Sunday, 4 November 2012
The Smart Mirror Never Cracks!
Anti-ageing, physical health improvement, mental fitness and performance, and ultimately long-term life-extension technology and techniques will be major topics and markets for innovation over the new few decades (and beyond). After all, what price beauty? What price health? What prices a 12 mile 1 hour split? What price being smarter? And what price on life?
The stuff below is basic incremental innovation. Yet, many have been waiting for such techniques and products for years.
Here's a mere hand full of what's just around the corner!
THE FUTURE OF: WRINKLE FIGHTERS
In a few years, you may be able to wipe away lines as easily as you remove makeup. Revance is a wipe-on botulinum toxin (that's the stuff used in Botox and Dysport) that's carried through the skin by a chemical peptide. It's currently being tested to see if it smooths crow's-feet. And instead of going to a doctor's office for wrinkle-filling injections, it may be possible to plump up skin at home with hyaluronic acid gel patches, says dermatologist Fredric Brandt.
THE FUTURE OF: LASERS
Your hair-dryer will have to share space in the bathroom with things only found at a dermatologist's office now. Soon, you may be able to buy your own GentleWaves System. Weekly treatments with pulsed yellow light from the device stimulates collagen growth, which can smooth lines. It's currently available in doctors' offices and spas, but it will eventually be safe and affordable for home use, says its inventor, David H. McDaniel, assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. And in less than a decade, predicts Paul Sowyrda, a consultant to the laser industry, there could be an all-purpose device that delivers radio-frequency, ultrasound, laser, and light therapies to "treat acne, sun spots, thinning hair, wrinkles, and fine lines."
THE FUTURE OF: HAIR
No more salon visits every six weeks to cover up gray roots. It's probable that scientists will develop a pill that prevents gray hair, says McDaniel: "The leukemia drug Gleevec causes some people to restore hair color. It's a matter of flipping the right gene switches in the DNA, turning the right expression up or down, like the volume control on a stereo." And women might have an even better way to color their hair at home: a heat-sensitive dye that would be activated by a hair-dryer or flatiron, speculates Brian M. Kinney, clinical assistant professor of plastic surgery at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
THE FUTURE OF: SKIN CARE
Mirrors will do more than just reflect—they may also tell you what your skin needs. "A sensor that looks similar to a digital thermometer could be tethered to the mirror and connected to a built-in meter," says McDaniel. "You pull out the sensor and touch it to the skin, measuring moisture, oiliness, and redness. If the meter says the skin is getting drier, you increase your moisturizer." And eventually, mirrors may track your appearance over time, as well as allow you to see how your features could be changed with plastic surgery, says Andrew Dent, vice president of materials research at the Material ConneXion in New York City.
THE FUTURE OF: TEETH
Brushing, flossing, and whitening will go to the next level. A tooth-hardening pill to prevent cavities is not far off, says Marc Lowenberg, a cosmetic dentist in New York City. Lowenberg is developing tooth gloss, a brush-on protective barrier that prevents discoloration from things like red wine and coffee. And even toothpaste may become obsolete. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, working with Shiken, a Japanese company, have created a light-powered toothbrush, the Soladey-J3X, which is expected to be available later this year. A solar panel at the base of the handle transmits electrons to the traditional-looking brush at the top, and they interact with acid in the mouth, getting rid of bacteria and breaking down plaque.
Flash Foresight
We all have it from time to time. That out of the blue insight about a future event or where a new idea is going or how something significant might pan out.
In fact, this is an important part of both an innovator's and futurist's role.
I think In my job, it is the hardest thing to do on a consistent and reliable basis.
The times I have half-seen the way thing are going to go, but did not connect the actual end-result until the blinding flash of the obvious hit me (although in my defence much of the time I do; but do not have the time or resource to carry the insight on).
Daniel Burrus's book gives good advice on how to get to those Flash Insights and take them on into a reality context. I strongly recommend it!
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