IBM 5 in 5: five innovations that will change our lives in the next five years

IBM analysts each year assess new technologies, which, according to experts, will change the lives of people for the better in the next five years. IBM is one of the companies behind the creation of such technologies. IBM Research employees create new software platforms, devices, and individual elements that can change a person’s life.

It is clear that such technologies are born not only in the laboratories of IBM, thousands of other companies, scientists, inventors and futurologists are gradually changing our future. However, not all new products are developing and justify the hopes of their creators. Therefore, IBM analysts are trying to choose the most promising new products that will become part of our life with a high degree of probability. This applies to life, work, medicine - literally everything that is related to a person. Let's see what we can expect in the next five years.

Artificial intelligence will make it possible to judge, according to the person, his mental health.

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In the near future, the AI ​​(its weak form) will learn to analyze our words and texts, using these data as an indicator of a person’s mental health and the state of his body as a whole. Speech patterns, in handwritten or typed texts can serve as a material for the cognitive system, allowing to determine deviations from the norm in the embryo itself. This, of course, is about neurodegenerative diseases that we do not know how to treat yet. However, if you find a problem at the very beginning, doctors can significantly alleviate the symptoms of the course of such a disease.

As for neurodegenerative diseases, mental disorders, in the USA alone, according to statistics, every fifth adult suffers from depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. As for Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, the statistics here are also depressing. The global cost of dealing with these problems by 2030 could increase up to $ 6 trillion.


As mentioned above, subject to the start of treatment at the very beginning of the emergence of neurodegenerative diseases, doctors can alleviate the course of the disease, delay the appearance of the most powerful symptoms. And doctors know how to treat depression and a number of other mental problems.

Super vision

For five years, scientists will be able to provide man with supervision. It is also about giving people with visual problems a vision of the world in the way that a completely healthy person sees it. Perhaps they will develop technology when a computer shows a person visible light along with the visualization of electromagnetic radiation. This can help technicians, scientists, doctors. Moreover, such devices should be small, relatively inexpensive and affordable.

About 99.9 of the electromagnetic spectrum can not be detected by man without special tools. Over the past hundred years, scientists have done a lot so that a person could see what was hitherto invisible. Private manifestations of this are, for example, ultrasound and x-rays.


Small devices of the new type, using millimeter waves of the electromagnetic spectrum, will be able to help a person see what is hidden in the fog or curtain of rain, in smoke or snow.

Big data and macroscope

For five years, cognitive systems and machine learning will help a person cope with the huge flow of data that falls on us at any given time. Millions of devices located around the world transmit information that can be obtained, analyzed and structured. This is about something that can be called a "macroscopic", as opposed to a long time and well-known microscopes. Macroscopes will allow to explore the world in all its diversity.


The technology of "macroscopes" will allow to transform and upgrade a significant number of areas of science and technology. Meteorology, physics, energy, soil science, ecology, genetics - all this can be studied both in detail and as a single system. An example is the analysis and structuring of data about asteroids, when a cognitive system analyzes the entire amount of data accumulated by astronomers, identifies links between the smallest elements of data arrays and shows a picture of the space around us. This will help, in private manifestation, to obtain information about celestial bodies that may threaten the Earth.

Laboratories on chips

Early detection of diseases, especially cancer, is a crucial task for medicine. Unfortunately, so far doctors are not too strong in this, but laboratories on a chip can help us — small systems that, by a small sample of tissue, saliva, urine or sweat, can detect disease or abnormalities.


Laboratories on a chip can be imagined as a small device that will help a person detect certain biomarkers, informing your doctor. Moreover, the work of such a laboratory does not require painful tests and sampling, such as puncture. IoT devices of this type will look like fitness trackers as we know them. Perhaps it will even be part of such gadgets. And then trips to the doctor will be rare, because the doctor can get a complete picture of the patient's body condition remotely.

Pollution and IoT

Within five years, new technologies should help people quickly identify problems such as gas or oil leaks, pipeline breakthroughs, and toxic emissions to the atmosphere. Most of the elements that pollute the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere are invisible to humans, but, at the same time, they can be very dangerous.

Networks of IoT sensors will be able to monitor 24/7/365 in thousands of places at the same time, ensuring continuous monitoring of industrial plants, pipelines and gas pipelines. As soon as a problem appears, the system operator will immediately know about it and a possible catastrophe will be prevented.