By Herman Lai, posted Jul 15, 2010 at 1:13 PM, 632 views,

Three Coolest Tech Trends in Shanghai Expo

World Expos were originally created in the 1800s to show off technical innovations in industrializing countries, and it displayed precise prediction of how would the world look like in a few decade’s time. So, what is Shanghai 2010 Expo predicting the future?

The first interesting tech trend found in Cicso Pavilion, corporate Pavilions Area. American IT giant Cisco envisions a future where every individual, building and business is connected to each other and their city services via an advanced information system built on cloud computing. You will talk to your friends, family, boss, doctor and teacher through a floor-to-ceiling teleconference screens at home.

Moreover, a city control center will monitor your energy use and recommend you turn lights off. Parts of this vision are already being implemented in South Korea’s New Songdo City. In fact, all the technology depicted in the pavilion’s public movie has been already developed, it’s not just imagination.

Zero Energy Home, found in Zed Pavilion, Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA). The Zed Pavilion demonstrates how homes and offices can have a net zero energy footprint by generating their own energy on-site. Zed Pavilion has solar panels to generate energy of 350KWh per day, it has a biomass machine fuels the kitchen cooker with biogas from food waste. In addition, the cutlery is edible, the beer is low carbon, and the furniture is made from industrial waste found on the Expo site.

“If the trial is successful, other Chinese cities have shown interest in implementing this model,” says Jaki Faulkner of ZED Factory. That’s going to be great if this is going to be invented.

The last coolest tech trend was found in the Japanese Pavilion, National Pavilions Asia Area. The Partner Robot by Toyota, can play violin with highly pressure-sensitive fingers. According to Hiroshi Tsukamoto (commissioner general of the Japanese Pavilion), 40 percent of all robots in the world are in use in Japan and robots have great potential to take over simple tasks from people. The Partner Robot was developed to help the elderly and can also serve meals and do laundry.

“We want to emphasize the importance of harmony between technology and our thoughts and hearts,” says Hiroshi Tsukamoto.

Source: CNNGO