POPULAR SCIENCE: Adobe (2021)

The 100 Greatest Innovations of 2021

When we wrapped last year’s Best of What’s New awards, the PopSci staff wasn’t certain about what lay ahead. COVID-19 vaccines on their way into the public’s arms sparked hope, but signs of a looming supply-chain pinch left us wondering about the potential of the year in innovation to come. So, as we gathered to debate the winners, we were well prepared to be, well, underwhelmed. But what we found instead inspired quite the opposite reaction: Faced with the challenges of limited resources, a chip shortage, and an ongoing pandemic, engineers, developers, and scientists did a lot with what they had. 

Across all our 10 categories, gains in efficiency showcased our collective drive to optimize our world. A new hair-washing system creates a luxurious lather with less water, a spin on steelmaking spits out a mere fraction of the carbon, a clever AI plans airline routes for maximum efficiency, and a simple riff on a remote control zaps the need for disposable batteries. And, all the while, our push against the pandemic netted gains in prevention, testing, and treatment that will form the backbone of our resistance to the disease for years to come. 

To earn a spot among the 100 technologies on this list—a roundup we’ve argued over annually since 1988—every winner convinced us of its role on our shared path to a healthier, safer, smarter, and happier tomorrow. 

Super Resolution by Adobe: A savior of old photos 

Despite what you may have seen on CSI, “enhancing” a photograph typically introduces digital jaggies called artifacts that can obliterate fine details. A new feature in Adobe Photoshop called Super Resolution leverages machine learning in order to blow up photos without making them look like ancient, low-quality JPEGs. The intelligence recognizes discrete objects in the scene to fill in the gaps, without guessing blindly about what those pixels should look like. The results can modernize photos from the time when 8 megapixels—less than the resolution of a 4K screen—was a real stretch.