Ashura Unstopable Posts: 370
| slide show: http://etech.eweek.com/slideshow/index.php?directory=futuretech
Quote: | Monday, June 11, 2007 5:59 PM/EST The Ten Most Wanted Future Technologies Posted by Jim Rapoza @eweek.com - Hundred Terabyte Thumb Drive - Think about it, 100 terabytes of data in your pocket. You could carry around every bit of data you could possibly think of. Just don't lose it. This is actually close to being a reality based on research done using protein as a data storage methodology. - Universal Translator - Until we discover Douglas Adam's Babel fish, it would be really nice to have a small carry-around device that could instantly translate multiple languages on the fly. Lots of work has been done in this area, especially in defense applications, but we're still a long way from something even as primitive as the talking universal translator in the old Star Trek series. - Battery Replacement - Here's my state of the art laptop, full of the most modern technology available today. And when I take it on the road, how do I power it? With battery technology that hasn't changed much since the mid-1800's. How sad is that? I don't care if it's fuel cells, nanotechnology or mystical power hamsters, I want a replacement for my batteries and I want it now. - Real Virtual Reality - Virtual worlds like Second Life are kind of fun but these game environments fall far short of the virtual reality that cyberpunk has been teasing us with for years. Real virtual reality should in many ways be indistinguishable from the real world, sort of like the Matrix. - Matrix Knowledge - Speaking of the Matrix, I know what my favorite part was. It wasn't the high-wire karate or slow motion bullet time. It was the ability to plug into a data source and instantly know how to do something. How cool would that be? "I know Kung Fu." - Mind Control User-interface - Here's another one that sounds like science fiction but is actually closer than you think. In recent studies a disabled man was able to control a mouse cursor using just his mind. Forget speech interfaces, table Surfaces or Minority Report style hand waving. This is the ultimate user interface. - Faster Travel - Isn't it sad that despite all the technology advances of the last thirty years that personal travel options have changed so little. While the ideal would be instant travel options like Star Trek transporters or Ringworld Stepping disks, I'd settle for anything that, for example, cuts the time to travel from the U.S. east coast to Europe in half. - Real AI - Computers are sure a lot smarter than they used to be but we're still a far cry from a system that can pass standard artificial intelligence tests. - Safe nanotech - Right now we're at the first most basic stages of nanotechnology but the potential future options include bots that can cure both the environment and human diseases. Of course nanobots could also destroy cities and cause diseases. Let's all hope for the safe, helpful option. - Tech Invisibility Cloak - Modern technologies provide lots of good things but they are also making anonymity and privacy nearly impossible. I think in the future one of the most in-demand options will be some kind of tech that makes you invisible to all of the RFID, video scanners, GPS trackers and future privacy destroying options that are likely to come about. | mmm how about cyber brain like in ghost in the shell >.< and some home robots! slide show for the 10 Emerging Technologies that Flopped: http://etech.eweek.com/slideshow/index.php?directory=tech_flops
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