Technology has the potential to radically change the way we live, and even how we relate to each other as human beings.
Technologies like 3D printing are changing manufacturing and democratizing creativity. Mobile apps are changing our buying behavior, with mobile commerce making up 20% of all e-commerce activity.
Nano-filtration is even changing the way we drink water.
At the same time, technologies like Google Glass are bringing the Internet closer to us than it ever has been before.
Self-driving cars are changing how we get around.
We're already seeing Google's self-driving cars every now and then on the road in California, where Google is testing its driverless car program. But they could be on the market by 2018.
Google estimates that self-driving vehicles could cut the 1.2 million lives lost every year due to car accidents in half.
Whether society is ready for this or not still remains to be seen. But driverless cars will most definitely be an option. Other big players like Toyota and Audi are also working on their own self-driving cars.
Google Glass will turn us all into cyborgs.
Google Glass, the search giant's Internet-connected glasses, is one of the most exciting products to come around in a while. That's because the implications are huge.
Glass will bring everyday activities closer to our senses, and enhance our interactions with our surroundings. We'll be more connected to the Internet than we ever have before and we'll be able to see useful information like text messages, news articles, tweets, and directions overlaid onto the real world.
With Glass, we can also record everything around us and store it to the cloud. That way we can make sure we don't forget a single moment of life.
Wearable fitness trackers are making us all health nuts.
With apps and services like Nike FuelBand, Fitbit, and ZEO, we're increasingly generating more and more data in our day-to-day lives. Those devices help us track things like calories burned, steps taken, and even how well we're sleeping.
These devices are all part of the "quantified self" movement, which aims to empower people through their own data, telling us things about ourselves and our biology that aren't obvious.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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