Pandemic inspired tech to be released this year

One key area: bet­ter we­b­cams for our con­stant video call­ing. Sam­sung has al­ready an­nounced that its forth­com­ing Gal­axy smart­phone, ex­pected in early 2021, will im­prove video record­ing and call­ing. We an­tic­i­pate lap­top mak­ers will do the same and fi­nally ditch their crappy, low-res­o­lu­tion we­b­cams. Por­table ver­sions of UV san­i­tiz-ers for clean­ing your phones and gad­gets are on the way to keep in your car or your pocket. An­other thing we may even­tu­ally never leave home with­out? High-tech masks. Ex­pect a range of built-in fea­tures: Blue­tooth and mi­cro­phones (see Mask­fone), a fan-pow­ered wear­able air pu­ri­fier (see LG Puri­Care), a mask with a UV LED (see the UV Mask). Look for air-qual­ity sen­sors, con­tact-trac­ing as­sistance and more. You may even end up wear­ing a so­cial-dis­tanc­ing sweater. Sim­pli­Safe, a home-se­cu­rity com­pany, made a ver­sion that sounds an alarm when some­one comes within 6 feet of you. In­tended as a fun pro­to­type, the sweater sold out im­me­di­ately.