Iris

Although mechanical irises are already a standard feature in cameras, scientists have recently created an autonomous artificial iris that's much more similar to those found in the eye – it may even eventually be able to replace damaged or defective ones.

Maybe not as glamorous as drones that go faster or shoot beautiful images, but making them less likely to crash into objects is still critical to advancing the technology. Startup Panoptes' answer to this is a kit that can be slapped onto certain consumer drones to stop them running into things.

Using the complex pattern of the iris in a person’s eye is a particularly effective form of biometric authentication. Fujitsu has produced just such an iris authentication system for its latest prototype handset, which is on display at the Mobile World Congress.