Doctors create a trachea using a MakerBot 3D printer

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3D printing has helped Feinstein Institute researchers create cartilage designed for tracheal repair or replacement.

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It’s not so much a question as to if 3D printing will be an integral part of medical procedures in the future, it’s more so when. And apparently, we are closer than ever before. While we’ve seen everything from 3D-printed splints to prosthetics to organs, a team of researchers at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has made yet another medical breakthrough using a MakerBot Replicator 2X.

This time, the scientists created cartilage designed for tracheal repair or replacement. Also known as the “windpipe,” the trachea is the tube that connects the upper respiratory tract to the lungs. Never before has a regular PLA filament been used to print custom tracheal scaffolding, not to mention combined with living cells to create a tracheal segment. Traditionally speaking, there has been two traditional means of reconstructing a damaged trachea — both of which present a number of constraints. Both treatments have involved removal of the affected tracheal segment.

As a solution to the growing problem, Feinstein Institute investigator Todd Goldstein along with Dr. Daniel A. Grande of the Orthopedic Research Laboratory inquired as to whether 3D printing could be a suitable alternative.

“Three-dimensional printing and tissue engineering has the potential for creation of a custom-designed tracheal replacement prosthesis in the lab so that the affected tracheal segment can be ‘swapped out’ instead of removed,” explained Goldstein. “Our results show that three-dimensional printing can be combined with tissue engineering to effectively produce a partial tracheal replacement graft in vitro. Our data demonstrate that the cartilage cells seeded on the graft retain their biological capability and were able to proliferate at the same rate as native cells.”

Similar to earlier efforts we’ve seen around bioresorbable splints that have saved the life of infants, The Feinstein Institute’s research combined two emerging fields: 3D printing and tissue engineering. Tissue engineering is like other kinds of engineering, except instead of using steel or computer code to make things, living cells from skin, muscle or cartilage are the raw material. Already knowing how to construct cartilage from a mixture of cells called chondrocytes, nutrients to feed them and collagen, a 3D printer can craft scaffolding, which can be covered in a mixture of chondrocytes and collagen, which then grows into cartilage.

“Making a windpipe or trachea is uncharted territory,” noted Goldstein. “It has to be rigid enough to withstand coughs, sneezes and other shifts in pressure, yet flexible enough to allow the neck to move freely. With 3D printing, we were able to construct 3D-printed scaffolding that the surgeons could immediately examine and then we could work together in real time to modify the designs. MakerBot was extremely helpful and consulted on optimizing our design files so they would print better and provided advice on how to modify the MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer to print with PLA and the biomaterial. We actually found designs to modify the printer on MakerBot’s Thingiverse website to print PLA with one extruder and the biomaterial with the other extruder.”

Demonstrating the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of Atmel based desktop 3D printers, The Feinstein Institute had previously sought out a number of machines that could extrude living cells; however, such devices run upwards of $180,000. This would be fine and dandy, except for the fact that the researchers hadn’t even proven the concept nor confirm it would indeed be a viable option. Luckily, the MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer only set them back $2,500.

“The ability to prototype, examine, touch, feel and then redesign within minutes, within hours, allows for the creation of this type of technology,”  said Lee Smith, MD, Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Cohen Children’s Medical Center. “If we had to send out these designs to a commercial printer far away and get the designs back several weeks later, we’d never be where we are today.”

Originally, the team thought that a special PLA would be required in order to maintain sterility and be dissolvable within the body. However, in light of time, they decided to try regular MakerBot PLA filament. Through testing, Goldstein found that the heat from the extruder head sterilized the PLA as it printed, so he was able to use ordinary MakerBot PLA Filament.

The process consisted of extruding bio-ink he bio-ink to fill the gaps in the PLA scaffolding, which transforms into a gel on the heated build plate. Once the bio-ink adheres to the scaffolding, it goes into a bioreactor to keep the cells warm and growing evenly.

“The research being done at the Feinstein Institute is exciting and promising,” noted Jenny Lawton, MakerBot CEO. “We are continually amazed by what is being created with 3D Printers. To know that a MakerBot Replicator 3D Printer played a role in a potential medical breakthrough is inspiring.”

The results of the study illustrate how the 3D printed windpipe or trachea segments held up for four weeks in an incubator. According to Mr. Goldstein’s abstract, “The cells survived the 3D printing process, were able to continue dividing, and produced the extracellular matrix expected of tracheal chondrocytes.” In other words, they were growing just like windpipe cartilage.

While the work still remains a proof-of-concept, the researchers still have their work ahead of them before establishing a new protocol for repairing damaged windpipes. According to Dr. Smith, at least one patient comes through the North Shore-LIJ Health System each year who can’t be helped by the two traditional methods. What’s more, he expects in the next five years to harvest a patient’s cells, grow them on a scaffolding, and repair a windpipe. This customized approach may prove to be especially useful for treating children.

“Do you remember the Six Million Dollar Man?” Dr. Grande asks. “The Bionic Man is not the future, it’s the present. We have that ability to do that now. It’s really exciting.”

The Maker Movement has used Atmel powered 3D printers, ranging from MakerBot to RepRap, for quite some time now — but it is abundantly clear that the next-gen technology is quickly entering a new and important stage. Interested in learning more? You can read all about the project on MakerBot’s official blog, as well as watch the video below.

Misfit Flash will soon control your smart home

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Goes to show, the age of connected living has arrived. 

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Back at CES 2015, wearable technology was once again smack dab in the middle of all the buzz. This time, the focus shifted towards its role in the burgeoning Internet of Things, most notably connected living. Among the notable companies leading the pack was Misfit, who revealed plans to move beyond fitness tracking with particular attention towards the smart home.

Released last year, Flash is an entry-level wearable boasting a sleek and sporty design that measures your activity and sleep and syncs with your smartphone. That same connected functionally will soon serve as remote control for in-house devices as well, ranging from the lights to the thermostat and beyond. Flash will be compatible with a wide-range of smart home platforms and services, including IFTTT, Logitech’s Harmony API, Nest thermostats, August Smart Locks, as well as Misfit’s own Bolt light bulbs. For instance, double-clicking the band’s lone button will allow wearers to start a Spotify playlist or turn on the lights, while holding it down can set the mood or a desirable temperature.

Seeing as though it only has one button, Flash’s interactions with other smart devices may be limited. Needless to say, the integration definitely demonstrates how wearable tech and the Internet of Things can work together. Hendrik Bartel, an analyst at Gartner, told the Wall Street Journal that Flash’s app and smart home controls are a testament to the progress of the so-called IoT. “Sometimes it may feel like Misfit doesn’t have much of an identity, because they make fitness and sleep trackers and smart lightbulbs. But, really, that’s how the Internet of Things is. It’s the Internet of Everything. And we’re still in the early stages of that.”

Made In Space completes first round of 3D prints on the ISS

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After four months, here are all 25 parts that have been 3D-printed in space.

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November 24th at 9:28pm GMT is a moment that Made In Space and the entire Maker community will never forget. It was the day that the crew completed the first functional 3D print outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. The historic Zero-G 3D printer arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on September 23, 2014 and was activated on November 17, a week before making the replacement plastic faceplate for the machine’s own extruder system. Now a couple of months later, the Silicon Valley startup has revealed that has indeed finished its initial round of objects ranging from a calibration coupon to a ratchet. (The ratchet actually marked the first time in history an object had ever been emailed into space as well.)

“Although there were only 14 unique objects printed, 25 parts were printed in total. Duplicates were printed in order to determine the consistency of the printer over time,” the team wrote in a recent blog post. “The part that was printed the most was the ‘calibration coupon’ for a total of five times. Like a calibration page that standard inkjet printers print out when connected for the first time, the calibration coupon was used to verify that the 3D printer was working as expected. The ‘tensile test; was printed four times and both the ‘compression test’ and the ‘flex test’ were printed three times. Everything else was printed once.”

While the delivery of the 3D printer was an accomplishment in itself, the project demonstrates the basic fundamentals of useful manufacturing in space. Generally speaking, the devices extrude streams of heated plastic, metal or other material, building layer on top of layer to create three-dimensional item. By testing a 3D printer using relatively low-temperature plastic feedstock on the ISS, NASA hopes that one day astronauts will be able to create objects on-demand, rather than having to carry them into orbit. This will allow for a reduction of spare parts and mass on a spacecraft, which can ultimately change exploration mission architectures altogether. What’s more, astronauts can print these pieces from emails and downloaded files of 3D designs.

Aside from becoming the first demonstrate of additive manufacturing in space, NASA researchers say that the project provides:

• A detailed analysis of how acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) thermoplastic resin behaves in microgravity
• A comparison between additive manufacturing in Earth’s gravity and in consistent, long-term exposure to microgravity (insufficient in parabolic flights due to “print-pause” style of printing)
• Advance the TRL of additive manufacturing processes to provide risk reduction, and capabilities, to future flight or mission development programs
• The gateway to fabricating parts on-demand in space, thus reducing the need for spare parts on the mission manifest
• A technology with the promise to provide a significant return on investment, by enabling future NASA missions that would not be feasible without the capability to manufacture parts in situ
• The first step towards evolving additive manufacturing for use in space, and on Deep Space Missions

“Based on visual inspection and crew interaction, there were no significant print failures. If you have ever used a 3D printer before you probably realize just how incredible that first sentence is, especially when you then consider the fact that this 3D printer had to first withstand the forces of a rocket launch before printing anything. The successful printing was an incredibly rewarding outcome for the NASA and Made In Space engineering teams who strived to build a robust and hassle-free printer,” the Made In Space crew writes.

As for what the future holds, Made In Space plans on launching its Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) later this year, which the team says will not be a science experiment like its predecessor, but rather “a commercially available printer ready for use by anyone on Earth.” The AMF will be twice the size of the demo printer, and will be equipped to handle the manufacturing of larger, more complex objects with finer precision — and with multiple aerospace grade materials. Under the agreement for use of the commercial 3D printer on the ISS, Made In Space will own the machine, and NASA will be a customer paying to use it.

The initial success of the technology demonstration and the startup’s blueprint for the coming months provide a clear path forward in bringing advanced manufacturing capabilities into space. Interested in learning more? You can read Made In Space’s entire update, while also reviewing NASA’s report here.

Report: 1 in 5 cars will be connected by 2020

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The increased consumption and creation of digital content within cars will lead to sophisticated information and entertainment systems.

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If you buy a car within the next five years, it’s likely that it will be Internet-enabled. That’s the prediction Gartner has shared, anyway. The market research firm has released its latest report that expects there to be approximately 250 million connected cars on the road by 2020, paving the way for new in-vehicle services and automated driving capabilities. In other words, one in five vehicle will boast some sort of wireless network connection.

During the next five years, the proportion of new vehicles equipped with this capability will increase dramatically, making connected cars an integral element of the rapidly-growing Internet of Things (IoT) — an area Gartner forecasts will entail 4.9 billion connected things in use this year and will reach 25 billion by 2020.

“The connected car is already a reality, and in-vehicle wireless connectivity is rapidly expanding from luxury models and premium brands, to high-volume midmarket models,” explained James F. Hines, Gartner Research Director. “The increased consumption and creation of digital content within the vehicle will drive the need for more sophisticated infotainment systems, creating opportunities for application processors, graphics accelerators, displays and human-machine interface technologies. At the same time, new concepts of mobility and vehicle usage will lead to new business models and expansion of alternatives to car ownership, especially in urban environments.”

The proliferation of vehicle connectivity will have implications across the major functional areas of telematics, automated driving, infotainment and mobility services. Driving the adoption of connected car technology is the expansion of high-bandwidth wireless network infrastructure, rising expectations for access to mobile content and better service from smartphones and tablets. While many of the major automakers have rolled out connected cars in a number of limited models, in-vehicle wireless connectivity is rapidly expanding from luxury and premium brands to high-volume mid-market versions. Take for instance, General Motors, Hyundai and Chrysler, who have each partnered with telecoms AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, respectively.

By 2018, two automakers will have announced plans to become technology companies and expand their connected-vehicle value experiences to other industries and devices, Gartner said in a report last year. And over the next five years, at least one auto company will achieve 10% of its total revenues from connected mobility and service offerings.

“The increased consumption and creation of digital content within the vehicle will drive the need for more sophisticated infotainment systems, creating opportunities for application processors, graphics accelerators, displays and human-machine interface technologies,” Hines stated.

As the amount of information being fed into in-car head unit or telematics systems grows, vehicles will be able to capture and share not only internal systems status and location data, but also changes in surroundings in real-time, Computer World writes. Ultimately, your car will become just another part of your mobile data plan.

“To facilitate that kind of shift, connected-vehicle leaders in automotive organizations need to partner with existing ecosystems like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay that can simplify access to and integration of general mobile applications into the vehicle,” Gartner Analyst Thilo Koslowski shared in last year’s report.

The Gartner report follows recent revelations from IBM, who in the company’s Automotive 2025 study found that a majority of executives believe cars will become more personalized for drivers over the next 10 years, but autonomous vehicles and self-driving cars will not yet be ubiquitous. In fact, IBM anticipates that by 2025, vehicles will be intelligent enough to configure themselves to a driver and other occupants. In other words, cars will be able to learn, heal, drive and socialize with others on the road, and their surrounding environment through vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

Without question, the demand for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) is on the rise as well. According to ABI Research analysts, the market is expected to grow from $11.1 billion last year to $91.9 billion by 2020, hitting the $200 billion mark by 2024. Fueling that growth is the expansion of the technology from high-end luxury vehicles to more affordable cars and mini automobiles. One of the most popular systems on high-end vehicles, adaptive cruise control (ACC), will continue to gain popularity across all vehicle segments, with shipments experiencing a CAGR of 69% between 2014 and 2020.

 

NASA wants helicopter drones to scout for Mars rovers

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A new drone could triple the distances that Mars rovers can drive in a Martian day and help pinpoint interesting targets for study, says NASA.

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While 3D printing in space was truly out of this world, NASA is looking to take their Maker game to an entirely new level: Mars. As you’re well aware, drones are just about everywhere these days, from Necker Island to Hollywood to the X Games. Now, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA is looking to bring them to Mars in the form of what they call the “Mars Helicopter.”

Though rovers have provided a great deal of information on the history and composition of the Red Planet, the high-tech tools lack in terms of orbital imagery and are limited to the view of its on-board cameras. Instead, NASA is hoping that its aerial robot scout can fly ahead of rovers, provide operators a much more in-depth look at the Mars, and allow them to “check out various possible points of interest and helping engineers back on Earth plan the best driving route.”

In addition, researchers could also use images from the ‘copter to seek features for rovers to study in greater detail. What’s more, the planet’s harsh environment and terrain means a drone needs to be engineered to be rugged enough to endure Martian conditions while remaining light enough to fly. The vehicle is envisioned to weigh 2.2 pounds and measure 3.6 feet across from the tip of one blade to the other. So far, the vehicle is a proof-of-concept with the prototype’s body resembling that of a medium-sized cubic tissue box.

Intrigued? Learn more about the NASA lab’s latest project here.

16 tech trends Andreessen Horowitz is most excited about

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This list lets you inside the mind of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. 

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One of, if not the, most prominent VC groups in Silicon Valley has revealed the hottest tech trends changing the world right now. For those wondering, that firm is Andreessen Horowitz and we’re referring to no other than its “16 Things” list. The breakdown, which highlights the most investable spaces at the moment, unsurprisingly includes Internet of Things, digital health, crowdfunding, and security — a couple of areas in which we know a little something about.

“We don’t invest in themes; we invest in special founders with breakthrough ideas,” Andreessen Horowitz writes. “Which means we don’t make investments based on a pre-existing thesis about a category. That said, here are a few of the things we’ve been observing or thinking about.”

While the list — which includes several themes that were evident throughout the CES 2015 show floor — will likely change over time, it does provide a nice glimpse into the firm’s thinking at the start of this year. Just in case you don’t feel like clicking through and navigating a16z in its entirety, here’s a brief overview of those breakthrough areas.

Virtual Reality

“VR will be the ultimate input-output device. Some people call VR “the last medium” because any subsequent medium can be invented inside of VR, using software alone. Looking back, the movie and TV screens we use today will be seen as an intermediate step between the invention of electricity and the invention of VR. Kids will think it’s funny that their ancestors used to stare at glowing rectangles hoping to suspend disbelief.”

Sensorification of the Enterprise

“For enterprise, the value of the sensors is in being a shortcut for the user interface, potentially even replacing typing so we can concentrate on the easy, fun, creative things.”

Machine Learning and Big Data

“The key here is in more automated apps where big data drives what the application does, and with no user intervention.”

Full Stack Startups

“The old approach startups took was to sell or license their new technology to incumbents. The new, ‘full stack’ approach is to build a complete, end-to-end product or service that bypasses incumbents and other competitors.”

Containers

“The next step in containerization is treating the datacenter, with all its containers, like one giant computer or server. Many applications today are really just distributed systems: Applications aren’t necessarily confined to just one container.”

Digital Health

“Tomorrow? To understand your personal diagnostic data, you might soon depend more upon an iPhone app developed in a garage than on your local MD.”

Online Marketplaces

“We’re continuing to see tremendous innovation in marketplaces. The first generation of net companies saw a few big horizontal marketplace winners like eBay and Craigslist. But entrepreneurs are continuing to create the next generation of online marketplaces.”

Security

“There are two things now driving the security industry: (1) The bad guys are already inside. (2) New platforms — cloud and mobile — have arrived… Both are forcing a different set of technologies, and the creation of new kinds of companies.”

Bitcoin (and Blockchain)

“The clock has just begun on Bitcoin’s acceptance more broadly. Crash or no crash, we should expect a significant increase in the level of institutional adoption this year. Specifically, a large number of companies will put together groups focused on what Bitcoin means to them.”

Cloud-Client Computing

“Endpoints aren’t just phones; they could be wearables and other small devices and screens connected to the internet. Beyond the devices themselves, it all adds up to a massive amount of compute power. The next decade of computing will be about doing something with it.”

Crowdfunding

“Crowdfunding is going somewhere it never has — into the mainstream. That, in turn, will change all sorts of other things.”

Internet of Things

“Something often overlooked when we talk about all the shiny new connected gadgets emerging out of the Internet of Things is what happens to all the old things. I’m fascinated by the power of adding multiple sensors to old things and then connecting them to the Internet…. With the IoT we’re headed to a world where things aren’t liable to break catastrophically — or at least, we’ll have a hell of a heads up.”

Online Video

“What we do know is that online video is far from done… so it will be interesting to see what even a little competition will do here.”

Insurance

“Insurance is all about distributing risk. With dramatic advances in software and data, shouldn’t the way we buy and experience our insurance products change dramatically? Software will rewrite the entire way we buy and experience our insurance products — medical, home, auto, and life.”

DevOps

“The rise of the hyperscale cloud datacenter has now made this job much harder as developers have had to hack together tools and complex scripts for pushing code to thousands of pancake servers. This complex cloud infrastructure — coupled with the growth of the DevOps movement today — has opened up many opportunities, starting with helping developers and companies to manage the entire process … to much more.”

‘Failure‘

“The goal is not to fail fast. The goal is to succeed over the long run. They are not the same thing.”

10 smart crowdfunding campaigns you may want to back this week

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Every Friday, we’re taking a look at some of the smartest, most innovative Maker projects that have launched on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. 

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The AirBoard

This thumb-sized, Arduino-compatible board is designed to rapidly sketch IoT prototypes. The AirBoard is currently seeking $10,000 on Kickstarter.

HIRIS

The only wearable built just for you – tracking, gesture-controlled and suited for any lifestyle. HIRIS is currently seeking $80,000 on Indiegogo.

PSDR

This pocket-sized software defined radio transceiver is perfect for those heading out into the great outdoors. The Hackaday Prize finalist is currently seeking $60,000 on Kickstarter.

Pinto

This device packs all of the things you love about cloud storage and flash drives into one wearable. Pinto is currently seeking $190,000 on Indiegogo.

smrtGRIPS

The world’s first connected grips not only makes your bike smarter, but safer and more enjoyable to ride without ever needing a display. smrtGRIPS is currently seeking $50,000 on Indiegogo.

Quirkbot

Now, you can make your own hackable robots out of drinking straws. Quirkbot is currently seeking $55,000 on Kickstarter.

Oomi

This out-of-the-box solution is hoping to redefine the smart home. Oomi is currently seeking $100,000 on Indiegogo.

DISPLIO

This highly-customizable Wi-Fi display can track and notify users on everything that is important to them. DISPLIO is currently seeking $65,000 on Kickstarter.

Blynk

This platform will let Makers develop an app for their Arduino project in under five minutes. Blynk is currently seeking $10,000 on Kickstarter.

Listnr

This gadget allows you to interact with their environment by sound like never before. Listnr is currently seeking $50,000 on Kickstarter.

A look back at this week’s top robotics stories

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From cleaning to cooking, it looks like The Jetsons were right. 

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Fresh on the heels of CES 2015 where the presence of robotic devices grew nearly 25% from last year’s show, this week has seen a number of advancements in the space. In fact, Engadget revealed that robotic-based hardware startups have already raised more than $51.9 million this year alone, with consumer-level droids on the rise thanks to recent crowdfunding campaigns and the burgeoning Maker Movement.

Meet the newest member of your family

Robotbase has set out to create a smart, all-in-one AI robot that can serve as aersonal assistant, photographer, telepresence device and a connected home automation system.

ATLAS becomes more human

DARPA revealed upgrades to its ATLAS robot with a sleeker look and improved functionality. The update represents a 75% enhancement in parts over the robot’s previous version.

New karaoke kings?

Developed by UK-based Engineered Arts, RoboThespians are life-sized humanoid robots that not only serve as museum guides and dish out jokes a comedians, they can sing their little hearts out as well.

Care-o-bot gets older and smarter

Designed as an affordable service robot for personal and professional use, the newly-announced Care-o-bot 4 is a more modular, agile and personable device than its previous iteration, which was introduced six years ago.

Robots learn to cook by watching YouTube

Researchers in UMIACS are exploring autonomy in robotics that includes action recognition. After watching how-to cooking videos, robots are able to learn the complicated series of grasping and manipulation motions required for becoming a master chef, simply by observing what humans do on the Internet.

This is so much cooler than Purell

Futuristic technology has come to the aid of an 8-month-old boy with a congenital heart defect who got a germ-free home courtesy a robot.

Uploading a worm’s mind into a LEGO robot

Called the Open Worm Project, researchers are looking to recreate the behavior of the common roundworm in a machine.

Meccano enters a new era of DIY

With the Meccano Meccanoid, the classic Erector set evolves into an arm-waving, fast-talking and programmable robot for children.

DALER is a bio-inspired robot that can both fly and walk

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Inspired by bats, researchers hope this robot may one day find victims in dangerous areas.

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As we’ve discussed on Bits & Pieces, drones offer a number of advantages that would have otherwise been inconceivable in previous years, with one area in particular being search-and-rescue. Natural disasters and other emergencies call for timely distribution of medication and aid. Fortunately, unmanned aerial vehicles can make this more efficient. In an effort to prove just that, the robotics division of Switzerland-based National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) has recently developed DALER, a bio-inspired robot capable of both flying and walking.

DALER, short for Deployable Air-Land Exploration Robot, uses adaptive morphology inspired by the common “vampire bat,” meaning that the wings have been actuated using a foldable skeleton mechanism covered with a soft, flexible fabric, enabling it to be used both as wings and as legs, or whegs.

“In order to design the robot, the team had to first designate the primary mode of locomotion — in this case flight, as the DALER will cover the longest distances this way. With this in mind, a method of using the wings also for walking was devised in a way that does not give extra weight,” Ludovic Daler writes.

The robot is equipped with triangular, multi-use wingerons that rotate when it is on the ground to push the bio-inspired robot forward and maneuver through the air. This dual-mode locomotion gives DALER the ability to fly long distances to survey large spaces in a short timespan, and then to traverse the terrain in dangerous or inaccessible areas, such as a damaged building to locate victims.

According to the research team, future developments of the robot will include the possibility to hover and to take off autonomously from the ground in order to allow DALER to return to the air and come back to base after the mission. Interested in learning more? Head on over to its official page here.

Report: IoT device shipments to reach 1 billion this year

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Deloitte predicts 60% of connected devices will be bought for enterprise and industrial use, not consumer… yet. 

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Global shipments of Internet of Things (IoT) devices will reach 1 billion this year, 60% of which will be bought for enterprise and industry use, rather than consumers, a new Deloitte study reveals. In its 14th annual “Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions” report, the research firm explored what it believes to be the realms that will have the greatest impact in 2015. Among those included the IoT, drones, 3D printing and nanosats, each areas that are heavily enabled by Atmel embedded technology.

“We are entering an extraordinary period where consumer technologies are finding increased adoption in the enterprise space. Our data indicates an exponential increase in interest in the IoT by the enterprise, which could have a profound impact on the way business is conducted,” said Eric Openshaw, Deloitte Vice Chairman. “Strong enterprise adoption of the IoT could prove to be a huge opportunity for both vendors and retail consumers alike. The amount of data we will see generated from connected devices will pave the way to measure interactions in a way not witnessed before. And, as a result, will allow organizations to understand customer behaviors and purchase patterns in a whole new light.”

IoT-specific hardware will be worth $10 billion, with consumers’ appetites for controlling their heating, lights and appliances will jump. However, the big story will be around enterprise service and industrial area, which will be valued at approximately $70 billion. The company also anticipates that global smartphone sales will surpass 1 billion for the first time this year, with screen size, speed, storage, software and design being key drivers of growth.

“We expect the pendulum of technology adoption to swing back to the enterprise with company led adoption of wearables, 3D printing, drones and the Internet of Things meeting more needs and generating higher sales for business than consumers,” TMT Risk Services Partner Dennis Moth added. “Although the focus may well be on consumer take-up — think Bluetooth-enabled roller-doors, white goods, etc. — the real value [at this moment] will be in the savings made by industry and business, with smart factories, smart homes, eHealth and telematics.”

The report finds that in 2015, enterprises will lead purchases of 3D printing and drones, signaling a shift away from the consumerization of IT predominant in the last decade that spiked with consumers’ moderate investment in wearable technology such as smart glasses. This year, drones will have multiple industrial and civil government applications, as sales of non-military UAVs will near 300,000 units and drive the installed base to over a million.

Meanwhile, over 500 nanosatellites are expected to be in orbit by year-end. According to Deloitte, nanosats are attractive for many reasons: they are cheaper than conventional satellites, lighter, easier to build and test, and easier to launch. Although increasingly capable of more complex tasks, they are likely to be additive to the existing large satellite market, and not replace it.

Turning its attention to mobile payments, Deloitte predicted that 2015 will be a watershed for the use of contactless technologies like NFC. In fact, by the end of the year, 30 million NFC-capable phones will make at least one in-store payment per month. Deloitte Lead Telecoms Partner Ed Marsden notes, “This technology is likely to exist alongside other means of payments for some time yet.”

In addition, the research firm highlights that the number of homes with broadband Internet will rise by about 2% to 725 million over the next 12 months, with average broadband speeds in most countries increasing by 20%. The gap between those with access to the fastest broadband speeds and those on basic speeds will continue to widen in 2015, providing a varied experience from home to home, especially for high bandwidth applications like streaming video.

Interested in learning more? You can explore each of Deloitte’s TMT predictions in depth here.