New technologies are recently commercialised innovations that are beginning to influence product design and manufacturing. Emerging technologies are still in development or early adoption but are expected to have significant impact.
In PDT, students are expected to understand specific technologies, their applications in product development, and their broader implications.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
- Embedded AI in products: voice assistants, personalised recommendations, adaptive behaviour
- AI in design: generative design software that proposes optimal forms based on constraints
- AI in manufacturing: predictive maintenance, quality inspection by computer vision, adaptive production scheduling
- Example product: AI-enabled prosthetic limbs that learn the user’s movement patterns
Internet of Things (IoT)
- Products connected to the internet and to each other
- Enables remote monitoring, control, and data collection
- Example products: smart home devices, connected medical monitors, industrial sensors
- Design implication: products must accommodate electronics, connectivity, power supply, and data privacy
Advanced Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)
- Metal sintering, multi-material printing, bioprinting
- Enables complex geometries, mass customisation, distributed manufacturing
- Example products: titanium implants printed to patient-specific geometry; customised footwear insoles
Biotechnology and Biomaterials
- Lab-grown materials (mycelium leather, cultured meat packaging, bacterial cellulose)
- Biodegradable electronics substrates
- Example products: packaging grown from mycelium to the exact shape of the product it protects
Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
- AR overlays digital information on physical products (maintenance instructions, navigation)
- VR enables immersive design review and user testing before physical prototyping
- Example products: AR-enabled safety helmets; VR design review tools reducing physical prototype cost
Robotics and Collaborative Robots (Cobots)
- Cobots work alongside humans (not in segregated cells), enabling flexible automation
- Applicable in small batch and bespoke production as well as mass production
- Example products: furniture assembled with cobot assistance for precision joinery
Smart Materials
- Materials that respond to environmental stimuli (temperature, light, stress)
- Shape memory alloys, thermochromic pigments, piezoelectric materials
- Example products: self-adjusting bicycle helmets; packaging that changes colour at temperature threshold
Integrating new technologies into products requires designers to consider:
- Additional components: Electronics, sensors, connectivity hardware add complexity and potential failure points
- Power: Battery life, charging infrastructure, energy harvesting
- Software lifecycle: Products dependent on software need ongoing updates; obsolescence risk increases
- Repair and maintenance: More complex products are harder to repair
- Privacy and data security: Connected products collect user data — ethical and regulatory obligations
- Accessibility: New technology must not exclude users with limited digital literacy or access
KEY TAKEAWAY: New and emerging technologies create significant opportunities for product innovation but also introduce new design challenges around complexity, obsolescence, data ethics, and repairability.
EXAM TIP: Select one or two technologies and develop a detailed example of how they are integrated into a specific product. Surface-level lists of technologies without application analysis will not score well.
