Editor’s note: This article was first published in December 2013 as a year-end round-up; the six technologies were prototypes or new products at the time. Several have since been discontinued or overtaken; Word Lens, for example, was acquired by Google in 2014 and folded into one of its own apps.
As 2013 draws to a close, the well-known platform Tumblr has looked back at the technologies that attracted the most attention over the year. And at the risk of overusing the word, some of them are impressive. We picked 6 of these technologies, which the tech blog Mashable considered the most innovative technologies of 2013.
1. Fujitsu prototype: a digital info interface system
PDF and JPEG files can be altered, manipulated and stored on a huge range of devices. But Fujitsu has managed to do the same with good old paper, without having to scan it first. You just select the part of the paper you want to work with, and the digital copy appears before your eyes. More information on Prosthetic Knowledge
2. Robotic spider dress
Technology and fashion are starting to go hand in hand (see futuristic clothing). This arachnid dress, designed by Anouk Wipprecht, has 6 robotic limbs that react to external stimuli. More information on Prosthetic Knowledge
3. Samsung’s flexible OLED screen
Samsung showed off its smartphone with a flexible OLED screen. The screen can bend completely and still stay interactive. According to Mashable, LG is also said to be working on a similar screen. More information on Techinista.
4. Anti-facial-recognition technology
Facial recognition technology is one of the booming technologies, and today it is more accurate than ever. That is not great news for people who value their privacy. That is why this visor, developed by Japan’s National Institute of Informatics, can help us block facial recognition using infrared LEDs placed near the eyes and nose. That is enough to distort our features and prevent facial recognition. More information on Prosthetic Knowledge
5. BionicOpter: a robotic dragonfly
This small blue dragonfly is a robot with complex machinery inside. It has an impressive range of movement thanks to its paired wings and a small body packed with sensors and actuators. Its practical applications could be very varied, especially for the military, as spying tools in armed conflicts. More information from Festo.
6. A real-time visual translator
Word Lens is an app that can translate the signs you point it at into your native language in real time, which makes it an app that can get travellers out of a jam when they visit lots of countries with different languages. More information on Mashable.
Featured image: Premeditated Chaos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
