This week’s Smart World Series features an homage to authors that predicted the connected world, an app that aims to improve your basketball skills, a smart home system launching in the U.K., a wearable device that could mimic bodily functions, and fresh ways the Internet of Things (IoT) is reshaping the retail industry and cities around the globe.

For those who missed last week’s Smart World Series, here’s a chance to catch up on the exciting developments in the connected world.  Each week, SiliconANGLE rounds up the top news trends regarding smart homes and cars, smart data centers and IT, smart infrastructure and all things related to the Internet of Things.

4 sci-fi writers that predicted the future of tech

Ever wonder where the ideas for today’s most valued devices came from, including mobile phones, flat screen TVS, ear buds or even the Internet? They likely came from the creative minds of authors such as Ray Bradbury, H. G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick. How did these authors influence our technology today? Did their imaginative minds predict the technology we have today?

Read more about how these authors predicted the future here.

Coaching b-ball through Apple Watch

Onyx Motion, Inc. aims to revolutionize the world of sports, and it’s starting with basketball via the Swish app. The Swish app will utilize data from compatible wearable devices so it can deliver high-caliber coaching to users so they can improve their game. The app launched on Indiegogo, Inc. hoping to raise $10,000.

Read more about Onyx Motion’s Swish app here.

Panasonic targets U.K. with extra secure smart home hub

Panasonic Corp. announced that its Smart Home system that runs DECT ULE technology, which allows devices to be connected to the home hub via one-push pairing, will be available in the U.K. starting on July 17.

Also featured in this roundup is Fusar Technologies, Inc. raising $1.1 million in funding to further the development of its smart helmet and Silk smart bulb, which automatically adjusts its brightness throughout the day to help you wake up energized and wind down at the end of the day.

Read more about these products and funding in our Smart Living roundup.

Wearables provide energy boosts, edibles and even calcium

The world of wearable technology could drastically change in the near future if research on Living Mushtari is further developed. Living Mushtari is a project that explores the concept of wearables that are able to replicate bodily functions with the use of microorganisms and sunlight.

Also featured in this roundup is the NIH to tap into wearable tech data to learn more about patients; Fitbit’s shares see a 100 percent increase; and Doppel features performance-enhancing wearable tech.

Read more about these exciting news on wearable devices in our Smart Health roundup.

Connected retail in the real world

The retail industry is fast embracing the Internet of Things with the help of retailers providing apps and services that make shopping online and in store more seamless. From apps that allow consumers to create shopping lists and provide in-store maps to pinpoint exact locations of items, to smart mirrors that helps people decide which item of clothing looks best on them, to a button that automatically orders supply from online retailers without leaving the kitchen pantry, check out SiliconANGLE‘s latest Market Snapshot on today’s IoT trends.

Read more about how IoT is reshaping the retail industry here.

New connected buildings, bridges and more

NRG Renew, LLC and Lucid Design Group, Inc. announced a channel partnership that aims to accelerate the adoption on Lucid’s BuildingOS platform among NRG Renew’s enterprise clients.

Also featured in this roundup is a study regarding how clueless the public is when it comes to smart city projects, the Memorial Bridge getting fitted with 250 sensors to make it smarter, and the Canary Wharf Group plc to trial three smart city technologies in its estates.

Read more about these developments in our Smart City roundup.

Tune in next week for more interesting stories, discoveries and innovations in the world of smart and connected things.

Photo by woodleywonderworks