The world is changing fast, and it can be hard to keep up with all the various technologies being developed at any one time. From agriculture to medicine to energy, advancements are being made every day – and some of them will change the world as we know it.
Technology has swept aside vast, powerful established industries, transforming them fundamentally in just a few years. These are the top 10 emerging technologies that could directly affect your life within the next few years.
1. Big Data
Cisco predicts that Big Data will be a $50 billion industry by 2017.
Cisco predicts that “Big Data will be a $50 billion industry by 2017”. This is no big news, as many have predicted how big data will shape the world and will impact industries and organisations. The volume of data that people are producing is increasing at a tremendous rate, and this is only likely to further grow as a result of technology like wearable devices. At the same time costs of storage of this data have declined and this will enable predictive relationships to be produced.
2. The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things is transforming the everyday physical objects that surround us into an ecosystem of information that will enrich our lives.
While so many devices are not yet connected to the Internet, by 2022 Intel believes that there will be a network of 50 billion connected objects. When this is paired with the technology for artificial intelligence it is believed that factories will be able to become smart, and that this could contribute a whopping $2 trillion to the global economy.
3. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
Roboticists are nowhere near achieving this level of artificial intelligence, but they have made a lot of progress with more limited AI.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. It’s certainly the most controversial: Everybody agrees that a robot can work in an assembly line, but there’s no consensus on whether a robot can ever be intelligent. Ultimate AI would be a recreation of the human thought process – a man-made machine with our intellectual abilities. This would include the ability to learn just about anything, the ability to reason, the ability to use language and the ability to formulate original ideas.
Roboticists are nowhere near achieving this level of artificial intelligence, but they have made a lot of progress with more limited AI. In any case, robots will certainly play a larger role in our daily lives in the future. In the coming decades, robots will gradually move out of the industrial and scientific worlds and into daily life, in the same way that computers spread to the home in the 1980s.
4. Augmented Reality
With the help of advanced AR technology the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulable.
Augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality.
By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one. Augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulable. Well established players like Microsoft or Meta are currently working at future products to be released this year.
5. Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMs)
MEMS is a technology that in its most general form can be defined as miniaturised mechanical and electro-mechanical elements.
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, or MEMS, is a technology that in its most general form can be defined as miniaturised mechanical and electro-mechanical elements (i.e., devices and structures) that are made using the techniques of micro-fabrication.
MEMS are already used as accelerometers in automobile air-bags. They’ve replaced a less reliable device at lower cost and show promise of being able to inflate a bag not only on the basis of sensed deceleration but also on the basis of the size of the person they are protecting.
6. Biotechnology
Biotechnology has advanced to such a point that crops are able to be developed that are drought-resistant and have better vitamin content and salinity tolerance.
Agricultural science is believed to be advancing to new boundaries beyond that of breeding and crossbreeding. Indeed, it is explained that biotechnology has advanced to such a point that crops are able to be developed that are drought-resistant and have better vitamin content and salinity tolerance.
All of this has tremendous potential to get rid of the problem of hunger in the world. The market already exceeds $80 billion a year and it is growing rapidly.
7. Nanomaterials
Two key factors cause the properties of nanomaterials to be special: their quantum effects and their structure.
Nanomaterials are those broadly defined as having tiny components with at least one measurement below 100 nm. Two key factors cause the properties of nanomaterials to be special: their quantum effects and their structure. Their tiny structure means they have a greater relative surface area than other materials and this can alter or improve properties such as strength and electrical characteristics or reactivity. Their quantum effect can affect the electrical, magnetic or optical performance.
Current applications include healthcare (in targeted drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and diagnostics), electronics, cosmetics, textiles, information technology and environmental protection.
8. Terahertz Imaging
Terahertz Imaging is being used to detect explosives that were previously considered to be invisible, as well as in path planning for self-driving cars.
The market for Terahertz devices is predicted to grow by 35% per year annually and to reach more than $500 million by 2021. But what is it? Terahertz Imaging “extends sensory capabilities by moving beyond the realm of the human body”. This helps to create imaging devices that can penetrate structures, for example. They are being used to detect explosives that were previously considered to be invisible, as well as in path planning for self-driving cars.
9. 3D Printing
3D printers are making tremendous strides and is already a $3.1 billion industry that is growing by 35% each year.
3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. The creation of a 3D printed object is achieved using additive processes. In an additive process an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the entire object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object.
3D printers are making tremendous strides and is already a $3.1 billion industry that is growing by 35% each year. This will continue to transform industries as the prices of printers drops and more people can gain access to them.
10. Advanced Energy Storage And Generation
The need for advanced energy storage technologies is growing by the minute as new incredible developments emerge continuously.
The ever expanding population of the world has an equally ever expanding need for energy, and this is being made more challenging by legislation to deal with the challenges of climate change. There have been significant advances to battery technology and this alone is estimated to have an economic impact of $415 billion.
Greener products are also much more incentivised and it is thought likely that cold fusion power could become viable. Solar Power has also developed considerably and is an area that promises to grow considerably and become a viable energetic alternative, as its becoming increasingly cheaper.
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