You might have noticed that technology these days has started to mimic the wonders of nature. The idea seems apt for this century due to an imminent threat of natural degradation. Mimicking nature in technology means coming up with innovation that has a minimum carbon footprint and is more sustainable given the limited amount of resources we are left with.
The amalgamation of tech and nature is nothing new. A lot of tech innovations in the past find their roots in nature. Embrace yourselves as the ones that we’ve picked for you are some next level tech bugs.
Here are a few that we liked the most!
Wide-angle Camera
Ever heard of fire ants? Fire ants are known for their wide-angle field of view and amazing depth of field. That inspired the researcher who came up with a tiny hemispherical camera having 180 microlenses. The best part is that each of the microlenses captures the view from a unique angle which gives a 160-degree frame. That’s way better rather twice as better than iPhone X.
Sugar-powered Battery
Just as insects use Glycogen to yield energy, researchers at Virginia built a biodegradable battery which uses synthetic fuel to convert glucose into electricity. How amazing it that!
Compared to a lithium-ion battery, this one stores 10 times more. Moreover, the battery doesn’t have any track record of exploding which is another plus. The battery, if used commercially, can prove to be a major breakthrough for smartphones.
Anti-glare Screen
How frustrating is it to let the phone’s battery drain due to increased brightness out in sunlight without it aiding you that much! Looks like our prayers have been answered as researchers are currently working on an anti-glare screen. That will not only allow us to use our phone out on a sunny day more easily but save a lot of battery that goes to waste by increasing the screen brightness.
Directional Mic
At times while watching a video or listening to a song, you may want to focus on one sound more by filtering out the rest just as crickets do. With today’s technology, this feat is not that hard to achieve. Soundskrit is a startup that is currently working on hardware that measures particle velocity. Just as you zoom in on a picture soon you’d be able to do so to an audio as well.
What Next?
Technology beating nature is a very common narrative among the masses. What many fail to acknowledge is the fact that the thought process behind every other tech innovation is nature. The way different creatures are able to acclimatize in places inspires researchers. A highly adaptive and camouflage technology is in the pipeline that could seriously change the way we make use of different things.
Sources tell that the next couple of years are vital in tech arena as some game changing tech innovations are going to hit the market.
Until next time!
Amnah Fawad
Fazeel Ashraf
Hafsa Akbar Ali
Hamza Tauqeer