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Topic: Which emerging technologies do you think will be making headlines over the next decade?

• Lily I'm hoping this is the decade where microfluidics/bioMEMS finally emerge commercially in the form of low-cost point-of-care diagnostics, bio-interfaces, and whatever that elusive killer app turns out to be.
• December 28, 2009 at 8:20am
  • Logan Brain/Computer Interface (bio-interface). By the time this technology matures and eventually becomes available to healthy people (i.e. not the blind, deaf, paralyzed or otherwise handicapped) I believe it will be not only the first major shift in how we interact with information, but it will also change how we exist in many ways. As augmented reality becomes richer in content and availability, coupled with a direct sensory link to all available information and computational power, in ten years, life in a physical and in a virtual state may be hard to distinguish.
• December 28, 2009 at 8:25am
  • 2020 Science Thanks for the microfluidics/bioMEMS flag Lily. I overlooked these areas in my list (black mark to me), but this is where we could quite possibly have a "silent revolution" - where the technology matures and has a tremendous impact, but isn't immediately visible. We saw the same with GMR hard disks, where the technology changed society, but relatively few people were aware of the technology itself.
• December 28, 2009 at 8:42am
  • Frank My focus is on information technology and the transition many other domains are making towards being information technologies. I think the Semantic Web and the ability to query the Internet Intelligently will be huge, although not well understood by the average user. People will come to rely on it but won't really understand how it works. When I can query the internet and say something like "Show me the nearest book store that carries the novel 1984 for under $20 and is open on a Tuesday night", that's when I'll know the semantic web has truly arrived.
  • I want to be able to make the same queries on sets of data that aren't currently available, like my own genome (or on a publicly available, scrubbed, socialized version of it) and identify vitamins I should be taking, diseases I should be concerned about, etc.
• December 28, 2009 at 9:17am
  • 2020 Science Thanks Frank - I think if we can crack the Symantic Web/Symanitc Queries this will be huge. This is where it will be really interesting to see where the convergence between web innovation, new ways of interfacing with and visualizing information, and AI, lead.
• December 28, 2009 at 9:23am
  • Frank Yup and I think we'll be hearing a great deal about it in the next decade. It has to be one of Google's main focuses and they have the resources to get it done.
• December 28, 2009 at 9:27am
  • R. Paul Although it is definitely out of my league I think the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams which should be on-line by mid-decade at Michigan State University will be an emerging technology that will make headlines...http://frib.msu.edu/
• December 28, 2009 at 10:02am
  • Soud Pervasive computing. UI's and UX will be more natural, devices and lifestyles will seamlessly integrate with the internet. This could be everything from car alarm systems, to microwaves and watches.
  • We're are already seeing bits of that with Twitter and platforms like Facebook but 10 years from now, most interfaces on the web will be scaled down 'dumb terminals' with incredible user experience tailored to the device or medium. Architecures will favour cloud computing, with client devices consuming data on the fly while processing is done in the 'cloud'
• December 28, 2009 at 1:48pm
  • Maria I agree with nanotechnology making headway in relation to everyday living ie the home end-user. For example, user-friendly multi-function technology for the home which integrates office/TV/movies/music/internet systems into one overall system to save space, time and energy.
• December 29, 2009 at 6:17am
  • 2020 Science Thanks Bwana and Maria. Something I do find it hard to get a handle on is the dynamic between consumers and technology development. It's easy to dismiss consumer products as trivial, but I suspect that they are far from being so - from an economic, social and technological standpoint. But how do you assess how this dynamic is going to influence significant technological development over the next few years?
• December 29, 2009 at 6:59am
  • Soud The classic model for firms has been to invest into R&D, innovate, patent and commercialise. This would take anything from 3 to 20+ years. Sometimes, when the end product reaches the market, it would have passed its usefuleness.
  • The growth of the internet changes this model towards consumercentric processes and crowdsourcing. The feedback bandwidth from consumers has grown exponentially. Some consumers actually take part in the production/development processes via crowdsourcing where applicable e.g. www.innocentive.com or Goldcorp's opening up of its geological data to the public to find gold deposits. This led to the identification of minining fields with assets of of over $3bn.
  • Firms operating in a free market are 'profit maximisers' , therefore if getting data/information from consumers or a crowd of experts will either reduce costs or increase revenue, firms will embody 'consumercentric' tendencies in their processes, this will then dictate where the focus is on R&D, how it is conducted and the eventual commercialisation of the product/service.
  • In a nutshell 'consumercentric' tendencies in firms generally reduce product development and steer development towards production of goods and services that will have an appeal to the market.
• December 29, 2009 at 7:22am
  • Soud * In a nutshell 'consumercentric' tendencies in firms generally reduce product development time and steer development towards production of goods and services that will have an appeal to the market.
  • Furthermore open business models, allow consumers and 3rd party agents to add value to the product/service/technology e.g. Facebook platform, Twitter API, I-Phone App market, Zii - www.zii.com
• December 29, 2009 at 7:27am
  • Jakob I agree that "Personal genomics" is going to be a big thing in the near future. However, a related suggestion would be the entire area of "next generation diagnostics". Afterall, "Personal genomics" will in most cases only provide a crude assesment of the risk that each individual will develop certain diseases during the lifetime. What is more equally (more?) important is whether the individual is actually developing the disease. This calls for the development of cheap and non-invasive tools, including everything from molecular assays to imaging techniques. I actually believe that such tools areas will become more important in clinical practice, as compared to "Personal genomics". Just my two-cents..
• December 29, 2009 at 2:03pm
  • 2020 Science Very interesting Jacob. Actually, I can see next gen diagnostics having a very rapid development cycle if a few bits and pieces fall into place. If this happens, I think you are right and we will see viable multi-input diagnostics tools entering the market way ahead of personal genomics (pragmatic solutions rather than precise solutions!). The trajectory after that could well be crude personal genomics linking up with a growing next gen diagnostics market - then things get really interesting!
• December 29, 2009 at 3:22pm
  • Joan Personal genomics as Jakob mentioned. Also mobile applications (iPhone etc) to carry our medical info with us.
• December 30, 2009 at 2:14pm
  • 2020 Science Thanks Joan - it'll be interesting to see how the mobile phone business goes. Pundits have been predicting the growth of mobile/integrate apps for years - will the 2010's be the decade it happens big-time?
• December 30, 2009 at 3:32pm