• Wider rollout and commercialization of 5G networks and connectivity continued, especially in major cities and densely populated areas. More smartphone and device models with 5G support also became available.

• Network operators began launching standalone 5G networks that do not rely on 4G infrastructure. Standalone 5G offers lower latency and paves the way for future technologies like network slicing.

• Mid-band 5G spectrum auctions took place in several countries, providing more capacity for 5G services beyond just millimeter wave bands. Mid-band 5G offers a better balance of coverage and speeds.

• Private 5G networks designed for specific use cases and industries began launching for early adopters. These private networks promise benefits like higher reliability, security and customization.

• Multicast services that enable one-to-many content streaming over 5G were trialled by some carriers. This could improve the efficiency of streaming video and other data to large numbers of users.

• Massive MIMO and 3D beamforming technologies continued to evolve for directing millimeter wave 5G signals more precisely. This helps improve coverage and throughput of 5G networks.

• New 5G use cases and applications were commercialized in areas like augmented/virtual reality, automated driving, telemedicine, smart cities and Industry 4.0. However, wider adoption will take more time.

The key innovations for 5G in 2022 centered around the expansion of 5G coverage through mid-band spectrum, the deployment of standalone 5G networks, the launch of private 5G networks, and the continuing evolution of enabling technologies like Massive MIMO. However, fully realizing the promised benefits of 5G for consumers and industries remains a work in progress.

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• Gene therapies advanced, with FDA approvals of new gene therapies for diseases like hemophilia and retinal diseases. Gene editing tools like CRISPR also made progress.

• Implantable devices continued to miniaturize, with pacemakers, defibrillators and neuromodulation devices becoming smaller and more powerful. Some can be recharged wirelessly.

• Nucleic acid vaccines moved closer to approval, with promising results from mRNA COVID vaccines laying the groundwork for RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics against other diseases.

• Tissue engineering made gains in using scaffolds, cells and biomaterials to create implantable tissues and regenerate damaged body parts. This includes creating blood vessel networks within tissues.

• AI algorithms to diagnose diseases from medical scans showed continued improvement, though challenges remain around generalizability, explainability, data biases and clinician acceptance.

• Virtual reality and augmented reality tools for health applications advanced, with uses ranging from surgical training and simulation to mental health therapy and rehabilitation.

• Wearable health trackers collected more data than ever, though barriers persist to integrating that data into clinical care and using it to meaningfully improve health outcomes.

• Telehealth expanded to provide more virtual care options during the pandemic and help address healthcare access issues, though reimbursement and regulatory policies vary.

The top technologies for health in 2022 centered around gene and cell therapies, miniaturized implantable devices, nucleic acid vaccines, tissue engineering techniques and the application of emerging technologies like AI, VR/AR and wearables. However, realizing the full potential of these innovations will require overcoming persistent challenges around data integration, scalability and cost.

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• Precision farming tools advanced, with higher resolution remote sensors, more automated machinery, and data analytics to optimize inputs and yields. This includes drone-based crop monitoring.

• Genetic editing of crops made progress, including the development of drought-tolerant and pest-resistant seeds through CRISPR and other tools. However, regulatory approval remains a challenge.

• Automated harvesting technologies expanded beyond fruit and vegetable crops to various grain crops. Robotics and AI are enabling more precision in harvesting crops.

• Vertical farming continued to spread with the use of indoor grow lights and controlled environments to grow crops with less land and water. However, costs remain high.

• Fertilizer and pesticide applications were made more targeted and precise through digital tools, GPS guidance and automated equipment. This helps minimize environmental impacts.

• Indoor aquaculture made gains, with the development of recirculating aquaculture systems to raise fish in indoor tanks. This separates fish farming from outdoor climate conditions.

• Agricultural drones were increasingly deployed for tasks like crop dusting, precision spraying, crop monitoring and irrigation management. However, regulatory hurdles still exist in some countries.

• Agricultural robots expanded to perform a growing range of outdoor tasks like weeding, fruit picking and soil sampling. However, costs remain high and weather resilience is challenging.

The major innovations for agriculture in 2022 centered around automated equipment, data analytics and genetic editing tools to help make farming processes more productive, precise and sustainable. Emerging technologies like indoor aquaculture, vertical farming and agricultural robotics also made progress, though scalability and affordability challenges remain.

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• Solar – Perovskite solar cells showed significant efficiency gains and the potential to surpass silicon solar panels. New module designs also increased power output.

• Wind – Larger wind turbines with blade lengths up to 250 meters andhub heights up to 250 meters significantly increased power generation per turbine.

• Batteries – Sodium-ion batteries emerged as a promising lower-cost alternative to lithium-ion. Other innovations aimed to improve battery life, energy density and charging times.

• Green hydrogen – Electrolyzers for producing green hydrogen from renewable power saw costs reduced by around 30%. However, infrastructure buildout is still at an early stage.

• Carbon capture – Direct air capture technologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere advanced, though high costs remain a barrier to large-scale deployment.

• Geothermal – Enhanced geothermal systems that stimulate underground reservoirs to produce more heat showed promising results and the potential for baseload renewable power.

• Floating offshore wind – The first commercial-scale floating offshore wind farms came online in 2022, opening up vast new areas for offshore wind generation.

• Green ammonia – Technologies for producing ammonia as an emissions-free fuel using renewable hydrogen and nitrogen showed continued progress. Ammonia is seen as a potential chemical battery.

The major innovations for renewable energy in 2022 centered around new materials and designs to increase the efficiency and output of solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. Emerging technologies like hydrogen electrolyzers, enhanced geothermal and direct air capture also progressed, though challenges around infrastructure, costs and scalability remain.

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• Multi-factor authentication became more widespread, with the use of biometrics, one-time passwords and other second factors in addition to passwords. This has helped increase security for many accounts and services.

• Zero-trust security models continued to gain traction as a more effective approach compared to traditional perimeter-based defenses. The zero-trust principles focus on verifying any request or transaction before granting access.

• Blockchain technology was increasingly applied for purposes beyond cryptocurrency, including for supply chain security, identity management and device attestation. The promise of blockchain for security remains an area of active innovation.

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning were further leveraged to detect threats through techniques like anomaly detection, pattern recognition and natural language processing of threats. However, challenges remain around AI bias and explainability.

• Cybersecurity mesh architectures emerged to monitor and defend all points of access for devices, working around the limitations of traditional network perimeter defenses. A mesh combines multiple security controls.

• Quantum-safe cryptography continued to advance as a potential solution to future-proof networks against the threat of quantum computers breaking current encryption. However, a large-scale transition to quantum-safe crypto has yet to occur.

• Cybersecurity for the Internet of Things and operational technology expanded to address the growing attack surface from billions of interconnected devices and systems. Security by design is critical for IoT.

These represent some of the main areas of innovation for cybersecurity defense in 2022. The core themes were wider adoption of security best practices like zero trust and multi-factor authentication, as well as emerging technologies like blockchain, AI and quantum-safe crypto that offer promising new approaches to common problems.

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• Quantum volume – Several quantum computing companies announced significant increases in their quantum volume metrics, indicating larger and more powerful quantum processors.

• Ion trap chips – IonQ and Honeywell announced new trapped ion quantum chip architectures with increased qubit counts and connectivity. IonQ’s new chip has more than 1 million ion traps.

• Quantum circuits – Researchers demonstrated new techniques for designing quantum circuits that achieve an exponential reduction in circuit depth requirements for certain algorithms.

• Quantum memories – Progress was made on developing quantum memories to store quantum information for extended periods, which is essential for scaling quantum computers.

• Quantum software stacks – Companies like QC Ware, Zapata, Xanadu and others expanded their software tooling for developing quantum algorithms and applications.

• Quantum simulation – Researchers used quantum computers to simulate quantum systems with more qubits and particles than ever before, indicating potential for unlocking new scientific discoveries.

• Quantum machine learning – Quantum algorithms for machine learning tasks like classification, recommendation and clustering showed promising results, though still outperformed by classical AI.

• Quantum networking – Techniques for establishing quantum networks between nodes made progress, though significant challenges remain for creating large-scale quantum internet.

While we are still years away from a universally useful quantum computer, 2022 saw meaningful advances in hardware scaling, algorithms, software, quantum memories and real-world applications. However, many challenges around qubit quality, error correction and control still exist, making significant quantum advantage likely still a decade off.

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• Metal binder jetting 3D printing continued to advance, with faster print speeds, higher resolutions, and new metal alloys. This opens more applications for 3D printed metal parts.

• Carbon unveiled the worlds fastest production 3D printer, able to print parts up to 100 times faster than traditional additive manufacturing technologies.

• Multi-material 3D printing improved, allowing parts to be printed with different materials in a single build. This enables more complex designs.

• Additive manufacturing of polymer parts for end-use applications expanded, with more rigorous testing and certification of 3D printed components.

• Big area additive manufacturing made progress towards printing large structures like aircraft wings and fuselages. Several companies demonstrated proof-of-concept parts.

• Bioprinting of human tissue improved, with a focus on vascularization and the printing of multiple cell types in complex 3D structures.

• Digital twins, which create virtual replicas of physical objects, were increasingly integrated into additive manufacturing workflows to optimize part designs for 3D printing.

• Automation and digitization of manufacturing processes advanced, driven by trends like Industry 4.0, robotics, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things.

• Sustainability in manufacturing became a higher priority, with a focus on reducing waste, increasing recycling, and developing more environmentally friendly materials.

The innovations in 3D printing and manufacturing in 2022 centered around making the technologies faster, able to print more materials, scale to larger parts, and integrate with digital tools and automation. There was also a continued push towards applying these technologies to create functional end-use parts and make manufacturing more sustainable.

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• Meta (formerly Facebook) announced Project Cambria, a high-end VR headset slated for release in 2022. It will feature mixed reality capabilities, eye tracking, face tracking and higher resolution displays.

• Apple is rumored to be working on multiple AR/VR headset and glasses products, though no releases are expected until 2023 at the earliest.

• Varjo launched the XR-3, a high-end VR headset with super high resolution displays for industrial and enterprise use cases.

• Microsoft unveiled the HoloLens 2 Enterprise Edition, targeting business customers with features for remote assistance, layout and design, and education.

• Niantic released the first developer kit for light-weighted AR glasses, as the company works to enable the next generation of augmented reality experiences.

• Several companies showcased prototypes of AR contact lenses and glasses, including Mojo Vision, Innovega and EyeView Digital. However, consumer products remain years away.

• Spatial released WebXR, enabling AR experiences to run within a web browser for the first time on AR headsets. This could lower the barrier to creating AR content.

• Unity acquired Ziva Dynamics, expanding its tools for creating realistic virtual humans in real time for VR, AR, and the metaverse.

• AI-generated 3D avatars advanced, pushing the frontier for realistic virtual representations of humans in digital worlds.

While most of the innovation in 2022 centered around enterprise applications of VR and AR, there were developments that lay the groundwork for the future of consumer AR glasses and the broader metaverse. Resolution, field of view, miniaturization and AI will continue to be the main drivers of progress going forward.

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• Waymo started offering fully driverless rides to the general public in Phoenix, Arizona, the first commercial robotaxi service without a safety driver.

• Cruise received the first deployment permit for driverless taxis in California, though it has not launched the service yet.

• Tesla released a major “Full Self Driving” beta update that enabled some of its vehicles to navigate city streets with no human intervention, though it is still considered a level 2 system and requires constant driver supervision.

• Argo AI, a Ford and Volkswagen backed startup, received permits to test its autonomous vehicles on the streets of Munich, the first city outside the U.S. for the company.

• Mobileye, an Intel company, announced a robotaxi service will launch in 2022 with Safety Drivers and a fully driverless service in 2023. They plan to deploy thousands of autonomous vehicles per year in the coming years.

• Autonomous trucking continues to make progress, with companies like Plus, TuSimple, Embark and others expanding their testing and development programs.

• Sensor and lidar technology advanced, with higher resolution, further range and lower cost, helping to improve the perception capabilities of self-driving systems.

2022 saw the first commercial robotaxi services without safety drivers launch, although still in limited areas. Autonomous trucking development continues to progress. And there were advancements in the underlying technologies like sensors, lidar and AI that will feed into the next generation of self-driving systems. However, fully driverless vehicles for the mass market are still likely years away.

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• GPT-3 progress – Models like GPT-3 from OpenAI continued to improve in capabilities, now able to produce human-like text, code and even art with only a few examples or prompts.

• CLIP progress – Contrastive Language-Image Pre-Training (CLIP) models improved significantly, able to match images and text with high accuracy, enabling new types of image search and image captioning tools.

• Molformer – Google’s Molformer model achieved state-of-the-art results for molecular generation and property prediction, showing potential for drug and material discovery.

• AlphaCode – GitHub copilot’s AlphaCode model surpassed 35 billion parameters, demonstrating industry-changing capabilities for auto-completing code.

• DALL-E 2 – OpenAI released DALL-E 2, an image generator that can create high resolution images from text descriptions, achieving a major breakthrough in this field.

• Stable Diffusion – Stable Diffusion, an open source image generator comparable to DALL-E 2, was released, further democratizing access to this powerful technology.

• Gato – An AI model from Anthropic achieved human-level performance on the Arcade Learning Environment, demonstrating suprising generalization abilities from minimal training.

• Pathrust – An AI model from Google Health showed state-of-the-art performance on biomedical language tasks, indicating potential for accelerating medical research.

These represent some of the major innovations and breakthroughs in AI and machine learning in 2022, though the list is by no means exhaustive. As you can see, progress was made across a wide range of applications, from text generation to image generation to molecular and code generation. The capabilities and potential of these technologies continue to grow at an astounding pace.

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