Our lives are full of gadgets, but their proliferation hasn’t led to a well-spring of amazing and imaginative new devices. Instead, we have a lot of similar tablets, devices, phones, you name it. There are, however, exceptions; products that renew my faith in R&D. They’re imaginative leaps of faith that often look and feel different than the competition. They also work different, attacking everyday problems in a new way or putting us one-step closer to technology that was once the sole preserve of a rarefied few.
For our Innovation Index, I selected the top five gadgets of the past year. These devices inspired me with their technology, design, utility and risk taking. Innovation does not always lead to success, but I celebrate each and everyone of one of them for trying.
1. Google Glass
If there’s one gadget that looks like the future, it’s Google Glass. Sure, we’re still waiting for the final, productized version of this wearable computer, but it’s far more than a proof of concept. Earlier this year, the world witnessed as a group of daredevils took Google Glass and us along with it, from a plane, though a thrilling, live-streamed skydive, to the top of a building and right into Google Founder’ Sergey Brin’s Google i/o keynote. That stunt instantly turned Google Glass into the first must-have wearable computer of the 21st century.
2. AR.Drone 2.0
Surveillance is a fact of life. Cameras are everywhere and drones patrol the skies of hot zones around the globe. If you wonder what it’s like to be on the other side of the camera, Parrot’s AR.Drone puts average people in the driver’s-seat and all through the friendly interface of your standard-issue iPad. As for the drone itself, it can fly hundreds of feet up in the sky with pinpoint-precision control from the iPad-sporting pilot on the ground below. You see what it sees on your iPad and you can choose to record on-board the drone or direct to you tablet. It’s addictive, powerful and fun.
3. Surface
Microsoft not only innovated this year, it surprised us. The Windows RT- running Surface Tablet is a stunner from top to bottom and we had no idea Microsoft was building it. Inside it features Microsoft’s new ARM-ready OS (which, at its heart, is a lot like its desktop-friendly Windows 8) and is designed and built entirely by Microsoft. They agonized over every feature and it shows. Surface isn’t perfect, but it’s unique in the marketplace and absolutely screams “I am different.” For a company with as stodgy as rep as Microsoft, no declaration could be more welcome.
4. Samsung Galaxy Note II
There are big phones, and then there are big phones. At 5.55-inches, the Samsung Galaxy Note II falls on the latter side of the spectrum. For some that’s a deal breaker, but they might be missing out on something. In addition to the large, brilliant display, this phone includes a stylus that is literally married to the device. Not only is it aware of when the pen in touching the screen, it knows when the pen is hovering just above it, as well. The tech is called Airview, and we’ve never seen anything like it in a device of this size. Not only is the screen aware of the pen, but in-air gestures make things happen on screen. This is smart technology that put Samsung Galaxy Note II a level above an army of look-alike smartphones.
5. Lytro
Lytro, the camera that resembles a super-sized version of one of those single-image viewer souvenirs you used to get from the zoo, is one odd camera with a very special gift. Its oddball design allows you to take pictures capable of telling more than one tale after the fact. In other words, it no longer matters where you focus, crystal-clear information is available for all parts of the image and you and everyone else looking at the image (on a web page) can access that detail at will. I can’t say if this special ability will ultimately make Lytro a success, but there’s no doubt I am impressed.
Top image: Google Glass (left) and Lytro (right)
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