Trackers in our Bodies? | The Daily Mail

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An Amazon report on future technology says soon we’ll wear fitness trackers inside our bodies – and there could also be devices to translate barks and miaows from dogs and cats. Amazon commissioned the report to mark the start of its Shop The Future online store. It predicts items on sale will include pet translators and fitness tracker implants. Futurists William Higham and Anne Lise Kjaer said technology will increasingly be used to save time during daily life.

Pet translators, implanted fitness trackers and virtual shelves to show off digital downloads of music and TV will be popular tech products of the future, new research claims.

Online retail giant Amazon commissioned the report to mark the launch of its Shop The Future online store of tech products – including 3D printers and augmented reality glasses – having taken predictions from futurists on tech trends in years to come.

Their predictions for new products included communication devices that could understand and translate the different barks and miaows from pets, while the concept of “simplexity” will become part of how people shop – using voice activation and artificial intelligence to make previously complex tasks simple, the report said.

Futurists William Higham from Next Big Thing and Anne Lise Kjaer of Kjaer Global said technology will increasingly be used to save time during daily life.

Mr Higham said: “Over the coming decades we’re set to see numerous innovations that will enhance our health and environment.

“We’ll save time and trouble, bringing us closer to our friends, family and community, via products and services that will delight us with their revolutionary originality.

“New products like virtual shelves will let us display our personality by showing off our collections of digital films, music and books on any wall in our home.”

The report said the future “will revolve around ease”, with consumers increasingly turning to technology and gadgets that help them maximise the time they have, notably in increased use of voice activation and artificial intelligence.

Wearable fitness trackers will also shrink and evolve to the stage where they can be implanted into the body, the report suggests.

Voice activated smart home hubs such as Amazon Echo and Google Home have gone on sale in the UK in the last year and the futurists predict the technology behind them will continue to evolve to reach a point where “homes will increasingly manage themselves”.

“The pace of innovation has never been faster and we’re seeing exciting new products that improve our health, beautify our homes, save us time and make entertainment more enthralling than ever – from wherever,” Ms Kjaer said.

The Shop the Future report also suggested consumers will become more forward-thinking and independent, choosing to invest in products such as 3D printers in order to produce their own products at home.

Amazon’s new Shop the Future store includes 3D printers, smart home monitors such as internet-connected thermostats and robots among its stock of gadgets.

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