Miniaturized products, voice-activated appliances, superfoods, and other consumer trends in 2008
Wristwatch-size phones (a watch-and-wear phone so you never have to lose your phone again — about time, don’t you think?) and handheld wireless computers (that go anywhere you go). Ordering food delivery via your cell phone (surely, your favorite fast-food restos are on your speed dial, way on top of your doctor’s and other emergency numbers — but what could be more urgent than a grumbling stomach?) and paying via the same web-enabled device. Appliances that are operated by voice commands (so you don’t have to look for the remote to turn on the TV or open the ref door everytime you sleepwalk to the kitchen at
Battelle’s
• Cords, cables, wires will disappear from sight in homes as we move forward to the era of wireless communications. Read: More cordless phones, wireless hookups to the Internet, even electric lamps and small appliances that don’t have to be plugged in. Now, that’s electrifying news!
• Roofing shingles will serve as solar collectors, reducing the need for electricity transferred by wires to homes.
• Home products will improve indoor environment (like smart filters on furnaces, anti-allergen and antibacterial surfaces, and self-vacuuming carpets).
• There will be a rapidly growing need for simple, user-friendly equipment for the home (like home health monitors), according to Richard Rosen, VP, Battelle’s Medical Products Group. “As our population ages, monitoring and maintaining our health at home will be extremely important. Technically, we can do it. We can help people stay at home and stay healthy,” Rosen heartily declares.
Yes, we can do it! Fact is, Philips, a world leader in lighting innovations and now, medical technology and equipment, just did it with its HeartStart Home Defibrillator, which helps treat sudden cardiac arrest when and where it happens. Why, it’s listed as one of the top 10 gadgets that will improve your life!
Battelle took note of those non-invasive home health monitors that have a wide range of physical functions and can even analyze nutrition and exercise programs. Call it your own live-in medical team.
• Highly miniaturized communications and electronic products will go big — like specialized, handheld wireless computers that perform everyday activities, from managing your banking and investments to planning your weekend entertainment.
• Future digital high-definition TV will incorporate home videoconferencing and networking.
Yes, you never have to leave home, especially if some of Philips’ brilliant concepts become everyday realities. Like the Wake Up Light, a medically proven lamp that simulates the rising sun in your bedroom, and other cool gadgets that tap the healing qualities of light. Did you know that red light stimulates and soothes, blue light cleanses and tones, while infrared light is for pain relief? But if everything else palls, try the Soft Therapy, a cordless garment you can put on to reduce tension in strained muscles and joints in the shoulders and back by combining infrared heat with vibrational massage. Call it your wearable masseur — unless, of course, if you’re longing for the gentle touch of your favorite masseur.
And this the environmentally conscious would certainly like to see: environmanufacturing and recycling. Green companies will be creating products that are environmentally friendly from cradle to grave — from beverage containers to computers and cars. Hazardous chemicals will no longer be used to clean clothes.
And speaking of clothes, in the future, no one will need pockets. Writes Alex Halperin, “... keys, credit cards, checkbooks will be replaced by something closer to the body. When you need to open a door or make a purchase, chances are you’ll do it with a fingerprint, a voice command, or a computer scan of your eyeball.”
In fact, Pay By Touch, a San Francisco-based outfit that specializes in biometrics (or the technology of identifying people by unique biologic traits) has already signed up more than two million people to have their fingerprints used as surrogate for checks and credit cards in more than 2,000 stores, including large grocery chains. According to Halperin, not just stores are using biometrics, even elementary schools to keep intruders out. Fingerprint readers are also being installed on locks of house and office doors.
On the other hand, Fujitsu has produced a palm recognition device that can be used in functions like access to buildings and computers. Call it modern-day palm reading.
If fingerprinting is, as Halperin says, closer to the body, this one’s closest to the stomach: food. According to one food forecast, the D word (diet, but of course!) is being ditched in favor of “making actual lifestyle changes.” Consumers will be seeing less and less of the D word on product labels as more and more companies zero in on, yes, making lifestyle changes. Coca-Cola has come up with its no-calorie colas that go by such names as Coke Zero, Coke Cherry Zero, Sprite Zero, Coke Vanilla Zero. Then there are Dr. Pepper Zero and Fanta Zero.
And here are more food/dining trends to chew over:
• The right portion at the right price — TGI Fridays kicked off this trend last year. And then McDonald’s unwrapped its Snack Wraps mini-meal options while mini more came up with downsized dishes.
• With more and more manufacturers climbing on the health bandwagon, more decadently delicious fiberiffic foods will be introduced on the market. Like the most fiber-packed and most chewy health bars.
• With rising concerns over a study that links certain artificial additive to hyperactivity in chiildren, more companies will be taking steps to remove artificial colors, preservatives, flavors, and otherwise unknown ingredients so they could make junk-free claims, according to Mintel.
• Recognizing the importance of gut health to obesity (quite a big problem in America) management and cancer prevention, probiotics will not just mean yogurt and yogurt drinks but also cheese, bars, breakfast foods, and even chocolate.
• As consumers junk junk food, unhealthy fast food, and the unnatural, casual dining chains will be forced to rethink their menus and come up with healthier choices.
• With plastic bottles clogging landfills, expect some environment-conscious restaurant owners to scrap bottled water and start charging for filtered local water.
• Bartenders are also raising the bar on the happy hour scene. In collaboration with chefs, bartenders are now concocting cocktails that you can eat. Go ahead, eat your cocktails!
• Now, this one’s really cool: Coming right up are the wacky ice creams that come in the most unlikely combinations (think cantaloupe sorbet with cured pork or tuna tartare with wasabi ice cream).
• Gastro-travel is the buzzword for 2008 as more and more vacations are organized around food or eating. There are tours to the local markets, cooking classes, and immersion activities.
• Because a proper breakfast should jump-start your day, the battle for breakfast rages as hotels and restaurants come up with the most enticing breakfast deals to lure the early risers.
• People will be looking in their cupboards rather than their medicine cabinets to keep the doctor away. Even the Father of Medicine Hippocrates says, “Let food be thy medicine ...” Call it food-aceuticals. Did you know that grape products, green and black tea as well as chocolates are rich in flavonoids that help prevent blood clots that can trigger a heart attack or stroke?
Research claims that there are some foods that are better than drugs. For instance, according to a recent review by the New England Journal of Medicine, taking niacin (a simple B vitamin) is the most effective way to reduce the risk of a heart attack as it raises the good cholesterol levels. Consider this: Niacin increases good cholesterol by 20 to 35 percent and lowers bad cholesterol by up to 25 percent, as compared to statin drugs that raise good cholesterol by only two to 15 percent. Results are even more hearty when niacin is combined with omega-3 fish oils.
Excuse us while we take our vitamin B.
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