2021 Tech Trends Report - Health Medical Wearables
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Volume 5 of 12 14th Annual Edition 2021 Tech Trends Health Report Medical Strategic trends that will influence business, Wearables government, education, media and society in the coming year.
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Health, Medical and Wearables
03 Overview 33 Connected Fabrics
04 Macro Forces and Emerging Trends 33 Touch-Sensitive Materials
06 Summary 34 Mature Wearables
07 Doctorless Exams 34 Watches
08 At-Home Medical Laboratory Tests 34 Rings and Bracelets
09 Telemedicine 34 Hearables and Earables
10 Scenario: A New Kind of Body Shop 34 Head Mounted Displays
11 Biometric Screening Systems 34 Smart Glasses
12 Big Tech Disrupts Health Care 34 Smart Shoes
14 Amazon’s Health Care Ambitions 35 Smart Gloves
15 Scenario: These Walls Can Talk 35 Biointerfaces
16 Chief Health Officers 35 Nanomesh Tattoos
17 High-Tech Concierge Care 35 Dissolving Bioelectronics
18 Remote Patient Monitoring 35 Nanobots
19 Digital Transformation 36 Smart Threads
in Health Care 36 Skinput Systems
20 Patient-Generated Health Data 37 Brain Machine Interfaces
21 Automatic Medical Transcribing 38 Expert Insight: The Post-Pandemic
22 Scenario: 3D Printing in the ER Optimistic Future: From
23 Smart Biohazard Wearables COVID to Consumerism
24 Cognitive and Neural Optimization 41 Application
26 Metabolic Monitoring 42 Key Questions
27 Prescription-Strength Gaming 43 Sources
28 Digital Fitness and Training 44 Authors
29 Sleep Tech 47 Why FTI
30 Scenario: Scent Diagnostics 48 About FTI
31 Wearables and Biointerfaces 49 Disclaimer
32 Emerging Wearables 50 Creative Commons License
32 COVID-19 Sensors
32 Cloud-based Wireless Body
Area Networks
32 Adaptive and Assistive Wearables
32 Commercial Full-Body Exoskeletons
32 Wearable Air Conditioners
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Health, Medical and Wearables
Overview
The 1920s began in chaos. Cata- It’s difficult not to see striking ed trends. In total, we’ve analyzed
clysmic disruption resulting from parallels to our modern world. A nearly 500 technology and science
the first world war and the Spanish tumultuous U.S. election, extreme trends across multiple industry
flu shuttered businesses and pro- weather events and Covid-19 sectors. In each volume, we discuss
voked xenophobia. Technological continue to test our resolve and the disruptive forces, opportunities
marvels like the radio, refrigerator, our resilience. Exponential tech- and strategies that will drive your
vacuum cleaner, moving assembly nologies—artificial intelligence, organization in the near future.
line and electronic power trans- synthetic biology, exascale com-
Now, more than ever, your organi-
mission generated new growth, puting, autonomous robots, and
zation should examine the poten-
even as the wealth gap widened. off-planet missions to space—are
tial near and long-term impact of
More than two-thirds of Ameri- challenging our assumptions about
tech trends. You must factor the
cans survived on wages too low to human potential. Under lockdown,
trends in this report into your stra-
sustain everyday living. The pace we’ve learned how to work from
tegic thinking for the coming year,
of scientific innovation—the dis- our kitchen tables, lead from our
and adjust your planning, opera-
covery of insulin, the first modern spare rooms, and support each
tions and business models accord-
antibiotics, and insights into theo- other from afar. But this disruption
ingly. But we hope you will make
retical physics and the structure of has only just begun.
time for creative exploration. From
atoms—forced people to reconsid-
With the benefit of both hindsight chaos, a new world will come.
er their cherished beliefs.
and strategic foresight, we can
The sheer scale of change, and the choose a path of reinvention. Our
great uncertainty that came with 2021 Tech Trends Report is de-
it, produced two factions: those signed to help you confront deep
who wanted to reverse time and uncertainty, adapt and thrive. For Amy Webb
return the world to normal, and this year’s edition, the magnitude
Founder
those who embraced the chaos, of new signals required us to cre-
The Future Today Institute
faced forward, and got busy build- ate 12 separate volumes, and each
ing the future. report focuses on a cluster of relat-
03 © 2021 Future Today Institute
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
6
1
Macro Forces and
Emerging Trends 2 3 4 5
For nearly two decades, the Future Today Institute has meticulously re-
searched macro forces of change and the emerging trends that result.
Our focus: understanding how these forces and trends will shape our
futures. Our 14th annual Tech Trends Report identifies new opportunities
for growth and potential collaborations in and adjacent to your business.
We also highlight emerging or atypical threats across most industries,
including all levels of government. For those in creative fields, you will find
a wealth of new ideas that will spark your imagination.
Our framework organizes nearly 500 trends into 12 clear categories.
Within those categories are specific use cases and recommendations for
key roles in many organizations: strategy, innovation, R&D, and risk.
Each trend offers six important insights.
1. Years on the List 2. Key Insight 4. Disruptive Impact 6. Action Scale Informs Strategy
We track longitudinal tech and Concise description of this trend The implications of this trend on FTI’s analysis of what action your Strong evidence and data. Longer-
science trends. This measurement that can be easily understood and your business, government, or organization should take. Fields term uncertainties remain. Use it to
indicates how long we have repeated to others. society. include: inform your strategic planning.
followed the trend and its
progression. 3. Examples 5. Emerging Players Watch Closely Act Now
Real-world use cases, some of Individuals, research teams, Mounting evidence and data, but Ample evidence and data. This
which should be familiar to you. startups, and other organizations more maturity is needed. Use it to trend is already mature and
emerging in this space. inform your vision, planning, and requires action.
research.
04 © 2021 Future Today Institute00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Health, Medical and Wearables Macro Forces and Emerging Trends Scenarios Describe Plausible Outcomes You will find scenarios imagining future worlds as trends evolve and converge. Scenarios offer a fresh perspective on trends and often chal- lenge your deeply held beliefs. They prompt you to consider high-impact, high-uncertainty situations using signals available today. 1 1. Headline 2 A short description offering you a glimpse into future changes. 2. Temporal and Emotive Tags 3 A label explaining both when in the future this scenario is set and whether it is optimistic, neutral, pessimistic, or catastrophic. 3. Narrative The descriptive elements of our imagined world, including the developments leading us to this point in our future history. Scenario sources: The Future Today Institute uses a wide array of quali- tative and quantitative data to create our scenarios. Some of our typical sources include patent filings, academic preprint servers, archival re- search, policy briefings, conference papers, data sets, structured inter- views with experts, conversations with kids, critical design, and specula- tive fiction. 05 © 2021 Future Today Institute
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