Edge technologies are projected to experience the highest investment increase in 2022, growing 76% to $462,000 according to a new Gartner, Inc. survey.

Looking back to 2021, 5G drew the highest average investment in 2021, with survey respondents reporting an average of $465,000 invested in the technology. This was followed by IoT at $417,000 and edge technologies (i.e., edge AI and edge computing) at $262,000. 

The edge architecture is allowing AI to become more actionable. Moving AI inferencing closer to the point of data generation is making the edge more intelligent, which is improving decision-making within organizations and data-driven outcomes. In conducting AI inferencing on the edge, the data is processed in real time to generate actionable insights for decision-makers.

It makes sense that among the reasons organizations are using edge technologies and 5G are to improve employee productivity, augment existing products and services by making them more connected and intelligent, and automate business processes. Asset intensive industries such as manufacturing, natural resources and energy are among the early adopters of ET to solve core business problems. 

It’s interesting to note that the decisions to invest in these emerging technologies (ET) no longer solely rest with IT. The survey showed that Boards of Directors are among the main decision makers for ET investments in over half of surveyed organizations, just behind CIOs and CTOs, signaling that the business has more confidence in the ROI these technologies bring.

In fact, counter to conventional thinking, most survey respondents reported that ET investments are meeting or exceeding user expectations. When enterprises are choosing between two vendors’ ET offerings, the vendors’ ability to provide demonstrable use cases and a track record of success ultimately clinches the win. Product managers should look to focus on these success stories and ensure short deployment/ implementation timelines when targeting business users to adopt ET.
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Gartner surveyed 500 global respondents from mid-sized and larger organizations in September and October 2021 to understand buying behavior when investing in emerging technologies.

It’s no secret that Big Tech wants to spice up your virtual life with the metaverse. Since last year, companies have put plans in motion to make the virtual space a reality: Microsoft bought a major game developer. Google’s reportedly got plans to build AR gear. And Facebook gave the ultimate flex when it rebranded to Meta. Then there are major retailers like Nike, which is planning to sell virtual sneakers.
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But what exactly is the metaverse? Scenes from “The Matrix” or “Ready Player One” might be floating around in your head. The metaverse can be a virtual space where you can do just about anything. And if that sounds scary—and exciting—then you’re not alone. The answer to this article’s title question is “the metaverse is not 100% up and spinning yet.”

Don't rush to pick out your new virtual “Outfit of The Day” (OOTD). The metaverse is still in the early stages of development. While it’s not fully here, there is at least one way you may experience it—cryptocurrency.

• Video games: Games like Fortnite include metaverse elements like avatars that interact with other players. Players can also get virtual currency (hi, crypto) to dress up their avatars. And gaming company Roblox already allows users to create their own worlds (more on Roblox in a bit). 
• Second Life: It’s a virtual world that was launched in 2003. And allows users to create an avatar that can hang out with other users and shop. It’s been described as a metaverse. And while its popularity peaked in the late 2000s, the company’s now trying to make a name for itself in the next digital frontier. 
• At work: The collaboration between Microsoft Teams and Meta’s Workplace is giving people a taste of how platforms can integrate and work together in the metaverse. Both companies allow users to access content from Teams (think: streaming video) and Workplace (think: comment features) without having to switch between apps. 
• NFTs: Aka Non-fungible tokens. Which are digital collectibles. They represent ownership of digital art, images, and video games. And NFTs are expected to do the same when it comes to representing assets in the metaverse. 

There are thousands of cryptocurrencies. Ranging from the not-so-bitsy Bitcoin to the confusing parody that’s Dogecoin. This digital money is very volatile, but has grown in popularity—especially when it comes to taking part and building in the metaverse. 

There’s a lot of hype surrounding the metaverse, especially as people throw real-life money at creating immersive 3D environments. Case in point: Real estate sales on four major metaverse platforms topped $500 million last year, according to one analysis. And that number’s expected to double this year. 

Those with deep pockets have already started investing. See: Paris Hilton’s virtual island. And Snoop Dogg’s Snoopverse, which apparently already has people spending hundreds of thousands of dollars just to be his neighbor. Then, there’s Big Tech. 

“[Meta has] spent $10 billion so far on the effort and has said it’s going to spend much more to try to pivot the business to this area. It's a big push by Mark Zuckerberg,” Kara Swisher, tech columnist for The New York Times, said on a recent podcast.

But while people are making top-dollar investments, experts say ‘proceed with caution.’ Janine Yorio, CEO of Everyrealm (a metaverse and NFT investor and developer), said real estate in this new virtual ecosystem is perilous.

“You must pay in cryptocurrency. The value of the asset is largely correlated to the value of the underlying cryptocurrency, which is very volatile,” Yorio said. “There is a low likelihood of generating income from a metaverse real estate investment.” 

But for those who can shell out, there are some potential big profits in other areas. The market for virtual goods and services in the metaverse will reportedly be worth $1 trillion. And companies will be right there to advertise it. 

This brings us to the next big question: what will people do in the Metaverse?
Real self, meet virtual self. In the metaverse, you can merge (or blur) even more of your life together. What you see and post on Instagram and TikTok are all part of the 2D internet—So 2021. “In the metaverse, we'll see each other. We can wave to each other. I can show you what I'm buying. You can show me what you're buying, and it becomes an immersive and social experience,” Yorio explained.
Users will do things like shop, have work meetings, and go to concerts. And they’ll be able to do it with their friends and strangers who live anywhere in the physical world.
“Whether it’s finding love and making friends, or it’s connecting with people from different parts of the world, or it's flying or shooting people and blowing them up, or being a spy,” she said. “Those are the kinds of things that are going to draw people into the metaverse.”
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In other words, the metaverse will be the Wild West. Hopefully without the violence. Here’s a look at some of the current platforms that are already shaping the metaverse:

• Decentraland: This is a fully decentralized virtual reality platform. Meaning no single person owns it. Users can buy land or make money from their content using the platform’s cryptocurrency, which can be bought with Ethereum. (Yes, it’s crypto on crypto.) Users can access Decentraland with a digital wallet— aka a personal account that keeps all your digital assets (NFTs and Decentraland purchases). 
• Horizon Workrooms: This is a VR space for teams to connect. Think: WFH, but in a digital space and with avatars. Horizon Workrooms requires the Quest 2— a VR headset created by Meta. It lets users access Workrooms and other virtual events. Bonus: It’s free to use. 
• Roblox: It’s a platform where users can play games developed by other users. And can buy accessories and products from real brands like Burberry and Nike, using the platform’s in-game currency Robux. Game developers can earn Robux and convert it to real money. (That’s one way to have a side hustle.) You can download Roblox for free online and play it via Xbox One, Xbox Series S, or Xbox Series X. And also access it via certain Apple iOS, Android, and Amazon products. 
• The Sandbox: The company describes itself as a “virtual metaverse” that’s built on the Ethereum blockchain. "Players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experience." They also have a crypto wallet (think: a digital wallet) to store SAND — the currency used in the ecosystem. It also gives people the power to govern the space...aka make the rules.

Nobody enjoys getting the jab. Whether it's a standard shot, an epidural or dental injection, or a daily shot for needed medicine, the experience has created a class of phobias, with one Harvard study estimating that fear of needles affects up to 25% of adults. 

Despite so much innovation in other areas of medicine, the experience of getting a shot or injection hasn't really changed all that much in the last century. But thankfully new technologies are finally catching on and changing how people think about needles, and the technology is being embraced readily by providers.

"Our injection technologies serving the dental and epidural community have been growing," says Arjan Haverhals, CEO of Milestone Scientific, which has pioneered a computer-controlled injection technology that guides the injection below the patient's pain threshold, making injections precise, efficient, and virtually painless. "We have a growing number of hospitals embracing our technology. We’ve also entered the private pain clinic market to treat chronic back pain. Our dental delivery system, which is available nationwide and in Canada, has seen growing interest from all dental professionals worldwide."

A handful of technology innovators like Milestone Scientific are bent on improving the jab through wearables, computer guidance, and needle-free injection technologies. 

Portal Instruments, an MIT spinoff, is another player in the space. The company is bringing a needle-free injection device to market that delivers a rapid, high-pressure stream of medicine, as thin as a strand of hair, through the skin in adjustable dosages, causing little to no pain. A connected app tracks each dose and the medicine's effects and uploads that information to the cloud, for patients and doctors. The device would be sold as a drug-device combination product to medical professionals and provided to patients with a prescription.

Enable Injection designs, manufactures, and sells wearable delivery devices for injectable drugs. Patients attach the device onto the skin by themselves, and trigger needle insertion and retraction by pressing a button on the device. Through a partnership with Flex, Enable also offers a version of the drug delivery platform that may connect to smartphones via Bluetooth. According to the company's website, the Enable Smart enFuse product could be "pre-integrated" into the digital health platform or strategy of an organization for improved patient data collection. 

It's little surprise there's so much activity around increasing outcomes and lowering pain associated with injections. Growth of the global injectable drug delivery devices market is expected to increase from $16 billion in 2019 to $21.3 billion in 2023, partly due to increased demand for injection devices that can be used and monitored in the home environment. Milestone, for one, has seen significant interest in the U.S, where epidural-specific systems are in place and trials underway in Florida, Michigan, Texas, South Carolina, Illinois, and Massachusetts, to name a few. The Dental delivery system is used widely throughout the country with growing interest from specialty practices including periodontic, cosmetic, and pediatric. 

"For medical, this means healthcare outcome for patients at lower costs. For dental, it means pain-free injections, more comfort, and less fear for patients," says Haverhals, "plus the ability for additional business for dentists. In fact, many of our dentists have noted word-of-mouth as a marketing tool for growing their business just by adopting our injection technology."

Researchers have developed a new metasurface-based antenna that represents an important step toward making it practical to harvest energy from radio waves, such as the ones used in cell phone networks or Bluetooth connections. This technology could potentially provide wireless power to sensors, LEDs, and other simple devices with low energy requirements.

“By eliminating wired connections and batteries, these antennas could help reduce costs, improve reliability and make some electrical systems more efficient,” said research team leader Jiangfeng Zhou from the University of South Florida. “This would be useful for powering smart home sensors such as those used for temperature, lighting and motion or sensors used to monitor the structure of buildings or bridges, where replacing a battery might be difficult or impossible.”

In the journal Optical Materials Express, the researchers report lab tests of their new antenna showed it can harvest 100 microwatts of power, enough to power simple devices, from low power radio waves. This was possible because the metamaterial used to make the antenna exhibits perfect absorption of radio waves and was designed to work with low intensities.

“Although more work is needed to miniaturize the antenna, our device crosses a key threshold of 100 microwatts of harvested power with high efficiency using ambient power levels found in the real world,” said Clayton Fowler, the team member who fabricated the sample and performed the measurements. “The technology could also be adapted so that a radio wave source could be provided to power or charge devices around a room.”

Harvesting Energy from the Air. Scientists have been trying to capture energy from radio waves for quite some time, but it has been difficult to get enough energy to be useful. This is changing thanks to the development of metamaterials and the ever-growing number of ambient sources of radio frequency energy available, such as cell phone networks, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth signals.

“With the huge explosion in radio wave-based technologies, there will be a lot of waste electromagnetic emissions that could be collected,” said Zhou. “This, combined with advancements in metamaterials, has created a ripe environment for new devices and applications that could benefit from collecting this waste energy and putting it to use.”

Metamaterials use small, carefully designed structures to interact with light and radio waves in ways that naturally occurring materials do not. To make the energy-harvesting antenna, the researchers used a metamaterial designed for high absorption of radio waves and that allows a higher voltage to flow across the device’s diode. This improved its efficiency at turning radio waves into power, particularly at low intensity.

Testing With Ambient Power Levels. For lab tests of the device, which measured 16 cm by 16 cm, the researchers measured the amount of power harvested while changing the power and frequency of a radio source between 0.7 and 2.0 GHz. They showed the ability to harvest 100 microwatts of power from radio waves with an intensity of just 0.4 microwatts per centimeter squared, approximately the level of intensity of the radio waves 100 meters from a cell phone tower.

“We also placed a cell phone very close to the antenna during a phone call, and it captured enough energy to power an LED during the call,” said Zhou. “Although it would be more practical to harvest energy from cell phone towers, this demonstrated the power capturing abilities of the antenna.”
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Because the current version of the antenna is much larger than most of the devices it might power, the researchers are working to make it smaller. They would also like to make a version that could collect energy from multiple types of radio waves simultaneously so that more energy could be gathered.