Technologies that have already become reality

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In the fall of 2016, Nike released a batch of self-lacing sneakers similar to those worn by Marty McFly in the second part of Back to the Future. Fans of the film willingly took part in the auction for the right to become the owners of the technology of the future, and Nike recorded another successful PR-campaign to its credit. Self-lacing sneakers, of course, did not go into the series. However, other technologies of the future are already here and in the near future may radically change the world in which we live.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has always been and remains one of the favorite topics in the works of science fiction writers of all stripes, but every year AI technologies penetrate deeper into real life. When it comes to machine intelligence, many people immediately think of Alice, Siri and other voice assistants, but in terms of illustrating the capabilities of AI, they are roughly in the same category as Marty McFly's sneakers - cool, but a little different. In the same way, artificial intelligence should not be equated with various programs for playing chess or go. This is just a spectacular demonstration of what AI can be capable of.

One can speculate for a long time about what makes the human brain special and what distinguishes it from a computer. One of the key points is a person's ability to learn and improvise at the same time. We humans are able not only to develop our algorithms, but also to move away from them at an arbitrary moment, to use what we call intuition.

By 2017, AI technologies have already passed part of this evolutionary path. The field of machine learning is booming, and deep neural networks can learn what until recently were exclusively human prerogative, for example, to create works of art. At the same time, outside observers often cannot distinguish a work created by a person from a computer, so the Turing test will partially pass here.

At VTB Bank, the use of advanced machine learning algorithms began back in 2017. Artificial intelligence predicts default risks for clients and analyzes the demand for bank products. Making loan decisions based on machine learning models has long been a reality.

Big data

The concept of big data goes hand in hand with the topic of AI, and this is completely logical: with the development of computer technologies, the amount of information that these computers are able to efficiently and quickly process is growing. The emergence of the term "big data" marked a qualitative breakthrough in this area. Computers have learned to analyze really huge and constantly growing data sets, doing it with sufficient speed and not being afraid that the information coming to them may be completely heterogeneous. In English terminology, these parameters fit into the principle of three Vs: Volume, Velocity and Variety.

One of the clearest examples of big data is the information analyzed by computers about the actions of users on social networks. The number of these actions is very large and constantly growing, the actions themselves are extremely heterogeneous, and they need to be analyzed very quickly for practical application, since information may lose relevance over time. Other data sets are analyzed in the same way: from the daily activities of industrial facilities to the behavior of football players at games and training.

In the banking sector, big data analysis has already firmly taken root, and at once for solving several problems. On the one hand, big data allows the bank to better understand the real needs of the client and offer what is relevant to him. On the other hand, data analysis allows you to track unusual account transactions and prevent fraud. Third, the bank itself minimizes its risks by early identification of potentially problematic actions. And that's not all.

Augmented reality

Virtual reality was one of the favorite toys of science fiction writers: a person puts on special glasses and enters a three-dimensional world created by a computer. However, in real life, the technology of not just virtual, but augmented reality has much greater potential. Its essence lies in the fact that a picture created by a computer does not replace what the eyes see, but is superimposed on objects of the real world. One of the most recent examples of this technology is the mobile game Pokemon Go, in which game objects on the smartphone screen are superimposed on the image from the video camera built into the device.

The release of Pokemon Go caused a great resonance in the media, but in fact it is again more a spectacular demonstration of technology than its intended use. The ability to add additional information to a real picture is in demand not only in games and it brings more benefits outside of this area.

Imagine that you want to buy a new lamp for your living room, but you don't know if it will fit into the interior. In order not to be mistaken, you download the furniture store application (IKEA, for example), choose the lamp you like from the catalog, point the camera at the necessary place in the apartment, and - voila! - the virtual lamp has already taken its rightful place in the interior.

An even wider application of augmented reality technology can be found in medicine, engineering, and construction. Separately, it is worth mentioning the use of augmented reality in transport: displaying information on the windshield of a car or the visor of a motorcycle helmet is the future, which has already become the present. The next step is to create affordable and comfortable glasses like HoloLens and Magic Leap so that the augmented picture is available at any time.

Genome editing

Genetic engineering causes concern among a large number of ordinary people, and this, frankly, is strange, since humanity has been practicing purposeful correction of the genetic code of living beings from its earliest days. For millennia, farmers have been crossbreeding different species and reinforcing beneficial mutations to produce the sweetest apple and fluffiest sheep. The process of selection in agriculture, from the point of view of science, is precisely the production of an organism with the required set of properties, that is, with a specific genome, which determines these properties.

A real breakthrough in genetic engineering took place in the 20th century, when scientists learned to edit DNA itself: to cut out certain fragments from it, or, conversely, insert it into the right place. One of the most promising technologies in this area is called CRISPR-Сas. To put it quite simply, scientists managed to find scissors and glue to cut the DNA strand and reattach it.

Genome editing can correct genetic errors that cause disease; purposefully create new species of plants and animals and resurrect extinct ones; destroy dangerous viruses and bacteria or change their properties so that they do not pose a threat. Of course, technologies like CRISPR-Сas require extremely responsible application, but their potential is practically limitless. And they have already become a reality: scientists first tested the gene editing technique directly in the body of a living adult at the end of last year.

3D printing

Three-dimensional printing (3D printing) is another example of a technology that was once beloved by science fiction writers, but has now entered our lives, and it is very active. The term "3D printer" itself appeared not so long ago, but in fantastic stories about space, such a device has almost always been an indispensable element in the equipment of a spacecraft. Otherwise, where can one get in an interstellar flight, for example, the necessary spare parts for repairing a starship? Do not take everything with you?

In April of this year, a similar fantastic story was repeated in real life by the American military, however, aboard not a space, but a sea ship sailing in the Pacific Ocean. Using a 3D printer, the mechanics printed a part for a combat fighter, which was then put on the plane. Everything worked out.

It should be noted that the first technologies for the layer-by-layer creation of three-dimensional objects from a digital model appeared quite a long time ago - back in the 1980s. Since then, they have been constantly improved, and now we are at the stage when a 3D printer can even print an organic object, up to donor organs. There are already 3D printers for the production of skin and blood vessel tissue suitable for surgery and transplantation.

Blockchain

As you know, if you want, almost any information on the Web can be distorted and faked. But how to distort information that is simultaneously located on countless media, and all changes are constantly recorded on all devices? This is how you can briefly describe the essence of distributed ledger technology, or blockchain.

At the moment, the words "blockchain", "cryptocurrency" and "bitcoin" are synonymous. The cryptocurrency fever is in full swing, fortunes are made and lost on digital money, bitcoin either breaks through a new price ceiling, then it loses half its value, unless an elderly farmer from Tuvalu is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency.

However, if you do not pay attention to the HYIP and look exactly at the technology underlying bitcoin, then there we will see exactly the blockchain - a secure data storage system that can be used in various spheres of life, including financial. When it comes to money, protecting information is a matter of principle.

Back in 2015, nine large financial companies in the world created the R3 consortium to carry out developments in the application of blockchain technology in the financial system. Now the list of consortium members is seven dozen companies, and their names speak for themselves. The list of participants includes Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, J. P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and other leading banks in the world. The possibility of joining the R3 network does not exclude VTB either.

Developing the topic of distributed ledger technologies at VTB, it is worth noting that right now the bank's specialists are developing a project on digital bank guarantees based on the masterchain blockchain technology. The goal of the project is to create a universal service on the basis of the master chain for issuing and verifying the authenticity of bank guarantees in electronic form, which will allow network participants to optimize business processes and significantly reduce the risks of falsification of guarantees. In addition, VTB participates in projects for the development of digital letters of credit and mortgages.

Unmanned vehicles

Unmanned vehicles are now on everyone's lips, and almost all leading manufacturers, from General Motors and Volkswagen to KAMAZ, are engaged in developments in the relevant area. Automotive autopilot systems are constantly being improved, and very soon they will be able to catch up with and even bypass a living driver in terms of reliability and safety, so the transition to such cars is rather a question of how quickly humanity will change its attitude to the driving process.

However, on a global scale, a much more serious breakthrough promises the development of other types of unmanned vehicles. Modern aircraft have long been flying under automatic control (the first transatlantic flight on autopilot was made back in 1947), and autonomous ships and trains are next in line. If traffic density on highways is high and the situation requires the autopilot to analyze a huge amount of information, then in the air, on rails and in the ocean, everything is much simpler. For example, the Danish Copenhagen metro is already fully automatic.

We should also mention the rapid development of drones. For example, in Australia, the drone parcel delivery service was launched the year before last, they use similar devices in other countries, and are actively working on the corresponding Amazon project.

Communication is everywhere

Perhaps, every resident of a big city knows the feeling when you go out into nature and during the rest you notice that the mobile phone has lost the Network - there is simply no telephone connection or the Internet. Experts have been working on solving the problem of global coverage for several decades, but so far all the options they offer run up against one obstacle - cost. Satellite phones and devices for receiving an Internet signal from satellites already exist, but they are corny expensive.

Elon Musk's SpaceX and Richard Branson's OneWeb intend to change the situation. Both projects, which are being worked on very actively, involve the deployment of a large-scale constellation of satellites in low orbit, which will provide access to the Network anywhere in the world.

New energy

One of the reasons electric vehicles have not yet pushed combustion-engine cars off the road is that gasoline is much easier to store (and replenish) than electricity. In fact, this is precisely the main argument in favor of using fossil fuels. Humanity has learned to get electricity from sunlight, wind, flowing water, chemical reactions and even ocean tides. But storing the electricity generated is much more difficult than oil, coal or firewood. You can't put an electric current into a shed and you can't pour it into a barrel.

However, the future has already come in this area, as is eloquently evidenced by the Tesla Hornsdale Power Reserve project implemented by Elon Musk, which is a 100 MW and 129 MW / h energy storage facility in South Australia. Basically, this is a giant battery that stores energy generated by the wind turbines of the Neoen Hornsdale power plant. Prior to that, the largest energy storage facility was the 30 MW and 120 MWh AES Energy Storage complex in California.

The two projects mentioned above are examples of devices (even rather objects) capable of storing ultra-large amounts of energy. In parallel, work is underway around the world on batteries with other breakthrough characteristics, such as, for example, ultra-short charging times. For example, at the recent Detroit International Auto Show, Samsung demonstrated new batteries with a capacity of up to 94 Ah, which can be charged from zero to full capacity in 20 minutes. According to Samsung, an electric car powered by such a battery can travel about 600 km, that is, practically from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Other companies, meanwhile, are experimenting with quick-release batteries. In particular, in March this year, a university in Thailand launched electric motorcycle taxis on its campus. Drivers simply change batteries as needed at a special station, where they are charged from solar panels.

Holographic interfaces

When a modern person picks up an old phone, one funny thing almost inevitably happens: the user tries to click on the screen, completely forgetting that touchscreens appeared quite recently, and before that all devices were controlled using buttons.

Phones with buttons in 2018 are a kind of anachronism, and soon a similar fate may befall devices with touchscreens. The holographic interfaces, long promised by science fiction writers, have been around for a long time, and they only have to take the last step in their evolution - to become accessible and widespread.

In particular, BMW and Volkswagen have already demonstrated holographic interfaces for controlling various systems of their cars. The systems of these automakers are similar: holographic interface elements are projected into the space in front of the dashboard, and special sensors read the movements of the driver's hands when he touches them. Naturally, physically the person's fingers do not feel any contact. In fact, we are talking about combining the augmented reality technology mentioned at the beginning of this text and motion scanners. By the way, similar solutions have already been patented by some tech giants such as Samsung and Apple. Apparently, the transition from touchscreens to holograms is a matter of time. And the closest one.