Unsupervised

CHAPTER 3Consumer-Facing Hardware Technologies

“Robots are interesting because they exist as a real technology that you can really study—you can get a degree in robotics—and they also have all this pop-culture real estate that they take up in people's minds.”

—Daniel H. Wilson

Technologies that create and distribute physical items face an incremental hurdle. They not only need to continually upgrade their software but must also integrate a production element. Unlike software, this can be done neither instantaneously nor at minimal cost. Redesigning, re-tooling, and installing upgraded equipment is often an expensive, time-consuming, and onerous process. As such, although the capability might already exist to achieve many exciting outcomes, the pace of implementation could well lag considerably. As such, they seem to suffer from Amara's Law (an overestimate of technology in the short term but an underestimate in the long term) more than software-only technologies. However, they are an integral and vital part of the future because they enable and perform physical tasks that humans cannot. Propelled by advances in frontier technologies, they will continue to generate new capabilities and efficiencies. These technologies include robotics, additive manufacturing (3D and 4D printing), Internet of Things, and augmented and virtual reality—the access points to the metaverse.

The rapid development of more physical technologies like robotics and automation is vital, both independently ...