Breakthrough Technologies in the Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic

The wake of pandemic has been one of the most unpredictable year. This scenario has simply exemplified how quickly the world can transform. Due to the pandemic, everything about life has to be altered in one way or another to cope with the new normal. Technology, on the other hand, is already a fast paced, evolving industry, hence, it is no surprise that new adaptations are made even quicker now to accommodate. However, can we also cogitate, and think of it as a "blessing in disguise" if we know that it has also caused the discovery and emergency of certain technologies? Well, let me present them to you one by one, and let's see if you will be convinced.

1) Messenger RNA vaccines

Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines are just one of newly discovered vaccines where it teach cells how to make a protein that will trigger an immune response inside our bodies. Homologous to the role of any other COVID-19 vaccines, mRNA vaccines benefit people who get vaccinated by giving them protection against diseases like COVID-19 without risking the potentially serious consequences of getting sick.¹

Historically, messenger RNA is a technology that has been in the works for 20 years. When the covid-19 pandemic began last January, scientists at several biotech companies were quick to turn to mRNA as a way to create potential vaccines; in late December 2020, at a time when more than 1.5 million had died from covid-19 worldwide, the vaccines were approved in the US, marking the beginning of the end of the pandemic.²

2.) Digital contact Tracing

Pretty familiar, isn't it? As the coronavirus began to ravage and spread across the world, the world was in great need for digital contact tracing. This works so simple. The smartphone apps that we are causing can utilize GPS or Bluetooth to make a log of people who had recently crossed paths. If one of them later tested positive for covid, that person could enter the result into the app, and it would alert others who might have been exposed.

However, the has been a news about the digital contact tracing largely failing to make much impact on the virus’s spread. Consequently, Apple and Google quickly pushed out features like exposure notifications to many smartphones. After solving this problem, public health officials again struggled to persuade residents to use them. From this, we can learn that this pandemic could not only help us prepare for the next pandemic, but also carry over to other areas of health care. Lindsay Muscato, an editor, writer, producer, and journalist MIT Technology Review, explores why digital contact tracing failed to slow covid-19 and offers ways we can do better next.²

3.) Artificial Intelligence (AI)

We are all familiar with this term, aren't we? According to the Forbes article, the number one trend in tech will be artificial intelligence (AI). AI may sound to complex and complicated, but it will be a major and efficient tool in improving the pandemic. This is because, the algorithm, a finite sequence of well-defined instructions, can make the AI capable of learning from past data, say from hospitals, to determine new solutions that humans may never have concluded. Furthermore, AI has access to massive amounts of data about the pandemic, such as: how each patient was impacted, and the recovery process, that humans would be ill-equipped to process in a timely manner. These will be then utilized to predict and come up to best possible solution. With machine learning capabilities, AI is even more skillful at predicting the correct

4.) Drones, and Vehicle Automation

According to the article, “In recent years we have seen the emergence of robots in the care and assisted living sectors, and these will become increasingly important, particularly when it comes to interacting with members of society who are most vulnerable to infection, such as the elderly.”³

One plausible reason for the spread of the virus is human interactions. As states and country are slowly opening up, human interaction is increasing and the risk for those whose immune systems are weak only continues to grow. The only way to eliminate this risk for those populations is to eliminate human interaction as much as possible. This is where robots come in, it will be interesting to see if robots will be able to evolve to the point of providing the comfort a real life human could provide. Interesting and exciting, right?

5.) Extended Reality (XR) – Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/MR).

“These terms cover technology that uses glasses or headsets to project computer-generated imagery directly into the user’s field of vision. When it is superimposed over what the user is viewing in the real world, it is AR. And when it is used to place the user into an entirely computer-generated environment, it is VR.”³

By any chance, we have all heard of these terms before, or maybe, familiar with it. The fact these technologies simulate real life as much as possible without the actual risk of interaction, these arrre going to be very popular. Aside from the fame that it would cause, this can also be extremely helpful for situations in life where interactions need to take place such as schools or for those in the medical fields. VR/MR also allows humans to practice situations for training purposes that would never be possible before such as surgeons practicing virtual surgery.

Now, has this article somehow made you the bright side of pandemic? There are many countries alreadt who are back to normal, while others are still slowly recovering. With the emergence of new technologies, we are already equipped with weapons to combat this virus, once it will be vack again in the future.

References:

1.) COVID-19. (2022, January 4). COVID-19. Center Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html#:~:text=Messenger%20RNA%20(mRNA)%20vaccines%20teach,serious%20consequences%20of%20getting%20sick.

2.) Sierra and Lenny. (2021, February 24). 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2021. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved at: www.technologyreview.com

3.) The Biggest Trends.... (September 20, 2020). The 5 Biggest Trends in Technology in 2021. Opsani. Retrieved at: opsani.com