Forecast: 5 innovations in the next 5 years

Each year, IBM makes a forecast for the future using the 5 in 5 system - that is, it describes the top five most interesting potential inventions and innovations of the next 5 years. Each of them has every chance to fully integrate into the life of every (advanced) citizen of the world, and this property (the probability of adopting such a technology) is an integral part of forecasting.

It is very difficult to make such predictions, in many respects due to the fact that it is necessary to abstract from the world in which we live and to try to look into the future with a clear look. Therefore, every year, researchers are pulling at the IBM offices, who are trying to look beyond the foggy horizon to new devices and technologies. IBM partner Bernard Meyerson (Bernard Meyerson) says: “A lot of people are waiting for some accomplishments every year. But very rarely does a company or organization say: this is a serious change that will come soon. ”

Of course, not every one of these “predictions” has a chance of being translated into practice, but practice shows that some innovations still have a strong place in our lives: in 2006, IBM “saw” the emergence of remote healthcare for patients and doctors ( The direction is very actively developing now around the world), and in 2008 the arrival of voice recognition technologies was predicted, as well as voice assistants who can answer questions and study user requests (I think it’s not worth explaining Violently the world's largest companies are now working in this direction).
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What is it done for? First of all, it is an excellent training of the mind, which makes IBM employees invent something new, as well as evaluate the chances of their appearance and practical application in the life of each person. In a simpler sense - defending one's point of view is always a matter of business, only in this way does humanity move progress.

Secondly, it allows to consider the technology not “in a spherical vacuum”, but try to apply it to the real world. We need to think deeply about social trends, the state of the market, the desires of people. This is the type of thinking that translates simply “inventions” into the status of “innovations”.

For six years, IBM has been making such predictions - everything started with the first IBM Jam 2006, and today it continues in all IBM offices around the world as a good, and useful, tradition.

But enough of the prefaces. For those who do not have enough video, I will briefly describe each of the five projected innovations of the next five years:

• Human energy is everywhere - imagine that your home is powered by the energy generated everywhere: when you walk on the floor, do the dishes, even sleep on a comfortable mattress. Water running through the pipes of the apartment, is also capable of generating electricity. Relatively speaking, every movement that provokes the movement of atoms is potentially capable of powering electrical appliances in a home network. IBM believes that in the next 5 years the development of such technologies will receive a new impetus.
• Security - no more passwords, your biometric data (retinal analysis, voice, even the structure of DNA) and there is your unique password that can be used everywhere. The only thing that is needed is scanners of such “passwords”, sold and delivered to anyone who wishes around the world, as well as integrated into the main “public” devices, such as ATMs.
• Reading thoughts is the next stage after voice recognition, and may not be ubiquitous within 5 years, but research by IBM and research laboratories around the world shows that it is quite possible in the future. If now the phone needs to say something, in the future it will be enough just to think and “send a thought” to the device. In addition, the development of such technology will help in the study and treatment of many diseases associated with the work of our "central processor". Perhaps it will be especially funny to “print” like this on a computer. IBM's “Think” slogan is acquiring an entirely new facet in light of the potential development of this technology.
• The rise of mobile technologies will help to eliminate the gap between those who have access to any information on the planet and those who do not have such access. After 5 years, you are unlikely to disappear "outside the access zone", since 80% of the world's population will own at least one mobile device.
• The rapid development of analytical (and semantic-analytical) products and technologies will lead primarily to the fact that the concept of "spam" will disappear from the face of the earth and our children will be surprised to ask us how it was possible in the past to receive a sales letter or even get unnecessary, unnecessary information through any electronic device connected to the network.

And what do you think - which of the above has a chance of occurrence and introduction into human life? Let's discuss!