Scientists have created a new smart material that’s more AI than material
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to use algorithms to create “Architectural Materials” that behave like and mimic artificial intelligence, but in physical form, could revolutionise materials. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, ...
Researchers have invented a new kind of material that thinks for itself
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Smart materials will make a huge difference to the product we make, how we use them, and how they interact with us and the environment. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, subscribe to the podcast, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential...
Telekinetic and telepathic materials open the door to mental weirdness
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When it comes to materials we think of them as static dumb things but that’s changing. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, subscribe to the podcast, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, connect, watch a keynote,...
New smart kinetic clothing records and plays back your breathing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If you’re training AI can help you improve your technique, and now it can help you get your breathing right too. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, connect, watch a keynote,...
Flying high Airbus shows off its 2030 and 2050 concept cabins
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of aviation will be electric, and involve hypersonic aircraft and rockets. But there’ll be room for more conventional aircraft too and they’ll be able to take advantage of new technologies to create amazing new experiences. Interested in the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential...
Researchers created a digital metamaterial to create better cloaking devices
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Metamaterials are odd, they’re freaks of nature, and now they’re going digital which opens up an amazing number of possibilities. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. As you’ll know by now I follow a huge number of technologies,...
Featured Futurist: How 4D Printing Will Shift the Shape of Manufacturing, SAP
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The way we design, imagine, and build products is being revolutionised by the emergence of creative machines and new sci-fi like manufacturing technologies. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More and connect with Matthew. In a brief period, 3D printing — the process...
Ingenious new fabric cools you down and warms you up
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We adapt to the weather by changing our clothes, but in the future our clothes will be able to adapt to the weather. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Recently I wrote about a new type of 3D printed fabric...
Perfect fitting one size fits all clothing has arrived
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Inventory is one of retailers biggest cash sinks, but now a new technology combo means retailers can buy one size from the manufacturer and custom fit it to every body shape in house. You’re shopping for a sweater, and you spot one you love,...
NASA’s revolutionary metamaterial “morphing” wing mimics birds wings
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Aircraft wings are subject to different conditions during flight, but until now rigid wings weren’t optimal for any of them. A team of researchers led by NASA and MIT in the US have come up with a radical new aeroplane wing design that is...
3D printed fashion takes over New York Fashion Week
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 3D printed clothes can be customised and printed on demand using sustainable new materials, giving fashion designers new options and reducing the industry’s environmental impact. Downloadable 3D printed personalised sustainable fashion. I think you’ll agree it’s quite a catchy phrase – or at least...
Ground transport at 760mph, HTT unveil their hyperloop passenger capsule
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Countries around the world reinventing mobility and transportation, and the Hyperloop is a crucial part of many countries future vision. Elon Musk’s dream of travelling by hyperloop, essentially a Mach 1 train in a vacuum tube, is getting closer to reality as the UAE...
MIT created a nanobot spray that gives dumb objects superpowers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to spray nanobots onto surfaces and objects is a fast way to turn them from dumb objects into smart ones that have new sensing capabilities. You may have sworn off aerosol sprays back in the 1990’s when everyone was talking about the hole...
Lamborghini’s futuristic all electric, self healing hyper car won’t have batteries
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF It’s likely that our flirtation with battery packs in cars won’t last as long as we think as new wirelessly charged cars start emerging, and as new materials let the cars themselves become the batteries. Lamborghini and MIT recently introduced the Terzo Millennio concept, which...
The robots of the future might not have a brain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The classical view of an intelligent robot is one whose intelligence comes from a centralised location, such as a brain, or in their case, a centralised computing platform, but there’s no reason why this has to be the case. The classical view of a...
Printed transistor breakthrough opens door for printed electronics and smart goods
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to simply, and cost effectively, print transistors en masse will create millions of new use cases and help turn even the most mundane, dumb objects into smart ones Researchers at the Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (AMBER) Center in Ireland have, for the...
Scientists use defects to create a new programmable material
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Programmable materials are a new class of revolutionary materials that can be manufactured once and then programmed to alter their properties and shape on demand to suit a limitless number of use cases. New research by a team at Purdue University has shown that honeycomb...
