Posted under Hardware, IBM, Innovations, Internet
SOLAR technology in clothes, “talking” to the Internet and personal “digital shopping assistants:” these innovations will take place in five years or less, IBM said.
Now on its third year, IBM’s annual Next Five in Five lists down innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years.
IBM says its list is based on market and societal trends expected to transform our lives, as well as emerging technologies from IBM’s Labs around the world that can make these innovations possible.
“These technologies are in different stages of development right now, and the work done in IBM labs all over the world contributes to making these trends into reality,” said Lope Doromal, chief technologist for IBM Philippines.
Here are IBM’s top five innovations forecasted to shape the world — and human life– within the next five years:
Energy saving solar technology will be built into asphalt, paint and windows. In the next five years, solar energy will be an affordable option for you and your neighbors. Until now, the materials and the process of producing solar cells to convert into solar energy have been too costly for widespread adoption. But now this is changing with the creation of “thin-film” solar cells, a new type of cost-efficient solar cell that can be 100 times thinner than silicon-wafer cells and produced at a lower cost. These new thin-film solar cells can be “printed” and arranged on a flexible backing, suitable for not only the tops, but also the sides of buildings, tinted windows, cell 
You will have a crystal ball for your health. In the next five years, your doctor will be able to provide you with a genetic map that tells you what health risks you are likely to face in your lifetime and the specific things you can do to prevent them, based on your specific DNA — all for less than $200.
Ever since scientists discovered how to map the entire human genome, it has opened new doors in helping to unlock the secrets our genes hold to predicting health traits and conditions we may be predisposed to. Doctors can use this information to recommend lifestyle changes and treatments. Pharmaceutical companies will also be able to engineer new, more effective medications that are targeted for each of us as individual patients. Genetic mapping will radically transform healthcare over the next five years and allow you to take better care of yourself.
You will talk to the Web. . .and the Web will talk back. In the future, you will be able to surf the Internet, hands-free, by using your voice — therefore eliminating the need for visuals or keypads. New technology will change how people create, build and interact with information and e-commerce websites — using speech instead of text.
In places like India, where the spoken word is more prominent than the written word in education, government and culture, “talking” to the Web is leapfrogging all other interfaces, and the mobile phone is outpacing the PC. In the future, through the use of “voice sites,” people without access to a personal computer and Internet, or who are unable to read or write, will be able to take advantage of all the benefits and conveniences the Web has to offer.
You will have your own digital shopping assistants. A combination of new technology and the next wave of mobile devices will give the in-store shopping experience a significant boost. Fitting rooms soon will be outfitted with digital shopping assistants — touch screen and voice activated kiosks that will allow you to choose clothing items and accessories to complement, or replace, what you already selected. Once you make your selections, a sales associate is notified and will gather the items and bring them directly to you.
You’ll also be able to snap photos of yourself in different combinations and email or SMS them to your friends and family for the thumbs up…or the thumbs down. Shoppers can access product ratings and reviews from fellow consumers and will even be able to download money-saving coupons and instantly apply them to their purchases.
Forgetting will become a distant memory. In the next five years, it will become much easier to remember what to buy at the grocery store, which errands need to be run, who you spoke with at a conference, where and when you agreed to meet a friend, or what product you saw advertised at the airport.
That’s because such details of everyday life will be recorded, stored, analyzed, and provided at the appropriate time and place by both portable and stationary smart appliances. To help make this possible, microphones and video cameras will record conversations and activities. The information collected will be automatically stored and analyzed on a personal computer. People can then be prompted to “remember” what discussions they had, for example, with their daughter or doctor by telephone.
Based on such conversations, smart phones equipped with global-positioning technology might also remind them to pick up groceries or prescriptions if they pass a particular store at a particular time. It’s not hard to imagine that TVs, remote controls, or even coffee table tops, can one day be the familiar mediums through which we tap into our digitally stored information.
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