2019 Year in Review: The Tech That Excited and Terrified Us
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Getting to the end of a year in Beijing tends to leave you with more questions than answers, and when you're not searching in vain for that long-gone jianbing seller, you're dealing with quiet closures, noisy neighbors, and if you're really lucky, surprise laduzi. One thing's for sure: there's never a dull day in China's capital, and we hope for nothing less from 2020. For now, however, let's take a look back at the year that was 2019.
Another decade is rounding out and while we're not quite living it up like the Jetsons, nor have we touched the furthest reaches of technological dystopia as imagined by science fiction writers, both of those realities seem to inch closer every day, and our beloved city is in the thick of the action.
It is easy to paint a narrative that Beijing is leading the charge on privacy-creeping technology, but just as many of these advances have enriched the lives of Beijingers and improved convenience. As we look back on technology that shaped 2019, we will let you decide where the 2020s will take us.
Facial recognition is no longer just a novel way to unlock your phone. Some places in the world have pushed back against the widespread use of cameras that can instantly identify passersby, but Beijing has embraced the tool with open arms (although that does not include privacy-wary netizens who were sure to make their objections heard online).
After first piloting the system on the Airport Express, the city has been expanding facial recognition cameras to the whole of its subway system in the name of “security efficiency.” Meanwhile, a new countrywide rule requires anyone who applies for a new phone number to submit to a face scan. Even crossing the street, one might suddenly find that their face has been recognized by an anti-jaywalking camera. There is at least one such instillation at a Beijing intersection in Guomao that plays a looped recording of that day’s offenders. That is not quite as bad as in some other Chinese cities, however, where jaywalkers will witness their ID card or passport photo being displayed on a screen at the street corner before receiving a notification on their phone that they have a fine to pay.
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The much-anticipated rollout of fifth-generation mobile technology has largely been met with sighs as we realize that it may not be all that it was cracked up to be. Even before the big launch, those in the know warned that the waves that make 5G and its crazy high speeds possible would have their limits: these waves have a much shorter range of effectiveness and have trouble penetrating walls. Nonetheless, phone companies capitalized on the hype, releasing 5G capable phones even before you could purchase a plan with it in Beijing. But when it finally did come to fruition, speeds did not meet expectations even when 5G was supposedly in range.
The rocky start hasn’t stopped China from keeping its eyes on the future, and talks of 6G have already entered the regulatory ether. For now, however, most of us will be sticking with our measly but affordable 4G service.
2019 was a big year for cloning in China. A cat named Garlic got to exceed his nine lives as his clone became China’s first commercially duplicated feline, earning him the awws of internet users and setting his owner back a good RMB 250,000. But cloning isn't just for pets: this year, China also produced the country’s first gene-edited monkey clones. The six genetically identical macaques were born in Shanghai for the purpose of disease research. In Beijing, even the police department is hopping on the copycat craze by cloning their police dogs. In total, seven of their K-9 force is a clone.
China’s justice system has downloaded a number of major updates this year, and chief among them being the city’s new Internet Court, which hears thousands of web-related disputes involving everything from wronged Taobao customers to international copyright claims. If video-call trials weren’t techy enough, the court has also implemented a new "AI Judge" that assists the human judges with litigation and certain repetitive tasks.
But the Internet isn’t just helping the litigants to bring their case. It is also helping hopeless romantics to alleviate the boredom of another dinner-and-a-movie night. The latest dating craze is courting in the court, using the court’s official website to find the most titillating cases to get you and your partner in the mood.
We still get a few icky days here and there, but by and large, Beijing’s air is much better than it once was, and officials are continuing to make use of tech solutions that will drive the city towards a greener future. At the forefront of that effort is the preparation for the 2022 Olympics (read more of this via QR code below). This past summer, the International Olympic Committee witnessed a plan to utilize CO2 refrigeration to keep the Olympic ice rinks cool, thus removing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Public transport in Zhangjiakou, where most of the ski events will be held, is also being revamped with eco-friendly hydrogen buses.
Beijing was also dubbed the capital of electric vehicles (EV) this year, with its ever-increasing fleet of electric taxis and ample streetside charging stations, but the city’s EV industry was also dealt a heavy blow as the subsidies were slashed by up to 60 percent.
Nothing says technology like our mechanical friends. While F&B robots were all the rage last year, dishing out everything from tea to hot pot, this year’s robots took the streets. That’s right, adorable delivery robots rolled into our hearts – or at least up to our doors. Fortunately for the hardworking men and women of the kuaidi industry, these bots can’t climb stairs or navigate an elevator, so they won’t be totally replacing humans just yet. Bots will also be lending their metal helping hands in the new Daxing Airport, where they can assist you in finding your terminal and even in parking your car. Meanwhile, the new SKP South mall opening this month in Chaoyang will show off a number of intriguing exhibits, which will include, for some reason, robotic sheep. Count them in your sleep, tech nerds.
Images: Fortune, Weibo, Beijing News, Olympic.com, Uni You
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