At The HD Group, we embrace technology in the ever-evolving real estate landscape. If it can help improve our lives or businesses, why not implement some new ideas and modern technology? We always find it interesting to learn about new tech trends and concepts that are continuing to change our world.

MIT recently released this article about 10 Breakthrough Technologies in 2022. You can read the full article here, but we wanted to highlight some of them and provide our own perspective on how they may impact our daily lives.

Phasing Out of Passwords

If you are like us, trying to remember hundreds of passwords for online accounts and apps is infuriating. We’re seeing new ways of authenticating users being utilized that are safer and easier. Email links, push notifications through text and even biometric scans like touch ID or face ID are providing alternative ways to authenticate yourself. Two-way authentication is another method for better security and account recovery. This may mean less remembering of complicated passwords in the future and enhanced security for your sensitive information.

Grid Battery Storage

Iron-based batteries are being used to store electricity. The batteries last longer than old grid systems, they are made from more sustainable materials, they are less expensive to use and they offer a number of other practical advantages. Advancements like this in energy creation, storage, delivery and consumption could have long-term benefits for the environment and provide cost savings to the energy companies and their users. This could have a direct impact on real estate with housing upgrades to better store solar and other energy sources for extended home use.

Vaccine, Virus and Disease Control

Not surprisingly, many technology advancements already making a difference in 2022 are found in the medical field. There are new ways to track (and hopefully contain) Covid variants through genomic sequencing. Pills could supplement and replace shots as a way to treat and prevent viruses like Covid. Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used for analyzing protein structures and developing drugs to treat a wider range of diseases and viruses. In fact, a new malaria vaccine was approved by the WHO this year and could potentially save thousands of lives each year across the globe. We won’t get into the politics of vaccines here, but medical science continues to get more advanced each year.

Proof of Stake

Cryptocurrencies consume massive amounts of electricity because of how the secure transactions are verified though significant computing power. Proof of stake is a new development that can allow crypto users to verify transactions with less energy usage. Ethereum is already planning to transition to this system in 2022 and it can potentially cut their energy consumption by 99.95%!

Practical Fusion Reactors

Fusion power has always been the pipe dream of researchers looking for ways to produce limitless, carbon-free electricity. A new startup is utilizing practical fusion reactors that use a powerful magnetic system. They hope to deliver to the grid by next decade with smaller and less expensive reactors that can produce this renewable and sustainable energy source.

AI Synthetic Data

There are some challenges with artificial intelligence. It requires massive amounts of data that is often unreliable or poorly organized. Synthetic data is being developed and utilized with AI systems. This concept has a long way to go, but it could improve AI systems in the near future.

Carbon Emissions Reduction

Climate change is a major concern globally. Just reducing carbon emissions may not be enough to stop it. Many researchers are looking for ways to remove carbon dioxide from the air and eliminate as many carbon emissions as possible. The world’s largest carbon removal factory opened in Iceland this year and are testing the possibilities of this technology.

These are some of the highlights from this interesting MIT article. What technology do you think will have the biggest impact on our lives—whether on a daily basis or for positively shaping the future for many generations to come?