type 2 Diabetes•Accurate and quick cure of cancer at low costs

Agriculture

•Development of advanced varieties with higherpotential value

Tissue Engineering

•Creation of artificial organs as well as organisms

Current Stage:

• Next-generation genomics could have apotential economic impact of USD 700

Billion to USD 1.6 Trillion per year by 2025

• Advanced genomics may offer tremendouspotential to develop personalized

treatments for cardiovascular diseases

• Next generation sequencing representsnewer and cheaper methods for sequencingor decoding DNA

• Technical challenges include sequencing

samples of low quality and/or quantity,reliable identification of structural and

copy number variation and assessment of

intratumour heterogeneity


#8: NEXT GENERATION GENOMICS



Source: McKinsey & Company Cisco Visual Networking Index

Concept: Mobile Internet is a combination of mobile computing devices, high-speed wireless connectivity,and applications. Basically it is the ability to access the internet on the mobile phone. This technology hasbrought a revolution in the information technology field with availability of as much information as

required at just the tap of your finger.

Healthcare • Treatment of chronic diseases

• Remote monitoring of patients

Education • Online admission and classes

• Improve learning inside and outside classrooms

Public Sector • Citizen services

Retail • Online Shopping

Finance • Bill Payment and Online Transactions

Current Stage:

• Mobile Internet usage could generate global economic impact of USD 3.7 Trillion to USD 10.8 Trillion per year by 2025

• Global mobile internet traffic reached 1.5 exabytes per month at the end of 2013 with over half a Billion (526 Million)

mobile devices and connections added in 2013

• The major challenges for the limitless growth of this technology are to pack more computing power, sharper displays,

multiple sensors, and powerful antennas into ever-smaller mobile devices


#9: MOBILE INTERNET



Source: McKinsey & Company

Concept: Use of computers to perform tasks that rely on complex analyses, subtle judgments, and

creative problem solving. This technology enables computing into new realms and creates new

relationships between knowledge workers and machines. This facilitates the replacement of man crewwith machines for doing the basic jobs.

Healthcare • Chronic care

•Cancer treatment diagnostics

Education • One-on-one attention andcoaching

Business • Clerical

•Customer service and sales

Professional Services • Science andengineering

•IT • Finance • Legal

Current Stage:• The potential economic impact of knowledge automation tools could reach USD 5.2 Trillion to USD 6.7 Trillion per year by 2025

• Technological, regulatory and organizational concerns can be some key areas of focus before the full utilization of thistechnology

#10: AUTOMATION OF KNOWLEDGE WORK




Source: McKinsey & Company, International Federation of Robotics

Concept: Traditional robots can perform the tasks which require exceptional speed, precision, stamina or

strength excellently in specific conditions. But the need of the hour is to have robots that have greater

mobility, dexterity, flexibility, and adaptability in much diverse situations. This has encouraged the

development of advanced robotics technologies. These technologies allows the robots to take complex judgments and execute tasks on their own.

Healthcare • Robotic surgery

•Robotic Prosthetics

Manufacturing • Benefit in production line

•To perform repetitive, heavy, or dangerousprocedures

Service sector • Cleaning and Maintenance

•Customer service and sales

Defense • Automated Vehicles

•Auto Guided Weapons

Aerospace • Space Shuttles

• Aircrafts

Current Stage:

• By 2025 advanced robotics could have a

worldwide economic impact of USD 1.7 Trillion to

USD 4.5 Trillion annually

• Apart from advanced technologies, high cost

remains the major challenge for the worldwide

acceptance of advanced robotics

• For commercial adaption of this technology,

investments of scale USD 1 Trillion to USD 1.6Trillion may be required

• For many businesses, advanced robotics promises

significantly reduced labor costs, greater

flexibility and reduced time to deliver products to

the marketplace


#11: ADVANCED ROBOTICS



Source: KPMG

Concept: Social Media is an instrument of communication; it is a platform that not only gives informationbut also allows users to interact with each other. It is not just a tool for communicating with friends andacquaintances; Social Media now exerts tremendous influence over the people around the world of all

ages, to get and share information.

Retail • Connects with the customers and reach out to thempersonally to know their interest and preferences

Healthcare • Remote patient care and monitoring

•One-to-many doctor patient communication

Government Sector • Enhance the outreach of government

• Effective cit izen engagement and communication with all

stakeholders in real-time

Finance • Understanding the customers’ opinion about

services and products• Quick response to customer feedback

Current Stage:

• Total number of social media accounts are expected to grow from 3.13 Billion in 2012 to 4.87 Billion till 2016

• The major advantage of this technology is that it facilitates open communication, leading to enhanced information discovery

and delivery

• Social Media is being used extensively by organizations for branding, advertising and corporate communications

#12: SOCIAL MEDIA




Source: McKinsey & Company, Commonwealth

Scientific and Industrial Research Organization

Concept: This includes vehicles which can be manipulated with little or no human intervention. Thistechnology includes on-board systems which continuously transmit information about vehicle status andlocation and this information allows real time monitoring as well as maneuvering if needed by remote

operator.

Logistics • Long distance transport of goods

•Deliveries of products from retail outlets to usersusing drones

Defense • Unmanned Vehicles• Automated Aircrafts

Automotive • Automatically driven vehicles

Aerospace • Automated Space crafts

Current Stage:

• The potential economic impact of autonomous cars and trucks could be USD 200 Billion to USD 1.9 Trillion per year by 2025

• Currently, we have autonomous vehicles, although still in experimental and development stage, the technology is entering consumermarket with systems such as improved cruise control, automated parking, low speed autonomous driving, which in turn could lead toa full autonomy in driving

• Benefits of this technology include reduced accidents, traffic reduction, higher safe speeds, cost reduction, time savings etc


#13: AUTONOMOUS AND NEAR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES



Automotive

•Can make electric vehicles a viable optionto conventional vehicles

Energy/ Power

•Rural and underserved areas can beprovided with electricity

•To store significant amount of energy foruse in peak times

Source: McKinsey & Company, Energy Storage Association

Concept: Conversion of electricity into a form that can be stored and converted back into electricalenergy for later use, providing energy on demand. This concept allows users to generate energy in times

of low demand and store and use later in times of peak demands.

Current Stage:• The economic impact of energy storage technologies has the potential to reach USD 90 Billion to USD 635 Billion annually in 2025

• Some of the common technologies for energy storage are solid state batteries, flow batteries, flywheels, compressed air energy

storage, thermal energy storage and Pumped Hydro Energy Storage(PHES)

• The major advantage of this technology is for peak load shifting. This allows provision of power in times of peak demands withcomparatively less infrastructure

• However for all the benefits to be realized, these energy storage methods must be cost competitive with other methods


#14: ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE



Source: McKinsey & Company, Broadband Commission for Digital Development, International Telecommunication Union

Concept: Providing affordable and accessible internet services to almost all sections of the society,overcoming logistical, technological, economic and geographical challenges that might prevent suchinternet access. Ubiquitous broadband itself is not a new technology, but an application of the internet

technology to the masses, which possesses great potential to help in the socio – economic development ofthe world.

All sectors

• Having ubiquitous internet facilities can help inthe commercial development of businesses, bothfrom a financial as well as information sharingpoint of view

• Internet can be used a powerful tool for the rapidsocial development of currently developing orunder developed and economically backwardnations

Current Stage:

• As of 2013, 134 countries had National Broadband Plans; India’s policy for National Optical Fibre Network was adopted in 2011

• According to the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, more than 45% global internet penetration is envisaged by2015


#15: UBIQUITOUS BROADBAND



Source: McKinsey & Company, businessinsider.in, hongkiat.com

Concept: Paying for goods and/ or services using a combination of computer hardware, internet and

digital stored value systems, without the need of exchanging hard cash physically. Digital payments alsoinclude Electronic Fund Transfers and digital currencies. Near Field Communication, Bluetooth Low

Energy and Mobile Wallets are examples of technologies that aid in conducting digital payments.

Retail/ Consumer Markets

• Replacement of offline payments by these cashlesspayment technologies

• Reduction in the risk of physically carrying cash

• Boost to e – commerce markets

• Storing not just cash but coupons and otherimportant cards via mobile wallets

Current Stage:• A number of countries, banks and organizations have significantly embraced Digital Payment systems; and it is possible to use

credit cards and electronic cash transfer to pay for services even in another country

• Bluetooth Low Energy can replace Near Field Communication in the coming future because of its larger operating range andwider applicability

• In addition to e – Commerce and e – payments, m – commerce (through mobile phones) is also a major contributor to thegrowing popularity of digital payments


#16: DIGITAL PAYMENTS



All sectors

•Assigning biometric identities to individuals can be considered morereliable than other traditional identifiers, since biometric identifiersare unique to each person and difficult to be replicated

•Biometric identities can also help reducing scams or fraudulentactivities against individuals

•Biometric identifiers can also help to track persons having criminalrecords or linked to terrorist groups

Source: UIDAI, McKinsey & Company, Center for

Global Development, about.com, fastcompany.com

Concept: The technique of assigning an unique identification number or code to each and everyindividual, linked to the person’s certain biological characteristics, which helps ensure the identity of thatperson only during all activities related to the identification number carried out by the person. Biometricidentifiers can include fingerprint scans, iris recognition, retinal scans or DNA identification.

Current Stage:

• The technology is fairly highly implemented in developed countries with a number of countries also having biometric ID card scanningsystems installed at places frequented by people

• Biometric ID cards are also linked to sensitive areas in organizations to limit access to public; and also to bank accounts to ensuresafety of monetary transactions

• Adaptive Biometrics, biometrics linked to the brain and heart signals are some of the recent advancements in this sector

• India has issued Biometric ID cards (Aadhaar Cards) to more than 56 crore citizens under the UIDAI; this database is the largest

biometric database in the world


#17: UNIVERSAL BIOMETRIC IDENTITY



Source: American Cancer Society, mdanderson.org,

cancer.net, allergytherapeutics.com, hcplive.com

Concept: Method of treatment using the patient’s own immune system to fight diseases such as cancer or

allergies, by either stimulating the immune system to work smarter, or by giving artificial immune system

proteins to the body. Immunotherapy treatments, also known as biotherapy or biological responsemodification, either boost the general immunity of the body, or train the immune system to specifically

attack malevolent cells.

Healthcare

• Medicinal treatments for certain diseases need to betaken on a regular basis, sometimes at a high cost, andeven then might not be fully effective; immunotherapyprovides the option of directly attacking the root causeof the disease and strengthening the immune systemof the body

Current Stage:

• Immunotherapy research is currently focused on finding effective treatments for cancer and allergies

• Immunotherapies need to undergo proper regulatory and legal approvals before they can be commerciallyimplemented

• Major types of biological response modifiers include Interferons, Interleukins, Monoclonal Antibodies, Vaccines and

Colony Stimulating Factors


#18: IMMUNOTHERAPY



Source: Citi Group, The Economist, National

Association of Insurance Commissioners, artemis.bm

Concept: Financial tool, whereby insurers pool contractual debts, and transfer major risks on their books,through bonds or securities to capital market investors, thus reducing their exposure to insurance risks,reducing their costs of re – insurance, and allowing them increased liquidity to issue more insurancepolicies and services. Catastrophe bonds, Sidecars and Life Insurance Securitization are importantsegments of the Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) market.

Finance

•Increasing risks of disasters and high mortality rates areputting pressure on insurers by increasing the risks they face;transferring risks to capital markets could be a cheaper,transparent and more liquidity providing model for insurancecompanies as compared to re – insurance

•Lower cost of capital and efficient risk transfer possiblethrough ILS; can offer investors a chance to be more prudentabout how their invested capital is utilized

Current Stage:

• Including all sources of ILS capital, the amount of alternative capital in this segment could almost equal USD 60 Billion by 2015

• ILS have been around for more than 15 years now, but only in recent years have they started putting real pressure on re –

insurers

• After the financial crisis of 2008, a number of stricter regulations have come into effect regarding ILS which are aimed at reducingthe risks posed by ILS and the issuers of securities


#19: INSURANCE SECURITIZATION



Agriculture

•Increasing populations and demands for food aremaking it necessary to optimize and improve currentcrop production techniques, to ensure constant highyields; precision agriculture can help in forecastingcrop outputs and thus making relevant modificationsto boost these outputs


Source: Forbes, IBM, Cleantech Group, Michigan State University

Concept: An agriculture management and optimization technique, which makes use of sensors, Global Positioning System

(GPS), big data and predictive analytics to collect real – time data, and processes it to understand spatial and temporal

variations across a single field or multiple fields, or even variations in humidity, soil quality and crop maturity, thus giving aholistic overview of the impacts of current agriculture methods being used, and to make relevant modifications in the same,as per the data collected. Pictures of the fields are also taken using satellite imagery or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV),which combined with GPS and sensor – recorded data, precisely pinpoint the current crop status of any location in the field.

Current Stage:• Precision agriculture technologies currently require expensive and robust IT infrastructure and monitoring resources

• Venture Capital funds focused on agriculture technology are being established to promote precision agriculture

• Cleantech startups related to food and agriculture reportedly experienced the biggest growth during the Q4 of 2013

• Weather forecasting and modeling, cloud computing, data analytics and data management systems related to food andagriculture will also witness growth in conjunction with precision agriculture

#20: PRECISION AGRICULTURE




Current Stage:

• Hybrid vehicles are considered a bridge between conventional fuel powered vehicles and fully electric vehicles

• A number of hybrid vehicle options are available to users today including full hybrids, mild hybrids and plug – in hybrids,depending on the users technical and financial preferences

• Companies such as Toyota, Honda, Ford and Chevrolet are major players in the hybrid cars space

Source: howstuffworks.com, fueleconomy.gov, hybridcars.com

Concept: Any vehicle that combines more than one source of energy to provide propulsion for the functioning of thevehicle is called a hybrid vehicle. Various sources of energy for hybrid vehicles include gasoline, diesel, natural gas, electric

batteries, biofuel, solar energy, wind power and even human muscle power. The most common types of hybrid vehiclesused today combine a fossil fuel source with electricity. Hybrid vehicles include cars, motorbikes, trains, buses, cranes,boats and even submarines.

Automotive

•Hybrid vehicles provide users with benefits such asmore fuel efficiency, automatic shut off when notdriving, regenerative braking; and lesser emissions

Energy/ Environment

•With such a huge global demand for vehicles, hybridvehicles can help conserve energy, and also helpreduce the carbon footprint

#21: HYBRID VEHICLES



Source: moneycontrol.com, howstuffworks.cometailingindia.com, searchcio.techtarget.com

Concept: Business to Customer (B2C) interaction for the sale of goods and/ or services over the internet is known as e – tailing(electronic retailing). e – tailing commonly involves an online brochure of goods, along with the user interface to purchase these goodsand pay for them through a variety of payment methods, such as online payment portals. e – tailing also involves a bigger external

logistical network of warehouses and product transport and delivery systems.

Retail/ Consumer Markets

•e – tailing can completely eliminate the physical requirement of going tobrick and mortar retailers for purchase of goods/ services

•This makes the offering attractive for consumers who have a time orlogistical constraint which hinders them from actually going to retail outlets

•Consumers can browse through a multitude of product offerings, either onthe same e – tail website, or on any number of such websites, beforechoosing the optimum product according to their taste and budget

Current Stage:

• e – tailing players have started capturing major market shares, boosted by prompt deliveries and novelties such as order tracking services andCash On Delivery (COD) applications available

• The Indian e – tailing market is expected to grow to around USD 22 Billion in the next five years, with major players such as Flipkart, Myntra andAmazon India expected to grow around 70 – 100 % on a year – on – year basis

• m – commerce (shopping via mobiles) has also given a boost to the e – tailing industry, with almost all major e – tail players offering mobileshopping applications


#22: e – TAILING



Source: Ekso Bionics, howstuffworks.com, extremetech.com


Concept: A bodysuit having a hard outer covering, and using a combination of motors, hydraulics and power supply devices

to primarily boost the strength and endurance of the user. Such exoskeletons can be used to leverage the benefits oftechnology to augment the capabilities of the human body, either in extreme conditions or in the presence of somedisability.

Defense

•The soldiers of the future will be able to wearsuch exoskeletons to navigate through hostileconditions during wars or rescue operations

Healthcare

•Exoskeletons are also being developed to helppeople with lower body disabilities to stand andmove around

Current Stage:

• A large number of companies and organizations including the US Army are working on developing exoskeletons for a defense as well ashealthcare point of view

• According to Panasonic, the world’s first affordable and mass produced exoskeleton will be on sale 2015 onwards, costing around USD 5000

• Issues concerning the development of exoskeletons include durable power supply, flexibility and motion controllers

#23: POWERED EXOSKELETON



Source: digitaljournal.com; gizmodo.com; whatis.com


Concept: The interpretation of hand gestures and/ or facial expressions by a computer or a machine, thusreducing the use of conventional mechanical input devices, whilst increasing the Human Machine

Interface (HMI). Gesture recognition uses a combination of computer programming, computer vision andimage processing; and input devices such as wired gloves and a variety of cameras.

Entertainment

•Using gestures to control devices such as musicplayers, smart phones and tablets

Manufacturing

•Using gestures to operate control panels inmanufacturing units can save time

Healthcare

•Patients with disabilities will also be able to operatedevices having gesture recognition

Education

•Novel and interactive methods of education can beintroduced

Current Stage:

• Current gesture recognition devices use combinations of accelerometers, gyroscopes and infrared detectors assensors; and are already finding applications in gaming consoles, smartphones and so on

• The global Gesture Recognition market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.2% over 2013-2018

#24: GESTURE RECOGNITION



Source: The Complete University Guide; www.moocs.co; www.coursera.org

Concept: A Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) is a method of providing online education to a very large number ofstudents across the globe, free or at a very negligible cost as compared to conventional higher educational methods. MOOCstypically involve a MOOC platform, wherein students can access educational content in the form of lectures, reading materialand related assignments, all online, thus reducing physical, financial and even time zone related difficulties . MOOCs may or

may not grant credits to the applicants, and have different course durations depending on the course.

Education

•Access to a broad range of courses, across sectors, and capable of

catering to an almost unlimited number of students•Removing the physical and financial barriers can help spreadeducation massively in developing countries and to people whocannot afford higher education

•MOOC providers charge a nominal amount for certification; whichis also acceptable to many students taking the course

Current Stage:• MOOCs bring together a large number of stakeholders such as MOOC providers, Universities, Internet services

providers and Venture Capitalists• Around 2230 MOOC players are currently operational, including profit/ not for profit organizations; and even

conglomerates of Universities• Adaptive testing, peer grading, typing pattern recognition and other such technologies are being developed to reduce

the effect of cheating in MOOCs


#25: MASSIVE ONLINE OPEN COURSE



Source: Department of Computer Engineering, Çukurova University; US Air Force


Concept: Speech recognition is the ability of a computer, computer software program or hardware deviceto decode the human voice into digitized speech that can be interpreted by the computer or hardware

device. This technology enables us to operate a device or perform commands without using the

conventional input devices.

Current Stage:

• Speech recognition has developed

significantly in past few years. Today,this technology is offered in mobile

devices as well as computers throughAutomatic Speech Recognition (ASR)

software

• The accuracy of speech recognition hasalso been increasing. The F-35 pilot-

aircraft of US Air Force offers system

speech recognition with an accuracy of

~98%

• Apart from technical challenges, thereliability of the inputs interpreted bythe software remains a key issue ofresearch

Healthcare

•Medical documentation processes

•Maintaining EHR (Electronic Health Records)

Defense

•Operating high tech aircrafts smoothly

•Better control over weapons due to ease of input

Business

•Easy and fast document production with reducedlabor of typing physically

Others

• A boon for visually impaired people

•Hands free computing • Home automation

•Vehicle navigation systems • Mobile telephony

#26: SPEECH RECOGNITION



Source: D – Wave Systems, howstuffworks.com, about.com, extremetech.com, guardian.com

Concept: A method of computing that uses the principles of quantum physics to store information as a 1 or a 0 ora superposition of both at the same time, instead of conventional binary computing which can store informationonly as a 1 or a 0, but not a superposition of the two. Using quantum superposition, in conjunction with theeffects of quantum tunneling and entanglement, makes quantum computers consider all possible combinations ofquantum bits (qubits) simultaneously, thus enabling them to perform calculations much faster than conventionaldigital computers.

All sectors•With tremendous amounts of data being generated acrosssectors everyday, superior computing abilities could makedata analysis and management easier

•Applications in cryptography and data encryption vis-à-visdata protection

Current Stage:

• A number of Government agencies around the world are funding Quantum Computing programs from a national safety point of view• Quantum computing is still more of a theoretical concept which is in its practical infancy• The D – Wave is the only commercial Quantum Computer avai lable in the world, priced around USD 10 Million and with very limited

computing power; companies such as IBM are also developing Quantum Computers• High costs remain a major challenge for Quantum Computers as of now; topics such as coherence on a single qubit level and stringing

multiple fully entangled qubits together are major current areas of research in this domain


#27: QUANTUM COMPUTING



Source: BerkeleyBioDiesel, http://biofuel.org.uk/


Concept: A Biofuel can be described as a fuel that contains energy from geologically recent carbon

fixation. These fuels are extracted from living organisms such as plants or microalgae. Biofuels differ fromconventional fossil fuels in a way that Biofuels can be regenerated in short time period making them arenewable energy source.

Power

•Electricity generation is the single largest use of fuel

•Biofuel can offer a viable alternative to conventionally usedcoal and natural gas

Automotive

•Less dependence on fossil fuels

•Clean and renewable fuel

Energy

•Energy and cost efficient alternative to the conventionallyused fuels like wood, natural gas etc.

Current Stage:

• Among the various biofuels like Ethanol,

Biodiesel, Green Diesel, Biofuel Gasoline, and

Vegetable Oil, the most promising Biofuel todayis the Biodiesel

• In US, the NFESC, with several biodieselindustries, is developing biodiesel technologies.Another group of Spanish developers hasannounced a new biofuel made from trash

• In India, the development of biofuels pivotsaround the cultivation and processing Jatropha

plant seeds, which can grow on the wastelands

across India

• Offering the biggest advantage of partially tofully replacement of the fossil fuels with cleanand ecological fuels, Biofuels face technical

challenges. Besides cost, the size of land needed

to produce the biofuels in mass is very large

#28: BIOFUELS

http://biofuel.org.uk/

http://biofuel.org.uk/



Healthcare

•Restoring sensations such as touch and temperature topeople using prosthetics

•To be used by patients with diseases such as Parkinson’sdisease and epilepsy to constantly monitor health data

•Applications wherein electronic skin will also be able toadminister medicine to patients are being explored

Source: IEEE Spectrum; nature.com; news.discovery.com


Concept: Thin and flexible electronic material which can mimic the human skin in multiple ways. Using acombination of nanotechnology, sensors and conducting materials, electronic skin has been created whichcan sense pressure and temperature; and even stretch and heal itself. Electronic skin can be used to impartthe ability of sensations to people using prosthetics and also to enable robots to feel human – like

sensations.

Current Stage:

• A research team at Stanford University, USA has developed a self – healing skin; a research team at UC Berkeley, USAhas also developed an electronic skin which also lights up when touched

• Researchers have also constructed an electronic skin which is a combination of sensors that detect temperature andmotion, resistive RAM for data storage, micro heaters and drugs; which is capable of monitoring the health of patientsand administering drugs itself

#29: ELECTRONIC SKIN

#30 CROSSBAR MEMORY



Source: Crossbar Inc.; venturebeat.com


Concept: Crossbar Memory is a unique type of Non – Volatile Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM)

being developed by Crossbar, based in California, USA, which is a memory format that allows storagecapacity of upto 1 Terabyte (TB) on a chip the size of a postage stamp. Further, Crossbar technology can bestacked vertically in 3D, providing multiple TB of storage on a single chip. According to Crossbar, thismemory can disrupt the existing USD 60 Billion Flash memory market.

Entertainment and Consumer Markets

•High storage capacity in laptops, tabletcomputers, smartphones and gaming systems

Manufacturing and Business

•Will be able to boost the success of the Internet ofThings and the Industrial Internet

•Extra storage capacities for IT systems and Cloud

service providers•Real time automotive applications

•Application in smart meters and thermostats

Current Stage:

• By 2016, the demand for non – volatile memoryis expected to reach USD 48.4 Billion

•Crossbar has successfully developed itsdemonstration product in a commercial fab. Thisworking silicon is a fully integrated monolithic

CMOS controller and memory array chip

• Crossbar is currently completing thecharacterization and optimization of this device

#30: CROSSBAR MEMORY

#31 CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER



Source: Solar Energy Development Programmatic EIS, US Department of Energy


Concept: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Technologies use mirrors or lenses to concentrate the sunlight

into a relatively small area, where this light is converted to heat. This heat then creates steam that drivessteam engines to generate electric power. CSP systems have very wide ranges form remote powersystems as small as few kilowatts up to grid-connected power plants of 100s of megawatts (MW).

Energy/ Power

•CSP is most economically viable in largeinstallations. This allows for economies of scale inproduction and installation, leading to pricereductions

•Moreover electricity system operators areaccustomed to deal with large installations, whichfurther help lead to widespread acceptance

Current Stage:

• The most widespread CSP technology used is parabolic-trough plants which covers ~90% of CSP plants

• Nokh Plant located in Rajasthan, by Godavari Green Energy is one of the major CSP plants in India. Spread over 400 acres of land, the planthas the capacity of 50 MW

• The major challenge faced by this technology is the higher cost compared to other alternate technologies

• With proper financial support global CSP capacity could reach 147 GW by 2020

#31: CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER

#32 WEARABLE BLUETOOTH RING



Source: Indiegogo, bgr.in, wearfin.com


Concept: Wearable Bluetooth ring (Fin) is an elegant tiny device that can be worn on thumb to convert the user’s palm into

a gesture interface. With this technology one can control multiple devices supporting Bluetooth without even touching

them. Fin can transmit natural gestures as commands to any connected Bluetooth device.

Entertainment

•Wireless control of smartphones, TVs,and other connected devices

Defense

•Remote controlling of the weapons

Augmented Reality

•Controlling head mounted displays

Virtual Modelling

•Better visualization of concept models

Current Stage:

• Wearable Bluetooth ring is still in its research and development phase• High retail price is one of the prime concerns for widespread acceptance of this technology. However the cost could be cut to a reasonable

amount once it mass production commences• Among the other benefits those will transform the way of living, the most important benefit is that the palm can be a touch interface for the

visually impaired; and Fin can be used to control disability aids with the least amount of physical stress

#32: WEARABLE BLUETOOTH RING

#33 HOLOGRAPHIC TELEPRESENCE



Source: Musion, The Telegraph, whatis.com, telepresenceoptions.com


Concept: Projecting realistic, moving and 3D images of far off people or surroundings at some other place, to give theimpression of the far off persons/ objects actually being present at the location where the images are projected. The imagesof the subject are captured, compressed, transmitted over an internet network; then decompressed and projected at thetarget location using lasers, in a process similar to creating holograms.

Business/ Communication

•Using Holographic Telepresence in business meetings/ to address publicgatherings, to cut the travel times and logistical costs of the participants

Entertainment

•Using the technology to recreate artists and performers on the stage, whomight not be able to actually perform

Healthcare

•Combined with telemedicine, the technology can be used to obtain medicaladvice from experts at far off locations

Education

• Interactive methods of teaching can be introduced; students can be taughtby subject experts located at distant places

Current Stage:

• Telepresence technologies such as videoconferencing are already actively used for long distance communication• Britain based Musion uses an effect named ‘Pepper’s Ghost’ , popular with illusionists to beam moving images onto sloped glass. Poland based company Leia

uses laser projectors to beam images onto a cloud of water vapor. This results in an effect wherby3D objects can be viewed and manipulated from every angle• Holographic Telepresence has been used to even create projections of dead artists for musical performances during events• Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi extensively used innovative holographic telepresence while campaigning for the National Elections 2014; this has

also been featured in the list of Guinness World Records

#33: HOLOGRAPHIC TELEPRESENCE

#34 DNA LASER PRINTING




Source: Cambrian Genomics, The Economic Times, www.prote.in, 3dprintingindustry.com, laserfocusworld.com,extremetech.com

Concept: A technology that uses laser to etch DNA on a molecular level. This etched DNA can then beinjected into a cell to generate an organism programmed as per the specific input parameters. Thetechnique uses microarray cloning to mass-produce a Million oligonucleotides in parallel, and then usesmassively parallel DNA sequencing to sort the different DNA variants and identify those with the desiredsequence.

Healthcare

•The Laser Printing technology is expected to reduce costs of

generating the DNA, while also making the process moreaccurate and error free

•This cost reduction could result in advancements in medicaltreatments

•Opens up the possibility of preserving animals on the verge ofextinction, and also of generating new living beings

Current Stage:

• Traditional DNA printing is well known throughout the world, however a major concern is its very high cost andobserved high error rate. These shortfalls could be overcome by the Laser Printing technology

• US based Cambrian Genomics is leading the way in testing and developing DNA Laser Printing technology

• This technology is still in its nascent stage and once fully developed can open up the doors to personalized healthcareapplications

#34: DNA LASER PRINTING

#35: OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION (OTEC)



Source: OTEC News, OTEC Okinawa


Concept: OTEC is a marine renewable energy technology that harnesses the solar energy absorbed by

the oceans to generate electric power. OTEC uses the temperature gradient between cooler deep andwarmer shallow or surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce useful work, generally in the

form of electricity.

Energy / Power

•Clean and renewable source of energy

•A base load electricity generation system which generates electricity 24 hours,all year long.

Synergetic Products

•Fresh water: Fresh water of quality at par with standard desalination plants

•Food: Nutrient rich cold water from the deep ocean

•Cooling: Cold water can be utilized for applications such as coolinggreenhouses

Current Stage:

• World’s first operating OTEC plant is located in Okinawa island, Japan. The electricity generation capacity of the plantis estimated to be 50 kW

• Lockheed Martin group along with Hong Kong-based Reignwood Group has planned to develop a OTEC pilot plant

that will be built off the coast of southern China

#35: OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION (OTEC)

#36: BALLOON POWERED INTERNET



Source: Project Loon, theverge.com, techcrunch.com


Concept: A project currently being undertaken by Google that involves a series of high – altitude

balloons, floating in the stratosphere, higher than the altitude at which aeroplanes fly, and creating anaerial wireless network, to which users on the ground can connect to, if they have the correspondingreceivers. The flight of the balloons is controlled by the direction of the wind, and the internet signal

bounces from a terrestrial antenna, up to the balloon network and then down to the actual users on theearth.

All sectors

•The aim of such projects is to provideaffordable and accessible internetconnectivity to developing/ underdeveloped areas, where currently internetaccess is difficult to provide due to eitherlogistical or cost issues

Current Stage:

• Google’s Project Loon has been started in June 2013 with an experimental pilot in New Zealand; the results of the pilot are being used toconstantly refine the technology in a research facility in California’s Central Valley

• Project Loon aims to establish a ring of uninterrupted connectivity around the 40th southern parallel during this pilot stage

• One of the balloons used in the project has been able to traverse the globe in an impressive 22 days

• In addition to the balloons, solar powered drones can also come up as a similar technology for providing global internet access

#36: BALLOON POWERED INTERNET

#37: PROSTHESIS



Source: Britannica Encyclopedia; www.howstuffworks.com


Concept: A prosthesis or prosthetic device is an artificial substitute for a missing human or animal bodypart. Prosthetic devices include, but are not limited to artificial limbs, eyes, ears; and even replacementsfor the heart, kidneys, skin and blood. Prosthetics are extremely helpful to amputees who might have losttheir body parts in accidents or because of diseases. Prosthetics need to be carefully designed and

manufactured as per the patient’s needs.

Healthcare

•To enable amputees to lead better lives by attaching artificial

substitutes for their amputed body parts•Lightweight and high strength materials used these days haveeven made it possible for prosthetics to help the patient inparticipating in games and sports

•Neurocognitive prosthetics are helping patients to physicallyreconstitute or augment cognitive processes such as executivefunction, attention, language and memory

Current Stage:

• Cutting edge materials such as carbon fiber, titanium and Kevlar allow prosthetics to be stronger and lighter, thus reducing the effort requiredto control them

• Combinations of hydraulics, mechanical linkages, motors, computer microprocessors, and innovative combinations of these technologies givemuch more control to the prosthetic user; Myoelectric limbs, which control the limbs by converting muscle movements to electrical signals,have started to replace the cable operated limbs

• Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing are used to design and manufacture prosthetics; prosthetics generally costaround USD 5000 – USD 35000

#37: PROSTHESIS

#38: DIGITAL PILL



Source: Proteus Digital Health, fastcoexist.com,

histalkmobile.com, telegraph.co.uk, bbcnews.com


Concept: A pill that contains an inbuilt sensor, which sends out information to an external patch worn bythe patient, when the pill has been taken; the patch can then relay the information to a linkedsmartphone or tablet. A Digital Pill contains a sensor about the size of a grain of sand, alongwith copper

and magnesium, which together create an electrical circuit when they come in contact with the human

body’s digestive acids. This circuit then powers the sensor.

Healthcare

•Since human beings are prone to missing out on regulardoses of medicine; since patients with chronic diseasesneed to take their medicines regularly; and since it isnecessary to constantly monitor the actual effects of themedicine, such pills will prove to be very successful in thehealthcare industry

Current Stage:

•According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 50% of patients around the world fail to take medicines correctly ,while 50% drugs are prescribed incorrectly

• US based Proteus Digital Health is developing such Digital Pills, expected to be in the market from 2015

• Companies such as Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and Novartis are also working with Proteus to develop these digital medicines

• Proteus is setting up a large scale testing and manufacturing facility for the Digital Pills in England

#38: DIGITAL PILL

#39: VERTICAL FARMING



Source: verticalfarm.com, theguardian.com, howstuffworks.com, newscientist.com

Concept: Cultivating crops on segments vertically stacked one over the other, mostly in indoor facilities,with artificial, user defined control over the light, water and nutrients needed by the plants to grow. Sincevertical farming has stacks of crops growing upwards, this reduces the actual land surface area being usedfor agriculture; hence it is mostly associated with urban farming. Vertical farming uses LED light sources

and hydroponics extensively for the development of the plants.

Agriculture

•With a burgeoning population, ever increasing demand for food, and risingcosts of land, vertical farming can serve as a solution to increase cropproduction, while reducing the horizontal usage of land

•Growing crops indoors in controlled conditions can help us to grow crops allround the year, irrespective of weather conditions; and even reduce theusage of pesticides and insecticides

•With proper technology to supply light, water and nutrients to plants, therecould be no physical limit to the number of stories we can build on top of oneanother, to cultivate crops

Current Stage:

• Commercial vertical farming has already started in places like Singapore

• A vertical farm is Pennsylvania, USA is set to be the world’s largest farm using such technology

• Lighting systems for indoor farms, methods for supplying nutrients to plants; and ways of soil and water managementin high storied vertical farms are current topics of research vis-à-vis vertical farming


#39: VERTICAL FARMING

#40: WIRELESS POWER



Source: MIT Technology Review, Electronic Engineering Journal, edition.cnn.com, howstuffworks.com,mddionline.com,

Concept: Electric supply to devices or gadgets, without the device being physically connected to a powersource via cables. Wireless chargers are especially aimed at charging gadgets, while the device can still beused and moved from one place to another by the user. Major wireless – charging technology currentlyavailable are magnetic induction, magnetic resonance; and using a transmitter with small antennas to

send radio waves to a receiver connected to the gadget wherein the gadget converts the energy fromradio waves to DC power.

All sectors

•Charging personal entertainment devices such assmartphones and tablets, wirelessly

•Wirelessly charging medical implants such aspacemakers to eliminate their batteries and reduce theirsize

•Extending the application of this technology to largermachines and even electric powered cars in future

Current Stage:

• Simple devices such as electric toothbrushes use the principle of magnetic induction for charging

• Companies such as Energous and Witricity are actively developing chargers using the above mentioned technologies for charging gadgets

• Researchers at Stanford University, USA have discovered a new wavelength at which wireless power could be transferred, thus reducing thesize of conventional medical implants


#40: WIRELESS POWER

#41: ARTIFICIAL BRAIN



Source: École Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne


Concept: A synthetic brain, created by reverse engineering the mammalian brain down to the molecularlevel. This can be achieved by the study of the brain’s architectural and functional principles. The focalpoint is reconstructing the brain piece by piece and building a virtual brain in a supercomputer.

Healthcare

•Better understanding of neurological diseases

Research•Understanding the effect of drugs on the brain

•More efficient neuroscientific research

Current Stage:

• Blue Brain Project is by far the most promising in this technology. Started in 2005, it has shown impressive resultsincluding development of a cellular mesocircuit of 100 neocortical columns with a million cells in total

• A cellular rat brain is being developed with 100 mesocircuits, totaling a hundred million cells; and a cellular human

brain is predicted to be developed by 2023 equivalent to 1000 rat brains with a total of a hundred billion cells

• The major hurdle in achieving the goal is the computing power. Each simulated neuron requires the equivalent of alaptop computer. Hence a model of a full brain would require billions of laptops . However, with developingsupercomputing technology artificial brain is an achievable goal

#41: ARTIFICIAL BRAIN

#42: NANTENNA



Source: Integrated Defense Staff; Media Arts and Technology, University of California


Concept: Nantenna (Nano Antenna) is a nanoscopic rectifying antenna, an experimental technology beingdeveloped, which will convert light to electric power. This technology is based on the concept of wireless power

transmission. Nantenna is a very small rectifying antenna the size of a light wave, fabricated using nanotechnology,

which acts as an antenna for light, converting light into electricity.

Energy / Power

•Efficient use of solar energy than conventionaldevices

•Though the current in each antenna is small, an arrayof them can generate significant amount of electricity

•Nantenna arrays can be designed to absorb anyfrequency of light

Current Stage:• As of now, Nantennas are being developed on experimental basis

• One of the challenges is that the frequency at which Nantennas operate is very high. This adds complications forchoice of diode

• Another challenge is that current Nantennas are produced using electron beam lithography. This process is slow and

expensive which limits the rife acceptance of this technology.

#42: NANTENNA

#43: PROGRAMMABLE MATTER



Source: MIT News, mit.edu, harvard.edu

Concept: Matter that can change its properties and/ or its shape, based upon either inputs provided by theuser, or by the inputs received by the sensing system of the material itself. Programmable matter possessesproperties such as computation, sensing, actuation and display.

All sectors

•Manufactured products could be modified even aftermanufacture, either by external inputs, or by the inputsreceived by the product itself

•Clothes made from programmable matter could modifytheir texture according to weather conditions

•Prototypes of machines and devices could be built andrebuilt any number of times

Current Stage:

• A number of programmable materials such as Claytronics and Smartdust are being developed which are operatedusing computer science and/ or applications of computer networks

• Researchers at MIT, USA are working on smart sand particles which could enable the material to form and reformshapes as per the user’s requirements


#43: PROGRAMMABLE MATTER

#44: AIRLESS TIRE



Source: howstuffworks.com, gizmodo.com, airless-tire.com


Concept: Non pneumatic tires, supported internally by compressible materials such as polymers, and notby air pressure are known as airless tires. An absence of the air filled tube removes the risk of these tiresgetting punctured, while these tires are being tested for their load carrying as well as shock handlingcapacity too. Airless tires are commonly combinations of solid inner hubs, polymeric spokes in distinct

patterns, shear bands and treads.

Automotive

•Reduction in the risk of tires getting punctured in challenging

terrain, while providing possibly similar levels of load carryingcapacity and shock absorbing capacity as pneumatic tires; andenhanced durability and minimal maintenance thanconventional tires

•Possible applications in heavy duty vehicles such asconstruction vehicles; or military vehicles

Current Stage:

• Airless tires have already been tested for light load carrying vehicles such as golf carts and lawn mowers; and even forcertain military vehicles and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)

• Major players in the tire industry such as Michelin and Bridgestone are developing different types of airless tires;Michelin’s version is called the Tweel, Bridgestone’s version is the Air-Free Concept Tire

• Resilient Technologies and Polaris both have airless tires based on a honeycomb shaped internal design

#44: AIRLESS TIRE

#45: HYBRID DRILL BITS



Source: Baker Hughes, National Oilwell Varco


Concept: Drill bits which are combinations of conventional Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) drill

bits and Roller Cone drill bits, use to drill heterogeneous sub – surface formations, during hydrocarbonexploration. These bits combine the cutting superiority of PDCs in soft formations, and the crushingstrength and stability of roller cone bits in hard formations, to provide higher overall Rate Of Penetration

(ROP) than a conventional bit used individually.

Energy

•Drilling is a costly part of the hydrocarbon explorationand production process. Using hybrid bits reduces thetime otherwise wasted in pulling out the drillstring andchanging the bit, when encountered with a different sub – surface formation

•This reduced drilling time, and increased utility of the drillbits can lead to a significant saving in costs for theoperator

Current Stage:

• US based Baker Hughes Inc. is a pioneer in hybrid drill bit applications, with its range of Kymera Hybrid Drill Bits

• Current major applications of hybrid drill bits include drilling interbedded formations, directional drilling and drilling wellsexperiencing torque and vibration problems

• The hybrid drill bits have been proven to drill challenging formations in countries such as US, Brazil and Iceland, faster thanconventional bits

5 S

#46: SMARTPHONE CO – PROCESSORS



Source: Apple; Cnet; BGR; Techradar


Concept: A Co – Processor is a processor which assists the main processor in a smartphone in performingspecific tasks such as motion sensing, thus decreasing the load on the main processor; freeing up main

processing power and also helping to increase battery life of the phone. This does not imply that themain processors are not smart enough to perform these tasks; it is just that co – processors are much

more power optimized.

Entertainment

•Increase in the battery lives of smartphones is themajor impact expected

•Measurement of motion data from accelerometers,gyroscopes and compasses will be devotedlyperformed by co – processors, enabling usage ofmain processing capacity for other important tasks

Current Stage:

• The most prominent co – processors today are the ones used in Motorola’s Moto X and Apple’s iPhone 5S

• The co – processors in the Moto X enable the phone to listen to voice commands, and also to detect motion; similartasks are performed by the co – processors in the iPhone 5S, in addition to reducing network pinging to save batterylife

#47: LASER BROADBAND



Source: NASA; extremetech.com; dslreports.com


Concept: Advanced method of data transmission, primarily to be used to transmit data from satellites inspace to receivers on the Earth. NASA is developing the technology under the Lunar Laser Communication

Demonstration (LLCD) to transmit hundreds of Millions of bits of data per second from the moon to Earth.This would be equivalent to transmitting more than 100 HD television channels simultaneously.

All sectors•In today’s world, an enormous amount of data is being collected and

stored everyday all over the world

•Such superfast methods of data transfer would help in vastlyimproving our understanding of the space, and thus help build moreeffective space programs

•When such broadband networks are made available on the earth, thiswill aid in rapid and secure data transfer, which will benefitdevelopment across all economic and social sectors

Current Stage:

• NASA has successfully tested the data transmissioncapacity of the LLCD by downloading both pre –

decided files as well as real time data from the

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer(LADEE)

• NASA required just five minutes to transfer agigabyte of information, and the limiting factor intransfer speed turned out not to be the LLCD’s

transmission from the moon to the Earth, butLADEE’s transmission to the LLCD just a few short

miles away

• The laser signal could be read without error evenin broad daylight and through light clouds; thusincreasing confidence in its technical success.However, the signal wasn’t able to pass through

thick clouds or obstructions to light, which was inline with NASA’s expectations

#48: SMART GRIDS



Source: Ministry of Power, Govt. of India; US Dept. of Energy; Business Insider


Concept: Smart grids are electrical grids that are integrated with computerized, two – way

communication networks which, in addition to transmitting electricity, also collect electricity usage dataand provide feedback to the electricity provider. Smart grids leverage the power of Information &

Communication Technology to allow real time monitoring and modification of the electricity supply

network, based on the trends in electricity consumption.

Current Stage:

• Countries such as the USA, UK, China and manyEuropean nations are already actively involved insmart grid deployment or smart grid pilot projects

• The Ministry of Power, Government of India, underthe Restructured Accelerated Power Development

and Reform Programme (R-APDRP) is directingalmost USD 10 Billion over the coming years togrid modernization. Fourteen smart grid pilotprojects have been announced by the Governmentof India, which will be located all over the country

• The Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd. (UGVCL) hasplans to roll out India’s first smart grid in Naroda

and Deesa in North Gujarat, by April 2014. Incollaboration with the Government of India, UGVCLwill invest almost INR 50 crore to set up newinfrastructure, meters, servers and analyticsystems for smart grid

Energy/ Power

•Efficient transmission of electricity, lower operatingcosts, faster restoration of electricity after outagesand reduced energy use during peak-demand hours

•Abilities of anticipation and isolation, which allowsthe system to locate problematic sections and toisolate those which might have failed

Infrastructure

•Energy efficient infrastructure, enhanced cyber-security, integration with sources of electricity likewind and solar power, energy security and reduced

carbon emissions

#49: LITHIUM – AIR BATTERY



Source: extremetech.com, cleantechnica.com, theengineer.co.uk, gizmag.com, greencarreports.com

Concept: Batteries similar to traditional Lithium – ion batteries, in which the cathode is replaced by air,wherein the oxidation of lithium at the anode and the reduction of oxygen at the cathode induces acurrent flow. Since the cathode is air, such batteries are also called ‘breathing batteries’; having an aircathode also makes these batteries lightweight. Li – air batteries have very high energy densities

compared to Li – ion batteries.

Energy

•Li – air batteries are being envisaged to beused majorly in electric car applications. Theirreduced weight and increased energy densitycould help increase the energy efficiency ofelectric vehicles

Current Stage:

• Automobile companies such as Volkswagen are developing Li – air batteries to be used in their electric vehicles

• Researchers at MIT, USA have developed a genetically modified virus, which can increase the surface area of the nanowires used aselectrodes in the Li – air battery, which can then improve the performance and durability of Li – air batteries; Active research is also going onto find the optimum electrolytic solution to be used in Li – air batteries

• In addition to Li – air batteries, Sodium – air batteries and Aluminium – air batteries are also researched and developed


#50: ANTIBACTERIAL FABRIC



Source: Trevira, HHL Technology, wisegeek.com, gizmag.com


Concept: Fabric embedded or imbibed with nano particles (generally silver particles) which preventbacterial colonization on the fabric, thus keeping the fabric disinfected and hygienic, while also minimizing

bad odors emanating from the fabric. These silver ion nano particle networks are quite durable, and have

been shown to not harm the human skin.

Textile

•Disinfected, odor free and durable clothes arehighly desirable in sport wear or geardesigned for outdoor activities

Healthcare

•The antibacterial properties make such fabricsexcellent contenders to be used in bandages,surgical wear and other such wound treatmentrelated fabrics

Current Stage:

• Such Antibacterial Fabric is being manufactured around the world, even for use in furniture, home textiles, beddings,mattresses and so on

• Researchers at Australia’s RMIT University have now developed silver nano wire enabled fabrics, which can kill ofbacteria within just 10 minutes of contact; the environmental impacts of this fabric are now being examined



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50 Disruptive Technologies