4 Tech Trends That Will Define 2015, Selected By Frog

THE DEATH OF THE PEDOMETER, 3-D PRINTERS IN THE KITCHEN, AND WEARABLE FITNESS AIS: HERE’S HOW FOUR FROG DESIGNERS SEE 2015 PLAYING OUT.

TEXTILES GET TECHY

If 2014 was the year that wearables hit the mainstream, 2015 will be the year that clothing itself gets smart.

“People don’t really want another device in their lives to deal with,” says Adam Pruden, senior interaction designer at Frog. “The next step is technology built into textiles, which can help measure your health, your behavior, and your environment in a more passive way.”

3-D PRINTING IN THE KITCHEN

3-D printing has long been used to make delicious snacks and morsels, but 2015 is when most of us will first get to taste 3-D printed food for ourselves, says Frog’s senior interaction designer Eric Boam. And that’s just to start.

“The way we eat is about to get more Jetsons-like,” Boam says. He points to a number of culinary technologies—like ChefJet, a 3-D printer for sugar, or Mellow, a sous-vide kitchen robot—that after a lot of fanfare are about to hit the market.

MICRO-FARMING GOES MAINSTREAM

While 2015 might be the year that culinary 3-D printers go mainstream, it’s also the year that hydroponics and aquaponics will start capturing the same buzz as Makerbots.

“The kind of art we get in from clients tends to signal trends that are right around the corner,” says Jason Severs, executive creative director at Frog. “And more than three independent companies asked us to design microfarming solutions for them in 2014 alone. That’s an indicator that this is about to get big.”

MOVE OVER STEP-COUNTERS

“People are disappointed in their Fitbits and their Fuelbands,” says Allison Schoop, associate strategy director at frog. “I know I walk 10,000 steps a day. Now what?”

In 2015, expect wearables to stop being just glorified pedometers and become more useful devices. Wearables like Sensoria (smart running socks), Moov (a wearable A.I. coach), and Leo (a smart cuff that can measure muscle intensity, fatigue, and balance) will all push the needle forward.

Read the entire article here: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3040368/4-tech-trends-that-will-define-2015-selected-by-frog