With the changes in everyday life as a result of the pandemic, there are various emerging technologies coming to our aid
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) combines the ability to remotely access a live location and provide additional features to interact virtually. This adds value to a variety of different sectors.
Impact on Different Sectors
Shopping is a large area where augmented reality can help the sales process. It is used online for clothing configurators with the ability to get a 360 degree view to gage texture and color. If you are buying glasses, online configurators allow you to use your own picture or a model. Large home improvement stores and department stores offer you the ability to walk through and see products. Food deliveries and manufacturing environments use robots to limit contamination and maintain accuracy along with social distancing.
Healthcare has benefited tremendously from robots to reduce exposure to COVID-19. These robots deliveries automatically transport the basic needs of multiple patients which reduces human exposure and allows for more social distancing. TeleHealth has provided access to doctors without in-person interaction. Machine learning is a part of augmented reality that gives us the ability to analyze large amounts of data from health records. This saves hours of human effort and gives us the flexibility and speed to gain insight into the virus, identify trends in spread, find commonality in symptoms and other ways to manage COVID-19. This all helps healthcare workers save lives.
Airports and other travel partners are able to use remote check-in, contactless payment, automatic baggage sorting, and other touch-free solutions to limit human exposure, and maintain sanitizing practices with international imports and exports. Furthermore, Big Data, cloud computing, and Internet-of-Things are helping build a stronger supply chain system for the future by improving the accuracy and sharing of data. This helps us keep our economy operating at reasonable levels despite the pandemic.
Impact on Business and Education
Remote work and learning is now capable with virtual platforms that facilitate meetings and classes online. Artificial intelligence also allows for automatic language translation which is more inclusive of international meetings and learning. The government has benefited from hybrid technology such as virtual events that help keep the lines of communication and collaboration open, to ensure national safety is uncompromised.
The future of everyday life will likely be changed permanently as we navigate life during a pandemic. Our dependence on technology has increased and we will continue to benefit from the convenience, cost savings and efficiencies that we have leveraged over the past year.
