11 Ways You Can Use Technology to Express Yourself

As technology becomes increasingly prevalent in the office and at home, so do worries that people are living in their own insular digital worlds. But new advances in technology are in fact freeing users from their desks, allowing them to unplug and take their gadgets out into the real world. In doing so, users are discovering innovative and exciting ways to use technology to express their personalities, style, and ideas. Here’s how.

1. Use It to Share Your Ideas 

Recent research shows that using technology can stimulate imagination and enhance creativity, particularly in the classroom. Social media and online platforms give people outlets for their ideas and create opportunities for collaboration, interaction, and feedback from their peers. Thanks to the Internet, students are now writing more outside the classroom and are able to share their work with a broader, more varied audience. In turn, they become more confident in not only their writing abilities, but also their ideas and opinions.

2. Create Art 

New technological innovations like gesture control let artists add computers to their arsenal of art supplies. Intel® RealSense™ technology will soon make it possible for you to open an app on your laptop or tablet, create drawings in the air with your hands, and have the results appear on your screen. Channeling your inner Michelangelo has never been easier.

3. Show Off Your Unique Point of View

If your medium of choice is photography, technology can give you a boost here as well. Intel® RealSense™ snapshot uses three separate lenses to capture your photos. This depth-sensing allows you to change the focus of your photos after you take them, switch the photo’s perspective, or adjust layers of color. From a single shot, you can create a series of photos to show off your individual point of view.

4. Express Your Style 

Gone are the days when wearable technology meant clunky watches, industrial wristbands, and awkward glasses. Tech companies are now teaming with designers in order to create wearables that value both form and function, so you can stay connected while you display your personal style. This year, Intel launched MICA (My Intelligent Communication Accessory), a collaboration with Opening Ceremony. Crafted with luxurious finishes like 18-karat gold and sapphire glass, these smart devices (which sync your calendar, messages, notifications, and more) would look more at home in a jewelry boutique than a tech convention.

5. Be Heard at Work 

In an increasingly connected world, chances are you’ll have business to do with someone in another city, state, or country. With the advances being made in video chat technology, you can rock that cross-continental presentation or pitch. With immersive video chat, you can place your silhouetted image right into your presentation so you can talk your boss or client through it slide by slide and make sure all your ideas are heard.

6. Work From Wherever You Feel Inspired…

… not wherever you have an outlet. Intel-powered 2 in 1 devices have two times the battery life of older laptops, so you can foster your creativity wherever it strikes. Use your 2 in 1 to take your reading and writing out of the library and your art project out of the studio.

7. Communicate with Your Computer 

It sounds like science fiction, but new technology is making it possible for you to communicate with your devices directly, without the use of a keyboard or mouse. 3D cameras embedded in your device track facial movements so your computer can actually read your emotions. Crazy, right? With a simple smile or frown, you can express your love for the game you’re playing or your frustration with instructions you’re reading, and your computer can adjust accordingly.

8. Your Body Can Express Its Needs 

Raise your hand if you gave your parents a step counter for Christmas (or know someone who did). That’s what we thought. Even while fitness trackers have reached the point of ubiquity, they continue to evolve in order to better anticipate our bodies’ needs. The Basis Peak, for example, measures your activity level, monitors your heart rate, and analyzes your sleep patterns with a single device. It also gives you gentle reminders to stay active throughout the day, so your body can let you know when it’s time to get moving.

9. Make Sweet Music 

For those who are more aurally-inclined, technology makes it possible to express yourself through music without being a piano prodigy or vocal talent. Not only are there increasingly easy-to-use apps and programs to help you compose music of your own, but your computer’s gesture control capabilities make it possible to play an instrument (or at least have the experience of playing one) without ever taking a lesson.

10. Find Your Personal Soundtrack

Innovations in headphone technology also allow you to listen to the perfect mood-setting song anytime, anywhere—with no wires or charging involved.  You can even sync your headphones with a fitness tracker to stay more in tune with your body.

11. Overcome Disabilities 

Technology is also making it possible for people with mental and physical disabilities to interact with their environments in ways that hadn’t previously been possible. Recent studies have found that mobile technologies expand communication, social, and technical skills for those on the autism spectrum. Digital storytelling and person-centered projects encourage young people and students with autism to express their ideas and showcase their talents and ambitions.

Advances in 3D cameras are also making self-expression and communication easier for the visually impaired. For example, in their 2015 CES Keynote address, Intel unveiled a special jacket that uses tiny embedded 3D cameras to take in key sensory information from the wearer’s surroundings. These allow the jacket to vibrate and alert the wearer when a person or object comes near it. This makes it easier for blind or visually impaired people to navigate their geography as well as social interactions (they can “see” when someone offers a hand for a handshake).

Whether you fancy yourself an artist, an athlete, or a fashionista, Intel® RealSense™ technology makes it possible for you to express your unique point of view while you connect with the world. Learn more here.